“Stand Together”

As you walk down the halls of Libertyville High School, there’s a lot to see. Strangers smile and give compliments, students wear LHS gear, and lockers have been decorated by friends and clubs. LHS tries to ensure that every student feels comfortable, which can be seen in the safety stickers for the LGBTQ community on teachers’ doorways as well as the free compliments put around the school to bright...

As iconic as the wildcat itself, there is one thing that unites all LHS students and staff as not just a community, but a family. STAND In the fall of 2014, the football team was looking for a way to help a teammate who was struggling financially. The teammate remained anonymous for privacy reasons. With the help of some of the players’ moms, they came up with the idea of the Stand Together...

Students at LHS give back to their community in so many ways. From the school-wide W.I.S.H. project to volunteering for a few hours on the weekend, LHS students care for others in different ways. The four clubs featured in this article are service-based at their core, and they are populated with Wildcats who care.   Interact With the Community   Unknown to many but impactful to all, Interac...

In November of 2004, Libertyville High School was buzzing.  For the first time in school history, the football team could achieve a perfect record.  The talented Wildcat team won every game in the regular season by 10 points or more.  And despite a close, last-second win against Mundelein in the first round of the playoffs, the team pressed on and won their next three games. They were 13-0 with...

By day, Libertyville’s football stadium is a place where gym classes work out, cross country practice starts, and astroturf bakes in the sun. However, on Friday nights, the stadium transforms into a community filled with spirit, pride, and tradition. Although the main focus is on the football players storming the field, there are also eyes on the other players of the game: band, poms, cheerleading,...

On Sunday, May 17, “Voices Against Brain Cancer,” of which Freshman Maddy McInerney is a part of and sponsored by Darren Port, will hold a walk in Chicago to raise money for those living with the disease. Darren Port is the CEO and founder of Powered by Professionals, which sponsors 11 charity organizations, including “Voices Against Brain Cancer.” He has been fundraising for 20 years and has helped mil...

During the fall, a player on the LHS football team’s family was having financial problems. The rest of the team took notice and wanted to do something to raise money for them. Just months later, they have created something far bigger than they could have imagined. The idea the football team had was to create a t-shirt that they could sell to students and members of the community, and give the...

Libertyville High School’s Student Council is hosting their first-ever showcase video on May 19 for all students and faculty. High schools around America have been creating fun and entertaining showcase videos, also know as lip dub videos, to show off their school pride. The showcase video will highlight every club, sport, fine art, and academic department that LHS has to offer. Every group will...

  When you walk through the halls, what do you see? Your eyes are drawn to clothes, facial expressions, how people are moving; it’s what you see. But something you can’t necessarily see is how someone feels. Out of 100 faces you may see in one passing period, you may see four people who identify as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender), even if you don’t necessarily know it.   Acc...

It’s freshman year and you walk through the doors. You’ve probably walked your schedule a few times and have a sense of where you’re going, but other than that, you’re lost in a sea of high schoolers who tower over you, and you’re just trying to get through the day without being sprayed with silly string or a squirt gun. It’s sophomore year and you walk through the doors. Maybe you ...

Two Libertyville High School students are making a difference in the community by promoting acceptance and educating others with regards to Islam.   Libertyville High School’s Muslim Student Association Earlier this year, Vernon Hills High School’s Muslim Student Association (MSA) sponsored “Walk a Mile in her Hijab,” an event that gained an amplitude of attention both locally...

Next month, Libertyville will be encouraged to break away from society’s beauty standards and norms. In November,“Fresh Faced Friday” will be coming to LHS and AdvoCATS is encouraging students to come to school without makeup on. AdvoCATS as a club focuses on gender equality in the world and at LHS. They educate students on issues in society regarding gender concepts, as well as create a sa...

“The Wildcat Way” is a philanthropic campaign that Student Council is promoting that supports the idea of having everyone at LHS working together as one. The campaign starts with the executive board, but it trickles down to the class councils and the students in order to involve everybody. “The Wildcat Way lets [the Executive Board] lead and hopefully get the entire school involved,” said...

The events of Baltimore have brought the topic of violence and whether or not systematic racism exists to the forefront. These issues have been prominent in modern society for quite some time now, particularly in major cities like Chicago, where safety concerns lie around every corner.   An Issue of Violence Chicago is the third-most populous city in the United States and the m...

On Dec. 9, students at Vernon Hills High School participated in “Walk a Mile in Her Hijab,” sponsored by the Muslim Student Association (MSA). The event allowed for non-Muslim students to wear a hijab for the day to create a better sense of understanding at the school. The event was inspired by Loyola University who held a similar event earlier this year. The purpose, according to member so...

  “Love Trumps Hate! Love Trumps Hate!” This simple yet complex chant was shouted by my friends and I, along with more than 25 other members of the AdvoCats club at Libertyville High School, which fights for gender equality, at the Women’s March on Chicago this past Saturday, Jan. 21. According to the Chicago Tribune, 250,000 marchers shattered the predicted 50,000, causing the organizers t...

“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light,” Helen Keller once said. Madelynn McInerney, known to her friends as Maddy, who was a junior at Libertyville High School, repeated this in a speech she gave in October regarding the positive attitude she had maintained after being diagnosed with cancer. This attitude lightened the spirit of many of her friends, even ...

When a person passes away, people remember them for many different reasons. It could be for their personality, their hobbies or their effect on the people they met. Zachary Neir will be remembered by many as a kind friend, someone who was accepting to everyone and everything. On Friday, Nov. 25, Class of 2016 graduate Zach Neir, who attended the College of Lake County, died at his home due to complications...

When she was younger, Fatima Durrani went down to her village in Pakistan to purchase notebooks, stationery and a chalkboard. Eight to 12 school kids would later gather around to learn different subjects taught by Fatima and would be rewarded with little gifts if they got good grades. She went back every summer for four years. When Fatima was 11 years old, her family moved here from Pakistan. She bega...

Former LHS student and class of 2015 graduate Brett Becker was involved in a skiing accident over winter break in Wisconsin. With his dad, uncle, and two cousins, Brett was enjoying a day out skiing during his last days of break before going back to Indiana University, where he attends college. While skiing at Granite Peak in Wausau, Wisconsin, Brett went off a jump, but went over the landing and c...

With the recent deaths of three high school students (two from LHS and another from Warren Township), a former LHS student and a retired staff member, Libertyville High School has offered support to those who are struggling. Junior and Student Council Executive Board member Emily Regan expressed the importance of standing together and suggested opportunities to help with grief.   “I think it’...

It’s July 28, 2012, and David Hatyina is drinking, smoking and enjoying his day on his boat, Purple Haze. Little does he know that his whole life is about to change. It’s July 28, 2012, and the Borcia family is enjoying a rather normal summer day on their boat. Tony, the youngest of the Borcias, was tubing with his older brother Joe, at the time an incoming sophomore. Tony fell off the tube,...

In the wake of the recent death of junior Madelynn McInerney, the LHS cheerleaders commemorated McInerney’s time as a cheerleader on Wednesday, Nov. 30. Many of McInerney’s former teammates and friends gathered in the cafeteria before the varsity boys basketball game for one last celebration of McInerney’s life. Varsity cheerleading coach Erin Vance began the night by commenting on McInern...

On Wednesday, Nov. 16, Joshua Church, a junior at Warren Township High School, died at the age of 17 from undetermined causes. Church was found to be unconscious on the ground during his swim practice for Cats Aquatics at Vernon Hills High School. After this, he was rushed to the hospital and died shortly after. Cats Aquatics is a Lake County swim team that, according to their website, is “...