• Want to receive periodic updates from the Inkspot? Sign up for our newsletter highlighting the latest headlines, top stories and more here
Whatever you are interested in, we've got it covered.

Inkspot

Whatever you are interested in, we've got it covered.

Inkspot

Whatever you are interested in, we've got it covered.

Inkspot

Jaspers Java opens Oct. 14 at the corner of General Electric Rd. and Keaton Plaza in Bloomington.

Jasper’s Java serves coffee grounded in family

Abby Ruebush, Editor-in-Chief
Oct 13, 2023

Jasper’s Java isn’t the only coffee shop to call Bloomington-Normal home. It is, however, the only one committed to helping people and pets find homes of their own.  The business, which opens Oct. 14 following its one-week soft opening period, supports animal adoption through sales and human...

Continue Reading
Waiting Room Records, located in Uptown Normal, stocks new vinyl and buys and sells used vinyl, making it a popular among Communitys record enthusiasts.

Vinyl revival: Community’s vinyl enthusiasts on why records are spinning back into popularity

Kirsten Santana, Senior Staff Reporter
Oct 4, 2023

A tug on the sleeve. An adjustment of the arm. Millions are turning to the needle to feed their addiction. This is the vinyl revival. Vinyl records outsold CDs in the US for the first time in over 35 years, according to the Recording Industry Association of America’s annual revenue report. Climbing...

Continue Reading

Banned Books Week Trivia

Test your self on your banned books knowledge
Inkspot Staff
Oct 2, 2023
Banned Books Week, Oct. 1-7, 2023, is an annual event celebrating freedom from censorship. Typically held during the last week of September, it spotlights current and historical attempts to censor books in libraries and schools.
Read Story
Tell me how to get to Sesame Street

Tell me how to get to Sesame Street

Abby Ruebush, Editor-in-Chief
Sep 18, 2023

There’s an alternate universe where Community alum Paul Rudolph still spends his days surrounded by high school music students.  A universe where Rudolph (’84) conducts a classroom in Central Illinois, teaching teenagers to sight read, to play scales and chords, to march in formation.  That...

Continue Reading
A Q&A with Community teachers on their extra-curricular interests

A Q&A with Community teachers on their extra-curricular interests

Anna Dunne, Senior Staff Reporter
Sep 18, 2023

Continue Reading
New Faces of Normal

New Faces of Normal

A Q & A with 2023's new instructional, administrative and support staff members

Continue Reading
At the 2023 Speech banquet, Ms. Jackie Zeman sat surrounded by the teams graduating seniors and the incoming head coach.
Photo Courtesy of:

Mic Drop!

Speech coach Ms. Jackie Zeman steps down
Abby Ruebush and Anna Dunne
Aug 17, 2023

Continue Reading
Gabe Martinez (left) runs his cello through effects run by Charles Faulkner (seated).

Avant-garde musical group, The Experimental Ensemble, empowers musicians creatively

The Experimental Ensemble, an avante-garde musical group, offers Community’s musicians a unique outlet for creative expression.  After launching in 2022, the Ensemble wrapped their sophomore season with April 15’s performance at the McLean County Museum of History and the release of “Budget...

Continue Reading
Three children stand amid garbage at the Kutupaong refugee camp in Bangladesh.

A State of Crisis

Across two continents, students work to educate Rohingya children, refugees forced to flee their homes in Myanmar
Abby Ruebush, Editor-in-Chief
May 18, 2023

Three. Three children pictured amid a garbage-strewn field, wading in mud past their knees. Their hair, their skin, their clothes are covered in it. The picture, taken at a Bangladesh refugee camp on Sept. 29, 2022, provides only a snapshot of the issue. 773,000. The number of Rohingya—members...

Continue Reading
A reproduction of “Water Lilies” by French Impressionist Claude Monet, one of Gollapudi’s inspirations

A Portrait of Isha Gollapudi: Artist

Abby Ruebush, Editor-in-Chief
May 18, 2023

The passage of time marked with penciled lines on the wall. Lines, drawn above children’s heads, climbing higher and higher with each passing year, with each growth spurt. Lines traced with a parent’s careful hand as a toddler, an elementary schooler, a teen waits. Lines etched with pencils, with...

Continue Reading
After piloting select exams digitally, the College Board is moving to all-digital testing by 2024. The digital exams, students said are easier to take, educators believe are Easier to administer.

Digital exams bring student-friendly changes to test experience

Abby Ruebush, Editor-in-Chief
May 15, 2023

Community students from three Advanced Placement courses—English Literature, English Language and Computer Science Principles—took their AP exams digitally for the first time this May. The College Board offered digital exams for seven of its 38 AP subjects this year ahead of offering shorter,...

Continue Reading
Watch 10 Fast and Furious films, earn $1K

Watch 10 Fast and Furious films, earn $1K

Brayden Blackwell and Libby Price
May 12, 2023

$55 an hour?  Without having to leave the comfort of your couch?  That summer job could be yours courtesy of Finance Buzz, a website that provides financial tips, advice and recommendations. With May 19’s release of “Fast X,” the newest installment in the blockbuster Fast and Furious...

Continue Reading
Why Bruha doesn’t break

Why Bruha doesn’t break

Calling a spade a spade in the game of kings
Abby Ruebush, Editor-in-Chief
May 10, 2023

Continue Reading
Music In Our Schools Month sees a capella groups, Jazz Ensemble perform during lunch hours [video]

Music In Our Schools Month sees a capella groups, Jazz Ensemble perform during lunch hours [video]

Community's annual March celebration of Music In Our Schools Month featured performances from the Jazz Ensemble, Voice Male and Key of She acapella groups during lunch hours on March 23.  

Continue Reading

Passion for pickleball fueling Feeney’s competitive spirit

Jeffery Woodard, Senior Staff Reporter
Apr 1, 2023

The Feeney family has a history of presiding over courts.  Sisters Sophia (’23) and Madison (’21) reigned over Community’s basketball and volleyball courts, tallying up All-Conference honors year after year.  Mrs. Amy Feeney’s husband, Judge Charles Feeney III has served more than two...

Continue Reading
Load More Stories
Donate to Inkspot
$1780
$3000
Contributed
Our Goal