The CHIEF January 2024

CHIEF PONTIAC TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL The

JAN, 2023

UPPERCLASS ACTS

PONTIAC HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT REVIEW Relive all the action of the 92nd annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament

Check out which PTHS seniors are this month's Upperclass Acts

PTHS Presents:

By: Lilian Rainbolt

Greetings, Chief readers and fellow musical theatre enthusiasts! I am pleased to inform you that the PTHS Drama Club will be performing The Music Man as our long-awaited spring musical production this year. If you are unfamiliar, The Music Man was composed by Meredith Wilson in 1957, and has since had two large movie adaptations. It just recently closed on Broadway in January of this year, but it boasted large names in the cast such as Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. The plot follows a character named Harold Hill who is a con man posing as a children’s band leader. He intends to sell the unsuspecting citizens of small-town River City, Iowa, instruments and uniforms for their children, then skip town with his profits without providing any of the promised music lessons. However, his plans begin to change when he meets and becomes enthralled with the resident librarian, Marian Paroo, who sees right through his schemes. As the musical continues, we watch as Harold juggles the tasks of running his scam, wooing Marian, and avoiding suspicion by righting the concocted “trouble” in River City, all the while evading the mayor and school board searching for his credentials. The Music Man is sure to captivate your hearts in a story of comedy, wit, and romance. Our production is being directed by Mr. Joseph Durbin, with Mr. Scot Schickel directing the pit, along with Miss Anita Nangle choreographing, and Mrs. Ellen Yedinak assisting in choral music. Our cast is composed of over fifty members, featuring Daniel Bradshaw, who will be playing the main character Harold Hill, and Olivia Yedinak, our leading lady, as Marian. Musical theatre runs strongly in the Yedinak family with all three siblings in our production, including thirteen-year old Henry Yedinak, coming to us from 7th grade at Saint Mary’s. Henry will be playing the role of Winthrop, Marian’s little brother with a lisp who avoids speaking but begins to open up when Harold comes to town. The remainder of the cast can be viewed below! Mr. Durbin comments on the production saying, "I am very excited for the school and community to see all the hard work and talent that PTHS has to offer in our spring musical, The Music Man . It takes a village to put on a show like this. From the actors/singers on the stage, the instrumentalist in the pit, those working backstage on set design and construction, and those in the booth working on lighting and sound, we have more than sixty people working hard to bring the town of River City, Iowa to life. I and Mr. Schickel always look forward to putting together the musical every other year!" If you are interested in attending, performances will be on Friday, March 15th and Saturday the16th at 7pm, as well as Sunday, March 17th at 3pm. Hope to see you there!

Pontiac Holiday Tournament By: Jack Demopoulos

This month’s issue I have the privilege of covering the 92nd annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament. Going over the game, we had the Consolation champions being Peoria Manual beating Plainfield 64-52. Aurora West beat Simeon 67-54 to take home 5th place, New Trier blew past Bloomington in convincing fashion with the score being 66 38 and taking home 3rd place. Bloomington followed and took 4th place. The final game came down to a nail biter 69-66 but the Chicago Curie would come out on top, beating Benet Academy. The AC Williamson Award was awarded to Carlos Harris, the third for the Chicago Curie. Many memorable moments happened for Pontiac during the tournament especially with Henry Brummel throwing down a devastating slam, and not to mention the major highlight of Ryson Eilts drilling a three! We can’t wait to see next year’s tournament and see more and more amazing plays from our amazing PTHS players.

Spanish Club Update By: Hannah Rickets

This school year, Spanish Club members are taking the initiative to build an environment that is both fun and educational for all students. So far, they have spent more time in the kitchen, cooking and eating foods from Spanish-speaking countries, such as guacamole and aguas frescas. Hands-on group activities not only get students involved and excited about Spanish culture but also build a welcoming environment for both members and newcomers. To celebrate Dia de los Muertos, they painted wooden calaveras and ate conchas. During meetings, they often get together to play games, eat popular snacks from Spanish-speaking countries, and learn about different aspects of Spanish culture. All activities during club meetings are decided by the Board Members, elected by fellow club members, who are: Michelle Stevenson (President), Lily White (Vice President), Jake Davis (Treasurer), and Elena Krause (Secretary).

Quick Tips: Getting Back Into It By: Brieaunna Duck

Though getting back from break can be seen as a negative, I like to see it as a fresh start. Your grades reset and your schedule changes, so it is a good time to begin, or get back into, healthy routines. One practice that helps me get back into the swing of things is to set good habits. One good habit is time management. I practice this by using a planner to plan out my day. I use it just as a rough guide line; it doesn’t have to be exact. This can help out with what assignments you need to get done as well. I also do things that need to be done every day at the same time which helps me to be more motivated to get my homework or practice with my instruments done. Starting out the semester strong is a good motivator and once habits are set in place, it helps to prevent tapering off later on. One last tip to get back into the flow is to get into a good sleep schedule. Sleep is so important and it really does improve how you can process and go about your days. Here’s to finishing the school year strongly!

Key Club Update By: Summer Negray “Volunteers always don’t have the time, but they have the heart”- Elizabeth Andrew Over break the school hosted the annual Pontiac Holiday Tournament. Many school clubs provided a service to help during this busy time, whether it was concessions, selling programs, coat check, or helping in the office. Everyone showed up for their club and got work done! In this article I will like to specifically talk about what Key Club members contributed to the Holiday Tournament. As a Key Club member myself, I was one of the members who helped with coat check and program selling. Occasionally, we were pulled aside to help with other tasks. During the slow times (when the games were taking place) we would play card games such as Uno to pass the time. Personally, I met a few people that I didn’t know before the holiday tournament. It was really great getting to know them, even though we were only with each other for a few hours. Overall, Key Club had a great time volunteering for this fun and community-oriented event!

Upperclass Acts

Bailey Masching

NAME: Bailey Masching

FAVORITE AUTHOR/BOOK: The Giver by Lois Lowery

NICKNAMES: Bill

MOST POSITIVE MOMENT: Breaking the single season scoring record my junior year basketball season.

ROLE MODEL(S): My mom

ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Volleyball, Basketball, Softball, Math Team, National Honors Society

PET PEEVES: When people lie and when people walk slowly.

FONDEST MEMORY OF HIGH SCHOOL SO FAR: My fondest memory of high school was making it to the State tournament in softball my sophomore year.

WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL REMEMBER ABOUT ME: I think my friends will remember that I am hard working, very honest, and always there for them. HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000,000? I would buy myself a house, go on a trip to the Maldives, and put the rest into savings. IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, WHAT 3 ITEMS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU? Propane power torch, a weapon, and plenty of water.

3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST: Family, Friends, Sports

PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: I will be attending University of Illinois Springfield to continue my academic and athletic career and play softball.

FAVORITE MOVIE: American Sniper

MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG: “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus

LAST WORDS OF ADVICE: “High school goes quickly, so enjoy each day while you can.”

FAVORITE TEACHER/CLASS: Mrs. Hayner/P.E.

Upperclass Acts

Jacob Green

NAME: Jacob Green

FAVORITE AUTHOR/BOOK: This would require me to read more than in English class. But I have really enjoyed Of Mice and Men , The Great Gatsby and Animal Farm. MOST POSITIVE MOMENT: Being a part of the team that beat Prairie Central in sectionals and that year of basketball as a whole.

NICKNAMES: Jake, Greenie, CornDog, Jakey Pooh

ROLE MODEL(S): Dad, Grandma Green, various announcers like Ryan Kelly, Dustin Jarett, Mark Myre. Various other racers and teachers. ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Manager for Basketball and Football, PTHS.TV, National Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society, Class President JR and SR year, Criminal Justice Club FONDEST MEMORY OF HIGH SCHOOL SO FAR: Being involved as a whole hands down…. Working both sides as a student but also being able to work with coaches and faculty on different things. Sharing bus rides and stories with Fritz Pagel and Roy Mackinson is second to none… hard to replace those memories.

PET PEEVES: When someone references the direction wrong. “Let's go up to Bloomington”.... It's down….

WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL REMEMBER ABOUT ME: Hopefully that I was always willing to help, if they needed someone to talk to, I was there and took the time to help. Definitely there will be some good, bad and ugly memories but hopefully a positive impact nonetheless. HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000,000? Take care of debts, put some away and take a trip and time to step back and regroup. Whatever else, just be modest and smart and don't blow it all. IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, WHAT 3 ITEMS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU? Shelter, water filter and a year supply of food LAST WORDS OF ADVICE: “Work hard, be kind, stay humble. Cherish high school, it only happens once. There will be days it will drag and some you wish you could never leave. Find your niche, get involved and make the most of it. Seek discomfort and take chances, you can't grow by not trying to give yourself the nutrients you need! Don't be afraid of failure!! It's the first step to success!!”

3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST: Broadcasting, Sports and of course Food

PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Attend Parkland College in Champaign IL. Then transfer to Illinois State to pursue a degree in communications. See where the road takes me and what type of career I can build.

FAVORITE MOVIE: Hacksaw Ridge

MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG: “Life Is Beautiful” by Sixx:A.M.

FAVORITE TEACHER/CLASS: Mr. Bristow in Criminal Justice.

Film Review

Schindler’s List

By Tyler Drechsel

“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and act without asking questions.” - Primo Levi

When writing these articles, I like to find a movie that has a theme that coincides with the month that the article is for. So for this month, I decided to write about a Holocaust film. The reason for that, is because January 27, 1945, is the day that the Soviets liberated the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. So I decided to write about Schindler’s List . While there are many other films that do good jobs about portraying the Holocaust, none of them do it like Schindler’s List . Schindler’s List is one of the saddest, and heaviest films of all time. It is director Steven Spielberg’s definitive masterpiece and while it has a lot of incredible aspects to it, it’s the film's importance and emotion that makes it so special. For those who don’t know, Schindler’s List is a historic biography about a man named Oskar Schindler. It’s 1939, and Schindler is a young man in his early 30’s seeking his fortune. In order to accomplish this, he plans to open a factory which will manufacture enamelware. He begins by hiring a Jew named Itzhak Stern as his accountant. Stern uses his ties with Jews in the ghetto to gain money to help build a factory that Schindler opens. Stern suggests hiring Jews and then begins creating fake documents in order to give as many Jews the status of “essential worker” as possible. Jews that had this status were safe from being sent to concentration camps. Later on, Schindler is heavily impacted after witnessing the liquidation of the ghetto in Krakow. Schindler can no longer just watch as the brutal events of the Holocaust unfold around him, and he makes a plan to save as many Jews as possible by exploiting his position in the Nazi party, as well as bribing those in higher power. This is by far the most important film ever made, as well as the saddest. First of all, the cinematography is excellent, and possibly the best I’ve ever seen. The film's score is absolutely incredible. It does its job perfectly, elevating, and adding emotion to certain scenes. The film also pays incredible attention to historic detail, which will impress anyone who has an interest in history. But while the film is very well made, there’s a lot more to it that makes it so important. This film holds nothing back when it comes to portraying the absolute brutality and horror of the Holocaust. It doesn’t water down any of the terrible behavior and decisions of the Nazis. There are many scenes where Jews are killed for no reason whatsoever, other than it's simply what the Nazis wanted to do. Jews are constantly shot, beaten, and punished throughout the film, showing just how miserable being a Jew during the Holocaust was. It’s because of this that the film is shot in black and white. The film could’ve been shot in color, but that would’ve added some life to the terrible events depicted on screen, which was not the intention of Steven Spielberg. To quote the man himself, “The Holocaust was life without light. For me the symbol of life is color. That’s why a film about the Holocaust has to be in black-and-white.” But while the film features some of the worst sides of humanity, it also shows some of the better sides of humanity. The true story of Oskar Schindler is a story about a man who went from a greedy businessman, to a man who could no longer ignore the terrible treatment of the Jews during the Holocaust, and decided to do something about it. Oskar Schindler would go on to have a massive impact on the world. Through his actions, he saved 1,200 Jews from the Holocaust, and as of 2012, there are over 8,500 descendants of the Jews saved by Oskar Schindler who are alive today. Schindler’s redemption arc in the film shows that wherever there’s darkness, there’s a little bit of light. This is one of the easiest ratings I’ve ever given: 10/10.

Book Review

By Taylor Henson

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline Jones is an adventurer who can’t venture past her mucky walls. When she discovers a small door that had been painted over years ago in her living room leading to a world that’s brighter and more fun than her reality, what will she do? Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a dark fantasy novel for children. Coraline is a little girl who has a very bland life and whose parents have jobs that make their time very valuable and very limited. She feels alone, being an only child in the Jone’s new home, the Pink Palace. When she discovers this secret door one rainy day, she finds a whole new world. This one is bright and lavish, full of life. She even found her parents, but something wasn’t right with them: they had buttons instead of eyes! However, Coraline didn’t care. They gave her the love of parent figures. This reality doesn’t last for long, however. This book gives an ominous vibe and teaches kids the importance of being grateful for the things they have. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a short, creepy fairy tale!

Editor-in-Chief: Vanessa Kapper The Chief Staff Jack Demopoulos Tyler Drechsel Brieaunna Duck Lily Fetgatter Megan Hensley Taylor Henson Kat Mercer Summer Negray Lily Raby Lilian Rainbolt Hannah Ricketts Lauren Russow Michelle Stevenson

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Fun Fact of the Month By Lily Raby

This month I would like to take a geographical approach for our Fun Facts of the Month article.

Austria, a country known for its beautiful architecture, has a population that is just under 9 MILLION people. A quarter of those people live in their capitol, Vienna. The Austrian Alps cover roughly 62% of the country’s land and total area and Austria is home to the oldest zoo in the world.