Two standout seniors were among the over 140 students recognized at the annual Foreign Language Awards Ceremony on April 22. Each year, the event honors the Foreign Language Honor Society’s new inductees and celebrates students’ accomplishments within the foreign language department’s 15 courses. Kara...

Over 200 Community students took a stand against gun legislation on April 5, walking out of their 5th-hour classes and gathering in the school’s bus lane at noon. The demonstration was part of a national campaign organized by Students Demand Action, calling for stricter gun safety laws. A week...

The McLean County Unit 5 School Board unanimously reversed the majority of cuts set to take effect in the 2023-24 school year at a special board meeting April 11.  The district will continue implementing several budget measures approved at the Jan. 31 board meeting, including limiting the number...

The Unit 5 tax referendum drew several Community seniors to the polls on April 4, the second time the issue was on the ballot. More than 53% of voters rejected the referendum in November’s midterm elections when the majority of the Class of 2023 was ineligible to vote. In April, the referendum...

The Normal FFA’s third annual tree drive raised $465, allowing the organization to plant 93 trees across Mclean County as part of the Ecology Action Center’s 10,000 tree-planting initiative. After planting 662 trees in Bloomington Normal over the last two years, FFA sponsor Mrs. Liz Harris said,...

Ali Ince bested her personal record in the 800 meter at the Arcadia Invite on Apr. 8, shaving .81 seconds off of her previous PR.  The meet is one of the nation’s most competitive high school track and field competitions, hosting elite athletes from across the country.  Over the last 56 years,...

“The Lightning Thief” opens its run on Community’s stage Thursday, April 20, packed with striking theatrical elements—fight scenes, an onstage rock band and otherworldly LED lighting. Based on the first book in Rick Riordan’s best-selling “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” series,...

Karthika Nair has lived in the United States her entire life. Yet, there are very few days, the senior said, she “truly feel[s] at home” in Bloomington Normal. That feeling of home, that sense of acceptance, Nair said, comes when she can celebrate her culture with the community. For two...

When five Inkspot staff members competed in the IHSA Journalism Sectionals April 1, the student journalists went from reporting the news to making it themselves. Each of Community's five individual competitors boasted a top-three finish to secure a spot in the IHSA State Final, where they will compete...

Unit 5 announced the district would no longer fund field trips beginning next school year in an effort to reduce the district’s budget deficit.  Field trips, several Community teachers said, are an essential part of the student learning experience.  Field trips are “invaluable” to the...

To reduce the district’s multi-million-dollar budget deficit, the School Board voted to eliminate junior high and freshman athletics and reduce the number of competitors attending out-of-town contests. Those cuts, several veteran Community coaches believe, are detrimental. While the cuts will...

Community held its second voter registration drive of the school year March 3. The event, organized by Ms. LaTishia Baker, registered 13 students in-person and several others virtually ahead of April 4's Consolidate Municipal Elections.  Baker first organized a student voter registration drive in...

Six members of the Community speech team competed at the IHSA State Speech Tournament on February 18, the program's largest number of State Qualifiers in a single season in over two decades. Senior Avani Rai became the school's first female competitor in 17 years to place in the State Speech finals,...

The Black Student Union, in its inaugural year, organized Community’s most comprehensive celebration of Black History Month in recent years. February’s recognition of Black Americans’ accomplishments, culture and history was the BSU’s first large-scale opportunity to address the organization’s...

In 2020, 697,000 Americans died — not of COVID-19, but of heart disease. The leading cause of death in the U.S. every year for the last 70 years, heart disease remains an epidemic in itself. An epidemic that only worsened when heart disease fatalities increased by four percent in 2020 —  reversing...