Sarah Haylow, Writer

It has been a rough afternoon. Verbal insults have been tossed around the car and you do not think your vocal cords can handle the amount of abuse you have put them through. You are sick and tired of your sibling adjusting the AC or changing the radio station while you are driving and you are worried that the last anybody will ever see of you is in the bottom of a ditch, dead with both of your hands around your sibling’s neck. By some miracle, you make it home and you both dash out of the car, making a beeline for the bathroom. You push and shove but your sibling comes out victorious, sliding into the bathroom and shutting the door in your face unceremoniously. You wait outside uncomfortably, relieved when you finally hear a flush. Seconds tick by and the door is still closed. The sound of a YouTube video begins to play and you realize what is happening. Your stomach fills with dread and you start to wonder why your mother couldn’t have just stopped at one kid.   Siblings...

Cade Campbell, Writer

Imagine going somewhere public, whether it be a park, a mall, or the fountain in Hillside Village where the kids run rampant and the parents are chasing them down. Where the couples sit and talk with bags beneath them, and friends joking around, throwing cookie crumbs at one another. Look at that one guy, with the mustache, looking at his wife with a longing gaze, but looking a little out of place and formal towards the children with them. Like they’re not his own. Watch him loosen the front of his shirt like he’s insecure about a little belly he’s gotten over the past few years because work has been stressful and hard, and it’s been difficult trying to balance everything out.    Some people believe the past is our future. That it defines who we were, who we are, and who we will always be. That the rest of our lives depend upon how we used to act; that what’s in our hearts now will always be in our hearts forever.    See, the past is only a story. It can...

Erin Green, Newspaper Editor-in-Chief

I grew up in an age where seeing a mass shooting on the news is a commonality. When I learn of one, I don’t feel shocked. At the most I stop and think to myself, “Another one already?”, say a quick prayer for all those who lost someone, and move on with my day. People don’t like to admit it, but it’s easier that way. If we dwell on it for too long, we might start to feel guilty for just sitting here complacently instead of actually doing something.  Adults always make comments about teenagers’ overuse of technology and how so many of today’s problems could be solved by simply powering off an iPhone. They believe depression, bullying, and lack of social skills can all be cured by the press of a button. When it comes to mass shootings, however, they have no solution to offer. According to many, it’s just a part of life and there’s nothing we can really do about it. But I believe there is. I don’t think completely abolishing the Second Amendment is productive, but...

Maxie Eller, Writer

December 10, 2019

The droning of the teacher standing at the board becomes more and more distant as the student’s brain begins to shut down. Eyelids become more like weights as he fights to keep them open. Despite his brain’s protests, the student can’t help drifting off. He can’t fight the call of sleep any longer and succumbs to the calming darkness.    According to the National Sleep Foundation, the average teenager needs between eight and ten hours of sleep every night to function at the highest level. That sounds like a nice number, but in reality, teenagers are averaging between five to eight hours of sleep every night. The fact is, students need more sleep.    “When I don’t get enough sleep I feel kind of sick and dizzy,” Whitney Olsen said (10).    Students often spend time before bed doing a variety of things such as homework, studying, preparing for the next day, or spending time on their phones. Students are sometimes distracted by phones or the...

Lauren Curtis, Newspaper Editor-in-Chief

December 6, 2019

There are over billions of people that fill this world, yet most of them are unknown. People are lost and disconnected from any sort of social interaction. Their ideal Friday night now involves a bag of popcorn and a movie, rather than a jacket and sitting on cold bleachers watching their football team. To some teens, and even adults, being social can feel like a chore and even mentally draining instead of easy and beneficial. However, do we know what causes someone to become so introverted?    Throughout time, more and more people start to become distant and more stand-offish. Can this be due to society? Or can biology play a factor in this too? Students and teachers have differing opinions about the question at hand.    “I’m Introverted, and for me, social interaction is draining,” Garrett Anderson (12) said. “However, I believe that biology has nothing to do with it, I think that the way someone is raised is what affects someone the most.”    To...

Cade Campbell, Writer

November 21, 2019

The swim team is a group of student athletes. They all have stories. Why did they join? What factors contribute to the love they have for the sport?   Swim is viewed as easy to the average eye, as many people only see it as the act of propelling oneself forward within water.  Swimming uses almost every muscle in the body. The sport helps to tone, define, and strengthen those muscles that they are constantly using. But it’s not just the muscles that make it hard. It’s the exhaustion as well. Swimming, especially at long lengths, requires extraneous amounts of endurance, resulting in a great workout for the heart. It’s just a total body workout.   “Swim is not a very talked about sport at our school and we know that, but we still all love it. I wouldn’t trade it for any other sports right now,” Ben Rhine (10) said.   The athletes involved in this sport keen to concepts such as perseverance and determination, constantly attempting to become a...