Steinmetz StarVolume 82, Number 5, May-June 2017

www.steinmetzstar.com

In this issueNews, 2-11, 19 Arts & Entertainment

21-23Sports, 24

Congratulations, Class of 2017

JROTC cadets recognized

Opinion: 3,14-20 Prom, 12-13

Shout outs; what seniors will miss Review of Agatha Rex, p. 21Baseball legend, pitcher

Mariano Rivera

Most of the above students, who graduated in the Top 20 in the Class of 2017, were in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program or the JROTC Academy. Read their stories on Pages 4 - 7.

By Ahmari Owens

Teacher Jennifer Egan will be missed by so many students and teachers. After living in Chicago for 24 years and teaching

at Steinmetz for 16 years, she is leaving to go back home to Colorado.

“It’s where I grew up,” Ms. Egan said. “My family is there. My best friend for 40 years is there. I miss the weather and I miss the mountains.”

Continued on Page 21

ASM Gala celebrates creative work

King Christhian Torres and Queen Adriana Cortes

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The After School Matters (ASM) showcase was held in the main auditorium on May 2. The year end gala included performances and demonstrations

from ASM participants of several schools. Steinmetz ASM students learned new skills, increased

their work ethic and made some money. See Page 23 for stories on ASM lifeguard-

ing, painting and drawing, leather bag and “The Beat.” Laura Jimenez coordinated the program.

“Thank you, Ms. Laura, for all of your hard work and dedication,” senior Delanie Preston said. “We love you and appreciate everything you have done for us.”•

Beloved teacher leaving Chicago

By Lizeth Lopez

Renziel Ilumin, the #1 graduate of the Class of 2017, worked hard and

won recognition throughout her four years of high school.

She was a National Hon-ors Society member and on the Academic Decathon Team. She took 1st place in the Regional Science Fair during her soph-omore year and received an Honorable Mention in the city competition. She also partici-pated in After School Matters.

Continued on Page 4

By Yesenia Pliego

Raziel Ilumin, the #2 graduate of the Class of 2017, is an excel-

lent student and artist, and someone others admire.

“She is one of the most dedicated, talented and compassionate people,” teacher Roseann Mark said.

“All these attributes are manifested in her ability to create art that inspires and informs others.”

Continued on Page 4

Valedictorian Renziel Ilumin

Class of 2017 success stories

Saludatorian Raziel Ilumin

Twin sisters finish at the top of high-achieving group of graduates

JROTC cadets, who were promoted to serve on the 2017-18 Battalion Staff, include the following cadets: Colonel Chiya Loyd, Battalion Com-

mander; Leuitenant Colonel Julissa Tello, Battalion XO; Command Sergeant Major Michelle Villanueva, Battalion CSM; Major Yuridia Galaviz, S-1; Major Katie Marin, S-2; Major Selena Martinez, S-3; Major Noah Garcia, S-4; Major A’shanti Davis, S-5; Major Kimberly Degante, S-6.

JROTC cadets recognized for academic achievement at a May 10 ceremony included seniors with the top GPAs: Kiara Toney, Catherine Delgado, Mellisa Tello, Klaudia Batko and Jonathan Ovalle. Yatzamil Pedroza and Damien Torrentt received awards for outstanding commitment to physical fitness. •

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Michelle Villanueva and Kevin Rodriguez at the Memorial Day Parade

2 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star News2Steinmetz

StarSteinmetz College Prep High School

3030 N. Mobile, Chicago IL 60634

773-534-3030, Star office (x) 25241

Website: www.steinmetzstar.com

Email: steinmetzstarnews@gmail.com

The Steinmetz Star is a student publication of Steinmetz College Prep High School. Our goal is to inform the Steinmetz community of news affecting the students of our school. The opin-ions expressed in our articles are not necessarily those shared by the Star editors or Steinmetz faculty and administration.

The Speech Rights of Student Journalists Act, signed into law on July 29, 2016, after the bill received the unanimous approval of the Illinois House and Senate, “gives high school journalists heightened protection against school censorship above-and-beyond the protection provided by federal law. The law gives students the ability to speak without fear about issues of social and political concern in journalistic publications, including issues involving policies and events at their own schools.” (Student Press Law Center, Washington D.C.)

Anyone in the Steinmetz community is welcome to send to the Star letters, corrections, comments, and articles for possible publication. Content decisions are made by student editors.

EditorsAgape Alfaro, Ronald Evans, Elise Guillen, Ethan Miranda, Daysi Posadas Photo editor: Steven Nunez

Copy editors: Ryan Allibone, Jamara McGarry, Nathalie Rojas

Journalism class reporters2nd period: Areli Carbajal, Jennifer Cruz, Car-los Flores, Brenda Fuentes, Marcos Gallardo, Tyrek Gates, Joseph Howard, Mauricio Huerta, Izabella Kulik, Lizeth Lopez, Yessenia Martinez, Taylor Montero, Eduardo Perea, Vinnie Rivera, Jazmine Rodriguez, Lexi Rosch, Yael Gutierrez Santander, Vanessa Tamayo, Kinga Tarasiewicz, Christhian Torres, D’Angelo Wordlaw3rd period: Jade Aguilar, Evelyn Antolino, Helton Arias, Justin Baker, Aaron Borda, Eika Carrasco, Aileen Carreto, Jennifer Cloud, Freddie Crittendon, David Delgado, Ariel Garcia, Stephanie Gonzalez, Jessica Hernan-dez, Javarius Jones, Iridian Lagunas, Monica Marroquin, Francisco Mauricio, Jasmine Milan, Ivan Navarrete, Andrews Navarro, Jane Nero, Ahmari Owens, Christian Perez, Jose Plaza, Yesenia Pliego, Odaliz Renteria, Antonio Sanchez, Jasmine Sanchez, Dalia Sarmiento, Brandon Williams

Newspaper Club reporters: Lara Banez, Frank Cabrera, Angel Chavez, Ezra Chavez, Jesus Cortez, Kimberly Degante, Luis Huerta, Everett Jennings, Anthony Morgan-Kitch, Kyiah Morris, Elizabeth Patino, Alina Qureshy Kevin Rodriguez, Daria Velazquez, Angelina Villarreal, Abdul Yahya

The Newspaper Club meets on Mondays in Room 333 after school.

Faculty adviser: Ms. Sharon Schmidt

Membership: Scholastic Press Association of Chicago

Printing: Mr. Hugh Hefner’s November 2015 donation to the Star covers the costs of printing the paper at Topweb in Chicago. •

Best wishes in your retirementLaura Jimenez

By Laura Jimenez

I would like to take this time to send a shout out to all the students

and staff members. This is my last year

here at Steinmetz Col-lege Prep. You don’t know how hard it is to say good bye to all you wonderful people.

I’ve worked for the Board of Ed for 32 years. I started here at Steinmetz and was transferred to a special ed. facility working with students with special needs. After 10 years I transferred to an Elementary K-8 school. The reason I left there was because I fall in love with the students and want to take all of them home. They were all

By Nathalie Rojas

Teacher’s assistant Petra Davila has worked at Steinmetz since 1996, first

as a security guard. After two years, she became a teacher as-sistant for special education.

Ms. Davila is a very positive, generous, kind-hearted and some-times even humorous person. She cares about others. She gives the best advice throughout this whole year on what students need to hear. She has great listening skills. She hears out students whenever they need someone to talk with. In a way, she’s like a school mom. I’m going to miss the company of my “Morning Person” everyday.

Why did you choose special education?I like to work with young adults. For special education, I feel

like they need the most help.What are the happiest memories you’ve experienced here?When I see the kids succeed and graduate, which leads to

going into college.Why do you want to retire? Did you ever think about it

before? After 22 years, it feels like time to move on. And no I haven’t.Are you willing to come back and visit?I might come back sometime, but not so soon. I will be here

next year to see you guys, the Class of 2018, graduate.Are you going to miss teaching here?Yes, I’m going miss everyone and being here. I wish everybody

the best and to reach their goals.Others people praise Ms. DavilaTeacher Debra Kern has known Ms. Davila for 22 years.“She is a very even-tempered, kind, and caring person, who

doesn’t get angry easily,” Ms. Kern said. “Ms. Davila is there to support you whenever you need it. You can count on her.”

Junior Ricardo Guzman also praised Ms. Davila’s personality and spoke about how she helped him.

“She is a nice person, who has good advice and is there when you need her,” Ricardo said. “She is a good-hearted person and is like having another mother. I’ll miss her kindness, caring, and hard work, the nice responsible person that she is and seeing her scan IDs every morning.” •

By Chuck Bezold

After 15 years and

four months, I have decided to leave CPS and Steinmetz to pursue the next chapter of my life – retirement.

A lot has changed over the years. When I got here we were an Academic Centre, with almost 2,000 students. Now we’re a College Prep High School, with 1,300. The things I’ll miss are 99.5 percent of the students (especially the JROTC and IB students), my colleagues, teachers and staff, past and present, and my bosses (yes, plural, you know who you are).

Things I won’t miss: are the remaining .5 percent, temporary IDs, early dismissals and student testing.

Thanks, again, for your support. Go Streaks!•

very special to me. I stayed at the elementary school level for seven years. During that time I had one of the craziest principals, Mr. Ed Ruyack. He became one of my best friends and I loved working with him but my heart was set on returning to Steinmetz. Eventually I got that opportunity when I met with Dr. Kiamos at a meeting one day. We talked and he remembered me after 17 years and asked what I was doing. I told him I was still working with CPS and he said he had an available position at Steinmetz. It was like a dream come true.

Over the years I’ve met a lot of wonderful stu-dents, many of who currently are friends with me on Facebook. We have shared happy moments as well as sad ones. While at Steinmetz I have served in many roles. I served as the coach of the bowl-ing team for two years. One year I even worked as security for basketball games. I’ve worked in every office in this building. The students have always had respect for me and it feels great. They call me Ms. Laura and I love it.

For the past eight years I’ve been the liaison for the After School Matters and have met a lot of great instructors. This summer ASM will have seven great activities going on at the same time, the largest group ever. I will miss it so much.

Soon I will be a Floridian and I will take all my great memories with me to Cape Coral, Florida. I would love to keep in touch with as many friends as possible. Please remember that my house will always have an open door.

My sincerest thank you to all the teachers, se-curity, ladies in all the offices, Mr. Jaramillo, Ms. Williams and most of all Mr. Ngo. Thank you for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to work with you all. •

Petra Davila

Chuck Bezold

Sgt. Robert Davis

Joan McCollumAfter a total of 34 years

working for CPS, with 32 years at Steinmetz, lunch-

room manager Joan McCollum is retiring.

She said she’s looking forward to helping with her 1-year-old, great-grandson Milo and continuing with her passion of making jewelry.

Ms. McCollum said the best part of her job is “the kids, even the bad kids.” She said she will miss her staff, but not miss waking up at 4:00 a.m. every day.

She saw many changes over the years, such as when Taco Bell and Pizza Hut were served in the lunchroom, when open campus resulted in lunch staff serving only 250 lunches, and when federal guidelines mandated less sugar, salt and fat in school meals.

Ms. McCollum said she appreciated working for Principal Stephen Ngo, who is a “very good listener.”•

By Lissette Sandoval

Sgt Da-vis has been

a true role model to all cadets and students to push our-selves further to what we’re capable of being. Even to those who are not in JROTC, he has shown what it is to be a mentor and a leader. •

Sgt. Davis is not retiring. He’s moving to Coconut Creek, Florida. See more shoutouts to him on Page 18.

Happy Summer from the Steinmetz Star Staff

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Class of 2017 Star reporters. “You were a wonderful group,” adviser Sharon Schmidt said. “I’m proud of how you worked as a community in class, speaking openly and listening to each other. You also reported stories with respect and concern for the people you covered. I’m happy you embraced our motto that everyone is valuable and has a story worth telling.”

May-June 2017 Steinmetz Star 3

What will you miss about Steinmetz?Star Seniors Photo Opinion 3

Letters from our Readers

Steinmetz Star News

Summer study of Arabic, journalism

May 23, 2017It’s wonderful to see Steinmetz alumni who

are now college graduates. Marcos Silva (Class of 2012) earned his diploma from IIT with a B.S. in Architecture in May of 2017.

Veronica completed a certificate program in Computer Forensics and is planning on returning to school for her bachelors.

Sincerely, Suzy Sullivan, teacher

May 15, 2017I finally graduated from Columbia

College after four years of hard work and dedication. I didn’t let death stop me and I know my dad and sister are looking down at me and smiling right now. I’m truly blessed and grateful to have family and friends who told me to keep on going and who never gave up on me.

Sincerely, Norjoria Pratt

Steinmetz alumni celebrate their college graduations

Chance the Rapper’s donation

May 2, 2017I read the story “Chance the Rapper

donates $10,000 to Steinmetz” in the March-April Star. I appreciate Chance’s donation. It really means a lot to the staff and students at Steinmetz. It is really valuable.

Sincerely, Dae’Ja Osbourne, sophomore

Spring fashion show

May 2, 2017 I saw the pictures of the spring

fashion show in the March-April Star. I think the show was interesting and looked fun to participate in.

Sincerely,Keishuna Wilson, sophomore

May 2, 2017I agree with other students’ opinions

about the school uniform. I think they

should drop the uniform policty already.Sincerely,

Diego Moreno, sophomore

Drop the uniform policy

“I will miss freshman year with Sylvia Madej, Nicole Zachy and Izabella Kulik. Everything was new and exciting. I loved it. I will miss that moment. Going into freshman year of college without them will be rough.” Kinga Tarasiewicz

“I will miss most of my teachers, such as Ms. Sangha, Mr. Torres, Ms. Hanks and many more, also, a lot of my friends and security guards.” Vanessa Tamayo

“I will miss my sergeant, Sgt. Davis, because he would always give me advice and motivate me to be better. I will also miss my favorite white girl, Ms. Schmidt.”

Brenda Fuentes

“I’m going to miss all the pep rallys and football games, especially the Homecoming games. They were always so lit.”

Stephanie Gonzalez

“I will miss the people who made me smile, even when I couldn’t.”

Carlos Flores

“I will miss teachers, security guards and Ms. Williams. I will also miss going to the football games.”

Ahmari Owens

“I will miss friends Anthony, Anyela, Nate, Marie; soccer buddies Lissette, Tamara, Jennifer and Viregen; and teachers Mr. Kotcherha, Mr. Javier, Mr. Hasken and Ms. L.”

Evelyn Antolino

“I’m going to miss my senior year second period class. The longer I pondered it, Ms. Schmidt’s jour-nalism class was my favorite class throughout my four years at Stein-metz.” Ethan Miranda

“I am going to miss Ms. Szulkowski, Ms. Eichstaedt and Mr. Edwards, and all the teachers who helped me, and all the friends I have made.”

Lizeth Lopez

“I’m going to miss Mr. Everage and Ms. Egan.” Leslie Gatica

“I will miss Mr. Foster, Ms. Mark, Ms. Diaz and others. I’ll miss events such as Homecoming games and just little moments the school does for the students. Most of all I’ll miss the life I built at school with people like Patty, Carmen, Sandy, Ryan, Karla, Adriana, Teresa and Peter.”

Daysi Posados

“I’m going to miss Ms. Serritella. She has been such an inspiration to me and pushed me to be my very best.” Rikeya Hargrove

“I’ll miss all of the underclassmen friends that I’ll be leaving behind: Agape Alfaro, Elise Guillen, Jamara McGarry and Sammie Chafai.”

Ryan Allibone

“I’m going to miss being with Mar-cos at school, because we are going to different colleges. I’m also going to miss the lock in because it was extremely fun. I’m glad the teach-ers were willing to do things, from getting pie thrown in their face to managing to stay awake past 5 a.m.”

Taylor Montero

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Students make dolls for peace

Sophomore Karla Cortes will be at-tending the Arabic STARTALK program at the University of Chicago this summer.

Besides meeting peers from other Chicago high schools, Karla will go on Arabic language and culture focused field trips during the intensive four-week long program.

“I’m so proud to have Karla repre-senting Steinmetz in this program,” teacher Kirsten Gassman said.

Junior Elise Guillen and senior Ryan Al-libone will be attending the Illinois Press

Foundation journalism workshop at Eastern Illinois University. During the 11-day residen-tial program, they’ll work with professional journalists in sessions on campus and during hands-on reporting trips. •

It is the harsh reality that many students are affected by gun violence.

Dolls4peace began with a group of students using using art to heal from trauma caused by the death of a school member.

Teachers from across Chicago joined the dolls4peace project and students work

as a collective to create memorials for all lives that have been lost to gun violence by facilitating doll-making workshops to honor victims,

raise awareness, and create space for healing. Students in Gina Szulkowski’s art classes created 150 of the over 1,100 dolls for the dolls4peace exhibition at the Hyde Park Arts Center on June 13. •

National Honor Society inducts 37By Elise Guillen

Seven seniors were part of the group of 37 students inducted into NHS on June 8.

NHS students represent the four characteristics of scholarship, service, leader-ship and character. The induction ceremony is a great way to honor students who work hard for what they care about, inside and outside the classroom.

Continued on Page 21

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The Top Ten graduates in the Class of 2017 (first row): Renzial and Raziel Ilumni; (second row): Matrice Young, Adriana Cortes, Jazmin Rodriguez; (third row): Maria Figueroa, Delanie Preston, Sylvia Madej, Karla Colula and Navjot Banipal.

4 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star Seniors: Top Ten4

Renziel and Raziel Ilumin reap a harvest of success

Adriana Cortes, the prezBy Ethan Miranda

Senior class president Adriana Cortes is a star student, star athlete, star senior and if we kept going there would be no

more stars left in the night sky. Mauricio Huerta and Adriana have been a

couple since the middle of junior year. “I could not ask for anyone better,” he

said. “She’s beautiful, smart, considerate of others, fun.”

In addition to the focus Adriana put on her studies, shown by her high GPA and class rank of number six, Adriana is a passionate person who attempts to right wrongs.

She tried hard in the beginning of the school year to push Principal Stephen Ngo into reinstating Bernie Eshoo, school librarian. Adriana met with Mr. Ngo, spoke to the LSC and organized an online petition.

The Star interview with Adriana was dur-ing our sixth period lunch. I caught her in the middle of stuffing her face with a homemade sandwich. She smiled and laughed and we got right into it.

Are you excited about prom? Are you running for prom queen?

[She nods her head as she bites her sand-wich]. I don’t know. Maybe.

[I told her that she should ‘cause I think she has a sure shot of winning, she thanked me and went on about how her boyfriend hadn’t asked her yet. We laughed about that for a few minutes and then continued the interview. Evidently, her boyfriend did ask, and she ran, and she won. Congrats to her.]

Talk about your years on the swim team.It was really fun. I started my freshmen

year. I didn’t know how to swim very well. I only knew backstroke, and that was because it was my favorite stroke and learned it when I swam for the park district. I didn’t swim for a team, I took swimming lessons.

My freshmen year, I was really bad, but sophomore year, I got better because I took ASM lifeguarding and they made us do harder and longer workouts. So, I feel like that really made me work on my form and perfect it.

Coach Sullivan started putting me in var-sity meets and events, and I feel that really pushed me to be a better swimmer. If I had stayed on JV, I don’t think I would’ve been as challenged as a swimmer.

I was co-captain my senior year. I also swam in a new event. I usually only swim free-style and backstroke, but this year Coach Sul-livan made me swim in an event where I had to swim all four strokes. At first I was [insert loud groaning sound here], but after a while I realized it was really fun and I enjoyed it.

How was water polo season? It was great. I joined sophomore year,

which was the first year we had a water polo team. And we sucked. The score would always be 15-1, 15-2, or whatever. Then, junior year, we really got our act together. The girls already knew what to expect. We already knew how each team in our conference played. We were much better and worked better as a team. We started winning games. I think sophomore year we won one game, but junior year, we won a lot games. I was worried that this year we weren’t going to have the same glory we had our junior year, but we did. We won a lot of games and it was really great.

The boys and girls teams practiced together. My favorite thing about water polo would be the way we grew together as a team.

How is being the senior class president?It’s been going well. It’s also been kind

of hard because we would have a bunch of ideas that we thought would be fun for the seniors to do, but there was always something wrong – the school wouldn’t approve it or it was planned to late, and getting the word out was a pain. I would post something online and sometimes the message would be misunder-stood and drama would arise and then have to be settled. Planning things with the other senior offices Brooke, Catrina and Christhian was easy as we were usually on the same page. Overall, it was great.

Continued on Page 21

By Ryan Allibone

Sylvia Madej is someone who embodies both intelligence and beauty. She puts her

whole essence into everything she does, and her hard work pays off.

She is graduating in the Top 10, has completed the challenging International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme, and will be attending Concordia University fall.

“Sylvia is definitely someone I want to keep in touch with,” senior Delanie Preston said. “We weren’t friends until this year, after so many others had left the IB class. We became close this year sitting next to each other in Spanish class.”

Everyone who has met her knows that

she will be successful due to her perseverance and determination. She is one of the most dedicated students, going even so far as to be stressed out about school work before she even knows it.

She made the best of her time at Steinmetz, ex-celling academically and socially. Her shout out to

friends on Page 18 illustrates the way she enjoyed and valued the people of Steinmetz.

Her plans are to become an eye doctor. She already obtained some experience this year, working in an eye clinic.

She is an amazing person and kind and caring woman. •

Renziel, continued from Page 1Renziel excelled at Steinmetz in the academi-

cally advanced Middle Years Program (MYP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) program.

As a strong young woman, she embodies her favorite quote, by May Angelou: “Success is lik-ing yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”

In the fall, she will be attending UIC. After college graduation, she wants to go to medical school and become a doctor.

“I would like to thank Ms. Kokoszka, Ms. Och-wat and Ms. Hank because their love towards biology is too contagious,” Renziel said. “Biology became my favorite subject because I know that I am pursuing a profession that requires passion for it. At first, I did not like it, but once I kept pretending that I do — that is when I started to do better in it.”

Renziel had to learn to manage her time well in order to achieve such excellent grades in the toughest classes in the school.

“Managing time is a very difficult task for me,” she said. “But I know that I always have to put my school work first no matter what. I use a Pomodoro technique. I do my work as much as I can for 25 minutes, after that I rest for five minutes.”

One of the challenges Renziel faced during high school was losing a relative. “I regret that I didn’t talk to her more,” she said.

The llumins are from the Philippines. When

Raziel, continued from Page 1

Raziel said she balanced school work, activities, and social life by “compro-mising” and using her time wisely. She would take regular breaks when doing work.

Her mom and sister were her biggest supporters.

“My mom has always been there; she always knows what to say,” Raziel said. “My twin sister has also always been there for me. We’ve been supporting each other from the start.”

Raziel will be going to Roosevelt University.

Raziel has been in After School Mat-ters for two year. She said it has helped her improve the quality of her work.

She will miss the Steinmetz teachers “who gave joy to my education.”

Raziel said that “being unsure about the future” is one of her challenges.

She focuses on her beliefs, including a favorite quote from the Bible, 2 Cor-inthians 9:6: “You reap what you sow.”

Ms. Mark said, “Raziel’s spirit and generosity with her time and talents is a testament to a future of hope for the upcoming generation.”•

they came to the United States, they first lived in Connecticut. After moving to Chicago, Renziel attended fifth through eighth grade at Luther Burbank Elementary.

“I was successful because I surrounded myself with people that bring out the best of me,” Renziel said. “This person is my twin sister Raziel.” •

By Jane Nero

Top Ten student Karla Colula partici-pated in track and field and cardio club for four years, and cross country

for three years. She said being on these teams helped her become a more balanced person. Not only did she do sports, she was also in After School Matters (ASM).

“Being an athlete and a student has forced me to manage my time more wisely, because having to do both at the same time taught me how to be organized,” she said. “Also, doing ASM, as well as keeping up with my social life, I’ve learned how to organize everything at its appropriate time.”

She is shy at first. People describe her as funny, caring, and always there for them.

“We’ve been friends since we met in MYP freshman year,” Kinga Tarasiewicz said. “I love her.”

Karla is a vegetarian and loves animals, especially her own dog, who deserves part of the credit for her success.

“My friends, family, teachers, coach and mostly my dog have all helped me become one of the top students at Steinmetz,” she said.

Her career goal is to become a veterinar-ian. Her favorite class is math.

Karla’s track and cross country coach, Abel Pereyra, has known Karla since fresh-man year,

“Even at a young age I could tell she was the kind of person that brings out the best in others,” he said.

He said she has grown over the years.“Karla has blossomed into a much more

balanced person,” he said. “She has become a competitive, seasoned, and still incredibly pleasant, experienced athlete.”

Her teammates appreciate her, Coach P. said.

“Because of her commitment, experience and warmth, her teammates don’t just respect and admire her, they love her.”•

Karla Colula, fun and kind

Sylvia Madej, super student

May-June 2017 Steinmetz Star 5

Star Seniors: Top Ten 5

Navjot Kaur, hardworking and chill

Delanie Preston, making a splash

By Frank Cabrera

Navjot Kaur, the #3 ranked senior, stands out from the crowd of other talented and hardworking seniors with her many ac-

complishments – a high GPA and class rank, awards in the science fair and All-City artist con-test, having her artwork displayed in the Robert Morris gallery and by knowing several different languages.

Throughout her high school career Navjot has always been committed to her academics, but something that is different to her is the fact that her mentality is to always be “chill.”

Navjot said there was a time where she was up studying for the ACT and that the following day in biology she was called up to the board and had forgotten the glucose formula, making her get three wrong answers in a row. But thanks to her chill vibe, she was able to push forward and try harder.

She also said she managed to balance school work, activities and social life “by not thinking about how to actually manage. I just do it because I love to keep myself busy in different things.”

Navjot doesn’t panic about the future because she believes that if you have a good present you will have a good future.

She will be majoring in biology at UIC, look-ing toward a career as a dentist. She was an excel-lent, attentive student at Steinmetz.

“Navjot is very quiet but focused, a great lis-tener who caught every detail that was said in the classroom,” Ms. Ochwat said.

Navjot is a National Honor Society member and was the only person from her class to be chosen as a Chicago Scholar.

Senior Delanie Preston told the Star that Nav-jot “likes being goofy and laughing a lot, almost comedic.”

Most importantly, people like senior Virgen Panfillo, who has known Navjot since the 6th grade, consider her to be a kind hearted and trustworthy person.

“Navot is a good friend; I’d trust her with anything, really,” Virgen said.

The Star interviewed Navjot.Who inspired you?Being first generation, I always wanted to be

on top because I was given the opportunity to succeed. [She also said she looks up to her sisters for inspiration. One of them is a doctor and the other is a dentist.]

Most memorable moment?Having the opportunity to grow with class-

mates.Advice for underclassmen?Do what you want to do, don’t miss the Train

of Life doing what doesn’t make you happy. Stu-dents are like passengers who are responsible for their own luggage. Teachers can only tell them what to do, so it is up to students which path they’ll choose.

What animal would you want to be? “A tortoise – slow, patient and winning the

race with cleverness, unlike the rabbit who rushes through it.

What are the languages you speak? Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and conversational

Spanish.What are your favorite subjects?Math and science, without these subject my

life feels incomplete. These subjects seem to be a remedy for my brain.

What is your favorite quote?“Dream is not the thing you see in sleep but

is that thing that doesn’t let you sleep.” – Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former president of India •

By Erika Carrasco

Delanie Preston is an Inter-national Baccalaureate (IB) student graduating in the

Top Ten 10 of the Class of 2017, ranking number 4. She will be attending UIC in the fall. Aside from being a scholar, Delanie is also known as being incredible in the pool.

Delanie was a part of the swim team since her freshman year. She joined water polo sophomore year, which was the first year Steinmetz started a girls water polo team. She was awarded MYP all her years in wa-terpolo. She was captain of the swim and water polo team.

“Delanie does everything I ask her – always 110%, never halfway,” said Susy Sullivan, Delanie’s coach and teacher. “She is honest, fair, and loyal to friends. I am personally going to miss her a lot.”

Delanie is driven to be a successful student athlete, but it isn’t easy.

“IB is a struggle itself, since we get a lot of homework,” she said. “Tying to

balance academics and extracurriculars is also a struggle.”

But she dedicated herself to every-thing she put her mind too. She stayed focused in trying to go to a good college and succeeding in life.

Delanie’s good friend Alvaro Blancas told the Star that he’s known her all four years of high school, and saw her go from “wearing sweatpants to mom jeans.” Alvaro said, “ She’s an awesome possum callosum.” •

By Jennifer Cloud

Jazmin Rodriguez, among the Top Ten gradu-ates this year, is very intelligent. She was in the MYP/IB program ever since she was a

freshman. She also participated in golf, bowling and softball. She will be going to Illinois Wesleyan University.

I’ve known her for many years. She has been one of my best friends ever since elementary school. Even back then she’s always stayed on track and achieved good grades and did extremely well.

The Star interviewed Jazmin.What awards or honors you have received? Illinois State Scholar, bowling championship,

varsity softball conference winners What do most people not know about you?I am quiet, but once you get to know me my

personality will start to show. I’m an open book to everyone I know.

What are your plans after high school? I plan to attend the four-year university of

Iowa Wesleyan, also while working to pay ev-erything off. I was awarded the Tiger Trustee Scholarship. I’m considering if I want play sports.

Who has helped you the most throughout your high school journey?

My mom has been my motivation and has al-

ways made sure that I stay organized and on track because I tend to get very lazy.

My dad for knocking some sense into me and showing me the right way.

My friends, Maria Masso and Giovanna Sierra, for keeping my spirits high all four years.

My brother Jimmy for setting the bar high.Who are you going to miss the most once

you’ve graduated?My family, Ms. Russo, Ms. Chaparro, Mr.

Everage, Ms. Medrano, Ms. Ferrarini and all the friends I’ve made through the years.

Is there anything else we should know? People are always bad mouthing our school

when it’s a good school to attend. Our staff is nice and loveable. Being at Steinmetz has taught me to be more mature and meet a lot of friends. •

Maria Figuera, running strongBy Daysi Posadas

Taking on the world, if not at least Steinmetz College Prep, without a sweat is senior Maria Figueroa.

She is in the International Baccalaure-ate (IB) program and one of the Top Ten students in the graduating Class of 2017. Also, as one of the Cross Country and Track and Field team members, Maria has kept up with most tasks thrown in her path.

Since freshman year she has been giving it her all, being active in middle years programme (MYP). Maria chose to join the MYP for her freshman year for the challenge and a higher educa-tional level which would also open more doors for her.

Even though she is a senior she claims it still challenges her.

“There have been times when the work was too much, but overcoming these challenges has taught me how to be more responsible and a better stu-dent,” Maria said.

Her family is her motivation. She strives to make her parents proud and set a good example for her younger sister, who is an MYP freshman. Be-ing one of the top ten students in the graduating class also pushes her to keep doing her best.

Family is not the only motivation that drives Maria. Track and Field as well as Cross Country are motivation and something that keeps her life bal-anced. From freshman year Maria has been on the varsity Track and Field team. According to Coach Abel Pereyra, Maria has surpassed her personal best over and over again.

Practice in the morning helps Maria start her day off as well as balance her life, practice being a place she has time for herself before the chaotic day ahead of her. She originally joined Track and Field due to being told about the sport

through some church members, yet it was her teammates who made her con-tinue the sport.

“She has saved us many times by stepping in when no one else was there,” Coach Pereyra said. “It’s kind of un-usual, but if you’re gonna race the girl you better come prepared.”

She is the kind of athlete coaches want -- perceptive, enthusiastic, helpful, and positive. Mr. Pereyra said that even if she wasn’t as athletically talented as she was, Maria would still be great to have on the team, “so for a coach it’s a win win.”

As she approaches the end of the school year, Maria says she will miss high school, admitting that college is a bit intimidating, even to her. Currently, she is not sure what she will major in, but will not waste time, choosing to do earn an associates degree at Wright Col-lege with plans to transfer to a university later on to pursue her education.

Considering she will be going to a community college, she knows the sports she loves will not be available and it would not be the same as if she were to run on her ow,n but she is willing to go back into sports when she transfers into a university •

Jazmin Rodriguez, great student athlete

Sylvia Madej, super student

6 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star Seniors: Top Ten6

Karla

By Ryan Allibone

If you ever meet Matrice, you’ll know that you are in the presence of someone who is immensely

selfless and incredibly intelligent. She is someone who exudes joy, love,and positivity.

“Matrice always looks on the bright side,” teacher Beth Perez said. “She takes life’s downs and is able to turn them into something not so bad.”

She has always been a very joy-ful and animated person. Matrice has one of the loudest voices in the room and if something bothers her she speaks up. She’s very confident and open with you, even if you’ve just met her.

“We met in our sophomore year,” close friend Carmen Calderon said. “She just kind of walked up to me in gym class and I remember her being very loud and happy. Matrice is loud, in a good way. She always voices her opinion and that’s a good thing.”

You won’t find many people who say that Matrice isn’t a proactive stu-dent. She pours her whole essence into her work. Both Ms. Perez and Carmen commended Matrice’s work ethic, saying that she is never one to miss class and is always asking questions to make sure she fully un-derstands the assignment.

It is due to this amazing work ethic that Matrice will be ending her high school career as one of the Top 10 seniors, although this wasn’t something that she was actively go-ing after.

“It just kind of happened,” she said. “It was never about being one of the Top 10, just about giving it my all.”

This work ethic goes into ev-erything Matrice does, not just her school work. Matrice has been a poet here at Steinmetz ever since her freshman year and she has definitely poured her all into her poetry. All four years of her high school career she has performed at Chicago’s very own poetry competition, Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB).

Each year Matrice has written a variety of poems; all of them were made with great care and a plethora of emotion. She truly is not just an amazing student, wonderful person, but a fantastic poet as well. LTAB has been a truly magical experience for Matrice every time she attends.

“The experience of having all of your friends linked with you and having the crowd cheering you on, no matter what team you’re from,” she said. “The friendships you make, the experience of putting yourself out there, the vulnerability and the ability to move away from who you usually are and project yourself with power, importance, and something to say.”

Matrice has advice for the un-derclassmen:

“Work hard every single year, not just junior and senior year,” she said. “Get involved, join a club, a sport, some type of school activity. And never be afraid to ask questions. If you don’t understand something then ask about it, the teacher, a friend, anybody, just ask.”

Steinmetz College Prep is defi-nitely going to miss Matrice Young.She has been a selfless person to us all and we greatly appreciate everything she has done for us. I know I will.

Matrice and I have been great friends ever since freshman year and I don’t know how I would’ve made it through these four years without her.

Matrice will be attending Knox College later this fall. The Star had more questions for her.

How do you describe yourself?A young woman filled with de-

termination, a hard worker, also very silly and playful. Knows when to be serious and has leadership skills. Sometimes outgoing.

To what do you attribute your academic success?

Motivation from the death of my mom, from a hardworking, retired father and my own worry for my future.

What regrets do you have about high school?

Not being able to work during the year. Not being more active (I’d have liked to join Volleyball and the school play.)

What would you change about Steinmetz to make the school bet-ter for future students?

Focus more on the arts instead of hiring more security. Maybe have more group activities amongst the students in order to help encour-age friendship amongst everyone. In class be able to chill and work, while listening to music. Maybe a movie in one or two classes, ones that can still be educational like the movie “To Live,” which is about a Chinese family during the cultural revolution of China.

What are your plans? I am going to work over the sum-

mer and then attend Knox College for my next four years. I plan on majoring in most likely English and taking a minor in psychology. I want

to be an author and/or maybe a psy-chologist.

What is the inspiration for your poetry?

Experiences I’ve gone through and other people’s experience. Some-times it’s random inspiration from music I’ve listened to or just some-thing I happened to witness.

Who do you look up to?Dad, a hard worker, doesn’t be-

lieve in giving up. Mom, had an ad-diction but always made sure she had a way to survive.

How do you like to spend your free time?

Poetry, videogames, reading books, sleeping, drawing, writing, daydreaming

Do you have any advice for fu-ture students?

Keep yo s___ together, don’t join gangs. Work hard all throughout, not just junior and senior. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t be peer pressured. No bad influences. Find a teacher to connect with.

What do people not know about you?

I’m depressing, as f___ I enjoy anime, rock music and kpop.

What challenges do you face?Long bus ride to school, health

issues in family, family drama, pay-ing for college, finding where I fit in and who I am. •

Matrice Young: Passionate, thoughtful poet

Star Seniors: Top 20

By Abdul Yahya

Javier “Junior” Urbina is

an outstand-ing, intelligent student who loves chocolate, music and laughing at his own jokes.

He has stayed in the MYP/IB Pro-gramme for all four years of high school and managed to finish in the Top 20 of the class every year. This includes fresh-man year when he had emergency surgery on his appendix, which caused him to miss two weeks of school.

“Despite all the obstacles I faced and saw coming, I chose to stay in the pro-gram and face one of my biggest chal-lenges in life,” Javier said.

Adding onto his wonderfully balanced character, he was also on the marathon team, soccer team and on the volleyball team. For volleyball, he was on varsity for three years, captain during his senior year. According to Junior, “Volleyball is life”

“He’s a quiet leader,” Coach Miguel Ochoa said. “He is very positive with the players and it’s easy for many to look up to him. He’s a good role model and very dedicated to the program.”

Javier is also an excellent artist, accord-ing to teacher Roseann Mark.

“A meticulous artist, he has amazing work,” she said. “He is a gentleman, who always strives to do his best and to help others. His smile fills the room up with sunshine.” •

By Evelyn Antolino

With four years of soccer and advanced courses in MYP/IB, while still having time

to focus on friends and family, Virgen Panfilo achieved more in high school than she expected. She put her goals in school in front and finished with a class rank of 18.

Soccer isn’t the only activity she’s been in (while there’s no doubt that soccer is her life); she expanded her interests by playing golf and joining ASM in the summer for art.

With being an IB student comes lots of respon-sibility and work to do, but Virgen handled it well.

“I don’t have anything that stresses me as I don’t let anything put me down,” she said. “But what causes me the most anxiety is not being able to finish things I started or accomplish what I set my mind to. Try-ing to find balance is something that also causes me anxiety and a bit of stress.”

One personality trait that helps her is that she is able to accept when she’s made a mistake or has done something wrong. She says it helps her understand and learn from her mistakes so that she can improve.

It isn’t all work for Virgen; there’s also adventure and mystery – never knowing when or what she will say and do. Like embarrassing moments, when she’s trying to remember what it is she was suppose to say in front of the class and forgetting everything. To her the most embarrassing moments are always on the field.

Jennifer, who has been Virgen’s friend since fifth grade at Burbank elementary school, said that Virgen helped her become a better player.

Virgen has her little buddy Jennifer. “I wouldn’t be the soccer player I am now without

Virgen,” she said. “I learned many skills from her. She was there with me whenever we did drills and not just in soccer practice but outside of soccer practice too.

I couldn’t imagine a day in soccer practice without my soccer buddy and best friend”.

Jennifer’s favorite memory of be-ing with Virgen is when they went to Six Flags. “I got to go on all the rides; I didn’t know if she was scared or not but I made her go.”

For soccer they were always to-gether, always inseparable, even going to the soccer final together. Jennifer like any other who knows Virgen knows that a day without

her is weird and unknown, because she’s the one that makes you think and even though sometimes she likes to argue with you, she will always there for you when needed.

“She’s unbreakable, smart, funny, she never gives up, athletic,” Jennifer said. “She would go along with everything. And takes long to answer (such as her two weeks to answer Jennifer on her proposal to prom) and she always needs to consult her pillow.”

Coach Nico Kotcherha said that his first impres-sion of Virgen was that she is a very intelligent and dedicated girl, who’s never gives up no matter what the challenge.

“It was great to have her on the team,” he said. “Always so motivated and trying to keep the team along with her, she’s awesome. Coaching is better with her on the team.”

He said she has many strengths, such as never giv-ing up, always taking initiative of things and trying to do what’s best for others before herself. When asked about weaknesses, Coach Kotcherha said that “she doesn’t have anything that could possibly bring her down, although she is too honest at times.”

We all would like to thank her for being the person she is, an over-exaggerated, soccer loving nerd, and for being a great friend and team mate.

She’s someone who is a role model to many. We can’t wait to see what becomes of Virgen Panfilo.•

An inspiration on and off the fieldA quiet leader Excellent actor

By Ivan Navarrete and Antonio Sanchez

Alvaro Blancas, graduating in the Top 20 of the Class of 2017, is a humble

young man who has done a lot in the past four years,

In the International Baccalau-reate (IB) program there is a lot to do in such little time. For Alvaro, who was in the drama club and After School Matters and on the academic decathlon team and in cross country and volleyball, it was challenging to do all the work and spend time with family.

Sometimes he found it hard to balance all his committments with very little free time and sometimes he felt that couldn’t handle stress. But in IB he met wonderful friends and has found a place where “we help each other out and everyone helps everyone.”

Acting became a passion for Alvaro, who took part in each annual, school-wide play.

“Alvaro can develop his own Continued on the next page

Javier Urbina

Virgen Panfilo

Alvaro Blancas

May-June 2017 Steinmetz Star 7

Star Seniors: Top 20 7

What will you miss about Steinmetz?

By Taylor Montero

Klaudia Batko said that her position as one of the top students in the class

opened doors for her. She was part of the group of students from the JROTC Academy who went to Japan last year, which was a highlight of her years at Steinmetz.

University of Illinois at Chi-cago (UIC) gave her the Presi-dential Award scholarship. She will be studying criminology. After becoming a police officer, she wants to do cyber bullying investigations. She will commute to UIC, where her best friend Olivia will also be attending.

Her motto is “Don’t stress, things will always fall into place.”

Klaudia came from Poland seven years ago. Within that time she has managed to learn English fluently. She said that there is a more personal connection with teachers here than she saw in Poland. She is the youngest in

her family and the first to go to college. Her teachers said she is a great student.

“She is an independent think-er,” teacher Jennifer Bates said. She maintains a high grade and regularly participates and acts as a great example to underclass-men.”

Klaudia has shown her out-standing character through her academics and friendships. “She is a good listener and gives the best advice,” Leina Miranda said. “Her humor can turn your whole day around. Klaudia is most ap-preciated for her honesty.”•

“I’ll miss seeing my friends, Andy and Cas-sandra, everyday. I’ll also miss Ms. Ferrarini, who always supported me.”

Jasmine Flores

“When I graduate I will mostly miss my friends (my best friend, especially). I’m so thankful for them and for making these four years so memorable and special for me. Also, I’m going to miss Coach P. a lot. Thanks to him I learned so much and had the chance to participate in two sports I enjoy doing.”

Karla Colua

“I will miss what makes up Steinmetz – the people, the friends that came and left. A whole four years of memories built into the school. From jokes about Sergio and being stuck in the bathroom and Uno games in lunch. The friends I have gained through this school made these years full.” Alvaro Blancos

“My teachers and friends. I will miss being in the IB program, because even though it was challenging and stressful throughout the years, we became a family and cared for each other. I’m going to miss being in volleyball because it was a time when I was stress free and forget all my problems and made awesome friends.”

Javier Urbina

“I will miss the teachers I had throughout my four years of IB who always encouraged us to try our hardest. I will also miss Ms. Ferrarini, because she was always in a positive mood and always encouraged us to stay in IB. I will miss my friends Jasmine, Andy and Maria.”

Cassandra Delgado

“I will miss the IB sataff members. This school has been really welcoming to me since the freshman year. I will miss Ms. Ferrarini for being one of my favorite teachers. I remember the times during IB exams. I bothered her a lot and I am pretty sure Ms. Ferrarini might have said to herself no again. But the next morn-ing it seemed nothing really happened. #cool teacher. Love to every teacher who contributed to my life in high school.”

Navjot Banipal

“Shout out to Ms. Mark for sharing your gift and passion for students like me. You offer unconditional love to all your students and I’m thankful for everything you taught me. “

Razial Ilumin

“I will miss all of my friends – especially Marice, Brenda, Sylvia, Virgen and Dalanie. They’re really fun to be with. And to my twin sister who will be going to a different college.”

Renziel Ilumnin

“The diversity and acceptance within the school’s population. The poetry club. I’m go-ing to miss my friends and the connections I have made with my teachers. There are too many to mention, but I have learned a lot from this school. I have learned my own drive (traveling over four hours to and from school everyday tests you). My strengths and weak-nesses, my sense of self, what/who I can count on, and many other things.”

Matrice Young

“The staff: Ms. Doyle, Ms. Ferrarrini, Ms. Hank, Ms. Ochwat, Ms. Mark, Mr. Kotch-erha, Ms. Williams. My friends, Steinmetz Fest, swim team and water polo, sports ban-quet and Homecoming games.”

Adriana Cortes

“I will miss going to school with Alexander Paszkowski and Eduardo Martinez every day. Also, I will miss Ms. Ferrarini for always talk-ing me through things and helping me out always.” Chris Molina

“My current and prior IB family.”Alexander Paszkowski

“I will miss the JROTC program, my instruc-tors, friends and Ms. Laura. Thanks to those who have helped me along my high school career.” Melissa Tello

“I will miss the people who I got close with throughout the years. I wish them all the best luck in the future. I will miss the teachers, especially Mr. Pereyra, Ms. Walker and Sgt. Robert Davis. Thank you for always pushing me to strive for greatness.”

Klaudia Batko

“I will miss the teachers who have been mo-tivating and positive, like Ms. Eichstaedt for letting me come to her class during my lunch period to hand out and do work, and also Ms. Mark for motivating me and pushing me past my limits to do better on my artwork. Also, Ms. Zaluba, for being a cool and smart music teacher.” Kiara Toney

“I will miss the friends that I have made and my teammates in cross country and track. Thank you, Mr. P., for being a great coach. I will miss Raziel, Renziel, Matrice, Jasmine and Cassandra. Love you all.”

Maria Figueroa

“There’s certainly not just one thing I will miss about Steinmetz. I suppose I will miss the proximity to home. I will very much miss the teachers and other staff of the school. They

have all become very big parts of my life, and I do not believe that I will ever become that close to the teachers in college or a university.

‘I will miss my sports and stay-ing active in every season, having Coach Sullivan and Coach Luigi push me and be like my own per-sonal trainers. That will certainly not be the same in college, either.

“I’m going to miss being cap-tain of both the swim and water polo teams, and seeing new faces come in every year, interested to learn the sports.

“But the one thing that I will certainly most miss about Stein-metz is my friends. My friends are the main reason for my enjoy-ment of high school. They relieved my stress in the toughest times of the IB program, they helped me maintain a social life and encour-

aged me to work my hardest during school. “I’m going to miss seeing them everyday,

having conversations with them and easily accessing them within the school. I love them all and appreciate everything they have done for me. I hope to keep them all as friends and keep them close in my college school days, and I say that with the bottom of my heart.

“So those of you reading this who are my close friends, you know exactly who you are. This goes to you.”

Delanie Preston

“I’m going to miss the diversity and friendli-ness of the staff. A person I’m going to miss a lot is Ms. Russo. We became real close this year and I’m grateful to her and all my other teachers who helped me through Steinmetz. I’m going to miss my friends, but I know I made some life-long friends through Stein-metz, too.”

Jazmin Rodriguez

“I will miss the teachers and students because being with them for four years made them become more of a family, an IB family.”

Cristina Perez

“I will miss everyone I got to know from the past four years. I will especially miss the soccer team, which I had created a lot of memories with. This includes ‘The Dream Team.’”

Virgen Pandilo

All A’s for four yearsBy Dalia Sarmiento

Priscila Colin earned straight A’s, every semester of every year, at Steinmetz.

“Priscila’s hard work and atten-tion to detail have earned her status as top student in her class,” teacher Judy Eichstaedt said.

Due to her excellent ACT score and grades, Priscila was recognized as an Illinois State Scholar and met with the State Senator Omar Aquino.

It is unusual to have a student in the Top 20 who wasn’t in MYP/IB or the JROTC Academy. Coming in as a freshman, Priscila chose not to take those programs.

“I wanted gym,” she said. “And my sister had been in IB and got stressed. My parents and I thought I would do better without it.”

She plans to go to Malcolm X College with career plans of be-coming a surgical nurse.

Like many of her teachers, Ms. E. praised Priscila’s academic work.

“Priscila consistently produces

superior work, as evidenced by her Digital Media projects on display in the hallway as well as our class-room,” she said.

“Priscila is always on task and willing to help classmates, and her attitude and skills elevate Digital Media’s reputation throughout the school.”

Priscila likes to watch Hallow-een movies and comedies. Her fa-vorite foods are enchiladas, chicken nuggets and wings.

She advises others to never give up: “Always put your best effort into everything,” she said. “Realize your potential.” •

Continued from the previous pagecharacter further than the script needs him to be,” said Ryan Allibone, a cast member of the recent production Agatha Rex. “It’s very easy to play off his energy.”

Ryan said he admires how Alvaro is a hard worker in all aspects of his life. He shared an example of how methodical he is in his approach to his work:

“Whenever we were in art class, he would look at his piece after every brush strokes, which really showed how careful he is,” Ryan said.

But even though he’s a hardworker, Alvaro is still “weird in a good way and jokes around a lot,” Ryan said.

Teacher Patti Stuber, who directed last year’s play, said Alvaro was an impressive actor and person.

“He was a key member of the cast, and hardworking in the play,” she said. “He was good and very adaptable.”

Ms. Stuber also praised Alvaro’s lead-ership skills, sense of humor and his “stoic” side.

Alvaro’s advice for others is his first thoughts when he came to Steinmetz: “It doesn’t matter where you go, because you just have to get the best you can get.” •

Alvaro Blancas Independent thinker

Priscila ColinKlaudia Batko

8 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star Senior Profiles8

Patty Amador

By Jessica Hernandez

Nilsa Rodriguez is a very intelligent girl. Over the years in Steinmetz, she grew in many ways. She has been through a lot of drama,

but overcame it. She advises others to avoid drama and focus on themselves and their work.

Her plans are to go to school for cosmetology and get a job.

“I’m interested in beauty,” she said. •

By Jose Plaza

Everett Jennings is a wise and coura-geous young man, who is heading to Western Michigan University.

Everett is a fun person to hang out with, who has excellent advice.

He’s the first person I met at Stein-metz and we’ve been friends ever since then. I’m grateful for everything he’s done.

Everett has stood out at Steinmetz from his involvement in JROTC and as an MC at concerts and the fashion show. He’s outgoing and friendly with people of all ages.

“When I found out that Everett was into card tricks a few years ago, I asked him work with my son, Josh, who was also into that,” teacher Sharon Schmidt said. “Everett was willing to do this. He was patient, generous, fun, open and helpful to a little kid, a great representa-tive of Steinmetz students.”

The Star interviewed Everett.Do you have a role model?My mother is my motivation to keep

me going, to strive for greatness.Do you have any advice for oth-

ers to be as successful as you in high school?

Stay focused on your studies. Don’t let the negatives over power the posi-tives.

What was your game as a child?I loved playing Kingdom Hearts on

the Playstation 2. What’s your favorite activity?Mostly sleeping. And if I’m not

sleeping, I’m listening to music and playing video games with the homies.

Do you have any specific goals you want to achieve?

I want to get my parent out of the situation she’s going through at the mo-ment. She’s done so much for me the least I can do is return the favor for her.

What challenges are you facing?I’m trying to figure out how I’m go-

ing to pay for college, and when I get there finding a good roommate.

Do you have anything that you would like to add?

Always stay positive when times are down. Choose your friends wisely and find a friend like Erica Toro and, as al-ways, stay swagalicious.

What will you miss?I’m going to miss my main motiva-

tor, Briana Patton. I’m going to miss my amazing teachers Mr. Edwards, Ms. Buckmaster, Ms. Walsh, Ms. Oliver and Ms. Childs. •

By Monica Marroquin

Alex trans-ferred here his

senior year after attending Noble Rauner charter for his first three years of high school. Seeking better opportunities, he transferred to Stein-metz, where he found guidance that led him to enlist in the Army.

“I’m proud of my Army boy,” said his best friend Jovany Sanchez. “Alex is a good friend and deserves good things in his future.”

After graduation Alejandro is going to basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. Following the completion of his military contract Alejan-dro sees himself becoming a police officer in Los Angeles or in his home town Chicago.•

By Lara Banez

Patty is someone many people look up to. She was one of the captains of the

varsity volleyball team and an IB stu-dent.

Being a captain for a team was a big respon-sibility for her, that she would come to all the practices and games. She played as a setter on the team, which is an important position that sets the players allowing them to create good plays, but when she was unable to play, it was a challenge for the team because she was one of the players the team depended on.

Patty was one of those captains who helped and motivated others.

As an IB student, she has gone through difficulties, but with the help of her teachers, administrators and friends it paid off as she chooses which colleges she will be attending this fall. Her options are DePaul, Chamber-lain, or Triton. She is still undecided.

The Star interviewed teacher and coach Marie Chaparro about Patty.

What do you think of Patty?She is very smart but tends to procrastinate

because the work is so easy for her. She is very detailed and takes amazing notes. She never gives up and gets the job done. Part of it is because she is smart so she takes advantage of that and has a big heart. School work was her number one priority.

How was she as a volleyball player?She was a leader, always willing to help

others and has the love for the sport.What are you going to miss about her? Her great sense of humor, her dedication,

her hugs, laughter and smile.

The Star also interviewed Patty. Who will you miss the most?The teachers because they actually care

about you and succeeding in your work. How did you manage your time with

school, sports and friends at the same time? I didn’t get much sleep and I would hang

out with friends on weekends instead of week-days. Sometimes it didn’t work out because of the huge amount of work.

Will you come back and coach the girls volleyball team at Steinmetz?

Maybe not the first year but I might come back after I’m familiar with my schedule. •

By Aaron Borda

Alex Paszkowski is an Illinois State Scholar, Posse Semi-Finalist, National Honor Society member, mentor to

a freshman, had the highest team score on the Academic Decathlon team, is a member of the National Honor Society and was All Conference on the bowling team.

I’ve known Alex since our years at Bridge Elementary. It wasn’t until these past four years, however, that we became the good friends we are today. Our experiences shared in IB and in passing the time, out and about, are irreplaceable. I’ve been out of that pro-gram since September but that hasn’t kept his achievements out of my radar. I interviewed Alex about his successes and his list has be-come even more impressive.

“I didn’t expect State Scholar, but I heard about bowling from Chris Molina and took an interest,” he said. “I grew a lot from the sport and now join leagues and participate in tournaments.”

He said he has a thirst for knowledge that was satiated by AceDeca. Being a State Scholar is his favorite title because of the high achievement.

Alex isn’t all work all the time, however. He likes to play video games, restore shoes and obsess about cars.

It might be hard to imagine where a kid like this has the time to pursue these hob-bies so I asked where he first got interested in them.

“Life would be boring without friends,” Alex said. “My interest in shoes grew from the fact there’s a lot of self-expression involved in them. Cars have also been very important in my life, as well as an endless possibility which stems from them.”

Chris Molina, like Alex, was one of the many Bridge kids to come to Steinmetz who ended up also enrolling in the MYP/IB pro-gram. Chris and Alex weren’t close until the summer leading into freshman year, but that has since changed.

Their favorite memory shared is actually from that year, throwing a football everyday for two weeks straight and going to Wendy’s.

“Alex is persistent and ambitious to the point it’s annoying,” Chris said. “He’ll re-search things heavily until he’s got a complete understanding of the subject.”

Alex’s teachers appreciated his academic skills, personality and motivation.

“Alex was outspoken, funny and intelli-gent,” Elizabeth Perez said. “He’s not the most hard working, but he knows how to get by. He cares about school and is driven.”

Her favorite thing about him is his humor, saying that oftentimes she found the class hilarious and it was due to his table.

Ms. Perez also said, even if they weren’t in agreement about bigger subjects, Alex could use his humor to keep the interaction civil and interesting.

“Being funny, energetic, having his degree of boldness and his honesty,” made Alex stand out to Ms. Perez. “Even when he did some-thing wrong he would come clean about it.”

So that’s Alex for you. He’s an exceptional student, athlete, and friend, if you give him the chance. I know he’ll do great down at Arizona State, which is where he will be at-tending college.•

By Jasmine Milan

Cristina Perez has been a fantastic student. Not only is she an astonishing person, a hard worker, who motivates herself and

her friends, but also a beautiful and great mother to Arlette.

Balancing school with your personal life is challenging, but Cristina has adapted to make both things work. Her advice on keeping a healthy school and personal life is to plan things, keep yourself organized and always be a step ahead.

Not only is she an outstanding student but she’s an amazing friend. She is always there when you need her and is a great support system. Cris-tina always goes that extra mile just to make you smile.

She was in many activities – basketball, ASM, NHS and track. Outside of school she likes to walk, go on car rides, explore new places to eat, volunteer and listen to motivational speeches. A concern she has is climate change.

“Generations are going to live here and it’s important to keep earth safe,” she said.

Cristina said the things the cause her anxiety include germs, when when things are out of order and not scheduling appointments.

Many people don’t know she “has morals and nothing can get in between them,” she had, has a job and loves aggressive sports like speedball and basketball.

Her life plans is to attend medical school after receiving her bachelor’s degree, own a condo in Lakeview, become a doctor, be a kickass mom and have invested a lot of money. She wants to “beat statistics and rewrite the narrative.”

Cristina laughs a lot. Her idols are Les Brown and Eric Thomas. When she was young her favorite game was Red Light Green Light and her favorite toy a teddy bear, that she still has.

Some of her other favorites include alternative rock, broccoli cheddar soup and alfredo pasta, and the book “The Female Brain” by Louann Brizendine

Her favorite quote comes from Mother Teresa“People are often unreasonable, irrational, and

self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of self-

ish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may de-ceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” •

Alejandro Rosales

Alex Paszkowski Cristina Perez Everett Jennings

Nilsa Rodriguez

May-June 2017 Steinmetz Star 9

Star Senior Profiles 9

By Brenda Fuentes and Justin Baker

Emily is bub-

bly, fluffy and talented at makeup. She is honest with her friends about relationship issues, only concerned that she and others are making the right decisions.

Music teacher Anna Lesniakowska called Emily one of her best students.

“She is such a very nice, very cheerful and extremely smart girl,” Ms. L. said. “She was always on time and had great behavior. She was the best helper I’ve had.”

To Emily, and all graduates, Ms. L. advis-es: “Surround yourself with the right people and make the best decision possible.”

Emily’s best experience at Steinmetz was meeting her boyfriend, Arik, and meeting other amazing friends. She said she was thankful for teacher Stephanie Walker be-cause she helped a lot for colleges.

She used to go to Resurrection High School, but she had drama and the tuition was very high. She transferred to Steinmetz in her junior year.

Her goal is to be a cosmetologist and do famous people’s makeup. She wants to work at MAC for 20 years. She loves animals, makeup, her best friend Brenda, sweet stuff and parties.•

By Ariel Garcia

Briana Patton is such a

good person. “She’s silly

and caring and a great friend,” Taesean Brown-lee said.

She has always been there for me since freshman year. She has helped many students. I love her dearly, and I am really going to miss her when we graduate.

She will be going to Robert Morris Univer-sity and majoring in Culinary Arts.

Briana’s favorite restaurant to eat is Tacon-azo. She works hard in and out of school. She works at Taco Bell. She is allergic to straw-berries. She has two dogs named Kobey and Shorty. Her favorite color is blue. She loves going to Six Flags.

Her best friends are Xandria, Vanessa, Tae-sean and Amare. I like to call her Breezy Bree because she is in love with Chris Brown.

Taesean said that Briana takes forever to get ready. “The only thing I don’t like about her is her timing,” he said. “She could be on time; it don’t take that long to get ready.”

Briana, I just want to thank you for always being there for me, and always giving me ad-vice. I love you, Breezy Bree.•

By Jennifer Cruz

Anahi is an accom-plished

senior, who acheived a high GPA and was a National Honors Society member. She is also a ter-rific friend.

“Anahi helped me throughout high school by being my personal tutor,” Yalina Cruz said.

Anahi credits her parents for helping her.“My parents guided me to do well in school

because they want me succeed in life and fol-low my dreams,” Anahi said.

Her advice for others is to “never give up and to always push yourself to do more than you think you can.” •

By Jasmine Sanchez

Maikayla Evans is one of

the many amazing graduates in the Class of 2017.

One of her main activities in and out of school has been dance. She was involved in the Royal Heat and After School Matters dance teams. Outside of school she also likes to dance, as well as play sports like volleyball and soccer.

One of her most embarrassing moments was when she was in elementary school and while dancing, forgot the moves and almost fell. In spite of all the performing she has done, Maikayla said she is a “ very shy person and I have really bad stage fright.”

Besides dance, the other things that come easy to her are math and science. She has big plans for the future.

“My life plan is to go to college and get a degree in business management and become a choreographer,” she said. “Once I do that, I want to go back to school and get a degree to become a chef.”

Maikayla has a great personality. Her nick-name is Chocolate Honey Bun.

“Almost everything makes me laugh,” she said. She told the Star about when she was young, her sister fell outside and scraped her arm. “Me and her looked for hours to see if we could tape her arm back together.”

Maikayla likes to go to the mall and shop for heels. Her favorite book is “The Name of this Book is Secret.” Her challenge is waking up for school early every day.

“My advice to others,” she said, “is don’t ever let what someone says get to you and don’t let others put you down; continue to be yourself and strive to become the best person you can be.” •

By Francisco Mauricio

Imet Bryan Vinanzaca junior year

when we were shoot-ing this play King Lear for English and he was very outgoing. We became friends over the summer quick.

Academically, he’s always met his standards and personally, he’s always been there for me throughout my whole senior year.

Senior Joe Valenzuela has known Bryan for 13 years.

“Bryan is a young man still growing up,” he said. “He doesn’t inspire me, unless it’s to work out. ‘Bbeee’ is a cherished friend.”

I asked Bryan a few questions.What inspires you to play basketball?I’m not much of a “hooper” but I like the

sport itself. It is a good way to get exercise and have fun.

Who’s your best friend and why?Giselle Gonzalez, because she’s always kept

it real with me and she’s trustworthy.What are your goals after high school?Enjoy life and see where I go. •

By Aileen Carreto

Jazmilette is a successful senior who

did so much in this school by par-ticipating in many different activities. She’s very dedi-cated to her work and always pushes herself to do her best.

She participated in volleyball, softball, dance team, marching band, the SCORE Program and After School Matters.

Her personality is one of her best qualities; once people get to know her they realize the recognition she deserves. She is optimistic, open to new things and always ready to help someone else.

Teachers appreciate Jazmilette. She learns easily and adapts to new environments.

“She has a lot of ambition and a strong work ethic as well as being very dedicated and a committed student,” Mr. Hasken said. “She’s a very talented flute player, who has been playing since middle school.”

Jazmilette said band and volleyball will be two activities she will miss.

“I will miss volleyball because not only was it a positive and loving environment but be-cause of the relationship I was able to develop with my coaches,” she said. “I will truly miss the example Ms. Russo has given me of being a strong woman. She makes sure she represents the amazing person she is. I’ve been beyond blessed to have an amazing person and role model in my life.

“I’ll also miss band and the guidance I always got from Mr. Hasken. Whenever I needed help he was always there to lend a hand. He always made sure I was able to com-plete my assignments and always made sure that I felt safe in the environment. He was basically like a brother to me; he’s okay.”

Senior Sonia Badillo said Jazmilette is friendly and outgoing.

“She’s kind and wants the best for every-one,” Sonia said. “She tries her best to make sure everyone feels comfortable and in place.”

Jazmileete isn’t afraid of anything.“She isn’t afraid of getting judged, she’s not

shy at all,” Sonia said. “Jazmilette tells you the truth about everything. Her personality is radiant.”•

By Iridian Lagunas

Lissette San-doval is an inspiration.

She’s a strong and intelligent young woman. With just one look at her you know she’s going to do many great things in her life.

Anyone that meets her is lucky to have her wonderful sense of humor. Lissette’s character is one of a kind. She’s admirable, kind and her integrity is impeccable.

She’s enlisting in the Army, which is brave and honorable. The military isn’t for everyone and she’s powerful for making a decision like that.

The experiences she’ll go through will defi-nitely change her, but without a question I know she’ll be one of the best. You can see it in her eyes that she’ll do anything she sets her mind to. •

Emily Mercado

Jesus Calderon

Lissette Sandoval

Jazmilette Machado Maikayla Evans Bryan Vinanzaca Briana Patton

By Jasmine Milan

Jesus Calderon has been

a magnificent student, excel-ling academical-ly, athletically and personally. Being in a rig-orous program and learning new things has shaped who he is. It will have an impact on the plans he has for the future. He’s grown, tackling everything that has gone his way.

He played baseball and softball, partici-pated in science fair and volunteered at the Forest Preserve. Jesus grew up in Little Village, living there since he was in the womb. He travels about 13.5 miles just to get to school everyday.

What most people don’t know about him is that he’s actually really smart. He also tran-sitioned from being in the streets to someone respected with substantial goals.

Outside of school, Jesus likes to read busi-ness books and self improvement books. He also likes to attend business, real estate, in-surance agency and investment meetings. His idol is John Bogle, an American investor, business magnate and philanthropist. He is the founder and retired chief executive of The Vanguard Group. Jesus likes his success and humility.

His greatest stresses and what causes him the most anxiety in his life is being sick, not having money, not doing what was assigned, traffic, repeating himself, his pets and when people don’t return his favors.

Jesus’s life plan is to be the founder and CEO of Life Financial Group, travel around the world, own a lot of real estate, become a philanthropist and donate money hospitals. Jesus doesn’t plan to attend college due to hav-ing a life plan set up in where he will succeed and go very far.•

Anahi Mendoza

Chris Ramos

By Steven Nunez

Chris Ramos plans to be a fashion de-signer. After going to Wright College, to bring up his GPA, he hopes to trans-

fer to New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

He is inspired by the 80’s, Picasso and Gi-anni Versace. He prefers to wear streetwear and vintage couture. He has modeled, but would rather be a designer.

As someone who cares so much about fash-ion, he never followed the Steinmetz uniform policy. He said it would be “stealing freedom of expression.”

High school went very fast for him. He appreciated teachers Beth Perez and Rachel Rezny who cared for him and pushed him to do well. His advice to others is to “keep your thirst.”•

10 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star Senior Profiles10

By Christian Perez

Sebastian Nunez is an excel-

lent student and athlete, on his way to North-ern Illinois University.

Sophomore year was his best because we had a phenom-enal basketball team that year. The team won Conference Championship with overall 23-6 record and conference went 8-2.

Sebastian has also ran cross country and played volleyball and water polo.

Sebastian had joyful, memorable moments. His high school experience has been great. He made a lot of new friends and learned a whole lot.

He stopped teasing his younger brother Steven, and the two became very close. They do everything together.

He appreciated his teachers and coaches, especially basketball coach Brad Dowling.

“I will miss it so much when I leave Stein-metz, all the sports and the friends here,” Se-bastian said. “I’ll always look back at where I came from.” •

By Yael Gutierrez

Johan Gonzalez is an

outstanding senior and excellent friend.

He sings in his band, the Locos, a three-person reggaeton band. His idol is Daddy Yankee, who he says is one of the best in the business.

Johan is also a good athlete. One of the most embarrassing moments that happened to him occurred at the gym. He was playing basketball and he got pantsed by one of his friends. It’s one of the many good memories he has to share with people, being the good sport he is.

Johan has a great fear of black cats. He isn’t scared of them crossing the road and getting back luck. Instead, he’s just afraid of getting mauled by them. That obviously makes him a dog person, and his favorite breed is huskies.

His goal is to be civil with everyone he meets and to pass math. After high school he’s going to take classes at Wright and later transfer to a four-year university. In the future he wants to pursue a career in modeling. •

By Jessy Martinez

Viviana (Vivi) Reyes

has been a role model student since her fresh-man year. With hard work and dedication, Vivi is acheiving her goals.

After graduation, Vivina will attend the college of her dreams, University of Illinois Ur-bana Champaign. She will major in chemistry, thanks to her teacher who taught Viviana to love it. Her career goal is to be a pharmacist.

What makes Viviana an inspirational per-son for me and others is that throughout high school she has always kept a positive mind. She never lost motivation throughout the way. She managed to maintain a 4.0 GPA since freshman year. Almost all people have slacked off or given up at times, but not Vivi. She has always been an ambitious person.

She thanks her parents for their support and help wise.

“My parents have always taught me that hard work pays off,” she sid.

So far she has visited Canada, Mexico, California, Arizona, Florida, and Washington. She plans to continue her list during this sum-mer and later on in the years.

Vivi has an amazing personality and has always been there to help others to keep mo-tivated. “People think I’m quiet, but they are wrong,” she said. “Once I get comfortable I’m a non-stop talker.”

Just like any other teen, Vivi’s number one habits are sleep and shopping. She also loves spending time with her friends, especially Me-lissa Garcia who has been her best friend since freshman year. •

By Stephanie Gonzalez

Catrina Kelley is a supportive, friendly person, who has so many great qualities and added so much to Steinmetz. The

Star interviewed her in May.She served as the Vice President in the Se-

nior Class. She bowled, participated in Com-munities United, GSA (Gay Straight Alliance), and was the Boys Baseball & Softball Manager, which is why she’s known as “Coach Kelley.”

She moved a lot when she was younger and lived in Florida.

People appreciate her excellent attitude and the way she maintains balance.

“I just go with the flow,” she said.The Star interviewed some people who

know Catrina very well.“Catrina is a very caring person who dedi-

cates herself to the team and devoted a lot of her time to be part of the team’s success,” Coach Renato Roldan said. “As a coach she is efficient and committed and most definitely played the mom role by reminding the guys about their grade checks and not letting them slack off. I am very thankful for her years of commitment in boys softball and baseball and I’m going to miss her. But I do wish her well in her future!“

Catrina’s friend Aqeel Rasheed said his favorite memories of were the talks they had driving home from bowling.

“Catrina is reliable,” he said. “When she says she’s got your back she means it.”•

Catrina Kelley

Sebastian Nunez Vivi Reyes Johan Gonzalez

Rubi TrujilloBy Vanessa Tomayo

Rubi Trujillo, called “Cielo,” by her

family, ran track, cross country and participated in the cardio club. She also enjoyed being in JROTC.

What did you get to do because of ROTC?

I went to JCLC twice in summers of junior and senior year, I loved it. You get to do so many fun activities that anyone interested in the Army would love.

During senior year my friend, Nathalie Angulo-Perez won a Washington D.C trip over the spring break, where we stayed the whole week. We got to go to the White House and different historical places that we both enjoyed.

What do you like to do outside of school?I mostly work when I’m not in school, and

when I’m not working I hang out either with my family or sometimes friends but I mostly work. I also read a lot.

Is there anything else we should know?I really enjoyed high school a part from

sometimes feeling frustrated and stressed out a lot. At the end I think I will miss high school and I’ll miss a lot of my teachers and friends.•

By Leslie Gatica

Melissa Garcia is an intel-

ligent, indepen-dent, nice person and a hard working student. She is known by people for being an energetic and outgoing person. When you’re with her there is nothing but laughs and giggles. She’s also very known to be very paisa, which means very Mexican.

She tried to do all the best she could do academically. The Star interviewed teacher Victoria Serritella, who said Melissa was a good student.

“She had near perfect attendance, always completed work, was a supportive peer, she cares about the product she puts out, she does things well done,” Ms. Serritella said. Melissa’s way of “reaching out for support” was also something teachers liked.

“The biggest growth I’ve seen in Melissa is self confidence, Ms. Serritella said. “She’s gone from a shy, introverted girl to a self-confident, extroverted young women. More willing to speak for herself, takes ownership of her pres-ent and future goals. She’s learning how to stay true to herself and values.”

The Star interviewed Melissa.How do you keep a healthy life balance?First of all, I don’t even do my homework.

But basically you keep focused on school and on classes and outside of school I put work first and then it’s my friends. School is stress-ful, but not social life. That’s the escape from stress of school.

What are your greatest stresses?Senior stuff and keeping up with all the

senior requirements, the big projects like the senior paper were very stressful. I wait till the last minute, because I’m a very lazy person.

What are your challenges? Doing things on time and going to all my

classes. Feeling like everything is on my shoul-ders. Keeping myself away from the phone.

What comes easy to you? It’s a piece of cake to get good grades, make

friends and be social.•

Melissa Garcia

Nicole Zacny By Lexi Rosch

Nicole has been a great friend

and student all four years of high school. I’ve known Nicole since we were in 5th grade and she always stuck by my side throughout high school.

She is going to further her education by going to Oakton Community College and earning her Associate’s Degree.

“I will miss the teachers, especially Ms. Serritella,” Nicole said.

She advises the underclassmen to stay out of trouble.

“Make sure you’re here everyday and no getting into trouble,” Nicole said. “118 shouldn’t know you your first year because of discipline issues. Make sure you stay on top of everything while you’re here.”

Her friends and teachers know her as a good person and a fantastic student.

Rikeya Hargrove said she saw her face and overcome many struggles. Nicole would help her and give her guidance with the situation.

Teacher Victoria Serritella watched Nicole grow into a strong and independant women over the years. She is proud to see her working hard and getting her priorities straight.

“Nicole is a good student and she shows concern for the work that she is responsible for completing; she rarely misses assignments,” Ms. Serritella said. “She is helpful towards her peers. And I love her.” •

Giselle Bucio and Jocelyn Garcia

By Vinnie Rivera

Giselle Bucio and Joscelyn Garcia were popular and well known in the senior class because they participated in a

lot of activities, met lots of people and made many friends. Jocelyn played basketball and was in JROTC. Giselle played volleyball and absolutely loves going to church.

They both dealt with common struggles of waking up in the morning everyday and staying committed to going to school, learning how to be independent.

“I’m really going to miss Ms. Seritella for always pushing us and giving us motivation and inspiration,” Jocelyn said.

“I’m going to miss high school itself,” Giselle said. “Everyone says, ‘I can’t wait to leave,’ but once you’re actually done with ev-erything you’re an adult and life hits you as soon as you cross that stage. My freshman year they said high school was going to go by very quick and now that I think about it, it did, and I’m truly gonna miss it.”•Isaiah RomanBy Jade Aguilar

Isaiah is one of those stu-dents many

aspire to be like. He is very dedi-cated to help his community, he is fun to be with and very down to earth.

Continued on the next page

May-June 2017 Steinmetz Star 11

By Rikeya Hargrove

Lexi Rosch was successful stu-dent athlete,

who will be going to Robert Morris University on a volleyball scholarship. She will be studying criminal justice and forensic science.

She said she will miss friends, especially Nicole Zachny, Chris Ramos and Christhian Torres. “I love Lexi so much,” Nicole said. “She has come such a long way.”

Teacher Victoria Serritella said Lexi im-proved over the past two years she was in OneGoal. Lexi said she’ll miss Ms. Serritella and everyone in 118.

“I will forever remember Spirit Week and prom,” Lexi said, “and when I pied Ms. Wil-liams in the face at the lock in.”•

Star Senior Newspaper Staff Profiles 11

By Ronald Evans

Senior Carlos Flores is an striving student who believes helping people will benefit us all. He is a hard working senior who

overcame all of his challenges “Contributing to the psychology of hu-

manity and benefiting humans with nutri-tion,” Carlos said, explaining his passion and ambitions he’s going to look forward to during his college years.

He’s going to Northern Illinois University with a major in Psychology and minor in Nutrition.

He spent four years playing on the football team as defensive end and tight end.

Carlos likes to play basketball workout and drink protein shakes, along with playing football. His favorite memory is when Justyn Williams caught the football on defense.

Continued on Page 20

By Sharon Schmidt, teacher

The first time I noticed Jade was

in the summer of 2015 when she and other students spoke at a Chicago Board of Educa-tion meeting, protesting budget cuts.

When Jade spoke she became emotional because of the concern she had for all the people at Steinmetz. She spoke passionately about the unfairness of inequitable funding.

I was impressed then, and I have continued to be impressed, by her committment to oth-ers, her insight into the way those in charge often abuse their power and the way she uses her gifts to organize for stronger communities.

“I’m very upfront, motivated to work on issues, even if they don’t impact me,” she said.

This year I was thrilled to have Jade in journalism. She set the tone for respectful, interesting and honest discussions all year.

I also gladly shared my lunch period with her everyday. I enjoyed every minute, as she is a mature, compassionate person, with a great sense of humor.

When the Star received the award for Over-all Superior Newspaper this year, I gave the certificate to Jade. Without her, I don’t think our staff would have had the same committ-ment to investigating problems and exposing injustice.

I remember how readily Jade took charge of some of the reporting on the uniform policy last fall. It was she who wanted to interview the LSC president. It was she who called up the uniform vendor to find out how much profit he was making from the shirts.

Continued on Page 20

By Izabella Kulik

Kinga Kamila Tarasie-

wicz is a hard working, warm hearted, dedi-cated person. She has done well academi-cally, ranking near the top of the class. She is grateful for the support she receives at home.

“My parents are the most important people I can count on; I can go to them anytime and they will understand me,” Kinga said. “They are like my best friends.”

She has a good relationship with both of her siblings, too. Her sister said that on a scale of 1-100 they’re as close as “100, but she doesn’t accept my love.” She remembers when she and Kinga were in Disney and ran into the wrong hotel room.

Kinga’s sister also spoke of when they would have cute movie nights and pig out. When she was younger, Kinga wanted to be an actress.

Kinga was a very active student in Stein-metz. Even though this wasn’t her first choice of high school she made something out of it. She was in MYP/IB for two and half years.

“I was so glad when Kinga transferred into my class after leaving IB,” teacher Sha-ron Schmidt said. “She’s an excellent student and has a great attitude.”

Kinga sees her strengths as knowing how to talk to people. She changed from junior to senior year by becoming more confident, going out more and working full time. She’s looking forward to graduating, but knows she will miss it.

Her future goal, after finishing school, is to work in real estate. In 10 years she would like to be working in her own office and be the top realtor.

Kinga’s motto is “Follow your heart, no matter what. There will be bumps in the road.”•

By Kinga Tarasiewicz

It is easy to evalu-ate what type of person Izabella

Kulik is consider-ing she is one of my closest friends. I have known her my whole high school life.

Iza made a big change in her life. As of now, Izabella is a determined person, dedi-cated towards her school work, family, friends, and work overall. From a troubled teenager to a mature adult, Izabella Kulik has come a long way.

What activities have you been in? I was a part of soccer, Polish club and any-

thing I have time for. Where have you traveled?I have been to a lot of places. It is just

amazing how every place is so different. I have been to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Canada, Poland, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Puerto Vallarta, and Wisconsin. I liked Mexico the best because of the beautiful view and the fun experience.

What are your challenges?I struggle with achieving my goals but I

know I will not give up.What comes easy to you?I am a very outgoing person so talking to

people always comes easy.What do people not know about you?Most people don’t know how hard I actu-

ally work and that I try my best.Interview with Angelina Klim, friendWhat type of friend is Izabella?Iza is a very loud and loving; she’s a loyal

friend, always there for you.Has Izabella always cared about school?Iza hit a rough patch at the beginning of

high school, but with help she got back on track.

Where do you see Izabella in 10 years?I see her in an office or in the medical field.

She is very determined and will go far.Continued on Page 20

By Carlos Flores

Ronald Evans is an excellent journalist and also an amazing individual. He brightens up the room with a great

personality. “He’s truly an inspiration,” Christhian

Torres said. “Ronald is a very loving person. He’s a goal seeker, when he puts his mind to something, he goes forth and achieves it. I’m going to miss his bright smile and his jokes.”

While he plans on majoring in marketing or computer engineering, he also received a scholarship for journalism when he won Stu-dent Journalist of the Year by the McCormick Media Awards..

He covered many stories for the Star over the past two years, the most important on the impact of murders on residents of the Austin neighborhood.

Continued on Page 20

Jade AguilarRonald Evans Carlos FloresAhmari Owens

Lexi Rosch

Jessy Martinez

Kinga Tarasiewicz Izabella Kulik

Ryan Allibone

By D’Angelo Wordlaw

Ahmari Owens is a mature,

hard working young woman, who was appreci-ated by many stu-dents and teachers at Steinmetz.

“What a joy it was to have Ahmari in class this year,” Sharon Schmidt journal-ism teacher said. “She got along well with everyone and did fantastic work.”

In addition to putting in an excllent ef-fort in all her classes, Ahmari worked outside of school. In her free time, she likes to shop, go to movies, go to the mall and spend time with her boyfreind.•

By Eduardo Perea

Yesenia Martinez, better known as “Jessy” or

Daddy/Papi, is an inspirational person for making a big change academically and per-sonally.

During freshman year, Jessy was the typi-cal trouble maker who would always be in 118 or in in-school suspension. This went on for about two and a half years until she took a big turn in her life when teacher Vic-toria.Serritella nominated her for OneGoal Ambassador. That’s when she realized that she had to change her lifestyle for she knew she was going down the wrong path in life.

As a strong human being who has over-come many obstacles in her life without giving up, she is an inspiration for a lot of people.

Going to college wasn’t in Jessy’s life plan, but thanks to Ms.Serritella her way of thinking changed. She now intends to attend community college then transfer to a university.

“My favorite memory with Jessy has been when we started talking again and we both got emotional,” Christhian Torres said. “And for Jessy to get emotional, it takes a lot,”

Jessy is independent and has a good sense of humor. She has become more mature and self-assured.

“She is very friendly, even though she has a mean muggin face,” Cynthia Arroyo said. “She’s outspoken, in a good way. She always has something to say.” •

Isaiah, continued from the previous pageIsaiah transferred here after two years at

Lane. He soon realized Steinmetz’ the great po-tential and has worked ever since to improve it.

He volunteered with Northwest Side Hous-ing Center, a nonprofit organization in Bel-mont Cragin, and worked with the alderman on gaining ward participatory budget funding for Steinmetz. He spoke out regularly this year, when the school community or students have been threatened.•

By Elise Guillen and Agape Alfaro

Ryan Allibone is one of the most beloved and well-known faces in Steinmetz’s halls. His long list of extra curricular

activities includes his multi-year participa-tion on the drama club, Academic Decathlon team, the half-marathon club, poetry club, Louder Than a Bomb competition and the Steinmetz Star.

Continued on Page 20

12 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star Prom12

May-June 2017 Steinmetz Star 13

Layout and photos by Steven NunezMore prom photos on Steven’s photography Facebook page:PhtevenPhotographySCP Prom 17

Star Prom 13

14 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star Seniors: Shout Outs14

Shout outs to my two best friends, Cassandra Delgado and Jasmine Flores, for always being there for me when I need someone to talk to, for loving me for me, and for being the “Queens” we strive to be. Andy Lagunas

To best friends for always being there

I would like to send a shout out to all of the graduating seniors. I want to send a spe-cial shout out to the students I had in Civics, Contemporary American History and IB His-tory of the Americas. I have greatly enjoyed teaching you all. I also have been marveled by your sense of curiosity, participation and intellectualism. Keep up the great work always.

Jason Mink

To the Class of 2017

Congratulations to the Class of 2017. I am so proud of your victories and look forward to hearing about your accomplishments.

Love, Ms. Moumji

I would like to shout out to all my seniors in my Music Appreciation classes.

First Period: Tahsheka Alexander, Cath-erine Delgado, De’Undre Garner, Giselle Gonzalez, Nick Kozikowski, Marcus Lee, Eric Roman, Alexandra Segiviana, Vanessa Sotello, Kiara Toney, Jordy Vargas, and Peter Walkosz. Thank you for being the reliable way to begin my school day.

Second Period: Anton Gallegos, Karina Mendoza, Miguel Meneses, and Jose Sevilla. Your maturity and leadership helped the underclassmen become better students and participants in class. I appreciate your posi-tive influence.

Fourth Period: Aaron Borda, Roberto Fernandez, Joy Padilla, Daniel Piwowarczyk, and Carlos Rangel. (and you too, Max!) Your genuine interest in the subject and class par-ticipation helped the ‘reluctant’ less mature class members do better. Thank your for your maturity and credibility.

Sixth Period: Cesar Balderas and Angelica Wasilewski. You two were the outpost of stam-ina in the afternoon. I hope the underclass-men remember your example as they proceed through high school. Thank you for being role models.

Seventh Period: Teyana Alexander, Klaudia Batko, Anthony Camacho, Christian Diaz, Carlos Flores, and Richard Flores. You guys displayed patience when things got chaotic and as the personalities changed during the school year. Your consistency was an ever present message. The entire class has become better students simply because you displayed self control and the occasional ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ stare when it was deserved. Thanks for setting the standard. You can al-ready see the results.

To all of you: Please stay in touch. I’m very excited about

your futures.I want to give a huge rainbow shout out

to the LGBTQ students and allies — in my classes, GSA members, students in the build-ing (you know who you are) — for bringing joy to my life. You trust me to be your genuine selves and it is your gift to me. Keep being yourselves and create a positive community around you. Happy Pride Month.

Vanessa Soto: Please keep playing the violin and stay in

touch. With teacher love, Ms. Zaluba

Shout outs to seniors from Ms. Zaluba

To my IB classmates

To all my IB classmates, whether we’re close or not, you’ve all been amazing people to me. We may have fought with each other and dis-agreed with one another at some point these past four years, but I’m so glad to know that we still worked together, helped and moti-vated each other. We’ve gone through sleepless nights, hours of testing, and days of hard work.

I am proud of each and every one of you. We’ve all seen each other at our worst mo-ments and our best moments. I’ve met story-tellers, poets, comedians, future doctors, and teachers these past four years.

I think we can all mutually agree that we’ll all be future gamblers from all of our expe-rience playing UNO and other card games together. Just kidding... sort of.

IB seniors, I’m so happy that I’ve met you. I’m joyed with all the memories we’ve shared. I wish you all the best after we graduate, you all deserve it.

And lastly, I would simply like to thank all my IB classmates who’ve I met these past four years for providing a fantastic high school experience. Adriana Cortes

To my girlfriends and new friends

To all my girlfriends, especially Patty, Sandy, Karla, Carmen, Dalia, Daysi, and Daisy you all know I love you dearly, I appreciate you all so much. (Sorry you’re in this picture Alvaro, it’s the only picture I found with all of us together.) Adriana

To my new friends I’ve met this year, I wish I met you all two years earlier. I wish we were as close as we are now, two years ago, not my last year at Steinmetz.

Galileo, Spicy, Vicky, Ana, Henry, Eryk, Marcus, Kyle and Greg, you all came in a big package. You’re all a group of friends that happened to let me in only because I was really bad at math. I’ve never seen a group of friends have a strong bond as you all do.

Never take it for granted. I have a strong feeling your relationship will remain strong in the future. I hope to hear all about your successes next year when you are all seniors.

Adriana

Dayna Dayson, I’ve met you this year and

you’re the sweetest, smartest fresh-man I’ve met. I was honored to be your mentor this year. I hope you enjoy Steinmetz as much as I did. I hope you continue playing sports and bond with the staff and find amazing friends as I did.

Feel free to contact me if you ever want to talk. You deserve the best of the best, Dayna.

Adriana

To the Steinmetz staff from Adriana CortesTo the staff that’s had me in their classroom these past

four years, I thank you so much for your efforts to teach us new things.

Ms. Ferrarini, I’m sorry that I am so bad at pronouncing your name, something I’ve wanted to apologize for since my junior year. You’ve confused us, lectured us, and taught us a lot these past two years. You’ve always been so patient with us. You take on a lot, and we’ve noticed how hard you work. I appreciate you for teaching us so much. I appreciate the fact that you took an extremely hard course and taught it to us in the most relatable way, using real life examples. I appreciate the fact that you took your class time to help us

with our college essays and applications. Although, you may not have wanted to, you played a variety of roles in our lives. One of the many roles is that you’ve been a mom to us. Your continuous motivation kept us all afloat.

Mrs. Ochwat, you also played the role of a mom. You gave us countless lectures about life. You’ve told us about your life experiences and made us reflect on the choices we’ve made in our own lives. You made us really think about what we want in our future, and what actions we need to take to succeed. I also hope you do open “Dorothy’s Bakery,” as you once mentioned in class.

Mrs. Doyle, Ms. Hank, Mr. Mink, Mrs. Sullivan, Mrs.

Mark, Mr. Kotcherha, all of your classes have been wonderful. You’re all great teachers, you’ve all guided us and helped us tremendously to succeed in high school. Although, you’re not required to be friends with students or talk to students, but I appreciate that you all were open to talking with us if we’ve ever needed it. Steinmetz has wonderful staff members. I’ve come across wonderful teachers, security guards, lunch staff, engineers, and custodians.

Thank you to the staff that makes our school a better place, and I hope CPS appreciates their hard workers as much I ap-preciate the Steinmetz staff.

Adriana Cortes

To the recycling club

Thank you for your wonderful service and for teaching us to take care of our environ-ment. The Steinmetz Community

May-June 2017 Steinmetz Star 15

Star Seniors: Shout Outs 15

Shoutout to the Class of 2017. We’re definitely the best class this school has seen in awhile. We’ve had the best school spirit, the best friendships, the best collaborations and the best unity as a whole class. Good luck to you all, and I hope only good things come your way. Adriana Cortes

Good luck to the Class of 2017, the best class Steinmetz has seen

I want to give a shout out to Laura Es-trada for always being by my side, for all the memories we’ve shared together, and for always feeding me. Truly appreciate you.

Andrea Perez

I just want to give a shout out to Mr. Ed-wards for being a positive role model through-out the school year. I want to thank Ms. Childs for her hard work and dedication to me and the fashion show.

Shout out to Klaudia Batko for being an-other person who pushed me to success. And to Erica, for being my best homie for all four years. Stay swagalicious always,

Everett Jennings

To Laura

To Mr. Edwards, Ms. Childs, Erica and Klaudia

To Mr. Pereyra for being the best teacher

Thank you for being the best. You always know how to light up my day and you always give me the best life advice. You will truly be missed and I wish you the best. Mr. Pereyra, you are a great teacher and I’m happy I was able to be in your class.

Forever your favorite,Klaudia Batko

To Datxy

Thank you, Datxy, for giving me candy every day during third period. Good luck. I’ll miss you.

Sandra Castrejon

To Anthony Morgan-KitchShout out to Anthony, it took all two and

a half years, but I would not have changed a thing. You always ask me what I want, any-thing you can do for me and the answer will always be the same, I have you and that’s more than enough for me. You are my best friend, food provider, procrastinating buddy, my rock, and my love. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, I love you.

Also, to my friends, I love you guys and no one will be quite like you. Angie

I want to make a shout out to this amazing girl, Sandra Castrejon, who I have known for a couple of years now. We got closer in our last year. I just want to wish you the best in the Navy and hope you have fun. Also, thank you for laughing at my jokes, even though I know they are not funny.

Datxy

To SandraTo Anthony

To Luis, I hope that you have a

fun life at Wright getting ripped and swoll. You’re always gonna be second best compared to me, but you can dream.

To Abraham,. I hope that you’ll

eventually find his way to Urbana- Champaign because you were too much of a scrub to go there right away, and you’ll never out Naruto me.

Peter Szczech

To Luis Fernandez and Abraham Portillo

To Jade Aguilar for saying it like it is

Shout out to Jade Aguilar, for being the most honest person in this building. You always say it like it is. Thanks for always sharing your views as a transgender woman. You are truly an inspiration from all you have been through, always being on top. Thanks for being an active participant in this world. We all love you.

Frank, JayAnn, Lara, Erika and Millie

You’re super cool. Teresa Sanchez

To Gabriella Sanchez

16 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star Seniors: Shout outs16

Some of you are missing from these images, and some of you have moved on to other places, but I am grateful for all of you. When teachers reflect at the end of the year on where they missed the mark, how they might have improved their classrooms, avoided conflicts, and better supported their students, thinking of all of you makes me feel happy. I also feel a pride I have no right to because it was and is all of you who did the work. I can’t wait to see the futures you will carve and the improvements you will make to our world. Congratulations. Ms. E

I would like to give a shoutout the baseball team for going undefeated two years in a row it’s been a good time, besides getting hit with helmets all the time (Zac).

Thanks to the homies Roldan and Lefty for helping me get through these two years and constantly pushing me to do better.

Julie and Claudio Medrano, you two have done the most for me this year and have treat-ed me like your daughter. I love you guys and can’t wait to go to Bdubs.

I couldn’t forget about Aqeel and Chris-thian for making so many good memories especially during bowling season.

Lastly, I would like to give a huge shoutout to my baby, Jordan. Thank you for dealing with me acting like I crybaby all the time. I love you. Catrina Kelly

To teachers for help with service hours

To Digital Media 2017 graduates from Ms. Eichstaedt

A great big shout out to all the teachers who helped with our transition year to the new Service Learning rules, especially those who helped seniors meet their requirements:

Ms. Russo and Ms. Szulkowski for tracking Saturday Minions from January through June;

Ms. Serritella and Ms. Walker for Senior Seminar and One Goal projects; Ms. Bates for Art projects;

Ms. Mark for creating Art projects for all of her classes;

Mr. Pereyra for once again running en-vironmental field trip projects throughout the year;

Ms. Rivera for her mentoring projects; Mr. Mitropoulos for healthy lifestyles proj-

ect options; Mr. Mink for stepping up to the plate to

meet the Civics demand; Ms. Ferrarini for handling IB seniors’ CAS

on her own; Ms. Jotwani for the civics les-son field trip about charter schools, and the Counseling Dept. for helping deal with the blowback from students who couldn’t use vol-unteer work toward the graduation require-ment. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Judith Eichstaedt

To the Class of 2017 and OneGoal 2010

To the Class of 2017I have truly enjoyed getting to know you

all this year. Keep envisioning yourself ac-complishing your goals and nothing will stop you from achieving them.

Love, Serritella To One Goal Class of 2021I love each of you like you were my own.

We have been through a lot over the last two years. Throughout our ups and downs, I have never stopped believing in you and the strength each of you has inside yourselves. Use that strength to overcome whatever stands in your way. Be the leadership principles. I will be by your side to support you through the good and the not so good.

Love, Serritella

To Ms. SerritellaI want to give a shout out to Ms. Serritella

for always believing in me and pushing me to do better. Lexi Rosch

Thank you for always being there for me. Love you, Mama. Rikeya Hargrove

To Mr. Mitropoulos Shout out to Mr. Mitropoulos for being a

great PE teacher. Edgar Hurtado

To Ivan

I love you, kid. Thank you for always be-ing there for me. You’re a pain, but you’re my pain. Although we go through a lot of BS, we still manage to stick around. I appreciate you, gordo.

Diana Sandoval

To DianaDear Diana Jasmin Sandoval Reyes,I write this to thank you, another time,

for letting me be a part of your life. You never gave up on me, even when I hardly ever no-ticed you. You always stared at me and looked after me from a distance, which was a little creepy, but it paid off. After all of our fights, arguments, laughter and fun, for some odd reason I still seem to find you in my arms or me in yours.

Listen, Linda, you know that even though you have your “friends,” your people who say they support you, nobody will really be there like I have. Nobody will handle your stuff like I do. I’ll never be mean to you, never call you names, all the things that your so called friends do. Instead, I’ve always been supporting you, no matter how stupid it is.

Everyone who has ever talked mad crap about us, saying that we are just hurting each other, they are just jealous of us and don’t know how to have fun like you and me do. You know that we will always satisfy each other’s needs and we’ll both be happy regardless of the situation. Sugar Daddy Rico

From Catrina Kelly

To Raziel IluminCongratulations on graduating, baby,

you’ve worked so hard for you to go to big things and I’ll be here by your side, you have made both high school and my life better. Thanks for everything that you have done.

From, Henry

To friends so close they’re another family

I want to give a huge thank you to all those who have helped me and put up with me. I know I can be a handful, but they were always there and thank you To all the friends that have been with me since sophomore year like Anthony, Christian and Jennifer C. They have been with me the longest and I’ll never forget them.

Also, to those who I made friends with along the years, like Anyela, Nate, Marie, Julissa, Yaneth, Andre. The best group I’ve ever met. They make me laugh when I was down and they’re just as weird as I am.

Also my soccer buddies Lissett and Tamora, without them the team wouldn’t have laughs. And my wonderful pair, Jennifer and Virgen. who would always get in arguments for no reason but yet we always ended up together, no matter the drill. All four of them complete each other and without them I wouldn’t have put as much effort to things. I wish them the best and hopefully after we reunite again.

To all, I will miss you guys. You are no longer friends, but sisters and brothers. You’re my other family.

Evelyn Antolino

May-June 2017 Steinmetz Star 17

Star Seniors: Shout outs 17To my friends from Melissa Tello To my love

To my sister

To Sgt. Davis

Shout out to you guys. Thanks for making my four years filled with memories and laugh-ter. I hope our paths cross again at some point in life. No matter where life takes us, I hope you all succeed at whatever you do. Class of 2017. Melissa Tello

Thanks for always giving the best advice and caring about your students. You never fail to make someone smile. God bless you. Melissa

I am so proud of you for your growth and all you have accomplished thus far. Keep stay-ing focused and motivated to do great things. No matter what, keep moving forward for you and only you. I know you got this. You are very smart and I believe in you. Continue making your family proud. I’ll be right behind you, whenever you need me. I love you. Enjoy your senior year next year.

Your sissy, Melissa

Thank you for always being there for me. You have been the best and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. Stay on track and don’t get into trouble. I love you.

Melissa

To friends from Jessica Lopez

Shout out to this girl Ofelia,You’ve been there for me since we met because of soccer. Also, I’ve felt like I’ve known you

since the longest. I’m going to miss you so much as we go our separate ways. I hope college goes awesome for you. Jessica

Jessy, even though we met last year, girl, I can honestly say you’ve been one of my real friends because I can be myself and we’re such goofballs. I’m going to miss hanging out with you and getting to be close friends. I’m going to miss you so much. Jessica

Shout out to Emily, Ayyyy, girl. I’m leaving in a few weeks. How sad is this? But I can say that our friendship is going to keep being the same. We be so random at times, but seriously, we’re a mess together and that’s okay. I’m going to miss you so much. I hope next year your senior year goes as awesome as mine. Take care and I’ll keep in touch. Jessica

Yessi, I’m glad we got super close this year even though it’s our last year because I know soon we will be moving our separate ways, but we’ll keep in touch. I’m happy I got to meet a person like you – awesome and goofy. I’m going to miss this year.

Jenny, I’m glad that our friendship has been strong since elementary. It was wonder-ful knowing I had someone who was there for me in my ups and downs. You were there and I’m grateful to know that friendships last. I’m going to miss you so much. You’re amazing.

Jessica

To Christian from Lissette

I would like to give a shout out to my high school sweetheart, Christian Perez. Spending time together is always great. I’ve seen you grow year by year, handling your craziness since the 7th grade. Yet I still enjoy memories with you as if we first started dating.

You’ve always been my number one sup-porter, my motivation and an overall sweet guy.

Thank you for being there when times were tough. You always manage to bring the good out of me and push me to succeed more. We have always motivated each other to never give up, to develop potential and strive for better.

Most importantly, we have always had each other’s back no matter what. Words can’t explain how proud I am of your accomplishments. I can’t wait to see what

the future holds for us. All I know is that you mean the world to me. Meeting new people together, going to new places, learning from mistakes, soccer season – everything was fun and I owe it all to you. I love you. Lisette

To Daysi

Good luck at college, Daysi. I love ya, mija. Teresa Sanchez

18 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star Seniors: Shout outs18

To all my close friends

We came in as strangers and now we’re leaving as best friends. These four years we all spent together have been wonderful. I don’t know where I would’ve been without them. This is a shout out to all of my close friends at Steinmetz. We had made some pretty great memories, here’s to many more.

Sylvia Madej.

To Marcos and Amare

I’d like to shout out two important people that I’m walking away from high school with, Marcos Gallardo and Amare Smith.

They have shown me so much love and have earned their spot in my life. I can’t wait to continue making memories and having fun with you two. I love you guys. Taylor Montero

To friends, teachers, familyI want to give a shout out to the most important people who

have stuck with me till senior year. I want to thank all my teachers for the hard work you have

done to teach me something new everyday being there for me in my troubles pushing me further.

I want to thank my parents for their support in all they do for me, emotionally and financially.

Izabella Kulik

To Dalia and Aileen

Shout out to Dalia and my beautiful friend, Aileen, for being A1. I’m gonna miss you so much when you move, just because you were one of the few girls I had such a heavy friendship with. I love the vibe and talks we would have and, most importantly, the fun we would both have together.

My favorite memory of us was when we went to the lock-in just because it made me realize how close we are to ending our senior year and how much I appreciate you.

But I definitly know our friendship won’t end when high school ends. Come back and visit me before I have to go get you. Love you always, Alieen

Stephanie Gonzalez

I’m going to miss my friends, the events and my teachers, especially Seritella and Schmidt because those were the main teachers that would support me with all my choices and just be great individu-als in general.

I really enjoyed my senior year, no doubt about it. This year really taught me to stop being so up-tight about everything and to try new things. I stopped caring about what others think about me and I’m glad about that because I’m only getting more confident. This year I also really pushed my-self – from losing weight to putting all my effort into my education. I’m blessed that I applied to about six colleges and got accepted to all of them.

Senior year was really fun as well because I made more memories with my friends and I get to have new experiences with them.

I’m also grateful that I’m going to be attending University of Purdue in Indianapolis and going in to major in elementary education. I’m content with the way senior year went and I can’t wait for the new things that are going to come into my life.

I would like to give a shout out to my girls Jazmilette and Sonia because they support me through everything and we became close so quick.

Also to my friends Dalia and Stephanie because I’ve known them since elementary and they have never switched up on me.

At last, my best friend of seven years, Gracie. She’s my rock and she’s the first person I run to when I’m having my negative days and she always has open arms for me. She supports me through everything and cares about me so much just like I care about her. Aileen Carreto

Grateful for good year with friends

High school has been a good experience. Throughout these four year I have made new friends and have been separated from others.

Senior year has yet so far been that best with all the events that have and are going to happen. The corn maze, the lock in, the luncheon, and best of all prom.

My senior year has had its ups and downs. But thanks to that one person that has been with me all the way I have been able to get to where I am and I can now say that I am going to graduate high school. My boyfriend Nelson has been the best, helping me get through this year, helping me not give up on school and making it to the end.

Lizeth Lopez

Senior year – the best

To Sgt. Robert DavisYou’re a great motivator. – Iridian In amazing shape for your age. – JoseVery understanding person and very chill. – DaxtyVery helpful. – Brenda.Always wants the best for your cadets, even

though it takes time to achieve it. – Klaudia

Going to miss teachers and coachI’m going to miss all the IB teachers, especially Ms. Ferarinni and Ms. Perez. I’ll miss the

sports, like cheerleading and softball. I will mostly miss Ms. Russo for being an amazing coach and helping us win conference 2017 for softball. Angelica Morua

May-June 2017 Steinmetz Star 19

Star Seniors: Shout outs 19

To Marcos and Amare End of the chapter To best friendsHigh school – also referred to as “hell, pain

in the butt, prison and home.” On the first day of freshman year I thought the coming four years would be the longest in my life.

“The time goes by fast,” said all the seniors throughout my first and second year. Ironically enough, I am repeating those same words to underclassmen. Turns out time begins to go by faster and slip by like a butterfly, people take notice, but when they do a double take it’s gone.

I cannot mention just one favourite event in all my four years, they are all very special and dear to me. All my fond memories are about being with my friends and just being happy.

Not the normal kind of happy that just causes smiles. It’s the happiness that makes cheeks hurt, lungs ache for air, and peeing occur, it’s the kind of happiness that confirms that home is not a place but rather a group of people.

Throughout high school I learned many things: You must be able to put your differ-ences aside, you must be comfortable with who you are in order to succeed, and, last but not least, I will never be a morning person despite four years of trying to be one.

Steinmetz might not be a school like Lane Tech or Whitney Young. No, it’s Steinmetz, home of the Streaks and our home away from home. Daysi Posadas

Ready to start a new life

To Kayla, Lala, Nia, Lily and Angelica

Senior year was terrible. I don’t really want to elaborate on how, but you really see people’s true colors. Senior year is one that I will never want to relive. I want to start a new life with new people. There is no loyalty in this school and I don’t think I will have many long lasting relationships with the people that I came with. I’m so ready for high school to be over with.

Rikeya Hargrove

I want to give a special shout out to my five amazing friends, Kayla, Lala, Nia, Lily and Angelica

You girls made my senior year, a year to remember. I love you girls so much.

Shout out to Kayla for waking me up for school and Lily for having me go to 6th pe-riod everyday. Shout out to Nia and Lala for becoming my girls. Last but not least, I want to give a shout out to Angelica for all the memories and great mornings before school.

Shout out to my two favorite teachers, Ms. Bates and Ms. Schmidt, for always supporting me and just for being there for me.

Jasmine Sanchez

Shout to Fina for always helping and being there for me during my mental breakdowns.

Lexi Rosch

Shout out to my best friends, Karla Colula and Jaylene Rodriguez, for making my high school experience tolerable. They know me better than I know myself and continue to share their unconditional love for me. Thank you, babes. Kinga Tarasiewicz

To Fina

To my program director and girlfriend

I want to give a shout out to my PD, Ms. Seritella, for keeping me on track and watching out for me since sophomore year.

Also, shout out to my girlfriend Emily. If it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t have accomplished anything this year Jessy

To Rikeya and NicoleAnother shout out to Rikeya and Nicole

for being my homies. Lexi Rosch

I would like to shout out the coolest teach-er, second to Ms. Schmidt, Mr. Everage. He has always been there for me since my junior year, and has been my best friend ever since. I had him for financial algebra. I would always have a difficult time and I wanted to give up, but he never let me. I thank him so much, and I am going to miss him dearly when I graduate.

Mr. Everage, if you’re reading this, I love you. Thank you so much for never letting me give up, and never giving up on me.

Ariel Garcia

To the coolest teacher

I will love to give a big shout out to my favorite senior, Andra Ayala. I will want to wish her the best of the best luck in the world. I want to wish her luck in college, and thank her for always being there for me and making sure I stay in track.

Thank you for being the amazing person you are. Odaliz Renteria

To Andra Ayala

To Ryan, Matrice and Areli I’d like to give a shout

out to Areli Carbajal, Ma-trice Young and Ryan Alli-bone. I’m going to miss all of you and it’s going to be difficult next year without being able to see you.

To Areli, even though we haven’t been able to spend a lot of time together, I still enjoyed hanging out with you. I hope we’ll be able to squad up over the summer before the school year starts.

To Matrice, I really wish you lived closer. Your poetry always amazes me and I know LTAB won’t be the same without you. Let’s try to hangout and we definitely have to play

Animal Crossing before you head to school.

To Ryan, I’m going to miss roasting you ev-eryday, Biondello. We’ve spent so much time to-gether these past three years, to the point where we say something in unison almost once a day. It’s been so much fun with you and I don’t know how I’m go-

ing to survive next year since I depend on you so much.

To all three of you, I’m gonna smack you guys if you don’t try to contact me here and there. I love you guys, even though I don’t always say it.

Your horribleness, Agape

Shout-out to my favorite se-niors, Ryan Allibone and Matrice Young, from Elise. You two were my first upperclassmen friends and became some of my closest friends during high school. I will miss you both dearly and it won’t be the same not seeing you guys in the hall anymore.

Matrice, you are one of the most talented people I have ever met. Your poems are so incred-ible and will stay with me forever. Your words and your performances at LTAB are something I always look forward to and it won’t be the same without you next year.

Your effort to travel so far to Steinmetz

every day is so inspiring and would motivate me to get out of bed some-times. If you could do it, anyone can.

I have enjoyed our talks on the bus together or any interactions we’ve had these last three years. I am going to miss you and your energy so much next year. I know we’ll remain friends in the future and I wish you all the best for your future.

Ryan, where do I begin with you? You have become one of my best friends ever. I am honored to be

a part of your main squad with Agape, when you’re notoriously known for being a squad hopper.

Continued on the next page

To Matrice and Ryan

To Sgt. Robert Davis

20 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star Seniors: Shout Outs20

Continued from the previous page

I’m not even sure when we became so close, it just seemed to happen over-night but I’m completely fine with that. We went from so many group chats to eventually having our main one with Agape. And it’s always lit with you two, whether it be in the group chat or hanging out at Gape’s house.

You are such an amazing guy with such a great heart. Your intelligence, kindness and creativity make me feel so hon-ored to be your friend. You’re truly a special person, Ryan, and I’m so happy to know you.

You roast me all the time and it lowkey hurts to think you won’t be around all the time to notice when I’m cringey (but it’s okay, Agape will just have to roast me by herself…that hurts too). I’m going to miss you so much, fam. We have created so many memories that I will re-member forever and too many inside jokes for me to even men-tion.

It’s going to be so weird that next year we won’t be spending every Saturday at Agape’s house. It’s going to be hard to say good-bye, but I’m excited to see you embark on your future. You’re going to probably to be a mess without me and Agape but...I’ll still be your friend.

I love you, fam, and thank you so much for becoming a part of my main squad, too. I know you’re going to be just fine in college and making so many new squads. Just don’t forget me. okay?

Elise Nicole Guillen

Star Newspaper Staff Senior Profiles

Continued from Page 11

It’s important to note that she led our class by example. I never saw her trying to push others to her way of thinking; she was never conde-scending because she was in a different place of understand-ing. She has a graciousness about her, allow-ing others to move at their own pace.

“Jade Aguilar is an amazing leader with the power to inspire all of us to challenge the status quo,” said Maria Degillo, youth director at Communities United.

Jade has worked with Communities United for several years, beginning with lobbying efforts in Springfield to rectify the “school to prison” pipeline. She participated and helped lead city-wide actions regarding Black Lives Matter, Fight For 15, fair funding for neigh-borhood Chicago schools, immigration rights and for Steinmetz-specific needs.

Jade may continue to work for Communi-ties United as she attends Harold Washington College next year. She has also been offered a position working with other transgender people.

While like most LGBTQ students, Jade has dealt with prejudice, she says she has not had to deal with much bullying. As fits her personality, she has made a big impact working with others to accept themselves and mov-ing some in the non-LGBTQ community to greater acceptance.

A victory for Jade this year has been the fact that she has not had to use a male restroom. Although she likes to dress femininely and wear makeup, she said she has come to a new understanding about being a trans woman.

“In this journey I found out that it’s more about transitioning inside than the outside, healing first,” she said. “It’s not about long hair or clothes or makeup. My body is like an art piece. It’s for show. But it’s really what’s inside that counts.” •

To Ryan Making plans to continue journey with good friends

Ryan AlliboneJade Aguilar

My freshman year was tough. Stein-metz was a school I barely knew. In my elementary school we watched Louder Than A Bomb, which is how I learned about Steinmetz. Since I’m not from the attendance area I got rejected once. We ended up working things out so I can attend the school. I’m glad that I came here rather than any other school because my other options were terrible.

A lot of people think Steinmetz is a bad school, nothing but kids from the hood who couldn’t get accepted to any other school. This is wrong. We have plenty of talented, smart, wonderful students. Just because there are a few bad kids that doesn’t mean that we’re all bad kids.

Freshman year for me took a differ-ent path than I thought it would. Not only did I want to escape the schools near me but also the students I gradu-ated with. They were all in their own cliques and thought they were too good to not talk to the “unpopular” kids. I was one of those kids. I didn’t mind. I had three great friends in 8th grade that stuck by me as I did with them. We were all just minding our own business trying to get good grades and avoid drama. It sucked that we were all going to different high schools, but it was for the best.

At Steinmetz I made friends and enemies. There was a girl who was a bully. She said awful things to people and behind their backs. We hardly knew each other, so how was it pos-sible that someone could be so quick to start something?

I was fed up with her actions. She came at me one day in computer class and I wasn’t going to let her continue doing what she was doing to me with everyone else. So I did something I wouldn’t have done in a million years, but I had to defend myself. I pushed her. She got even more mad than she already was and pushed me knocking

me down and it resulted into a fight.I got two days in-school suspension

as did she. I was the one who started it, but with my grades and attendance they gave me a chance. I’m not proud of it but it happened and she no longer attends here for reasons as to always getting involved into petty things. I’m not a bad kid. I was just trying to defend myself. Most people choose sides and that’s how I made enemies but later on they got to know me and thought differently of me.

My sophomore year was a blur. My junior year could have been better. I should have tried harder. I didn’t give it my all, but I can’t wish to have done better now I can only try my best and better myself along the way.

Senior year has been great with so many great memories. I made a won-derful friend, Jose, my best friend. I think how grateful I am everyday to have met him and have him in my life. I hope to have him in my life for many years to come, to stand by him during the bad and good times.

I have also lost friends this year, too, but I’m glad I don’t have those people in my life. I don’t need negativity. I can’t wait to graduate and start a new chapter with people who I love.

Iridian Lagunas

Continued from Page 11

Izabella’s sister Justyna Kulik said, “Izabella will never ever stop caring about her friends, family, and pas-sion.”

Interview with Colleen Walsh, teacher

What type of student is Izabella?Izabella is a student who knows what she

wants. She’s determined to learn what she needs and net the information she’s looking for. She is very focused.

What makes Izabella different?I see her caring a lot about other people and

being interested in her friends’ well being. She stands out because she is very mature and has her priorities straight. She can also be pretty feisty when something really bothers her.”

Where do you see Izabella in 10 years?I see Izabella working either in the medical

field or with young children. I definitely see her helping people in some way because she cares for others.•

Izabella KulikCarlos Flores

Ronald Evans

Continued from p. 11

He now likes to workout and spend his free time listening to music and hanging with friends when he’s not working at Home Depot and at school.

Carlos knows it takes dedication and hardwork to get the job done by any means necessary; his friend Ryan Al-libone knows this as well.

“When he puts in the effort and tries, the work he creates is good quality,” Ryan said.

Ryan has known Carlos for three years.“Every time I chill with him it’s a good memory because I get to roast him,” Ryan said.

Senior Aaron Borda said that Carlos is “a hard worker who never gives up.” •

Continued from Page 11

“Ronald did excellent work for the Star and in his summer programs at Columbia and Eastern Illinois last summer,” teacher Sharon Schmidt said. “He has great potential for success in col-lege (if he stays away from the party scene).”

Ronald said he’s going to miss roaming the hallways at Steinmetz and that his favorite memory was a day where there were many fights, about seven in one day: “It was pretty funny and surprising.”•

Continued from p. 11He was in MYP/IB for

three years, got a 29 on his ACT while maintaining a 4.4 GPA and had many other interests – all this while being a huge social butterfly.

Many people describe Ryan as an intelligent and kind young man. His kind-ness and smarts are a part of what makes him a likeable person. Teacher Jennifer Egan talked about those great things of Ryan and the memories they created over the four years. Ms. Egan met Ryan during his freshman year when he was a storyteller in the school play “Macbeth.”

“If I had to describe him in one word, it would be lovable. Ryan is one of the most genuine people that I’ve met. He knows how to laugh at himself. I find Ryan extremely hilarious and it’s hard to say no to him.”

Ms. Egan said that during the “Midsummer” performance, when Ryan was playing Bottom, and was covered in a blanket, he got stuck while trying to get out. He would get twisted in the blanket and lose his balance.

Ms. Egan’s favorite thing about Ryan is his confidence in himself. She will miss his flare for the dramatic.

Despite his many accomplishments, Ryan describes himself as “someone who is lazy, a pro-crastinator and someone who works well under pressure,” so ultimately no matter what, every-thing works out just fine for him.

Ryan acknowledges things do happen to come easier to him due to having some smarts, but real-izes he does not reach his full potential. That does not stop him from being a master at doing thing at the last possible moment. It’s a true wonder how he has got so many things done with how he explains himself.

Ryan credits his mindset of “working smarter, not harder” as how he really was able to do ev-erything. Hed made everything seem easy, yet he feels like he could have been more involved in other clubs. One of his regrets is that because he was in MYP/IB for three years he couldn’t do everything he wanted to do.

When he looks back at everything he has done, he is proud of his accomplishments and his school: “Most people can sometimes be ashamed of being a student from here, but honestly, I’m proud to have gone here,” he said.

He is glad that he’s ending high school sur-rounded my friends and teachers he loves. He also credits his mom and his brother Jeff for always supporting him. Ryan went on to explain how Jeff and him are very similar and how he really looks up to him: “I feel like everything I do is for Jeff.”

Ryan wants students to know that you should always try to refrain from trouble, to find your interests and to pursue them and to be the best student you can. Ryan is someone to look up to for all of the things he has done, while still remaining a great person.

“Don’t be afraid to something new,” Ryan said. Get out of your comfort zone.” •

May-June 2017 Steinmetz Star 21

Star Arts & Entertainment 21

By Elise Guillen

This year’s production of “Agatha Rex” was performed on May 26, during seventh and eighth period and after

school. It’s about a girl named Agatha (starring

Sam Chafai), who fights for justice after one of her brothers, Paul (played by Giovanni Iandolo), is wrongfully expelled from school after getting a piercing to rebel against the strict uniform policy.

The twist is that Agatha’s other brother, Elliot (played by Alvaro Blancas), also par-ticipated in the act of rebellion, yet gets off the hook with the school’s principal, Dr. Creon (Kimberly Degante), just because he plays basketball.

Agatha realizes the injustice that is oc-curring and wants to do something, even if it ruins her reputation or causes her to lose her scholarship, because she knows it’s the right thing to do.

The first act of the play represents the act of injustice taking place that slowly leads Agatha to fight for her brother. It follows Agatha’s journey to seek justice even if every-one tells her not to. The people around her cannot seem to stop her, due to the power they know she has. The students at Thebes High really look up to Agatha for being such a model student and a genuine person.

Agatha goes back and forth with what she wants to do at the end of act one. Agatha knows she is capable of winning justice for her brother, even if she’s wrong. The effort is what matters. It’s special to see a young person stand up for what she believes in when no one supports her. Especially when teens are so often silenced. Agatha is the perfect voice to represent the play and leaves an impact on the audience to stand up for what’s right no matter what.

The second acts shows the consequences that come with standing up for what you believe in and how it influences people. Ag-atha dyes her hair green to make a statement to Dr. Creon and shocks the whole school because Agatha Rex would never do such a thing. Agatha wants to be rightfully pun-ished to show how silly it is to make such a big deal about the school’s policy. Everybody freaks out about Agatha’s hair, especially Dr. Creon and her assistants Eunice (Roxana Garcia) and Jonas (Ryan Allibone).

Dr. Creon gives Agatha the choice to ac-cept a week’s worth of detention, but that’s obviously not enough. Agatha’s whole point was to show how ridiculous Dr. Creon was being. Agatha does not take the punishment,

Continued from Page 2Izabella Kulik, Isaiah Mims, Angelica

Moura, Joe Valenzuela, Iridian Lagunas, Tay-lor Montero and Jazmin Sanchez joined the seniors who were inducted in 2016 or 2015:

Ryan Allibone (NHS Secretary), Nav-jot Banipal, Klaudia Batko, Alvaro Blancas, Alexander Colon, Adriana Cortes (NHS Vice President), Catherine Delgado, Rikeya Hargrove,Raziel Ilumin, Renziel Ilumin, Syl-via Madej (NHS Service Officer), Jennifer Martinez, Anahi Mendoza, Jonathan Ovalle, Alexander Paszkowski (NHS Service Officer), Cristina Perez, Christopher PIneda, Delanie Preston (NHS President), Lisette Sandoval, Brooke Santiago, Vanessa Sotelo, Piotr Szc-zech, Kinga Tarasiewicz, Melisa Tello, Erica Toro, Imani Walker, Angelica Wasilewski and Matrice Young.

The sophomores and juniors inducted this year are Frank Cabrera, Amy Carmona, Erika Carrasco, Lesly Correa, Carlos Diaz, Vincent Fernandez, Jorge Garcia, Jayla Glantan, Katera Goldman, Emily Gonzales, Emelie Gonzalez, Tiyun Harvey, Shaquita Holder, Luis Huerta, Monica Laddaran, Valeriia Lytvak, Millie Mar-tinez, Selena Martinez, Kyiah Morris, Axel Mota, Ruby Ocampo, Diana Paramo, Mont-serrat Pereyra, Leticia Perez, Hope Pierce, Jaz-min Resendiz, Cyan Torrent, Charlie Valdez Dylan Villanueva, and Tatiana Ward. •

National Honor Society seniors, new sophomore and junior inductees

Continued from Page 1She said she wants to continue to teach. “I want to teach in Denver public schools

because the population is similar to the stu-dents here, and I like you all for some dumb reason,” she said. In her new school she will be teaching social studies and coordinating the MYP program.

Ms. Egan said she will miss Giordano’s deep dish pizza, neighborhood festivals, stu-dents and teachers at Steinmetz, the view of downtown Chicago, and her 6th period class of last year.

I will miss Ms.Egan. She helped me with a lot during my junior year. I knew that I could count on her with anything. She was an amazing teacher and I will be sad that she won’t be teaching here at Steinmetz or living in Chicago anymore.

Many teachers will miss Ms. Egan, includ-ing Michelle Mottram.

“Ms. Egan is such a force of positive, pas-sionate energy,” she said. “After working closely with her the last couple years, and especially after road-tripping with her to DC for the Women’ s March, I know I can always count on her for love and support. I’ll miss her tons.”

Teacher Tara Dunne spoke of all the great things Ms. Egan gave to students.

“Thank you,” she said. “We appreciate your dedication to not only teaching our stu-

dents but also for preparing them for the road ahead in life. Your impact goes way beyond the classroom walls. You have made a huge difference in the life of so many Steinmetz students. You have always gone way beyond the call of duty. The sacrifices you have made for your students have not gone unnoticed. Your ever-caring spirit will be missed. You are the best teacher ever because you brought about the best in all of us at Steinmetz.”

One of her closest colleagues, Marcie Buckmaster wrote the following:

“Jen Egan is going to be missed by a lot of people at Steinmetz, both students and teachers, and her leaving is a huge loss. Her students love her, and it is not because she is an “easy” teacher. She has a gift for pushing her students hard so that they can see the abilities and skills they did not realize they had. This is undeniable, as many of us have seen this first hand. She also has a gift for reaching her students on a social/emotional level in an authentic way that is rarely seen.

“Those of us who work closely with Jen know what her talents are, and will miss her greatly. We all wish she was staying, but un-derstand her leaving. Jen is moving on to a new chapter where she will be truly recognized and valued for her passion, know-how, leader-ship abilities, and work ethic. All the best to you Jen. We will miss you; we love you.”•

Teacher Jennifer Egan will be missed

‘Agatha Rex,’ a relevant story told with strong performances

By Agape Faith Alfaro

Istarted off as part of stage crew in sixth grade by chance. That lead me to acting in my eighth grade performance, continuing

to my sophomore year of high school. It had never crossed my mind that I would

direct a play in my life. I have so many people I want to thank,

but there are three people who’ve done so many things for me throughout my journey as director.

Seth Patner, thanks for letting me drag you into the whole mess.

We both didn’t know what to do. There were so many new things for us to learn and we had to ask around for help quite often.

I thought I was going to co-direct, I didn’t think that the burden of sole director would fall upon me. That was one heck of an ex-perience.

There were times where we would butt heads and get annoyed at each other, but thankfully we were able to come to agree-ments.

Jon Hood, thanks for being selfish. I think it worked out for the both of us.

There were times where I didn’t know what to do, and you stepped up at the right mo-ments. Especially when it came to the warm ups and the chorus.

We were able to learn a lot from each other during the three months. It was always inter-esting to listen to what you had to say and I found it enjoyable.

Ryan Allibone, thanks for letting me boss you around.

You ended up doing some jobs that I didn’t want to do, and neither did you. Yet you did them anyways.

Even though you had difficulty with your character, you were able to play Jonas really well. I was definitely surprised by your perfor-mance. You showed everyone how you could turn a situation around, as difficult as it is.

There’s still so much more I’d like to say, but I don’t think I’d fully be able to express my gratitude to all of you.

Thank you guys for making this year’s play possible. If none of you had stepped up, there would’ve been no play, and a whole lot of salt on my end.

This is an experience that I hope I won’t forget. I’m glad I was able to share it with you all.

Love, the worst person in the building. •which only lands her in more trouble.

What really shifts the play’s tone is when many students realize they want to stand up for what’s right as well. Harry (Isaiah Roman), Dr. Creon’s son, decides to stand up against his own mother due to how Agatha inspires him. Dr. Creon doesn’t really listen to her son and to people in general. It is really shown when someone from the PTA (Keyla Garcia) comes to speak with Dr. Creon about how much she’s in the wrong. Dr. Creon cannot seem to see how wrong she is or even take in consideration anybody else’s opinion about the school policy, which is very frustrating to audience members.

Dr. Creon finally starts paying attention when the Chorus (Emily Centeno, Jeremiah Herrod, Jayden Sherman, Jennifer Pillajo, Ki-yanna Benson) at Thebes High come to defend Agatha and stand up to Dr. Creon as well. Yet, it doesn’t really sit right with Agatha, the way they try to seek justice disrupts the school by causing mayhem.

Agatha steps up again by teaching the Cho-rus that the way they’re treating the situation will not get anything done. Agatha shows that justice can be received but it has to be done with respect. This example that Agatha sets on

how to handle the situation is finally shown when Harry, Elliot and Irene (Angelina Reyes), Agatha’s sister, stand up unexpectedly for Paul. They explain how useless the uniform policy is and how Paul received an unfair punishment.

Agatha can’t help but be happy that she is no longer alone and that students believe that Dr. Creon should listen, which is exactly what happens. Agatha gets Dr. Creon to agree on having a discussion about possibly changing the school rules and to un-expel Paul. It’s not everything, but it’s something and that all that matters to Agatha.

To end the play, the students stand in cen-ter and chant the school’s anthem. Without the help of everyone and their love for Thebes High, the school would not be what it is. What makes it a great school, is that the students attending it care about it. The Thebes students are happy to celebrate their school now that justice had been served.

The selection of the play was relevant and a great choice. In a way, Steinmetz College Prep is a Thebes High. It’s no understatement to say that Steinmetz is known for having a bad reputation.

Continued on Page 23

Thanks from the student director

22 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star Arts & Entertainment22

By Ethan Miranda

Ihave an undeniable passion for cinema. I think I love movies more than myself. My admira-

tion wasn’t always so strong, as I first aspired to become a comic book art-ist when I grew up.

Well, in 5th grade, that dream shattered as I realized that I sucked at drawing. It was a blessing in disguise as another obsession snuck behind me and burrowed its way into my brain where it will ultimately stay. It was the passion and love for cinema. From that moment on, I wanted to make movies. And I’ve made a few so far.

I made my first film in 6th grade. It’s a horror film called “The Unknown” and it’s about a demon conjured from hell that picks off a group of friends in slasher movie fashion. It certainly isn’t the greatest piece of work in the world, but it taught me more than I could ever imagine.

My next film, “The Case,” was an action short about two gunmen that get tangled in a shootout with one another over a small briefcase.

After those two films, I then focused most of my time on perfecting my skills as a screenwriter because the key to a great film is a great story. If your story is trash, I hope your movie at least looks pretty.

I tried endlessly to get more projects off the ground, and they would always get so far and then crash and burn. I could not get a film made. It was heartbreaking. So, I made sure that I perfected my writing.

Then came the summer before senior year. My friends and I had geared each other up with the fantastical idea that, over the summer, we were going to make a movie. It was going to be an epic crime drama with seedy bad guys and seedier good guys. Twists, turns, and uber bloodshed. It didn’t happen.

I then wrote a new script, about a group of friends that become trapped in a basement and they all slowly go mad and eventually begin to kill each other.

This idea was a sure shot, as it was in only one location, and my friends and I didn’t need to worry about time of day as we would black out the windows. It was a definite, or so I believed. Weeks passed and it didn’t happen. I was devastated. I was furious. I then did something I should’ve been doing since freshmen year.

I joined the After School Matters video production class located at their downtown facility at 66 E. Randolph. The Green Line drops you off right there. I’ve known about the

program since freshmen year, but I never enrolled as I believed I could make films with my friends on our own time and terms, but I was wrong.

At ASM, I made two films. The first being another horror short titled “Distraught” and the second being a noir titled “Truth-fully Accused.” All my films up to this point, except “Truthfully

Accused,” as I’m still polishing it up, are on my YouTube channel.

Https://www.youtube.com/user/TechJemProductions10/ is the link. Feel free to drop by, leave a like, subscribe, or proceed to roast me in the comments. All-in-all, it’ll be a good time.

Coming into ASM, I was immensely nervous. I wasn’t in-timidated of the other students. I was intimidated of myself. I had the strange notion that I had forgotten how to make a movie as I had been run through the ringer so many times. But once we got into the later stages of pre-production, it felt as natural as anything could be.

You may ask, how do you make a movie? The answer to that question is a lot more complex than you may believe it to be, so instead of answering it, I’ll just say this, you just make one. There’s a ton of thought process and hard work that goes into making a movie, but the first step to making a movie is the inextinguishable passion to make one. If you don’t have that, then don’t bother making a movie. Because your movie will beat you to the ground. It will make you go almost crazy, but the greatest reward is when you perceive and finish it. That is the greatest accomplishment. It becomes even greater when you share it with others.

As a filmmaker, you’re always going to find all those little imperfections in your finished product, but nothing will ever take away the feat you’ve overcome. There are a lot of people making movies, but how many do you personally know are making them? You’re doing something the vast majority isn’t. You’re making the best form of artistic expression.

If you are an aspiring filmmaker, all the tools and help you need is on the internet. Look for it. Don’t wait around. Study it. Make it. Don’t expect the greatest thing in the world, but do know you’re doing the greatest thing in the world.

A month or so after graduation, I will be living in Los Angeles chasing my dream to become a professional Hol-lywood filmmaker. I will chase my dream to the absolute end. Thank you for reading this. I hope you all see my films one day. They’ll be great, I promise. •

By Elise Guillen

Sense 8 is my favorite Netflix origi-nal show. It follows eight people from places ranging from Kenya to

America, who change once they realize the connection they have with their cluster – a group of eight people who are all con-nected. The series is so interesting;. The unique storyline shows diverse characters from a variety of beautiful places.

Continued on www.steinmetzstar.com

By Antonio Sanchez

In the midst of the war between

Marvel and DC, Marvel seems to have the upper hand with each movie being a smash hit with both fans and critics. DC was lagging behind with their movies until “Wonder Woman” came out June 2.

At first, I was unsure how to feel about the movie. While Gal Gadot was the best part of last year’s “Batman V. Super-man: Dawn Of Justice,” her performance in that film seemed forced and the idea of her own lead film was sort of unsettling.

I then watched the movie, and lo and behold, it was actu-ally very enjoyable. Honestly, I was amazed by it. I have to give credit where credit is due and “Wonder Woman” is one of the best movies of 2017.

“Wonder Woman” deals with many themes – war, love and the usual you expect from a superhero film. However, what stood out to me was dealing with the fact that people are capable of horrible things.

Spoiler ahead: Don’t read if you haven’t seen the movie.Diana believes that World War 1 was caused by Ares a God of

War who corrupted the Germans into starting the war. But when she “kills” Ares, she notices that the war is still going on and the Germans won’t stop.

She’s devastated to know humans are capable of horrible acts and she questions whether she should help out. That scene has to be my favorite scene out of the whole movie.

Depressing while it is, to see DC tackle dark themes in such a manner is amazing and I hope they can continue this in further films.

Spoiler ends. I can feel some hope in future movies from DC because

I love DC and it hurt me to see disappointment after disap-pointment, but with “Wonder Woman,” a new page is turned. My only complaint is the overuse of slow motion. Every time it happened I wanted it to hurry up.

Other than that, the movie is great. Everyone in the movie was likable. Gal Gadot was made to be Wonder Woman. I feel DC has a knack for bringing characters to life, but is lacking in the plot or the character’s interaction with each other.

All in all I give this movie an 8.5 out of 10, a great sum-mer movie. So go see it and see for yourself how good it is. •

By Star reporter

This is the lead. Additional paragraphs. Additional paragraphs.•

Love for cinema: A starting point in film making A great summer movie

Reviews available at steinmetzstar.comAdriana Cortes

Continued from Page FourWhat do you like to do outside of

school?I really like spending time with my

mom. I find it very therapeutic. I get to vent and talk about any struggles that I’m going through. I also like going to my church St. William a lot. We have a youth group and hold many fundraisers. Sometimes we’ll raise money for ourselves so we can go on retreats or do something fun. Once I turn 18, my youth minister wants me to become a leader.

I like to read a lot. Right now I’m reading “All the Light We Cannot See.” It’s historical fiction, Sometimes I like to write. I’m more of a closet writer. I don’t really like sharing stuff with people.

Your father is a writer, right?Yeah, my dad has published three books

already. He keeps telling me to catch him, but I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.

What about TV, movies? I do watch a lot of movies. I don’t usually

watch the new stuff. I don’t really like change in my life, so I kind of stick to movies I al-ready like.

What should people know about you?I suck at defending myself. Like, if someone

were to say, “You’re so ugly,” I would be like ‘Oh. Okay, thanks.” But if someone were to say that to my friend, I would defend them. I’m very overprotective about everybody I care about, my family, my friends. So don’t mess

with them. I think I’m easy to talk to. I have a lot of awkward moments, or embarrassing moments, and I’ll laugh about it and move on.

Do you have an embarrassing moment you’d like to share?

One time in the 6th grade, after I had got-ten my period and I was very embarrassed by it, I would hide my pads in my boots. And one time, a pad came out of my boot and it fell in the middle of the classroom floor. I didn’t know about it until someone saw it, then the whole class saw it, and everybody started going “Ewww,” and I was like “Oh-my-god!” And at that age, I was really, really embarrassed. So I acted like it wasn’t mine. Now, I look back at that moment and laugh.

What is happening after high school?In the summer, I will be a lifeguard again.

It will be my third year that I’ll be working at the same pool I started at, in Horner Park.

I will going to Wright College for my first two years and get my gen eds out of the way. Then hopefully, I can figure out what I want to do with my life.

How do you feel about graduation?I’m very excited for graduation. I’m really

excited to spend it with my friends and family.

My mom will be very proud of me. I’m the baby of the family. There’s five of us total. I think graduating will be a big moment for me because I can finally show my siblings that I’m grown up, too. It’s really exciting for me. And I’m really excited for the up-coming events. I think the majority of the senior class will be very happy and excited.

Do you have advice for the underclass-men, something you would’ve liked to tell yourself freshmen year?

Don’t get caught up in the drama or try to hang out with everyone. As a freshmen, you start off with a big group of friends, and you’ll realize some of those friends aren’t for you. So don’t get caught up in the need of having as many friends as you could find. They’ll come to you. You’ll know right off the bat who’s trust worthy, who’ll be there for you. Don’t put with any drama.

As a freshmen, it’s hard to believe you’ll bond with your teachers or staff, but you will. Teachers are not your enemy. I know they give out hard work, can be pushy sometimes, and expect a lot from you, but that doesn’t mean they’re trying to make your life miserable. They really want the best for you. The teachers and staff want to be there for you.

Another thing, go to as many school events as you can, even if they sound really lame. Take advantage of everything. Maybe you won’t that in college, but if you don’t maybe you’ll regret it. You don’t want to live your life saying “what if, I should have...”

Try your best to make an experience at Steinmetz. It is what you make of it. •

By Kyiah Morris

Dear White People is a good

comedy, espe-cially for teenag-ers. It shows how you could get your point across when you want to be heard.

Ethan Miranda will be going to college in California to study film, certain that one day he’ll be thanking his friends when he collects his first Academy Award.

Continued on www.steinmetzstar.com

May-June 2017 Steinmetz Star 23

Star Arts & Entertainment 23

By Roseanna Mark, teacher

The fruits of the dual enroll-ment collaboration with Robert Morris University

are already being expressed in the form of an exhibit featuring the work of Steinmetz students at the Robert Morris University Gallery.

The reception took place on May 25, with the exhibit running to June 3.

We are delighted to share our students’ work with a wide and diverse Chicago audience through this opportunity. We are proud of all our students have accomplished.•

Dowling’s PE classdance competition ends in a tie

Robert Morris University collaboration yields Steinmetz art exhibit

After School Matters end of the year gala celebrates creative work

By Delanie Preston

The lifeguarding students work hard everyday to get the most out of their ASM program. In

lifeguarding, we learn how to save lives in and out of the water, prevent a person from getting themselves into danger and how to profession-ally talk to patrons and/or victims.

My instructor, Ashley, gives the students she is teaching her undi-

vided attention and makes sure that everyone understands how to con-duct any particular rescue we are learning at the time. In the program, along with learning important life skills, we also make friends.

The lifeguarding ASM program is a fun, innovative way to learn new, useful skills and have high school students gain a fun, yet professional, summer job. •

By Briana Raper

I’m a junior in the program “The Beat.” I have been in the program for the past two years. It is really

fun and it helps improve my social skills and work ethic.

I love working and learning more about the instruments that we use. Mr. Waldo has helped me improve my musical skills and taught me how to go outside the box at times. •

By Tiyun Harvey and Cari Russell

For the past three years, we have been in the leather bags pro-gram for ASM. Throughout

the program we have developed new skills and techniques.

In the program we have made new friends and taken on challenges, such as building the bag from thick leather and designing patterns. •

By Julissa Tello

Ihave been in ASM for three years. Painting and drawing has posi-tively impacted me in a way where

I can express myself through my art work and still get paid.

Everyone in the program gets along. The instructors, JC and Bran-don, always offer assistance if need-ed. It’s a positive environment. •

Painting and drawing

LifeguardingThe BeatBuilding a leather bag

Continued from Page 21By being a student here, I know that

even though it’s just a high school, the student and staff here is what makes this school great.

Also, the whole debacle with the uni-forms is especially relevant to this past school year at Steinmetz. I will never agree with the new uniform here, and Agatha Rex shows how uniforms seem to try to fix a school system but only cause more problems.

The play also has great messages overall for high school students, such as to stand up for what they believe in and to do it in the best way possible.

It also teaches people to consider other perspectives whenever you may believe you’re right because there’s nothing right with disre-garding other people’s opinions.

Overall, it shows that it’s important to have something you care about and to have faith in yourself as well because you can accomplish anything that is important to you.

Agatha Rex is a special play that can have an impact on students and motivate them to speak up when they may feel like their voice does not matter.

I feel like the play succeeded in making me and other audience members to feel frustrated, then hopeful – that there may be at least one Agatha Rex within every high school who can move students to fight to achieve justice whether it be inside or outside the classrooms.

The acting in Agatha Rex was kind of ev-erywhere. There were excellent performances but there were some performances that did cause people to almost want to cover their faces from embarrassment.

Some of my favorite performances were of Ryan Allibone, Sam Chafai, Giovanni and Kimberly. Ryan’s portrayal of Jonas was a show stopper and many people can agree. Even though Ryan had a minor role in Agatha Rex, it was one of the most memorable ones. Allibone brought much sass to the character especially when he was screaming at Sam to remove her cap and drove the audience to uncontrollable laughter with his shocked facial expression once Agatha removed her cap to reveal her new hair color.

Many called his performance brilliant and almost seemed like he knew he stole the show. It’s perfect timing that Ryan Allibone would steal the show having it be his last, he will carry the weight of the stage with him as he gradu-ates. Other seniors in the show included Alvaro Blancas, Isaiah Roman and Emily Centeno.

Sam’s portrayal of Agatha was spot on and it’s no shock that she received the leading role, it’s a no brainer that she can portray any character well. Giovanni, for his first production and being a fresh-men, performed extremely well. Lastly, Kimberly’s portrayal of Dr. Creon was great due to her nailing a role as an au-thority figure and also achieving me to be extremely frustrated at Dr. Creon.

However, it has to be mentioned that the Chorus’ performance was lacking pro-fessionalism and unity. It’s understand-

able that the role of the chorus for telling the story of the play was a difficult one, due to the amount of lines and need of saying them all together. Yet, it was hard to watch when members in the chorus forgot lines or broke character multiple times. Due to all of them being first time actors, it makes me admire their courage to go out on stage and give it their best, I just wish they gave me more.

Lastly, the fact that this directed by student, Agape Alfaro, will always have me astonished. I gladly gave her a standing ovation.

Agatha Rex was great production overall in my opinion. It wasn’t amazing or fantastic but it was still special. I loved watching it and I loved to even be somewhat involved in it. Like every year, whenever I watch a Steinmetz production, I am moved by the Drama Club and appreciate the hard work students and staff put into it. I will always be very fond of this play and the whole day I spent with everyone involved. All I can say is: Thebes High forever. •

School play‘Agatha Rex’

Behind the scenes

Elise Guillen writes about her experience as stage crew. See www.steinmetzstar.com.

24 Steinmetz Star May-June 2017

Star Sports24

By Tyrek Gates

Baseball had an amazing season that ended too soon. Even though we beat Lincoln Park in our state tournament

game, we were forced to forfeit because of a disputed pitch count.

I never thought that would be the way we would end our season. We were all hurt because at the beginning of the year we had the goals to just throw strikes and to keep winning. And we did.

To lose by forfeit hurts because we went out there and played to win. We did win; the score was 12-5. I’ll never forget that score in my life.

I learned so much from my coaches and my brothers, my teammates.

I would like to thank the nine seniors that made our season a blast: Zacary Marre-ro, Raymond Perez, Jordan Gonzalez, Stevie Ramos, Eduardo Perea, Xavier Aguirre, Jose Catalan, Brian Garcia and Anton Gallegos.

I’ll never forget the time Anton taught me the right way of throwing a curveball or the the time Zac told me no matter what, keep your eyes on the ball, or the the time when Stevie told me I have potential, just keep working, “the bat will come, my boy.” Then Raymond, when he was telling me what to do at third when someone is stealing or just how to play the position correctly.

From coaches Renato Roldan and Angel “Lefty” Dejesus I’ve learned so much, too – more knowledge of the game, the way I bat, the way I play third. I’m thankful for these two. They’re the best coaches I’ve ever had.

Next year we are going for a three-peat for Conference Championship, but now we can celebrate our team going back to back wins. That’s 28-0. Undefeated. We should keep that going.

I’ll remember this season as the best season, dramatic-wise. From arguments to laughter, just the best overall. A season we won’t forget. •

2017 conference championsVarsity softball and baseball (for the second year in a row) are

By Eduardo Perea

The Streaks baseball team had the privilege to meet the best closer of all time, the best closer to step foot on

the mound, the greatest of all time – former New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera.

Rivera spoke at Clemente High School to the baseball teams of Steinmetz, Clem-ente, Amundsen and Wells. Following his talk, we went out to the field where Rivera gave us pointers on how to pitch.

This was, without a doubt, the highlight of my four years in high school. This mem-

ory will be forever engraved in my heart and I will tell my children and grandchildren about how I met the greatest closer of all time – Mariano Rivera.•

By Liz Patino

Junior Jahira Damian took 7th place in the 100m high hurdles at the CPS Var-sity Track and Field Championships.

“Track is the only thing that makes me feel like myself,” she said. “To me, track is my second home. I have been on the team since my freshman year. It is the highlight of my high school experience. My goal this year was to make it in city. It felt incredible when I found out I made it. It wasn’t easy.”

She gives most of the credit to Coach Abel Pereyra. “Practice was the only thing that got

me better,” Jahira said. “I couldn’t have done it without my coach’s help. He kept pushing me to my highest point.”•

By Freddy Crittendon

Aaron is an out-standing

athelete and stu-dent. He played football and was on the track and field team, set-ting a new school record in the shot put.

He will be go-

Learning from a legend

7th in CPS track championship

Senior profile: Aaron Austin

ing to Carthage College in Wisconsin, where he was recruited to play football.

Aaron has been very forward with every-one, regardless of how they felt about it. He is a hard-working and honest person, very reliable, and a lot of underclassmen athletes look up to him and understand it will be hard to fill in his shoes.

There is a certain vibe that he brings when he’s around and that’s something people will miss once he graduates.

Everyone who met Aaron came out with a friend, role-model and became a better person.

[This reporter and Aaron have a few stories to share and reasons why he filled up that older brother void, but that’s another story for the books.]

Aaron grew up in Antioch, Illinois, what he called “a hillbilly town,” and lived in Florida before coming to Steinmetz in his sophomore year.

Besides football and track and field, Aaron also participated in After School Matters. He was elected Homecoming King earlier this year.

Taesean Brownlee and others on the track and field team refer to him as A-Aron.

The Star asked Aaron a few questions.What genre of music do you like?I don’t have a favorite type of music. I just

can’t stand Country and Metal/Screamo.

How do you maintain a balanced social, school and sports life?

By sheer force of will, and knowing that it needs to be done in order to succeed in life.

What comes easy to you?Sports come easy to me most.What do people not know about you?Most people don’t know I actually have

a heart. As a child, who did you idolize?I didn’t idolize anyone. I motivate myself.•

Angelica Morua

Taesean Brownlee, Aaron AustinAaron Austin, Coach Paul Bagdonas, Anthony Kowalczyk

Erica Toro

By Jose Plaza

Captain Erica Toro was on the softball team for four years. She loved getting to

play and becoming close with her teammates.

This was “a year to remember” because of the conference victory.

She points to the Lakeview game as the most exciting of the season and standout players Rachael Feazelle and Marychu Vargas.

“I will miss Ms. Russo for be-ing an amazing coach,” Angelica Morua said. •