During the second-to-last Local School Council meeting of the school year on May 11, chairwoman Laura Symons announced that she would step down from her position as head of the council, as her last daughter attending Lane is set to graduate on May 31. As she hit the gavel one last time at the end of the meeting, her peers commemorated her time as chairwoman and motioned to adjourn. 

Public participation

The meeting started with a public comment for one of the first times this school year. Morgan Bryan, who read aloud a statement written by his child, Noah Bryan, spoke during the public participation portion of the meeting and voiced concerns about the current mandatory swimming unit at Lane Tech. Bryan expressed how detrimental the unit can be to the mental health of students who don’t feel comfortable wearing swimsuits in front of their peers. He also claimed that the physical education department overlooks the harm the swim unit can cause to students who identify with a gender outside of the one they were assigned at birth.

“As a transgender individual with body dysmorphia, mental health issues and an eating disorder, at times I felt like my privacy was being violated and my body was being put on display,” Noah Bryan wrote in the statement. “The effect that it had on me is something that I would never wish upon anyone else.”

Noah Bryan’s mother, Jennifer Medley, argued that the harmful impact of mandatory swimming is not only felt by transgender students, but also by others who may not feel comfortable subjecting themselves to the inherent vulnerability of swimming. 

“I also argue that cisgender students deserve privacy too,” Medley said. “If a student doesn’t want their peers seeing their acne covered back, their growing bust, their surgical scar, or whatever it is they feel insecure about, that should be their decision.” 

Resolutions

During the meeting, many resolutions were granted to various teams in the Lane Tech community. This includes Lane’s Academic Decathlon team, which came in second in their division during nationals. The LSC recognized various students for their efforts and attributed the team’s success to head coach David Campos.

Science teacher Jeffery Kallen and student Charles Petajan received a resolution on behalf of Lane’s Science Olympiad team for coming in first during the CPS regional competition in February of this year and placing tenth in the Illinois Science Olympiad state tournament on April 22. 

A resolution was also given to Lane’s AP Capstone program for completing the first ever Cancer Research Program. Seniors Damian Moreno, Aleefah Ajmal, Sebastian Pacheco and Chloe Symons all worked together to complete an internship for cancer research alongside experts at Northwestern University. 

Lane Tech’s esports team was also recognized as they advanced to Illinois state tournaments in two events during the International Gaming Standards Association (IGSA) state sectionals. Students Justis Walker, Christian Blancas and Elias Corona all placed first in the IGSA sectionals for Rocket League and the team placed first in the International Convention Center state competition. Senior Christian Blancas also received a full ride scholarship to Heartland College, and the accumulated amount of scholarship money earned by the team as a whole exceeds $100,000. 

Lane Tech’s Chorus received a resolution for placing first in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state ensemble competition for the second consecutive year. 

Lastly, recognition was given to chair Laura Symons and Friends of Lane president, Lisa Borelli, for their time serving the Lane Tech community. Both Symons and Borelli plan to step down from their previous positions as leaders of these respective organizations. 

“Lisa has on several occasions organized the Lane tech gala, participated in many fundraising efforts and posted events here at school,” Symons said. 

New business

The LSC then went on to discuss upcoming construction projects and events, mentioning that parking lot reconstruction was awaiting bids to come in before final decisions on dates would be made. In addition, new floors in the Gym 1 bleachers section will be implemented coming this summer.

“We will have an early July start with that, the Gym 1 will get all brand new wood in the seating on the balcony and new epoxy floor paint that’s supposed to look very nice,” Dr. Sarah Hanly said. 

Hanly then went on to explain how Friends of Lane has helped push to get new speakers in the auditorium.

“We will be moving forward with brand new speakers for our auditorium which is going to make a fantastic difference over all of our assemblies and performances,” Hanly said.