News

On October 25th, 2021, the Unit 4 School Board District gave a two thousand dollar grant to the music program. Central band directors John and Jennifer Currey are excited about the new opportunities that they can present to their students.

“We’re planning on bringing in an instructor from Essentially Ellington, Todd Stoll, and we plan on having him work with the Jazz Ensemble, and possibly Stage Band and speak with the marching band,” said Mr. Currey. Todd Stoll is Vice President of Education at Jazz at Lincoln center and a jazz trumpeter.

“We’re hoping for it to be like two years ago when Terell Staford came to speak to the band and worked with the ensemble,” says Mr. Currey. In 2019, the band program welcomed another jazz star, Terell Staford, who spoke and worked with the Marching Band and the Jazz Ensemble in the same way that Stoll will be working with the program in the next couple of weeks.

“I think that bringing in these guest speakers is very beneficial to the band; it provides us with new insight and new ways of thinking about music in general. It also appeals to all students in the program because we all learn something new,” said Junior Sarah Mizzen, who has been in the band program since her freshman year.

Seeing the benefits that these guest speakers have brought to the program is just enough for the Currey’s to keep inviting more guests back. This use of the grant money is a great educational opportunity for students involved in the program.

The annual homecoming dance is back on and will be held in either Combs gym or the North gym on Saturday, December 11th, 2021 from 7:00pm - 10:00pm after a home basketball game.

To ensure the safest environment possible, Principal Williams states that “Central has come up with a pulmonary contact training unit protocol but, we have to hammer out some final details.”

More than likely Student Council will not be hosting another dance this school year for two main reasons. One being that the homecoming dance is already so far down into the school year so that would be quite a lot for the members of student council, and two being that the last few previous Spring flings have not been making as much money as other dances have. Ms. Pennock, sponsor of Student Council, states that “the last couple of spring flings have not made their money back.”

Homecoming did not take place in September “mainly because we (Central) didn't have a protocol for contact tracing” says Pennock. Since homecoming itself would have been such a large event, it would be extremely difficult to maintain social distancing.

Another reason contributing to why homecoming didn't happen in September was because since at the beginning of the school year we started off with RAVE, Central knew that they didn’t have the ‘manpower’ to do RAVE, homecoming, and social distancing all at once while Covid-19 was still pretty bad. The school did not want the students to be put in groups (such as at lunch) for the entire night and only be able to stay with those certain people. Ms. Pennock states, “We wanted you all to have fun, but we needed to come up with a protocol for contact tracing”.

When asked about how the Student Council felt about the homecoming dance being postponed, Ms. Pennock replied with “We were slightly excited because we don’t have a ton of money, so this would give us more time to raise money to put on a better dance”. Student Council themselves were not sure that a homecoming dance would happen in the first place and they are excited to be able to put on a dance for Central. The game leading up to the homecoming dance itself will be a home basketball game since the football season is coming to an end.

Usually, students who have tickets beforehand will get in earlier than students who have to wait in the ticket line. Ticket sales will take place during lunch periods the week leading up to homecoming. It is not confirmed, but Central students may not be able to bring other students from other schools because of the Covid-19 protocol. This is also not confirmed, but if students are allowed to bring other students from different schools, they must pick up a guest form from the main office and fill it out.

Although the intentions were to keep harmful items out of our school to better protect students, some did not agree with the search. Babette Bradley, a freshman, said “They checked every pocket and they took out all my folders and my lunch box.” Bradley said “I arrived on time,” however she had just made her way to her first hour at 8:25, twenty minutes after the bell had rung. A group of students who had just been searched said it didn’t make them feel safer because “it's so sporadic.” However, some students were more than inconvenienced, in fact, they felt targeted. A sophomore student who wishes to remain anonymous said, “They searched my hijab. I felt violated.” They added, “I feel like if you’re a person of color they check your bag more.”

This was just a prelude for the precautionary measures being introduced to both Central and Centennial High School. The school district voted on October 12th to install permanent metal detectors in both highschools to take action against the recent increase in gun violence within schools and the community. Following the Centennial shootings and the recent bus shooting, students, teachers, and families express their concerns of the safety and security of our schools.

According to Williams, even though there are still discussions to be had and plans to be made, the University Avenue entrance and the Main entrance will most likely have permanent metal detectors installed. All students will have to enter through these entrances in the morning. To better identify students, they will have to wear their IDs throughout the day. Seniors and Juniors will be given maroon lanyards while Sophomores and Freshman will be given black lanyards to distinguish between those who have open lunch. These IDs will also be useful in identifying students who have classes in the portables or the Church. These students will have stickers on the backs of their IDs that symbolize if they leave the building for these classes and which class period they leave for. This will also allow students to only have to go through the metal detectors once instead of each time they enter the building. Whether visitors and staff will also have to enter through these metal detectors is still being determined.

The permanent metal detectors will also allow for a faster queue because students will walk through them and will only be searched by the trained security team if their screens detect something potentially harmful. Unlike the wanding day, these metal detectors will be in use everyday. Williams said, “They will be more effective than what we’re doing now, which is nothing. Except for a random day. I don’t think any system is foolproof, we’re not gonna do this like the TSA.”

The district has agreed that installing permanent metal detectors is the next step to help protect our schools against dangerous weapons. Although, like anything, it will take time to create a system that is efficient. Williams ends with “I’m sad this has to happen, but I’m also in support of it.”

Unit 4 School District has connected with the Illinois Department of Public Health to administer vaccine clinics in our very own school building, near the Lynn Street circle-drive entrance. 10 dates were sent out to promote the vaccination against COVID-19, encouraging the FDA-approved Pfizer vaccine for those 12 and older making all students at Champaign Central High School eligible.

Not only have the clinics run and will continue to do so “each Thursday and Friday remaining in October and the first Thursday and Friday in November from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm,” as said in a flyer sent by the school on October 5th, but the shots will be free of cost.

As for how you can receive your dosage at the school, “no appointment is necessary,” says the same flyer; vaccines will be distributed through a first-come-first-served system.

The various staff that run these clinics say that they are “open to everyone,” and that “a lot of teachers are coming in, but [they’ve] had a few students as well.”

The reduced number of students attending may be in relation to the requirement that those who are under the age of 18, the vast majority at our school, “must be accompanied by their guardian,” as explained in the school flyer.

Still, the medical assistant working at the clinic said that they have had “pretty good turnouts,” and on Thursday, the 21st, “it was 15 people,” when many appeared to get their boosters.

The vaccine has been available to those 16 and older for almost 11 months, and so the clinic’s medical assistant mentioned, “A lot of people are doing it for work, and a lot of people are doing it because their family asked… them not wanting to compromise the older people in their lives.”

The IDPH created a program earlier this year called IDPH Community Partner Vaccination Clinics, where community organizations can apply to host clinics and “improve equity of vaccine distribution,” as said on the illinois.gov website. Not only do site hosts set up accessible clinics at schools such as ours, but also at “libraries, colleges, prisons… all over the state,” said the staff.

Senior Anne Godlin commented, “I’m glad that schools are taking the initiative of having vaccination clinics so that students can more readily have access to the vaccine.”

One of the best results of Central’s renovations has been the lower library. It has become a peaceful conference space for presentations, studying, clubs, and events. The area is almostly constantly in use, and can be booked by contacting either Mrs. Pickell or Mrs. Nixon. After collecting name submissions from students and staff, a form was sent out to vote in four categories for which names they liked. “There are seven finalists right now,” Pickell said. “It'll be interesting to see what people choose.”

Once construction on the west side of the building is over, the Lower library will have glass windows looking into the hallway. This area will act as the main entrance to the library, providing a welcoming space for its visitors. ¨Our entrance right now is very closed off.¨ Says Pickell. She explained the conversation with the architects stating, “I want our library to be visible.”

The results of the final vote should be announced on Wednesday, September 20th. The finalists include names such as the Burrow, the Maroon Lagoon, the Den, the Pit, the Hub, the West Wing, and BOB, with the last being a humorous suggestion from a staff member. If you're interested, here is the link to our library's website to get the inside scoop of other important events going on as well as fun new books to find! http://www.maroonlibrary.org

If you are looking to contact the librarians here are their email addresses:

pickelem1997@u4sd.org nixonch@u4sd.org

Spirit Week and Homecoming are annual events where Central High School students and staff show school spirit. Students show spirit by dressing up as the themes sent out by Student Council. Homecoming marks the end of Spirit Week and is held during a football game. Powderpuff, the Juniors vs. Senior girls football game is another tradition for homecoming.

Here at Champaign Central High School, Spirit Week and homecoming have been a phenomenon all throughout the 2010s and now the 2020s (even 2020-21, when everything was virtual). However, because homecoming and spirit week aren’t being held in the same week, spirit week was only three days this year.

“I like Spirit Week because the themes are suitable for everybody,” said special education teacher Christine Creek. “I like Class Color Day and Central Spirit Day.”

However, Spirit Week and homecoming have some twists and turns most likely because some Central High School students don’t play sports or do any other clubs and some staff don’t pay enough attention to many announcements. “I don’t pay very much attention because I’m not a sports fan.” said another special education teacher, Tami Haubner.

“It felt unorganized this year, because it seemed like students were doing different themes. It made it confusing. It also seemed like not many people were doing it”, said a Sophomore student.

During Spirit Week, students dress as famous figures according to the theme and celebrate their school pride by participating in more special activities. “I knew it’s going to be cool,” said junior Alex Hansen. “Generally, you get to do more stuff than a normal school day.”

“It's fun to see what everyone is wearing”, said a Junior Student.

Although it may have been a bit chaotic this year, students and staff alike had fun dressing up, whether they went along with the themes or not.

For the past couple of years, Central High School’s Interact Club has been holding the Coin Wars. But what is Interact Club? It’s a group of dedicated students who frequently host and participate in community service fundraising and charity events. Coin Wars is an example of one of these fundraising events. A glass jar is put into every 7th hour classroom, and anyone can contribute spare change into any of these jars they’d like. Whichever 7th hour class collects the most money by the end of October, is rewarded with doughnuts. All of the money raised during this event is donated to a charity. In years past, the club has donated to Salt and Light, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation. This year’s proceeds are being given to the Crisis Nursery.

“I think it’s a great fundraiser because everybody has spare change in their wallet, so why not put it towards a good cause?” says Junior Layla Khan, leader of Interact Club. Khan also talks about how she likes that the fundraiser gets a lot of the club members involved. “At Interact meetings, our members can help make labels for the jars and hang up flyers advertising Coin Wars.” So, the next time you find a dime or two in the pocket of your jeans, put it in a safe place and think about contributing to Interact Club and helping a good cause.

Preparations for next month’s event are already well under way. The club will be hosting a 5K Turkey-Trot fundraiser for United Way on Nov. 20th, at Crystal Lake Park. You can email interactcentral@gmail.com or are welcome to come to our meeting Friday morning at 7:30 to register. The early registration period is almost up but you will still be able to register later. Prizes given out after the race and all the proceeds fundraised will be put towards United Way, a nonprofit organization whose goal is helping the education, financial stability, and health of families in poverty.

Following a shooting on Wednesday, September 15th, near Centennial High School and Jefferson Middle School, the school has added a number of precautionary measures to prevent further violence. In addition, Champaign Police have made an arrest in connection with the shooting.

Per the News-Gazette, police were called to Centennial at 1:38 p.m., and “located a shooting scene in a field north of Centennial,” CPD spokesman Tom Yelich said Thursday. Thirteen shell casings were recovered, but no injuries reported.

Three hours after the incident, Centennial’s Principal, Charles Netitzel, said “This afternoon (9-15-21), Unit 4 school district was notified by the Champaign Police Department of shots fired in the vicinity of Jefferson middle school and Centennial H.S. Out of an abundance of caution both schools were placed on soft lockdown immediately while CPD (Champaign Police Department) conducts its investigation.”

Prior to this email coming out, many students had already heard about the incident through social media or via personal experience. Jaden McDaniels, a freshman at Centennial, said, “I heard shots and the intercoms said we have to go on soft lockdown for the rest of the school day.” Some students were even outside during the incident and were rushed inside, Lena Du, a 6th grader at Jefferson, said, “I heard shots, me and the other students that were outside had to go back into the building.”

Due to the increase in violence, Centennial has taken precautions by increasing security measures.

Another email sent by Netitzel outlined that the school is going to use security wands and metal detectors in school buildings on random days. While this may prevent further incidents, it delays students’ entry into the building, causing waits of well over an hour just to enter the building according to some students. In addition, Centennial is hiring support advocates, hall monitors for all secondary buildings, in addition to purchasing security cameras to place in and around the schools.

While the delays from the metal detectors cause many delays and inconveniences, they are a reassurance for students. “I feel safer knowing that my friends are safer,” says one Centennial Student whose friends got caught outside during the incident.

In more recent events, an email sent out September 30th by Dr. Sheila Boozer, Unit 4 Superintendent, says, “the Champaign Police Department (CPD) has announced an arrest in connection to the September 15th shooting near Centennial High School.”

On August 26, 2021, the Governor of the State of Illinois issued a mandate stating that all unvaccinated school personnel must submit to testing, effective September 5th at Champaign Central High School, in order to protect students and staff.

“Beginning 10 days after issuance of this Executive Order, to enter or work at or for a School, School Personnel who have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 must undergo testing for COVID-19,” stated Governor Pritzker (illinois.gov).

On September 1, an email from the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources & Organization Effectiveness, Ken Kleber, was sent out to all of the Champaign Unit 4 District staff. The notice thoroughly covered vaccination, newly mandatory testing, and sick bank, concluding with the statement: “the District remains committed to ensuring the safety of students and staff.”

Principal Joe Williams clarified that the state decreed once-a-week negative test results from unvaccinated paid employees, while local districts were given the opportunity to go “above and beyond,” which allowed Unit 4 to solicit twice-a-week testing. As for staff who have already received their doses of the COVID-19 vaccines and can avoid these procedures, Principal Williams revealed that “we are at 91.3% (Central staff) vaccinated.”

With COVID-19 twice-a-week testing “considered a term and condition of employment for non-vaccinated staff” (as stated in Ken Kleber’s email), consequences for those resisting the off-site and off-houred PCR testing are very clear. According to Ken Kleber, “failure to comply may result in disciplinary actions, up to and including termination.” Volunteers at the school will not be given this option and must be fully vaccinated.

The schedule requires for employees to submit both negative test results no later than Monday, which were taken the prior Monday-Sunday. Staff who fail to provide test results may not come to work or be permitted to use Sick Leave, explained Ken Kleber’s email.

Despite the strict policy, it’s not ensured that all unvaccinated staff in the building are showing proof two times per week. A substitute teacher at Central on Friday, September 24th said, “I submitted one this week, and that’s about it.”

There are exceptions for those with special reasons that allow for them to submit only one. According to Principal Williams, “The once a week test, apparently, is for if you have some reason why you can’t get vaccinated… There are exemptions for vaccinations, whether medical or religious.”

Principal Williams disclosed a new and upcoming vaccination clinic to be held at Unit 4 schools in order to encourage students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as well. “The details are coming,” said Williams, “Right now, the timeline is every Thursday and Friday in October and the first Thursday and Friday in November as opportunities for students to get vaccines on site.”

As for some faculty opinion, Spanish teacher Caitlyn Vanderbeek shared, “I thought that was a really good idea because we are in such close contact with kids, and not all of our kids can be vaccinated…it’s just kind of part of our job, I think, as people who care for kids.”

AP World History teacher, Kate Flugge said, “The more we can make sure that people coming into the building are healthy, then I think the safer all of us will be.”

Both staff members have already seen cases in their own classrooms thus far into the school year. Ms. Flugge revealed, “There've been two [cases within her students]... When we look at our attendance it tells us why students are out, and it’ll say ‘tested positive.’” Ms. Vanderbeek said, “I’ve only had three students either test positive or be in-contact and not vaccinated.”

Picture on left taken by Cade Whitt during second period in Mr. Slotnick’s AP Literature class. Picture on right of Poster found in Central Hallway.

Construction at Central High School continues during the 2021-2022 school year, adding to the already unorthodox year. Students came back this year to a newly renovated lower library, new fixtures on the 2nd floor, and lots of progress on the new addition. However, despite all of the new renovations, there is still much to be done, and students and faculty are feeling the effects of being in an under construction learning environment. Similar to last year, band, orchestra, and choir classes are still being held in the Chrisitan Church on Lynn and Church street, and portables are still being utilized due to classrooms being under construction.

A senior student expressed their opinions on the situation. “There are construction workers outside the window in my math class, and the noises create distractions”.

A sophomore student said, “I think that right now it's making it a little bit hard for the students to go to the portables and back because of the rain and maybe later the snow, but this is all for a better school, so I think that the wait will be worth it.”

Looking forward, Central’s Combes gym is expected to be finished by early November complete with a painted stage, bleachers, and all new flooring. Central’s new addition, which should be completed August of 2022, will provide highly anticipated all-new features like a cafeteria, a music wing, an art wing, an industrial tech wing, a two-story theatre, a culinary arts classroom, science classrooms, and even faculty planning space.

“The new addition being built will answer a lot of needs,” said Central High School Principal Joe Williams.

Central will not only gain more building space, but also more athletic space as a new softball field and soccer/marching band field are expected to be completed by the Spring of 2023. These new fields will also serve as an outdoor P.E. space for Central students. Williams recognized that “It’s been a long haul, for sure, with some disruption to learning with noise and other construction-related issues. But, overall, it has been okay, especially when one considers the end result.”

Champaign Central High School held an open house in person on September, 22 at Central High School.

While it was supposed to be held virtually, a family update sent out by Central on September 17th stated that “some parents reached out in the last couple of days to express their disappointment in Central’s decision to host Open House virtually. While we did have an in-person event before school started, we realize that isn’t the same as one where parents are able to see their children’s teachers and hear a little about their classes. In addition, we found out that we were the only school to host a virtual-only option. Therefore, we made a decision this morning to change it to our typical in-person Open House.”

When asked if they preferred a virtual or physical open house, a Central student said “ virtually because like others I have a job and it would be great to see a recording at least if I don’t have time to go to the open house physically”.

A Central parent said “ I would rather the open house be done virtually because it is safer due to the covid delta”.

A Central grandparent said that she “would rather have the open house in person because we would have at least 1 chance to meet everyone at Central in person instead of doing it virtually where we’ve already been virtual for a year long.”

During the open house, parents and guardians followed their student’s schedule and went through a shortened version of the school day. They were able to meet teachers and admin, find classrooms, and see the progress being made on Central’s construction.

Central High School will also be holding parent teacher conferences both in person and virtually on October 21 and October 22, as well.

On September 9th 2021, while students were on their way home from school, a Unit 4 school bus was struck with gunfire. No students or staff were injured. According to an email sent later that day by Superintendent Sheila Boozer, “transportation personnel were composed, calm and reassuring to those on the bus.” The bus was in the area of Arcadia Drive & Neil Street around 3 in the afternoon. According to Illinois News Room, gun violence in 2021 has been an increasing issue in Champaign and now the violence is starting to affect our learning environments and students in our hometown.

English teacher Kara Whiteley said, “It was a tragic situation, I didn't feel like the bus was targeted but an individual may have been or maybe the bus ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

I got around to others from different schools and wanted to know how they felt when receiving the email about the bus shooting or finding out about it in general. I asked a centennial student if they think this paints a bad face on Unit 4 or the schools in general.

A Centennial student who wanted to remain anonymous explained, “I don't think Unit 4 is being looked at a certain way because the shooting may have had something to do with an individual and not Unit 4 as a whole”

According to News Gazette, the bus driver did a good job protecting the kids and going about the situation in a responsible way. English teacher Kara Whiteley remarked, “From what the emails told us it seemed like the bus driver did a good job taking care of the situation.”

A Central student, who also did not want to be named, said “people with guns need to make smarter decisions and think more of others.”

Dr. Boozer ended her email to families, “While we are disheartened by the violence our community is experiencing, we are not giving up on our students having a successful school year. The one percent does not get the right to dictate the narrative of the remaining 99 percent. We will continue to do great things together.”

Daria Horton outside Edison Middle School

Dariah Horton is an 8th grader at Edison Middle School. She and her classmates might possibly be the last Edison class to have gotten the chance to continue the tradition of going to the library after school. Now, she has to “...go all the way to the bus…then I gotta wait an hour before my bus comes and then I have to wait another 30 minutes till they drive to my house.”

To end it off there was the final interview. The interview that would settle it all, we had a talk with Donna Pittman, the Chief Advisor of the CPL. She explained that the policy was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is “temporary”, meaning once COVID-19 cases decrease in the Unit 4 area (or at least Champaign) the library will go back to normal.

The policy was created to “protect kids from COVID spread,” Pittman explained. Disruptive behavior was not the reason for the policy. During more normal times, over 200 students would cross the street to spend the afternoon at the library. Pittman explained that they do not have enough staff to make sure that many students are wearing their masks properly and following COVID precautions. The policy is to protect both students and other library patrons. So far, enforcing the policy has not been an issue. Since the parents of Edison students were emailed in advance, barely any students have walked up to the library without a parent.

Pittman explained that the policy will still be active during weekends and during Winter and Spring Break. Until COVID-19 cases go down, the policy stands.

It turns out that Edison Middle School students weren’t the problem as many people claimed, and once cases decrease in the area the students will have their right of passage/tradition back.