A New Winning Culture for the Ingots
Athletes from all over the state have been starting competition for the 2018 fall sports season and, at River Forest, a particular team has been standing out in regards of the improvement that has been made in such a short time. A known thing that River Forest High School has been able to prove in the last few years is how strong of an athletic program a small school can really have. The athletes from the small town have given some of the best a run for their money and even taken them down. You can never count River Forest out of the running because their athletes are known to battle until the end.
The Lady Ingot Volleyball team have been putting on quite a show and their season is turning out to be the underdog story that no one saw coming. After 12 games, the Ingots stand at 6-6 and 2-0 in conference. The team has already tied their win total from last year's season and still have plenty of games left to play. This year they hope to have a winning record for the first time since the class of 2019 entered the program. The senior class of 2019 consists of 5 girls that have been dynamic players for the past four years and have been essential in building the program up, while only one will be continuing their volleyball career in college, they all hope to leave their legacy before departing the program to move on to the next chapter in their lives.
“It’s a whole new atmosphere in the program and we’ve found a lot of confidence. There is a lot of work to be done but the program has come a long way,” senior libero, Destiney Pratchett stated.
Congratulations goes to the program for their honorable start to the season. Good luck during the rest of the season and finish strong.
Homecoming Preparations
Homecoming week is right around the corner and student council members and class officers are hard at work putting everything together. Planning Homecoming is a difficult process, but the students have all hands on deck and are working nonstop to prepare for the busy week that is to come.
Homecoming week will start on Monday, September 17, and run through Friday night when the football team takes on Roosevelt on home turf. This year, instead of traditional hallway decorations, each class will be decorating a large sheet to put in the football field complex. Each class chose a certain theme and saying to portray on the sheet that displays their class year, honors the football players in their class, and shows overall school spirit.
Each day of the week will have a designated spirit day for students to get creative and come up with costumes to wear throughout the day. Also, per tradition, the classes will also be competing against each other for spirit points in the annual “Battle if the Classes” dodgeball tournament.
Lastly, each class will nominate their classmates to be on homecoming court. At the football game, the senior king and queen, along with the freshman, sophomore, and junior prince and princess, will be named.
Homecoming week will be a fun filled week for the whole student body to enjoy, student council has been hard at work to make sure of it.
Student-Athlete Leadership Team in the Spotlight
There are a few standout athletes in the Ingot athletics programs that have been doing great things for the school and community. These kids makeup the River Forest Student-Athlete Leadership Team. It’s a lot of pressure competing at the varsity level while balancing high school but these kids are the ones setting the example for younger athletes.
This year’s team consists of five seniors and one junior: Destiney Pratchett, Sam Bowen, Hailey Bianco, McKenna James, Moises Montes, and Ryan LaFollette. Between the six members they participate in nine different sports since many of them are multi-sport athletes.
Being a student athlete takes a lot of work but this group of kids make it look easy. They are a great group to look up to for the underclassman.
New School Counselor in the Spotlight
The River Forest guidance department does a lot of work throughout the school and due to the new graduation requirements that were adopted last year, they realized they could use additional help. In response, the guidance department brought in a new school counselor, Rochelle Baker. Previously, Baker has worked at numerous schools throughout the area including: Crown Point, Lake Central, and Portage.
Baker’s main object at River Forest is making sure her students graduaue, specifically with the class of 2023 and the new graduation pathways. Baker has been finding a new home at River Forest and is warming up easily to the new atmosphere.
“All the staff have been so welcoming, they made the transition so easy for me and I’m excited to work with them throughout the year,” Baker stated.
River Forest is lucky to have the addition of Baker to the guidance department. She has been working very hard to reach the students with important information and working alongside them as they are trying to figure out the next chapter of their lives.