By: Paige Smalley

On May 23, 1999, Jacob Schab was born and dead-set to be a teacher. “When I was in middle school I didn’t like math and I think it’s because I thought it was hard. When I got to high school, math began to make more sense because of the hard work and practice that I put in to learn it.”

Mr. Schab is a student teacher for the Legends team. He wanted to stay in Champaign so he could get a master’s degree. He wanted something different, and he was already looking for a job in the area so it worked out perfectly.

When he first got here he “was nervous but everyone was very welcoming. I was nervous but excited to get started.”

Mr. Schab grew up in Orland Park south of Chicago for most of his life until he began going to college. “I took advice from many people. I focused on those who supported me and didn’t listen to the ones who told me that I couldn’t achieve something.” 

 Mr. Schab got advice from all his teachers. “Stick with it and ask for help because if you put in the practice you will be able to do it, asking questions is the easiest.” He joined Mrs. Sondgeroth’s class and he felt that he could look up to her as a role model.

 If Schab wasn’t a Math teacher he would be doing writing because “I would like to think I have a creative mind and can write well.” 

He has made friendships and is closer with students along the way. “They can ask me questions, whether it’s related to math or not.” 

As a student I can proudly say he is one of my favorite teachers and learns how to make everything better.

By: Gracie Hanlon

Now that it’s April, Easter is coming up soon. The stores are already covered in bright spring colors and decked out with bunnies, chocolates, and eggs. Plastic eggs to fill with candy, and chocolate eggs too! But why eggs? Why do eggs symbolize Easter? 

Well, one source states that eggs are used during Easter because they represent rebirth or a new life. Which makes sense because it aligns with the religious part of Easter. But there is also another theory as to why eggs are associated with Easter. 

In medieval times, eggs were banned during lent. If you don’t know what lent is, it’s the 40 days before Easter and a common way to participate in lent is by giving up food that is bad for you or setting a goal to accomplish during that time. Eggs aren’t necessarily bad for you but back then they were not allowed. So eggs were used frequently on Easter to celebrate eating them again! So now that old tradition has been twisted into Easter egg hunts for kids and turned into candy as well. 

There are also some interesting theories or superstitions that some people believed in. Some believed that eggs laid on Good Friday would turn into diamonds if you kept them for 100 years. Others believed eggs cooked on Good Friday and consumed on Easter would prevent sudden death and bless them, so doing that became a tradition. 

Years later in 1873, eggs were made into chocolate candies first sold by Fry’s. Cadbury then started selling their eggs and introduced milk chocolate eggs. Many people loved the chocolate eggs and they are still around today! Many other brands and companies have joined in by making their own eggs throughout the years. 

Easter eggs have evolved and changed very much over the years. They went from being forbidden during lent, to superstitions, and now even to chocolate and egg hunts! I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about Easter eggs!

By: Izzy Rosa

Hi, everyone! In this article, I’m gonna be talking about frogs and some fun facts about them! This article will include 10 facts, but I will probably make this into a series. 

One fun fact about frogs is that, somehow, frogs may have been alive for 200 million years, about the time that dinosaurs were alive. 

#2: Frogs, that we know of, have been known to live as long as 20 years. 

#3: The smallest frog is the Cuban tree frog which only grows to about 1 inch. 

#4: Frogs usually shed their skin once a week, and then eat it. 

#5: Frogs blink when swallowing food to use its eyes to push food down its throat. 

#6: A group of frogs is actually called an army, isn’t that cute? I want a frog army. 

#7: There are like 6,000 species of frogs and scientists are STILL LOOKING FOR MORE! 

#8: FROGS HAVE NIGHT VISIONNNNNNNNN.

#9: Frogs typically live in freshwater but som can live in partially or even fully slat water areas. 

Finally, our last fact, number 10: Darwin frog dads swallow their tadpoles. 

By: Sofia Marquez

I think we have all had, or at least heard of a mango. The tropical orange colored fruit, most commonly known to be used for smoothies and sorbets, has so much more to offer. Not only does the mango have a rich, colorful history, having travelled around the whole world by the 1600s, but according to worldatlas.com it is also one of the most popular fruits in the world.

According to mango.org, the mango is believed to be cultivated first in the Hindo-Berma region, an area in Southeast Asia extending from southern India to southern China. The seeds of the mango made its way from Asia to the Middle East, East Africa then to South America around 300/400 A.D. 

The cultivation of mango slowly started to become more popular, moving westward around the time of the spice trade. In 1492, the Portuguese, who had docked in Calcutta, India,  were the first known people to establish a mango trade.

As Spanish explorers invaded Mexico, they introduced mango to the people of Mexico and surrounding South American countries. Mango then flourished in that area, making Mexico and South America a hotspot for mango farms and growth.

With there being over 1,000 types of mango, it is found in cuisines in the tropics and subtropical regions spanning over Southeast Asia to South America. In 1833, the first attempt to introduce mango to the United States came, mostly being introduced to Florida. 

Mango has had a tumultuous history in Florida, mainly because of the climate. Due to the weather in Florida, mango production was minimal in the early 1900s. Fresh mangoes are not commercially available everywhere in the U.S, because American mango farms are mainly in Florida and Southern California.