Parkway Central Corral Newspaper Feb. 2019 Vol 63 Issue 4

Corral Parkway Central High School, Chesterfield, MO 63017 Vol 63, Issue 4 Feb. 12, 2019

The Future Of Education The big shift toward online education is here. Pg. 12-13

College Signing Day pg. 14

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Staff Editorial

Corral Editor-in-Chief Athena Stamos Managing Editor Wesley Henshaw Copy Editor Madeline Lee Entertainment Editor Brett Smith Features Editor Jenna Lazaroff News Editor Henry T. Eubank Opinions Editor David Amirdjanian Photography Editor Gabby Abowitz Sports Editor Logan Potts Social Media Director Abby Prywitch Online News Editor Claudia Sanders Online Features Editor Sydney Stahlschmidt

STIGMAS AND SEXUAL ACTIVITY REQUIRE EDUCATION Corral Staff

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tudents are going to have sex, it is a reality of high school; the average age that teens lose their virginity is 17.4, which is sometime during junior or senior year. According to Advocates for Youth, the average percentage of high school seniors that have engaged in sexual activity is 62%. That being said, obviously not all students are going to have sex in high school, and that is completely okay. However, it is important that students are educated on how to be safe. While health classes already cover contraception and STIs, there is a stigma that is surrounding some methods of contraception which students need to be aware of, and most importantly, get over.

One stigma is that girls who are on the pill, the hormonal birth control, are sexually active. While some indeed are, the pill has a variety of other uses.

Some women choose to be on the pill to control their menstrual cycle, prevent surprise periods, lessen flow and pain, and to help control acne. It is important to not assume that someone is on the pill because they have a high rate of sexual activity.

It is not just students that succumb to the stigma surrounding the pill, it is parents and other adults as well. This stigma is damaging, because it can prevent people from using the pill so as to not attach themselves to a negative image (which could cause an unwanted pregnancy to occur, or to have someone continue their suffering over acne or their menstrual cycle). Despite these stigmas, which are untrue, it is important that students are respectful of their own peers and learn how to be safe when engaging in sexual

Staff Writers Jay Bowen Kaylee Canoy Avery Cooper Eva Deniszczuk Alex Edelman Tori Favazza Megan Fisher Lee Foust Lilian Humphrey Patrick McColl Ryan Pham Haydn Schertz Danni Schneiderman Taylor Stern Margaret Vierling Carly Wasserman Shoshana Weinstein Trey Williams Adviser Mrs. Christine Stricker

On the cover: Math Teacher Kurt Lehmann

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Yays

Online Sports Editor Alex Maisenhelder

Yays!

activity.

It is important that students educate themselves on birth control and STI prevention methods before they engage in sexual activity so that they prevent pregnancy and the spread of diseases such as HIV and gonorrhea. No protection is 100% effective, so doubling up on contraceptive methods is a good way to prevent anything unintended. It also prevents some of the anxiety that could occur over the spread of disease or an accidental pregnancy.

When you choose to have sex, you are taking responsibility for anything that could happen as a result. Help ensure that nothing unintended happens by educating yourself on contraceptive and birth control methods. Planned Parenthood (located in Manchester, St. Peters, and St. Louis City near Forest Park) gives birth control pills for free in some cases, and there are many places that you can get condoms for free or for less than a dollar (such as Planned Parenthood, a college health center, or Walmart). It’s also important to realize that doubling up may be your best bet (such as with a condom and the pill, not with two condoms). Condom Finder is a website that allows people to search where the closest place with free condoms is.

It is important for students to understand that Plan B and the pill do not prevent the spread of disease, and that no method is 100% effective.

Understand the misconceptions of birth control, which includes that using birth control long term appears to have no effect on fertility.

Neighs

•• Four day weekend this week! Woot woot!

•• Spring sports are coming up!!

•• Five weeks until spring break!! Let’s gooooo •• Don’t forget to go to Walgreens after Valentine’s Day to get cheap candy.

•• Make sure to go to the musical (Feb. 21-24)!! See you there!

Neighs •• We have had three snow days and we want more.

•• Winter sports are coming to an end and they will be missed.

•• No more pep rallies this year :( •• It’s still cold out #why •• How are ACTs going?? The state ACT is in TWO months, juniors!

We want to hear from you!

Our goal is to always report the truth.

The Corral is a student-written, edited and produced publication of Parkway Central High School, 369 N. Woods Mill Road, Chesterfield, MO 63017; 314-415-7978.

The Corral is given away free of charge to students and faculty.

Subscriptions and patronships for one year may be purchased, starting at $20.

The goal of this publication is to provide accurate, informative and entertaining information in the true spirit of responsible journalism and to operate as an open forum for students, faculty, administrators and parents.

The Corral is created on Hewlett-Packard and Mac computers using Adobe Creative Suite 6 and is published by PJ Printing.

Unsigned editorials reflect the views of the editorial board. Signed columns and artwork reflect the views of that individual.

The staff appreciates comments and suggestions. Letters to the editor, guest editorials and other correspondence are encouraged but must be signed. The Corral reserves the right to publish or refrain from publishing, as well as edit, all submitted material.

What are your yays and neighs? pchcorral.com @pchcorral Pch_publications Parkway Central Publications Pchpublications

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Opinions

CONTESTED MIDTERMS, HALTED GOVERNMENT What to make of the Midterms, Shutdown, and the SOTU Henry T. Eubank News Editor

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he 2018 midterms were highly anticipated, perhaps more hyped this time around than midterms in the recent past.

There are a number of reasons for that: a motivated populous, President Trump, key ballot issues, hype, and so on. These reasons would translate into a huge voter turnouts, 99.1 million, according to a Washington Post article.

So what made this midterm different than the previous ones? These midterms did, in fact, set a high for voter turnout in the past 50 years. The president would take credit for the voter turnout, claiming he made the midterms “the hottest thing,” he also claimed a lot of people didn’t know what midterms were before he started focusing on them. Democrats would refute this claim to an extent. Democrats made this midterm out to be somewhat of a referendum on the president and focused on issues that are important to progressive voters. The current Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, told voters this election was mainly about healthcare and that if people wanted to protect the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that voting blue (Democratic) would be imperative. Democrats believed a combination of people being dissatisfied with the president and wanting to secure the future of the ACA is what got people to turn out in record numbers.

The Democrats saw tremendous gains in the House, winning 40 seats according to Politico. The Democrats now have 235 seats in the House, a huge 36 seat advantage over the Republicans who only have 199. But this isn’t the whole story. Things went very differently in the Senate. The Republicans were not only able to hold onto the Senate majority, but extend their lead by two seats. Republicans now hold a 53-47 lead in the Senate.

Following election day, plenty of people had a lot to say about the results. Both sides attempted to quantify the results to best maximize their success while downplaying their losses.

President Donald Trump claimed victory via Twitter the morning after (Nov. 7) tweeting, “Received so many Congratulations from so many on our Big Victory last night…”

Trump received a lot of criticism for claiming victory, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D) called the president “delusional” for thinking the Republicans won the midterm battle. Schumer and some of his fellow Democrats think they had a lot of success that could help propel them to a strong 2020 presidential bid. Even in some of their losses, Democrats saw progress. Beto O’Rourke ran a Senate race against incumbent Republican Ted Cruz in Texas. Republicans have dominated politics there for decades and they still do. Cruz was able to secure a victory, but only by two percent. A lot of Democrats viewed this as a positive, a sign of not only shifting voter demographics, but a sign of a changing country.

Nevertheless, Republicans probably felt pretty good about the midterm results. Typically, the party of the president will lose both the House and Senate after the first midterm. So for the GOP to only lose the House and not only still have the Senate, but to gain seats is impressive. That would be a decent enough reason to claim victory in the eyes of many. Considering it was projected that Republicans were supposed to lose both Houses of Congress, but they only lost one. This could easily be seen as a stalemate from a Democrats perspective. But taking the precedent of midterms into account, this could reasonably be viewed as a victory for Republicans.

The Democrats were very optimistic despite not winning back the Senate, partly because most of the Senate races this midterm were Republican incumbents running in red states or Democrats running for reelection in states that Trump carried in 2016. The Democrats were also able to not just win back the

House, but win it in dominating fashion, taking back more than originally anticipated. This is what caused many to believe this midterm still resulted in a “blue wave” of sorts. However, to truly have a “wave” of sorts, winning both levels of Congress is necessary. The Democrats obviously failed to do that this election cycle, but they still have a lot to celebrate and have high hopes for the 2020 cycle.

Another huge factor in our current political state was the recent shutdown regarding the president’s border wall funding.

This was the longest shutdown in our country’s history: 35 days from Dec. 22, 2018 to Jan. 25, 2019. The president signed a bill to reopen the government until Feb. 15, a three-week resolution. After that, the government will shut down yet again. The president did take credit for this shutdown, saying “I’m proud to shutdown the government for border security.” Critics think this a proposition that makes little sense considering illegal immigration is on the decline, a wall probably wouldn’t deter illegal immigrants anyways, and Democrats view it is a total waste of money. Speaker Pelosi and other Democrats have made it clear that there will not be any wall funding in any deal presented to the president.

Meaning if the president sticks to his guns, we will see another shutdown. That being said, the president has let up ground on numerous occasions on the border wall, so there is nothing to say he will give up more and more down the road.

The president delivered his second State of the Union Address on Tuesday, Feb. 5. His overall message included calls for unity and bipartisanship on issues that both parties have similar goals on, such as reconstructing our infrastructure and providing new parents with paid family leave. While he also called for reform regarding our immigration policies and border security. There were a few moments that truly were encouraging, especially when the whole chamber stood and chanted “USA! USA!” when the president recognized and congratulated the female Congress members for setting a new record for women in Congress. Perhaps moments like that can allow our government to unite and work together on common interests and find compromise on contested disagreements.

So where does all of this leave us moving forward? Obviously the main focus for both parties will be to win back the White House in 2020. The president has already said he will run for reelection in 2020 on the Republican ticket. There have already been several Democrats that have announced presidential campaign bids including MA senator Elizabeth Warren, CA

senator Kamala Harris, NJ senator Cory Booker, among others.

There has also been fringe talk about former Ohio governor John Kasich running a third party campaign. As of right now, there has not been any talk in the GOP camp to run somebody against the president, however, we have a long way to go. And even though it would be highly unusual for the party of the incumbent to challenge them in a primary, it could happen. The president is also suffering extremely low approval ratings and Democrats are becoming more and more favorable to the public as this presidency carries on. This could be a precursor to what 2020 will look like, but if 2016 taught us anything, every possibility is on the table.

Pictured above, President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of the Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS) President Donald Trump tours the border wall prototypes near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego County, Calif., on March 13, 2018. On Thursday Trump said more troops would be deployed to the border. (K.C. Alfred/San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS)

Pictured at the top, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., center, walks with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, D-N.Y., House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., after a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019 in Washington, D.C. (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS

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Opinions

YOUTUBE CENSORSHIP GROWS

Some channels unfairly targeted and deleted Lillian Humphrey

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Staff Writer

ouTube has been one of the most popular websites since the tech giant, Google, bought it in 2006 for more than one billion dollars. Ever since the inception of the video sharing site, the whole selling point was the ‘You’ in YouTube. Anyone could upload almost anything as long as it stayed within the loose guidelines set by Google. Communities formed around content that would have never existed without the people who joined around this website. From this we saw the rise of some of the most influential internet personalities, seemingly coming from out of the blue.

Magically, some kid making videos by themselves could become a brand that ends up making thousands of dollars. Fred, a popular comedy channel, signed a deal with Nickelodeon in 2009 and made multiple movies, as well as appearing in the TV show iCarly. Justin Bieber rose to real life stardom through YouTube when records found him covering songs. In early 2010’s, YouTube had its creators’ backs. Connecting personally with their creators with studios and awarding ‘play buttons’- a kind of trophy- to the most subscribed channels.

But over the years, YouTube has been criticized by creators for how it’s changing. Big companies who have been paying for advertisements on YouTube now hold a lot of power over the site, and Google has been forced to buckle under the pressure as the dubbed ‘Ad-pocalypse’ continues. ‘Ad-pocalypse’ is a term used to describe the scandals have resulted in advertisers pulling from YouTube, decreasing the revenue of those who make videos for a job after an infamous incident involving one of the top creators releasing a video that included anti-semitic jokes. Soon after these events in 2016 YouTube has been tightening it’s restrictions, and once profitable channels aimed at adults can barely scrape by. As this pressure has increased from news outlets lying about the sites biggest star, PewDiePie, Google has had no choice. But have they gone too far?

New information has come to light on how YouTube might be scrubbing itself clean of channels that might be a bit too ‘edgy’, meme and adult humored content, by giving them channel strikes on videos that aren’t even publicly released. Channel strikes are very serious for creators. They restrict how long their videos can be, if they can livestream, and after three can even delete their whole channel. Imagine your source of income, job, connection to community, is deleted overnight without a whisper of warning. And not only that, but it’s for videos you posted almost a decade ago.

One creator that is afraid of this is RustyCage, a creator who caught a bit of viral fame seven years ago with his ‘knife game’ videos. He stated that these videos, massing about 80 million views, would have to be taken down if he got another strike on his channel. His first strike was given to him when a commentary on how the ‘Knife Song’ videos were made was terminated. None of these videos break the community guidelines.

Even if they did, taking them down after they have been up for such a long time is ludicrous. Even with an updated community guidelines policy, Rusty and many others argue that the deletion of videos that were posted under old policies should not result in a strike and channel deletion, since they were fine until the updates. Just like how when a law is made, a person who broke that law before it was made doesn’t get punished. That’s what YouTube is effectively doing when they harm Rusty’s channel.

Image courtesy of Pixabay

As Rusty was forced into a corner by YouTube, he commented on the state Google was putting it in. “As YouTube continues to destroy their website by watering down and over sanitizing the content users are allowed to have uploaded, channels like mine will start to disappear.” A scary thought for the many who depend on the company for their living.

But this isn’t just theoretical. MumkeyJones, a creator making adult comedy videos, raised the alarm bells when he had his channel completely removed from the website. All attempts he has made to make another channel has been met with a swift take down, effectively banning him from YouTube entirely.

With a fairly large channel of 300,000 subscribers, he received a contact from the company to help him with problems. Unfortunately, he has heard no response, despite his efforts. His job is gone with no way to get it back, and he was given no warning.

The scariest part is that all three strikes happened in one day. In one day, his channel was terminated. Even his backup channel received the same treatment. Three strikes on both, and both were deleted on the same day.

This points in the direction of a coordinated attack by YouTube to censor a creator that made adult content they didn’t like. The strongest evidence points at one of the strikes that resulted in his termination, was an unlisted video with zero views that he had posted as a test for just himself.

Mumkey argues none of the videos that terminated him even had any material that broke guidelines, and again, shouldn’t have been up for so long before being all removed in one day, effectively preventing him from saving his channel by delet-

ing offending content. Mumkey felt this had been a long time coming, as like Rusty, many of his videos were first demonetized (Meaning they received no money), before receiving strikes that resulted in the deletion of his channels.

With all of this in mind it would seem that YouTube isn’t concerned with how it’s affecting the people that bring traffic to their site. Looking at how these situations have been handled it looks more like their concern lies with making it as safe as a padded cell so as not to offend ‘Amazon.com’ or ‘Geico’. They’ve been tightening their restrictions ever so slowly, like boiling the frog. The only reason anything was heard about what they’re doing is because some of the channels affected had a dedicated fan base. But what about channels with less influence? Who knows how many small businesses have been removed, channels with only 10,000 subscribers, or even just 1,000?

YouTube’s monopoly of online video content prevents any real resistance, and when they do get push back, they don’t care because there’s no alternative to create an effective protest. When is the last time you watched anything on Vidme, Vimeo, or DailyMotion? Any other video exclusive site? Chances are you haven’t even heard of any alternatives because they pose no threat to Google. At this point the only thing that can save YouTube and its content creators is competition that would force them to improve. But until then, remember to smash that like button, subscribe, and I’ll see you in the next PCH school newspaper.

Opinions

SINGING OUR STRESSES AWAY

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How choir helps establish friends, fun, and All That Jazz Trey Williams Staff Writer

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ontrary to the name, high school isn’t just about school.

Along with academic opportunities, there are a plethora of other activities you can take part in. You can join a sport, debate, academic challenge, GSA, the list is endless.

Among this list is music: band, orchestra, piano, guitar, music theory, and my favorite, choir.

Our choir program is split into five separate choirs.

Chorale is the freshmen choir, followed by Chamber Choir for sophomores, and finally concluding with Concert Choir, mixing juniors and seniors. These three choirs require an audition if you aren’t already in choir. If you want to skip the audition, you could join Chorus, a more laid back class with members of every grade level. Finally, there’s Standard Time, our vocal jazz group. In order to get into Standard Time, you must be in either Chamber or Concert Choir, and you must audition to get one of the 16 spots.

Choir can do many things to enrich your life, such as improving your confidence. Singing is a personal thing to do around other people, and often makes people feel vulnerable.

Choir helps people get out of their comfort zone and thus helps people become more comfortable with themselves.

“More than anything, I thoroughly enjoy watching kids personalities develop as they become more comfortable with who they are,” choir director Ben Silvermintz said. “It’s so tough

to watch kids who are stuck inside this middle school box in their brains. You just hope you can do something to help them break out of it.”

One of the many methods Silvermintz has of doing this is daunting to many: having students sing for the class. As much as thinking about it can make your heart rate spike, some students appreciate the growth that can come along with it.

“It’s good because it forces you to get out there and sing,” Dylan Price, a freshman in Concert Chorale, said. “It’s one of those things where you’re like ‘oh I hope it isn’t me’ but then whenever it is you you’re like ‘it wasn’t that bad’.”

Though it may be obvious that we sing, it isn’t as obvious how fulfilling singing can be. If you haven’t taken a choir class, it’s hard to describe the satisfaction that comes along with singing a song well as a group. The process is slow, due to most of the learning taking place inside the classroom, but thorough. By the time we near a concert, people are often pleasantly surprised with how they sound on a run-through.

Finally, the icing on the choir cake is the community. Like any music class, you’re with the same people through all of high school, or even middle school. What makes choir different from other classes is the growth you experience with each other. If people were to compare students’ sixth grade concerts with students’ Concert Choir performances, their confidence would be just as unrecognizable as their faces.

As a freshman, Price is excited to see this change happen to her choir “…I can see where I am as a freshman and apply that to what I want to be as a senior or junior. I think it’s cool to see

the improvement.”

What sets choir apart from departments like band and orchestra is who can enroll. While with these classes it’s preferred you start at a younger age, anybody can jump into choir regardless of their previous experience. If you enjoy music and want to give making music a try, choir is one of the best classes you could take.

There’s only one class at this school where you can fulfill your childhood dreams of singing beautiful music to a roaring audience, and that class is choir. If you want to fulfill your childhood dreams, or it just sounds kind of interesting, I highly recommend giving choir a try.

Choir teacher Ben Silvermintz helps freshmen Brianna Spaeth, Carine Heller, and Sophie Bain learn their part during Concert Chorale. It isn’t unusual to hear Silvermintz belting the same notes as the girls. Photo by Trey Williams

NEW YEAR, NEW ME, NEW GOALS

How to successfully follow through with a resolution

Danni Schneiderman Staff Writer

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New Year’s resolution is a promise to commit to some new habit or life style, starting January 1. The point of a resolution is to ultimately better yourself in the new year. However, this looks different from person to person.

Some may promise to stop drinking soda and some may promise to recycle more but how does one ensure that this goal is met?

After all the festivities have been celebrated, the food eaten, and the relatives back in their homes, life seems to slow back down into its natural lull.

When setting goals, it’s important to keep a few things in mind. Looking at it from a more practical perspective, you could refer to something called SMART goals.

The first requirement is that your goal has to be specific. In order to fulfill a goal, you need to know exactly what you are trying to achieve. Writing this out can be helpful so you can outline and organize everything.

The next question to ask yourself is, “Is my goal measurable?” Establishing a way to see if you are making progress is key. For example,

if

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound

your goal is to go to the gym more, you can mark on your calendar when you do go. Then you can count up your marks and compare it with other months to see if you are heading towards your goal.

Something else to keep in mind is being realistic. One reason that people cannot achieve their resolution is because they set unrealistic goals. If you’ve been going to bed at

midnight your whole high school life it might be hard to force yourself to be in bed by nine.

Trying to go to bed a few minutes earlier each night is a good way to ease into it. Something that is key when insuring you can achieve your resolution is making sure it is possible.

Another reason New Year’s resolutions might fail is because is that people might get discouraged quickly.

Changing your lifestyle doesn’t happen overnight and people need to understand that good results take time. So be patient! Don’t give up when something seems to be “not working”.

Setting a date to achieve certain landmarks on your way to your goal can be helpful and keep you on track when trying to change your way of life.

Photo by Pixabay

Photo by Pixabay

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New Age of Alex Maisenhelder

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Online Sports Editor

n this new age of technology and lots of school based things moving online, digital studying tools have become more prevalent. Which raises a question, which tool should I use?

In my opinion it all depends on your end goal and what you are studying. With some of the main tools being Quizlet, Gimkit, Kahoot, and Quizizz.

First off we have Quizlet, which is a multi-faceted, well-rounded studying tool. It has many different features within the “solo-user” aspect of the app. Such as the “Learn” feature which is relatively new. The learn tool works best for attempting to memorize vocab terms and with the repetition of going through each correct answer in a multiple-choice format, then moving on to having to type it out.

This helps the information better stick, with it requiring you to correctly type it out more times if you have been missing the term, giving you extra practice with the more difficult terms; really useful for those pesky terms that keep slipping your mind.

It also has a “flashcards” feature that allows the user to select whether they are looking at the term, or definition and swap between the two as if you were using physical notecards, but without the fear of losing one and not learning the term.

There is also the “write” section which forces you to correctly “write” out the answer twice for each term in order to earn 100% completion. “Match” is a feature that’s usefulness is limited. It is a really good and viable tool if you are required to just merely match terms as your end goal, but for being able to make the cognitive link and get it with only one part, it is not as effective as the three aforementioned choices.

“Test” is the last of the five options on mobile, allowing you to select how many of the possible questions you want, whether or not you want instant feedback, what you have to answer with, (definition or term), what kind of questions you want; including options like, true/false, multiple choice, or written, allowing you to practice in the format that the test will be in.

I am personally a huge fan and advocate of the “learn” feature due to its usefulness of combining the written and multiple-choice possibilities. It has been a major help for me in memorizing, English terms, AP World vocab, Latin Quizlet. vocab, etc.

While I do not use them as often I am a big fan of the written and test options, because if you can write it out from memory, then matching or writing it out will not be a problem, whereas just doing the matching will make it harder to write from memory.

In addition to these useful tools on mobile, the desktop version of Quizlet offers two additional forms of studying.

“Spell” and “gravity” are both desktop specific features, with the “spell” feature asking that you type out what you hear, and if you answer incorrectly it corrects it and over audio identifies the mistake.

The “gravity” feature is more of a game, with it having the term or definition fall down your screen as the name implies, with you having to type out the corresponding words in the text box before it gets to the bottom of your screen, focusing more on the speed of recollection.

Furthermore, Quizlet has a multi-player mode, Quizlet live, in which you can choose random teams and whether or not you want to answer the definition or term. The team aspect allows for the betterment of communication skills under stress and teamwork, in addition to the learning of vocab and other things.

Studying

Opinions

Overall, based on what I have used in the past and now, Quizlet is by far my favorite and studying tool of choice for many classes. I would rate it at a 9.5/10; the only feasible way I could see to improve it is to implement all features on the mobile app.

Other than that I feel it is amazing the way it is.

Kahoot: Easy to use

Kahoot is a popular choice of review for many teachers, given the ease of its multiplayer aspect; allowing the entire class to participate in the answering of questions simultaneously. Kahoot consists mainly of only the one multiplayer function, with anywhere from two to four options, and a point system based on how fast you answer.

Kahoot happens to be my least favorite because it realistically only has a single purpose, the game like feature of seeing a question having a few seconds to read it, then answering from the choices provided.

While it is good for entrancing the participants, one of my biggest gripes is that it is not a time effective way to study with the delay between questions and answers.

Also, it is a fully multiple choice format which is not the best way to study vocab and terms, because you do not always have the luxury Kahoot. of being able to do process of elimination.

In addition to this, if you are attempting to do with friends, the game has a tendency to lag degrading the level of enjoyment which usually makes studying more bearable if it is set up in a game format.

In short not only does Kahoot is my least favorite of these studying tools, due to it only having a single option, meaning it has way less features and studying tools than Quizlet, it also lacks the enjoyment and fun that come out of a tool like Gimkit, in addition to the timing of the questions not allowing the complexity of Quizizz. I would give it a 3.5/10, for it just not being too useful or enjoyable to use.

Gimkit: Strategy based thriller

for people to work at their own pace if they do not care for the competitive aspect.

Sometimes it is also the small things that are nice touches, like Gimkit allowed for the purchasing of aesthetics via money earned through answering questions. You can get themes, and play music if you are feeling confidant.

One deduction I have to make is that it requires a game pin to use it, unlike Quizlet and Quizizz which both have mass amounts This picture illustrates the “upgrade” aspect of already made of Gimkit. studying sets laying around to use. Other than that it does not have many features, but I enjoy the competition and speed at which you can study. I would have to give Gimkit a 7.5/10.

Quizizz: Take as much time as you need

Quizizz is another online studying tool, popular among science teachers. It has a highly customizable format, allowing different lengths for questions, or in some cases just purely the questions with no time. Similar to the other one it has a scoring system based on how fast you answer, but if you choose the unlimited time, points are earned just based on correct or not.

One feature that I like is that the different amounts of time allows teachers and other scholars alike, to include tough mathematical problems, or ones that require a multi-step process.

Quizizz.

This aspect would be useful for math or science questions, like balancing equations or solving for that third angle in a triangle.

Another feature that I am a fan of is that after you finish the set, it tells you your score in the form of a percent, a fraction, and your place relative to the rest of the people in the study set. It also tells you which questions you missed and places them at the top for convenient studying of the missed questions.

Overall I would have to give Quizizz a 8/10, placing it second out of four, mainly for its ease in adding complex problems to the study set and its configurable question system, with points and time among other things.

Gimkit is relatively new on the scene and was actually made and maintained by a high school student in Seattle, Washington. In addition to being fast paced, it also incorporates a strategy to it. This entails a very competitive aspect to it, which I enjoy, but not everyone does. There is a system of powerups like money per question, streak bonus, multiplier, etc.

Gimkit has both individual and team modes, with the team mode allowing all of the players combined funds from answering questions to be spent, allowing for strategy of does everyone buy? Or does one person buy up to allow others to profit later? I personally enjoy the second method as it allows a collective goal for one person, who can use the powerups to help aid their teammates.

Gimkit is probably the best tool on this list for mass amounts of vocab, useful for languages in my experience, such as old chapters vocab that you need to refresh on. The money per question is not reliant on how fast you answer, but on whether or not it is correct, and what powerups you have purchased. Allowing Trey Williams uses Quizlet to review vocab terms. Photo by Alex Maisenhelder.

News

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!

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A behind-the-scenes look at preparations for the PCH musical.

Shoshana Weinstein Staff Writer

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n Feb. 20, Chicago: The Musical is making its debut at PCH. After months of preparation, Parkway Central’s theater students will take to the stage. The play, set in the 1920s, follows the story of chorus-girl-turned-murderer Roxie Hart (senior Samantha Seigel). But there is much more to a production than just the actors. To create a truly stunning musical performance, an extensive technical crew and their supervisors spend hours collaborating.

In fact, preparation for this spring’s musical began almost immediately after the fall play, Noises Off, concluded. “We auditioned everyone the week after Noises Off closed,” Nicole Voss, theater teacher and director, said. “It’s myself, and then Brandon Fink who is the choreographer, and then [Ben] Silvermintz, who is the vocal director. All three of us together are making the casting decisions.”

Those casting decisions aren’t easy. “For any musical, we’re looking for students that can act, dance, and sing,” Voss said.

“And obviously, there’s not every student that can do all three great. In addition to that, if there’s any characters who have relationships together, then we have to look at chemistry between the actors. So they might be perfect for the role, but if they have no chemistry with their partner, that could be a dealbreaker.”

Once rehearsals start, the director get busy. “I’m doing all the blocking, coaching them with their acting, things like that,” Voss said. “I’m looking at creating characterization, character building, and creating the timing for the show.” Luckily, Voss has help from a wide variety of PCH staff. English teacher Kemba Metropoulos is one of those individuals.

“This is the first time I’ve helped with a musical, or even

with a production, here at Central. A lot of my job is to learn,” Metropoulos said. “I’m getting the costumes together, which has been so much fun, dressing all the people for their different roles, ideas for hair, makeup, and props, so that’s what I’ve been working on a lot this year.” As technical director for the musical, Metropoulos has her hands full this spring.

Plenty of students pitch in to contribute to the technical crew. Managing the lights, sound, and set is a full-time job, as is attending to the hair and makeup of the actors. “I am a manager of makeup and hair, so i’m in charge of all the actors,” senior Hannah Kornblum said. “I sketch out plans for each actor and actress’s characters. I design it, and Voss okays it.”

There is more to this task than meets the eye. “I do all the research, and Voss will double check it to make sure it’s all in time period and that it fits with her vision as the director,” Kornblum said. “When we have dress rehearsals, we come two hours before the play actually starts, and everyone gets their hair

and makeup done.”

“To me, when you’re in a show and you get your show family, it’s really exciting seeing it all come to pass,” Metropoulos said. “The thing you always dread is when the curtain goes down on the final show, and you know it’s all done.”

(Left) The cast of Chicago: The Musical rehearses choreography Tuesday, Feb. 5. Photo by Lee Foust.

(Below) Samantha Seigal (12) rehearses for her lead role as Roxy Hart Tuesday, Feb. 5. Photo by Lee Foust.

KING OF HEARTS VS. HOMECOMING Carly Wasserman

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Staff Writer

he Homecoming dance and the King of Hearts dance are favored by many people at Central high. Not only are these dances a good excuse for students to get all dressed up, but they also allow students to have fun with their friends.

The Homecoming dance usually takes place in the fall, towards the beginning of the school year. The dance taking place at this time allows students to reconnect with friends they haven’t seen in awhile from summer and also become closer with their existing friends. Sarah Lueken, the main student council sponsor at Central high has took part in planning many dances for school. She has been the main student council sponsor for six years now and has been apart of student council for 11 years. She has planned around 22 dances between Homecoming and KOH. She has also planned around seven proms.

For the Homecoming dance, the boy will usually ask a girl to go with him to the dance and then for the King of Hearts dance the girl may usually asks a boy to go with her. Lueken said, “We have been trying to change it up for the King of Hearts dance so it’s not so much like the girls have to ask the guys, but we want to make it more like go with your friend group and all go together as a group.”

Before each dance there is a week of dress up days. For Homecoming each grade level is allowed to dress up each day before the dance with a theme provided. The more people that dress up the better.

For the week before KOH, students also dress up to the

themes. That week is called KISS week. This years KISS week theme days were based off of travel. On Monday students were able to dress in their pajamas. Tuesday was dedicated to Hawaiian clothing. Wednesday students could dress in their wild west country clothing. Thursday students were able to dress in skiwear, and lastly: on Friday students had the opportunity to dress in Red, White, and Blue clothing.

KISS week is different from Homecoming spirit week in many ways. “For KISS week, i’m working with guys that represent different clubs and organizations that are raising awareness and money for charity. So, at the end of everyday we have to count the money. I have to keep track of the points for the guys and their attire and then the games that they play. And then on a sense I am planning almost two different pep rallies, so one for the whole school and another one for the pageant. Whereas with Homecoming, it kinda just drives itself,” Lueken said.

Even though KISS week takes a lot more time to plan, the Homecoming dance is definitely more popular with its attendance. “Almost three fourths of the schools population at times attends the Homecoming dance. For the King of Hearts dance the attendance is slightly less,” Lueken said.

Lueken isn’t quite sure why the King of Hearts dance usually has a smaller attendance but she believes it could be because of the colder weather and the more activities that are going on.

“Every year we try to vamp it up and change it up and make it more exciting and I think the changing of the dance into gym B might make people more excited about attending,” Lueken said.

(Top) Seniors Tiffany Huang and Stephen Unk dressed up in their ski-wear showing school spirit during KISS week. Photo by Claudia Sanders.

(Bottom) This year’s homecoming court gets recognized at the dance. Photo

by Christine Stricker.

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News

STUDENTS HELP COMMUNITY Athena Stamos Editor-in-Chief

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tudents can participate in a program called the Sustainable Schools Challenge through Parkway that records activities regarding the community and environment. This challenge is open to all Parkway students, staff, and faculty members. Leading schools will earn cash prizes.

“I got involved in this project because I really care about our environment and feel that we need to do more to help it and that we really need to step our game up,” senior Emily Ortmann said.

Junior Kyle DuPerrett and Ortmann both got involved in this project through her Spark! Teacher, Meredith Jacques.

“I feel like schools, since they have the job of teaching, and do so for 12-13 years, should take the lead in sustainability and environmental concerns with students,” DuPerrett said.

Once Jacques discussed the purpose behind the project with Ortmann, it is “what really drove me to participate in it.”

There are six main focuses in this challenge: Energy Efficiency, Water Conservation, Waste Reduction, Sustainable Outdoor Environment, Sustainability Learning, and Health and Wellness.

“I am very passionate about the environment to I am very excited to do it,” senior Maggie Murrell said.

Murrell got involved with this program through her AP Environmental Science class taught by Shana Kelley.

“I am most interested in the topic of pollution, specifically plastic pollution,” Murrell said. “I think there are many promising alternatives that need to be considered.”

Ortmann is specifically interested in sustainable food whether it’s reusable containers or proper food waste disposal or

even just eliminating plastic straws.

“I think plastic and sustainability in the food industry is one of the biggest problems that people don’t even think about, and it needs to be addressed,” Ortmann said.

Participants must keep track and submit their activities to earn points.

“I mostly keep to myself, I don’t enjoy the competition for seeing who has the most service work for the hours,” DuPerrett said.

DuPerrett frequently volunteers to maintain parks and trails in his free time. Additionally, he is a fan of reducing plastic waste, composting, and protecting his community. Farming practices and residential and commercial development are also critical according to DuPerrett.

“Since my family has had a farm for over a century,” DuPerrett said. “ I feel like to continue that requires a lot of dedication to the protection of the land.”

Murrell wants to cut back on her electricity usage, shop only at thrift stores, and buy food with less packaging for the challenge.

Ortmann has planned to “work on this personally by being smarter in what I bring for lunch and how I bring it, and also

how I shop for food products.” She will try to raise awareness and come up with possible solutions for the school to use and to provide for the students and staff.

“It’s important to give back to the community because without your community, you wouldn’t be where you are now,” Ortmann said.

Parkway gives credit to the Sustainability Department at San Francisco Unified School District for the idea behind this program.

“It’s where we are from, we need to make sure it is there as healthy as it can be,” DuPerrett said.

Students can sign up via the Parkway Schools website.

There is a Google Forms to fill out and record activities through another Google Form document.

“We should give back to it to provide opportunities for other kids so they can have the same and even better experiences that you had,” Ortmann said.

The challenge began Jan. 3 and ends April 30. The school with the most amount of points will win the competition.

“So many people’s lives could be changed forever,” Murrell said.

Leader Board of Parkway High Schools as of Jan. 31

Courtesy of Parkway Sustainable Schools Challenge

WHEN GAS PRICES DROP, DON’T GET USED TO IT Kaylee Canoy Staff Writer

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he average gas price in Missouri is around $2.22, but changes constantly due to supply and demand. As demand increases or supply decreases, the price of crude oil increases. Prices can change rapidly if something were to disrupt crude oil supplies, refinery operations, or gasoline pipeline deliveries. Even when the prices are stable, gas prices can increase or decrease because of seasonal changes.

Are students as aware regarding gas prices? Sophomore Miranda Blatt doesn’t go to a specific gas station, “Honestly I just go to any gas station I see when I get low on gas. I try to look for the lowest prices, but I never actually end up going to those places,” Blatt said. She also talks about an app, GasBuddy, that you can download to give you more information on gas stations near you. The app will update you on the lowest gas prices near your location.

“My mom told me when I first started driving to download GasBuddy, so I could look for all the cheapest gas prices and I did, but now I don’t really look at it and I just kind of get gas when I need it or when I see a gas station near by,” Blatt said.

“My mom doesn’t like when I don’t use the app because she thinks I should know when I’m running out of gas ahead of time, but for me it’s more of a see a gas station and then see how much gas I have left.”

Michael Murphy is a senior who pays for his own gas for his car. He actually pays for the higher gas price option, which is 93 premium. Murphy mentions how the Shell station by his house has a better 93 premium plan than other gas stations near him.

“I pay around $20-$25 around every two weeks and I’m not very conscious unless I have no money in my bank account.”

Sarah Burgess, a new English teacher at Central this year, previously worked at a school in California. After she moved to Missouri, Burgess noticed how the prices for gas are drastically different here.

“Coming from California, gas prices are so much higher than they are in the Midwest so when I have friends or my mom come to visit their like woah, they cannot believe the gas prices, so I feel like it’s good and I’m still getting used to it and I don’t mind when the price goes up because it is still a great price,” Burgess said. Her husband pays more attention to gas prices then she does.

“My husband is more conscious than I am about gas prices, but we do talk about it, so like if has to drive a quite amount of ways to big meetings, so if we have to drive more than an hour he drives the sedan because it has better gas mileage then the minivan,” Burgess said.

The current average for regular gas in Missouri is around $2.25 , a decline from last year’s average of around $2.60. Premium gas in Missouri is an average of around $2.84, again a decrease from the average of $3.13 last year. Missouri’s gas prices compared to California’s is lower, and has a larger decrease since the previous year’s. Regular gas in California averages around $3.24 compared to last year’s average of around $3.35. For premium, the current average is around $3.50, also a decrease from last years average of $3.60.

Although gas

prices averages have decreased, there is still around a dollar difference per gallon from the average in Missouri and the average in California.

(Far Left) BP on Olive Blvd, Chesterfield, MO sells gas for an average of $1.94 on February 7, 2019. Photo by Kaylee Canoy (Right) 7-Eleven on Olive Blvd, Chesterfield, MO sells gas for an average of $1.89 on February 7, 2019. Photo

by Kaylee Canoy

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News

POLITICS ENGAGE EDUCATION PLATFORM Madeline Lee Copy Editor

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ublic schools operate and obtain funds through two main ways: alumni donations and taxpayer dollars. Despite this, public schools still do not have all of the funds for everything that they need or want, such as updates to technology or building structure, or innovative new programs for students.

In accordance with Missouri law, private schools may not benefit from taxes. However, this may change, and the government would take money out of the budget for public schools.

“We don’t have unlimited funds so we have to be responsible with how we spend [money],” Parkway superintendent Keith Marty said. “I am a big supporter of public education, but I also believe families and students need to make choices. As I stated, I do not want to see taxpayer dollars support non-public schools.”

According to the Southern Education Foundation, vouchers are becoming more and more common. A voucher is when a family is given taxpayer dollars to use at any school, including to attend private schools. There are a few ways that families can obtain a voucher from the state, but opposition argues that this violates the separation of church and state as implied in the Establishment clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, due to many private schools having religious ties.

Private schools, such as John Burroughs, can cost about $28,000 a year.

“Public education has been criticized for not being successful with all students or the gap between students, so it has forced us to think about marketing to really tell our story,” Marty said.

“So, people see our success and hear about our teachers and our students and choices and opportunities.”

With the election of former governor Eric Greitens in 2016, the school choice movement began to take action with vouchers in Missouri. Since 2017, however, there has been no major developments and the voucher program continues to stay relatively quiet and out of St. Louis County.

“Politicians have run on platforms of public education, and we aren’t really getting the best shake of the deal,” Marty said.

“If we don’t tell our own story, somebody else may tell it, and we have unfortunately become a target. Can we be criticized? Sure, but we take all students and have students of all ability levels.”

The debate over public and private schools has been going on since the creation of the two divisions. Each school has programs and activities that add to its resume, and St. Louis features some of the top schools, private and public, in the nation.

“We have several student groups around professional interests,” director of admissions for Priory schools Alice Dickherber said. “For example, one group is for students interested in Careers in Medicine and the Health Sciences; another group is interested in 3D Printing and Design.”

Like the Parkway Spark! Program, many schools offer programs that are for students who want to learn something that is

not taught in a traditional class. John Burroughs high school offers a Makerspace for entrepreneurial students, as well as a club that builds high efficiency cars, and other learning opportunities.

Last year, this club made a car that ran off of cooking oil, got 519 miles per gallon, and was able to fit a person inside of it.

“We don’t have a formal program like [Spark!],” John Burroughs Academic Director Christopher Front said. “But we have a space for kids to brainstorm and make things out of metal or wood.”

One feature of public schools is that both Rockwood School District and Parkway offer Dual Credit and Dual Enrollment programs with St. Louis Community College, allowing students to earn college credit while still in high school. While private schools have AP tests, it is unclear if a number of them have these programs as well.

Trademarks that many of the schools have include strong alumni support private schools typically have strong alumni networks that donate funds towards the school.

“Very few public school districts have the alumni association that we do,” Marty said. “We have an executive director that we pay for who does a lot of things to promote the district.

That’s rare among public schools. We have a very active alumni program. They work hand in hand with us to promote things, the Granting Dreams programs, and to welcome new teachers.”

One feature that many of the schools share is programs that cater towards underprivileged students. While Parkway has a program that busses students in from the city, the Voluntary Interdistrict Choice Corporation, it is not the only district that does it. Ladue School District has a similar program as well.

While private schools don’t participate in similar programs, they do reach out to help underprivileged youth.

“We have a program for underserved schools known as the Aim High Summer Program, and we are the first school in St. Louis to do this,” Fronts said. “It is a summer camp for inner city kids to go to school over the summer so that they don’t fall behind in curriculum.”

All of the schools that were interviewed have programs in place for students with learning differences as well, such as special classrooms, extra resources, and other accommodations.

“Because we are a small school with an average of 66 students per grade and a 7:1 student to teacher ratio, our faculty are able to provide a high level of care, concern, and support for each student,” Dickherber said. “We offer learning accommodations and we have counselors on campus.”

While many schools have similar programs, the school environments can vary.

Priory is an all-boys, Benedictine Catholic school that is also home to a community of monks who have taken a vow to stay on the Priory campus forever. On the other hand, public school environments are non-religious and coeducational.

Public v.s.

Private The debate of education

Spanish teacher Dan Kelty instructs a group of Spanish 3 students. “As a big district, I think students receive a pretty personalized education,” Parkway superintendent Keith Marty said. “Our teachers and counselors know students and connect as teachers and coaches.” Photo by Wesley Henshaw.

“The opportunity to be around only boys, and be taught by 75% male faculty, is something that our students truly appreciate,” Dickherber said. “At Priory, we create a formative educational experience in which each boy can be challenged, try new things, grow in his faith, and be known and cared for. Our students hold themselves to a high standard, and our outcomes reflect this pursuit of excellence.”

Priory is not alone in their pursuit of excellence. John Burroughs is a grades 7-12, non-denominational private school who shares similar views and legacies of excellence.

“We really want students to be able to be their full selves when they come here because we believe everyone benefits,” Front said. “You aren’t that here, you aren’t pigeon-holed. Kind of the opposite happens.”

Front cites that in some public schools, many of the social stereotypes such as jocks and nerds hold true, which “pigeon-holes” students and can affect their experience. Front mentioned Jake Bain, the senior football player at John Burroughs who last year who came out as gay.

“The whole school united behind him and it was just inspiring and awesome,” Front said. “But it was classic Burroughs: that we support each other when things are hard.”

Students recite a Christian pledge at a private school in Louisiana. Many private schools often have religious ties, and some require students to wear a uniform. Photo by Michael S. Wirtz for the Tribune News Service.

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Sports

BASEBALL GETS A LUCKY BREAK Varsity gets time to go out of town for spring break Avery Cooper

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Staff Writer ith spring break coming up soon, most students look forward to relaxing at home or traveling around the globe. However, there are some students that have to stay in town due to work or sports. Normally, the players on the varsity baseball team stay in town for their four games throughout the break, but this year is different. This year, the team only has one game on Tuesday, allowing many of the players to be able to travel during the break for the first time in a while.

For many varsity sports, commitment is a key part of the team, and many athletes have to make sacrifices for their team. For the varsity baseball team, Coach Scott Davis has a rule about missing games that has been in place for years.

“Our rule for baseball is if you miss a game, you sit a game,” Davis said. “This rule does not apply for being sick, going to a funeral etc.”

With this rule in place, many baseball players have to stay in town for break and play in the usual four games in order to not have to miss four more. Because of this, the seniors on the team miss their annual spring break trip out of the country. It’s nothing new for the team or any of the other varsity teams for that

matter.

“Most years we play 3-5 games over spring break so we need our players to stay in town to play the games - just like basketball has games over winter break, and their players are expected to stay in town and play their games over winter break,” Davis said.

However, this year is different. The way the scheduling worked out will allow the baseball players to get a 5 day break, giving them a chance to go out of town.

“I like the change a lot, because it lets us have a break from baseball and it’s something new that we have never done before,” senior Eric White said. “It gives us a chance to go somewhere with friends or family.”

Most years, there are seniors and other players who choose to go on trips anyways and decide to quit or suffer through sitting on the bench. Approaching this season, some seniors decided to quit the team going into the season, all for different reasons ranging from injuries to personal choices. Senior Tyler James quit the team a couple months ago due to multiple reasons but with the new scheduling isn’t changing his mind.

“I feel like the change is a little too late because of how I’ve personally decided to not play two months ago, but I don’t want to go back just because he changed it,” James said.

From the loss of some players, this raises

questions on what the team will look like this year. With seniors Blake Seigel and Daniel Bernstein not playing as well, James says this will make an impact.

“Especially if you look at our schedule which is way harder than last year, it makes the kids filling up the open spots more nervous because they have to live up to the potential that the previous kids did,” James said. “So I think it will make a huge, huge impact.”

Despite the loss of some players, many of the other players on the team think this break will be good for the team, though they do know that there may be consequences.

Now being upperclassmen, juniors Anthony Klein and Sam Ladd are used to the team now and understand that this break could affect the team’s skills.

“I think that it will impact the team by just making us more relaxed because of the break, but it also means we won’t get in practices that could potentially help us,” Klein said. Due to the number of games usually scheduled, the players easily burnout after the long week.

“I think that it will keep the team more fresh for the entire season, since we get to go on break,” Klein said.

In the end, the change in schedule was all due to luck. For the seniors especially, they’re able to spend their last spring break before college with friends and family, despite past years of seniors missing out on their trips. Even though this may not be a permanent change for the team, the players are more than happy for this opportunity to get a little break. “Every year is different, and this year happened to work out that we could give a few days off,” Davis said.

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1. Junior Sam Ladd waiting for the ball. 2. Junior Anthony Klein and senior Ben Prywitch chat in the dugout. “I am very happy about the change because it allows us baseball players to get a vacation,” Klein said. 3. Senior Tyler James waits for senior Eric White to pitch the ball. Photos by Abby Prywitch.

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HARDEN ISN’T WINNING ANYTIME SOON David Amirdjanian Opinions Editor

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ames Harden’s game is notorious for angering NBA fans, especially with his ability to draw contact the way he does.

This is becoming one of the main reasons why games against Houston can feel like it drags on forever with Harden averaging a 12.4 free throw attempts a game. Harden has been setting the NBA on fire though, setting records game by game with video game-esque stat lines thanks to his league high usage rate of 40.4% - nearly 7% higher than the next most used player in the NBA, Joel Embiid from the Philadelphia 76ers. In the past 27 games alone, he set a league record (since the NBA/ABA merged) with 25 straight games scoring 30 points or more while averaging 42.0 points per game during that streak. The last players that were able to touch that record were Tracy Mcgrady with 14 straight 30 point games, and Kobe Bryant with 16 straight. What Harden is doing is godly, and deserves to get credit for it. Take away those free throws and he’s still averaging more than any player in the league.

The thing is, Harden’s outdated ‘hero ball’ style of play is getting him wins, but at the cost of excluding the rest of the team from building chemistry playing together as a unit.

While players such as Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan have won championships, they haven’t won during their highest usage rate season.

Other players such as Russell Westbrook, Allen

Iverson, and Dwyane Wade are other high usage players that never got anywhere with it in the postseason.

Houston lost significant core players on the defensive end this past off season in Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute, both of which fit perfectly on the three point-dependent Houston Rockets offense, led by coach Mike D’Antoni. Houston has been desperately trying to get their act together and fill in the holes left by their departures both offensively and defensively, but Harden takes the entire offense and puts it on his shoulders as if he doesn’t have any help. It doesn’t help that the roster has been injury-ridden since the start of the season, especially Chris Paul, their star point guard that has been out due to his now what seems like yearly hamstring injuries. Even worse, Paul is signed to one of the most ridiculous contracts I’ve seen in a very long time, and he’s not even living up to his $40 million per year signing, especially because he is losing the pep in his step due to old age. His production isn’t worth the cost of admission.

Each role player on that team, other than their centers, can shoot the three. The best way to insure shooters miss their shot is by not passing the ball to them and excluding them from the offense, making them go cold. Harden just absolutely loves to hold onto the ball, switch into isolation offense, and pass it out for a contested 3-point shot with no time left on the shot clock to get a better shot off. What bothers me even more is that Harden is a very capable

and talented playmaker (although he turns the ball over like a maniac at times), but he only truly starts sharing the ball in only one quarter of a full game. This happens in almost every Houston game that I’ve watched. It’s always the Harden show until they are falling behind, then Harden decides to pass the ball around and get his teammates included into their offense and loose them up, while Harden racks up his assist statistics. When they’re finally in a good place again, it’s right back to the Harden show. It’s the most infuriating thing to witness. For example, the game against the Warriors on the 3rd of January - After falling to a 20 point deficit, Harden decides to pass the ball around in the third quarter and make-up for how badly they were outscored in the first half. But rather than continuing to involve his teammates for the rest of the game, the moment they felt safe, Harden picks up the ball and goes into his regular isolation dribble set-up. I remember so angry over this I was yelling at my computer screen for him to pass the ball and stop wasting the clock.

They weren’t even in the lead, yet somehow Harden miraculously won that game, I didn’t see that coming.

This will be a huge problem for Houston in the future, with the sheer amount of minutes he’s playing he’s statistically bound for injuries.

And considering how underdeveloped their offense is without Harden, that’ll be a considerable blow to the team. Even if he doesn’t get injured, he’s using all of his gas during the regular season where the stakes are low. Harden is no-

torious for under-performing in the postseason, looking tired and as if he doesn’t care. While I know that’s not the case, it’s inexcusable. Harden’s individual achievements will mean nothing if he keeps under-performing the way he does.

Credit where credit is due though, the ‘17-’18 Rockets were the first team to snap the Warriors 16 home game winning streak in the postseason and even pushed them to a game 7.

With that being said, Harden needs to get his ego out of here and play with his team, pass the ball, let the shooters shoot less contested shots, and maybe they’ll find more future success.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ Rajon Rondo defends against the Houson Rockets’ James Harden in the first quarter on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

BRADY WIN’S SIX; PAT’S DYNASTY REIGNS Patrick McColl Staff Writer

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fter another season of Sunday to Sunday drama action, the NFL season has concluded following another Patriots Super Bowl victory on Sunday, February 3rd. A season of offenses ravaging up and down the field ended with the lowest scoring Super Bowl in NFL history, featuring two of the leagues better offenses. So, where does this leave us?

Maybe at this point, we can’t ignore that Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the Patriots dynasty is either the greatest sports dynasty of all time or one of them. For the sixth time in his career, Tom Brady is a Super Bowl victor. Brady now stands alone as the player with the most NFL championships. Despite only putting up 13 points, Tom lead the game-winning drive in the 4th quarter, once again, to help the Patriots win their sixth Super Bowl in franchise history, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most in NFL history.

How did they do it, again? Well, the Patriots executed, and executed when they needed to. The defense was able to put pressure on Jared Goff and make him uncomfortable while clogging the running lines and shutting down the platoon of running backs Todd Gurley and C.J. Anderson. In turn, the Rams were constantly giving the ball back to the Patriots or off the field fast, not giving the Rams offense extra opportunities.

On offense, the Patriots were halted to only 13 points, but again, executed when they needed to, lead by none other than Tom Brady at quarterback. Coming down the stretch of a tight defensive game, Brady worked his magic through tight windows to find Edelman and Gronk using short two second dropbacks to work his way down the field, with one 29 yard “deep” ball that

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman raises the Vince Lombardi Trophy after a 13-3 win against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019. (Curtis Compton/ Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

just got through into Rob Gronkowski’s hands.

Despite looking their most vulnerable this year, the Patriots found a way to win another Super Bowl, which puts the rest of the league in an awkward spot. This was one of the most offensive seasons in league history. Teams like the Rams and Chiefs, which both matched up with Patriots in the playoffs, had plenty of the exciting bells and whistles on offense. Yet, against the Patriots in the playoffs, the Chiefs were held to only a touchdown until the 4th quarter, and the Rams had just three total points in the Super Bowl.

While there is much envy to the Patriots dynasty, they are something special. The Patriots symbolize so much of what

successful people are. Like most that are successful, they are met by resent by a lot of people, “oh the Patriots cheat, Brady is a cheater, and they get lucky!” and so on and so forth. The Patriots also struggle early, they often don’t play well in September, it takes them a while to figure things out, success doesn’t often come quickly or early. The defense wasn’t great during the regular season, but wound up being a big part of the Super Bowl victory, holding a top offense to three points. Yet, what makes the Patriots so special is what they do every single day from the first snap of training camp to the last kneel down in the Super Bowl, and that is that they work hard. They don’t take shortcuts, they don’t get distracted, they don’t stay inside to practice when it’s single digits outside, they do things right, and if they don’t, they practice until they get it right and then continue to do the same thing over and over so that they will be able to do it in game. Obviously, sometimes the game plan doesn’t work. When it doesn’t, they don’t crumble or fall like most, yet are willing to adapt and make gametime changes fast. When things are dire, they have people like Tom Brady that are willing to come in with a chip on his shoulder and make special things happen in crunch time.

They aren’t perfect, they aren’t even a great Patriots team to their standards. In fact, their Super Bowl MVP, Julian Edelman, is only 5’10”, was a quarterback in college, and was taken in the 7th round of the NFL draft and converted to wide receiver. Yet, somehow, someway every year, whether through great execution and game planning to great quarterbacking, the Patriots find a way to get it done. At the end of the day, maybe we should all strive to be like the Patriots model of consistency. Even when the situation around you isn’t the best, you work your tail off and focus on your job, control what you can control, and you will be surprised how the things can fall your way.

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MOCAP Cover Story

New law changes the way students take classes

Abby Prywitch and Stydney Stahlschmidt Social Media Director and Online Features Editor

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enior Danni Schneiderman, enrolled in the virtual course Video Game Design. Going into the course, she expected it to be easy because it was online. Schneiderman, like many other students go into an online course thinking it will be easy because you can work at your own pace. The reality of the difficulty level of the course was not what she expected.

“It’s really hard and I really recommend to others considering taking an online class that you need to do something that you actually like because I don’t care about games and it makes it really hard to care about the class,” Schneiderman said.

In regards to online virtual classes Parkway offers many different options and with the new Missouri Course Access Program (MOCAP) students have even more opportunities to take online classes that they will enjoy. The law was passed in May of 2018, which has changed virtual learning for the Parkway School District.

MOCAP replaced MOVIP, in want of giving all Missouri students equal access to quality online courses.

The district offers Parkway Virtual courses that are taught by parkway teachers which use Parkway curriculum. Those courses are delivered to students through schoology, which is the online learning management system that all students have access to.

Schoology is sometimes also seen in the seated classrooms, but all Parkway Virtual courses are taught through Schoology.

If Parkway does not offer the course, this new law gives the student an opportunity to take it through a third party provider while still receiving a good level course. Dr. Jennifer Stanfill, Director of Choice Programs oversees all of the Parkway schools virtual learning.

“The state will be creating a statewide virtual course guide that students will than be able to look through and identify courses that they can take as part of their schedule and at the cost of the school district,” Stanfill said.

Parkway is then required to pay for the student to take the course.

The Parkway courses are free of charge, but there is a charge to the district, as they have to pay the teacher, but they would be paying that teacher regardless. If it is a MOCAP course that price varies. Parkways schools current preferred provider is Launch.

A semester long course through Launch cost $255 and that

is paid by the district, not the family. The only time a family would that Parkway holds in order to see if a student is eligible and deself pay is if they did not want to use any of Parkways providers, than pending on those is when they can refer students to another online they could opt to self pay. Another way the family would self pay is class or deny them admittance for that specific virtual course. if the student wants to take an extra class above a full schedule.

“There are some student skills that are needed for success

“So Parkway virtual you can take an 8th class and which that we have on Parkway Virtual website on that it list things like is fine. We just allow you to do that. We are not required to pay for students have demonstrated time management skills and they are students to pay for an 8th class through MOCAP. So they would capable of submitting assignments, and that they can complete either have to manipulate their schedule,” Stanfill said. course assignments without constant reminders, they have per The current provider Parkway uses, launch, only partners sistence, and can overcoming,” Stanfill said. with districts so as an individual you can’t go through them, so the

There are not only personal skills involved in allowing family would have to find a different provider. for a students admittance but also their performance in verbal and

When the new MOCAP law out, the district got guidance communication skills that are necessary for all beneficial education from organizations in the state and in the area. One consideration styles. Parkway takes into consideration how well students have was how schools will supervise the online students. A lot of students performed in previous courses and if they could take these skills who take Parkway Virtual, will either have it first or last block so they can have a late start or early dismissal.

“Which works great if your within walking distance or if you drive, but if you depend on bus transportation that’s not as easy,” Stanfill said.

Each Parkway school has their own process of how they manage the students. While one school might have a supervised study hall in those students schedule, another might have those kids go to the library.

“That really we leave up to the schools because they are running the day to day operations of working one on one with kids,” Stanfill said.

While Parkway is required to pay for the course, there are some exceptions, if they have a good cause to decline the student’s enrollment.

When the district decides if it is a good idea for the student to take the online course they take many things into consideration. The online readiness rubric is used to determine if the student would be a good fit for virtual learning. They look at many things including the students work ethic, time management skills, their interest level, learning style and more.

The main goal of MOCAP is to keep the best interest of the student in mind whenever deciding who belongs in the class or the requirements Senior Dani Schneiderman working on her Foundations of Video Game Design class. Schneiderman to get into a course. There are many prerequisites has now dropped the course. Photo by Christine Stricker.

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Cover Story onto an online environment. It is also a requirement to have the for online classes only grades are available in infinite Campus; necessary computer and technology skills and accessibility for assignment details are only available on Schoology. The district them to prosper in these courses with a positive outcome. is in the process of creating a path where the data will travel and

Another important aspect is if a student requires extra feed into Infinite Campus from Schoology. assistance interventions or adaptations in their everyday life at

“We are in the testing stages of that right now,” Stanfill Parkway Central. Not all modifications are easily accessible in said. the online environment which may allow for a online course to

While there are many differences, online courses are not be the best option for a student. still taught and graded by a teacher, known as the teacher of re “If these adaptations can’t be delivered online than it cord. Parkway teachers, who teach these virtual classes, typically could be something that we might have to have a conversation do weekly announcements. With these announcements they to say this might not be the best and here’s why. In this case, the have to give thorough descriptions of their expectations for the principle will respond to that family in writing and say maybe students. this other course may be better to start out with. But it’s not nec Some teachers do video overviews of the upcoming essarily all black and white and we will continue to have further week to create a more personal connection. It is common for discussions,” Stanfill said. teachers to schedule biweekly deadlines meaning a portion of

Even if a student meets all of the requirements for an the work could be due on Tuesday and the rest is due on Friday online course and is typically successful in other courses, an to keep the students enrolled on pace. Discussion boards and online course can be better or worse depending on the student’s assessments are embedded in the course as well. learning type. Many different students have different views of

Stanfill believes the biggest challenge for students will taking an online course and how well they can perform. These be developing a relationship with their online challenge. virtual courses could be less beneficial if a student doesn’t have “Although if you look at businesses and industry there are teams the schedule to make it work. that work across the world all together and they have that kind of

Parkway Central health and physical education teachcohesion,” Stanfill said. er, Terri O’Leary is currently the only Parkway Central teacher

There are a few exceptions to these courses being all in the system for online courses. Along with everyday classes online. she teaches online health for students all around the Parkway

“Our AP statistics class requires a proctored midterm District. According to O’Leary, the curriculum is the same in and final, so that’s a little bit different because that has to be both school and virtual courses for health, it just depends on the done in person,” Stanfill said. student how well they can perform.

The teachers that write the courses go through train “Some students do well in a virtual environment, othing. The district has online Schoology courses for teachers who ers don’t. You have to be a self starter, motivated to learn on your will be teaching virtual courses, so they can learn the basics of own, and dedicated to making time to do the work. If you can do Schoology and how to build an effective class. that, then virtual is a great option for you,” O’Leary said.

“The teaching and learning process doesn’t really

Many students also believe that online courses are easi- change, it’s just that delivery is very different. So a lot of the er than everyday classes in person because there is not a teacher assessments, assignments, activities still work well in an online sitting in the room with them and they have more freedom. How- environment,” Stanfill said. ever, this makes it necessary for a student to take more responsi Online courses give students a lot of freedom when bility in their education and how well they are going to perform it comes to when and where assignments are being completed. based on how hard they are willing to work.

Without a teacher to supervise, it brings about a whole new

For example, the online health course during the situation with students using outside resources. school year is just as much, if not more work to do than a traFrequently in these online courses, there are tools that lock ditional class in Parkway. A student will have all of their other down your browser, to prevent students from opening up other work from their other classes and have to make their own time tabs. for the online courses and getting the work done. It is not simply

“We have had teachers before that ask students to the easy course that some people utilize their phone to do a Google Hangout. believe online courses to be.

Where the teacher can hang out with them “Our curriculum spirals,”

“I teach virtual health while they are testing” Stanfill said.

Stanfill said. “If you get on the during the school year and during This has caused the district to the summer but no matter what, this revisit their assessments to see if they off ramp and take a course class is not a blow off. There is lots really are the best way to assess knowledge, over here it might be difficult if students can cheat and find the answers of reflection and application writing that goes along with what you have to transition. There might be online. read and learned,” O’Leary said. we are asking students questions some gaps or holes in learn- that they“Ifcould

Health is a required course just Google on their phone at Parkway Central and can take or ask Siri and get an answer then those ing because the classes are away from other courses that a stumight not be the best test questions. Benot exactly the same.” dent may want to take that year. This cause in life if you could do that than why Jennifer Stanfill Director of Choice Programs not?” Stanfill said. is why junior, Catherine Ke, decided to take online health over the summer

One way, to assess what the stuto leave more electives for her sophodents have learned is to use assessments more year. She got to experience the work that was put into these that make the student apply the knowledge. Instead of choosing online courses and how they compare to everyday courses that a from a list of possible definitions, the student may have to comstudent is typically used to. plete an assignment applying those words into their work.

“You get to work at your own pace. It was hard because

“I think that that has been a positive. It has caused to if I had a question I would have to email the teacher and wait for look at some of our objective multiple choice test. Which they’re a response instead of being able to get up from my desk and ask. still out there, I get it. But we also have tools within our learning I had to also make sure that I got the assignments done when management systems that scramble questions to have random they were due, so that would affect the outside plans that I had questions. There is a lot of ways to kind of do that within the made,” Ke said. system,” Stanfill said.

The grade book works a little different for virtual

With any change in the way schools have been doing courses. The teachers use the Schoology gradebook which parsomething, can come along with difficulties or concerns. ents have access to at all times. At the end of each grading period, “I wouldn’t say these are Parkway concerns, I would say the grade is then transferred into Infinite Campus. Currently, generally speaking its really difficult to know what the demand

is going to be,” Stanfill said. MOVIP has been around for quite some time and usually families would have to pay for courses themselves.

“So parents had to be able to do that, so there was sort of an equity issue there,” Stanfill said. Now that Parkway will be paying for the courses, Stanfill believes it will be quite difficult to anticipate what those numbers will look like.

Another concern Stanfill sees is how many students will opt to take these courses online and how that will affect the in-school traditional courses.

“I don’t think is problematic, but is just a challenge and a different delivery option for students,” Stanfill said.

One last challenge that arises when outsourcing learning to a third party provider would be gaps in learning. Parkway does a lot of work in curriculum to make sure there is a logical sequence for the order of courses.

“Our curriculum spirals,” Stanfill said. “If you get on the off ramp and take a course over here it might be difficult to transition. There might be some gaps or holes in learning because the classes are not exactly the same.”

These virtual courses are still based on Missouri learning standards, as that is a requirement, but each district differs on which learning standards are more of a priority.

According to Stanfill another reality that Parkway needs to be aware of is if the student is taking a course outside of Parkway that has an EOC, the district still owns that test score data. Meaning it goes into Parkway overall achievement report, even though it was not a Parkway teacher responsible for delivering the instruction to the student.

Parkway is continuing to add more and more courses each year and they take into consideration what courses are in popular demand by students.

“The most important thing to us is that we are offering the courses that students need,” Stanfill aid. “And so that I think a goal would be that we are paying attention to students needs.”

Online Courses 2019-2020 School Year

American Sign Language 1&2 AP Art History AP Statistics Comparative Mythology Cybersecurity Foundations of Video Game Design Health Japanese 1& 2 Mandarin Chinese 1&2 Personal Finance Sociology Statistics Trigonometry US Government

Summer 2019

Personal Finance Health Foundations of Video Game Design Comparative Mythology

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Sports

SIGNING DAY: ENTERING NEW ERAS Alex Maisenhelder Online Sports Editor

Camden Dunne committed to Bellarmine University for soccer. “My favorite moment was getting to know all of my teammates and training and playing games every single day with them,” Dunne said. Dunne finished with a state title and numerous accolades here at Central. Photo by Alex Maisenelder.

Both Evan Karagiannis and Kristian Dimitrov committed to Missouri Baptist for soccer. “My high school experience has taught me many lessons.

But, I am excited for the opportunities in the future, the sky’s the limit,” Karagiannis said. Both Karagiannis and Dimitrov were members of the stater winning team, and Karagiannis was a captain this year. Photo courtesy of Evan Karagiannis.

Eliana Liebman committed to Lafayette University for track and field. “Last year at districts I got a personal record in all of my individual events,” Liebman said. “In that moment it felt like everything I had worked on came together.” Photo

by Alex Maisenhelder.

Adam Burnett committed to Rockhurst University for soccer. In his two years on Central’s varsity team, he won a state title and Missouri Offensive Player of the Year as a junior. “My freshman year I want to get rookie of the year,” Burnett said.

Photo courtesy of Adam Burnett.

Mollie Weinberg committed to Maryville University for STUNT. “My favorite moment from high school cheer was competing at regionals sophomore year on varsity,” Weinberg said. Photo

by Jacob Weinberg.

Mackenzie Duvall committed to Eastern Illinois University for volleyball. “My favorite moment was beating Parkway West on their senior night, and beating Marquette in districts and getting second,” Duvall said. Photo by Alex Maisenhelder.

Ben Prywitch committed to Maryville to play baseball. “My favorite moment competing for Central is playing at Busch Stadium every year,” Prywitch said. Prywitch has been playing baseball for over 14 years and looks to continue in college. Photo by Abby Prywitch.

Olivia Stephens committed to Trevecca Nazarene University to play basketball. Stephens was a four year varsity starter. Photo by Chayse Williams.

Amari Hurn committed to Dillard University for track and field. Hurn has only been running for one year here at Central, but has shown great potential. Hurn has a bright future ahead for this season and at Dillard in college. Photo by Alex Maisenhelder.

Maddie Lee committed to Truman State University for track and field and cross country. “I enjoyed qualifying for state in cross country,” Lee said. “I also enjoyed when I placed fourth at the Fleet Feet invitational.” Photo by Alex Maisenhelder.

Jayden Littlejohn committed to Lindenwood University for football. “I have enjoyed every last moment and memory here,” Littlejohn said. Photo courtesy of Jayden Littlejohn.

Chris Williams committed to Missouri Baptist University for football.

“Central as a school has taught myself most importantly the ideal of hard work and dedication,” Williams said. Photo courtesy of Chris Williams.

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Sports

BOYS BASKETBALL STARTS OUT STRONG Logan Potts Sports Editor

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ith a team coming off back to back seasons that ended deep in the state playoffs, and a new head coach, the Boys basketball team did not enter the season with the expectations that they usually have. The team is currently sitting at 13-5, exceeding expectations and doing it with the help of breakout seasons. The team is lead by senior guard Mello Ball, senior guard Jayden Littlejohn, and junior forward/center Devion Harris. Harris leads the team with 16.3 points per game, Littlejohn is second as he is averaging 12.5 PPG and Ball is not far behind with 11.2.

“The most improvement I’ve had to my game is the ability to shoot the three, as it is what I have worked on the most,” Littlejohn said.“I think my biggest strength is being able to attack the basket and I knew that if I were to add a three-point shot, I would be even harder to guard.”

The improvements show as Littlejohn is third on the team with a three-point percentage of 30.6%. Harris has also made huge strides this season, and this is now his third year playing on Varsity.

“I have become more of a leader, and I’ve been able to improve both my inside game and my outside game,” Harris said.

Harris has been dominant down in the post all season, as he is not only leading the team in points, but is also leading the team with 8.2 rebounds per game and 1.89 blocked shots per game.

The team has made big strides as the season has gone along, not only in their statistical play, but in their ability to play

as a team.

“We’ve really gotten better at being able to play together as hard as we can for 32 minutes, and being able to fight through adversity,” Littlejohn said.

Although the team has made improvements, they know they’re not perfect and they know that they need to make even more improvements.

“If we could improve on anything, it would have to be playing within ourselves consistently and aggressively,” Littlejohn said.“We tend to come out slow sometimes and have nights where we don’t play well. If we could be more consistent, I think we would become a much better team.”

The team has big goals they’re wishing to accomplish to stay on track with their past success.

“Our goal is to win districts and get to state,” Harris said.

Accomplishing this goal would be an amazing feat considering the amount of key players that graduated from last year, as well as the loss of former head coach Rick Kirby. The team lost four of their top six scorers from last season, including DeAndre Campbell who lead the team with 24 PPG. Harris, Littlejohn and Ball have all raised their production as Harris is averaging five more PPG than last year, 3.1 more rebounds, while Littlejohn has raised his scoring by 9.6 PPG, and Ball raised his by 7.4 PPG. All of this is happening under new head coach Aaron Mueller who was an assistant coach under Kirby.

“Coach really brings us together and I feel like that’s important for a team in order to keep the chemistry together. Better chemistry makes a better team,” Littlejohn said.

Look for the team to improve and reach their goals in a surprising success of a season to this point.

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2 1. Senior guard Jayden Littlejohn attempts to pass the ball in a game against McCluer North on Jan. 18. Littlejohn is currently averaging 12.5 points per game this season. Photo by Megan Fisher 2. Junior forward Devion Harris looks to pass to an open teammate in a game against McCluer North on Jan.18. Harris is currently averaging 16.3 points per game this season. Photo by Megan Fisher.

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3. Senior forward Mello Ball attempts a layup against McCluer North on Jan. 18. Melo is averaging 11.2 points per game this season. Photo by Megan Fisher.

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Features

EPIC WINTER BREAK FOR PCH FAMILY Mercier family cruises and misses school Jay Bowen & Ryan Pham

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Staff Writers

inter break can be really fun especially when you’re living life, tanning under the sun. It sounds like a epic winter break,right? Is it even more fun when you get to miss school?

From December 22 to January 5, junior Jake Mercier and his family went on a action packed vacation. They’re trip had many stops , some stops were more fun than others. First off they went to Florida to meet family, and then it ended with a week long Caribbean cruise. Packed full of family time and adventures, the trip was planned to the hour.

Their vacation began in Florida where the family had “family fun time.” They enjoyed the Florida weather and cruising the coast in the Cadillac that their grandparents own, but for Jake nothing beats the shopping and the beach.

“In Florida, I got my Gucci wallet at the Gucci store. I had a lot of cash so I wanted to burn $500 of it on a wallet cause I needed a new wallet,” Jake said.

After a week in Florida, the family went to a cruise ship where they had many adventures and experiences full of parasailing and food. Starting with a huge arcade followed with swimming with the stingrays and ATV course. The cruise was packed of activities and stopped in Nassau, Caribbean islands, and Grand Turk. One of Jake’s favorite parts of the cruise was

the food “There were some wacky pretty stuff, the food was freaking delicious. The Guy Fieri shrimp and burgers where bomb, and also the arcade was [a lot] fun with terrible prizes,” sophomore Nathan Mercier said. “We ended up spending too much.”

Missing school wasn’t the original plan, but due to miscommunication the trip ended up being two extra days long, cutting into the first two days of school.

“I thought the kids were going back on the Monday after, because last year’s break was two days longer,” Megan Mercier, the mother of the three boys, said.

Coming back from the cruise, the students knew that they missed a lot of school. They missed two entire C days, adding up to 14 whole classes.

“Missing school really sucked because I had [a lot of ] missing work. I had three F’s coming in on Monday. I still have to make up 12 miles for four PE make ups,” Jake said.

The family still has homework and assignments to make up. Jake and Nathan still have missing work from P.E. and AP World, respectively. However, senior Sam Mercier is the only one that has made up all of his work.

“Even through I missed so much school, I would definitely do it again,” Jake said. “Maybe next time in a different location to meet more people. The trip was fantastic, once in a lifetime opportunity, legit awesome-sauce. I don’t regret anything. Definitely a 10-out-of-10 would-cruise-again experience.” Jake said.

The top photo is a family portrait. From left to right it is Phillip, Megan, Nathan, Jake, and Sam Mercier. The bottom photo is one of the actual cruize ships. Photo courtesy of Megan Merricer.

MR. PCH PAGEANT PACKED WITH ACTION Alex Edelman Staff Writer

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he PCH pageant featured a myriad of different acts and dances for the entirety of AC Lab Wednesday. A fitting way to spend a free period; watching all the senior men get together for quick-cooked talent acts, and fast-paced choreography.

The first half of the pageant was made up by the introduction of all the pageant contestants and their charities, respectively. This smoothly transitioned into a dance number performed by all the contestants with the help of junior varsity dancers Ellie Mueller and Anna Oleksa. The number had about every currently popular dance move one could think of, and went better than I would expect for a rapid fire dance performed by a group of senior men that, for the most part, have never done a day of dance in their life.

“We hung out one day, and made it up in about maybe 30 minutes” sophomore dance team member Ellie Mueller said, referring to Anna Oleksa and herself.

Despite the ease with which Mueller and Oleksa concocted the dance, Ellie admits the boys didn’t have an equally easy time learning it.

“It took about four or five [practices] and they needed a lot of help”.

The number had about every currently popular dance move one could think of, and went better than I would expect for a rapid fire dance performed by a group of senior men that, for the most part, have never done a day of dance in their life.

The latter half of the pageant consisted of the contestants displaying their chosen talents in front of a panel of faculty judges. A panel of faculty judges deliberated on which talent was better than others, though even the half-baked showings

were still plenty entertaining. A number of the contestants even teamed up, such as Mr. DECA (Justin Hathcock) and Mr. Soccer (Camden Dunne) who attempted to head a soccer ball to each other as many times as possible.

“We were originally going to do something else, but then we decided that it was too complicated, and decided to do something we knew we could both do,” Hathcock said.

Performing in front of crowds isn’t foreign for either of these contestants, who are both varsity soccer players and members of the 2017 state championship run.

“It was a little nerve-racking at first, but as we got on with it it was pretty fun and doing it with friends was a good time,” Dunne said.

Some of the acts appealed to a more comedic side; less concerned with the precision of the talent. Josiah Runge displayed his ability to throw cards – a full deck that is – at an apple, while contestants Preston Chen and Eric White played the Parkway Central fight song on recorders using their nostrils instead of their mouths. Mr. Spanish (Blake Seigel) wasn’t even sure of his chosen talent until a few moments before his turn, and simply did a sequence of toe-touches and cartwheels throughout the gym for his talent. It did not disappoint.

“I was waiting in line to go and show my talent off that I didn’t know at the time, so I went up to the dance team, who I’ve become really close with, and asked them what I should do,” Seigel said. “I was really inspired by their suggestion, and I just wanted to go out their and impress the judges.”

Evidently, Blake made quite the impression among the judges and ended up moving on to the next round. Not bad for a last minute plan.

The coming days will reveal the final contestants competing for the Mr. PCH crown, and if the past days have been any indicator of the events to come: we will all be in for a good show.

Left to Right: (Top) Mello Ball, Jayden Littlejohn and Caleb Tillis celebrate after Mr. PCH dance. (Bottom) Preston Chen plays the recorder with is nose while Tiffany Huang holds up notes. Photos by Zoe Nolting

Features

BIG THINGS IN A SMALL TOWN

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World’s largest roadside attractions just a day trip from STL

Taylor Stern

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Staff Writer

ith a population of just over 3,500 locals, Casey, Illinois has peaked the interest of over 7,000 travelers both nationally and internationally. Thanks to the unusually large attractions, the tiny town of Casey has over doubled its size in travelers. Last December, I made the two-anda-half hour trip to be one of those travelers.

Known for their motto, “Big Things, Small Town,” Casey has been widely recognized with eight Guinness World Records for some of the world’s largest roadside attractions in the world.

Although only eight hold world records, there is a total of 16 large attractions in the whole town. Many of the large attractions such as the world’s largest rocking chair, wind chime, pitchfork, mailbox, and golf tee all line the same street with many of the rest either inside stores or just a three minute drive away.

My visit began immediately following our last final before winter break. After getting out of school, my friend, junior Emily Fidell, met me at my house to pack clothes and some road snacks and we promptly got on our way. For us, the 150 minute drive going east on I-270 was made a bit longer due to the unforeseen foggy, rainy weather we had to drive through, but the trip did not feel long at all. The drive there even yielded some of its own large attractions as we passed the World’s Largest Cross just on the side of the highway as we passed through Effingham, Illinois.

The first attraction we pulled up to in Casey was the World’s Largest Wind Chime. This sight was the town’s very first attempt at a world record in 2011 so we made it the first one to see. The structure stands at 56 feet tall with the longest chime hanging down at 42 feet. At the foot of the structure hung a giant rope to pull on that triggered the chime to sound since actual wind wasn’t couldn’t be powerful enough. Right beside the wind chime was a small café filled with wind chime memorabilia.

There were “W’s” hidden all over the place in the menu, the tiling, and murals painted onto the ceiling. There were many souvenir options such as wind chime paintings, key chains, magnets, and mini models of the famous large one. As a token of my visit, I bought my own wind chime and I made two pressed penny souvenirs to take with me. Beyond the gift shop-esque interior, the whole exterior of the establishment was covered in information and details about the chime, as well as the town as a whole, winding all the way around to a guest book to sign near the entrance.

Directly across the street was the World’s Largest Rocking Chair which had a lot less commotion surrounding it at the forefront, but is said to have been the hardest large attraction to build of all. The chair stands at 56 feet tall weighing 46,200 pounds. It took an entire two years to build and it wasn’t added to the map until October of 2015. Right next to the chair, there even seemed to be a work-in-progress see-saw that was in the midst of being added to Casey’s impressive resume.

On the other side of the chair stood the large pencil. The pencil, along with many other structures in the town, was not necessarily claiming to be the world’s largest but it was still a staple of the town. Casey’s tagline, “Small town, Big things,” pertains to both the seven world record holders as well as the other large items plotted throughout the streets.

Just a few stores down from the pencil was the World’s Largest Crochet Hook and Knitting Needles. These were the first attractions that were actually inside of a store as opposed to being on the outside. These two gained their world record in 2013 after a local yarn boutique owner had to physically use the 13 foot long knitting needles to make a 10x10 square before they

could even be considered for the title. The store was unfortunately closed by the time we reached it, but luckily, the two feats were standing in the storefront right by the front window so we could still admire and take pictures of them by the light of the streetlights.

A few more feet down from that was the World’s Largest Birdcage. This was the second interactive structure we came across aside from thee windchime. The cage door opened for you to go inside and inside sat a swing which was perfect for taking a moment to relax and it made a really cute feature for pictures.

Directly across the street from this was potentially my favorite attraction: the World’s Largest Mailbox. The mailbox was exciting because to claim the title, it had to be fully functional.

This meant the structure was built so that you could actually climb a staircase to get inside the mailbox’s mouth and, once inside, there was even a mailslot you could drop letters inside of.

When placing letters in the dropbox, the flag on the side raised up and the mail from the inside actually got sent out. This made a really cute location for pictures since you really got to be inside the mailbox.

Right behind the mailbox and inside a candy store was the World’s Largest Pair of Wooden Shoes, or Clogs. These shoes were my second favorite sight. The wooden shoes were named World’s Largest in 2015 weighing 2,500 pounds each. These shoes were so big that 15 people managed to fit inside of just one. The Clogs were a highlight for me because while inside the candy shop, Casey’s Candy Depot, that they reside in, I spent close to 20 minutes talking to the store owner. He offered us a homemade truffle and some taffy and was more than happy to tell us a bit about the town. He then showed us his guest book and informed us that he had four guest books completely filled up with over 7,000 signatures of people ranging from as local as it gets to travelers from all other six continents, most commonly being Europe. He said most of the international travelers visited with the specific purpose of seeing the large attractions while more of the national travelers tend to be road tripping through the states and see the signs for large things on the way and decide to take the exit out of curiosity.

It was this same man who recommended a local establishment for us to eat dinner at before leaving later that night. But before we went to dinner, we had a few more sights to see. The next place we went was the first attraction on a different street than the rest. Just a short 3 minute drive away, the World’s Largest Pitchfork was made to sit outside of the town’s staple farm, but the once working farm eventually became a homestyle barbeque restaurant with the pitchfork sitting in the parking lot.

The pitchfork claimed it’s title in 2015 being 60 ft long and 1940 pounds.

Near that, the golf tee sits as encouragement and promotion for the town’s public golf course. The tee was made in 2013 and is 30.5 ft tall and weighs 6,659 pounds. Unfortunately for us, by the time we made it to the tee, it had already gotten dark so it had to be our last stop. The large structures we didn’t get to see before the sun set

were the large ruler, wooden token coin, inchworm, spinning top, baseball bat, rocking horse, minion, and ear of corn statue.

Thanks to the peculiarity of some of the largest roadside attractions in the world combined with the welcomeness of everyone in the town, Casey truly made its mark on me during my visit. As small a town as it was, the pride the locals had in their city made the environment so enjoyable to be a part of.

My advice for anyone considering a mini road-trip soon or a spontaneous day-trip adventure, I’d make sure to keep Casey in the back of your minds.

Top: World’s Largest Rocking chair Bottom Left: Sign pointing to the different attractions lining the streets Bottom Right: World’s Largest Wind Chime Photos courtesy of Taylor Stern

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Entertainment

AVENUE Q MUSICAL EARNS AN ‘A’

Avenue Q at the Playhouse is a fur-raising experience!

Eva Deniszczuk Staff Writer

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seemingly unassuming show, Avenue Q at the Westport Playhouse is a smashing success, and a shining example of the joy of theatre!

A charming story composed of ‘muppet’-like puppets, the musical follows the journey of main character Princeton, as he moves to the big city, and he and his neighbors learn all about friendship, relationships, and accidental racism! What?

Yep! Contrary to first appearances, this play is in fact rated ‘R’, with characters on stage singing such great songs as, “Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist’, so perhaps it would be best if younger siblings sat this one out.

But, for the high schooler or adult looking for an entertaining time, this is the perfect show! It has a similar feeling to an absurdist ‘Adult Swim’ show, so if that sounds interesting to you, this could be the musical for you.

Since it’s inception in 2004, Avenue Q has won three Tony awards, in ‘Best Original Score’, ‘Best Book [Script] of a Musical’, and most note-worthily, ‘Best Musical”.

As somebody who watches a lot of theatre, (like, a lot) I can safely say it’s all well-deserved.

And of course, no show is without it’s flaws. Although the show is purposely anti-‘PC’ some of the content hasn’t aged incredibly well, especially if you happen to be squeamish around certain topics. It’s very much a product of it’s own time, which

isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s a much more enjoyable experience when you let go of any preconceived notions of what is or isn’t okay.

If you do choose to go see this show, keep in mind you will be scarred for life. Hopefully in a good way! But you will leave that theatre a different person. It’s unapologetic raunchiness is unbelievably fun, and will leave you feeling closer to everybody in the audience as you gap in disbelief at what you just saw. Two words: Puppet Sex. Finally, I’ll leave you all with my unofficial, agree or disagree score of a nice A grade, at 9/10. Featuring right now at the Playhouse on Westport Plaza Drive until March 3, tickets are selling for as low as $50. If you’re interested, you can visit: www.metrotix.com/events/detail/avenue-q

Photo courtesy of Alamogordon Music Theatre

FINAL SCORE: 9/10

Photo courtesy of Musement

Photo courtesy of Mark Robinson

SOCIAL MEDIA DEALS AND SCAMS

Gabby Abowitz

Photography Editor

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ocial media has a lot of influence over what you buy, where you buy it, and everyone is always on the lookout for deals.

If you are a fan of online shopping, there can be better deals online than in stores and the best way to find out is to check. One time I went to the Galleria mall, because I was in search of a pair of sunglasses and I didn’t want to pay for online shipping. Before I went, I checked the pair and made sure it was in stock at the location I was going to. When I got there, I couldn’t find the sunglasses, so I asked a worker for help. It ended up taking almost an hour to find the specific pair I wanted, but we finally found it. At checkout, I realized the price was higher in the store than it was online. So, I told the people working that the price was less online and showed them a picture of the pair, and they lowered the price. From experience, I would recommend searching for what you are looking for first online, then going into the store.

Another way to look for discounts is if you’re a first-time shopper, especially online. If you are browsing websites, an ad might pop up asking for your email in exchange for a deal such as 10% off your order. These might not make much of a difference, but they are still useful.

My email is always cluttered with places I am subscribed to but it is very useful. The emails sent to me are about deals going on usually so I can know when the best time to buy stuff is or when stuff is on sale.

Following your favorite brands and stores on different kinds of social media can help give you an early heads-up on sales or limited-time offers.

While the holiday season is the most commonly known time to find a deal, your email inbox can lead you to some good deals.

I know some stores such as Forever 21 have abandon cart offers. This is when you add things to your cart without buying them, they’ll give you a discount to buy the stuff in your cart with a certain amount of time to buy it.

There are also incentives for following, liking, and sharing things on social media. Examples are if you follow @flyingspider, you get a dollar off and if you follow @imagine_thatwc you get 10% off. Along with social media deals, are the fake deals. You have to be careful of what you are posting and buying through social media.

Retailmenot is an app I use quite often especially when I am out shopping. It is so easy to just pull up your find to find a coupon for the store you want. If you want to know more stores that have social media discounts Picture courtesy of Pixabay. search up social media marketing coupons and promo codes on Retailmenot.

I would not recommend wasting your time to post.

Recent scams that have been going on The other popular scam from about a month ago was to have been the @shopbbtq earrings giveaway. On the post it says be a Lululemon ambassador. This scam has been going on this all you have to do is post it on your Instagram story and they’ll entire school year, becoming popular at different times. The direct message you for more info on the free earrings without Instagram accounts basically promise you new clothes or a free paying for shipping/handling. I was interested to see if it worked gift card but whatever the case, it is fake. because so many people I know were posting it. So I put it on my story and was never direct messaged. This was therefore fake and

Entertainment

KEEPING UP WITH KANYE WEST

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An exploration of Kanye West’s dive into controversy

Wesley Henshaw

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Managing Editor hether it’s his political or personal life, the year 2018 has been quite a controversial one for Kanye West. Now that the year is over, and West shows no sign of slowing down going into 2019, it would seem the perfect time to look back on his many controversies last year.

2018 is not West’s first dive into controversy. Whether it was the “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” comment in 2005, the infamous interruption of Taylor Swift’s VMA awards acceptance speech, or his now numerous rants and bizarre interviews, West had already built up a persona of unpredictability and controversial antics.

However, 2016 signaled a explosion of his persona.

In November 2016, West was hospitalized due to a “psychiatric emergency,” according to the New York Times, resulting in him opening up about his bipolar disorder, the stress in his life, and his struggles with both. During that same month, West would also say at a San Jose concert that he would’ve voted for Trump, if he had voted.

A month later, West visited Trump Tower in Manhattan to discuss Chicago’s high murder rate.

When asked, he said that he simply wanted to make a change.

West would only continue his deep dive into polarization in 2018. On April 25, 2018, Kanye West released the now famous “Dragon Energy” tweet. In the tweet, he discussed how he considered Trump a brother and wouldn’t let the mob change his mind, supporting free thought and saying that he and Trump had “dragon energy.” Trump would iconically respond “Thank you Kanye, very cool!” West would go on to receive a signed MAGA hat from Trump himself.

In a May TMZ interview, West seemed to catch everyone by surprise by suggesting that slavery was a choice.

“When you hear about slavery for 400 years — for 400 years?” West said. “That sounds like a choice.

You was there for 400 years and it’s all of y’all? We’re mentally in prison.”

Although tried to backtrack, many had an issue with these comments and he apologized for comments.

However, this would not be the last time he would make a comment like this. On Sept. 30, 2018, the day after he announced changing his name to his nickname, “Ye,” West posted a picture of him wearing a MAGA hat in what seems to be a private jet. The caption included a suggestion that we need to repeal the 13th amendment, the amendment that made slavery and involuntary servitude illegal.

Immediately people took him to task, such as actor Chris Evans who criticized West’s ignorance of history, calling it “frustrating.” West would apologize for how his words made people feel, but not for the comment itself.

Leading up to a Saturday Night Live appearance in October, West declared that he had stopped taking his medication for his bipolar disorder, in an act, as he posed it, of liberation.

West went onto SNL, breaking into a rant towards the end of the closing performance, wearing his MAGA hat. He began with the “Democrat plan,” suggesting they wanted to take black fathers out of the home. However, he then transitioned into a more lucid point of allowing dialogue to improve society, thanking the SNL cast for allowing him to come on despite his personal views. He would also talk about free thought and being yourself, claiming he had been bullied for wearing what he called his “Superman cape.” Many would not see this rant in its entirety as SNL pulled the rant off air before it could go into full swing. However multiple videos, including one filmed by comedian Chris Rock, began to circulate the internet.

Afterwards West met with Trump once again, this time in the White House. The content of this discussion was very scattered, from the idea of alternate universes, to prison rates and mental health, to the 13th amendment, and to reasons he liked Trump, notably a “male energy” he felt he lacked due to the absence of his father. Trump even commented on West’s speech afterwards, daring someone to try and follow that.

By this point, West’s antics online would keep at a steady rate for the next few months. He discussed his mental health a lot, got into a small feud with Ariana Grande because of her promoting her new song using West and Drake’s feud to do so, and began to discuss his own Christian beliefs more and more.

Overall, just remaining Kanye.

Bringing in the new year, West took to Twitter to complain that no one wants to have a genuine interview regarding mental health, to which Joe Rogan, host of the popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast as well as comedian and mixed-martial artist commentator, volunteered. Shortly after his initial tweet, West tweeted that he and Rogan had talked and that everyone should expect a podcast coming soon.

For those unfamiliar with the Joe Rogan Experience, it is well-known for having anyone on. Astrophysicists, conspiracy theorists, comedians, UFC fighters, and more have all come on. Rogan is celebrated for his ability to talk with anyone in a genuine way, ignoring political barriers and controversy in an effort to further his own understanding and have a good time. For this reason, the internet rejoiced at the prospect of these two minds coming together. As of publication, a date has not been released for the podcast in question, but upon its release an update will be released on the newspaper’s online site.

Aside from this news, West continued the past two months relatively uneventfully. News has been released that he may be working on some Christian music, though this isn’t exactly surprising from Kanye. All-in-all, it would seem that West’s eventfulness will continue into 2019. For West, one of his biggest draws is his bizarre behavior, proving that there really is no such thing as bad publicity. Do you think Kanye deserves credit for his work, or that he’s dangerously unstable? Go to pchcorral.com and answer a poll to let us know what you think.

(Above) Kanye West poses with a pair of Balenciago shoes and a jacket over the holiday season. Leading up to 2019, West took to Twitter to post about various topics in a remarkably short period of time, whether it was shopping, mental health, or his spiritual beliefs. Photo taken from Twitter account @kanyewest.

(Below) Musical artist Kanye West speaks in the Oval Office of the White House during a meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss criminal justice system and prison reform on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018

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Entertainment

KUDOS FOR NUDO

A local eatery that brings authentic ramen to St. Louis Lee Foust Staff Writer

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amen is a staple dish across all walks of life. From the common stereotype of a college kid who lives off ramen to an authentic Japanese bowl, it exists in many forms. Nearby in Creve Coeur, there’s a local ramen restaurant called Nudo that’s gained massive popularity since opening July 27, 2017.

Nudo, located in the West Oak plaza, was created by a Vietnamese refugee who came to America years ago. His wife is the owner of Mai Lee, a popular Vietnamese restaurant, and the one who introduced him to ramen. Now he owns his own restaurant that serves pho, ramen, and a variety of side dishes. When you walk into Nudo, the first thing that stands out is the interesting, pop-culture decor. The walls are lined with different prints and posters of things like Voltron, photography, and abstract art.

There’s even a small rack of comic books hanging in one corner.

There’s a warm red and tan color palette to the whole dining area, including the restrooms. The walls are lined with different spices, sauces, and ingredients sitting on shelves.

The kitchen itself is open to the dining area and laid out like an assembly line. You give your name and order appetizers, your meal, and drinks from a small window. You’re immediately handed your drink, and the order is passed down the line.

Within 2-5 minutes, your order will be brought out to you by a server calling your name.

The menu features spicy, non-spicy, vegan, and kosher options for the ramen, as well as four different kinds of pho.

There’s a good spread of Asian-style appetizers, including kim-

chi, crab rangoon, spring rolls, and a few salads.

The Pork Spring Rolls are $2 a piece and come with a delicious peanut sauce on the side. They’re made with fresh rice wrappers, a thin slice of pork, rice noodles, lettuce, and celery.

They’re pretty decent spring rolls that taste light and fresh. It’s a good opening or side dish as you eat your main course.

The ramen itself, coming in at $12 a bowl, is also delicious. The Original Ramen comes with a generous portion of noodles, three slices of juicy pork, bamboo shoots, shallots, and a slice of seaweed. The broth is salty and flavorful and adds a nice flavor to all the ingredients as it soaks in.

The O’Miso Spicy ramen has a similar composition with ingredients, but a much spicier broth. It’s also flavored like miso, as the name would imply. It’s well seasoned and the spice doesn’t take away from the flavors of the miso broth or ingredients.

When you finish your meal, Nudo also offers homemade soft serve with two unique flavors each day. The soft serve, which is $4, come in a small cup with a spoon. The flavors are rotated out fairly frequently but are always delicious. So far I’ve had mango, passionfruit, and pineapple, and all have been delicious. It has a sorbet-like texture and is a great treat no matter what the weather is like.

Overall, the laid-back atmosphere, good service, and great food all make Nudo a great date night or family experience.

The only downside is the tab can rack up quickly since all items are ala carte and the price tags aren’t exactly cheap. Still, if you can spare the cash or have someone to pay for you I definitely recommend Nudo to anyone who wants to try homey, authentic

ramen or any of their other dishes.

Rating: 8/10

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2

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1. O’Miso Spicy ramen, extra noodles, and spring rolls. Photo by Lee Foust.

2. Homemade mango soft serve ice cream. Photo by Lee Foust.

3. Two pork spring rolls with peanut sauce. Photo by David Amirdjanian.

CANE’S VS. CHICK-FIL-A: CHICKEN RIVALS Haydn Schertz Staff Writer

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hroughout St.Louis there always seems to be some sort of either chain or local chicken restaurant. Recently, two of the most common places that compete for chicken-lovers s Chick-fil-A and Raising Cane's. With Raising Canes growing in St. Louis in the past few years and a handful of Chick-fil-A’s in the area, I set out on a journey to really discover what is the best fast food chicken restaurant. Typically when deciding about places to eat, the discussion of Chick-fil-A versus Cane’s comes up. Although the place you choose to eat is ultimately yours to make, here is how you can better your decision making.

I attended Raising Cane's with juniors Ryan Pham, Logan Potts, along with senior Henry Eubank we ordered their famous chicken fingers, Texas toast, french fries, and their special Cane’s sauce. Something fun that Cane’s is currently doing is that they are putting peel-off stickers on their cups which give you a one in three chance of winning something free. Also, if you can spell out the word C-A-N-E-S, you can possibly win $100,000 dollars.

The Cane’s menu is not to extensive. Although they make up for the lack of options with great flavor, their menu consists of a three piece meal, a four piece meal, a six piece meal, and you guessed it a chicken finger sandwich. One tip for you to know is that if you’re not a fan of chicken tenders, or you would prefer more variety, then Chick-fil-A might be the better option for you.

When I went to Cane’s I ordered a box combo which is $6.98, comes with four pieces of chicken, french fries, a slice of Texas toast and a Cane’s sauce. I think that the food was fantastic and

the chicken tenders were juicy and crispy, my favorite part of the meal was the texas toast which was tasty. My review of the food is that is was pretty delicious and very filling.

When I went to Chick-fil-A I ordered the the plain chicken sandwich with french fries. I would give the meal a solid seven out of ten. The key for Chick-fil-A is that its variety might make your decision making easier. On the menu they have 31 different items to choose from, ranging from sandwiches, to wraps, to chicken nuggets. Their prices are not very expensive as one meal is around$6-$8. Also, another big option that Chick-fil-A has is it has a breakfast menu. The food there was very good and their sauce was one of my favorite parts. Chick-fil-A is also really easy to find as there is many locations, along with that they have some of the best customer service around, such as always being respectful and always being willing to help you when needed.

In conclusion, I hope that this will help you in your chicken making decisions. When your struggling to make up your mind I hope that you can look back on this article and make a well educated and smart chicken decision. Cane’s is a laid back restaurant and the decorations are always interesting.

They will show their respected local schools pride. Chick-fil-A is always a friendly environment with great staff.

In my opinion both restaurants are great places to eat with family or friends. There are a lot of different ways that you can settle this debate. Chick-fil-A makes a strong case for itself with its many options on the menu, as well as with different side dishes. On the other hand, Raising Cane's has its juicy chicken tenders. Chick-fil-A.

(Top)A box combo meal from Raising Cane’s.

(Bottom). A number one meal from Chick-fil-A with some of their special sauce. Photo by Haydn Schertz.

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Entertainment

GLASS SHATTERS COMPETITION M. Night Shyamalan’s Latest Film Is Arguably His Best Brett Smith

Entertainment Editor

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he year 2018 brought some truly incredible films to the screens. With the visual marvels of Avengers: Infinity War, the captivating emotion drawn from A Star Is Born and many others, these set a foundation for the boots of expectation future films will be expected to fill. That being said, January has many looking for the next big film. And among this first batch of projects, one really stands out. Anxiously anticipated by fans, Glass finally has made its theatrical debut. But has Glass formed an Unbreakable franchise for M. Night Shyamalan, or is the latest addition to the director’s filmology a pane-ful mistake, leaving viewers Split?

Starring James McAvoy, Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, Glass is a thrillingly fun ride that blew all my expectations out the window. Filled with plenty of action, humor and a twist as brilliant as it is unexpected, there is so much to enjoy in this film. Compared to some of the director’s past work, this film looks to be one of his best.

McAvoy, honestly one of my favorite actors of all time, steals the entire show as Kevin. And Patricia. And Hedwig. And The Horde. And several other personalities. He brings so much power and creativity to his role that he instantly becomes the best part of the film. Nothing against the performances of legends Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson, but as a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan’s previous film Split, I loved watching McAvoy come to life in one of his most defining roles of his career.

The cinematography is devious. There are points

HELL HALL Lillian Humphrey Artist/Writer

where they will show you things in a certain way scattered throughout the film, and none of it makes sense until the end.

Their use of colors to define both the characters and the overall theme in the scenes really brings so character to the table. You discover new connections with the setting and characters the more you watch it, not realizing the connections until later on.

The music score does its job, and the pacing of this film was really well planned out. I didn’t really feel that it dragged on very much at all. You were always in the moment, and you never got lost.

It also does a great job of introducing these characters to those of us who haven’t maybe watched all the films. By using clips from both the previous films, they successfully get the audience completely up to date on the characters, their relationships, and their motivations.

2019 looks to be a very promising year, with releases such as Avengers: Endgame and Toy Story 4 set to grace the screens later this year. I can tell you without a shade of doubt that this year starts off strong with powerful and thrilling genius of M. Night Shyamalan’s latest hit: Glass.

FINAL RATING:

8/10

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Features

HISTORY MURAL IN THE MAKING Margaret Vierling

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Staff Writer

arli Mehrle walked by the blank wall outside of Skylar Kim’s history room a few days a week, not realizing that eventually it would be filled with her own art. A mural located in the history hallway is being painted by 2018 graduate Karli Mehrle. She began the project second semester of her senior year and worked on it during the summer, winter break and any chance she can get.

Karli has always been very much into art, incorporating it into her everyday life. “My dad is an artist and a graphic designer and my mom has always been someone who sews so it’s always been in my family” Mehrle said. Art has always been a part of her life that she values.

Looking at the mural from left to right, she describes what each piece represents and its significance to history.

“It is supposed to be mainly world history, so I took a lot of drafts. It starts off as a big scroll knotting back to what they used in history and then the books down at the bottom represent religion and different thinking aspects.” Mehrle said. “The ships represent Columbus and exploration, the globes are like pangea and there are many figures throughout history.”

An in depth analysis of each piece of art helps us understand what is there and its importance. Making such an advanced piece of art takes skillfulness and patience.

Karli has always done art for herself but on a small scale.

She discusses how unfamiliar she is to this particular area of art.

“This is my first piece of art and the first mural I have ever painted and I have actually never painted before starting this” Mehrle said. “My choice of art is usually pen and pencil and

this is new ground.” It is impressive that she isn’t familiar with painting, but is still able to make such a large piece of artwork so well with little exposure to painting materials.

What led her to painting the mural is an interesting story, “I was asked freshman year and it was hinted that I should paint something for history and I never took it seriously. Then my senior year, the final project for Rho Kappa was a video and I don’t like videos that much, so I asked to paint a mural instead and I got myself out of the final project being a video” Mehrle said.

Completing such a difficult task, Karli puts maximum effort into each detail of every drawing. She does not rush her artwork because she makes sure everything is just the way she wants it. With an alternate option to the final project, we can now see the great work that is forever on the wall of Parkway Central.

To be able to make a mural, measurements need to be made in order to make each figure the appropriate length. Karli measured out the diameters for the height and width, then she roughly sketched shapes with little to no detail, then she freehands it from then on. Many people can’t freehand a drawing, nonetheless a mural, and do it extremely well.

Karli did encounter a couple problems while making the mural.

“The first problem is, because I have never painted something so big and wasn’t originally supposed to be this big, I tend to run out of a lot of paint. The second problem is I wish I would have planned it a little better, like done the background first because there is a tendency to repaint things” Mehrle said. With

only a few minor setbacks, she is still on track to complete the project very soon.

Karli attends Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, where she focuses on her artistic studies.

“I’m actually going into school for fashion design, but art is still a big part of my fashion design. I paint on denim jackets and jeans, so I try to involve painting and drawing in my fashion work” Mehrle said. Karli incorporates art into her studies and is doing what she loves. The mural will hopefully be completed by the end of this summer.

Karli Mehrle continues to paint her mural outside of the history classrooms.

Photo by Abby Prywitch

EARLY GRADUATES TALK LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL

Tori Favazza Staff Writer

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ome students, while appreciating the high school experience, cannot wait to move on and possibly even start their careers. Whether it be because of a profession or just personal preference, we talked to students who decided to graduate early, and get a head start on the rest of their lives.

To decide to graduate early is a tough decision to make, but some students want to be done with high school as soon as possible. This was the case for Kaleb Thomas, a senior who graduated a semester early here at Parkway Central High. “I think it was just my tenacity to get out of school. It was very stressful for me, especially going through junior year. I think that parents expect so much from you, and all schools ever want to do is care about your grades and your GPA,” Thomas said, “School can be positive but it also has this negative shroud over you, because it affects you in a way that’s like ‘Oh, I have to get this GPA or my parents will be disappointed in me.’ Graduating early I think would take the stress off of me, and along with that I get to do what I love most which is dance.”

Thomas, a dancer with huge aspirations, has a very specific goal in mind when it comes to life after his high school days.

“I’m signed to a talent agency, ‘411 South,’ I also got a talent scholarship from the University I’m going to which is Point Park University,” Thomas said. Dance has had a massive impact on Thomas, bringing relief to him even when life was at its hardest. “...I was going through situational depression and dance was my savior and I still dance to this day,” Thomas said. “It was family problems, it was a lot of problems with my dad. We had a little outing, and that sort of just shifted our family’s perspective.”

Though he has only been dancing for 5 years, this aspiring professional dancer does seemingly all types of dance. “I love jazz, but I’m trained in four disciplines, which is ballet, modern, jazz, and hip hop,” said Thomas.

Regarding high school, Thomas thinks that Parkway Central High could in fact improve their curriculum by adding to their fine arts program. “I think they should acquire more fine arts, I don’t understand why they don’t offer dance classes. I know they have singing classes but it’s very minute because they have jazz choir, or acapella, or regular choir, but there’s so much you can do with that. I think our school has a very good fine arts program, and I think they could definitely expand their fine art budget,” said Thomas, “I think that’s the most deprived of them all. When you think about it, if the school needs to cut down on budgeting, they go towards the things that don’t really matter, such as fine arts. But that’s the thing that saves people, because it’s their outlet of expression.”

Peyton Douglas, another senior that graduated a semester early, wanted to further involve herself in the military; serving her country in the best way she possibly could.

“Originally, I wanted to continue my military training during what would be second semester, but it didn’t work out for various reasons,” Douglas said. But the military is not just a job for this brave soldier. It’s about having a tight bond with her fellow coworkers in the force.

“I’ve been in the military for almost a year now. I have a lot of family friends in the military and it really honestly just makes sense for me. It gives me a sense of purpose… They’re my family now. I know that at the end of the day we all have each other’s

backs no matter what. There is a real tangible bond between every Army soldier. Even if you don’t get along, you still take care of them because that’s how a family works. It’s just nice to know I’ll always be there for someone and to trust that they’ll always be there too.” Douglas plans to be in the force as long as she sees fit, finding passion in her own patriotism. “Since I’m in the National Guard, which is a reserve component of the Army, I have the opportunity to serve my country in addition to working a civilian job. I’m planning on serving until I can retire at 20 years of service,” Douglas said.

Graduated senior Kaleb Thomas poses for his senior pictures (Curtsy of Kaleb Thomas)

Features

THE ART OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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Claudia Sanders Online News Editor

Junior Isabel Roman’s Instagram showed a darker theme with pictures of herself, friends or scenery. Although she doesn’t feel obligated to keep up with her theme, she still enjoys the look of her profile which keeps her motivated to continue. Photos courtesy of Isabel Roman’s Instagram @ isabelromann.

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ince Instagram’s start in 2012, it has transformed from the thought-sharing site into the advertising platform that it is currently. People with over a certain amount of followers, known as influencers, are able to make up to $250,000 to post an ad for a product. But even some Instagram non-influencers like to stick to a theme or style.

A theme is created by using photo editing apps or programs to add filters in order to change or enhance the colors in the photo. This is done so the new post matches the previous pictures posted on one’s account.

“I’ve always felt very particular about how my pictures looked, so I would always try to make color schemes with each picture and try to see how they matched together,” junior Isabel Roman said. A theme is a way to express themselves via social media in a visually-pleasing way.

Starting a theme can be challenging, because in order to make it work without deleting old memories, you must increase how often you post on Instagram so the old photos are no longer as easily viewable.

“I started formulating a theme when I began delving into photography and the art of it,” senior Xavier Crisp said. “I thought it was kind of cool to sort of have a similar look to each post so I select my post based on how they aesthetically look all together.” Crisp deleted all old posts so he could have a fresh start which allowed him to create his artistic theme.

Junior, Tylor Sinak’s most recent posts on Instagram created a light and airy theme where the different colors in the post pop. She gets a lot of her inspiration from Youtuber and Blogger, Aspyn Ovard. Photos courtesy of Tylor Sinak’s Instagram: @tylorsinak.

“A lot of my editing is done on the computer using applications like Lightroom or Photoshop, but sometimes I edit on my phone with an app called Snapseed,” Crisp said. Curating a themed Instagram account is something that Crisp, Roman, and Sinak all enjoy, but it can be time consuming.

“A downside to keeping my feed would be all of the editing it takes to make sure all of my pictures have the same filters and tones, which can be exhausting at times,” junior Tylor Sinak said. “I love photography so I enjoy actually taking the pictures and I love the way my Instagram page looks when all of my pictures flow together.” The end result it what motivates Sinak to keep up with the sometimes tedious process.

While it is a lot of work to make sure every picture taken can be edited to look similar they don’t feel pressured to make everything perfect.

“I don’t feel obligated at all because it’s more of a personal thing and I don’t let it worry me because I recently have not been using Instagram as much as I used to and it doesn’t bother me,” Roman said. “I just like the clean look and I’ve always loved taking pictures and I have fun editing them and making them fit together.” So, it’s the end result that keeps her going.

While the end result is the only thing social media users see, theres a lot of work that goes into the picture before the editing process. In Chesterfield, there is a limitation to the amount of beautiful backdrops, but as soon as you step foot into downtown STL, or anywhere outside of the suburbs, the amount

Senior, Xavier Crisp gained his inspiration from different songs, high-end fashion and art posts. He enjoys using film along with digital methods to create his theme that relates to him and his perspective on the world. Photos courtesy of Xavier Crisp’s Instagram: @xav.crisp

of scenery is truly surprising.

“Most of the time I look up cool places to go within the STL area, and go with my friends and we take pictures together and make a day out of it,” Sinak said. While she plans ahead sometimes the locations are just found by being spontaneous and exploring while having fun with friends.

“All of the places I’ve taken my photos at I’ve usually found on my own just exploring STL or using Google Maps to find cool places; however not all of them are the safest places,” Crisp said. Editing techniques and tools used whether they’re apps or computer programs, vary from person to person.

“When it comes to my process I spend time finding locations, working with the people I model to curate an aesthetic based on the locations I find, actually shooting photos, then doing lots of editing with can take days,” Roman said. “I really mainly use Afterlight and VSCO and when I take pictures with my digital camera I will use Adobe Lightroom on my computer mostly for portraits I’ve taken of people.” The process of editing takes skill, a good eye, along with a general knowledge of technology .

Crisp, Roman, and Sinak spend a lot of time practicing and perfecting their photography and editing skills. In this generation, social media has become more impactful in our lives and is creating a new field of work, revolutionizing the advertising industry. It’s a great hobby that creates more career opportunities, making it even more worth it.

Spotlight

Jenna Lazaroff Features Editor

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Full-time Student, Part-time Entrepreneur

n the summer of 2016, senior Amari Hurn started posting clips of herself dancing on Instagram. In approximately one month, she started gaining followers like crazy. She now has 466K followers and receives commission from sponsors off what she posts.

“I’ve always been a entertainer at heart, so actually recording it and posting it wasn’t a huge difference,” Hurn said. “I was always somewhere dancing in class or just entertaining someone period, always the center of attention.”

When coming up with ideas, Hurn is very creative; she makes up a lot of what she does but she also does mashups of others’ ideas too.

“I like to add something unique to what I do,” Hurn said.

“Not as artificial.”

Her platform has recently expanded into YouTube as well.

YouTube requires longer content unlike Instagram with a just a 60 second maximum video, being able to make videos also requires some sort of editing skills.

“With YouTube there’s a lot of things you have to consider,” Hurn said. “In order to build a fan base on YouTube you kind of have to start with the wave, what’s popular. Once I hit the amount of subscribers I want, I plan on changing some things around.

Instagram is a lot more personal.”

Along with making videos, Hurn also has a great love for hair. She is sponsored by Human hair companies and makes money off of each post she posts with their products.

“That’s the reason why I’m always changing my hair,” Hurn said. “I plan on starting a human hair business as well. I love changing my hair and exploring lots of colors and I figured why not make money off of it.”

After uploading videos of her dancing onto Instagram, Hurn made it possible to make money by promoting her changing hair and her dancing.

“I plan to use it as a boost to help with what I want to do in the future,” Hurn said. “I plan to open a business as well as continue with being a social media influencer, including YouTube and things of that nature.”

Being on the internet has numerous negative effects as well. It means that anyone can watch you at anytime, and on Instagram people can direct message you saying whatever they want.

“I often get inappropriate Snapchats and I try not to share my location,” Hurn said. “Since most of the videos I make are dance videos my figure is shown off a lot and men can get out of hand.”

Despite these downsides, nothing can stop Hurn from doing what she wants. After coming so far, she would not jeopardize what she has done for anything.

“I plan to open up a shop one day and become my own boss,” Hurn said. “I can’t explain too much here but wait for it.

You all will see me soon.”

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