Congratulations Review

Congratulations is the sophomore album from the Brooklyn based band MGMT. This album is the follow up to 2007′s Oracular Spectacular, an album that established MGMT as an artist and had both commercial and critical success.

Oracular Spectacular was praised by critics and adored by fans. The album won
MGMT a Grammy nomination for best new artist and is certified platinum. This album was filled with dance-friendly tracks like Electric Feel and Kids and was a launching pad for MGMT’s career.

Instead of following the formula that was proven successful by the fist album MGMT has decided to take a completely different route.  Since the band has already reached success, the group is more willing to take risks and experiment with their sound.

Congratulations accomplishes just that. The album is a long way from
the band’s first album; the pop-synth tracks are replaced by psychedelic songs.

The band has stated that this album is not for everyone and that is true. If you are a casual MGMT fan who likes the band for its radio-friendly songs then you will probably be disappointed by this album.

If you are a fan of MGMT and listened to the 13-minute epic song Metanoia that the band released last year, the band’s stylistic change will not surprise you.

True MGMT followers will most likely like it, although this album does not have the immediate effect of Oracular Spectacular. This album might go over your head at first, but if you’re patient, you’re in for a treat.

Although  Congratulations does not offer any catchy singles like Electric Feel and Kids some of the  tracks that make this album great are the 11 minute epic  Siberian Breaks, Flash Delirium, and the title track Congratulations.

RB honors veterans

On Wednesday, November 8th, RB honored the men and women of the armed forces.

A school wide assembly took place in which veterans from many different wars were honored for their bravery. Students were also given the opportunity to listen to personal accounts of veterans’ war experiences in break out sessions.

The assembly followed the successful model of previous veteran’s day assemblies. This year, the flag that was flown in the assembly was a flag that was flown by the regular and reserve army out of North Riverside at their base in Iraq in 2008.

Ten years ago former social studies department chair William Jirkovski decided that having students take Veterans Day off as a holiday was not the correct way to honor the brave men and women who have served in the armed forces and have made freedom possible for Americans.

RB administration petitioned the state of Illinois to allow them to have school on Veterans Day in order to have an assembly in which veterans are honored. Many schools have followed what RB has done, and Veterans Day is now becoming a day for students to honor veterans instead of just another day to sleep in.

“It’s our hope that our students understand the debt that we owe to veterans because our freedom is not free,” said Jirkovski.

During the assembly Jirkovski was given a plaque by the school board to honor him for organizing the event for the past 10 years.

Over the past few years the amount of WWII veterans who attend the event has gone down. The overall number of veterans who come to be honored has increased as those who served in the Gulf War and the current war on terror are now joining veterans of previous conflicts.

There will always be veterans to honor and RB is committed to making sure that they are given the respect and recognition that they so greatly deserve.

Bulldogs Give Back

One day out of the year students take time out of their day to give back to those who have enriched their high school experience. The Day of Service has become one of RB’s most admirable traditions and has had an exponential increase in membership every year since its start in 2005.

This year the Day of Service will be on Saturday ,October 17th. The Day of service gives students the opportunity to help out the community with their friends and peers.

The event was organized by Interim-Principal Tim Scanlon, Student Association sponsor Angela Ziola, and social studies teacher Cara Gallagher.

The students will meet at the cafeteria at 9:00 a.m. and participants will be split up into groups and sent out to work on jobs around the community. Some of the volunteer work includes, cleaning up local areas, cleaning the zoo woods, minor landscaping, painting and volunteering at the British Home, and helping senior citizens with odd jobs around their homes.

The day volunteer projects will conclude by 12:00 p.m in the student cafeteria. All volunteers are welcomed to meet in the cafeteria in order to celebrate their contributions to the community with food and drinks.

Sign ups for the Day of Service were on September 6-8 throughout all of the lunches. The number of student’ who volunteered for the activity greatly increased from last year and previous years. Last year around 365 students volunteered for the event and this year about 575 students signed up.

Gallagher believes that students have embraced the opportunity to give back and help others. “The only reason we have such a good school is because of the community and their support for the students. It’s really great that we have set aside a day where students show their appreciation to their community,” said Gallagher.

Expectations are high for this year’s Day of Service and students and teachers are hoping that they can make a difference. “Last year when the Day of Service was over, the student’s impact on the community was very visible. I hope that this year we can do the same thing but on a greater scale,” said Ziola.

RB’s newest club:Improv Club

On Wednesday September 23^rd, senior Zeyne Guzeldereli brilliantly demonstrated the fine craft that is improv acting in front of members of RB’s Improv Club.

Improv Club is one of RB’s newest clubs this year and has already accumulated a respectable amount of members. The club has had two meetings so far and 35 students attended the first meeting.

The club was started by fine arts teacher Melissa Briskman. Last year the club was known as Drama Club but Briskman and members of the club decided to change the name and the activities of the club.

“We felt that changing the name helped the club sound more upbeat and fun. As a result turnout has increased,” said Guzeldereli.

The club meets every Wednesday at 3:10 in the forum room. Improv Club meetings consist of acting games similar to those seen on the popular t.v show Whose Line Is It Anyway and improv acing lessons for less experienced members.

Along with the club there is an improv acting troupe that consists of 8-10 members. In order to be on the troupe members of the club must audition. The troupe meets every Wednesday right after the Improv Club meeting.

The troupe is plan to put on a performance in the little theatre in December and again sometime in the spring.

Improv Club welcomes students from all grade levels to join the club and no prior acting experience is required.

RBHS welcomes foreign exchange students

This year RB is hosting two foreign exchange students who are both from France. Sidney Mompezat and Aurore Jacques are both here for the entire school year.

Both students had never been to America prior to the start of the exchange program. Neither were allowed to choose what city they would stay in but they were both excited when they found out they would be staying in a suburb of Chicago.

Mompezat decided he wanted to come to the US because he wanted to experience the life of a typical American teenager. “It’s been my dream since I was a little kid to come to the US and experience the culture,” he said.

Mompezat enjoys all his classes and is especially fond of the student teacher relationship that exists at RB. “There is a dialogue that exists in the US between the pupil and the teacher,” said Mompezat, “In France when you are in classes, you just sit down, be quiet and listen to the teacher.”

Jacques enjoys RB because of the shorter school day and the teachers. “The teachers here are less serious than in France and some of them are even funny,” said Jacques.

Both students are participating in sports this year. Mompezat plays wide receiver on the RB football team and Jacques is participating in cheerleading. “In France we don’t have a cheerleading program so I’m so glad I get the chance to cheerlead here” said Jacques.

Both students are hoping to improve their English while they are attending RB. They also hope to learn more about American customs, especially when it comes to education. “My hope is that when I go back to France I have insight on what it’s like to be a typical teenager in the US,” said Mompezat.