Chyanne Villasenor, Features Editor
On Wednesday October 14, all Hubbard sophomores and juniors took the PSAT. For the first time, CPS gave all schools the option to give the PSAT. Last year only a select few students were given the opportunity to take the test. According to Assistant Principal Ms. Isaiah Phillips, CPS covered the cost for test takers who did not qualify for a waiver. The PSAT is not a college entry exam; students will still have to take the SAT or ACT during their junior year. Many students thought the test was difficult and didn’t have enough time to prepare and also had test anxiety. Students were given PSAT informational and practice test booklets. “I felt very nervous, like the test was rushed because we didn’t really have any time to get ready for it, so I wasn’t prepared. I only had about two days to prepare in my college prep because my teacher gave me tips for the test that were very useful, but I still didn’t feel certain that I was ready for it,” said Alicia Mercado (Div. 710). Some students were not happy about having to take yet another test in addition to REACH, PARCC, and ACT tests. “When I was first told of the test, I was upset since we took the PARCC test last year, and I didn't want to deal with another test again since it wouldn't really count against us as a grade,” said Giselle Garcia (Div. 805). Hubbard decided to opt in because the EXPLORE and PLAN tests has been phased out as of last year. The PSAT also gives students an opportunity for college readiness and scholarships. “We thought it would be a good idea to give the exam so that we could have some base line data to know where our students are. We will then use that data to make improvements to ensure that our students are ready for college,” said Ms. Phillips. Good scores can lead to National Merit Scholarships and will help determine which AP courses students can take as well as prepare them for the SAT. The National Merit program provides a monetary award and can often be leveraged to secure additional scholarships. Students should take all tests seriously, even if it is not connected to a grade, because it may open doors to college.
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By America Ramirez
If you had the chance to take a week off school, explore museums, and visit monuments, would you take it? Five students accompanied by Ms. Orlando and Mr. Shunt took the opportunity of going to Washington D.C. through the Close Up program. While Hubbard students have been going for many years, each group of students take something different from the trip. This year’s group, made up by Gabriel Cordova (Div. 503), Daniela Bravo (Div.503), America Ramirez (Div. 504), Rosie Solano (Div.601), and Lorena Juarez (Div. 601) learned that their voice can make a difference. “We had workshops where we were given a topic and we all had to come together to find a solution to the problem,” Gabriel Cordova shared. During the course of the week the students went to several museums and monuments. Daniela tells us “We were assigned questions we had to answer as we went through each monument.” Mr. Shunt enjoys taking students on the trip because “[i]t’s a great experience and a way for our students to meet people from different parts of the country and share their ideas.” The goal of the trip is to “get students involved in politics and help them develop the skills and attitudes to become informed and engaged citizens.” By Ambar Stewart
Signing Day is the day every athlete looks forward to since they start their sports career. This day is when athletes sign their letter of intent to the college they will attend in fall on partial or full scholarships. This year, there were a total of 8 seniors that signed letters of intent to a school of their choice. Signing Day is a monumental moment that every athlete should experience if they choose to go to the next level. The 8 seniors that signed a letter of intent are Kevin Stringer (Div.510), Darius Sims (Div.515), Brandon Pettis (Div 510. ), and Rashawn Williams (Div.515) will all attend the University of Wisconsin at Eau-Claire. Jacquelle Smith (Div.515) will attend Jackson State. Deonte McReynolds (Div.515) and Trevon Bowens(Div.515) will both attend William Penn University and Ambar Stewart (Div.509) will attend Malcolm X. We are proud of all our Greyhounds! Teachers, are sitting at your desk and you’re not feeling very healthy? You’ve been meaning to hit the gym but you keep procrastinating? No, do it right now. There’s a new weight room just for you! Mr. Niles, owner of the Body by Bruno, donated $45,000 to Hubbard High School for the new weight rooms: one for students and one for teachers and staff. Mr. Niles felt that all of the donations always go to suburban schools so he wanted to donate to a city school. Mr. Niles and Coach E spoke about the lack of facilities at Hubbard and generously decided to donate money for a new weight room. Coach E then spoke to Ms. Wiley to ask her if it was okay to turn the In-School Suspension room into the staff weight room and she approved. The new equipment has been here since last August. “I have been coaching here for 21 years and the machines were rusting and the floors were tearing up,” said Coach E. Ned got the money to take the equipment down that was already up in the weight room; Larry, the engineer, got the moving trucks; and Mr. Newman (asst. principal) bought gloves for the football players and the guys who lift after school so that they could move the equipment. The staff weight room (the old in-school room) is now Weight Room A. The normal weight room for the students is now Weight Room B. Since the weight room now has a more friendly appearance, Coach E expects everyone to respect it more and keep it clean. It’s not done yet. Coach E is also going to install new fans and a couple of flat screen TVs on the wall. All faculty or staff member can see Coach E about getting in the weight room. Morning workouts are from 6:14am- 7:15am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. You can also lift after school. A big thank you to everyone who worked hard to donate their time to build the new weight room. A special thanks to Mr. Niles for his generous gift! By Tommie Hope
Just because you have a disability does not mean you should be excluded from sports you would like to play. Hubbard disability students understood that and May 4-8 they participated in the 2015 47th Annual Special Olympics Chicago Summer Games. This is an inspiring and motivational event that takes place right here in Chicago at Soldier Field and Eckersall Stadium. It shows you that nothing can stop you from living your dream, no matter what you’re going through, you can accomplish anything. Congratulations to the whole team for winning a medal in their events. Jennifer Berra (Div.809) got 4th place in the 100 meter run. Kyle Young (Div. 706) placed 3rd in the shot put. Juan Diaz (Div. 713) placed 3rd in the softball throw. Alberto Soto (Div. 807) placed 2nd in the softball throw. Last but certainly not least, Desmond Perez (Div. 810) placed 1st in the shot put. Jennifer Berra (Div. 809) said, “It’s good. I felt good, happy, energetic and would do it again at any time. Alberto Soto (Div. 807) said, “I loved receiving medals.” Having supporters like Ms. Hund and Ms. Giaimo, who took time out of their week to encourage the athletes to push themselves to strive for more. A special mention to Christian Manney (Div. 608), knowing that he would be very hot and tired wore the Greyhound mascot costume in support of the Greyhound team. Everyone is a winner at Hubbard, but no one are winners like them. By Amber Ortiz
On March 25th, 2015, Ms. Kim, physics teacher, had her class conduct a strange class experiment. Ms. Kim wanted to put a spin on the lessons she teaches so she came up with the Egg Drop experiment. What’s that? Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like: dropping eggs. Now of course, they didn’t just drop the egg right out of the carton. She had the class split up into groups and create a way to keep the egg from cracking on impact. The students had the choice of a piece of the carton, cotton balls, inflated balloons, rubber bands, straws and plastic bags. Some students used all of the supplies and others didn’t. Once the groups had their egg all cushioned and ready to drop, group by group Ms. Kim took them out into the hall to drop the egg from the top of the third floor stairwell. Damian Gamez, Div. 515, and his group’s egg survived both the drops: the third floor stairwell and the third floor window drops. Damian said, “It was a very creative way to demonstrate what we learned in class. It was pretty fun.” By ShaKyla Grant
Hubbard students had an opportunity to attend an overnight trip to Luther College in Decorah, Iowa on March 8th, 2015. Admissions counselor of Luther College, Michael Elliot, said he has done these trips for over the past six years and “every time all of the participants have had a lot of fun, both on the bus and on campus”. Ambar Stewart, Div. 509, said “The college is not a good fit for me.” The only thing that interested her was the basketball program and the athletic training program. She said, “The campus was beautiful, but the school is too small, in the middle of nowhere, and the dorms were also too small.” She felt that it did not show what college life would really be like. On the other hand, Jonathan Cruz, Div.515, said, “I was excited to see what Luther College was like.” Jonathan felt that the trip helped him experience college life and what it is like to be away from home. What interested Jonathan was the food, environment, size of the school, and the campus. Jonathan will not be attending Luther College because he seeks an urban setting with lower tuition. The students had options to participate in student panel, which consisted of four first year freshman gathering in the lecture hall to discuss college life and their transitions into college. Although both students had different experiences and thoughts on the trip, they still have options and found the experience a great first step into choosing the right college. ![]() By Luis Calderon Ultimate Stock Trading Challenge on March 7, 2015. The event was held in much bigger stage this year: Soldier Field. The founder of Magnetar Youth Academy, Alec Litowitz, welcomed us and explained the rules. The first period had begun. We predicted the way the market was going to go and decided what stocks to invest in. The first period lasted thirty minutes and we were shown the school rankings in which we placed 17th. Our two new coaches came. As they took charge of the group conversation, you could tell this period was going to be something completely different. 2nd period had begun. Ahmad Mukdad, Div. 515, said, “The most impressive part for me was the way we handled the pressure during the most important periods.” After 25 minutes, the period ended. The rankings were updated . Hubbard was on top. We were now in command. During intermission, we were fed and had the honor of Mr. Akbar G. Biamila, former NFL player, speak to us. The last round commenced. We noticed the market showed clear signs it had no intentions of going down. After the period ended, Mr. Litowitz revealed that the market indeed had gone down. Another team member, Julian Alatriste, Div. 506, commented, “Although the team thought the market was going up, we were thrown a curveball.” Mr. Biamila announced third place and our moment of glory was upon us. Hubbard High School had placed in the Stock Challenge for the first time in school history. ![]() By Aidan Lira On March 5, 2015, Hubbard held the annual Black History Month Performance. It was organized and hosted by Mr. Patrick Benson. The performance displayed the arts and historic feature of African culture, rhythm, and dance. K-Love, Khari Lemuel, S.P.I.R.I.T.S Masquerade, and Drum Society were all part of the performance. The performance given by K-Love had an array of powerful wording and moving rhymes to persuade the entire auditorium with awe. The poetic march and indulging interlacement with the audience made the rows fill with excitement and life. K-Love spends her time teaching kids the perks of expressing themselves through spoken word poetry. Khari Lemuel fell in love with music through Chicago’s Classical Community; he also played with many youth orchestras and chamber ensembles. Brenda Barbosa, Div. 506, said, “The voice structure of both were angelic, as if they had vocals that came beyond the heavens.” With its spiritual energy and amazing high note reaches, the two had given an outstanding performance and interaction with the auditorium to reach their inner spirit and feel enlightened. S.P.I.R.I.T.S Masquerade and Drum Society was an interesting performance. The group was formed to establish an authentic, ancient but contemporary African style of masquerade art and showed the magic of music and mysticism of the culture. Last but not least, the third performance was given by a group called S.P.I.R.I.T.S Masquerade and Drum Society. Not only did the dance group give the teachers a glimpse of the dance and accelerated movement, it also gave a wonderful sensation of interaction of fun and festive laughs throughout the performance. ![]() By Alejandro Rodriguez On February 24, 2015 the mayoral election was held for the City of Chicago. There were numerous polling places for different wards in the city for the people to go vote. The people who ran and are in charge of the polling place are referred to as election judges. These judges are selected by the Board of Elections and are required to go to a training class to learn how to run the equipment, how to find registered voters, and how to submit votes. 100 students at Hubbard were selected to be election judges and were also paid to serve as judges. Anthony Rojas ,Div. 503, said, “The best part was probably getting paid and the food they fed us, it was really good.” The worst part, according to Anthony, “Probably waking up early. I had to wake up at 3:00 a.m. and I was so sleepy.” When asked if he would repeat the experience as an election judge for the run-off election, Anthony answered , “Of course! It’s a great experience to be one and it also teaches you a lot about voting and also how to deal with voters.” The election is very important and being an election judge is a big responsibility and requires patience. To those of you who are 18 years old, register yourself to vote, find out your polling place, and go and vote. Everyone’s vote counts. |
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