As the student representative on the Local School Council (LSC), it has been my job to report on problems student face in this building. At the September meeting, however, neither my student report nor the teacher report was heard. There was not enough time due to the council having delayed the start by 30 minutes and an executive session being called in the middle of the meeting.

As the 2014-2015 academic school year kicks off, students have many concerns. Several issues that were unresolved last year are rolling over into this school year, like not having a nurse everyday and bike racks not being set up outside.

I also wanted to bring up problems with uniforms, program changes, ID pictures for upperclassmen, school lunches, service learning opportunities getting approved, and the lack of soap and toilet paper in student bathrooms. All are issues that currently come into play and need to be handled, since they are all posing threats to every student’s education.

Several sick students have come to the first floor looking for medical aid when not feeling up to speed, but were told to return to back class due to the nurse not being present daily. She is only available on Wednesdays and for the mornings on Thursday and Friday.

Students weren’t able to wash their hands due to 12 bathrooms not having soap or sanitizers present with working dispensers. This problem was resolved. Yet, other janitorial issues haven’t. Our school, which was once so sanitary, has overflowing garbage cans, infesting the school with unpleasant and unwanted tiny guests.

The next meeting of the LSC will be held on October 8 at 6:00 p.m. in Room 128.

As the year kicks off to another amazing start, many students are wondering how they are going to be getting service learning hours this school year. Students who aren’t willing to travel have a limited supply of opportunities. However, here’s one service learning opportunity that might just work in everyone’s favor.

St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital has started a fundraiser called St. Jude’s Play LIVE where people of all ages can volunteer to play video games for a certain amount of time out of the week and raise donations for the cause.

For those who don’t know, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its research and treatment of children with cancer and other serious diseases. It is ranked one of the best pediatric cancer hospitals in the country. St. Jude is the one and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted only to children. Also, St. Jude’s Research Hospital doesn’t charge any family a single penny.

After the fundraiser is finished, all money is put towards medical research for patients suffering from illness. Participating students will be rewarded with service learning hours.

If Steinmetz students raise $200 or more, anyone participating in the registered team will be rewarded between 15-20 hours of credit.

Our school team, Team Steinmetz, has already been registered and is steadily increasing with participants. All you really need for this project is devotion, any kind of gaming console including PC, and willingness to follow a few set of rules.

If anyone is interested in devoting a some hours of their life for the next few weeks for an amazing cause, email me at [email protected]. I will personally help you through the registration process and send you a set of rules that need to be followed to ensure that you get your credit for participating.

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.