Cheers and Jeers

The 2016-2017 school year is coming to a close and the spring 2017 Gargoyle staff has compiled a list of what we believe are the highs and lows of this school year, or rather, the Cheers and Jeers.

Cheers

March to the Mosque

During Uni Period on Friday, February 10, over a hundred Uni students marched to the Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center to show solidarity with the local Muslim community.

Illinois Marathon 5K

Rather than running the Not Your Average Joe 5K and 5 Mile, this year, Uni students ran in the Illinois Marathon 5K on Friday, April 21.

New Librarian

Although we were devastated by the loss of Amy Atkinson, we lucked out with the arrival of DoMonique Arnold, the new librarian and Computer Literacy teacher.

Alumni Agora

On April 6th, from 12:40 to 3:15, Uni students participated in Alumni Agora, participating in three forty-five minute long talks about Alumni’s lives during and after Uni.

New SSO Registrar

Kari Mahannah joined the SSO staff as the Registrar/Office Manager, gaining popularity due to her basket of free candy in the SSO.

Jeers

Uni Staff Members Leaving

US History teacher Bill Sutton, subbie Social Studies teacher Janet Morford, and Library Graduate Assistant Erin O’Neall are leaving Uni! We’ll miss them!

The Election

The 2016 election was extremely controversial and caused a lot of tension, which has yet to go away.

Pertussis

With the first case being confirmed by Doc Walk on March 16, there were a whopping seven cases of pertussis during fourth quarter. Each student had to stay at home for five days, resulting in a lot of missed work for them, and a lot of jokes for us.

The Strategic Vision Task Force Report

The release of the Strategic Vision Task Force Report on April 7th caused a lot of mixed reactions with its various suggestions. Many of the suggestions were strongly opposed among students and teachers alike.

Destruction of Math and Hue House

In the last month before midterms, the Math and Hue Houses neighboring Uni were demolished. The destruction of these buildings pushed all of the foreign language, English, and math teachers into Uni’s limited offices. While the foreign language teachers and social studies teachers were given joint offices within Uni, the English department was banished to Kenney. Additionally, rather than the homey environment of the Math house, revisions and reassessments now take place in classrooms or the small space in the former Mac lab.

Coaches vs. Cancer

The annual Coaches vs. Cancer game took place on Friday, January 20, with Uni losing all three games. The atmosphere was politically charged and tense due to Judah players and spectators bringing along political paraphernalia and tailgating in the Kenney parking lot.