Congratulations to Star staff graduates. We’ll miss you!

Co-editor-in-chief Dalia Mena with family, including 2007 graduate Ricky Mena; co-editor Jalan Veal is pictured above

Jalan Veal            Star co-editor in chief

Dalia Mena            Star co-editor in chief

Leslie Carmona            Star photo editor

Edmund Dones            Star opinion editor

Photo editor Leslie Carmona with Marco “Mako” Giron Sandoval

Principal Stephen Ngo, graduation sponsor Gina Szulkowski, LSC chair Jose Quiles, senior sponsor Robin Russo, and 36th Ward alderman Gilbert Villegas

Koya Scott                Arts & entertainment editor

Yadira Abarca         Star reporter

Husna Afzal             Star reporter

Samantha Ayala      Star reporter

Maria Barajas          Star reporter

Aaliyah Collins        Star reporter

Felisha Cordero      Star reporter

Angel DeJesus         Star reporter

Ariani DeJesus      Star reporter

Monica Frackowiak    Star reporter

Elizabeth Garcia         Star reporter

Kamari Joiner            Star reporter, most valued journalism student

Joslyn Hermosillo    Star reporter

Valeria Huerta          Star reporter

Matias Kirk               Star reporter

Jennifer Liera           Star reporter

Angelica Lopez         Star reporter, cookie champion

Nayeli Martinez        Star reporter

Carmelita Mendez    Star reporter

Li Nguyen                  Star reporter

Jennifer Padilla       Star reporter

Estephani Paredes   Star reporter

Delilah Perez             Star reporter

Elizabeth Pineda             Star reporter

Maria Purisima              Star reporter, hardest working journalism student

Marisha Reynolds          Star reporter

Teresa Rodriguez           Star reporter

Elianis Rosado               Star reporter

Shay Sanders                  Star reporter

Emily Santiago              Star reporter

Malwina Smosna         Star reporter

Marlena Smosna         Star reporter

Danielle Stencel           Star reporter

Andriy Suden               Star reporter

Roksana Stefanek        Star reporter

Justyna Szczech          Star reporter

Devion Thompson       Star reporter

Tatiana Turcios            Star reporter

Yureli Velazquez         Excellent Star reporter

Claudia Vidalon           Excellent Star reporter

Jamilah Zayas             Excellent Star reporter

The annual media awards competition is open to any public or private high school in Chicago.

“I am so happy that the Star continues to be recognized as one of the outstanding high school newspapers in the city,” adviser Sharon Schmidt said. “While the point of a school publication is not to win awards but to increase the learning of the student journalists and to inform and entertain the school community, it does feel great to add a few more certificates to the wall.”

The Star received the following awards:

“Excellent” overall website and website design

“Superior” feature story

“Excellent” news story

“Excellent” editorial/opinion column

“Excellent” sports photo

“Superior” entertainment review

[See image gallery at steinmetzstar.com]

Praise for good work

Contest judges – faculty members and friends of the Department of Communication at Roosevelt University – commented on the Star entries.

Angleica Lopez and Camelita Mendez’s article on school lunches won a “Superior” for feature story because of their “good lede, good quotes, great localization of broader issue, good sources and quotes.”

Alejandro Hernandez won a “Superior” for entertainment review (of “The Interview”) because he “displayed a maturity and humor in his writing that made [the judge] laugh out loud.”

Emily Santiago and Gissel Mendoza’s “Excellent” piece on school uniforms was a “good solid news story with good quotes and sources.”

Marisha Reynolds received an “Excellent” opinion column for her “long review of how girls suffer stereotypes” that “leads into to examples of a double standard in school.”

Yadiara Abarca won an “Excellent” for her sports photo. The judges said her “image captures the action of the moment and the struggle to control the ball.”

Co-editors-in-chief Dalia Mena and Jalan Veal received an “Excellent” for the website: “Content is simple and to the point. The site is well organized and easy to navigate.”

Also given a “good job” were Rosemary McGurn’s personality profile of teacher Dave Gonzalez and Brenda Villegas’ drawing advertising the the Steinmetz Star: “This drawing a journalism ‘star’ has nice lines and color.”

“This invitation to become a Golden Apple Scholar is a singular honor,” Jim Sorensen, director of the Golden Apple Foundation, wrote in an acceptance letter Dalia received on March 23.

Dalia was “selected in an intense and competitive process that seeks the best and brightest young women and men in Illinois who want to learn to teach from master practitioners for eventual work in schools of need throughout Illinois,” Mr. Sorensen said. More than 1,600 students were nominated.

The program will provide Dalia with financial support for college tuition, as well as extensive supplementary education, classroom experience, mentoring and peer networking. At the Golden Apple Summer Institutes, Dalia will spend five weeks of every summer vacation immersing herself in teaching in a residential experience at DePaul University. She is planning to attend Illinois State University to obtain her bachelor’s degree in elementary special education.

Senior and Star co-editor-in-chief Dalia Mena celebrates her scholarship. In above photo she poses with her counselor Deono Powell.

The Star editors urge all Steinmetz community members to vote for Chuy Garcia.

“Working families are tired of being ignored by politicians in Chicago who only care about downtown,” Chicago Teachers Union vice-president Jesse Sharkey said. “As mayor, we expect Chuy to put the focus back on neighborhoods and the diverse people who live within them.”

The Star also endorses Steinmetz Local School Council community representative Gilbert Villegas in the race for alderman of the 36th and Tara Stamps for alderman of the 37th.

“Grace period” for voter registration

It is not too late to register to vote for this election, although online registration is over. Through April 4, voters may register to vote for the first time, update their addresses or file a name change during the “Grace Period” at any of the locations listed below, regardless of the voters’ home wards. Saturday, April 4 will be the last day to use in-person registration to register or update a record through the Grace Period program.

Note: During the “Grace Period,” you must register in person — and then immediately vote during that same visit.

A Grace Period voter must present two forms of identification, at least one of which shows the current address. Acceptable forms of identification include:
 – Driver’s license
 – State identification card
 – Passport
 – Current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck stub, or other government document that shows your name and address.

Qualifications to Register to Vote

To register to vote, you must:
 – be a U.S. citizen;
 – be born on or before April 7, 1997.
 – live in your precinct at least 30 days before the election;
 – not be in prison/jail serving time for a conviction; and,
 – not claim the right to vote elsewhere.

Already registered to vote? Click here to enter a last name and address to check your registration status.

Those who register during the Grace Period program cannot use Early Voting, Absentee Voting or Voting on Election Day in the Precinct Polling Place.

Regardless of your address, you may register or early vote at the West Belmont Library 

3104 N. Narragansett
Mon., March 23 through Sat., March 28: 9 am-5 pm
Sun., March 29: 9 am-3 pm
Mon., March 30 through Sat.., April 4:  9 am-5 pm

“I’m here today to talk about unacceptable budget cuts that are happening in our schools,” said Dalia, who identified herself as a Steinmetz student and student leader in Chicago Students Organizing to Save Our Schools and Voices of Chicago Youth.

“Last year our school budget was cut by over a million dollars. This year, you, CPS, are cutting it another $450,000.  Not only are the budget cuts affecting my school, but neighborhood schools all over Chicago. Where is this money going if it’s not going for our schools?”

Senior Dalia Mena speaks at the July 23 Board of Education meeting. Photo courtesy www.substancenews.net.

Dalia said last year’s cuts to the Steinmetz budget hurt students. She said students had to share books and use old computers, and that her counselor wasn’t available to her because she was teaching a class.

“We need to stop these budget cuts,” Dailia said. “You’re setting our schools up for failure.”

Dalia was joined in her analysis by parents and teachers at the board meeting.

The first person to speak from the list of those signed up for public participation was Jennifer Biggs of the parent group Raise Your Hand Coalition. She presented a brief but detailed critique of the Board’s budget, focusing on the expansion of charter schools at the expense of the city’s real public schools. She said that her group wanted the Board to shut down several central office departments, reduce others, and put in a moratorium on further charter expansion instead of cutting school budgets.

Tim Meegan, a Roosevelt teacher and union leader, elaborated on how much the Board had undermined Roosevelt.

“Roosevelt High School has seen a two-year loss of over $1.8 million and 20 positions despite only 99 fewer students over the same period,” he said.

“Charters saw an increase of $62 million and neighborhood schools were cut $67 million. This reflects the Board’s budgeting priorities.”

Mr. Meegan also said that there is a “have a three-tiered education system” of magnet/selective enrollment schools, charter schools, and neighborhood schools.

Under the new “student-based budgeting,” which last year drastically cut most schools’ budgets, the magnet schools get up to eight positions paid by the Board, and charters get special allowances and private funding, Mr. Meegan said. But the neighborhood schools, serving most of the special education and English language learner population, get budget cuts.

Mr. Meegan also spoke about the “Barrack Obama High School” announced this year, planned for the city’s Gold Coast:

“How can you spend $60 million on another Northside magnet named after the first black president when the media reports skyrocketing white enrollment and plummeting black enrollment at magnet schools? You are re-segregating the public schools.”

For more than 20 years, the school board (appointed by Chicago’s mayors) has set up neighborhood schools for failure by underfunding them, creating selective enrollment schools then rating the neighborhood schools poorly on highly publicized lists that compare them to the selective enrollment schools, and promoting privately run charter schools as more attractive options to parents. Decreased enrollment further starves the schools of resources under “school based budgeting.”

Last year many people (including Steinmetz students and staff) protested CPS’ plans to create two new charter high schools on the Northwest side. One of the schools was built across the street from Prosser High School. During the 2013-2014 school year, Dalia and other students spoke out at Board meetings and neighborhood hearings about the negative affect the charters would have on Steinmetz.

At Star press time, Steinmetz has more than 100 fewer freshmen enrolled than it did last year.

Living on minimum wage in today’s society is becoming nearly impossible. Some of these workers have families to provide for and are relying completely on public assistance programs.

So, to help fight for the cause, junior Dalia Mena and sophomore Brian Geans (both Steinmetz Star staff members) took it upon themselves to rally up a group of students from the school to go to protest in front of the Rock’n’Roll McDonalds in downtown Chicago on May 15.

Activists junior Dalia Mena (above with megaphone) and sophomore Brian Geans organized students to join a city-wide protest on May 15 to fight for fair wages for workers. Photo by Emily Santiago.

 With the help of the Albany Park Neighborhood Council (APNC) and other neighborhood groups, this small group of Steinmetz students protested for nearly two hours while holding up signs and swaying the flags of other nations all participating in strike, making this a global event.

Several of the students were rewarded with the opportunity to be witnessed on the news supporting the cause and even getting the pictures taken by local photographers for their stories.

Although it’s a fight to still be continued, this small group of Steinmetz students did their part in fighting for a better cause.

From the “Fight For $15” website:

Fast food is a $200 billion a year industry and retail is a $4.7 trillion industry, yet many service workers across the country earn minimum wage or just above it and are forced to rely on public assistance programs to provide for their families and get healthcare for their children. 

Each year, our labor brings billions of dollars into stores and restaurants nationwide, but almost all of these profits go to make executives and investors even richer, while we struggle to provide our families with basic necessities like food, rent, healthcare and transportation. Just in fast food, 52 percent of families are enrolled in one or more public assistance programs—like food stamps and medicaid—compared  with 25 percent of the workforce as a whole. 

We believe that people who work hard for a living should make enough to support themselves, their families and their neighborhoods—and that workers should be treated with dignity and respect.