The class of 2023 has been described as the “torch bearers.” The class that carried every group, every club, and every sport through the pandemic. This final year has been their only normal, uninhibited...

Tamara Barrera goes to the office at 7:30 a.m. She checks her emails, looks at the schedule and gets everything ready when the first child walks in at 8 a.m. A half hour later, when all the children are...

Walking through the halls, a McHenry High School student notices fighting near the bathrooms. In response, a school resource officer nearby issues adjudication citations, or tickets, to the students. All...

Four years ago, the McHenry Messenger was a student publication that needed help. For decades, MCHS did not have a student newspaper and, during its first semester, the publication struggled to launch.  Four...

Students at the Freshman Campus are getting ready for the next step. Going from middle school to high school was hard, but being a new kid in a second new high school is just as nerve wracking. A year...

Law after law gets the stamp of approval. From Florida to Tennessee to Utah, bills are being passed that harm the LGBTQ+ community in one way or another. Some of the bills target all LGBTQ+ people, but...

As the school year comes to an end, students and staff at MCHS are reevaluating whether the new online passes and ID known as Minga and MyHomework really work. Both students and staff have gotten used...

Therapy often helps people help people. People who help themselves find it easier to help others. If someone is mentally healthy, they have the capacity to be more helpful towards others. Lauren Hines...

A sophomore walks through the halls of the Upper Campus, unfamiliar and unforgiving as they hear small snippets of conversation from the upperclassmen around them. All of them follow one consistent pattern,...

A student walks into class, hearing rumors of a snow day from students and staff alike. She opens her email only to find no update from administration. No email means no snow day but, with no update to...

A student in gym class doesn’t know how to play basketball, the team sport of the week. They are yelled at by the other students saying, “Hey! Come on! You could have made that!” The student leaves...

Jeff Prickett stands in the South entrance awaiting the stampede of teenagers to roll his way. He eagerly looks at the clock, it’s 2:50. He enthusiastically greets the students goodbye as they walk out,...