More than 40 students, staff members, parents, grandparents and community members addressed the Unit 5 Board of Education on March 18 as the district moved closer to an expected April vote on enrollment planning proposals that could reshape attendance boundaries and change how some buildings are used. A...

Mario is an icon—a mustached plumbing legend who somehow became a global staple in games, TV and, honestly, just life. For March 10, 2026—this year’s Mar10 Day—The Inkspot decided to celebrate the only way that feels appropriate: by pitting Bowser’s minions against each other in a no-rules,...

What started as a covert breakfast operation in a high school green room has grown into one of Community’s most popular monthly traditions. Club Pancake serves free pancakes to students every third Friday of the month at 7:45 a.m. in the senior cafe. Founded by seniors Tommy Wade and Ryan Robison,...

Girls soccer dropped its first two matches of the 2026 season, falling 6-0 to Morton on Wednesday, March 18, and 6-3 to Chatham Glenwood on Thursday, March 19, but the Ironmen still enter the spring with experience, returning scoring power and the goal of competing for a sixth straight regional title. Last...

McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed his first Drivers’ World Championship last season with 423 points, edging out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by just two points—Verstappen finished with 421—in one of the closest title fights in recent memory. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri was never far behind either,...

Play It Again Sports, a resale sporting goods chain, opened in Bloomington in January, offering families a lower-cost option for sports equipment as youth sports costs continue to rise. The store’s model can help families manage one of the biggest financial pressures in youth athletics, Community...

The chess team placed eighth at the 52nd annual IHSA state tournament Feb. 14, the program's first top-10 finish in Community history. “This is not an accomplishment that we’ve done in Normal Community history,” team sponsor Ms. Megan Wright said. The historic finish surpassed the team's own...

Andrew Naour was one of 26 students selected to the Illinois High School Association’s All-State Academic Team on Saturday, Feb. 21, an honor recognizing students for academic and extracurricular achievement. Naour, a two-sport varsity athlete, member of The Inkspot staff and a vocalist in Community’s...

Boys basketball won its sixth straight regional title Feb. 27, escaping United Township 55-54 in front of a home crowd at East Moline. The Ironmen didn’t win with pretty shooting, hitting 31% from the field. “We made a total of 13 shots the whole game,” Ironmen head coach Mr. Dave Witzig...

Boys basketball used balanced scoring to pull away from Pekin in a 78-33 IHSA regional quarterfinal win Feb. 25, then turned its attention to a rematch with United Township in the regional semifinals Feb. 27 in East Moline. Head coach Mr. Dave Witzig said Community’s early tempo did not match its...

Five Community boys swimmers qualified for the IHSA Boys State Swimming & Diving meet in seven events and will compete Friday, Feb. 28, at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont after a record-setting sectional meet Saturday, Feb. 21. State qualifiers include the 200-yard medley relay of Nolan Pyle, Sam...

What started as a covert breakfast operation in a high school green room has grown into one of Community’s most popular monthly traditions. Club Pancake serves free pancakes to students every third Friday of the month at 7:45 a.m. in the senior cafe. Founded by seniors Tommy Wade and Ryan Robison,...

McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed his first Drivers’ World Championship last season with 423 points, edging out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen by just two points—Verstappen finished with 421—in one of the closest title fights in recent memory. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri was never far behind either,...

By the time Leah Chapman heads downstairs, the rest of the house is quiet. A music stand waits in the basement, pages already marked. Chapman, a freshman in the choir program, runs each selection twice—enough to build confidence, not enough to spiral into overthinking. “If you run it too much,...

Click to play the Inkspot’s newest game, Cinemojis, where Arwen Georgas challenges you to figure out the title of a 2025 film using emoji clues.

Let’s be honest: our feeds are engineered for brainrot—6-7, chopped chin, Nathaniel B videos that keep looping until our minds go numb. Our screens are flooded with the quick, the loud, the mindless—each swipe, each scroll offering a bite-size serving of dopamine. But entertainment doesn’t...

Halloween’s done, but that doesn’t mean the scares have to be. Two Inkspot staffers sort your November horror queue—pairing 2025’s buzziest releases with a couple of modern staples and explaining what to watch and why it works. This year has swung big: originals have broken out, franchises...

Mario is an icon—a mustached plumbing legend who somehow became a global staple in games, TV and, honestly, just life. For March 10, 2026—this year’s Mar10 Day—The Inkspot decided to celebrate the only way that feels appropriate: by pitting Bowser’s minions against each other in a no-rules,...

If you haven’t heard, “Bridgerton” Season 4, Part 2 dropped on Netflix on Feb. 26—and the ton is officially back with fresh gossip. Whether you’ve already binged all eight episodes or you’re looking for something to hold you over until Season 5, now is the perfect time to explore Netflix’s...

What does the New Year taste like? Maybe the holiday calls to mind the smokiness of ham, the earthiness of black-eyed peas, the burst of sweetness from a grape—or, maybe, nothing in particular. With the Lunar New Year beginning Feb. 17 this year—celebrating the first day of the lunisolar Chinese...