TYRO October 2018 Issue

O C TO B E R I S S U E 2 0 1 8

1 6 9 0 0 W. G E B H A R D T R D .

BROOKFIELD, WISCONSIN

VOL 66 ISSUE 2

Brookfield Central Tyro

Brookfield rivals unite to battle childhood cancer Neha Ajjampore Features Editor

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he infamous rivalry between the Brookfield Central Lancers and the students of Elmbrook school district’s other high school, the Brookfield East Spartans, has long been upheld. Whether it be through sports, club activities, or academics, there is always a playful competition between the two schools.

However, once a year, the Lancers and Spartans face off in a football game that ultimately combats a common enemy: childhood cancer.

Elmbrook’s sixth annual Gold Out game took place on Friday, September 28 on the BC football turf.

The bleachers of both sides were packed with students, adults, and young children, all showing their support towards the cause by sporting gold-colored clothes and accessories. Appropriately held during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, the purpose of the event was to raise awareness and money to tackle the illnesses that affect thousands of kids across the nation — including several students within the Elmbrook School District. Maggie Conlon (‘20), who shared her personal story on dealing with cancer as a child in front of the crowds that evening, appreciates the involvement of her fellow

students: “It was amazing to see my classmates and our rivals all wearing gold to support childhood cancer awareness.” Conlon also mentions that it is important to be mindful of how drastic the situation really is.

Childhood cancer is the number one life-threatening disease of children

“The Gold Out was

made possible because of the efforts of both schools. We are so lucky to be a part of a community where something like this can happen!”

~ Hana Li (‘19), BC Key Club Co-President in America, but only four percent of federal funding is allocated towards pediatric cancer research. To Conlon, this is clearly not enough to work towards a cure. “If we real-

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ALAN HERZBERG

ly want to find a cure, people have to spread childhood cancer awareness and help donate,” she asserts.

This year, BC band conductor, Mr. Jason Gillette, contacted the band teachers at Swanson Elementary School (Mr. Phil Rothschadl) and Wisconsin Hills Middle School (Mrs. Sarah Marman) to organize a huge halftime show. The result was a massive marching band of over 200 students ranging from fifth to twelfth graders, all wearing Gold Out shirts and standing in an array on the field playing “On Wisconsin” and the Brookfield Central school song. The goal of this endeavor was to showcase school spirit and promote the good cause, as well as to introduce the younger students to the high school band experience. Pavan Yilayavilli (‘23), an eighth-grader in the WHMS band, remarks, “All the high schoolers were really nice and were very good leaders. I totally had a blast and [the game] met my expectation and more. The only problem was the cold!” The performance was overall a big success, and it is likely that the combination of bands will become tradition for future Gold Out games.

The night ended with the BC securing a victory on the field,

ALAN HERZBERG

Cheerleaders, Tirzah Sonderman (‘20), Emma Basel (‘21), Elizabeth Geiser (‘21), and Ainsley Regner (‘22) hold up a banner made by the cheer team for the football team to run through. Captains Alec Mejchar (‘19), Chris Casey (‘19), Drew Leszczynski (‘19) run through first. This was the first year the cheerleaders made a banner, but the cheerleaders hope to eventually make it a tradition.

the final score 31-7 against East.

But the real triumph (on which both the Lancers and the Spartans

can agree) was the tremendous amount of childhood cancer awareness and money that was raised.

Gold Out Fundraising Stats Shirts Sold: 600+ T-Shirt Cost: $5 Number of Cut-a-Thon Haircuts: 20 Amount of Hair Donated: 160+ in Money from Miracle Minute: $1078.38 Total Money Raised: $4000+

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1: Rashad Lampkin(‘20) reaches for the ball while attempting to dodge an incoming tackle. 2: Decked out in gold, the student body cheers on the football team as senior Cole Nau waves the school flag. As a part of the student section traditions, Jack Anderson (‘19) did a pushup for every point BC had scored so far in the game after each touchdown.

What’s inside

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ALAN HERZBERG

Seniors Elise Joplin, Tallulah Nummerdor, and Grace Staszkiewicz cheer for the football team from the stands. From facepaint to bandanas, the student sections reflected the rare unity of the two rival schools with gold outfits and identical t-shirts.

JIM KELSH

EMILY OTTEN

IMBD.COM

Hannah Sternberg (‘19) is crowned HOCO queen Pg. 2

Girls Golf places fourth at state Pg.4

A Simple Favor stuns viewers Pg. 6

Halloween recipe: pumpkin spice cake Pg. 8

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BROOKFIELD CENTRAL TYRO

OCTOBER 2018

homecoming

2018 Court members give views on HOCO 2018 HOCO Court Meghan Kiese Hana Li Hannah Sternberg Hannah Prudlow Tallulah Nummerdor Brooke Barreda Kelsey Bennett Mary Ellen Ritter Hannah Quinney Elise Joplin

Kevin Jacobson Malcolm Balles Jack Anderson Jack Cooney Drew Seymour Ben Blazei Pierce Bolden Mark Nemcek Taral Jella Cole Nau

“I was nervous when they were announcing my name since there were three other Hannahs. But when they said “Sternberg” I couldn’t believe it. I could not stop smiling, even when I got home. It was an amazing experience.” ~ Hannah Sternberg (‘19), 2018 HOCO Queen

Did you expect to get on Homecoming Court?

Niyati Hansaria Reporter

What was your favorite spirit day of all time?

Taral J: Can’t go wrong with the classic class color day! I think it signifies unity...?

Meghan K: I don’t think anyone really expects to make it. It was kinda surreal and definitely a super cool high school experience!

Kevin J: How can you pick a favorite spirit day? They are all so great!

Hannah S: I did not. I had expected someone else, maybe more outgoing, to be chosen. I am very thankful that people thought of me when voting for the court.

Hana L: My favorite spirit day has always been “dress as your sibling” day because it’s always hilarious to see everyone go all out in funny outfits!

Kevin J: I didn’t really expect it, but then before the assembly a bunch of people told me they voted for me and I was like, “Why.”

Meghan K: My favorites are either Dress Like Your Sibling or Senior Citizen. They’re both so funny and allow the seniors to go a little crazy and just have fun in their outfits!

What do you plan on going to the dance dressed up as?

What is your favorite part of Homecoming Week?

Note: the question was asked prior to the homecoming dance.

Hannah S: I plan on going as Minnie Mouse, mainly because my mom wanted me to, and she is such a classic character.

Hannah S: I love listening to the band play at the pep assembly because the band really livens up our school, and gets people excited for the game and the dance!

Kevin J: I don’t know who I am going to be yet. I might just wing it on the day of… :) Note: Jacobson ended up going as an alien from Toy Story.

Hana L: My favorite part of Homecoming Week is definitely dressing up for spirit days because it is always fun to think of outfit ideas (and go on late night Goodwill trips with friends) :).

Hana Li: I plan on going as Bruce the Shark from Finding Nemo because I found an amazing shark hat on Amazon and just had to buy it.

Meghan K: The football game and dance are definitely my favorite parts of homecoming! I absolutely love being able to cheer the boys on from the sidelines, and it’s a great bonding experience for all of the cheerleaders. Also, it’s so fun to get all dressed up for the dance!

Taral J: I plan to be Mike Wazowski because he has the best lines and is used for slapstick throughout Monster’s Inc.

HOCO prep: what goes on behind the scenes

ALAN HERZBERG

Elianne del Campo and Leah Cape

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s you enter the gym on Homecoming night, the entrance is filled with decorations that set the mood for the theme.

Lights and music surround the gym, adding to the dance atmosphere, urging everyone to have an amazing night singing and dancing. However, what no one really sees is all of the preparation and behind-the-scenes work that many students put in to make the dance a worthwhile experience.

Student Council member Emma Fox(‘19) gave an estimate on the amount of time put into Homecoming: “We start planning and prepping weeks, sometimes months, in advance. We come up with the theme right after the previous dance ends, so we chose “Disney” right after the 2018 Spring Fling dance. This year it probably took about 2-3 weeks total to have everything planned, and maybe a month and a half to execute it.”

While voting on the Homecoming theme is limited to Student Council, the song choices are open to all students. Fox described the process:

“This year, we decided to take [song] requests from students by sending out a link on Twitter. From there, I listened to 200+ requests on a long car ride from La Crosse, and eliminated the songs I knew Mr. Gruetzmacher would never allow at a school sanctioned event.” After Mr. Gruetzmacher checked over the choices, Fox sent the final song list, around 50 songs, to the designated DJ. Homecoming preparation is not limited to just Student Council members. The week of Homecoming, each class creates a Homecoming banner for the class banner competition. Many hours of hard work are put into the large signs, with volunteers scrambling to complete the task on time.

Nicole Yang(‘20), the junior class vice president, revealed that it took about two hours to gather the supplies and polish the idea for the junior banner, with the banner making itself taking around six hours. For Yang, the hardest part of making the banner was coming up with an idea: “We decided on how we wanted the

wall to look like by gathering ideas from other people, like having a “Disney junior(s)” theme because we are juniors. The day of, the planning of the wall was a little rough because our idea changed completely, so we were back to square one. We eventually decided to keep it simple and make it Minnie and Mickey.” Yang also expressed experiencing difficulty with the small amount of people that showed up to help, particularly during the beginning. “For a couple hours it was only two or three people making the wall, but more people started showing up to help near the middle and end.” In the end, around ten people contributed to the banner.

They were rewarded for their efforts by members of the junior class who complimented the result.

Fox also experienced the same rewarding feeling as Homecoming came to an end: “Walking through the hallway one last time after you spend weeks of hard work prepping for this dance and seeing the finished product is such a cool feeling. It makes up for all the late nights painting banners!”

Thrusting her arms into the air, Hannah Prudlow(‘19) hypes up the crowd as Amna Hassan(‘19) pushes her around the footfield field after the game. “Decorating shopping carts was such a cute idea and so much fun to do. Being on court overall was such a cool experience. Senior Homecoming was by far my favorite!” says Prudlow.

ALAN HERZBERG

ALAN HERZBERG

As a part of the traditional Homecoming parade, court members wheel shopping carts around the football field. Each Homecoming court pairing was given a shopping cart to decorate. From left to right: Tallulah Nummerdor, Hana Li, Kevin Jacobson, Megan Kiese, Mary Ellen Ritter, Mark Nemcek, Brooke Barreda, Pierce Boldin, Kelsey Bennett.

Amidst the cheers of fellow court members and the student section, Hannah Sternberg (‘19) is crowned queen. “Good for her,” remarked Malcolm Balles (‘19), “she descrved it.” Cole Nau was later crowned king. From left to right: Jack Anderson (‘19), Drew Leszczynski (‘19), Hannah Sternberg (‘19), Malcolm Balles (‘19), Hana Li (‘19).

OCTOBER 2018

BROOKFIELD CENTRAL TYRO

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activities

Chinese Club sets high standards with food event

Stephanie Chen Editor-in-Chief

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ackets of dumpling wrap.

Ground chicken. Cabbage and green onions. Various sauces and spices. A playlist containing a mixture of Chinese and Mongolian music. Thirty or so food-loving students. A recipe for a successful dumpling party.

As one of their first events of the year, the Brookfield Central Chinese Club hosted a dumpling party. The event took place right after school ended on Thursday, September 20.

From making the dumplings to eating them, it lasted around two hours.

The dumpling party was planned by Chinese Club officer Shweta Panda (‘20). Having enjoyed the event herself when she attended as a freshman, Panda thought a dumpling party would be a fun way to kick-off the school year. “Everyone really enjoyed themselves [during my freshman year]. I thought [a dumpling party] would be ambitious as our second meeting, but it turned out to be a blast!”

A week before the event, Panda emailed out a spreadsheet for interested members. In it, she invited members to sign up to bring different ingredients and materials. The initial plan involved having the club itself cover the cost of the event, but after some discussion, the officer team had decided to split the cost between the club and members who were kind

enough to purchase ingredients.

This was to create the possibility of more food-based meetings later in the school year. The spreadsheet was intended to give Panda and the other officers an idea of how many ingredients they themselves would need to supply, based on the number of people attending and the number of ingredients the members themselves would cover. Of these two, only the latter turned out to be accurate.

What was expected to be less than ten people ended up being around thirty. “I was really shocked to see so many people,” stated Panda, “but very pleased they all could come. Shout out to Lan Laoshi who was smart enough to bring extra ingredients!” According to Panda, Lan Laoshi’s previous experience with dumpling parties was a huge asset to the event. “She made sure we didn’t miss any steps along the way,” Panda said.

For Panda, as well as many of the other members in attendance, dumpling making was a brand new experience. While making the filling— a mixture of store-bought ground chicken, cabbage, and other ingredients— was simple enough, folding the dumplings was a different matter.

Fortunately, some of the more experienced attendees were willing to help teach others.

One such experienced dump-

ling-folder was Vera Fong(‘21). For Fong, guiding others through the process of folding dumplings was a highlight of the event. “For most [people], it was probably their first time [folding dumplings], but [their dumplings] were really nice. You could tell they put lots of effort into folding [them],” recalled Fong. Fong described the event as a success that she recommends to others, saying “It’s super fun, it’s food, and you can discover the culture of Chinese people. [It’s] kind of a different atmosphere [with everyone] connecting through dumplings.”

Panda agreed with the sentiment.

“It was a good time. It really was quite a bit of work on the front end and the board was a little discoordinated at first, but we learnt a lot from the experience.” For one improvement, Panda thought back to the dumpling party she attended as a freshman: “We cooked all the dumplings, and then Lan Laoshi sat us down at a big table, and we all made a circle and ate all [the dumplings] together like a big family. [This year], no one was there to direct us; we [just] did as we pleased and just ate dumplings whenever [we wanted to]. I would like to bring that back next time.”

For food enthusiasts and more, Panda hints at more events to look forward to, including a ramen party and an unlimited junk food day.

HANNAH KEEHAN

Vera Fong (‘21) wraps a dumpling filled with chicken and greens, like many others at the event. “Eating the dumplings was my favorite part, but it was fun to learn how to make them and the outcome was very rewarding”, Maggie Butz (‘19) says.

In Chinese Club, members participate various activities that deal with the Chinese culture. such as visiting Chinatown in Chicago, playing traditional games (like the popular Chinese version of hackysack), and watching Chinese movies. Their next meeting will be November 15, Thursday, and it will be held in Lan Lao Shi’s room.

Milwaukee buildings open doors to public for exciting annual event

NIRBHAY VIG

Emily Otten Online Editor

National Merit Semifinalists 2018: (Top row, left to right) Sabrina Huang, Vincent Li, Rajat Mittal, and Andrew Kim. (Bottom row, left to right) Katherine Liu, Amy Cao, Reena Yuan, and Daisy Chen. These eight students are essentially the top of the top — their scores were in the top 0.5% of the entire country, and they were chosen out of the large pool of 1.6 million qualifying students.

PSAT offers opportunities Neha Ajjampore Features Editor

The Preliminary SAT, also known as the PSAT, was held on the morning of October 10. Students who signed up for it reported to the main gym before school with an approved calculator and several No. 2 pencils in hand.

The test lasted until noon, when the students were finally released to their third block class or to lunch.

Without a doubt, the PSAT was a long and exhausting test that nearly drained the mental energy of most of the students who took it. It consists of four subjects: reading, writing, and two math sections — one that prohibits the use of a calculator and one that allows it. Each test lasted about an hour, with short 5-minute breaks scattered in between.

For some people, the purpose of the PSAT is solely for practice before taking the SAT college entrance exam; for others, it’s to enter the National Merit Scholarship Program. Those who score high enough on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) in their junior year of high school and meet other entry requirements are able to move on to the next stage of the competition. Out of 1.6 million entrants, 50,000 are recognized either by receiving a letter of commendation or by becoming semifinalists. Fifteen thousand finalists are then chosen from the pool of

semifinalists, and during the spring of their graduating year, 7,500 students receive scholarship prizes: National Merit $2500 scholarships, as well as corporate- and college-sponsored scholarships. Winners are chosen based on their skill level and accomplishments. The competition is usually very tight for those who participate, as scores are normally quite close and other factors (such as a submitted application) must be taken into consideration.

In contrast, for students who took the PSAT in a grade level other than their junior year, it provided practice for a future PSAT or for the SAT, of which the test score colleges often look at when determining who to accept and reject. Niyati Hansaria (‘21) shares her perspective on the PSAT: “My outlook on the PSAT is that it’s a great opportunity for me to practice for the actual one that I will take next year.” She also notes that the format of the test, although designed to be challenging, allows test-takers to prove their academic ability. “I think that it’s structured really nicely, so that everyone can work towards achieving their highest possible score,” she contends.

Scores for this year’s PSAT will be sent out in early December, and National Merit semifinalists will be announced next fall.

For the eighth year in a row, Doors Open Milwaukee invited Milwaukee natives and tourists alike to explore the city in all its grandeur.

The two day event usually takes place during one of the last weekends in September and advertises a variety of buildings and companies that ‘open their doors’ to the public to tour.

This year’s Doors Open Milwaukee had over 170 buildings available for attendees to explore, completely free of charge, along with over 40 ticketed tours for those who wanted to learn a bit more about the areas

they were exploring. The buildings and companies available for tours ranged from local coffee shops like Stone Creek Coffee, to stately hotels like the Pfister, to the brand new Northwestern Mutual Insurance building.

Briana Ratay (‘21) shares her thoughts on her Doors Open Milwaukee experience: “This was the first year my family went to Doors Open Milwaukee and we had a great time.

Going to the new Northwestern Mutual Life Tower was definitely a highlight for us because it was beautiful

and super classy”.

With each year that Doors Open Milwaukee stays open, more sites are added, and more benefits and tours are available for guests, making the event more exciting. This year was especially eventful for the organization: they installed the new downtown transport system called The Hop was introduced for the first time.

Ratay finishes by saying, “I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fun way to spend their weekend because there is so much to do and see!”

To the left: Guests admire the intricate interior dome of the Tripoli Shrine Temple. Located in Concordia, the building is modeled off of the famous Taj Mahal (in India) and has been a landmark of Milwaukee since 1928.

The Tripoli Shrine Temple is not considered to be a religious institution (despite its appearences). Rather, it is often admired and visited for its beautiful baroque architecture. To find more architectural jewels like this, take a day off and check out what Doors Open Milwaukee has to explore.

JANET OTTEN

JANET OTTEN

To the right: Milwaukee residents look outside the statuesque windows of the new Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Tower located in downtown Milwaukee. This year, Doors Open Milwaukee allowed 26,000 people to make 117,000 site visits across the county in two days. The purpose of this event is to educate and encourage the people to visit places they don’t get the chance to go to. Kiana Ratay (‘19) reminisces on the experience: “The new Northwestern Mutual building is accented by a pristine interior design. It will definitely attract new talent to Milwaukee.”

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BROOKFIELD CENTRAL TYRO

OCTOBER 2018

Girls Golf wraps up season at state

Updates

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Girls Swim

Bonnie Jin Reporter

fter the top four girls in the varsity lineup graduated last year, the team and its coaches were left with much trepidation for the upcoming season. The only returning varsity player, Bonnie Jin (‘19) knew it would be a rough and long season. However, as each tournament and invite resulted in low scores and high placements, the prospect of going to state again became more feasible. As the Lancers became GMC Champions for the 5th year in the row, the trip to state was within grasp. Confidence brimmed within the younger golfers along with the pressure and tension. Regionals passed with flying colors as this new team went home as champions with a bounce in their step as they prepared for the the most stressful part of the playoffs. Sectionals, ramped up the tension for the Lancers since Kettle Moraine, their main competitor, was in the same sectional alongside Brookfield East, Menomonee Falls, Franklin and other schools. As the days counted down, the girls worked even harder at practices and during the weekend, playing practice rounds as much as they could. In a very close round with only a two shot difference between KM and the Lancers, the girls took second and made it to state.

With a police escort, a decorated van and gift bags from the boys team, the

Lancers started their three-day trip to state. The WIAA State Championship was held at University Ridge golf course in Madison from Oct. 8-9 with a practice round the day before. Extra towels and gear were brought to prepare for the worst conditions possible. Fortunately, these were never used since the downpour during Sunday’s practice round set up warm and beautiful conditions Monday-Tuesday. State was an exciting time for everyone, but especially for the four new girls in the lineup that had never there before. Sarah Balding (‘22), Sami Krutz (‘20), Kyley Wipper (‘21) and CJ Romero (‘21) were first-time state participants and fully experienced the Lancer tradition of going to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.

Monday started with nerves and butterflies and ended disappointedly for the Lancers as they shot their worst score this season yet: 348. Teetering in 4th place, they put on their game face on Tuesday and solidified their standings.

While the Lancers went home crestfallen, they also knew that this was only the beginning. Everyone had an fantastic season and they fought incredibly hard at State. Only one senior was graduating this year, and the potential hidden within the Lancer Golf program is unlimited.

Another year, another chance.

- 4th place finish at Var Conference - 5th place finish at JV Conference

Boys Cross Country

- 4th place finish at sectional - Adam Uy (‘20) and Blake Boles (‘19) compete at State

Girls Cross Country

- 2nd place finish sectional - Julia Neustedter (‘21) is named Sectional champion - Neustedter finishes 12th at State - Team places 12th at State

Boys Volleyball

- Playoff Game vs Tosa East: 0-1-3

Girls Volleyball JIM KELSH

1: Team captain Bonnie Jin (‘19) tees off the first hole of the day with her driver. 2: Sarah Balding (‘22) hits a shot out of the bunker, a shallow pit filled with sand. Out of the seventeen years BC Girls Golf has been established, the team has qualified for state sixteen times. This year marks their eighth year in a row.

- Playoff game vs West Allis Central: 3-0 -Regional Final vs Sussex Hamilton: 1-3

Girls Tennis

- 5 Sectonal Qualifiers -2nd at Sectionals - Lili del Campo (‘20) qualifies for State

Cheerleading

- 3rd place finish at State - Blue Superior Ribbons

Boys Soccer

- Round 1 Sectional Game vs Fond du Lac: 3-0 -Regional Finals vs Oshkosh West: 0-3

Football

- Playoff game vs South Milwaukee: 45-8 -Playoff game vs Brookfield East: 14-0

JIM KELSH

Boys Soccer captain reflects on season so far Nicole Orejuela Reporter

BRETT GRUETZMACHER

The new courts, pictured above, were inaugerated by the varsity team players for one of their late season practices while they were preparing for conference. The official grand opening of the Dave Steinbach Tennis Center was on October 6, 2018.

Tennis program receives new courts Neha Ajjampore Features Editor

One of the biggest struggles that the girls and boys tennis teams at BC had to endure for years was the quality of the tennis courts. The nine ancient courts all had some sort of issue with them, including massive cracks, ripped and broken nets, and uneven surfaces. Playing tennis on those courts was getting to be nearly impossible; teams even had to relocate some of their matches and practices to Wisconsin Hills Middle School.

Recently, thanks to the efforts of Coach Dave Steinbach and Coach Jon Vogt, the school district finally took notice of these issues and authorized a total renovation of the courts.

Construction began during the summer with the intended goal to have them ready by the beginning of the girls tennis season in early August. However, the deadline was pushed back to mid-September. Meanwhile, the five girls tennis teams took turns sharing the courts at both Wisconsin Hills and Wirth Park, where practices and home matches were held. The new tennis facility at

BC did not become available to them until the end of the season, when the JV teams were able to get in a small number of practices and, if they were lucky, one match. Even then, however, a couple of courts had to be redone because they were not level.

Currently, there are at least two courts that still need to be built. As for the five that are complete, well, they are undeniably different from their antecedents. The most noticeable of changes is probably the color scheme — the bright hues are a major contrast to what they previously were. The old courts were a dull green with white borders and surrounded by a faded navy blue; the new ones are a striking shade of blue with clean white lines and surrounded by a vivid green. Initially players were thrown by the immense reflectivity of the courts, but they eventually adapted to the more modern and vibrant atmosphere. Another dissimilarity is the organization of the tennis courts: what used to be a simple array of nine courts is now an L-shaped layout with one row of five

courts adjacent to each other and two pairs of courts lying behind them.

Instead of having three banks with three courts each, there is now a more sophisticated design to the facility, including pathways in between each bank and large gates that connect them. Clearly, these new tennis courts are definitely an upgrade compared to the old ones.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the colossal dedication of Coach Dave Steinbach, who is entering his 36th year of coaching tennis at Brookfield Central. The Athletics and Activities Department formally recognized Steinbach’s accomplishments over the years and named the new establishment the Dave Steinbach Tennis Center in honor of him. Needless to say, Coach Steinbach’s legacy will live on through the thousands of students that he has mentored, as well as through the nocut program that he has contributed vast amounts of time and effort towards.

After suffering a heartbreaking 4-1 loss last season against topranked Whitefish Bay in the sectional finals, the Brookfield Central boys soccer team faced high expectations entering the season, along with a tougher road than anyone could have pictured. Entering an offseason after losing 11 graduating seniors the previous year, questions regarding their overall identity persisted throughout the team during the early stages of the season. Captain and senior Josh Thistle elaborated on this point by stating, “I think the hardest part of the season was developing who we are, not chemistry wise, but the way we play. Almost like having a brand about how we play.” Thus, Coach Makal immediately made attempts to deal with this issue by creating team-bonding activities to assist in developing team chemistry, particularly for the new members. Hence, the team embarked on adventures such as a camping trip early on in the season, along with team breakfasts

before every game. Moreover, strong leaders in the locker room certainly eased the transition. “I think that a lot of it [chemistry] was natural,” Thistle continued, “because of a lot of the players being in the program for so many years.” Furthermore, Thistle led the way for Brookfield Central High School’s first win of the season against West Allis High, scoring five of the seven goals in a dominant victory to begin the season. Central concluded the regular season with a record of 9-5-1 and will continue their journey through the postseason.

Although more difficult than years prior, the hardwork and dedication the Lancers brought daily resulted in quite a few rewarding experiences, especially one event in particular. “I think beating Brookfield East was the best part of the season so far,” Thistle remarked with a small smile. “It was our best game as a team, we really played well and getting that result, against that team, was really great.”

ALAN HERZBERG

John Oberst (‘21), defender for the Varsity soccer team, fights for the ball at the game against Marquette University. The Lancers ended with a score of 0-5.

OCTOBER 2018

BROOKFIELD CENTRAL TYRO

features

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Newsies cast and crew prepare for upcoming performances

Ananya Rajesh Features Editor

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his year, Brookfield Central’s annual production stems from the Disney movie Newsies.

Initially a negatively received film, it was later adapted into a highly successful Broadway musical that garnered six Tony nominations and two wins. As the first high school in the country to showcase this production, the stakes for a phenomenal performance are very high. However, Brookfield Central has never failed to put up an entracing performance.

Last year’s Cinderella, for instance, sold out within the first few days of school sales.

Similar to prior years, preparation for Newsies has been a huge affair.

Choir Director Mrs. Allison Hickman states, “Rehearsals for Newsies are well under way with our largest cast ever, our amazing pit orchestra and our talented stage crew. We are excited to be one of the first [schools] to perform this production and we think the audience is really going to enjoy the powerful music and amazing dancing on stage.”

Loosely based on the New York City Newsboys’ Strike of 1899, Newsies tells the story of newsboy Jack Kelly who dreams of a life far from the hardship of the streets. Joseph Pulitzer, the newspaper owner, raises the prices for newsboys across the city, moving Jack and his friends fight for their rights by going on strike. In tandem with the main plot, a love story blooms between characters Jack, played by Ben Kindler (‘19), and Katherine, played by Hannah Prudlow (19’). Newsies is a musical with a heavy dancing component, and has proved to be a challenge that the theater department is willing to take.

The lead ensemble is comprised of Ben Kindler, Hannah Prudlow, Sasha Pavlovic (‘19), Nishanth Namboothiry (‘22), Jonah Morioka (‘20), and Tommy Benning (‘22); primary dancers are Grace Hubler (‘19) and Lauren Langeberg (‘19). Prudlow shares, “Rehearsals have been going so well so far and they’re always so much fun! The cast is super close this year and I think that’s because

there are so many ensemble numbers which are always the most fun.” Mrs. Hickmann adds, “All of the students and directors are working hard and are looking forward to the moment we can get on the stage at the Wilson Center and share this great show with everyone!”

Along with preparing for shows in November, the BCHS Theater Department has applied for the school to participate in a statewide competition called the Jerry Award. One of Wisconsin’s high school musical awards programs, the event encourages, recognizes, and honors excellence in high school musical theater. If BC’s musical ensemble wins this award, they will perform Newsies again in the spring.

Tickets for the show have already started selling at the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center box office and the school cafeteria. Shows will be put on November 16-18, so don’t strike out on buying your ticket— this show will definitely be one for the books!

HANNAH PRUDLOW

Ensemble members rehearse in the cafeteria. The cast is comprised of mainly girls, and they play male characters because the story is about paper boys.

“I can’t say enough good things about this musical. It is definitely going to be one of my best high school memories!”

-Hannah Prudlow (‘19)

Science Bowl teams dive into practice for future competition

Competition Overview

Regional Meet Date: Jan. 12 Locaton: MSOE Categories Biology Chemisty Earth Science General Science Math Physics

Sample Question Earth Science

The overall charge at the top and bottom, respectively, of a towering cumulonimbus cloud during a thunderstorm is:

W) positive, positive X) positive, negative Y) negative, positive Z) negative, negative Answer: X) positive, negative

Jahnavi Hansaria Reporter

The question, a dicey multiple choice about names of ocean currents, is stated. An excited murmur fills the room as teams sift through their knowledge to find the correct answer. Pencils are heard scratching against the roughness of the paper they map their ideas on. The pressure rises as seconds tick by. The Science Bowl has commenced: a competition between opposing teams and a race against time.

From physics to astronomy to earth science, the Science Bowl is a buzzer-round competition for all things science. A team contains a maximum of five people who use their logic and wit to beat teams from other schools. The after-school club meets every Friday and is led by two dedicated students: Niyati Hansaria (‘21) and Manasvi Paturu (‘21).

“This club keeps me motivated to use what I’ve learned in school not only as a way to review, but also because it gives other students a chance to learn more and have fun at the same time,”

Hansaria said when describing her passion for leading the Science Bowl.

Every year, new members join and leave the club; Kevin Niu (‘22) is one of the latest additions to the team. When asked about his experience so far, Niu expressed, “What makes it fun is that it’s an opportunity to learn in an environment where people will challenge you. There’s so much to it, there’s such a wide variety that it’s hard to know everything.

And so you’re constantly learning.”

Along with Niu, Hansaria, and Paturu, many other Brookfield Central students have shown interest in club participation — now, there are more members than ever before.

In the Science Bowl, students from different grade levels and backgrounds unite to represent their school and present their skills. The final goal of the BC Science Bowl team is to advance to the state competition. They continue to push themselves and other team members, creating an unstoppable team dynamic.

Student reflects on donating hair during Cut-A-Thon Janani Sundar News Editor

Cancer is a monstrous disease.

Childhood cancer is perhaps an even bigger monster that thousands of children have to face. For the past few years, BC and BE host an event known as the Gold Out every year to show their support for childhood cancer. Students from both schools buy gold shirts and wear them to the big East vs Central football game to help rally against childhood cancer. The money raised from selling the t-shirts goes to help children who are suffering from childhood cancer. Along with the t-shirts, the BC Key Club puts together a Cut-A-Thon in which students can donate their hair to make wigs for children who have lost their hair due to chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.

This particular year, I had grown my hair out all summer so that I could participate in the event. I have always been all for donating my hair, but at some salons the minimum amount of hair needed is 10 inches or sometimes even 12, and I usually do not

have that much hair. At the Cut-AThon, the minimum amount was only 8 inches, so I was super excited about donating this year.

The entire experience was truly amazing, though I was at first skeptical of how the end result would look.

I went down to where the salons were set up during first block, and the Key Club member running the event, Sabrina Huang (‘19) took a ‘before’ picture of me. Afterwards I went and sat in the chair the stylist had set up for me. She started prepping my hair.

I’m not going to lie; the whole time she was prepping my hair I was pretty nervous. I kept wondering, What if it ends up being too short? Or what if short hair looks awful on me? But I reassured myself that it was all for a good cause and even if it did turn out badly, it was only hair and it would grow back soon. The stylist then asked me how much I wanted to donate, and she also mentioned that I could donate more than eight inches if I wanted to. I asked her what

nine inches would look like, and she showed me with a ruler how short that would be. I got a little nervous when she showed me, so I told her that eight would suffice. She then went back to sectioning my hair, and then she brought out a pair of scissors and asked me if I was ready. I hesitantly said yes. As the scissors came in contact with my hair, I felt very jittery and anxious, but I told myself that I couldn’t back out now.

As she was cutting my hair, the stylist kept mentioning how thick and beautiful my hair was (she was struggling to cut through my hair with her tiny scissors), and it reminded me how happy the child that received my hair would be. She then started trimming and evening out my hair. I was still really worried about how it would look, even though my friends standing around me kept telling me that it looked good and that it was a good length on me. I waited patiently in the chair for her to finish evening out my hair — it felt like I was sitting

there for hours. Finally, the stylist said, “Okay, you’re all done.” Both the stylist and one of my friends took an ‘after’ picture with me holding my donated hair. I looked at the picture, and I thought to myself, it does look pretty good. As I walked back to class I kept running my fingers through my hair because it just felt different. For starters, my head felt lighter (you’d be surprised as to how heavy hair actually feels), and my hair just felt really short. I kept asking my friends all day, if it was super short, and they all said that it was just the right length and that it looked good on me. All day it felt really weird. It took about a week to get used to, but now I am really happy with my decision. This was a really empowering experience for me, and and experience I will remember. I would definitely recommend everyone to donate their hair at some point in their lifetime. After all, it is for a really great cause — and, as an added bonus, you can get a cool new hairdo out of it!

SABRINA HUANG

Janani Sundar (‘19) before (above) and after (below) donating 8 inches of hair.

SABRINA HUANG

6

BROOKFIELD CENTRAL TYRO

OCTOBER 2018

entertainment

Analysis on what makes storytelling captivating Julianne Sun Reviews Editor

H

umans seem to possess some sort of instinct that pushes us to tell stories. We harnessed the power of language to evoke powerful emotions; we took the camera and made blockbuster movies; we picked up a brush and painted masterpieces. The most popular medium for storytelling right now seems to be TV shows. Shorter than a movie yet just as engaging, they’re pretty much just incubators for fandoms.

Out of sheer curiosity, we decided to poll the student body on their favorite shows. As seen in the pie chart, the top two shows were “The Office” and “Friends.” In response to why those shows were their favorite, students said the quality that made the shows great was humor.

“Okay,” you say, dubiousness written all over your face. “What’s

JULIANNE SUN

so revealing about that? Seems pretty obvious.”

What’s revealing about this is it shows just how deep the human desire to tell stories is. What are stories for, after all? They’re really just manifestations of our imaginations.

Stories can build entire universes, or they can focus on, say, a small group of six friends. Stories are the parts of our imagination that we can revisit time and time again without the fear of forgetting anything. That’s not all, though. There are good stories and bad stories—and, according to the poll, humour is a significant contributor when it comes to how “good” a story is. At least, it is when it comes to high schoolers.

After all, in a world with so little light, who wouldn’t want to waste the day away with Dwight and Michael?

Venom falls short of Marvel standard Maggie Teng Reporter

Venom was truly an overall underwhelming experience. The film mainly consists of a cliche and unoriginal plotline, overused villain archetypes, and an underdeveloped (and practically irrelevant) love-interest. Essentially, guy loses girl because of his pride, goes on to have a midlife crisis, discovers a millionare using advanced resources for malicious purposes, then stops the fool genius rich-kid from destroying the world with the ex-girlfriend coming to rescue him. Despite its major downfalls, Venom had a variety of high points, starting with the film connecting to the original Spider-man trilogy through a reference

to the Daily Globe incident from Spider-man 3. Another positive from the film came during the fight sequence between the symbiotic protagonists and antagonists, which was perfectly attention-grabbing. A third (and notable) highlight to the movie was the clear dedication of Tom Hardy (who portrays Eddie Brock) in several grotesque scenes that happen at the beginning of the movie, including a particularly engaging scene where Hardy eats chicken from the depths of a garbage can. To put it simply, this anti-hero movie is enjoyable but falls flat of the benchmark set by its hero counterpart, Spider-man: Homecoming.

IMDB.COM

Although Venom is portrayed as a soul-sucking parasite in the film, a YouTube video by the Film Theorists has put up some evidence that says the opposite may be true. You can check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkSOOB3MYMY.

A Simple Favor stuns viewers Kennedee Henry Reporter

With a decadent soundtrack, a star-studded cast and enough red herrings to keep a lakeside village from years of starvation, A Simple Favor is a modern crime drama that does not fear itself, (although perhaps at times it should). Adapted from Darcey Bell’s thriller novel of the same name, the screenplay explores the relationship between Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), an optimistic single mother with a knack for video blogging and creating the perfect fudge brownies and Emily (Blake Lively), her chic, statuesque new acquaintance.

Brought together by their sons’ friendship and their bored bourgeoise surroundings, the pair are instantly enamored with each other’s lifestyles. Set in the background of Emily’s home, which drips with the same luxury and sophistication as her wardrobe, the two share a couple rounds of spilled martinis and secrets, appearing to be on a path to establishing an unparalleled bond. That is, until Emily disappears, leaving behind her equally debonair husband (Henry Golding), her young child and her picture-perfect life. Emily’s final request to Stephanie? To do her “a simple favor” and retrieve her son from school.

Armed with good-natured intentions and a mother’s intuition, Stepha-

What you should be looking for in The Crimes of Grindelwald In an article published in the summer by Pottermore, the makers of the upcoming film divulged several interesting bits of information. The article, however, prompted more

IMDB.COM

Yates most likely alludes to the various relationships portrayed in the movie: the father-son bond of Dumbledore and Newt, the romance between Tina and Newt (as well as the forbidden love between Queenie and Jacob), and the friendturned-foe relationship between Dumbledore and the film’s main antagonist, Grindelwald.

- Neha Ajjampore, Features Editor

When it comes to the friendship between Stephanie and Emily, it’s easy to relate to the film. We all have that one weird friend that we would do anything for.

nie embarks on a quest to discover the true nature of her dashing new friend’s curious disappearance, entangling herself in the femme fatale’s evasive past. As the plot thickens and the score soars, the seemingly average world of Stephanie and Emily distorts itself into an almost hysterical universe, where everything is a clue and everyone is a victim, a culprit, or a terrible mixture of both.

An enigmatic blend of both classic film noir and comedic goodness, A Simple Favor embraces twists and

turns with fervor—and believe me, there are plenty of them to be seen.

While the latter portions of the film appear to be overzealous, almost surrealist in nature, the majority of the movie’s two-hour duration is an enjoyable time. Like Emily’s pantsuit collection, this film takes a typically masculine genre, dominated by businessmen in tight suits, and adds a dash of loving femininity to it, making it a great movie to accompany a date night for the more mature crowd.

“ ... the themes, I think, are kind of universal and archetypal and timeless, rather than a direct political sort of counterpoint or context. It’s really about the values of tolerance and understanding and a celebration of diversity.”

- Director David Yates

Julianne Sun Reviews Editor

questions than it answered. If you do your research (or if you’ve taken AP Euro), it’s easy to see what some of the big themes of the second installment of FB will be.

The central theme is falling in love, falling out of love, falling in love with an ideology, being drawn into love, being corrupted by love. It all circles around that central premise of love, I think.

- Director David Yates

Considering that FB takes place post-WWI and pre-WWII, Yates may be referring to the deepening divisions between people - the soon-to-be persecution of the Jews and the mistrust between the powerful European nations. The setting draws parallels with what was happening in the Wizarding world - the fear of No-Majs in America, for example.

- Julianne Sun, Entertainment Editor

OCTOBER 2018

BROOKFIELD CENTRAL TYRO

7

editorials

Students vote on volume of voice from student body Lana Behmke Reporter

T

he students who answered “no” argue that the student body can suggest ideas, but nothing suggested is actually carried out or even taken into account. A frequent argument is that the administration does not care about what the student body has to say. Students even stated that only a few selection of students get their voices heard. Other voices of the student body claim that while changes have been made, not all of them benefit the students. Some students actually have the feeling of being totally out of the loop as changes, like Edficiency, are introduced out of the blue, and the students are expected to go along with it.

Those students who answered “yes” have stated their reasoning in

a few different ways. One argument is that changes are made for the well being of the students. The students believe that the body does have a voice, though not one well heard. Additionally. students insist that there are opportunities to speak up, but not everyone may know about them. Another common argument is that the administrators make decisions for the student body’s best interest.

Principal Mr. Gruetzmacher gladly responded to a few questions regarding the subject. He cleared up some of the few more complained about changes, such as with exam changes and Edficiency. With Edficiency, the whole reason started as an attendance tool. Although, the common complaint is that Lancer

block has become much more strict because of it, the whole goal between Edficiency and the previous version were both created to regulate student movement. He has admitted that Edficiency is “about a five”, as it is still new. Mr. Gruetzmacher has admitted that he and the whole administration board does in fact listen to students, but they cannot always change what has been decided.

While there is a silent debate of the voice of the student body, each person does have their opinion and the administrative board does have their reasons. With better communication between the administrative board and the students, and hopefully there will be more compromises will be made in the future.

Is “Edficiency” effective enough?

Sam Patterson Activities Editor

If you are reading this as an upperclassman or teacher, picture two scenarios. In one, a student fumbles with his books after first hour, bounding out of class with only a minute passing time. Luckily, his third hour class is right next door! Quickly, he inputs his pin into the smartboard and sits down with a sigh of relief. In the second, more adverse scenario, a teacher is getting ready to sit back and have her cup of coffee during Lancer Block. Suddenly, a group of rambunctious juniors lazily sign in and gather noisily around a table, ruining the teacher’s time of peace and quiet.

These were both common scenarios that occurred with the old ID Lancer Block system. Now, the system has been replaced by Edificiency, a program that assigns students to a classroom either randomly, by a student’s request, or by a teacher’s request. As with anything, the Edificiency system has pros and cons, but it can be argued that the cons outweigh the pros.

Take the second example, where

a teacher is unable to control a mob of boisterous students. Situations like these were not uncommon with the old Lancer Block system. Other issues included students forgetting to sign in to the system, forcing them to clear up the absence with the attendance office. Edificiency fixes these problems by (unless a gaggle of students remembers to request the same classroom) randomizing the classroom selection and having attendance taken in a standard method (headcount by the teacher). As a sophomore students states, “It is more organized”.

Although many might argue against it, high school students are generally forgetful beings. The Edificiency system simply doesn’t address this idea as much as the ID system.

Sure, students receive classroom reminders via email/text every morning, but they may usually forget to request the class they need to visit every single day. Should they forget to sign up and attend the required class anyway,

an extra step is required to clear up their attendance. John Boschek (‘21) states, “Most students don’t manually sign up for teachers, relying instead on the priorities list that seems to frequently put students in classes they don’t even have.” The website itself could use a more professional look and should be modified to accompany slow load times within the school.

As sophomore Evan Bagwell claims, “People still go on their phones constantly and don’t use block properly.”

Thus, Edificiency is not only largely inconvenient, and doesn’t quite solve a major problem of the ID system.

In the end, can students live with this system? Yes. The system has only been in use fo two months, and changes are always faced with reprehension. In the end, Ediciency could potentially use some modifications and, although it may seem disadvantageous now, this program should eventually settle into Brookfield Central.

ELIANNE DEL CAMPO

Kevin Jacobson (‘19) schedules a Lancer Block session with a teacher using Edficiency. Edficiency was proposed so that teachers can meet with students that need help on assignments and to prevent too many students from attending one session.

Published throughout the year (no June, July, or August issue) by the TYRO staff of Brookfield Central High School, 16900 W. Gebhardt Rd., Brookfield, WI 53005-5199 and printed by American Litho Printing in Milwaukee, WI. Yearly subscriptions will no longer be for purchase. This publication is a public forum. The policy of this newspaper is to inform the Elmbrook community of school and civic activities in a fair, accurate way, and to provide a vehicle for responsible opinions. Letters, columns, and cartoons incorporated within do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of all staff. Written submissions must be signed, are limited to 250 words, and may be refused and/ or edited.

ELIANNE DEL CAMPO

Does the student body have a voice? In a survey sent out to students, out of 86 responses, 64 percent (55 students) answered “no”, while 36 percent (31 students) answered “yes”.

New parking policy sparks controversy among students

CON:

PRO:

When the new parking policy for BC was released over the summer, many were upset. In previous years, the parking at Brookfield Central had been running on a first-comefirst served system, where those who bought parking passes the soonest were allowed to choose where to have their spot for a semester (front, side or back) and were then assigned a random numbered spot. Anyone who bought parking passes after the start of a semester were able to choose from the rest of the available spots.

At the beginning of this year, however, the system was changed so that anyone who had a parking pass could park wherever they wanted, as long as it wasn’t in a staff or visitor designated spot. This new system has multiple downfalls, the first being that there is never a guarantee you will find a spot. Because there are no assigned spots, where one parks changes everyday, and any available spots fill up incredibly quick. This is very unforgiving for students who live far away, are running a bit late, or have SPO, as spots in the morning fill up at around 7:35, and after that it becomes near impossible to find an open area to park and still get into school in time. Because of this, students who live far away have to wake up earlier just to find parking.

Another con that comes with the new policy is that it costs the same price as in previous year: $100 per semester. This is incredibly inconvenient for those students who have trouble getting to school, as they would have paid for parking that they might not even be able to find.

The new Brookfield Central parking policy came under early fire by students and some staff due to the added inconvenience in their morning lives. But I have a dissenting opinion. The new parking policy is very beneficial to all students — in particular, to seniors.

First off, one now has the ability to move one’s parking spot. Last year, I had a horrible parking spot and was always getting stuck behind the buses. Now I don’t have to deal with that; I can park wherever I want.

One may get a bad spot, but that spot won’t be permanent; one can change it the next day if one wants to.

Furthermore, when seniors come back from SPO, there are several available spaces (contrary to what some students may think). When returning from my SPO, there is always an abundance of spots in both the front and back parking lots for the students who want the convenience of an easy entrance or for those who would prefer a longer walk to class.

The new parking policy allows students to have more choices and the ability to choose what they want.

The parking policy adds convenience and choice to our everyday lives. In the real world, we most likely will not have assigned parking spots, so this is just another way that BC is preparing its students for the real world.

Emily Otten Online Editor

Kevin Jacebson Online Editor-in-Chief

Parking Stats

$100 per semester 388 student spots sold

Brookfield Central Tyro 2018-2019 Staff

Homecoming Editors Stephanie Chen, Janani Sundar

Editorials Editor Elianne del Campo

Features Editors Neha Ajjampore, Ananya Rajesh

Sports Editor Rajat Mittal

Business Manager Adarsh Rajaraman

Activities Editors Sam Patterson, Sanjana Tarigoppula

News Editors Stephanie Chen, Janani Sundar

Entertainment Editor Julianne Sun

Halloween Editors Neha Ajjampore, Ananya Rajesh, Sam Patterson, Sanjana Tarigoppula

Editors-in-Chief Stephanie Chen, Kevin Jacobson, Sanjana Tarigoppula Online Editor-in-Chief Kevin Jacobson

Online Editor Emily Otten

Contributing Reporters Neha Ajjampore, Lana Behmke, Leah Cape, Stephanie Chen, Elianne del Campo, Jahnavi Hansaria, Niyati Hansaria, Kennedee Henry, Kevin Jacobson, Nicole Orejula, Emily Otten, Katina Patterson, Sam Patterson, Ananya Rajesh, Julianne Sun, Janani Sundar, Maggie Teng

Adviser Mrs. Ellen Linnihan Printer American Litho Printing Contributing Photographers Elianne del Campo, Brett Gruetzmacher, Alan Herzberg, Sabrina Huang, IMBD.com, Hannah Keehan, Jim Kelsh, Janet Otten, Hannah Prudlow, Nirbhay Vig

8

BROOKFIELD CENTRAL TYRO

OCTOBER 2018

halloween

Fall favorites: how to make pumpkin spice cake Emily Otten Online Editor

PUMPKIN SPICE CAKE This pumpkin spice cake is perfect for the fall, and can add a little bit of that Halloween spirit to any party!

CAKE

STEPS

-2 cups of flour -2 teaspoons baking powder -1 teaspoon baking soda -1 teaspoon salt -1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon -2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice -1 cup vegetable oil -4 large eggs -1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar -1/2 cup granulated sugar -1 can pumpkin puree -1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 12 cup bundt cake 2) In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin spice.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, oil, vanilla extract, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and the pureed pumpkin until all ingredients are fully combined.

4) Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and blend with a mixer until the batter is thick. Pour the batter into the pan and place in the oven with a cookie sheet on a lower rack to catch drips.

5) Cook for 35-40 minutes. The cake will be ready once a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and then let cool for about an hour.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

STEPS

-8 ounces full-fat block cream cheese -1/2 cup unsalted butter -3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar -1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract -1/8 teaspoon salt

Halloween tips and tricks Katina Patterson Reporter

1) Allow butter and cream cheese to soften to room temperature.

2) With a mixer in a large bowl, beat cream and butter until creamy.

3) Add in the vanilla, salt, and confectioners’ sugar and beat on low speed for about a minute and then high speed for two minutes.

4) Mix orange gel food coloring into the frosting once fully mixed.

5) Allow the cake to cool completely, then use a spatula or knife to ice around the edges of the cake until fully coated.

6) If desired, use black icing to create a face on the cake for more of a jack-o’-lantern look.

SPINE-CHILLING SCAVENGER HUNT

Katina Patterson Reporter

Halloween is undoubtedly one of the best nights of the year.

Whether handing out candy to monsters, superheroes, and princesses, or becoming one yourself, the fun is everlasting. But how can you make this night as enjoyable as possible? Here are a few tips and tricks to make your Halloween the best it can be:

Get creative: The possibilities of what you can dress up as are endless, so be as creative as you can get. If buying a costume isn’t an option, there are many ways to DIY a costume whether it be a favorite book/movie character or an iconic celebrity look. If you’re looking for some out-of-the-box costume ideas, try turning a phrase into a funny costume, like a “deviled egg” (egg+devil costume) or “Hawaiian Punch” (hula dancer+boxing gloves). For more ideas, check out Halloween Costume DIYs Coordinating your costume with the group that you’re going with is another great option.

Make sure you feel comfortable:

It’s the one day of the year you can choose to be anything you want, and you won’t want an irritating costume to get in the way of your fun. If it is too cold, add extra layers, and if it’s too hot, take off a layer if needed. You’ll also want to trim the bottoms of your sleeves if they are too long, that way you won’t have to worry about tripping or having any extra unneeded cloth getting in your way. Make sure your costume isn’t too tight, loose, itchy or generally uncomfortable. Wear comfy shoes that might match with your costume, so that you can enjoy the night pain-free.

Plan a route: In the middle of a night of trick-or-treating, you shouldn’t have to worry about which way to go. Instead, plan a route beforehand so that you’ll know exactly which way to go and what houses you’ll want stop by.

Go with a group: Going with a group is not only much safer than going alone, but it’s also more fun when you’re with friends.

Stay well-lit: When it gets dark out, make sure you can be seen by other trick or treaters or by passing cars. You can incorporate lights into your costume, or bring a flashlight and some glow sticks.

Finally, make sure to stay safe and have a fun Halloween night!

BC TRICK-OR-TREAT ACTIVITIES Key Club: Trick-or-Treat for Unicef DECA: Trick-or-Can

GHOUL PUMPKIN CANDY SPIDER GRAVE POTION

SPOOKY WEREWOLF WITCH TREAT GHOST TRICK

VAMPIRE BLOOD SKELETON SKULL CREEPY HORROR

MASK MONSTER JACKOLANTERN FRANKENSTEIN HAUNTEDHOUSE