42Fifty

OH’s National English Honor Society (NEHS) empowered local literacy efforts by organizing and hosting a school book drive in the past weeks by working with school and local community partners to ensure the event's success.  The book drive ran from Jan. 19 to Jan. 30, and as donations came in, NEHS members orchestrated the event with a meaningful objective. “The purpose of our book drive is to support literacy in our communities… We're trying to get as many books out to young students as we can so that everyone has an equal opportunity to keep reading,” said NEHS President and senior Gabrielle Baier.

The most recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the Chicago area, called “Operation Midway Blitz,” started this fall on Sept. 6, and enforcement of current government mandates continue now into 2026. According to the nonprofit journalism group The Marshall Project, around 1,600 people have been taken during these raids so far. The impact is felt here in Oswego, far beyond Chicago city limits. “We are not safe," said OH senior Sidney Blanco simply. "Especially because there is so much that is not being said in the news, or out in the media that people know. Not that long ago, I found out that... Renee [Good] got killed [from the raids],” referencing the Jan 7 death of Renee Nicole Good who was shot in Minneapolis, in her car, by an ICE agent. “[In] Oswego specifically, I know that we have a lot of scared people and a lot of scared citizens... a lot of scared friends and family," said an OH anonymous resident. "They are afraid to live their daily lives. They [are] afraid to go to the store. They're afraid to go home at night.” Residents are impacted in different ways by the enforcement of the current ICE mandates, and each person sees the situation through a different lens.

Second semester is an exciting time. For freshmen, there’s one semester of high school they’ve achieved. For seniors, there’s only one left. For everyone else, there’s the thrill as they count down to summer break.  “Once that change in weather happens… around spring break or just after… it always just seems like… everything can be possible at that time,” OH school counselor and Student Council co-sponsor April Ponte said. “I feel like a lot of people work harder than the first semester, so just finding that balance between a social life and academic life [is important],” said junior and Student Council Executive Board member Melanie Imbronjev. As important as it is to live in the moment, second semester is a busy time, with a lot of important deadlines that it’s important to keep track of.