Teenage turmoil: Mustang minds turn inside out
Dopamine, endorphins and serotonin: the key fundamentals of the feeling that we know to be joy. Moments that represent bliss and overall happiness can be seen in various areas at DGS. Joy is found amongst teachers, students and anyone who plays a part in the community.
Joy is a crucial part of staff and student relationships and their success within the building. The connection they establish can be the determining factor in school-specific accomplishments.
Math Department Chair Phil Culcasi was hired last year to begin his position during the 2023-2024 school year. His role in the math department entails ensuring students succeed in their math courses and receiving help from staff if needed. Culcasi has made it his goal this school year to create a more comfortable atmosphere in which students can reach out for assistance, which builds a bridge that promotes positivity.
“I feel like I’m learning a lot of new things, and I really love math to begin with so that’s part of the reason why I’m here,” Culcasi said.
Culcasi was also excited to be a part of the school’s community, as he had lived in the area for a long time prior to being hired. Having a sense of belonging to something larger than oneself can be a fundamental factor in living a joyful lifestyle.
“Downers Grove South is the high school that my kids went to, and it’s the high school in my community, and I really, really wanted to be a part of it,” Culcasi said.
An article from Linkedin.com says that “A major component of happiness is the feeling that community brings – safety, belonging, support, giving, understanding, like-mindedness. Community gives you a sense of purpose, a sense of place.”
The feeling of joy is contagious to students throughout DGS as well. Whether it be academically, athletically or socially, attendees of the high school have opportunities to attain and pursue goals that help them achieve contentment.
Senior Nurjina Batalova has experienced a sense of community by exploring different social settings. She prioritizes widening her perspective to feel joyful over the past three years of her high school career.
“It’s important to try and branch out because you never know who you might end up becoming friends with and just to keep an open mind. I feel like the connections I’ve experienced have overall been pretty positive because I’ve been able to meet a bunch of new people and gain a new perspective on things,” Batalova said.
The feeling of entering high school for the first time and only knowing some people- that’s the feeling of fear. But look at it from the perspective of an foreign student not even remotely knowing a single person? Now that’s true fear.
Liubomyr Labinskis, an international ninth grade student from Ukraine, expresses how his initial fear of coming to America was the language spoken.
“All the language said was very difficult for me to speak to other people,” Labinskis said.
Adjusting to the language is a common fear to any foreign student, even if they have some background knowledge. Students who take a world language class in school know how hard it is to even practice the language, but rarely do they face a real-life situation where they need to speak it.
Guillermo Andres Olivernos Arocha, an international junior from Venezuela, reveals how speaking English without having any background was a fear of his coming to DGS.
“At first, like a year ago, I didn’t know any English at all. I was kind of scared of everything a little bit,” Arocha said.
DGS has teachers for international students to help guide and teach them new ways to communicate with their community. Expeditionary Learning (EL) teacher, Katherine Klaeren, is one of those staff members who work with foreign students.
“My first period class is called EL Lifeskills 2; that class is based on speaking and listening in English and basic vocabulary. Then it leads up to academic vocabulary, so that means conversational language. So next year they can take a science class, but they need to go on the language first so it’s comfortable,” Klaeren said.
Arocha points out that he learned the language quickly and is now taking more advanced classes.
“I learned English pretty fast, and then I started getting into better classes and making new friends,” Arocha said.
The bell rings, signaling the start of class. The teacher starts talking and one student remains focused on their phone screen. Noticing the distraction, the teacher warns them to put their phone away and says if they don’t, they’ll get a detention.
This year, a new phone policy at DGS states that students are not allowed to have cell phones out unless a staff member allows them to or the instruction has ended.
French teacher Stephanie Peterson started a new tactic that enforces the policy: red, yellow and green signs. Red means no phones, yellow allows phones while on task and at a student’s desk and green allows phone time. Peterson gives insight into how she feels about the policy.
“I thought it was a really good idea because especially Covid-19, cell phones have become a huge distraction in the classroom. It was very frustrating and it made me feel like I couldn’t do a good job because kids were constantly on their phones. …I am very much for it, even though I know it’s a challenge especially because it is a change–a new change is always difficult to adapt to,” Peterson said.
Although teachers can still feel frustrated that students aren’t following the new policy, senior Mason Mungerson has a mixed view about the rule.
“I think that kids are going to sneakily take their phones out– you can’t just take the kids’ phones away; it’s not going to do anything but make kids more sneaky. I feel annoyed about the policy like it’s useless. I kind of think that it’s the start of the school really cracking down on everything you bring into the school or do in classes,” Mungerson said.
The new policy has given students and teachers different experiences and views about whether it is making improvements in students’ phone habits, causing feelings of anger and frustration.
Last year, the DGS fine arts program lost choral director Belford Hernandez. Hernandez worked alongside choral director Joy Belt-Roselieb and choral director Ricardo Pedroza. Together they ran the DGS fine arts program by teaching classes, picking out music and keeping everything organized.
At the end of last school year, the school laid off Hernandez due to low numbers. Losing one of the directors sent a wave of sadness over choir students. People believe that his leaving took a toll on the choir program and students, mainly his coworkers.
“We made magic and we would just feed off of each other so incredibly well. You can’t have a good music program without a team of adults who know how to work together musically…so we had a dream team that no one could possibly understand and the loss of him from this building,” Belt-Roselieb said.
Losing a helping hand alters the nature of the classroom. During Covid-19, the numbers of kids in choir dropped greatly. Since then, Belt-Roselieb, Hernandez and Pedroza have been working hard to rebuild that sense of choir community.
“It’s not a short game and if you want to support programs you have to have excellent teachers in place and be patient and let it grow. We just cut off the tree before the branches began to grow,” Belt-Roselieb said.
Overall, the laying off of Hernandez has brought sadness among the choir students and teachers and continue to feel the absence of him during this year.
“District 99 prides itself in seeking excellent, quality teachers. Hernandez was the epitome of quality, excellence, musicianship, a good human and awesome for kids. At a time in our social world where we need great people in our schools, the sad part is we let one of the best teachers get away,” Belt-Roselieb said.
