Math
Olivia Adamic
Society’s math lesson for today: division.
Olivia Adamic is currently a senior in high school at Joliet Catholic Academy (JCA). She participates in Newspaper Club and in 4188 Art & Literary Magazine at school and has recently won first place in the annual writing contest. When she is not writing, she enjoys several hobbies including maintaining a garden with her family, playing the piano, crocheting, and practicing tennis. In the future, she hopes to publish more of her work, graduate from college, and eventually live in a serene and sustainable cottage in the woods. She is a two year member of the JCA chapter of the National English Honor Society.
Senior Year
Loren Miranda
The first of many “lasts” begins.
Loren Miranda is a rising high school senior at Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School who loves all things English. She aspires to be a journalist and is currently a teen fact-checker for the Poynter Institute’s social media honesty campaign. Other than the news, Loren loves reading young adult fiction books and romance novels. She loves staying busy and as a result has taken up many hobbies during this extended spring break, such as embroidery, sewing, penpalling, gardening, and, most recently, baking. In addition to hobbies, she loves volunteering and staying active in her community. She lives in Tampa, FL, with her beautiful lab retriever mix, Wanda.
Persistence
Amna Wajahat
She sought success but discovered persistence.
Amna Wajahat is a rising high school senior at Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School who enjoys reading non-fiction articles and learning about geography in her free time. She recently joined a journalism network of students across the nation who seek to debunk misinformation from news articles on social media. Amna aspires to pursue a career in either business or medicine, while instilling a passion for reading and writing. As a full-time high school student, Amna remains active in her community by volunteering with her local Mayor’s Youth Corps. Born and raised in Tampa, FL, Amna lives with her parents and older sister Leena.
Black Lives Matter
Ariana Rivera
“YOU’RE RESISTING” as the boy wept.
Ariana Rivera is an aspiring Journalist who attends Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School. At Brooks, Ariana is involved in various clubs; her most influential position was as former vice president and upcoming president of International Club, a club that teaches students about different cultures around the world. The main goal of International Club is to teach compassion by making students knowledgeable of the world around them. Furthermore, Ariana is an active member in National Honor Society, National English Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Spanish National Honor Society, and Science National Honor Society. Following graduation, Ariana hopes to attend the University of Florida. Despite never having left Florida, Ariana has big dreams of traveling the world to write.
Pills
Austin Alaras
New medication, finished in one night.
Austin Alaras is that very author. Creative writing is a passion of his and he has spent many sleepless nights writing away, only to delete most of what he produces. The pursuit of the perfect word roots the purge of his material; however, such pursuit makes the finished pieces even more special to him. Recently, Austin successfully had a piece published by short fiction break for its 2020 summer contests. Austin hopes that at least some of his words can carry some sort of impact. Even if it’s small, it doesn’t matter; a spark can start a fire. But that might be giving him too much credit. “Thank you words,” the Author proclaimed.
We Wear the Mask
Maria Fischer
Another COVID school year. Lesson learned.
Maria Fischer is the Advisor for the Joliet Catholic Academy chapter of NEHS. She teaches juniors and seniors American Literature, AP Language and Composition, Creative Writing, and dual credit Education 101 in conjunction with the University of St. Francis. Joliet Catholic is open onsite four half days a week and online one full day, with the option for full online learning. This hybrid model school year and missing her students’ smiling faces inspired her to title her flash fiction piece after Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask.” She has been published in the National Council of Teacher’s of English English Journal and recently won second place for faculty, staff, and alumni fiction in the Lewis University fine arts magazine Widows. She is currently reading Phuc Tran’s autobiography, Sigh, Gone.
Teaching in Person, Fall 2020
Andrea Rinard
Every throat tickle screams my doom.
It doesn’t take much more than six words to capture the feeling of teaching in person this year. At the same time, there just aren’t enough words. This is Andrea Rinard’s twenty-eighth year in the classroom, yet, she feels like a first-year teacher all over again. Through it all, she loves teaching and instilling a love for words in her students. As a writer, Rinard looks for those doorways into stories and waits for characters to lead her where they want her to go. Her work has been published in various literary journals, and her first novel, Afterworld, is currently being considered for publication. You can find her on Twitter @aprinard and on her website www.rinardwrites.com.
