HO_030520

22 | March 5, 2020 | the homer horizon life & arts
homerhorizondaily.com
McCare Night sees Schilling faculty serve meals at local McDonald’s
Jesse Wright
Freelance Reporter
Schilling School staff
recently went behind the
counter once more to
serve burgers, fries and
other tasty treats to the
public at the local Mc-
Donald’s.
The annual McCare
Night fundraiser earned
15 percent of each sale
from 4-7 p.m. Feb. 11 for
the Schilling School Parent
Teacher Organization.
Elizabeth Mezydlo, a
kindergarten teacher at
Schilling, said the event
pays for field trip and other
extracurricular items,
and it typically raises
thousands of dollars each
year. She said it raises
money for both Schilling
and for Goodings Grove
School.
“It goes back to the
teachers and the students,”
Mezydlo said. “It goes
back to the schools for the
year.”
Terri Pellizzari, a kindergarten
teacher at Schilling,
said the money is generally
used to fund teacher wish
lists — the sort of odds
and ends for which teachers
would otherwise spend
out-of-pocket funds for.
“The PTO does wonderful
things for us,” Pellizzari
said. “They bought us
a stack of books.”
Pellizzari said she enjoyed
volunteering and
serving food because it
reminds her of her youth,
and she enjoys seeing the
children there.
Lexi Brown (right), a Schilling parent, places an order at
McDonald’s last month with teacher Elizabeth Mezydlo
as part of the annual McCare Night fundraiser. Jesse
Wright/22nd Century Media
“Just being here [at
McDonald’s], in general,
brings back memories of
my dad working at Mc-
Donald’s and what a great
organization it is,” she
said.
Mezydlo agreed.
“Your kids come in, and
you can bring in their order,
and it feels good,” she said.
Teachers worked about
30 minutes delivering food
after they taught class, and,
early in the evening, they
were joined by Eric Kraatz,
the vice principal at Schilling.
“This is my first year, so
I’m excited to see what’s
going on,” he said.
Kraatz said he was looking
forward to seeing how
he would do serving and
had a modest goal for his
turn.
“As long as I don’t mess
up,” he said.
Mezydlo said that on
good fundraising evenings,
the whole restaurant is
packed with students and
their parents. Indeed, by 5
p.m., parents and students
filled the restaurant.
“There are times the
whole restaurant is full,”
Mezydlo said.
Parents, too, enjoyed
seeing the teachers.
Megan Crane, an area
mother with a third-grader
in Schilling, said she and
hers always comes out at
the McCare Night.
“It’s for the fundraiser,”
Crane said. “My son, Blake,
loves to see the teachers out
of school. We come every
time they have one.”
Meanwhile, other customers,
like Mary Sabaj,
said she was just in town
from Wisconsin to see her
grandchildren, but she appreciated
the fundraiser.
“I’m just visiting, and
I’m taking them out for
Valentine’s Day,” she said.
She added, however,
she was enjoying the
fundraiser.
“It’s nice for the kids,”
she noted.
MPAA Rating: PG | Genres: Fantasy, Sci-fi | running time: 100 minutes
‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ a dash of fun for the entire family
Thomas Czaja, Editor
The movie “Sonic the
Hedgehog,” based on the
beloved and iconic Sega
video game character who
has been around for nearly
three decades, got off to a
dubious start.
When the initial trailer
for it was released last
spring, many who saw
that first rendering of
how Sonic was to look
responded with varying
levels of criticism. The
film, which was supposed
to open last fall, got its
release date in the U.S.
pushed back to Valentine’s
Day to allow Paramount
Pictures to “refine”
the hedgehog’s look.
The result is undoubtedly
an image enhancement,
one that likely
saved not only public
opinion but greater box
office returns for Sonic
and friends. Give credit to
a studio willing to go back
and give what it seems the
paying moviegoers wanted
— a better CGI visual
representation of the titular
character.
In “Sonic the Hedgehog,”
there are several
twists for the blue supersonic
speedster. Sonic
(voiced by Ben Schwartz)
finds himself having an
extended stay close to a
rural Montana town, his
longtime hiding place
from those interested in
harnessing his power.
Sonic lives a solitary
life away from his home
world, amusing himself
in different ways with his
speed but ultimately being
quite lonely. He admires
the town’s sheriff,
Tom Wachowski (James
Marsden) and his veterinarian
wife, Maddie
(Tika Sumpter), though
he does not interact with
them. One night, when
he gets upset about his
isolated situation, Sonic
accidentally creates a
wide-ranging power outage
that attracts unwanted
attention and leads to him
unintentionally meeting
Wachowski and more, setting
the rest of the movie
in motion.
One character who
steals the show is Doctor
Robotnik (Jim Carrey).
Sonic’s longtime and
main nemesis in the video
games, Carrey’s portrayal
of the villain is goofy, funny,
memorable and classic
Carrey comedy. Another
main thing carried over
from the games is Sonic’s
rings, in this instance helping
him jump between
worlds when needed,
again showing their immense
value.
While cool to see Robotonik,
also known as
Doctor Eggman, and the
rings get reimagined for
this picture, it still felt
like the movie could have
incorporated more from
the games, including additional
characters, looks,
loops and items. Beyond
the aforementioned baddie
and rings, there really are
not a ton of these things,
other than Robotnik’s inventions,
too.
When a couple more
things like those do finally
appear, the film is already
over (do not stop watching
too soon, and this will
make sense). When making
a movie based on a
collection of video games,
there is considerable
source material to play
around with and really go
for something unique, and
these could have been introduced
sooner or more
so throughout.
That said, one also does
not want to overcomplicate
a film like this or try
to do too much. At its core,
Sonic is a lovable character
audiences will root for,
and while the plot is pretty
standard, there is a lot of
heart here.
“Sonic the Hedgehog” is
a relatively safe introductory
tale that does not try
to do too much, but despite
saying that, I enjoyed
it and am curious to see
where they go from here,
with a sequel appearing
to be on the horizon. The
movie may be simple, but
the laughs, distinctive feel,
nostalgia and curiosity as
to what happens next make
this family friendly film
something any age can appreciate.
Have you seen a movie
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reviews around 400 words
or fewer and try not to give
away the key moments of the
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