Telethon skips a school year

Year after year, the annual RBEF Telethon proves itself to be a well-received and highly successful endeavor. Last year alone, the telethon raised over $27,000 in donations, money which went on to directly benefit the students of RB. In light of its past accomplishments, many were surprised to learn that there would be no telethon for the duration of the 09-10 school term.

The previous telethon took place in February of 2009, and because there cannot be two telethons in the same year, the next telethon will not take place until fall of 2010.

“I was more shocked than anything else,” remarked senior Bryan Smaller, “That was my initial reaction. After thinking about it more and more I realized that I wouldn’t be able to be there for the telethon next year. I wish I could have known beforehand that last year was going to be my last telethon. I never felt like I really had a last one.”

TV production student, Jackie Glosniak, mirrored Smaller in her disappointment. “I understand why they chose not to have it this year,” said Glosniak, “but I’m still upset that I won’t be able to be a part of the telethon as a senior. It would have been nice to have a ‘farewell’ telethon.”

The telethon not only gives television production students a chance to say goodbye to RBTV, but it also gives students of all kinds a chance to receive grants for a diverse range of extracurricular activities and programs.

All the money that is raised through the telethon is given back to the students of RB in the form of RBEF grants. Students who require extra funding for a specific program or workshop can fill out a grant application and receive payment to cover their expenses.
 
In this way, the telethon is a source for creating a plethora of opportunities and enriching experiences for high school students. Fortunately, an alternative method for raising money to cover the student grants is already in order.

Mailings will go out to previous telethon donors just before Thanksgiving asking them to pledge their support. Whether these efforts will raise a sum of money equal to what the telethon usually brings in is hard to say, but if all goes according to plan, money for the grants should be available this spring.

Although the telethon will undoubtedly be missed this year not only by those who actively participate in it, but by those who tune in and donate, television production teacher Gary Prokes maintains a positive outlook.

“I think that if the students have gotten to experience one telethon, anything else is really just a bonus,” commented Prokes, “The telethon is an enrichment activity and that they get to experience it at all is a great thing.”

Hammond train catastrophe – the legend behind the elephant graveyard

Piercing through the night, a far-off sound is heard. It could be a train, barreling towards some new destination, or merely the wailing of the wind. But then again, to many Riverside residents, it sounds more like the trumpeted cry of elephants, echoing from the confines of nearby Woodlawn Cemetery.

Many believe these sounds to be the cries of elephants which perished in a train wreck which occurred nearly a hundred years ago. While the train wreck itself was an actual event documented by historians, many of the stories which have sprung up around it are not rooted in truth.

On the date of June 22, 1918 members of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus were on their way to a performance in Hammond, Indiana. None of the passengers had any idea that an empty troop train was hurtling towards them at 60 miles per hour, its driver asleep at the throttle.

Steel twisted, sparks flew from the tracks, and when the kerosene lamps used for lighting hit the floor, the train was consumed by fire. The event proved to be one of the greatest train disasters in American history.

A total of 86 people, all of them circus performers, perished in the wreck and another 127 were left injured by the accident. The performance scheduled for that very same day would never go on.

Many of the unclaimed dead were laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park and buried together in a plot purchased by the Showmen’s League of America. Some of the recovered bodies, burned beyond recognition, were never identified. Their gravestones are marked only with the words “unknown” followed by a series of numbers. There are even gravestones where the only names engraved in the marble slabs are the circus performers’ jobs and nicknames such as “4 horse driver” and “Baldy”.

Five grave markers in the shape of elephants were placed around the borders of the plot, their trunks pointed down as a sign of mourning. This area later became known as Showmen’s Rest.

Over time, people began to believe that these unusual markers had been placed in the cemetery over the bodies of circus elephants that had perished in the train wreck along with the performers. In actuality, there were no animals and certainly no elephants present on the train the night of the fateful crash.

Exactly how the story of Showmen’s Rest first came to be altered will forever remain a mystery, but in the end the truth behind the ghostly legend is far more horrific than any of the rumors which have come to surround it through the years.

Countdown to College

On Thursday, September 16th, dozens of RB students and their parents gathered around the band room, their eager ears straining to pick up the hidden secrets of college admission. This informative meeting, also known as Countdown to College, was organized by the RBHS counselors in order to better prepare high school students for the college application process and all of the problems they might encounter along the way.

The guest speaker for the event, Jerry Pope, former dean of admissions at Illinois Wesleyan, expressed a desire to help high school students become informed consumers aware of literally all the criteria which college admission officers might look at when making their final decision. 

One thing which most high school students would be surprised to learn is that colleges routinely deny applicants based on information taken from their facebook, myspace, e-mail accounts, and even their cell-phone messages.

“There are many students who possess all the qualifications,” said Pope, “but based on what their profiles and their pictures say about them, I would never want them on my campus.”

One particular instance which Pope remembers where personal information came into play, involved a young man who had initially been accepted until the college he applied to discovered that his e-mail username contained the phrase, “I love drugs.” Needless to say, the college did not take kindly to this and the young man was swiftly denied.

Students should be aware that any questionable material posted on their profile page can seriously count against them in the long run. In the end, your facebook and any other online profile pages you might have should be your ultimate public relations piece, not something that can work against you.

Profiles aside, one of the biggest reasons why students do not get accepted into their first choice college is not because they aren’t qualified, but simply because they missed the deadline.

RB counselor Margaret Leiteritz feels that taking the college application process seriously and being involved in it every step of the way is a student’s greatest asset. 

“Involvement is essential,” said Leiteritz, “the application process will go much smoother if the student does the research, keeps track of deadlines, and attends some of the college-related events hosted by RB.”

“Students should remember that in this process, they are the key player.”