![IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Junior Zalie Mann performs “I Love to Cry at Weddings,” an ensemble piece from the fall musical Sweet Charity, to prospective students during the Fine Arts Showcase on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The showcase is a compilation of performances and demonstrations from each fine arts strand offered at McCallum. This show is put on so that prospective students can see if they are interested in joining an academy or major.
Sweet Charity originally ran the weekends of Sept. 28 and Oct. 8, but made a comeback for the Fine Arts Showcase.
“[Being at the front in the spotlight] is my favorite part of the whole dance, so I was super happy to be on stage performing and smiling at the audience,” Mann said.
Mann performed in both the musical theatre performance and dance excerpt “Ethereal,” a contemporary piece choreographed by the new dance director Terrance Carson, in the showcase. With also being a dance ambassador, Mann got to talk about what MAC dance is, her experience and answer any questions the aspiring arts majors and their parents may have.
Caption by Maya Tackett.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/53321803427_47cd17fe70_o-1-1200x800.jpg)
![SPREADING THE JOY: Sophomore Chim Becker poses with sophomores Cozbi Sims and Lou Davidson while manning a table at the Hispanic Heritage treat day during lunch of Sept 28. Becker is a part of the students of color alliance, who put together the activity to raise money for their club.
“It [the stand] was really fun because McCallum has a lot of latino kids,” Becker said. “And I think it was nice that I could share the stuff that I usually just have at home with people who have never tried it before.”
Becker recognizes the importance of celebrating Hispanic heritage at Mac.
“I think its important to celebrate,” Becker said. “Because our culture is awesome and super cool, and everybody should be able to learn about other cultures of the world.”
Caption by JoJo Barnard.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/53221601352_4127a81c41_o-1200x675.jpg)
WSM attended a special Make-A-Wish reveal for 5-year old Mikey Hollingsworth. Make- A- Wish is a foundation that grants life changing wishes for children with a critical illness. Make- A – Wish Illinois put together a memorable reveal and surprised Mikey with a trip to Disney World.
Make-A-Wish representative Lisa Peters explains the process of planning the event: “It took about two weeks to plan everything. Just getting everyone to collaborate, the school was amazing with getting the high school involved, and then just touching base with the fire department, the police department, and the community itself has just been amazing. This is our way of giving back, to make sure these children receive what they wished for.” Along with his Disney World Trip and celebration, Mikey was surprised with a ride in a fire truck, ambulance and a helicopter.
Tom Bradtke, a LifeNet Medic, expressed how supporting this cause gave LifeNet the opportunity to be an important part of the community. “This is absolutely fantastic. Part of the process of what we do as an organization with Air Methods Corporation that is we are here for the community, we want to be a part of the community, we want to do everything we possibly can to help to community in any way we possibly can, not only from flying patients, but being here and these types of events to show our support for the community that we are in.”
People from all ends of the McHenry community showed up in support of Mikey, even our very own MCHS students and athletes. Senior Taiya Stewart gives her perspective on the celebration, “I just feel like it’s so important because there’s so many people out there who don’t get the kind of support that they need and don’t get the support that they wish they had and just having a community too around to support them, it’s just really important because they might need that and just you never know how much it impacts them.” Freshman Kyra Hanneman explains, “it was heartwarming because it’s like humanity coming together just to do something to make this little boy happy”.
Thank you to the McHenry community, students, and Make A Wish for supporting Mikey and making his day so special.
This story was originally published on The McHenry Messenger on October 26, 2022.
