Listen to this audio story by clicking the play button below. The McHenry Messenger · A Step Further   Students universally struggle with school, like any other part of life. Although challenges...

"Talk more." "Are you depressed?" "Being quiet won't get you anywhere!" Quiet kids have heard these phrases countless times. In a society that values extroversion, these kids are often overlooked or,...

Angry parents continue to flood schools, each taking different approaches to induce change. Many resort to protesting while others take a more political route by running for a seat on the school board....

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...

Upper Campus science teacher Beth Caruso stares at the copy machine with impatience at the end of the school day, frustrated that the box of metal and screws isn’t working properly. Just as she’s about...

Week after week, a student walks into their class room to a large empty desk. The chair that was supposed to have their teacher in it sat cold and empty just like it did almost everyday. The student huff...

A student falls behind on their homework and they say, “I'll do it later.” Then they start to say that on every assignment or they tell their parents that they finished it. When the parent checks in...

A student sits refreshing the grades tab on her Schoology page. She awaits the input of her latest assignment, hoping to receive a good score. She refreshes a final time and sees that her grade was input...

Loud cheering can be heard, filling the sky just like the sunset. Ryan Cabildo guides his marching band out in front of the stands of McCracken Field. In front of hundreds of people, Cabildo starts guiding...

Before Leah Pelletier was a biomedical science teacher, she was an aspiring pediatrician. That is, until all eight medical schools she applied to rejected her. Or maybe it was seven — one got lost...

 The McHenry Messenger · The Scraps: Golden Apple, the Queen and food trucks (Episode One)   The Scraps is a podcast that spotlights past pitches that weren't picked up. To listen to the...