The beat of Lemont High School

The Tom-Tom
The beat of Lemont High School

The Tom-Tom
The beat of Lemont High School

The Tom-Tom
Leila Rexhepi

Leila Rexhepi, Copy Editor

Leila Rexhepi, 16, is a second year Tom-Tom member and is thrilled to turn the page into a new school year. While Leila may be aiming for the lowest score possible on the golf green, she is not aiming for the lowest participation in clubs. Along with being vice president of Science Club and Alliance Club, Leila contributes to the Varsity Girls golf team, speech team, and the spring musical. When she’s not busy running around from one club to another, she enjoys listening to music, reading, and watching TV shows on Netflix. Some of her favorites are Gilmore Girls, Heartstopper, Stranger Things and Atypical.

All content by Leila Rexhepi

Episode 1: We Have Issues

Leila Rexhepi and Julia Mielczarek
May 16, 2023
With smiles on their faces, Dalton, Doherty and Idell are ready for the long hours of running ahead of them in Boston, Massachusetts. Photo

CITGO sponsors three teachers to run Boston Marathon

Leila Rexhepi, Copy Editor
May 12, 2023
In addition to using phones at home, teens today constantly work on homework, assignments and tests on their school chromebooks. While technology has made it easier for teachers to share content, push out assignments and receive student’s work, this time quickly adds up to hours upon hours every day.

Dark sides of blue light

Julia Mielczarek and Leila Rexhepi
March 6, 2023
Medics arrived on scene to transfer Hamlin for further medical help. Fans were unsure of what to do while his teammates kneeled on the ground praying for his health.

Damar Hamlin’s recovery is in a positive direction

Ella Murray and Leila Rexhepi
January 20, 2023
The elegant packaging matches the chocolate itself, featuring chocolate molded into the Ghirardelli logo.

Is Ghirardelli’s Dark Chocolate Raspberry too sweet?

Leila Rexhepi, Copy Editor
November 4, 2022
Angela Duensing’s class is back to work after the spirit week extravaganza.

Research says as spirit points go up, productivity goes down

Leila Rexhepi, Copy Editor
October 25, 2022
The abandoned and burned house is surrounded by traffic cones and red caution tape warning individuals to stay out of the area.

Abandoned house fire quickly under control

Leila Rexhepi, Copy Editor
October 13, 2022
Netflix has been on the forefront of some of the most popular TV shows and movies with subscribers binging for hours at a time.

Will adding advertisements to Netflix take away the members’ experience?

Leila Rexhepi, Copy Editor
October 7, 2022
Freshmen start their first spirit week off strong, dressing up with a mix of country and country club.

Country kicks off the start to a great rodeo

Kelly Kearns and Leila Rexhepi
October 5, 2022
President Biden announced his student loan forgiveness plans last week in front of news reporters.

Biden makes plans for student loan forgiveness, but will plans help or hurt America?

Leila Rexhepi, Copy Editor
August 29, 2022
What you need to know about the Buffalo shooting

What you need to know about the Buffalo shooting

Leila Rexhepi, Staff Writer
May 24, 2022
“The Song of Achilles” has been named 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction and is a New York Times Bestseller amongst many other awards.

Song of shocks, heartbreak and more

Leila Rexhepi, Staff Writer
April 12, 2022
Students and a teacher working on making a coffee in the Common Grounds. Teachers can come up and grab whatever they like with their coffee or tea once purchasing. Jessica Hoag said, “The program is geared toward having our students that need to work on some work experience skills, get that here.”

Common Grounds coming in hot

Leila Rexhepi, Staff writer
February 22, 2022
The scene is set in the United States Radium Corporation factory with all the workers painting dials for soldiers. They paint using radium paint and are informed that they will have to lick the brushes for more precise numbers. They talk amongst each other shortly after discussing what this could cause but continue on with their work. Stone TeSelle, who played Mr. Roeder said after the show, “The easiest part was making friends and once you have that connection, the show comes along so much faster and it’s just so much fun to do it with people you love and I can’t wait to do it tomorrow and Saturday.”

Lovesick for “Radium Girls”

Leila Rexhepi, Staff Writer
February 15, 2022
The most eye-catching, emotional scene in “Radium Girls” centered around the main character, Grace Fryer. Grace has a frightful nightmare of all her friends dying due to radium poisoning, setting the tone for the seriousness of the situation. “My favorite scene in the show is the dream sequence and that’s because it’s very dark, but I like it because I worked really hard on deciding what paint combination would glow under black light to make the costumes glow on stage and so that turned into a project of mine. That scene really shows it off nicely and my bathtub now is covered in neon paint,” said Kane.

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Mr. Roeder spends the last scene of the show reflecting on the poor hard-working girls who have passed away from radium poisoning. The girls stand near Mr. Roeder with graves at their feet and lights setting the tone. Anisha Oberai, an actor playing one of the girls named Irene Rudolph said, “An important lesson I learned from Grace in “Radium Girls” is that you need to stand up for yourself in the face of injustice, and not let anyone but yourself dictate the outcome of your story.”

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An eldery widow, venecine salesman and a “lovesick” cowboy all send their well wishes and helping tips to Kathryn and Grace as their health deteriorates. The letters from these range of characters helps them stay focused on their goal of getting justice. Kane said, “The best part about directing “Radium Girls” is having a large cast, in person, on stage for the first time in a long time, since February of 2020. That was the last time we did a show at least this large.”

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Stakes and tensions are high during breaks from the court case against the US Radium Corporation. Mrs. Roeder doesn’t know how this could happen and questions if Mr. Roeder knew about the effects of radium beforehand. They have a verbal fight, back and forth with Mr. Roeder revealing he did cover up once he realized what was happening. TeSelle said, “I talk a lot about guilt in the show and personally I think going into my life after high school, just not taking anything for granted. Really if I have guilt, resolve it and just keep making the right decisions, one after another.”

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The audience of family and friends anxiously anticipate the start of “Radium Girls” as the lights adjust around them for effect. The cast of “Radium Girls” waits in the wings for all their hard work to finally be presented. It’s Jan. 27, the opening night of “Radium Girls”, which consists of a story of women in the 1920s whose lives take a turn for the worst but teach a historic lesson of justice and speaking out. “The local history of the show is so cool and knowing that the stories you are projecting are real and from real people is really powerful,” said Leslie Kane, one of the directors of the show.

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Three spotlights shine down on different scenes happening throughout the story. Having all three on one stage ties the story together so the audience can see all different sides of what radium poisoning is doing for these people and the US Radium Corporation itself. “To the best of our ability we tried to keep social distance in mind for a lot of the blocking…we choose to cut out and adapt for everyone’s safety and comfort levels,” said Kane.

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Posters were put up on the walls from the Performance Art Center to the art hallway in order to make students aware of the fundraiser. They included all the information and included some new things compared to the last fundraiser. The fundraiser was set up by the LHS Girls’ Basketball and Girls’ Softball teams.

Nothing Bundt Cakes fundraiser photo gallery

Leila Rexhepi, Staff writer
January 28, 2022
On Oct. 13, Adele officially revealed on Twitter that “30” was on its way to be released.

Adele’s “30” album is my little love

Leila Rexhepi, Staff Writer
January 11, 2022
The teachers can notify staff in the building at any time a crisis occurs. The teachers software includes easy access to fire rescue, staff assistance as well as the school nurse.

Details are released about Oxford High School Shooting

Leila Rexhepi and Emma Arnold
December 20, 2021
The thrill of a spectacular show coming to a close. Applause is heard all around the room and adrenaline rushes through the crowd while actors take in the last moments of the stoplight.

Old Quarry Middle School presents Matilda Jr.

Leila Rexhepi, Staff Writer
December 20, 2021

Eager spanish student to accomplished spanish teacher

Leila Rexhepi, Staff Writer
October 26, 2021
Barrel and Vine is located at 206 Main Street.

Lemont residents opens new restaurant Barrel and Vine

Reagan Russell and Leila Rexhepi
September 28, 2021
Parents take a stand against the mask mandate

Parents take a stand against the mask mandate

Leila Rexhepi, Staff Writer
September 3, 2021
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