TheBlazer : The Roots of Timberline

Timberline high school’s student run publication l March 2023

The Roots of Timberline

Timberline students share their cultural backrounds and if they feel represented or not.

With Timberlines recent moves to represent more cultures students share if they feel if it is adequate or not, and if their culture is equally represented.

letter from the editor

Dear Readers,

This school year we have seen Timberline return to some normalcy, something seniors haven’t experienced since freshman year, and something all other classes haven’t experienced at all. With a lot of uncertainty behind us and ahead of us TheBlazer attempts to move forward.

With our new larger staff we delve into topics that are deep within the roots of Timberline. Looking to learn about the variety of cultures at Timberline? Then read The Roots of Timberline on page 16-17, which explores the vast amount of cultures here at Timberline, the ones that are represented and the ones that are not. Interested in the cars that fill up our parking lot? Then read Need For Speed on pages 4-5, there you can find the students and staff who are passionate about their cars. Maybe you need a new club to join. Then explore the Climate Action Club on page 25. There are many more articles present in this magazine which dive into lifestyle and culture in the school, read them and find out more.

TheBlazer staff is trying to achieve the former prestige and notoriety we used to have. We apologize for the lateness of this issue, and strive to work with the student body to produce a magazine that represents and is important to the students of Timberline. We’d appreciate it if you took your time to give this regenerating news magazine a chance.

-The 2022-2023 staff

editor in chief

Cooper Smith

2022-2023

assistant editor digital editor staff writers

Caitlin Grygorcwicz

Annika Nelson

Cate Abbey

Julie Arana

Nia Barrow

Lucio Castanos

Sana Farhat

Kylee Haury

Javan Jimenez

Emily Kerns

Aidan Lu

Lily Lovegood

Nathan Rim

Samara Sarte

Max Wright

Cooper Smith Editor-in-Chief

Need for Speed

The different types of cars in Timberlines parking lot.

By staff writer Julie Arana

Mazda Miata NA 1995

Entering Timberline’s parking lot, you’ll hear the distant modified exhaust of a Mazda Miata NA 1995, Chevy Cobalt SS, and many more

Most people think having a car would benefit their dating life. But unfortunately, for Junior Mason Hunt, Although he has a car, he claims he still has “no game.”

Similar to Hardebeck, Hunt chose not to name his car and said that he has no plans on naming it in the future. According to Hunt, his Mazda Miata NA 1995 moves “ really slow. Like, slow.” Cars have always been a big thing in Mason’s family. While working with his family on his car, he’s added halo headlights, aftermarket shocks and floor mats, BMW radio and speakers, and much more. Hunt used building cars as a way to bond with his dad and stepdad. Shortly after being interviewed, Hunt crashed his car leading to getting it repaired.

How does your car reflect your personality and self image? “My car is a great representation of my self-image because I love to work on things that include my hands and my mind. Though cars have always been a big thing in my family, building my car was a great way to bond with both my dad and my stepdad.”

How does your car reflect your personality and self image?

Mercedes Benz C 300

Senior Ken Umel’s love for cars was heavily influenced by Tokyo Drift and many old Japanese drift car DVDs. Many people recognize Umel as the “one who owned the red loud Toyota Celica.” He recently sold it and now has a Mercedes Benz c 300. He first got his love for cars by going to a car show with his dad back in 2012. During the car show, Umel saw his first love car wise, the Nissan 240 SX. Umel could recall the exact time, day, weather, and feeling he felt the second he saw this car. “It looked so cool. It was during winter time, I’ll never forget.” He currently doesn’t have a name for his car but would love to name his dream car, the Nissan 240 SX, after his first human love, Angelina. “My first love car is named after my first love.” Umer has made many changes to his Mercedes Benz c 300. He first added a new exhaust system, spoiler, rear diffuser, C63 army rims, stage 2 tune, and KW coilovers. There are many changes Ken wants to make in the future such as adding a new engine from a Toyota Supra.

“Each modification on my car reflects my self-image. You can read a lot about a person from the car they drive. Most of the time it is more information about their lifestyle and priorities, rather than personality.”

22 Civic Sport

Walking through the parking lot, You’ll see subtle anime stickers from Jujitsu Kaizen and Hunter x Hunter on a 22 Civic sport, which belongs to Senior Sonny Nguyen Nguyen got his love for cars through his brother. He started doing stuff with his car so I started doing things with mine too.” Sonny got his Civic in May of 2022. Since then, he’s added a new front lip, purchased a new spoiler, and a rain visor.

How does your car reflect your personality and self image?

“I like to change a lot, the same goes for my car, I can’t have it just have one look. I constantly change something about it.”

Convertible Mazda Miata MX 5

Daniel Hardebeck , a teacher here at timberline, drives two cars to school but the one that caught the most attention was his Convertible Mazda Miata MX 5.

If Hardebeck had the chance to get any car he wanted, he would drive a 1962 Shelby, which is currently a one of a kind, high sale priced car. When asked to explain his car, Hardebeck stated that “ It’s not really an expensive car, basically a high-tech go kart.”

How does your car reflect your personality and self image?

“I realize a lot of people might look at my car and say it’s indulgent, impractical, and materialistic. True, but ‘Seize the Day!’ Who doesn’t want to have a little black convertible, at least once in their life? Live deeply and drive in the fast lane, I say.”

Freshmen Unmasked

A look into Post-COVID interactions between Freshmen

by staff writer Max Wright

More than half of Timberline’s student body has never known a high school career without the shadow of the 2020 Covid Lockdown. The class of 2023 had only a semester of their high school career before online learning became the norm. The Covid-19 lockdown has undoubtedly shaped the entire student body’s view on school work and socialization.

But unlike the classes of ‘23, ‘24 and ‘25 The freshman class of 2026 had the majority of their middle school experience restricted by safety precautions and online courses only to emerge from the chaos in a new stage of their life, the beginning of their high school career at Timberline; without the strict in-person regulations of the 2021-22 school year.

It’s no secret that online learning was not easy, many students as well as teachers expressed difficulty maintaining motivation and progress throughout the year in such an unstructured environment. Erin Feltman, Timberline’s French Teacher, explained that her biggest challenge teaching online was “Getting used to Google Meet and not knowing if my students were there paying attention.”

64.5 percent according to OSPI. But lockdown didn’t just take away students’ valuable class time and structure; it also took away many of the social events and experiences that shape someone’s middle school career. “I feel like I missed out on a bunch of social stuff, meeting new people and that was all because of quarantine,” Said Tyler Premo, a freshman here at Timberline. Forming what most students feel is a clear distinction between the underclassmen who had primarily middle school affected by covid and the upperclassmen who felt the most affects on their High School career

Although this is not true for all parties, Both Feltman and History Teacher Renee Kilcup have noticed that this student gratitude may not last much longer, When asked if she believed Timberline would ever get back to a Pre-lockdown state Kilcup said, “Yes, In fact all i think all it takes is to set the standards as such”

64.5% of the 24’ class passed all their classes their freshman yer

In 2020 after the implementation of online learning into the 2020- 2021 school year attendance dropped three percent to only eighty eight percent of students attending school regularly, according to the state office of superintendent of public instruction. But many teachers and students know that a number of those students “in attendance” during that school year were not behind that blank screen. Many students expressed difficulty keeping up with online learning. Max Daves, a freshman at Timberline, said that his biggest challenge keeping up with it all was simply the fact that “Sometimes stuff just didn’t work, and it just wasn’t fair to some kids,”. Many students didn’t have access to a stable internet connection and many more did not have access to a sustainable work environment. This undoubtedly was behind the issues in attendance we saw in the 20202021 school year.

From the 2018-19 school year to the 2019-2020 school year an increasing number of incoming freshmen are on track, passing their courses. However in the 2020-21 school year the number of those students fell drastically behind from 84 percent on track to graduate to

Now, without three years of monthly Act Nights (Social gatherings sponsored by the district for middle school students), after school clubs, and even the experience of a chaotic lunchroom many freshmen are now excited to throw themselves into the Timberline social scene. All Timberline can hope now is that future classes continue on the class of 2026’s trend of gratitude to explore the culture of Timberline without the hindrance of social distancing/ safety guidelines.

72.6% of the 25’ class passed all of their classes their freshman year

Above social studies teacher Renee Kilcup educates her students

Renee Kilcup’s freshmen class do their assignment on the chromebooks

New Staff in Timberline

Explore some of the new staff at our school

By staff writer Kylee Haury

Wondering where staff have worked previously or what they do in their free time? Some of this year’s new staff members at Timberline were asked about their hobbies, interests, and responsibilities here at school and why they decided on the careers they did and their future plans.

Commuting all the way from Tacoma, new staff member Annie Khoeler is already fully involved in the Timberline community. In addition to teaching health, child development and independent living she assists in coaching volleyball and is the advisor of Health Occupations for Students of America club.

Khoeler is among the newest of the staff members at Timberline. Previously she worked at River Ridge High School and Napavine Academy. Something interesting about Khoeler is that she is a bit of a thrillseeker and has actually been skydiving. When she was invited to work at Timberline she joyously accepted, ready to finally teach more subjects than just health and have the opportunity to work at the same school as her very own SISTER.

cars and head to class on time. Taylor says he wants to be a shoulder students can lean on if they need. He wants students to see him as a “second dad”. Additionally Taylor is a position coach for football and track. Outside of school his hobbies include sports and raising his three children who are seven, five, and one years old.

An interesting piece of information about Taylor is that he actually had a full college scholarship for football in highschool and was even scouted by THE Cardinals! He also played arena football for 17 years and traveled all over, including Virginia, California and Hawaii.

For the other part of his time when he isn’t protecting his community and raising his kids, Taylor works at night part time for Amazon. He works as something called a “yard hostler” which means he is in charge of parking the large containers in anticipation of scheduled shipments. Taylor says he is a master at parking and parallel parking thanks to Amazon.

When asked if he thought he would leave Timberline to work somewhere else he said “I’m a for lifer.” Taylor favors getting to see his influence on students and his ability to change their lives and disfavors the parts of his job when he has to get students in trouble, he said. He tries to guide students down better, safer routes.

Taylor says to be a good security guard here at the high school you have to be just as sneaky as the kids. If not sneakier, then two steps ahead. The thanks he gets from students is the most rewarding part of the job.

“A student gave me a long heartfelt thank you letter soon after winter break and stuff like that, being able to see the positive influence I have on students is why I do this job,” said Taylor These three staff members are just a few of the many new additions at Timberline from this 2022-23 school year.

“I enjoy how much school spirit there is here and the strong sense of community,” she said.

Another newcomer to Timberline is Michael Van Buskirk. Originally from Idaho, and a former English teacher of 14 years, Van Buskirk is Timberline’s new counselor. She has one son who goes to North Thurston High School. After 16 years of commuting up to an hour for her past jobs Van Buskirk is happy to be just three miles from her job.

Van Buskirk is responsible for counseling her caseload of students, assisting students with Financial Aid forms and helping students with scholarships figuring out career options. When asked what her favorite part of teaching was, she said she really enjoys building relationships with students and being someone they can talk to and come to with their problems.

“Not everybody has that and it really makes the difference when you do,” said Van Buskirk, who knew she wanted to be a teacher from age 5.

A newer face you may have seen around school and in the parking lot is Timberline’s new part-time security guard Nian Taylor. He protects the campus as well as encourages students to get out of their

New Teacher Annie Khoeler picutured above helping a student

Nian Taylor posing in front of the school.

Racing to Success

Meet Senior Charlotte-Anne Boyer

By Annika Nelson

It is not often that a high school student can say that they have their life together, but many agree that Senior Charlotte-Anne Boyer may be the exception.

With a near perfect 3.986 GPA, a position as president of the National Honors Society, and a title of co-captain of the Timberline Cross Country team, Boyer acts as a role model for many students.

Waking up at 5:20 every morning, Boyer knows exactly how her day is going to look. By the time 6:40 comes around, she has already completed her bike ride to school and has begun working as a zero-hour TA. That structure is what helps her keep everything under control.

Not many students find themselves enjoying school, but Boyer finds what works for her. The average student spends about 15,210 hours in school in their lives. With so much of your life spent in school, it is important to find some way to make it work for you. Boyer has found that tactic, and it makes a difference. “Charlotte-Anne has a way of searching for and finding what makes each subject fascinating,” said English teacher Daniel Hardebeck

Another important factor when it comes to her academic success is that she doesn’t expect anybody to do all of her work for her. When she is struggling academically, she would rather learn from it, than just have it solved for her. “When Charlotte-Anne sought help, she wanted to talk through a problem together so that she could learn something,” said Hardebeck, who taught her as a junior, and who she now assists as a TA. This approach helps her continue her life without having to worry about coming across those same issues again.

Dedicating herself to learning helps

keep Boyer successful. She understands that to make sure her future looks how she wants it to, she has to prioritize her academics. With plans to go Pre-Med at the University of Montana, she needs to make sure she has extracurriculars that she both enjoys and which also look good on her transcripts. And that is where the National Honors Society comes in.

Since joining both this and Timberline’s Cross Country Team, she has learned a lot about advocating for herself. “You have to rely on the people around you to get to where you need to be,” she said. “It is hard to be an individual, you need any support system that you can get.” Sometimes, that can be difficult. Boyer has learned that asking for help is incredibly hard but also is the most important part in making herself a priority.

These positions have highlighted her natural leadership skills. English Teacher and Cross Country Coach Jamie Sullivan gave her insight into this. “People just respect her, and she doesn’t demand that respect, or even ask for it.” Sullivan said, “She just quietly, maturely, sets the standard, and it’s a standard that other people will follow.” Boyer is extremely dedicated to her responsibilities, and through example, she leads her teammates and classmates to do the same.

Sullivan shared that recently, after a friend and teammate of Boyer’s was struggling with personal issues, Boyer instinctively knew what was needed to help her get back on her feet. This is one characteristic of hers that can be seen across all of her endeavors. Whether it be running 400s with a teammate to help her feel empowered, or cracking jokes with people having a hard day, Boyer often gives the exact help that is needed, even if she doesn’t realize she is doing it.

She also doesn’t allow her busy schedule to negatively impact her social life. Her lunch table is regularly full and she is quite often laughing alongside her friends. While she doesn’t specifically prioritize her social life, she is extremely close to her teammates.

After 7 years of Cross Country, Boyer says she “would describe it as a second family.” She believes the community is a big part of what makes Cross Country so special. This community stays just as strong after the final race too. In the off season, at times, she is out running local races with some of her teammates, and she said she makes “a point to say hello to the members when passing them in the hallways.”

Most of her friend group is woven into her classes and teams, which makes it far easier to focus on her responsibilities, while still maintaining those meaningful relationships. With so many obligations, some wonder how she handles it. One of the biggest things she has focused on is finding time for herself. She listens to music while doing her homework, tackles baking projects on the weekends, and knits and crochets in her free time.

Another key to her success is her ability to find her priorities. “She’s very strategic in the way she uses her time,” Sullivan said, “and so she is able to take on a lot.” Once she knows what is expected of her, she makes sure she knows the order of importance, so that she can tackle these tasks in a way that doesn’t overwhelm her. She also understands that sometimes school needs to be her top priority, so she will take a step back from her sports to make sure she is successful.

Her advice to those who are struggling with stress is to take breaks. “It is okay to step back and say ‘this is becoming a little bit much,’” Boyer said. “But, also make sure to have the time for yourself.”

Above: Boyer answers individual questions after the first National Honors Society meeting of the school year

T-Line Semester 1 Recap

Little moments captured from the start of Timberlines 2022-23 school year

All photos provided by Editor Caitlin Grygorcewicz

1. Deonzie Gray along with the rest of the Timberlines Dance Team preform at the homecoming assembly

2. Ths cheer launches tee shirts into the croud

3. Levi White preformes his new song at the student talent show

4. Timberline students get ready to cheer in the student section

5. Sarah Linggi celebraes with her teamates

6. The Blazer football team watches their teamates from the sidelines

7. Will Roraback grins after scoring a point in his match

8. ASB President Ethan Hong rallies the blazer student section

9. Timberline Theateres production of the Yearbook

10. Franz Mullen and Lizette Arana awaitng the results

11. A Timberline tradition the peppy pooper

High School in the US vs on the other side of the world

By Sana Farhat

Imagine teachers trading classrooms each class period, instead of students. For some exchange students here at Timberline, they don't need to imagine this scenario. They lived it.

Several differences exist between high school internationally and high school here. The number of subjects taught seemed to be the biggest difference. In Lebanon students learn 10-14 subjects in a week. Sod-Erdene Naranbaatar, a junior from Mongolia said they learn 16 subjects in a week. Olya Tsvilyuk, a senior at Timberline from Ukraine, said in her home country students learn 18 in a week. To fit in all of these subjects, students don’t have the same routine schedule everyday. So a student may have a biology class on Mondays and Thursdays, but not on other days of the week.

High school structures are also different. High school students in Lebanon, Mongolia, Spain and Denmark tend to stay in the same class with the same people all year and teachers would circulate from one class to another. “We stayed in the same classroom for all classes with the same 20 people, I knew all of them really well,” said Milla Fisker Frydendahl, a junior exchange student from Denmark.Fisker Frydendahl is on the girls cross country and girls basketball team. The consistency strengthens relationships between students. But on the other hand, Tsvilyuk said “having different people in different classes makes you meet more people. Neither of the structures is worse or better, they're just different.”

High school affects student social life and lifestyle. Lots of American high school students have part-time jobs because they have the chance to. Meanwhile, it’s really uncommon in other places, like Ukraine, Mongolia, and Lebanon. The majority does not have enough time for that, much more time gets consumed studying.

Most of the time high school students outside the U.S. do not get to choose their classes, or the choices are slim. In Spain, they get to choose some of their classes. In Denmark students get to choose the language they learn in. In Lebanon students get to choose branches junior year. A student can choose the STEM or the human interest branch. The choice of classes gives the student body more diversity and it has lots of positive effects. In the U.S. every student has a unique schedule.

High Schools around thge world. By Sana Farhat and submissions from Olya Tsvilyuk and SodErdene "Sodi" Naranbaatar.

These unique schedules mean that students vary their study time in the U.S. The Blazer Staff gathered some information about the number of hours spent studying by Timberline High School students through a social media poll. Forty percent of Timberline students said they don’t study at all, 25% said they study for two to four hours, 23% for two hours to one hour, and 13% for 30 mins- one hour. Out of the six exchange students, five agreed that US high schools are much more spirited than high schools in their home

country. Schools in their home countries are more focused on learning and education.Some of them had dances but there are many fewer fun events happening around, like clubs, activities, spirit days and assemblies.

Timberline High School has lots of activities including assemblies, spirit weeks, and clubs. All of these build school spirit. ASB President Ethan Hong said that school spirit takes a lot of work. “[School Spirit] represents unity,” he said. “[The] school can come together as one. It’s something I’m passionate about. I love how the school’s ethnic diversity, and how the school has the mentality to improve,”How would you think your life would’ve been different if you went to high school somewhere else?

Left to right: Suttikarn "Peam" Thammacharoenrat (from Thialand), OLya Tsvilyuk (from Ukraine), Alvaro Jimenez Ferrero(from Spain)

The Roots of Timberline

Timberline High school students come from a variety of backgrounds, but many students feel they aren’t represented and celebrated in the ways they see their peers celebrated.

The Roots of Timberline

A look into Timberline's own student body and there take on culture

By Editor Caitlin Grygorcewicz

At Timberline High School, We have a large diverse student body. Students from many different cultures come together to learn and grow as people. With the lasting effects of COVID-19, representation is now as important as ever.

Some people feel as if their cultures are being cast aside. Timberline holds its own Cultural Awareness Assembly that resonates around students' backgrounds. This assembly used to be a huge event that brought students together; however last year people knew little to nothing about it. The feeling of some students being cast aside and COVID-19 making a huge impact on how the school's environment has changed.

Rameza Ujan As Timberlines Cultural Awareness Club Vice President, has insights about herself and others cultures being a Muslim student who is very involved in several activities relating to culture at Timberline. (when asked) About her own personal experiences with representation she states “A lot of people look up to me for how I personally represent my culture in school.” Her interactions with everyone make this shine through, she mentions particular things that have stuck with her and the impact mentioning, “Our principal (who) waits every Friday for me to show up in cultural clothes and shows it off to others.”

Kingsley

He goes on to explain why he thinks the reason is saying “we haven't exactly dealt with any rough things like, obviously with Native Americans they have had their lands been colonized here. that's just one of many examples to be honest”. He goes on to say “I don't think Islanders are really being represented out here, mainly because we don't have lots of our population here but we let them know we're here.”

RamezaUjan

Fail more than you succeed Rani Narayan

Tuiaana, a senior this year at Timberline High School, touched on how he already sees people learning and spreading culture saying “I have had people come up to me and ask things like, hey, what's the meaning behind all of this and that, and they get their answers.” He elaborates saying “It's so awesome when people come up to me in person and ask.”

On that thought Perez touches on is the scheduling of a theme this year at one of Timberlines football games. Football usually has themed games to show spirit but this one sparked a bit of controversy. “They shouldn't have scheduled the American theme on Mexican Independence Day for the game.” He goes on to explain that, “It made me feel unappreciated because in the U.S, Independence Day is a very big day for Americans yet you don’t see other individuals trying to discredit them. At least now they know that next time they should double check the dates and themes.”

Speaking of not being represented, Ujan mentions the goals of her club to “spread culture in the school but also outside of it and around the district.” One of those big projects that Ujan touched on was the Cultural Awareness Assembly.

KingslyTuiaana

The inclusivity Ujan feels isn't a common thought, Isaac Osuna-Perez, a junior here at Timberline High School, touches on students' attitudes when bringing up culture mentioning “I feel that's kind of just a thing that the students have to do, not just with Hispanic culture but the tons of other cultures throughout the school, it's mostly the students who I see encouraging culture.” When asking Tuiaana about how he feels his culture is represented around the school he says, “from what I've seen, no not really. I don't really see that much about Islanders outside of the Cultural Awareness Club and when we perform that's really it”

“Because of Covid-19 the assembly had lost its importance, so our goal was to bring back the importance and the value of it being one of those powerful things that combines different cultures and gets people to respect you and your race,” Ujan states, “it's kind of like introducing yourself through your own culture and race you know?”

“It's just enjoying sharing your own culture with people.” says Tuiaana about his own view on the Cultural Awareness Assembly last year. When speaking about his group he explains “I feel like the whole point of the cultural awareness assembly was to share our culture and allow other people to sort of dive into it as well. But we sort of didn't do that by keeping our group strictly Islander which sort of defeats the purpose.”

Perez brings this up discussing his thoughts on the assembly saying “it's probably one of if not the best assemblies in the school year, it just felt like there could have been more representation for others”.

Ujan brought up her opinions on promotion. She touched on the difficulty of getting in touch with people all around the district. “We aim to stay in contact with other schools, their events, dates and fit the schedules accordingly, but because of a lack of communication we couldn't really do that.”

Despite the cultural awareness assembly the district hasn't done much to recognize its own students. Last year with the protests outside of River Ridge High School, students performed week long walkouts pretesting about the handling

of harm done to Black, Indigenous and people of color students and other marginalized communities.

This isn't the only harm the district has done its students of color in November of 2020 North Thurston School District grouped Asian and White students together because their test scores were roughly the same. All other students of color besides Asians were put in a separate category. This sparked a reaction of outrage and hurt.

Students want to share and celebrate with each other but it's hard when the district is setting such a bad example and doing more harm than good. Instead of causing outrage in our communities between different ethnic groups we should enjoy the rich diversity in our schools and learn about their different cultures.

Accoring to Washinton state OSPI theres are the statistics of students races/ethnicitys that were enrolled in their respective year. The first business day in October is used as the enrollment count date for all schools and districts in Washington state.

Graphic Credits To Annika Nelson

Soccer VS Football

The Blazer Staff discusses if the sport is called soccer or football

It’s soccer unless it’s an international team. Basically, call it what the other team does.

- Cate Abbey

I think that Soccer is correct because British people call it football and I absolutely refuse to let the British win! RAHHHHHH AMERICA!

- Max Wright

Coming from someone who grew up calling it football, that’s all I’ll ever call it.

-Julie Arana

Honestly there isn’t a wrong answer, but in my opinion soccer isn’t just an International term, depends on who you are and where you’re from to call it what it is, but I believe it’s soccer.

-Javan Jimenez

It’s football because I’m right, you’re wrong, and the rest of the world says it. But if America is playing in the World Cup, then it’s soccer because RAHHHHHHHH.

- Aidan Lu

I don’t wanna create any controversies

- Nathan Rim

Are we safe?

With the rise of gun violence in schools, a student tackles a proposed safety measure

By Caitlin Grygorcewicz

American schools in the 20th century are not safe. When I talk to my friends and the people around me no one feels safe. School has become a place of fear and not of enrichment. The rise of gun violence has had an astronomical effect on today’s society and especially its youth. The conversation has arrived at a place that is very alarming, lawmakers and schools are starting to bring in the idea of teachers and administrators being armed in the classroom. The concept of a teacher having to have a firearm in the room to protect students is so jarring. Lawmakers and schools have come to the decision that the last drastic measure to protect their students is the very thing that kills them is mind-numbing.

It’s sad to me that these lawmakers are not listening to the people who are affected by these shootings and have to live with it every day. Teachers didn’t sign up to protect their students with a gun, they wanted to shape the minds of the youth and make an impact. No one wanted to teach kids where to hide or what to defend themselves with in case someone came into the classroom with a gun. These fears are very real and me being a student myself I have to deal with them every day.

According to a study done by Education Week, There were 51 school s hootings in 2022 that resulted in injuries or deaths, the most in a single year since they began tracking such incidents in 2018. Now compare this to the number of school shootings in 2018 where there were only 24 incidents. There should not be this dramatic gap or any numbers at all for that matter.

Some may argue guns aren’t the issue, mental health is. Then why are you making guns so easy for mentally ill people to obtain then? Also in a study done by the National Library of medicine only around 4% of gun violence is caused by mental health. If this is such a big issue, why are you not doing anything about it ? Is it just to make it easier for you to play with an AR-15 while kids are being shot and killed by one in english class.

Gun culture in America is out of hand and deadly. Four-in-ten adults say they live in a household with a gun, including 30% who say they personally own one according to a study done by a Pew Research Center. And keep in mind that’s only the documented ones. The laws surrounding gun ownership are way too loose and allow too many people who shouldn’t own a gun to obtain one. In the U.S in most cases you only have to be 18-years-old to obtain a firearm. That’s a kid, not a full grown adult. The background checks run for gun ownership are clearly not as solid as they may seem. With the addition to stricter laws it would cut these shootings down significantly and hopefully one day down to zero.

There have been 80 mass shootings in 2023 so far

There have been 58 days in 2023 so far

*these data points were recorded on feburary 27th, 2023 *data taken from gunviolencearchive.org

Behind the mask

See the faces which have been hidden behind a mask

By Samara Sarte

If asked what was the most disruptive part of the COVID-19 pandemic many people say that it was one’s ability to interact with others socially. Humans on a basic level need social interaction to satisfy our natural need of companionship and connection. This is usually done through social interaction with others. However, with the global pandemic meant social distancing was used to mitigate the spread of the virus. Now things are finally returning to normal, but concerns exist whether the isolation permanently altered the way we interact with others.

One concern is that more and more students have become disinterested in connecting with others. At the height of the pandemic the majority of people had no way to physically interact with one another. Most interactions were done through a screen. Later in the year, the option for hybrid learning opened up. Yet it was still difficult for many to form meaningful relationships with others.

The use of face masks also contributed to an atmosphere of seclusion as it made it difficult for others to read facial expressions. Junior Callie Carlson explained that because of face masks she often “overcompensates for facial expressions” so that others can fully understand her thoughts. Many students went through half of the school year not even seeing friends’ faces.

However with the face mask policy repealed and COVID cases lessening life started settling back to normal. We now go to school without wearing masks and can mingle freely with friends.

For this year’s Homecoming dance students could invite guests from other schools, something that was not available last year because of COVID regulations. Assemblies are back in full force because there are no more restrictions on the amount of people that can gather in the gym.

while there are people who are secluded and less inclined to talk to others, he observes that most of the people he encountered are just as social now as they were pre-pandemic times.

Zandrea Edenstrom, a science department teacher, offers the explanation that while Covid may have influenced the way students interact today a more important factor on why students may have been more reticent in engaging in social interactions is the changes in our method of learning. “The idea of school has changed a lot with the ability to be so independent,” She said. “A lot of kids would rather independently learn while prior to technology being such a thing you didn’t really have an opportunity to learn independently.”

Yet many students still use Covid as an excuse to avoid social interactions. “People would just be like, ‘Oh I don’t feel like I can work in a group because of Covid,’” said junior Zoe Reynolds. “It’s a very convenient excuse.”

Prior to Covid it was difficult to back out of a social obligation but it’s now easier than ever to do so. People just say they can’t attend because of Covid.

So does that mean Covid led to people becoming more distant with each other? Junior Elliot Pearson disagrees. “I see a lot of people talking still and hanging out in big crowds.” Pearson acknowledges that

Science teacher Zandrea Edenstrom helping a student

Edenstrom further explains that lack of socialization doesn’t always stem from the anxiety brought on by Covid but rather a growing preference within students to work alone.

It seems that while Covid created obstacles in the way we interact with others it is ultimately up to the individual on whether or not to be social. Covid itself provided reasons and excuses to avoid others but there were multiple preceding factors that influence the social behaviors of students today. With more time and distance between the pandemic things have started returning to prior social dynamics. However things will never fully return to how they were previously.

Juinor Zoe Reynolds pictured above

The Art of Hard Work

By Cate Abbey

Loralai Finnegan embodied work ethic when she landed her art in the Seattle Asian Art Museum in May of 2022. Now a sophomore in AP Art, Finnegan continues to work hard and practice relentlessly to accomplish the level of art displayed in the exhibit.

Finnegan started to take art

Finnegan at Clear Lake

Finnegan also just won the Juror Award for the state wide Superintendenst High School Art Show.

Finnegan’s enthusiasm for learning in general is what Potter believes makes her such an outstanding student. In addition to her natural talent, Finnegan works hard to perfect her images. “She put in more hours than I’ve ever seen,” Potter said.

When the Just Kids Exhibition looked for applicants, Potter sent Finnegan the link because Potter knew she would be interested in the opportunity. It was the student’s own independence and interest that got her accepted.

Both pieces that made it into the exhibit started out as assignments for Potter’s class but morphed into so much more.

“[Finnegan] is really good at going above and beyond, not just for the assignment’s sake, but for her artist growth sake,” Potter said. Finnegan doesn’t put in the hours because she wants the A, she does it because she’s equally passionate about art and about improvement. When she first got the email, Finnean said she jumped up and down and ran to her mom. But after that, the initial thrill faded. It wasn’t until she went to see her artwork in person, that she truly felt ecstatic. Upon turning the corner at the museum, Finnegan watched as two strangers viewed her pieces for the first time, and she later called it the best feeling in the world.

One of the pieces, “The World Around Me” stood out to Potter as one of Finnegan’s first pieces that really blew her away. A general favorite among family and friends, this piece was Finnegan’s first “successful gouache painting.”

When asked her favorite technical and emotional things about art, Finnegan shared that she views art as an outlet for life and values the texture it has compared to a photograph. Getting close enough to a painting to see the brush strokes is one of Finnegan’s favorite things. As for emotional aspects, “It’s kind of like I’ve done it for so long that it’s become a part of who I am,” Finnegan said.

seriously in January of 2021, “I did a portrait for my art class… It was really, really bad.” This motivated her to improve her skills and people slowly became her favorite subject to draw.

Another motivator for Finnegan is her best friend, Mandy Trinh, who’s own artistic skill and passion helps inspire and push her. Finnegan talked about how helpful it is to have someone to bounce ideas off of and Trinh mirrored the sentiment.

“We try to push the other out of their comfort zone,” Trin said. Finnegan also called Trinh her biggest supporter throughout the museum process and her artistic endeavors in general.

As art became more of a focus in her life, Finnegan had to find ways to fit it into an already hectic schedule. Being an honors student, volleyball player, and avid runner left little time for her passion. Of each day, Finnegan’s secret is to prioritize her art and take out an hour at the end of each day to draw.

Finnegan gave more insight on her artist process. Her all time favorite medium is pencil, but she is growing into a big fan of gouache paint, a more opaque watercolor, as well. Frequently opting for her ultramarine blue over black to add some depth and life.

Finnegan explained how her mom let her do little things in baking, like pouring in oil, and how her journey as an artist parallelled that. As she grew up, Finnegan took both into her own hands, “Then it turned into me making my own types of muffins, my own art, using my own ideas.”

The artist also said,”The way I learned how to draw was in grayscale, so switching to colors was difficult”, but her art teacher, Liesel Potter, disagrees. Potter went as far as to say that “It was like a light bulb moment for her when we were going over color theory.” Potter expanded on the idea saying that Loralai picked up color theory incredibly quickly and that it made a big impact on her art saying that it made her growth “explode”.

The artist’s friend, Addison Daukas, shed some light on Finnegan’s incorporation of art in other aspects of her life. Daukas is always impressed by the level of Finnegan’s designs for posters, promotions, and other artistic aspects of Finnegan’s class office job. She said that Finnegan also puts her skills to use in class, often drawing maps in her history notes.

Daukas believes that one thing that makes Finnegan stand out is her dedication to quality. “If Loralai Finnegan makes something, it’s good,” Daukus said. She expanded on it later saying that Finnegan doesn’t do things half-way, she puts an incredible amount of effort into every aspect of her life.

Potter spoke multiple times of Finnegan’s determination and tenacity as an artist, calling it her most admirable quality, “She puts in a huge amount of effort. And that’s what it takes to get better.”

The World Around Me by Loralai Finnegan

Action for Climate Action

The importance of climate action and community involvement

By Lucio Castanos

Nearly every Friday at Timberline, a group of volunteer students, assists the school in looking as good outside, as it does on the inside. Filled with bright and future-set minds, the Timberline Climate Action Club works to spread awareness of climate change and its very personal effects on North Thurston.

During these action hours, teens can “..do manageable actions to like sign petitions, send letters [to government officials] and do some change” as stated by Lewis. Change can come from anyone, and as more climate-related issues come about it seems to rely on the younger generations to take initiative. Whilst at this event, TCAT’s Communication Manager, Alice Grendon had some thoughts for the future of the TCAT as well as the subject at hand of younger generations participating.

These die-in’s are for the purpose of asking Thurston County to call a climate emergency. Other events that are accesible for younger participants like action hours. During these action hours, teens can “..do managable actions, like sign petitions amd send letters to government officials and do some change.” as stated by Lewis. Change can come from anyone, and as more climate-related issues come about it seems to rely on the younger generations to take initiative.

Whilst at this event, Alice Grendon, TCAT’s communication manager had some thoughts for the future of the TCAT as well as the subject at hand of younger generations participating.

“Absolutely, and that’s a great place for students to get more involved and it’s a youth-friendly space..” says Grendon in response to the accessibility of the TCAT’s action groups that focus on differentiating aspects of the climate crisis at a local level.

“I want to see more students take on this issue fully and educate themselves about the ways climate change is impacting every aspect of our lives and futures. CAC is an accesible starting point to the broader youth climate movement” said Rader.

Leaders from the Thurston County Climate Action Tea, (TCAT) and the Thurston Youth Climate Coalition (TYCC) explained that climate change is a growing concern for younger generations, and youth hope to have a significant impact in altering the course of climate change. “The younger generation have always been one of the most invovled,” said Dio Lewis, a TYCC leader. ‘I think everyone who is alive right now will be affected by climate change.”

The TYCC has done, “die-in’s” at city council and county comissioner meetings. It is important for the student of Timberline to connect within their community, and seek out local organizations such as the Thurston Climate Action Teams (TCAT) or their younger sect the Thurston Youth Climate Coalition (TYCC). During a volunteer night hosted by the TCAT, in an interview with a TYCC leader, Dio Lewis, he states “...The younger generations have always been one of the most involved and I think everyone who is alive right now will be and is affected by climate change.” Going on to speak about events held by the TYCC for younger generations to be a part of.

Headshot of TYCC member Dio Lewis.

“

Absolutely, and that’s a great place for students to get more involved, and it’s a youth friendly space. ”

Alice Grendon

Love 2 Style

Different types of aesthetics, styles, and fashion at Timberline

By staff writer Nia Barrow

Walking the halls, in Timberline, or in the lunchroom you may find styles that fit the 90s aesthetic, statement pieces, and even tops and skirts that give you Mean Girls vibes from the early 2000s. Some students even sport cosplay and grunge. All kinds of unique styles and diversity are on display when it comes to students’ fashion choices.

With Y2K fashion peaking higher than ever, Angel Izuagbe gets most of her looks from the iconic early 2000s. From crop tops to dresses, glitter to rhinestones, her favorite accessories to pair with a mini dress are chains and fluffy leg warmers. Though she loves the whole y2k aesthetic, one thing that doesn’t fit right with her are skinny jeans. Which is what she considers the worst fashion trend. “Honestly, I would say skinny jeans, unless they’re styled correctly,” she said. “It’s just a bit plain.”

Some people get their inspiration from magazines, movies, even certain eras, but Franz Mullen gets his fashion inspiration from the popular app Pinterest. Pinterest has a variety of styles and clothing pieces that inspire his streetwear look. Besides Pinterest, he looks up to Steve Lacy for fashion inspiration.

Do you think people are intimidated by the way you dress?

“I don’t think they’re intimidated, but more so inspired.” - Franz Mullen.

Alex Hinojoza, a senior at Timberline, feels most confident when his Jaden Smith inspired outfits are paired with his go-to “dirty white Reebok” shoes. He also incorporates his Hispanic heritage into his daily outfits with his jewelry choices. Hinojoza believes anyone has the potential to have a unique sense of fashion.

How does fashion make you feel, confident, empowered?

“It makes me feel really confident,” he said. “Half of my confidence comes from what I wear.” And for him, fashion is empowering.

Half of my confidence comes from what I wear.

Alex Hinajoza

“ ”

I don’t think they’re intimidated, but more so inspired Franz Mullen

Meeting Ellie Abbey: A Musician’s

Path

Find out about an inspiring artist at Timberline.

By Staff Writer Emily Kerns

The talented artistic figure Ellie Abbey makes an iconic performance at Humble Cow where ecstatic and vibrant energy seemed to float from her audience of friends and family. Abbey’s angelic and meaningful lyrics in her original songs captured the attention of what Abbey said to be an authentic and fun community

Abbey said her values as an artist are honesty, vulnerability, but most of all creation. “Being an artist means that you’re vulnerable. I mean, putting something that you work hard on to put into the world is scary, especially as a teenager, because people can and will say things that make you want to quit.” She also goes on to say, “I also think that music is a universal language and it connects people and expresses more than we can typically formulate into words.”

The passion of music for Abbey began with the love for instruments at the age of five, where she then took on her own creation of music. She later pursued other artists’ work, such as Clairo, Dodie Clark, and Lizzy McAlpine who all inspired her music and the genres of her music like Alternative, Indie, and Pop. Her parents and sister Cate Abbey also expanded her variety of love for music by being continuously supportive and involved in her interests.

Abbey described her process of creating music saying, “I write about things I’ve experienced, because that’s what I know.” She continues to say, “I’ll hit record and just mess around until I like something, and then I just piece it together.”

She proceeded to mention her favorite part about being a musician is having the opportunity to create things, and how she’s able to just pick up a guitar or sit at a piano an make art from her imagination. Though her music career posed a great part of her life, she does not plan

to move forward with it professionally but to continue with a fun and free passion for it.

Her friends have described her as a kind, warm-hearted person, in addition to Christian Juarez’s agreement that her music “fits her in a way.”

To help underappreciated groups at Timberline, Abbey took on a project to make a documentary about Chamber Choir with her peers Cate Ewers and Addison Daukas. “Her Humble Cow performance was reposted a lot, because she’s Ellie,” said Addison Daukas. “She’s got a Lizzy McAlpine feel to her.”

“Memories” along with “Untitled_blue” are two of the original songs made and performed by Abbey, both found on YouTube and Soundcloud currently hold a viewing of over 500 people, and a video tutorial of 54 thousand views.

Abbey says her friends have supported her generously and shows gratitude for the opportunity to present her music to her friends at Humble Cow. Her friend and supporter Mira Magana said, “Her music and her voice is very soft and quiet and it holds a lot of emotion.”

What’s For Lunch?

A guide to understand how the food system works at Timberline

By Staff Writer Izayah Ramos

Lunchtime. The time when we can sit down and relax with friends while enjoying a hot meal. After purchasing lunch from school, have you ever wondered where the food came from and how it was prepared?

Before preparation, the kitchen workers estimate how many students they need to serve.

“On average we serve about 650 students per day,” said kitchen manager Dianna Kero.

Alicia Neal, director of food and nutrition, creates the monthly lunch menu with input from Kero. The district spends approximately $1.75 million to purchase food from USDA Foods, US Foods, Charlies Produce, Franz Bread and Dairy Fresh.

After the schedule for lunch is planned, it’s time to prepare the meal. “It takes about four to five hours to get everything ready for lunch service,” Kero said.

Before the sun starts to rise, the kitchen staff begins four or more hours of preparation. They chop vegetables to make salads, assemble the toasted buns and patties, warm up the main entree and slice up the hot and cheesy pizza.

“What’s challenging about serving food to students?” Cas Moss asked Kero.

“Having students take the required meal components such as adding fruits and vegetables to their tray to make a well balanced meal,” Kero replied.

“What happens to students who don’t have enough money in their account to purchase lunch?” Lorenzo Diiorio asked Kero. This year students don’t need to worry about money because lunch is free for everyone, replied Kero.

After students are fed and lunch break is over, it’s time to clean up.

“After lunch service is over, we inventory all food and store it properly, in the freezer or refrigerator, wash and put away dishes, clean and sanitize all tables and workstations.

This story was written last year for “The Voices of Change” issue.

Lunch facts of the day!

Did you know...

The cafeteria sells an average of 150 burgers everyday?

Did you know.... The cafeteria sells an average of 200 slices of pizza everyday?

photo descriptions:

uppermost: Kitchen staff member Matthew Hardy prepares romaine lettuce for the salads.

middle: Kitchen staff members Dolores Crisostomo and Matthew Hardy serve hot lunch to Timberline students.

bottom-most: Matthew Hardy washes a used colonder over the sink

Record all the food used in our menu planning book,” Kero said. At the end of a long day working in the kitchen, the kitchen staff head home around 12:30 p.m. They will do the same tasks again tomorrow, looking forward to serving meals to students. Graphics by Tessa King

The Next Steps

By Editor-in-Chief Cooper Smith

A mix of emotions swallow you as your turn arrives. One of the assistant principals says your name, cue the applause. You walk across the stage at Saint Martin’s Pavilion, take your diploma, shake Mr. Dean’s hand and take a quick picture with him. As you step off the stage, a rush of relief hits you. Finally, you’ve graduated; 4 years of highschool and 13 years of schooling and you’ve finally graduated. But what’s next?

A common question every high school student has to ask themselves: What are you gonna do after you graduate? Some options for high school graduates are to continue working or get a job, join the military, go to trade or vocational school, the most common path is to continue your education in college.

That is what Senior Kayla Cortez plans to do.

“My main path is going to the University of Washington and majoring in Psychology,” she said. “Then pursuing a path in pre-med.”

Cortez has known for a while that college was the post-graduation path for her. She seemed to always want to follow in her parents footsteps and work in healthcare. since she was a kid.

Cortez has already applied to colleges and she weighs in on her experience.

“It is kinda stressful cause I do it all on my own, and it’s kinda hard not being in Timberline,” she said.

Cortez is a Running Start student so most of her classes are either on campus or online at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC), which can be quite difficult with college admissions. “It can be difficult to make a connection in SPSCC, with only having a professor for a quarter.”

Professors and teachers are a main resource for letters of recommendations, so not having a professor to connect with can make it difficult to get a letter. Even with the difficulty she’s faced, Cortez has already applied to her main school University of Washington. Not all students are confident in their future like Cortez. It is common for some students to be completely clueless. Maybe they want to go to college but don’t know where to go or what for. Or, maybe they know what career they want to pursue but don’t know how to get there. This is something Counselor Michael Van Buskirk can help with.

“I’ll have students that come in and they say I’m interested in this career,” she said. “So, we connect them with people on the outside, people from colleges or people from certain trades or careers so that they have resources and know what their next steps are after they graduate.”

A lot of people narrow their focuses when it comes to college. “The point is to get you to get a person to look at different things. Maybe instead of choosing just one school, look at different schools that can offer that program,” Van Buskirk said.

A recent trend for post-graduation options is that more people are choosing trade school instead of college. Van Buskirk attributes this to a change of mindset.

“I think the biggest change is that I feel like parents and students are more interested in hearing alternatives other than just going to college,” she said.

One student who is choosing this alternative is Senior Ethan Reichenbach. He plans to attend either Clover Park Technical or ATP Flight school to become a pilot.

“I’m probably going to either get my associate’s degree or just go straight into flight school. And then once you get into flight school and get all of your certifications, then you build hours to become a pilot,” He said.

This is a recent decision for him. “I went to Florida a year or two ago, I was in the airport. And then I saw a really nice Corvette,” he said. “And then I was like, that’s a nice car. And then all of a sudden, a pilot hopped out, I didn’t know they made that much money.”

How do you actually become a pilot though? It’s not as complicated as one might think. Reichenbach explained that the process is similar to any other trade or college degree “Flight school is like a wide variety. It can be anywhere from around seven months to about five years, just depending on if you want to get a degree or not,” he said.

College isn’t for everyone and Reichenbach knew this. “I don’t really see myself getting a degree unless I were to become a pilot because I wasn’t even planning on going to college,” he said. “I’ve looked at other trades and stuff, but I just think being a pilot was the best option.” No matter what people choose to pursue, everyone moves on from high school and enters a new environment. But are you prepared?

Luckily one way you can be prepared in high school is with the help of business education teacher Rachael Ward. Her class personal business and finance class is catered to helping students after graduation. “My class is based on information that students will need to be able to be financially secure in the future,” she stated. “They learn how to budget, and how to manage checking and savings accounts.”

Her class highlights the other aspects of post-graduation life, which can be beneficial to managing life in general. She wants her students to be ready for whatever can happen.

“I want them to be prepared enough to be able to manage whatever money they do earn,” she said.

Students are expected to determine their future or at least focus their interests in high school, but it can be common to still be lost even as graduation is rearing up on you.

Even teachers have recognized this. “Over the last few years, there have been less students wanting to attend at least a four year university, but I think it may take them a couple of years to figure out exactly what they want,” Ward stated.

Even if seniors don’t know what’s next after walking across the stage right at this moment, the Timberline faculty is prepared to help. So when graduates step off the Saint Martin’s stage and into the future, they take them in stride and with confidence.

50% of Timberline graduates attend college after high school

The mission of TheBlazer is to provide the students and staff of Timberline High School and the surrounding community with a quality, thoughtprovoking publication. We aspire to print a publication that adheres to professional journalism standards, including sincerity, truthfulness, accuracy, impartiality in reporting news events, and equal representation of Timberline High School. theBlazer will serve as a public forum for the free exchange of information, opinions, and artistic expression in a civil and constructive manner.