The Community mock trial team saw its most successful season in history this year, placing among steep Chicagoland competition at every tournament but a 50-team state contest. At half of the eight tournaments attended, Community placed in the top five of about 20 teams—unprecedented group success—as...

Instagram before the bell. TikTok at lunch. YouTube at 2 a.m.  The scene is all too familiar. The constant cycle of consuming digital content, endlessly scrolling through feeds. We try charging our phones in another room, setting app timers and turning on “Do Not Disturb.”  But does it...

Sophomore Wade Pyle broke the 100 and 200 freestyle school records at the IHSA Swimming and Diving State Finals this weekend, earning him two of Community’s three State medals. Pyle finished the 100 freestyle in 46.22 during Friday’s preliminary round, shaving .31 seconds off Tyson Tucci’s...

A new class of jittery sixth graders funneled into Chiddix Junior High, anxious to enter a foreign world: lockers and their dreaded combinations, too-short passing periods in crowded hallways and an eight-class, recess-less schedule.  Entering junior high: a nerve-wracking experience for every 11-year-old...

Cue the merch sales. The TikToks. The predictions. For weeks every January, thousands of dancers are buzzing about the pinnacle of the collegiate dance season: the Universal Dance Association’s national competition in Orlando, Florida.   Like any other high-profile sporting event, big names...

“Another day,” she told herself, pulling into the Community parking lot every morning.  “Another day,” she thought, sitting alone at the back of the classroom.  “Another day,” she said, crying in her bedroom after softball practice.  Stay another day, just one more day. The phrase...

The competitive cheer team took second in the Big 12 Conference competition Wednesday, Jan. 17, finishing behind Normal West.  The finish marked an improvement over 2023's conference results, an indication that the team's dedication and determination is paying off.   Last season, the team took...

Iron Dance’s nine-member group looks poised to return to form this season after failing to place in all of the team’s competitions under head coach Miss Eva Newland last season.  Mrs. Regina Davis helms the program this year, the team’s third head coach in three seasons, looking to add innovation...

Twenty Community music students received All-State honors from the Illinois Music Education Association after the building qualified 75 musicians for the All-District festival Nov. 4.  Students practiced this year’s audition material, released to teachers in the spring, over the summer before getting...

For some students, the course registration process will look a little different this year.  Students who met or exceeded state benchmarks on Illinois-mandated tests (IAR, PSAT and SAT) last school year will be enrolled automatically in advanced courses. The change came as a result of the Illinois...

Speakers booming. Fans screaming. Music so loud you can feel it in your bones.  From Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to Nov. 12’s Driver Era concert at ISU, we live in an era where concertgoing often means braving ear-splitting volumes. But for Community teacher Mr. Stefen Robinson, a concert doesn’t...

Ever wonder what high school courses Wednesday Addams or Miles Morales would take?  That’s the premise behind College Board’s new social media campaign. Amidst posts on financial aid and SAT practice problems, fictional characters are now the subject of an inquiry: What Advanced Placement...

The boys soccer team claimed its first Regional title since 2018 in East Moline on Friday with a 2-0 victory over the United Township Panthers, the team’s 13th shutout of the season. The 2-seed Panthers had only been kept scoreless in two of their 17 season match-ups before Friday’s championship—stiff...

The 3-seed boys soccer team head back to East Moline tonight, taking on the 2-seed United Township on the Panthers’ home pitch with the Regional championship on the line. An Iron win would mean Community’s first Regional title since 2018.  That title, head coach Mr. Matt Chapman said earlier...

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...

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...

Ekal Helping Hands, the youth service branch of Bloomington’s Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation chapter, is focused on making a difference in the community. It brought that mission to Community in observation of Raksha Bandhan–a Hindu festival of brotherhood–on Aug. 30. Organized by Helping Hands’...

Welcome to “Inkspill,” a podcast where hosts Abby Ruebush and Avani Rai take turns inviting Community’s staff to “spill” on all things NCHS. In less time than it takes to finish a cup of tea, listen to our guests dish on piping hot topics. For our eighth and final “Inkspill” episode...

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...

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...

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,...

Welcome to the seventh episode of “Inkspill,” a podcast where hosts Abby Ruebush and Avani Rai take turns inviting Community’s staff to “spill” on all things NCHS. In less time than it takes to finish a cup of tea, listen to our guests dish on piping hot topics. This episode, Mr. Chris Belt,...

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,...

Welcome to the sixth episode of “Inkspill,” a podcast where hosts Abby Ruebush and Avani Rai take turns inviting Community’s staff to “spill” on all things NCHS. In less time than it takes to finish a cup of tea, listen to our guests dish on piping hot topics. This episode, 18-year special...

Mr. Ricky King, 2023 Bilingual Teacher of the Year recipient, spills on the ESL Department at Community.

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...

The Sweet Spot puts desserts from eateries around town to the test, deciding whether they hit the spot or miss the mark. Two Inkspot staffers review each product based on taste, presentation and value - separating the savory sweets from the crummy confections. This week, Abby Ruebush and Avani...

The Normal Marching Band (NMB) saw its most successful season since Community’s and West’s programs combined five years ago. The competitive co-op band earned first in Class 6A and second overall at the Illinois State Marching Band Championships on Oct. 22. At last season’s Championships, the...

Each week, the Sweet Spot puts desserts from eateries around town to the test, deciding whether they hit the spot or miss the mark. Two Inkspot staffers review each product based on taste, presentation and value - separating the savory sweets from the crummy confections. This week, Abby Ruebush...

Each week, the Sweet Spot puts desserts from eateries around town to the test, deciding whether they hit the spot or miss the mark. Two Inkspot staffers review each product based on taste, presentation and value - separating the savory sweets from the crummy confections. This week, Abby Ruebush...

Friday’s Homecoming football game and Saturday’s dance wrapped up a week of festivities. Read how Community celebrated Homecoming 2022 below.   Virtual assembly kicks off Homecoming week  The Homecoming assembly was held virtually after Sep. 23’s inclement weather forced the annual...

Seniors enjoy sunrise on half-day Members of the Class of 2023 gathered outside before dawn at the Senior Class Board-sponsored “Senior Sunrise” on Tuesday, eating donuts and watching the sunrise. The event, held in the staff parking lot, was a beginning-of-the-year twist on the annual...

Each week, Senior Class Board sponsors Mrs. Jennifer Kelly and Mrs. Megan Freymann randomly select one of Community's twelfth-graders to honor as "Senior of the Week" -- sharing out a few select facts about the upperclassmen on Monday's announcements. The Inkspot sat down with the selected seniors...

Retirees Mr. Kelly Keogh and Madame Laurel Litwiller have expanded their students' views of the world during their combined sixty plus years in social studies and foreign language education. Colleagues and students alike thank these inspiring teachers for their commitment to their school and global...

Chaotic.  Dystopian.  Entertaining.  Every time Mr. Ricky King revisits the iconic Hunger Games franchise, these words fly into his head like one of Katniss Everdeen’s razor-sharp arrows. The Community ESL teacher first watched “The Hunger Games” as a high schooler in 2012, and the...

Heavy eyelids. Throbbing headaches. Early mornings spent in a groggy haze. Sound familiar?  You may be among the seventy percent of American high schoolers who aren’t getting the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep on school nights.  Students at Community and across the country battle...

With a win tonight, the 3-0 girls basketball team can claim the Intercity title outright. See how the team stacks up against the Bloomington Raiders.

Illinois students may take five excused “mental health days” under a law effective in January, prompting conflicting reactions at Community. In August, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1577, allowing students ages seven to 17 to “make up any school work missed” during their five mental-...