NEWS
The Museum of Contemporary Art and the North Loop galleries were visited on Saturday, Nov. 21. These galleries are known to be high end and expensive, where work by famous artists such as Pablo Picasso or Andy Warhol can be seen. The night concluded with a play on ventriloquism, which explored concepts of life and death through inanimate objects.
Sunday, Nov. 22 marked the last day in the Windy City. The Cultural Center, the Art Institute of Chicago, and a stroll through Millennium Park, home of “The Bean,” were the last stops the students experienced.
Students arrived back home on Sunday evening.
Michelle Davies, Plymouth English teacher said “This [Mod Lit] is one of the few classes offered at the Park that is current and seeing what is being done today, what techniques are being used, what themes are being tackled, is an important experience for these students."
Honors Modern Literature Class Travels to Chicago
By: Natasha Pietruschka
Art Director
In the middle of November every year, students from Honors Modern Literature & the Arts and Honors Humanities travel to the vibrant city of Chicago. The Windy City is known to be a culture hub, making it the perfect place to apply concepts learned in class.
Departure this year was Nov. 19, when 36 Mod Lit and Humanities students gathered at Salem High School to leave by bus after school. A few restroom stops and card games later, the P-CEP representatives were greeted with the bright lights of the city’s skyline and the smells of Chicago-style deep dish pizza.
“The city is beautiful. It was great getting Chicago pizza after a long day at school,” said Justine Ko, Plymouth senior.
Friday, Nov. 20 marked the first full day in the city. The first half of the day consisted of exploring the West Loop galleries, a small art district with various galleries containing the work of up-and-coming artists.
“It was interesting seeing the variety of art and mediums,” Fred Richardson, Canton junior said.
Friday evening, the group traveled by subway to see "A Play About My Father,” a play reflecting on the true story of a doctor in Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina. The night then carried into the infamous "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind,” a play that is a tradition for students to see every year. Past its twenty-fifth year, it is the longest-running show in Chicago today. The actors perform 30 plays in 60 minutes, where all the plays are written from personal experience and performed with utmost honesty.
Reflecting on the trip, Alex Pingston, Canton junior, said, “There is so much art in Chicago, more things to see and do. You get to witness a bunch of things you wouldn’t normally. It’s very out of your comfort zone.”
Michelle Davies and her Mod Lit class explores Chicago.
Photo by Michelle Davies
The faithful citizens living in Canton Township watched their favorite tree burst into color Dec. 2 when the annual Township Tree Lighting Event took place in front of the Summit.
Canton representative, Phil LaJoy, was brought onto the stage with the celebrity of the night, Santa Claus, to give recognition to those involved in making Canton a safe and overall pleasant place to live.
LaJoy told the crowd of people at the event that the tree was going to be lit with newer technology than past years, so the representative enlightened the guests with a “test run” on a much smaller tree.
Afterwards, citizens were asked to count down from ten and proudly chant “Merry Christmas Canton” when the time came to light the real tree.
LaJoy notified the attendees saying, “The newer technology developed in the North Pole allows the tree to light up automatically when Santa and I wave the ‘magic wand’ while you all chant.”
The large pine tree quickly lit up all of the excited faces in the crowd with intense neon colors when the chanting was completed. The star located at the top of the tree shone the brightest next to the blues and greens and reds encompassing the body of the tree.
Families and couples rushed to get their picture taken in front of the illuminating piece of decoration. Adjacent to the tree, citizens were given the opportunity to watch workers create ice sculptures for a competition that awards money to a designated charity. More hands-on festivities awaited guests indoors. Children, adults, and everybody in-between were invited to participate in making seasonal crafts and of course, meeting Santa.
Local Girl Scouts and other volunteers involved in choir were invited to sing heartwarming Christmas songs under the bright lights while on stage, providing a welcoming atmosphere and live entertainment for the guests, while the tree was undergoing the tasks necessary to ensure the extravagant procedure goes as planned.
A local resident said, “There’s always going to be a large number of people coming. There are a lot of people this year I think because of the newer activities we get to do.”
Familiar or not familiar with the event, citizens swarmed to be mesmerized by all that the Summit had to offer during Canton’s Holiday Season Annual Tree Lighting extravaganza.
Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony Kicks off Holiday Season
By: Allison Pascalo
Features Editor
Duchamp Day At the Park
Photo Story By: Lauren Flynn
Photo Editor
Hallways strewn with Honors Modern Literature projects mesmerized students as they took them all in on Duchamp Day. Every year the artist is remembered by thought provoking and decorative projects like the ones shown above. Eyes were drawn to the colorful masks on the path between Plymouth and Salem, were seen gazing at cotton rainclouds (shown to the left) and popping bubble wrap in C pod in Plymouth.
All photos by Lauren Flynn