The Washington What?
By Angel Efe-Nogo
Photo courtesy of District 186 Instagram page
While the cameras and news cover the glitz and glamour of the remodeling of Springfield High School, the reality of the construction tells a different story. Today, there are now two gyms, a new band area, a much larger and soundproof choir room and a renovated cafeteria.
However, at the start of the 2024-2025 school year, many teachers were relocated from the main school building and into a mobile center known as the Washington Wing, tucked behind the building away from the madness happening on the inside.
The first departments to make the move were technology and math because their classrooms were getting torn down first. From a student´s perspective, the move was mostly exhausting during the passing period but it came with a few perks. Passing periods were extended for everyone, regardless of whether one had classes in the Washington Wing. On colder days, the dress code loosened allowing students to wear jackets during the cool walks.
Still curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to know the experience from a teacher´s perspective, behind the scenes. I decided to ask several teachers about everything from their first initial reaction to their favorite parts about teaching in the mobile classrooms.
To kick things off, I asked Mr. Sutera, the computer software teacher, about the perks of being in the mobiles. His first response was the quiet environment that accompanied the smaller amount of kids. Then came his second answer: ¨No Lockers.¨
I was surprised with that answer until almost every single teacher mentioned the same thing. Mrs. Wieneke explained how the lack of lockers meant fewer students crowding the hallways, fewer locker doors slamming in the middle of lesson and fewer students scrambling lost on the first few days of school.
The Washington Wing was designed like a small cabin with one narrow hallway and classrooms on each side so lockers were definitely not an option.
Some teachers even gave me negatives, like Mrs. Devlin, who admitted how she often felt isolated in the Washington Wing especially given that her classroom was one of the farthest back. However, when I asked her about her first reaction to the move, her answer was surprisingly positive. Unlike students, who thought it was inconvenient, she was happy about the change due to its proximity to the teacher parking and the carpeted floors, which made things a lot cleaner.
Another popular feature was the individual air conditioning units in each classroom, allowing teachers to control their own temperature.
To wrap up the interviews, I asked the teachers whether they preferred their new classrooms or wished to go back to the mobiles. To no one´s surprise, they all love their new classrooms and have no desire to go back.
As a senior, I find it interesting to look back on my freshman year and remember what Springfield High School used to look like. From the annex to the old commons, so many familiar parts of the schools have changed. While I’m glad most of the renovations are complete, I can´t help but feel sad knowing today´s freshmen will never experience some of the memorable, and a little questionable, parts of Springfield High School.
They´ll never know the fear of tripping down the mobile steps, the panic of hearing the passing-period music while standing on the third floor with a class waiting in the Washington Wing or the possibility of what new smell you might encounter in the mobiles.
Overall, while many people, myself included, are happy to see the Washington Wing gone, it still holds a special place in our Springfield High memories.
Hallway Playlist Updates
By Elizabeth Minch (Entertainment)
Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock
Most of the hallway music right now seems to be played from the Top 100 Billboard charts or are randomly chosen. Here are some new categories to switch it up and keep the excitement of hallway music alive.
2000’s/2010’s Music:
1st Hour: “That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars
2nd Hour: “Sorry” by Justin Bieber
3rd Hour: “Need You Now” by Lady A
4th Hour A: “Hey There Delilah” by Plain White T’s (Instrumental)
4th Hour B: “Love Story” by Taylor Swift (Instrumental)
5th Hour: “Umbrella” by Rihanna
6th Hour: “Since You Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson
7th Hour: “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield
Homecoming memories: Enchanted (Disney Music)
1st Hour: “Love is an Open Door” from Frozen
2nd Hour: “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid
3rd Hour: “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas
4th Hour A: “Remember Me” from Coco (Instrumental)
4th Hour B: “How far I’ll Go” from Moana (Instrumental)
5th Hour: “Go the Distance” from Hercules
6th Hour: “If Only” from Descendents
7th Hour: “Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog
Halloween/Fall Season:
1st Hour: “Thriller” by Michael Jackson
2nd Hour: “Disturbia” by Rihanna
3rd Hour: “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell
4th Hour A: “Halloween Theme” by John Carpenter
4th Hour B: “The Great Pumpkin Waltz” by Vince Guaraldi
5th Hour: “I’m In Love With a Monster” by Fifth Harmony
6th Hour: “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder
7th Hour: “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr
Winter Holidays:
1st Hour: “Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!” by Dean Martin
2nd Hour: “Frosty the Snowman”
3rd Hour: “Winter Wonderland”
4th Hour A: “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” by Tchaikovsky
4th Hour B: “Skating” by Vince Guaraldi Trio
5th Hour: “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams
6th Hour: “Baby It’s Cold Outside” by Dean Martin
7th Hour: “Sleigh Ride” by The Ronettes
Valentines day:
1st Hour: “My Girl” by The Temptations
2nd Hour: “Just the Way You Are” by Bruno Mars
3rd Hour: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” by Frankie Valli
4th Hour A: “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” by Elton John (Instrumental)
4th Hour B: “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley (Instrumental)
5th Hour: “L-O-V-E” by Nat King Cole
6th Hour: “All of Me” by John Legend
7th Hour: “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston
Musical Week:
Music from the spring musical
Photo courtesy of Springfield High School- Facebook page
SHS Cheers: What You Should Know About Them
By Kate Havenar
Springfield High School is known for intense student sections at games and heavy school spirit. Whether there is a volleyball, basketball or football game, expect the students of Springfield High to make themselves known and seen with their chants. But what are the most popular chants, and what do you do?
1. Victory Cheer
The victory cheer is one of the most popular chants at Springfield High School. It typically begins with the cheerleaders yelling, “FRESHMEN! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y that’s the freshmen battle pride” and clapping 10 times to the beat. The cheerleaders then continue this with the sophomores, following with the juniors then the seniors. Finally, the cheerleaders finish with, “SPRINGFIELD! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y that’s the Springfield battle pride.” This is typically a fan favorite because each grade gets to go on their own and at the end everyone goes together trying to be as loud as possible.
2. Roll Call
Roll call is very similar to the victory cheer except the cheerleaders do not start it. Normally the seniors do this right at the beginning of the game or in the early minutes of play. The seniors begin by yelling, “Roll Call, freshmen are you here?” and only the freshmen stand up and cheer as loud as they can. This continues through the sophomores, juniors and seniors. Like the victory cheer, once every grade goes once, the seniors ask, “Senators, are you here?” and everyone stands up and screams as loud as they can.
3. Roller Coaster
The roller coaster cheer is a very simple cheer. A student stands in the front of the student section and puts their arms parallel in front of them and everyone begins to stomp their feet against the bleachers while sitting. The person in the front leading the cheer moves side-to-side, forwards and backwards multiple times. Finally, everyone stands up and cheers as loud as they can. With the wild moves and yelling, this cheer mimics the fun and exhilaration of riding a roller coaster.
4. Baseball Cheer
The baseball cheer is a simple, but loved, cheer. Everyone separates in the stands to create a gap in the middle of the bleachers. Once there is a gap, one person (the batter) stands at the top of the bleachers near the freshmen. The other person, the pitcher, stands and fake throws from the bottom of the bleachers with the seniors. Once everyone is in their positions, the students stomp on the bleachers to the beat of a baseball game. The pitcher then throws the ball two times and the batter swings and misses. On the third throw, the batter hits a home run and everyone meets in the center of the bleachers again and gets loud.
5. I Believe That We Just Won
Lastly, in the last couple minutes or seconds of a game we are winning, the seniors will do this favorite chant. The senior will yell, “I, I believe, I believe that we, I believe that we just won” and after each word added, everyone else repeats what the person beginning chants. The student sections yells the full sentence three times through and then cheer as loudly as possible.
Change in Newspaper Over Years
By Ava Fultz
Newspaper class offered by Springfield High School fosters creativity and diversity by allowing writers to step out of their comfort zone with various topics ranging from construction, staff, sports and clubs. The Senators are able to broaden their scope and adapt to a new style of writing based on different categories of articles, such as entertainment and sports. Like everything, though, Newspaper has gone through shifts from paper to technology and different advisers. This raises the questions: after being an official class for a couple decades, what has been the biggest change? With topics such as the phone ban policy and construction, what were previous classes writing about around the school? Did previous newspaper classes favor different aspects of the class? What is the difference between printing versus publishing?
The gradual shift to online newspaper class began during Covid in 2020. McKenna Lambert, SHS class of 2022 and Indiana University alumni, recalls the first time the group started posting articles on Instagram and the website. “I was on newspaper 2021-2022 so it was still Covid times which made it interesting; it was the first time we put our articles online.” Lambert also remembers before Covid when the class utilized printed papers. “They had printed papers and they would be placed on all the lunch tables so when everyone got to lunch the whole commons would read them.”
Even after the shift to technology, Lambert still found passion in conducting student interviews, but her favorite part of Newspaper were her classmates. “That was one of my favorite classes, it truly did feel like a family. We did Secret Santa during the holidays and it was SO fun.” Despite Covid affecting Lambert’s newspaper experience, the motivation still remained.
Nola Sommer, SHS class of 2025 and currently enrolled at New York University, emphasized her disappointment in no longer having physical copies of newspapers. “I don’t think I would have treated my process for writing the articles differently but I was upset that the fun part of the newspaper was gone.” However, even though one of the major components of Newspaper was gone, Sommer still found passion in finding topics to write about, “I enjoyed writing with my friends and features with other students.” Sommer was in Newspaper her junior and senior year and she recalls her favorite part of Newspaper was writing a riveting article on a local matter. “I really enjoyed writing that article, specifically getting anonymous sources.”
When observing the changes of Newspaper class, who better to ask than the teacher herself? Lydia Negele, Newspaper/English teacher, took over the class in 2007. Ms. Negele states the biggest change in the course was the shift between printing to technology, saying “the natural interest in newspapers faded audience-wise and the class was supported more from the district.” Previously, all three Springfield public high schools had Newspaper as an elective. As an English teacher, Ms. Negele notices the dwindling amount of creativity in traditional English classes where students are required to write about topics that are chosen for them rather than topics they genuinely feel strongly about. “My favorite part– aside from the family dynamic– is the structure being different from an English class; I’m not grading from a rubric and it allows kids to naturally get more confident.”
Through decades of Newspaper, change has been prominent whether it is physical copies to tech or teachers. What stayed the same throughout all the years is the love for writing and the family sensation, being able to create a bond so strong that time can not change through brainstorming topics and crafting articles for SHS students to read.
Teams Preparing for Success
By Ainsley Lambert
As the school season starts kicking off, people are jumping with excitement for sports. But little do they know the preparation these athletes go through before their season. With spending the entire summer practicing certain plays and skills for the fall season or grinding effort indoors during the freezing winter, athletes do not take their sport lightly.
As the leaves start to turn orange and yellow and light breezes blow the green leaves away, you know it is time for fall sports. Girls volleyball season lasts about three months but with the preparation for the season, it totals about six months. As soon as June hits the calendar, the girls have open gyms three times a week. During practices, the team does warm up drills such as hitting lines, 3v3, short court and peppering. Scrimmage is not a first thought that comes up during summer because the coach wants to see everyone’s individual skills first. As summer goes on, the girls partake in summer leagues every Thursday at The Gym and the Williamsville tournament. Soon enough it is time for tryouts.
(Courtesy of Ainsley Lambert)
Now let’s go outside to see what the cross country team is up to. The Springfield High cross country team consists of boys and girls. After their track season in the spring is over, they have two weeks off before they are back to tying their running shoes and hydrating. As the blistering summer sun melts the ice in their water, the runners are off to do 50 miles per week for about one to two weeks and then increase to 70 miles per week with a couple of easy runs mixed in. They are able to run on their own and also meet up with teammates with no coach all the way up until the middle of July. Now it’s time for the real deal, having official practices with two workouts a week while still keeping 70 miles per week doing morning runs and night runs because of the hot late afternoon weather.
Boys soccer starts their preseason with a bang. Instead of waiting until their season starts, the captains organized practices that included just the boys (no coach) and worked on ball skill and shooting. In addition, hydration and nutrients are very important for them as they are sweating for hours, getting their workout in.
(Photo courtesy of District 186)
The SHS boys basketball team season might be in the winter but that does not mean the grind does not start earlier. The team prepares with summer league games to get touches on the ball and practice new skills. Open gyms take place as well where you can find them practicing ball handling, shooting drills, defensive work, conditioning, footwork and building chemistry with each other.
As the Scarlet Line dances for the basketball teams halftime, you may wonder how they are so good at dancing. The Scarlet Line practices three times a week during the summer and goes to a four day camp to learn routines and bond as a team, leading to a great season. As winter rolls around, make sure you check out the teams dance routine during City Tournament at the BOS Center.
Taking a dip into the pool, the Springfield High swimmers prepare for the season by hopping in the pool and swimming easy laps. Outside the water, they prepare on dry land by weight-lifting and going to the gym, as well as eating healthy and stretching consistently. Who would have thought sports seasons can stretch to over three extra months just for the preparation? Either practicing in the cool air conditioning, hot summer days or chilly pool, Springfield High School athletes take their sports very seriously and it shows through our successful programs. Go Senators!
Let’s “Get Away”
By: Abby Shellhammer
Evergreen Floral Shop & Cafe (Photo courtesy of The State Journal-Register)
All of us have a routine whether we realize it or not. Wake up, go to school, maybe practice and then home. On occasion you might find yourself at your friend’s house, but what else are you doing… especially for yourself? Where do you go besides home to relax or study? Probably nowhere. As a society we have lost that vital third communal space. Think about it this way… in your favorite television show, where is that specific place all the main characters gather that isn’t one of their homes? Whether it is a cafe, diner, library or even the park, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the sense of community being built in a place you can use to escape from the emotionally taxing places in your life. A place we visit that is not school/work and home.
So, you might be asking where can we go to relax, study, chill, or socialize with friends in our hometown of Springfield, Illinois? While Springfield may not seem like “the’’ place to be, the majority of spots Springfield offers are our local Cafe’s. Starting with the oldies but goodies, there is always Hae’s and Starbucks, even if they seem worn out. Both places provide seating with food and drink assortments as well as harboring good energy for studying with or without friends. But, if they decide to tag along, you can’t go wrong with sharing some snacks and drinks, especially with Hae’s crafted menus for the season.
Some places that fall “under the radar” are Evergreen and Papo’s Cafe. Evergreen, a more-so recent addition to Springfield is a cafe that is also part bookstore/part florist shop. They have a wide arrangement of drinks and snacks, as well as a wall lined with books to purchase and flowers to order or purchase on the spot. What is cool about this is along with plenty of seating for you and your friends, a wall is lined with places to take cute pictures and capture your afternoon. Papo’s is a cafe on the west side which has tons of seating, both in their main area as well as the cozy room to the right which has a perfect corner table where you can have great food and coffee. Again, going to relax, have some food, study or hang with friends are all things that Papo’s can easily accommodate.
Moving on, there is always Barnes and Noble, which gets quite overlooked. Barnes and Noble offers a quiet space with many choices of refreshments and pastries; it is the perfect place to be alone or with a buddy. If you are not feeling the book store vibes, a slight upgrade from the ideal cafe, with comfy booth seating and a relaxing atmosphere and plenty to eat is Panera. Although Panera is technically leaning towards restaurant style, you have the choice to go up and order at your pleasure or simply go in, sit and hang out. There is plenty of comfortable seating, a diverse menu (for meals or snacks) and a relaxed atmosphere to add to a positive mood.
