On Sept. 23, Jones seniors took their SATs in-person after national-wide test cancellations due to the pandemic.  Aria Messina ‘21 said she felt nervous to take the test after finishing her studying in the spring. “I was very prepared to take [the SAT] last spring,” said Messina.  “I do still feel prepared, but I hated having to wait this long to take them because I don’t feel like...

 Due to CPS’ ruling of remote learning to at least Nov. 5, students can’t be in-person while teachers can. And for new teachers and freshmen, their first year is completely different than it has ever been. From having break out rooms to discuss with fellow classmates, to simply having small talk before class starts like any teacher would if school was in person. Teachers are doing whatever...

Bernadette Schwegel’s ‘22 story, “Heroes do Exist,” was one of seven winners for the recent Chicago Sun Times short story contest. Schwegel said she was first made aware of the competition through her mother in July. She believed it would make for a pleasant activity during quarantine. Since the contest’s theme was heroism, Schwegel said she gained inspiration at a family dinner when a...

The CTA has been a staple of the Jones experience since the school was founded. With an average daily ridership in the millions, most of Jones’ student population uses it in some way or another to get to school. Since the advent of shelter-in-place in Illinois, though, the system has changed completely, becoming one of the most drastic examples of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact in the city. Rail...

The Jones Eagles took to the course on Saturday Sept. 12 at Lane Tech, competing for the first time since Feb. due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first race of the day was the faster varsity heat of the boys three mile. The Eagles got out more conservatively with the rest of the field throughout the first mile.  Then, in the second mile, as a team, they started to pull away. The top Jones runners...

Illinois High School Association (IHSA) announced today that the 2020-21 athletic year will be modified into four seasons instead of the traditional three to mitigate the risks of COVID-19. Released on Twitter, IHSA’s revised schedule said not all sports will be in their traditional seasons. Girls volleyball and boys soccer are moved to spring, and a majority of spring sports are moved to next...

Unknowing of what was to occur in the days to come, Jones students packed into the gym on March 12 ready to watch the annual Student vs Teacher basketball game. With thoughts on coronavirus hanging just lightly in the air, no-one had any idea of the bleak future of Jones sports. The eventual postponement of all school sports and canceling of playoffs was devastating for all student-athletes, cutting...

America, what are we doing?  We’re living in a world where our youth has diminished hope as an output of adults’ actions. We fill social media with “sarcastic” remarks full of negativity and desperate calls for change. The people who are supposed to be the future of this nation are only envisioning a nihilistic future of bleakness and depression, not of prosperity and joy. Social media,...

It’s a paradoxical thought, but the sources of our anxieties are oddly integral to our lifestyles. That’s the enigma of public education, at least from a student’s perspective. Like many kids coping with the outbreak of COVID-19 and associated social restrictions, I, too, have lapsed into the all-too-addictive binge cycle of sleeping, eating, and watching TV. Amidst parents’ returns from...

Plenty of high schools require foreign language classes, and Chicago Public Schools [CPS] has made it mandatory for students to take at least two years of the same language. This requirement is not always beneficial to the student’s learning and academic experience. While learning another language can be a good thing, it should not be necessary for many reasons, and could potentially harm one’s...