Sasha Kek, LZ Life Editor
This is Sasha’s third and final year working with the Bear Facts staff as the LZ Life Editor. Aside from helping Bear Facts run smoothly, you can find her competing with her twin brother – and winning 90% of the time -, rushing with the Yearbook staff to get pages done by deadline, or preaching for everyone to join Bear Facts. While it will be hard for her to part from the chaos, she will continue to encourage other students to join a staff that will support them in every situation. Her hope is to put her Ukrainian roots to use and pursue a career in law enforcement and security.
![Part of groupthink is the need for “connections and bonding, and just really feeling secure,” Katie Murtaugh, school social worker, said, which she says are main components teenagers want in high school. “When you enter high school as a teenager, you want to feel connected. You want to have somebody to sit with at lunch, to have connections, whether it's in the classroom or extracurricular activities,” Murtaugh said. “[Groupthink] could be both positive and negative. Thinking about the theory of attachment, it's that bond with other people that is essential. Most of us grew up with a consistent parent or two, and those were our first relationships that started things off for us as human beings. If someone were to lack that connection, there could be negative consequences later.”](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/SK_LZ-Life_Photo-900x564.jpg)
![Cayla Stubler, senior, has an American father and a Filipino mother, who “took the reins” when it came to parenting. “I guess you could say it was the stereotypical, Asian parent household, with a lot of respect towards elders, a great stress on respecting your manners, so 'pleases' and 'thank you,' things like that. [My mother] was forced to assimilate to American culture, but she always implemented Filipino culture of how she was raised in regards to maintaining identity,” Stubler said. “She always made sure that we were proud of being mixed and proud to have a mom that was from the Philippines. We would travel there every other year for Christmas to instill that this is where you're from. She was very stringent with grades, and I don't know if that's completely an Asian thing, but you see all those jokes about it; it was very math and science heavy. We wear house shoes. I guess if we misbehave, we would get a spank on the behind or the wrist with one of our bamboo brooms, and that was the majority of it.”](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/SK-Cayla-Stubler-Photo-622x900.jpg)
![Because this is the last year for seniors at Lake Zurich, the school is trying to engage them as much as possible. “The decision was made to begin with our senior class [as] we're trying to think creatively of all different types of ways to really engage our seniors in their final year here at LZ, and that's been quite a task, but one that we still remain really passionate about,” Ashley Weltler, assistant principal of academics, said. “We made the decision to begin with our seniors to offer the opportunity to still come in and engage daily at LZ.”](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/20210218_141006-900x721.jpg)
![The high school will shift to elearning next week between October 26 to November 9, which can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on perspective. “Although [teachers] might have a more difficult time teaching through Zoom, I think that they'll feel probably more comfortable [shifting to elearning] because I know a lot of my teachers were expressing that they were nervous to go back into the school; a couple of them had to take a leave of absence because of it,” Annie Moriarity, freshman, said. “Some [parents] may be like, ‘Okay, whatever,’ but parents who might need their kid to be in school for childcare purposes might feel a little upset.”](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/EDS.jpg)
![Sanya Ahuja, sophomore band member, practices playing her flute to prepare for the ILMEA audition. “I'm big on competing for things and I try to compete for as many opportunities as I can,” Ahuja said. ‘I feel like [ILMEA is] really gives me the broader idea of, "Wow, there's so many things we can do with band!’ I really wanted to take advantage of the fact that I could be chosen for something bigger than just Lake Zurich band.”](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/20201008_081906.jpg)
![Zoom was not working for the first period of the first day of school. "Zoom was not working for first period," Edward Kek, junior, said. "It felt weird. There I am, after summer, it's sunny and summer's ending and all that. Then [Zoom] doesn't work and you're like, 'What the heck? Come on school."](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/20200824_182354-900x675.jpg)
![A student looks on the College Board website for updates on AP exams. “I look at College Board videos [to study for the exam], which help when I can't contact my teacher or just want to get more information on a certain topic," Ratana Khek, sophomore AP European History and Computer Science student, said.](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/20200419_154929-773x900.jpg)
![Laura Beata, HAO - LENG counselor, meets with Kelly Sibert, junior, about scheduling, but counselors also assist students in times of crisis. “I think a common thing in high school [is] a lot of social media issues, like someone’s saying something unkind, or even the perception that things like that are happening can cause a student to be in crisis,” Beata said.](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/20200210_082256-900x426.jpg)
![Lachezar Todorov, sophomore student who is planning on attending a prestigious college, searches up the application process for John Hopkins University. “[Prestigious colleges are] very expensive but they have extremely qualified people, and their programs are proven from the years over of countless students,” Todorov said. “If you got a diploma from there, everyone's going to want you, right? Prestigious colleges, it says in the name: prestige.”](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/20200223_152039-900x568.jpg)
![Timothy Beranek, math teacher, checks the fantasy football statistics during a free period. "[Fantasy football] gives me a reason to actually want to watch more sports and just piques your interest,” Beranek said, “so you're not just interested in your favorite team, but you're interested in every game that goes on. It definitely helps me learn more about the game and who's good, and kind of dive into a little bit more.”](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/20191208_191817-900x582.jpg)
![Joey Nemec, junior Spectrum leader, talks to the Spectrum club during a weekly Tuesday meeting after school. “I see the LGBT community that we’re all people who are born this way and we can’t change that,” Nemec said. “I just think we should all accept each other because [the LGBTQ+ community is] not hurting anyone. Love is love.”](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/2FB7C1D4-3869-42FF-B50E-7255BDE27AA2-e1576249521256-900x565.jpeg)
![The Orchesis team poses for a photo during a rehearsal. “[Orchesis is] a place where you can put yourself and your dancing out there, and not have other people get into your feelings,” Emily Rosenfeld, senior and Orchesis president, said. “I wish more people would dance so they could experience this type of creativity and this outlet.”](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ORCHESIS-PHOTO-900x690.jpg)
![During Ally Week, students signed a banner and pledged their alliance with the LGBTQ+ community. "I think a lot of the people who come up are already allies, but [Ally Week helps LGBTQ+ students] by showing other people that there are a lot of signatures on this [banner] and there are a lot more people that support us; there’s a lot of us," Joey Nemec, junior and Spectrum member, said.](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/20190926_131555-900x431.jpg)
![Honors English l students work on an assignment based on their summer reading assignment. Evan Mrazek (freshman)-
"I feel fine with [CP not having summer reading] because we need to be more prepared for the Honors level and CP might not take as much preparing for the class," Evan Mrazek, Honors English l student, said.](https://www.lzbearfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/20190906_091618-900x785.jpg)
