STUDENT COUNCIL

December Staff Shout Outs

Mrs. Sarver

  • Were you in any clubs in high school?
    •  Oh yes. I was actively involved in Drama Club and starred in many plays and musicals throughout high school. I also was involved in Forensics, which is the equivalent of Speech Team and actually went to State 3 years in a row for my event. I was also heavily involved in Student Council and had a leadership role every year in High School and on the Executive Board my Junior and Senior year. And of course, I was in Spanish Club too! 🙂
  • If you could meet anyone you wanted, living or dead, who would it be, and why?
    •  Anthony Rizzo! He’s a genuinely good person and athlete, and on the best baseball team in the MLB!
  • If there was any place in the world that you could go, where would it be?
    • I have been to Spain and loved it but I would love to go to Greece someday. From what I’ve seen in pictures alone, it looks like a beautiful place!
  • What is your favorite childhood memory? Why?
    • This is so hard to narrow down and I’m not totally sure that I have one specific favorite as I have a LOT of favorites. But one specific childhood memory that sticks out is when my sister and I were younger, we used to make home videos together. Like we would pretend to be on each other’s talk shows, and make music videos to Avril Lavigne songs. We used to pretend to be members of The Spice Girls and make choreographed music videos and dance and dress up. It was just fun! It was super old school with the big old camcorder that you had to sit on your shoulder while filming! I just remember having so much fun with her and it probably stood out because that was a rare occurrence that she wanted to hang out with her little sister! 
  • What’s your biggest pet peeve?
    • This is honestly so hard to narrow down to ONE but probably procrastination. I’m a very Type-A kind of person so it’s hard for me to deal with when people keep putting things off when they could just take some time quickly and finish a task! 
PHS Staff Shout Out

December 2020 Student Council

Mr. Smith

  • What’s your favorite story or memory you can think of about something that has happened in your time working here?
    • My favorite memory is being a part of the run to the semi finals of last year’s football team. 
  • When you were in high school, did you know what you wanted to do as an adult?
    • I thought I did. I planned to go into physical therapy and athletic training, so I took lots of science classes in high school. I spent lots of time in class with Mrs. Ledergerber. 
  • If you could meet anyone you wanted, living or dead, who would it be, and why?
    • This is a hard question to ask a history teacher, so I’m going to choose one living and one dead. If I got to meet anyone living, I would meet Michael Jordan. I would be scared to sit down with him, but he would be really interesting to talk to. If I could meet anyone who is dead, I would meet Jesus. Jesus would have to top George Washington because of his profound influence on the world. 
  • If there was any place in the world that you could go, where would it be? 
    •  Italy. I want to experience the food and eat in Italy. 
  • What’s your biggest pet peeve?
    • I got a lot. My number one pet peeve in the world is misplaced apostrophes. Another top contender is capable students who choose not to do anything.
PHS Staff Shout Out

December 2020 Student Council

Mrs. Johnson

  • What’s your favorite thing about working at PHS?
    • That has to be the students and staff. It’s a great atmosphere to be a part of.
  • Were you in any clubs in high school?
    •  I was on the Speech Team and in Jazz Band.
  • What’s your favorite story or memory you can think of about something that has happened in your time working here?
    •  Wow there are so many. I think seeing my first class of students that I worked with graduate, knowing that I helped in getting them to that point.
  • If you could meet anyone you wanted, living or dead, who would it be, and why?
    •   Eleanor Roosevelt. She was such an influence for human rights, woman’s rights and children.
  • If you had three wishes, what would you wish for, and why?
    •  Peaceful compromise rather than violence. A clean earth. Respect and kindness for all living things.
PHS Staff Shout Out

December 2020 Student Council

Mrs. Rawlings

  • What’s your favorite thing about working at PHS?
    • “Love, love seeing the kids, and telling them to have a good day. I also think it is funny when I serve the kids peaches and I can tell them to have a peachy day.”
  • What’s your favorite movie/book/music artist, and why? 
    • “I love history books, I love to read and then to learn about things that happened in the past.”
  • What are some things you look forward to each year? 
    • “Getting something to pass the time, and to see my friends and people I know”
  • If you had three wishes what would you wish for, and why?
    • “I would wish for everyone to be happy and healthy, there to be fun things for people to do, and there to be world peace. So then everyone would be happy.”
  • If there was anything you could change about your experiences here, what would it be and why?
    • “I don’t really know, I love my job here.”
  • When you were in high school, what was important to you? Any stories/memories?
    • “I have a really funny memory of when I was in high school, and I noticed that the teacher’s shirt was inside out and backwards. So I walked up to her and said ‘inside out and backwards’ she didn’t get it the first time so I said it again, and then she realized it and had to go change it.”
PHS Staff Shout Out

December 2020 Student Council

Mr. Berlinski

  • Was there ever a teacher you knew that changed your life? How? 
    • Yes, there have always been teachers who’ve impacted me as a student. One of those stands out. Mr. Lapan was a teacher of mine in high school. We had similar interests and had many great conversations throughout high school. I eventually was a teacher’s assistant for him my junior and senior year (back when those types of “classes” were allowed). He was a great role model and mentor for me, even after graduating. A bit after I graduated, he was diagnosed with cancer which proved to be terminal. He passed away my sophomore year of college and I went back to attend the memorial service. It was clear by the number of people in attendance that I was not the only student or individual he had an impact on. This showed me the type of impact a positive, determined, and caring person in the field of education can have on so many. I was very lucky to have had it in my life during that time.
  • What’s your favorite thing about working at PHS?
    • The students. We are so fortunate to have such great students here at PHS — in so many ways. We have a terrific staff but we (the staff) are only here because of the students. 
  • When you were in high school, what was important to you? Any stories/ memories?
    •  I’m not going to lie. My list was probably: Sports, Friends, Girlfriend, High School events, and academics in that order. As a teenager, my priorities were not what I would want them to be now.
  • Were you in any clubs in high school? 
    • I was involved more with sports in high school than any clubs. The one club I was involved in the most was Key Club which was a volunteer/service organization.
  • When you were in high school, did you know what you wanted to do as an adult? 
    •  No, my mind was not made up 100%. I think education was something I had in my mind but I really didn’t focus on that until I was in college.

 

PHS Staff Shout Out

December 2020 Student Council

Ms. Grove

  • What’s your favorite thing about working at PHS?
    • The students
  • What’s your favorite movie/book/music artist and why?
    • I don’t have all time favorites for books and movies. I recently read a book called Educated and I really enjoyed that. 
  • What are some things you look forward to each year?
    • School is fun every year to see the students, meet the new kids I have. It’s good to see how much students can change and grow over the summer, so it’s always fun to see the one’s I’ve had before as well. 
  • What’s your biggest pet peeve?
    • Probably kids who underachieve compared to their potential. I know that they are capable and bright and smart but they just won’t embrace that. 
  • Do you have favorite students every year or are all students your favorite? How do you feel when your students graduate?
    • They are all my favorite. I have mixed emotions. I’m always proud of them, I have a sense of pride for them and there’s a little bit of sadness when some of them go, but also hopefulness for their future. I’m excited to see what their future holds for them. I’m proud and excited. 

 

PHS Staff Shout Out

December 2020 Student Council

Mr. Olson

  • What’s your favorite thing about working at PHS? 
  • It sounds cliche, but the best part of PHS is the people. I enjoy getting to know the students that come through, whether they are part of the band or not, and I enjoy my connections with the other teachers and staff. 
  • What is/are your favorite hobby/hobbies? 
  • I love to make and listen to music of all kinds (duh), and I also enjoy watching football (go Bears) and soccer (go Tottenham), playing board games, traveling, reading, and spending time with friends and family.
  • Were you in any clubs in high school? 
  • I went to a larger high school, so it was less common for students to “do it all” like at PHS – a great advantage of being here! I did every band activity that was available to me, no surprise. I also did sound and lights for our theater program, and participated in the school newspaper and French club.
  • What’s your favorite movie/book/artist and why? 
  • I hate choosing and ranking things, so I’ll do my best.

Movies – The Big Lebowski is the perfect movie.

Book – I refuse to make a choice because I read in too many different genres. 

Music – The Mountain Goats, because they are the only artist that I drove 4 1/2 hours on a Monday night in college to see.

  • When you were in high school did you know what you wanted to be as an adult? 
  • For most of high school, I had no idea what path I wanted to follow. In my last year of high school, I decided that since I loved the experiences that I had making music in band, I wanted to pass on those moments and feelings to future students. I still wasn’t set on doing that even when I went to college and started studying music education, but I knew I had made the right choice once I got to college and dove in.
  • What are some things you look forward to each year? 
  • In a normal year, there are so many great things that happen in and around PHS, so it’s a long list. In the fall, I look forward to Friday night football games and the community that happens there, in the winter I get to look forward to concerts and the Madrigal dinner, then in the spring our IHSA competitions, the musical, and the Ice Cream Social.
PHS Staff Shout Out

December 2020 Student Council

Mr. Tinley

  • What’s your favorite book, movie, and music artist, and why?
  • Books: American History, science fiction (Star Trek and Star Wars). Music: Then: Dokken (Melodic Heavy Metal), Now: Sevendust (Melodic Nu Metal). I have met the members of both bands on numerous occasions throughout the years. Movie: “This Is Spinal Tap” (a parody of Heavy Metal Music).
  • When you were in high school, what was important to you? Any stories/memories?
    • doing the best I could in my classes, basketball, hanging with my friends
  • What’s your favorite story or memory you can think of about something that has happened in your time working here?
    • I hit a cow coming home from work… I killed it.
  • If you could meet anyone you wanted, living or dead, who would it be, and why?
    • Alive: William Shatner (Star Trek), well, he’s Captain Kirk. Deceased: my father, I miss him every day.
  • What are some things that you’ve noticed are different between high school now and high school when you went?
    • technology, but kids are the same, societal expectations have changed (for the better and for the worse)
PHS Staff Shout Out

December 2020 Student Council

Kevin Alt

  • What sport do you coach?
    • Softball
  • What’s your favorite story or memory that you can think of about something that has happened in your time working here?
    • Helping coach the team to beat erie-prophetstown, to win regionals May 2019. This was my favorite because it was the first time PHS softball won regions in school history. 
  • What are some things that you’ve noticed are different between high school now and high school when you went? 
    • School now relies on a lot of technology, researching used to be reliant on encyclopedias, now people can just look it up online. 
  • What was your favorite childhood memory? Why? 
    • Going to the Travis Air Force Base in Vacaville, California ( near San Francisco). It was cool because I got to watch aircrafts get worked on, and I got to sit in the cockpit of a C5 bomber. 
  • If you could meet anyone you wanted, dead or alive, who would it be, and why?
    • Abraham Lincoln because he stood up for what was right while sacrificing everything. 
PHS Staff Shout Out

December 2020 Student Council