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Alumna becomes New York Times bestselling author, illustrator
Why The 2000s are more Furby than Barbie
Page 5 Conestoga High School, Berwyn PA, 19312
Volume 76 No. 4
February 9, 2026
Page 8
Freshman plays for Taiwan national ice hockey team
Page 12
www.spoke.news
Through the roof
Chester County cost of living continues to climb
Photo Illustration by Ashley Du, Nolan Talley and Emily Wang/The SPOKE
High cost of living: Junior Kendall Wry works a part-time job as a hostess to help pay for the costs of day-to-day life, including gas, clothes and other activities. In 2025, Chester County remained one of the most expensive regions in the state to live in.
By Ashley Du, Nolan Talley and Emily Wang, Co-News Editor, Webmaster and Co-Design Editor After the bell rings, junior Kendall Wry walks out of Conestoga’s doors and drives to a local restaurant to start her six-hour shift as a hostess. Since beginning the job three years ago, she has increased
her weekly hours from five to 15 to help cover the cost of gas, clothes and activities with friends. Wry, along with other community members, has encountered rising expenses in day-to-day life. “With work, I find myself working more just so I can afford to be able to go out with my friends, go and have fun, have a social life, and also drive around,” Wry said. “Right now, gas prices are slightly down from what they were before, but still, they’re very high. So with this in mind, I find myself going out less, and I find
myself driving a lot less. And when I can carpool with somebody else, I do that as well.” The Pennsylvania House of Representatives stated in a December 2025 press release that Chester County is among one of the most expensive counties in Pennsylvania to live in. With a median income of $123,041 according to financial website SmartAsset, Chester County ranks as the wealthiest county in the state. According to the MIT Living Wage calculator, the living wage for an adult with zero chil-
dren in Chester County is $27.59 per hour, which is approximately 20% more than the state hourly rate of $22.91. Dr. Jacquelyn Rothera is the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District Community and Student Services provider. She works with counselors and mental health specialists to support students and families in need throughout the district. “You can just drive around this area and you see really beautiful homes and properties and thriving businesses.
You may think or assume that everyone that lives in Chester County or even T/E has everything they need to survive and more,” Rothera said. “However, there are many families who are not as visible and they are working really hard to be here, to live here. They may rely on local resources or they may not, but they may be close to that one unexpected bill that could put them into a place where they’re less financially secure.” To aid families that may be struggling financially, the Ches-
ter County United Way provides programs and resources to households that are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) — or make money above the Federal Poverty Level but still cannot afford the cost of living in their area. The United Way’s 2025 ALICE project reports that approximately 59,573 households in Chester County face financial difficulty in maintaining basic necessities. Combined with households that make under the poverty line, almost a third of Chester County
families face financial difficulty living in the area. “It can be a hard place to be, in this community where there is money. It is hard sometimes for students that have versus don’t have,” school counselor Jennifer Kratsa said. “But I feel like overall, this community does a nice job of (making sure) everybody is included and everybody has a seat at the table. That’s always the goal, and I feel like our students kind of support that mission that we have.” Continued on page 3.
Community responds to US capture of Venezuelan president Tvisha Jani
Co-Copy Editor On Jan. 3, U.S. military officials captured the former president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their private residence. According to the U.S. Department of State and Reuters, the Southern District of New York first charged Maduro for narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices in March 2020. The Department of State stated that President Donald Trump authorized Maduro’s capture after the Department of Treasury issued a sanction on July 25, 2025 categorizing Cartel of Suns, an alleged Venezuelan drug trafficking network led by Maduro, as a Specifically Designated Terrorist group. Maduro’s capture prompted responses from various community members, with some organizing local demonstrations to express their reactions. Liselotte Harrity is the treasurer and a founding member of the Philadelphia-based nonprofit Casa de Venezuela, a group dedicated to promoting Venezuelan culture. Harrity feels that those living in Venezuela underwent many challenges under Maduro’s presidency. “Our reaction as a Venezuelan, individually and collectively, (Maduro’s capture) was a big happiness. This is something that we’ve been waiting for — for the last 26 years, since (Hugo) Chavez got in power in 1999. With all the promises possible about fixing the government, ending corruption, making lives better, no more poverty, you name it. He never delivered anything. Totally the opposite,” Harrity said. “The corruption became rampant, the government became bigger, the bureaucracy
was at its highest. Then (Chavez) dies in 2013, and he appoints Maduro as his prodigy to continue his work. Maduro just made it worse, becoming more of a narco enabler, having Venezuela be the gateway of the narco traffic, the cartels, killings, disappearings, political prisoners.” According to the U.S. Department of State’s informational webpage on Maduro, the National Assembly of Venezuela announced in 2019 that Maduro consolidated power and declared that it would not recognize him as the president of Venezuela alongside 50 other nations, including the U.S. To commemorate the end of Maduro’s control over Venezuela, members of Casa de Venezuela organized a prayer on Jan. 4 at the Basilica of Saint Peters and Paul in Philadelphia. “The goal was just to get together and pretty much put our hearts and our hopes that the best
is yet to come, and for the media to get our thoughts and information, and also for us to tell the truth about what’s the situation,” Harrity said. “Our gathering is actually to counteract or (counter) those rallies in favor of Maduro. It’s just to tell them Maduro is not a president and has never been a president of his own. He was a de facto person that was put in the presidency of Venezuela with no support from the people.” Other community members feel Maduro’s removal held significant political implications. On Jan. 4, around 500 residents in Chester County attended a “No War in Venezuela” rally organized by Indivisible Chester County, a chapter of the national Indivisible movement that emerged in 2017. Participants chanted and held signs to express concern regarding the removal of Maduro and to advocate against war and conflict. Shannon Browne, Indivisible
Tvisha Jani/The SPOKE
Governmental intervention: A Venezuelan flag waves above the city of Philadelphia. U.S. officials seized former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3.
Chester County’s social media committee chair and one of the rally organizers, feels that Maduro’s capture held foreign political impact regarding the U.S.’s future diplomatic relations. “I think invading Venezuela was and has proven to be in the couple of weeks since, a precursor to other acts of aggression that we really, really need to be concerned about. Even though Venezuela did have a terrible dictator who gets no sympathy from me, however, it is a sovereign nation,” Browne said. “There are many other countries that have terrible dictators and the reasons given for the invasion, (but) not only was it illegal, not even run by Congress, it’s a complete (suppression) to them. (Trump) said he’s setting a precedent to do that to other countries.” Along with political reflection, students considered the impact of Maduro’s capture on Venezuela’s future. Senior and president of the Latino Culture Club Sara Vallejo feels that Maduro’s removal is an optimistic event for the nation. According to the Associated Press, Venezuela recognizes former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez as an interim president of the nation. “Violence is never the way to solve absolutely anything. However, I do think that (Venezuelans) were in really, really bad conditions politically (and) socially. I feel like such a strong and traumatic event like this has potential to make the people in Venezuela live a little bit better, at least in the long run,” Vallejo said. “This has potential to make Venezuela great. This has potential to help the citizens. This has potential to make the economy a little bit better, make living conditions better. Not because of who is taking over right now, but just because (Venezuelans) are free from an illegitimate government.”
Grace Lu/The SPOKE
Crafting in Clarity: Junior Kylee O’Keeffe drafts her AP Research essay in Clarity, a new AI and plagiarism detection platform underneath Turnitin. Last November, Conestoga began offering the pilot technology to all teachers and classes.
Conestoga launches pilot period of new AI-detection technology Grace Lu
Staff Reporter In November 2025, Conestoga launched a pilot of Turnitin’s new Clarity technology, a writing composition platform designed to help teachers monitor students’ writing and identify possible academic integrity concerns. According to TESD teacher on special assignment Lisa Lukens, the pilot will continue through the end of the school year. Clarity is currently available for various classes to try at the teacher’s discretion. Along with Lukens, TESD curriculum supervisor for language arts Dr. Patrick Gately and Director of Educational Program Dr. Mike Szymendera decided on the implementation to pilot the platform. The administration team worked closely with Conestoga teachers. “Our goal in implementing Clarity is to give our teachers the opportunity to evaluate the tool and its features,” Lukens said. “It is the first AI-detection program
we have used in the district. Since many of our teachers are already familiar with the Turnitin platform, implementing Clarity felt less intrusive than introducing a different platform.” Rather than functioning solely as a word processor, Clarity combines writing tools with process monitoring and AI-detection. The platform features builtin grammar and spell check tools, citation assistants, and a sidebar AI assistant designed to support students. After submission, teachers can watch a playback of students’ typing history and review any chatbot interactions. Conestoga English department chair Megan Doyle appreciates these features as a way to evaluate her students’ needs. “For me, it has also been valuable in looking at what students are asking of the AI assistant so I can tailor my teaching,” Doyle said. “For example, if students are asking the AI assistant for help on outlining, or what a specific form of grammar is, I know I should review that more in class.”
Some students have faced problems with adjusting to the new platform. Junior Kylee O’Keeffe encountered difficulties when using Clarity in her AP Research class to write assignments. “It was really different using it for the outline compared to the final draft,” O’Keeffe said. “What I’ve noticed about Clarity is that there are some formatting problems with bullet points, charts and stuff. But when we were just writing the essay, it was pretty similar to Word. I spent a lot of time figuring out the formatting when I was first using it which made it kind of inconvenient.” After the pilot period, the school’s technology administration will determine whether Clarity becomes a long-term tool. “Overall, I believe it’s been a positive experience so far,” Lukens said. “Our goal is to gather honest feedback on the tool from teachers and students and assess its validity with identifying AI-generated text before committing to any future licensing.”