McHenry High School in Illinois is celebrating its centennial this year, writes Grace Crockett in the school’s student newspaper.
The school opened in 1924, which makes the 2024-25 school year its 101st year as a school in northern Illinois, about an hour’s drive northwest of Chicago and about 10 miles south of the Wisconsin line.
“I am looking forward to the year in general,” she quotes Kayleigh Jensen, a substitute teacher at the school, as saying. “With it being the centennial of the school, I think there is going to be a lot of energy and school spirit going into the year. It is the first year where the senior class went through freshman campus so it is an exciting time to see a graduating class go through both campuses.
“As a former MCHS student, it makes me feel honored to be able to be a part of this huge anniversary for the school,” she said.
McHenry joins thousands of other high schools and middle schools nationwide this year in trying, yet again, to reduce student cellphone use in class. Student opinions regarding cellphone bans are mostly positive, but the issue is complicated and has been brewing for some time.
“I mean, it makes sense that they’re changing things,” Grace quotes one junior as saying. “But if I’m honest, I feel like they say they’re cracking down on phones every year, yet nothing really changes. I’ll be surprised to see if the rules actually stick.”
“I believe that we are in a weird time, where cellphone usage is so normalized, that being asked to put it away makes people mad,” The New York Times quoted a New York high school student as saying. “While I understand the annoyance with having your property confiscated, I do think it’s for the better of students. We are at a point where time and time again, it’s been proven by ourselves that we have absolutely no self-control and are unable to stay off phones when asked.”