Volume 48, Edition 3, February 2022 HISTORICAL STORIES...
The History Edition
TIMELY OPINIONS...
MEDIA REVIEWS...
PEOPLE YOU LOVE...
THE COMMUNICATOR IN OVER OUR HEADS!
FIELD DAY ‘86 May 23, Delhi Park
ROWDY AND REVOLUTIONARY STORY OF ALTERNATIVE HIGH SCHOOLS In 1971, Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) tried something new. Under the leadership of Dr. Bruce McPherson, the district’s newly-minted superintendent, a team of teachers at Pioneer High School dreamed up a radical idea. The group, which called itself “Teachers for Change,” proposed the establishment of Ann Arbor’s first alternative high school: Pioneer II, later renamed Earth-
works. On Oct. 11, 1971 — only seven weeks after the school’s initial conception — Earthworks opened its doors. The students, 108 strong, selected gray and clear as the school’s colors. The building, formerly Fritz Elementary School, consisted of three main rooms. Inside, narrow lockers were covered in artwork and scribbled handwriting, a sofa sat against the wall and
tires hung from the rafters, serving as repurposed chairs. The school’s bathroom was coed and covered in graffiti — including a gargoyle next to the urinal sneering “He’s back.” And the two adults in the building, Tom Dodd and Allan Schreiber, designed a curriculum that included “Creative Assholism,” “Imagination Marathon” and the inno-
vative Community Resource (CR) program. Only a year later, in 1972, Community High School (CHS) followed in Earthworks’s footsteps. That September, roughly 300 students ventured to the old Jones Elementary School on Division Street in Kerrytown — a historic district in Ann Arbor. Given its name and proximity
to downtown and the University of Michigan’s campus, the school was uniquely positioned to pursue McPherson’s “school without borders” philosophy. In the nursery, school-aged parents dropped off their children, who were cared for throughout the day. In the classroom, Preston Slosson, an 81-yearold professor emeritus at the University
NEW COLUMN “Give Earth a Chance” As the health of Michigan’s natural resources rapidly declined, Ann Arborites of the ‘70s stepped up to make a change; their impact carries through to activists of the present.
Disclaimer: I am only 18 years old, and I have no professional or academic experience in “ethics.” The following answer stems from my personal opinions, which have been built by my experiences, the people around me and my own learning (and unlearning). “Is it okay or
not okay to walk out of class due to your principles conflicting with the material?” What are “principles?” What does it mean to hold principles of your own? Where do those fundamental beliefs on which you base your morals, your decisions, your very way of life, come from?
of Michigan, taught history. In the parking lot, Greg Clark, a junior at CHS, taught a CR on motorcycle maintenance. In the fire escapes, students listened to Earth, Wind and Fire, smoked weed and played Euchre... Cont. on Page #
9:30 Board the bus 10:00 Begin Tug o’ War games Egg Drop 11:00 6-person relay race 11:30 3-Legged Race 12:00 Lunch Time 12:30 Non-senior Awards 1:00 Arm and Leg Wrestling 1:30 Clean up, Board Bus - Softball, volleyball and hackeysack tournaments will run all day. - Students will need permission slips to participate.
Using her own opinions and experiences, senior Cate Weiser answers a schoolrelated ethical question from a CHS student. When — if ever — is it okay to walk away from something that challenges those beliefs? My answer: Sometimes. Personal principles can come from anywhere: In-school education, real-world experiences, your parents or friends. Principles also can hold different signif-
icance; for example, you can hold principles about your identity and political principles. If the material — whether it be a reading, a movie or a class discussion — is upsetting enough to make you want to leave class, there are a few questions you must ask yourself: Cont. on Page #
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About the Cover BY GRACE WANG
The front cover of our third edition draws inspiration from our articles featuring the historical events in our community. From our sister school, Earthworks, to environmental activism, the past informs our future. The cover mimics a newspaper from the ‘70s, overlayed with an old paper texture and filled with photos and text from our edition. The inside cover highlights a palette of colors representative of the ‘70s. These colors are used throughout the magazine to represent history’s connection to the present. 2 | The Communicator Magazine
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THE COMMUNICATOR MAGAZINE Volume 49, Edition 3
News 07
February 2022
16 Contact Tracing Updated Protocol BY LUCY CASSELL-KELLEY
New district wide Covid-19 protocols have lessened, ranging from contact tracing to quarantining.
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Dozer Cafe BY MIA GOLDSTEIN
Staff members visit Ann Arbor’s new coffee shop, a destination that sells specialty drinks and pastries.
Feature 20
What We Owe BY FELICITY ROSA-DAVIES AND RIA LOWENSCHUSS
Four CHS alumni reflect on their experiences at CHS and how it became an integral part of them.
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In Over Our Heads BY NOAH BERNSTEIN
Through looking into alternative schools in Ann Arbor, Mich. we find their rebellious past.
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Give Earth A Chance BY GRACE WANG
Michigan’s environmental activists of the past set the stage for change today.
Opinion 45
Living History
Constants
BY RYAN SILVESTER
Guest essayist and CHS history teacher Ryan Silvester shares his experience of teaching history.
Fashion - 60
Proust - 62
Humans of Community - 70
Reviews - 64 Games - 72 February 2022 | 3
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Letter from the Editors Dear Readers, We have survived the first semester of this strange Covid-19 year! It feels like the words “new normal” will never leave everyday usage, at least not in our high school lifetimes. But here we are, weeks into the new semester and we are living this new normal, if not thriving in it quite yet. This edition took root during a bout of online school following the rise of the Omicron variant. We were tired of being at home and discouraged by what felt like a step backwards. Looking into the future felt like a moot point. And that is how Edition Three of “The Communicator” was born. This edition is somewhat of an unusual theme: history. Given that we were isolated from our school and our community, we wanted to write about a common experience; something that could connect us even from a distance. We embraced the theme of history as something we shared and that we could learn about despite not being physically together. Out of this edition has come a multitude of stories that draw together CHS’ history. We write about AP classes, historical neighborhoods and climate change. This edition of our magazine has created a time capsule of sorts; something for us to look at and remember our past and how it can influence our future. We hope Edition Three serves as both a comfort and a wake-up call to our readers. We have been fighting the same fights and protesting the same policies for decades. Our world deserves change and remembrance, and we want this edition of “The Communicator” to influence this. Your editors,
Noah Bernstein
PRINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
STAFF
NOAH BERNSTEIN MIA GOLDSTEIN RIA LOWENSCHUSS ELLA ROSEWARNE GRACE WANG
RAFFI AVEDISSIAN ABBI BACHMAN CHARLIE BEESON MADISON BELL SUMAYA BERKI ELLIOT BRAMSON LUCY CASSELL-KELLEY EMMY CHUNG HENRY CONNOR SYLVA DAS KEVIN DUTTON ELLIE FIFE SAM GIBB-RANDALL KURT HAUSMAN JADA HIKARY ADDI HINESMAN JOHANN HISER RITA IONIDES IZZIE JACOB AILISH KILBRIDE CHRISSY KUIPER MAX LAWTON OLIVER LETE-STRAKA CLAIRE LEWIS REAGAN MASEK MORGAN MCCLEASE EDDIE MOBILIO BRECK NATALIE MYCEK-CARD SERENA O’BRIEN EVAN OCHOA LUCIA PAGE SANDER LEWIS PERRY IVY PROCHASKA HANNAH RUBENSTEIN SANA SCHADEN SIMON SHAVIT RUTH SHIKANOV ADDISON SMITH BELLA STEVENS-MERCADO CLAIRE STEIGELMAN FELIX STAROSTA MATHIAS TAKACS JADYN TAYLOR ANTHONY WANG BEE WHALEN MIA WOOD
WEB EDITORS-IN-CHIEF SCARLETT LONDON SEBASTIAN OLIVA LUCY TOBIER SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS SAM CAO ARISTA LUONG CATE WEISER CONTENT EDITORS ANJALI KAKARLA MAGGIE WOLF JR. WEB EDITORS-IN-CHIEF AILISH KILBRIDE IVY PROCHASKA COPY EDITOR FELICITY ROSA-DAVIES ADVISER TRACY ANDERSON
Mia Goldstein
Ria Lowenschuss
Ella Rosewarne
Grace Wang
The Communicator Policy The Communicator is an open forum for student expression created by Community High School students. The Communicator does not represent the views of Ann Arbor Public Schools. The Communicator staff seeks to recognize the individuals, events and ideas relevant to readers. The Communicator is committed to fair reporting, providing a platform for student voices and equitable coverage. For our complete Guidelines & Policy, please go to www.chscommunicator.com
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Photo by Kurt Hausman
chscommunicator.com School News Coverage | Humans of Community | Movie & Book Reviews Fashion | Podcasts | Artist Profiles | & More
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High School Sports Recap As the South Eastern Conference (SEC) playoff race intensifies, teams battle for top seeds; a late season game between crosstown rivals shook up the standings. BY KURT HAUSMAN AND SAM CAO
On Friday, Jan. 29, the Ann Arbor Huron River Rats girls basketball team traveled crosstown for their Southeastern Conference (SEC) matchup with the Ann Arbor Pioneer Pioneers. This was the rivals first matchup of the season. Only a few spectators were allowed in the gym. Due to Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) policy, spectators for winter sporting events within the AAPS are limited to only four people per player. Masks were worn by everyone in the gym except for the players in
the game. The set rules were not strictly enforced, but they were generally followed by the majority of spectators. The Pioneers held a record of 5-4 heading into their contest against the 4-8 River Rats. The game tipped off at 7:00 p.m. and was dominated by the Pioneers from the start. Senior guard Lauren DeWolf ran the show for the Pioneers, hitting shot after shot and setting up her teammates for easy buckets. DeWolf finished the game with over 25 points and five assists.
“I think we played well against Huron,” DeWolf said. “There were things we could’ve done better but overall it was a good game for us. We went in with a game plan and I think we stuck to it and executed it well.” During the first half the Pioneers leaned heavily on Dewolf, running plays specifically made for her to get open and shoot. DeWolf took full advantage of this and ended the first half with 15 points. With her hot start, Huron took to double teaming her in the second half which opened up the rest of her teammates for open shots. The River Rats were able to catch up with the Pioneers at times, thanks to tough play by sophomore guard, Nyla Allen, and freshman forward, Saige Edmonson. The pair combined for the majority of the River Rats’ 23 points for the night, while having many strong defensive plays, combining for four blocks and three steals. The Pioneers were able to extend their lead in the second half thanks to scoring efforts from junior forward Savannah Brewer, who notched two three-point shots from long range and junior forward, Kaylie Karsch, who was active on the glass on both the offensive and defensive ends, grabbing numerous rebounds and blocks. “We are a close team and we know each other really well,” DeWolf said. “We all play really hard and just don’t want to lose.” The game was controlled from start to finish by the Pioneers. They controlled the pace for the duration of the contest, cruising to a 64-23 victory over the River Rats. The Pioneers grabbed their sixth win of the season, as they make their push for the playoffs.
Photo By Kurt Hausman Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Lauren Dewolf looks to score during the third quarter of the Pioneer’s matchup with Ann Arbor Huron. Dewolf was the leading scorer the night for the Pioneers, as the defeated Huron 64-23. “I think we played well,” Dewolf said post-game. “We went in with a game plan and I think we stuck to it.”
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Contact Tracing Updated Protocol Dr. Jeanice Swift, AAPS superintendent, informed families of the district-wide updated protocols surrounding Covid-19. District guidelines have all loosened in the midst of a new surge. LUCY CASSELL-KELLEY
On Dec. 1, 2021, the first case of Omicron, an incredibly infectious strain of the Covid-19 virus, was reported in the U.S. On Jan. 1, 2022, the US reported over one million new cases of Covid-19. In response to the new spike in Covid-19 cases and staff availability, Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) closed school doors from Jan. 3 to Jan. 11. Following the shutdown, AAPS welcomed students back with new Covid-19 protocols on Jan. 11, 2022. “It is important to understand that we are shifting our focus from prevention of Covid to the work of managing high numbers of cases… [We are] continuing the priority of having our schools open for students and staff to experience in-
Photo By Lucy Cassell-Kelley A student holds up their phone to scan a QR code. AAPS will no longer be requiring contact tracing. “It is important to understand that we are shifting our focus from prevention of Covid to the work of managing high numbers of cases…[We are] continuing the priority of having our schools open for students and staff to experience inschool learning,” Dr. Jeanice Swift said.
school learning,” Dr. Jeanice Swift, AAPS superintendent, reported to Ann Arbor families on Jan. 7. The updated protocol gives insight into what exposures are deemed low or high-risk. Exposures deemed low-risk do not require quarantining or contact tracing. The only expectation for students after a low-risk exposure is to monitor symptoms for the following 10 days. Low-risk exposures include exposures in the classroom, at lunch, on buses or at any masked extracurricular activities. High-risk exposures are exposures between groups of unmasked students. Examples of high-risk settings include unmasked sporting events, unmasked theater groups and unmasked special edu-
cation classrooms. In the event of a high-risk exposure, students are recommended to self-isolate and obtain a Covid-19 test on the fifth day of exposure. Throughout the first semester, AAPS used a contact tracing protocol in classrooms where students’ seating and proximity to others were monitored, allowing close contacts of the student to be informed if they tested positive. Students returning to school are no longer required to monitor their seating arrangements in class, and the contact tracing policy has been dissolved for low-risk exposures. In the event a student or teacher tests positive, low or high-risk, CHS parents and faculty will receive a mass email informing them of the positive result. Although the updated low and high-risk protocols extend to every school in the district, CHS will be less likely to have exposures deemed high risk, due to the lack of sports teams and unmasked events. With no potential high-risk exposures, CHS is not expected to conduct any contact tracing. Per the updated CDC regulations, unvaccinated and vaccinated students are allowed to return to school just five days after receiving a positive test if their symptoms are improving. Upon returning, the students are expected to wear a KN95 mask while in the classroom. AAPS students are expected to monitor symptoms and be vigilant with testing and five-day quarantines after receiving a positive test. CHS students have been asked to report any positive cases to the CHS office, who will then report to the nurse to ensure there were no high-risk exposures. News | February 2022 | 7
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Representation Matters Ria Lowenschuss takes education into her own hands through Feminist Literature Club. BY GRACE WANG
Junior Ria Lowenschuss is the leader of Community High School’s (CHS) newest club: Feminist Literature Club. Starting with “Feminism Is for Everybody” by bell hooks, Lowenschuss hopes to create a space for students to enjoy books by and about women while focusing on feminist themes. She wants the club to provide what she feels is missing from our ELA classes. “I love reading, [but] for a long time I haven’t seen the women, queer people or people that I identify with in literature, especially in books that were assigned by the school,” Lowenschuss said. In her first English class at CHS, Lowenschuss was only given one piece to read that was by a woman. She now wants to create a space where people of all genders can read about others that they share identities with.
“[In our classes], we’re not including women of color,” Lowenschuss said. “We’re not including queer women. We’re not including transgender women. There’s a lot of people being left out, especially in sci-fi lit and historical literature. It’s important to create a space where we’re solely focusing on feminist thought.” Future books shared in the club will be suggested by members and can be of any genre as long as they pertain to feminism. With a “no homework” policy, the literature will solely be read and discussed in the club. Lowenschuss intends for the space to be more of a conversation, rather than a lecture. “For a long time, through whatever means, women have not been given their own money, their own property and their own space,” Lowenschuss said. “I’m hoping this gives us our own space.”
At-Home Ice Rink Jessika Whiteside, CHS teacher, and her family have built an ice rink right in their own backyard. BY SANA SCHADEN
A couple nights a week, CHS English teacher Jessika Whiteside prepares hot chocolate, blankets and sweaters for her kids after skating on their home-made ice rink. Creating the rink has been a bonding experience for Whiteside’s family as they worked to add enhancements like lights and hockey goals. Whiteside’s kids always enjoy the outdoors in warm weather, but colder temperatures used to keep them inside. “It’s hard to convince people to go outside [during the winter] because you have to be so active to stay warm,” Whiteside said. “[The
rink] is [this] magical thing that is unique enough to keep them going.” The project started in early November when Whiteside and her family began design plans. Athome ice rink kits are available for purchase, but they cost upwards of $500. Instead, Whiteside’s husband, an engineer, drew up plans and began building the rink with their kids. After some trial and error, Whiteside and her family were able to get the ice rink finished and ready for use. But they refused to stop there. Whiteside’s husband and kids have already added new features such as lights and foam noodles around the edges (to keep the lining from tarnishing.) “We already have plans for our upgrades next year,” Whiteside said. “[We’re planning] a way we can invite other people over and make an activity out of it.”
Photo By Ella Rosewarne Three iconic feminist books lay in a stack. Feminist Literature Club reads an article a week. “I love reading, [but] for a long time I haven’t seen the women, queer people or people that I identify with in literature, especially in books that were assigned by the school,” Lowenschuss said.
Photo By Jessika Whiteside Whiteside’s three sons play hockey and skate around with her husband on their homemade rink. “It’s hard to convince people to go outside [during the winter] because you have to be so active to stay warm,” Whiteside said.
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Classroom Life: New History Joslyn Hunscher-Young aims to broaden CHS’ history department and her students’ minds by teaching history that is often not taught. BY RIA LOWENSCHUSS
Joslyn Hunscher-Young has always wanted to be a teacher, but not of history. As a student, history never spoke to her. Instead, she went into college hoping to major in math. She ended up switching to an anthropology and sociology major after taking calculus. Through her experience, Hunscher-Young has found that teaching history means so much more than textbooks and tests. “In having a chance to actually be a history teacher, I’m able to figure out ways for students to develop their understanding of the stories of our world and that’s why I love it,” Hunscher-Young said. For the second semester of the school year, Hunscher-Young is introducing a new history elective: African-American Studies. Although this course has been approved for the Ann Arbor Public Schools, it has not been offered at CHS until this year. Hunscher-Young believes that it is important to teach true history, even if it is difficult to learn about. Hunscher-Young is tailoring this new class so it fits CHS’ environment; specifically, she hopes to look at how the CHS building and campus have been an integral part of African-American history in Ann Arbor. In 2022, Jones School, a predominantly African-American elementary school which used to be in the building that is now CHS, will hit its 100-year anniversary. Hunscher-Young wants to utilize the people and places surrounding Ann Arbor to learn from and about CHS’ past. “Once we get to the point [in Ann Arbor’s history] where Jones School was a thing, we’re going to try and bring in a lot of local history resources and think about things like, ‘What does Black history and being Black in Ann Arbor mean?’” Hunscher-Young said. In order to offer a hands-on ex-
perience, Hunscher-Young doesn’t want her classroom to stop at the door. She plans to incorporate many different mediums for learning, like guest speakers and field trips to places in Ann Arbor and Detroit. “I hope that there is a clear understanding of the great diversity and depth of what it means to be African-American or Black in this country, where that comes from in history and what’s impacting those identities and intersectional identities today,” Hunscher-Young said. “I’m hoping that with our local history focus, we get to do some creation of history, the documentation, the telling and [the] communicating of stories.” Although it’s only her second year of teaching at CHS, Hunscher-Young has big plans for
Photo By Cate Weiser Joslyn Hunscher-Young contemplates CHS’ history department. Hunscher-Young never wanted to be a history teacher until she started teaching. “In having a chance to actually be a history teacher I’m able to figure out ways for students to develop their understanding of the stories of our world,” HunscherYoung said.
the history department. Hunscher-Young is working diligently at getting more ethnic studies classes approved at CHS, like Asian-American Studies and Hispanic American Studies. She also designed a course called History of Racism and Resistance in the United States, which she hopes to teach in the coming years. Hunscher-Young is looking forward to the opportunity to teach African-American Studies, especially because she hopes she will learn along with her students. “I’m really excited to learn about [this history,] to see students get engaged and hopefully spark some ideas and ways to connect with local community resources,” Hunscher-Young said. News | February 2022 | 9
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Lessons From an Unqualified Ethicist Using her own opinions and experiences, senior Cate Weiser answers a school-related ethical question from a CHS student.
BY CATE WEISER
Disclaimer: I am only 18 years old, and I have no professional or academic experience in “ethics.” The following answer stems from my personal opinions, which have been built by my experiences, the people around me and my own learning (and unlearning). “Is it okay or not okay to walk out of class due to your principles conflicting with the material?” What are “principles?” What does it mean to hold principles of your own? Where do those fundamental beliefs on which you base your morals, your decisions, your very way of life come from? When — if ever — is it okay to walk away from something that challenges those beliefs? My answer: sometimes. Personal principles can come from anywhere: In-school education, real-world experiences, your parents or friends. Principles also can hold different significance; for example, you can hold principles about your identity and political principles. If the material — whether it be a readingor a class discussion — is upsetting enough to make you want to leave class, there are a few questions you must ask yourself: One, is the material conflicting with an aspect of who you are? I would consider that to mean an innate piece of you: your religion, your race, your gender expression, to name a few. If it is and you don’t feel prepared to respond or process, then by all means set the reading down or step out of the room for a moment. You are not responsible for educating others or expressing your thoughts on something that conflicts with who you
Art by Mia Wood Balance scales that are tippping to one side. The scales are used to weigh things, like decisions.
are. But if you are comfortable and willing, I would encourage you to consider doing so. The best way for others to learn is through as direct a source as possible. Two, if the material does not conflict with those innate parts of you, then what principle does it conflict with? Is that principle an opinion? A preconceived notion? Where or who did the idea come from? These questions won’t necessarily be easy to answer, but they are important; you should work to understand why the material is upsetting to you. But, despite being upset, you should push yourself to remain in class. By leaving, you close yourself off from the opportunity to be educated, and to educate others. When there is disagreement, there is always the opportunity to learn, educate and change. A con-
versation about upsetting material may help you see a different perspective that you never would’ve. It may help someone else see a different perspective or it may affirm your principles in a new way. At CHS, we are relatively sheltered. Classes are taught in a way where we receive warnings on upsetting material and that material is used for carefully facilitated discussion. If you do leave, make sure you understand why. But if you can stay in class, stay. Sharing your principles and why you have them is crucial. Hearing the principles others hold is also crucial and will be essential for succeeding outside of our bubble of a high school and town. That is the best way to learn. That is the best way to make change. That is the best way to grow as a society.
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Forum Council The FoCo co-President discusses second semester priorities and the departure of a beloved teacher. BY AVANI HOEFFNER-SHAH
Counselor’s Corner With the start of the semester, students compile questions to ask counselors Brian Williams and Amy McLoughlin. BY NATALIE MYCEK-CARD
Q: What mindset should I have when receiving my college application decisions? Brian: “I always say, ‘Don’t panic.’ There are many good college fits for all students. If you’ve done your research and are applying to a school that’s likely to admit you, you’re going to have a good option.” Q: Is college as difficult as people say it is? Brian: “It depends, because there are different parts to college. There’s the academic part, but also the part of living as an independent person. It was almost easier to go to college for me because I was only in classes two days a week and I had all of this other free time.” Q: What can juniors do to start getting ready for college? Amy: “They can attend our junior workshops in forums as well as ensuring that they’re getting the best grades possible.”
Brian: “Making sure that they’re exploring and discovering their jam: What gets them excited [and] what are their areas of interest? Take advantage of what we offer and explore different passions. This can help them start looking at colleges and create a list of institutions offering programs that suit their interests.” Q: If I’m a prospective eighthgrader, what is one thing I should absolutely experience at CHS? Amy: “Depending on who you are and what your jam is, you should experience pushing yourself to take advantage of who we are [at CHS]. We are not a comprehensive, big school. We don’t offer AP classes. If you want something and you’re passionate about a subject that isn’t offered in the normal curriculum, come to Community. The same thing goes for students already here.”
Photo By Natalie Mycek-Card A billboard in the counselor’s office displays a wide range of college pamphlets and fliers. As semester two started, seniors wrapped up college application and received decisions. “Don’t panic,” Williams said. “There are good college fits for all students.”
Forum Council (FoCo) is excited to welcome our new faculty advisor, Community High School (CHS) history teacher Ryan Silvester, as we jump into the next semester. We will also miss our wonderful, longtime advisor, Matt Johnson, and we wish him only the best of luck at Pioneer High School. To set priorities for the next semester, we reached out to the student body. Our survey had students rank the importance of middle school outreach, CHS merchandise, Covid-19 lunch solutions, communication between FoCo and students, event planning, CR accessibility, a middle school tutoring CR, bathroom upkeep and additional college application help. Responses were mixed. We understand that every student has different priorities. So, our goal for the second semester is to tackle as many of these areas as possible. To achieve this with efficiency, FoCo will break into subcommittees addressing each issue. Importantly, we won’t be able to meet our many goals without help from our fellow students. This second semester, we are hoping to see two members from each Forum present at FoCo. We want to get back to what FoCo is supposed to be – a representative body. If you have any interest in working on any of these goals, or bringing new ideas to light, please come to our meeting or speak to your FoCo representatives. We are looking forward to a great second semester! News | February 2022 | 11
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Dozer Cafe Just off of Jackson Road, newly established Dozer Cafe is attracting all the hip students, families and coffee connoisseurs. BY MIA GOLDSTEIN
After its grand opening on Dec. 6, Dozer Cafe has already become Ann Arbor’s newest hub for specialty coffee, gourmet donuts and studying. Located just off of Jackson Road, Dozer Cafe cannot be missed; its eccentric, neon green entrance and auto body repair shop-turned-retro-cafe architecture brings new life to Scio Township. It is the perfect place to settle down with a good book while enjoying a seasonally rotated cup of coffee or meet with friends under a gallery of locally featured artwork. Dozer’s sister companies, HOMES Brewery and Smooj — all under the same ownership — have been making huge strides in the beverage business since 2016. After national recognition of HOMES Brewery and Smooj, proprietors were looking to expand their footprint after national recognition of their brewery. All under the same ownership, HOMES, Smooj and now Dozer Cafe offer unmatched customer service and quality beverages.
The new campus on Jackson Plaza boasts 27,000 square feet across three large, industrial buildings. Dozer Cafe takes up 7,000 square feet, with the other two buildings being production facilities dedicated to fermentation and carbonating beer. Dozer Cafe’s floor to ceiling garage doors add a unique touch to the building, bringing in plentiful natural light and offering indoor/outdoor seating. Entering the complex’s entrance, the cafe and roastery is front and center. The high top tables and cozy seating areas flow into the Smooj taproom which serves canned drinks to-go and merch. Overflow and tasting room seating can be found not much farther in a vibrantly white room that features rotating art installations. Head coffee roaster and trained chef, Adam Rizzo, is excited for the culinary possibilities and flexible space to host food trucks, pop-ups and festivals. It is his job to perfect the coffee with alternating menus that experiment with flavors in his
state of the art commissary kitchen. They currently serve an assortment of cold beverages, espressos and coffees like “Ganache Mocha” and “Honey Dust Latte,” to name a few. The current chef is serving up his take of 50’s diner food with higher-end ingredients. The vibe was to capture a grab-and-go feel with hot sammies like tuna melts and corned beef hash that can be eaten in store or taken to-go. The donuts are made in-house daily by two pastry chefs that tag-team the fresh and innovative menu. They currently offer exciting flavors like “Bananas Foster” inspired by New Orleans cuisine and “Peanut Butter Pretzel” to satisfy a sweet tooth. For operations manager Al Lauzon, Dozer Cafe is the perfect opportunity to bring people together in a challenging time. “The reason we exist here is to be a community driver for people to gather together, for businesses to come together, and to be an overall creative space,” Lauzon said.
Photos By Ella Rosewarne A barista takes an order at Dozer Cafe. The cafe is under the same ownership as HOMES Breweryand Smooj. “The reason we exist here is to be a community driver for people to gather together, for businesses to come together, and to be an overall creative space,” Lauzon said.
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STUDENTS’ SNOW DAYS
Photos courtesy of Beth Portincasa’s art class, CHS students and Elise Godfryd. News | February 2022 | 13
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Feels Like Home Matt Johnson’s move from CHS to Pioneer High School and the legacy that began with a cooking class. BY FELICITY ROSA-DAVIES AND SCARLETT LONDON
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Room 306 was the first classroom where Matt Johnson ever taught. From his first days as a student teacher to his time as one of Community High School (CHS)’s most beloved English teachers, Johnson has called Room 306 home for over 15 years. Now, he has left CHS to pursue a teaching job at Pioneer High School (PHS), where he will teach a ninth-grade English class and multiple academic support classes for PHS students. “It is really an opportunity to both teach and make a bigger impact for one of the large [Ann Arbor] high schools,” Johnson said. “Even though I’m always looking for the next, bigger challenge, this was a super hard decision to make.” Johnson’s life has revolved around CHS ever since he was a high schooler himself 20 years ago. Johnson, as a PHS student, took a cooking class through CHS’ Community Resource (CR) program during his senior year and graduated from PHS in 2001. He went on to study English and education at
the University of Michigan before student teaching in his future CHS classroom, Room 306, under the guidance of former CHS English teacher Ken McGraw. “[Student teaching] instantly got me thinking about teaching beyond just ‘Here’s a book. Do a test,’” Johnson said. “[McGraw] treated [student teaching] as its own course in itself and walked through every part of teaching and makes it really clear how it works. I think that gave me a significant leg up that I am eternally grateful for.” Upon completing his student teaching years, Johnson traveled the country and taught at five vastly different schools, ranging from costly private schools on the California coast to the biggest high school in the country with 6,500 students in Plymouth-Canton, MI. While he valued the connections he built with students, he was not receiving the fulfilling teaching experiences he sought. Johnson was about to leave education in search of another career when he received
an offer in 2014 to teach English at CHS. He took the job occupying the same “home” he student taught in seven years before: Room 306 “I was to the point where I was taking the GMAT and all the tests that you take to get into gradschool. [I] was very actively pursuing a potential career change,” Johnson said. “But coming [to CHS] changed that. Once I was here, all of the sudden, I found what I had always hoped teaching could be.” Johnson has always strongly agreed with the CHS’ approach to education — specifically its open attitude towards learning and its efficiency in adjusting the system as needed. For Johnson, becoming a CHS staff member deepened this admiration immensely, particularly in regard to the freedom and trust embedded in the teaching style at CHS. “To have the ability to create [classes] myself was completely intoxicating,” Johnson said. “[CHS] gave me the freedom to teach the
Photo Courtesy of Matt Johnson Matt Johnson, age 22, teaches a class as a student teacher in Room 306. Upon arriving to student teach at CHS, Johnson was immediately enthused by its individuality. “[CHS] was so wildly different from anything I had ever experienced in all the right ways,” Johnson said, “It was so exciting to be a part of.“
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“Once I was here, all of the sudden, I found what I had always hoped teaching could be.” books I love and write lessons that I know are important. Up until that point, I had never experienced something within teaching like that.” Johnson credits this freedom of teaching to the alternative style of CHS and the administration that oversees it. The opportunity to partake in and build on this freedom in the classroom is one that Johnson doesn’t take for granted. “Part of what makes this school special is [that] it trusts its teachers to work as professionals and to use their professional judgment,” Johnson said. “We get to say ‘Here are the things that I see that we need to work on,’ as opposed to working from some curriculum lists that have been prescribed by somebody who hasn’t been in the
classroom for 20 years.” He also credits his colleagues with shaping and enhancing the individualist culture that defines CHS. In addition to McGraw, Johnson has had the opportunity to work alongside CHS English department icons like Judith DeWoskin and Tracy Anderson — people who were teaching when he was in high school. “I have amazing colleagues here,” Johnson said. “I’ve been at five different schools in my career and the top 10 teachers I’ve worked with have all been [from CHS].” With the lively CHS spirit shaped by its staff and students, Johnson sees his transition to PHS as a unique and important chance to share this wealth of CHS’ culture with other schools in the Ann Ar-
bor area. “It’s bringing a little bit of [CHS] to other places as well,” Johnson said. “It’s the ability to take a lot of what we do here so well and share that with other students and other teachers. And I think that’s going to be really exciting and fun.” Johnson feels this same excitement in taking on a new and crucial challenge at PHS, but there is so much that he will miss dearly about CHS after his life-long journey with the school. “I love the third floor view and I love Kerrytown, but those things are cosmetic,” Johnson said. “Those deeper things — the students, the staff and the [CHS] culture at large — are what I’ll be missing the most.”
Photo By Felicity Rosa-Davies Matt Johnson stands outisde Room 306 holding his stuffed walrus, a present from a student. Johnson has always felt at home at CHS. “It was always a place I had circled, and one that turned out to be right,“ Johnson said
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BRING
YOUR OWN CONTAINER Ann Arbor’s newest sustainable business, BYOC Co., offers community members a space to learn to reduce their waste. BY CATE WEISER
A YouTube video inspired Emma Hess to create her dream business. The video is about a couple that lived in Los Angeles, Ca. that purchased a van and turned it into a mobile refillery for soaps. Going into the initial lockdown in March 2020, Hess started to question what she was really meant to do. A May 2020 graduate from the University of Michigan’s sociology program, Hess intended to further her education through a Masters in social work — also through the University of Michigan. The YouTube video inspired Hess; she was fascinated by the idea, and had a lot of time on her hands. She decided to make her inspiration into reality, and Bring Your Own Container Company — better known as BYOC Co. — was born. Now, BYOC Co. sells all forms of reusable products, its most popular being refillable soaps, but it took Hess over a year to get to the storefront she has now. Hess decided to start and grow her business through pop-ups. She reached out to people via Facebook, asking for everything from tents and tables to old growlers (large glass bottles that come from breweries) to hold product from local businesses. 15-year-old tablecloths were pulled out of storage, and she even collected pallets to build displays. “That’s how [BYOC Co.] came together,” Hess said. “It was very random, but I wanted to be thoughtful and intentional on how we acquired things because that’s the point, right? Zero waste is using what you already have or amplifying and upcycling those things.” On Aug. 8, 2020, BYOC Co. held its first-ever pop-up at Breathe Yoga in Chelsea, Mich., Hess’s hometown. After the first pop-up, Hess received so much positive feedback that she knew BYOC Co. was something worth pursuing. Throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall, small businesses all over Southeast Michigan hosted Hess and her products. She popped up at many places around the area, including Vertex Coffee Roasters in Ann Arbor, Dexter Cider Mill in Dexter and The Rust Belt Market in Ferndale. Hess thinks that pop-ups are the reason BYOC Co. is so successful. After eight months, she’d managed to build a regular customer base and network with other small businesses. Hess didn’t study business or sustainability, so other small business owners became people she could rely on for advice. In the winter of 2021, business for BYOC Co. slowed down — nobody wanted to come to their staple outdoor
pop-ups. Hess was starting to feel a lot of anxiety over not making sales. Her family started to encourage her to look at rental spaces in the area, and to turn BYOC Co. into a real, permanent store. Hess began looking at spaces immediately, and her current space is one of the first she saw. She chose it because it was a unique space: underground, close to college students, and on Liberty Street. The price was right, and Hess signed the lease in early March. Hess gave herself five weeks to pull the space together; she couldn’t afford to be paying rent without making sales. She painted the walls sage green, dug up the carpeted floor and spent days sanding the glue away, put in a few chalkboard walls for product information and made tables out of doors from a Livonia warehouse that otherwise would’ve been thrown out. 24 hours before the BYOC Co.’s soft opening in midApril, Hess and her parents moved all of the products in. Hess credits her parents, saying she wouldn’t be able to start her business without them. They helped her every step of the way, from building things in the shop to storing boxes upon boxes of products in their home. On the first day of the soft opening, her parents were even there to work the checkout counter. The day was so hectic that they actually checked out the first customer, though Hess wishes she had been able to. At BYOC Co., Hess sells refillable products: all varieties of laundry products, cleaners, personal hygiene
Photo By Cate Weiser Soaps on display in BYOC Co. All of Hess’ soaps were locally sourced. “I wanted to be thoughtful and intentional on how we aquired things, because that’s the point, right?” Hess said.
Photo By Cate Weiser Emma Hess holds up one of her favorite low-waste products, a shampoo bar. It was her first ever swap. “I do what I can, and that’s what I want people to get out of the store,” Hess said.
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products — some in her original growlers. She sells lots of physical products as well, like toothbrushes, pet products, and eco-friendly candles. Most important to Hess is that virtually all of her products are locally sourced and from small businesses. Hess’s skincare products come from Holland, Mich.; her soaps from Bubble Babes in Ann Arbor; her glass straws from Milford, Mich. and pet toys from Traverse City. “Not only is [sourcing from small businesses] fun and people love to shop locally, but it means I can financially support other small businesses,” Hess said. “I love that I’m getting to have personal relationships with these people, because they actually deliver directly into the store.” Aside from buying from small businesses, Hess hosts many of them in-store, as well as in other events. Hess has hosted plant swaps, clothing swaps and book swaps with the Ann Arbor area community. Many small businesses come in to sell their products, like the Botanical Bakeshop and Butterfly Effect Jewelry. Hess also makes a point of not charging those businesses. “My best relationships with small business owners are with ones that didn’t charge me to come in and pop up at their business,” said Hess. “So I’ve never charged people to come into the space and sell because we’re all just trying to grow. Hopefully it opens up a couple other doors for other businesses to reach out to them.” Hess’s key goal with starting BYOC Co. was to encourage people to be low-waste. She is the first to acknowledge that without the store, she herself wouldn’t be as low-waste as she is now. Hess’s first personal swap was a shampoo bar, which is now her favorite product. She can’t always buy everything with her low-waste goals in mind, like organic foods that come unpackaged. “I do what I can and I think that’s what I want people to get out of this store,” said Hess. “This isn’t a place where if you’re not perfect [with being low-waste] then you can’t come.” She also directly encourages her customers to be mindful of what they already have at home. “When people come in, I always tell them to use up what they have at home, and then make this new purchase,” Hess said. “You have a shampoo bottle at home? Use that up first. Some people are like, ‘That is the worst business model ever, you’re telling them not to buy?’ But that’s just how deeply rooted the values have to be in order to be doing this ethically.” Hess says her “work” doesn’t even feel like work. She knows she’s doing good for her community, benefiting everyone from local families to college students on campus. One of the biggest compliments she receives are inquiries about employment opportunities. Hess prides herself on being a place people want to work. She finds more fulfillment from BYOC Co. than she ever thought possible. Hess wants to leave her community with one crucial note. “As someone who wasn’t able to afford making all of these swaps right out of the gate, I just want people to take away from us that you just have to do what you can,” Hess said. “It doesn’t even mean spending money at [BYOC Co.], it means doing what you can at home. It just takes a little bit of effort, and being willing to go one by one.”
“Not only is [sourcing from small businesses] fun and people love to shop locally, but it means I can financially support other small businesses,” Hess said. “I love that I’m getting to have personal relationships with these people...”
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What We Owe Four CHS alumni reflect on their high school years and discuss CHS’ incalculable impact on their adult lives and their careers.
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BY RIA LOWENSCHUSS AND FELICITY ROSA-DAVIES
Rachel DeWoskin
Rachel DeWoskin’s main focus in her mother’s class wasn’t the workload. As a high school junior in 1989, DeWoskin devoted her concentration to the high school boys. “My mom was furious,” DeWoskin said. “I was joking with her recently that I remember one of the tests we took, and I remember the first and last name of every boy who sat in the row in which my mom seated me.” DeWoskin is the daughter of Community High School (CHS) legend Judith DeWoskin. The culture of CHS was deeply embedded into her upbringing and set the foundation for who she is today because her mom taught there for nearly 40 years. After graduating from CHS in 1990, DeWoskin majored in English at Columbia University. From there, she moved to Beijing where she lived for five years: working a corporate job, briefly becoming a small-time soap opera star and eventually doing case study analyses of women’s reproductive health
in southern China. DeWoskin moved back to the U.S. in 1999 to study poetry at Boston University with Robert Pinsky, the poet laureate at that time. She worked there with educators who showed her what it meant to be a teacher and novelist. In the 20 years since then, DeWoskin has taught English and novel workshopping at several universities, published seven books and taught as a professor at the University of Chicago since 2014. But before her acclaimed accomplishments, DeWoskin was just a student at Huron High School (HHS) until 10th grade, when she decided to pursue the CHS student experience. During her HHS years, DeWoskin watched the CHS theater company productions, known then as the Fine Arts Rep Company (FARC), and wished to be a part of them. She also heard massive praise of the CHS math teachers, and decided to attend CHS to be a part of FARC and to learn from the CHS teachers. Upon her arrival at 1980s CHS, DeWoskin remembers hearing jazz music echoing in the halls, student-painted murals adorning the walls of the school and seeing students dancing in dance body every morning when she walked into the building. But above all, DeWoskin remembers the teachers of CHS. “The way that the teachers at Community saw us as potential artists in the world made an enormous, almost immeasurable difference in my life,” DeWoskin said. “It made a difference in my confidence in myself as somebody whose an-
alytical opinions mattered, whose art might matter and who was permitted to make art.” Now an English professor, DeWoskin credits her love of teaching to her years as a student at CHS and to the incredible impact her teachers had on her during her time there. “Community did for me what it does for so many young people. It made me feel like a three-dimensional human, visible to the teachers who were teaching me. They recognized me not just as another teenager marching through the classroom but a fully rendered person.”
Photo Courtesy of Rachel DeWoskin DeWoskin smiles on a Chicago balcony. The CHS teachers influenced DeWoskin in huge ways that influence her teaching now. “There was a way CHS teachers listened to us that taught us how to listen,“ DeWoskin said.
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A Ava Millman
On a snowy morning in the middle of her senior year, Ava Millman pulled into the CHS parking lot one minute before the bell. To her dismay — but not surprise — there were no parking spots left and she was forced to park on the street. When Millman went to her car after school, it wasn’t where she’d left it; it had been towed. Millman didn’t know what to do, so she went to Kevin. Kevin helped her get her car back, and every day after that, he would text Millman and let her know that she could park in his spot. This act of kindness touched Millman’s heart, and she remembers it to this day. Millman graduated from CHS in 2019 and is now a member of Notre Dame University’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). However, her journey to Notre Dame University (NDU) was far from straightforward. When she was a sophomore, Millman was introduced to the idea of going into the military when she got an email from Congresswoman Debbie Dingell about a military seminar. Millman found herself enamored with the people she met and decided she wanted to attend a service academy after high school. She felt like she could see herself in the people who were at the sem-
inar, and that were enrolled in the service academies. “[The people] value fitness, education and hard work,” Millman said. “The more research I did, the more I felt like I wanted [the military] to be part of my life.” Millman applied to the service academies her junior year of high school, which was an arduous process. As part of her application, she had interviews with senators, representatives and service-people in active duty. Millman believes that her experiences at CHS helped her develop communication and people skills, especially in interviews. “Having the poise and knowing what to say and how to say it [during interviews] and how to speak in an intellectual manner absolutely put me ahead of the rest,” Millman said. After being accepted to both West Point Military Academy and the Naval Academy, Millman decided she wanted to go into the Navy. Her mother, however, was hesitant about Millman going into the military, given that no one in Millman’s family had ever served, and she had also been granted an ROTC scholarship, which would cover the entirety of her college tuition. “[I told my mom], ‘No, I know what I want to do. My heart is set on this,’” Millman said. On a sunny weekend in the spring of her junior year, Millman went to Panera with her family. There, she saw a man wearing a Vietnam War Navy veteran hat. Millman thanked him for his service and informed him and his wife that she was going to the Naval Academy next year. They talked for hours at Panera and she learned that the man had served as a Surface Warfare Officer and his wife as a nurse during the Vietnam War. When they said goodbye, the man asked Millman if she had looked at NDU. “I was like, ‘No, I’m not Catho-
lic,’” Millman said. “I had friends that wanted to go there but I hadn’t even been there.” That weekend, on her way to an ice hockey tournament in Chicago, Millman’s mother decided to take a detour to visit NDU. Millman ended up loving it, describing it as a “magical” place that she knew she had to attend. Millman attributes her success at NDU to CHS and specifically to journalism. She was an editor of “The Communicator Magazine,” which allowed her to talk and connect with people that didn’t share her same identities. NDU is an extremely conservative school and Millman, as a more liberal person, feels like she may have struggled more with creating relationships if she hadn’t had experience talking to many different kinds of people at CHS. “I have a deeper understanding of how to listen to people and actually hear what they have to say, and I think journalism had a lot to do with that,” Millman said. “[CHS] surrounds you with so many different stories all the time.”
Photo Courtesy of Ava Millman Ava Millman poses at Notre Dame University in her naval uniform. Being in ROTC has given her a community that she sees herself in. “The more research I did, the more I felt like I wanted [the military] to be part of my life,” Millman said.
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N Neda Ulaby
Neda Ulaby’s parents didn’t want her to attend Community High School (CHS). They thought the “bad kids” went to CHS, but Ulaby didn’t care — she was deadset on it. Ulaby graduated from CHS in 1989 and attended Bryn Mawr College after which she moved to Topeka, Kansas. Ulaby secured an internship at a local newspaper reporting on and writing articles in Topeka, but after a year of working for the newspaper, she left for graduate school in 1994. It was here that Ulaby quickly learned where her priorities lay.
Photo Courtesy of Neda Ulaby Neda Ulaby recognized and appreciated the unity that CHS had to offer. “Community’s almost like its own little country,” Ulaby said. “When you’re from the country of Community, you recognize your people. “
“I was like, ‘Wow, I could spend two hours writing an article that hundreds of thousands of people will read and I will get paid for it, or I can spend months writing an academic paper that one person will read, my advisor, [and] hate it and I won’t get paid,’” Ulaby said. “I am a much better reporter than an academic, but it took me seven years in grad school to figure this out.” Ulaby went on to staff several newspapers in the Chicago area, including the National Gay and Lesbian Journalism Association. In Chicago she connected to National Public Radio (NPR) through an internship program. After rising through the ranks, Ulaby landed her current NPR position: an NPR lead journalist and audited financial correspondent. But to Ulaby, there are more valuable aspects to her identity than an impressive resume, all of which tie back to her time at CHS. Ulaby found a deep rooted support system at CHS which set her on a track she has followed since. Ulaby met two of her closest friends when she was a freshman and they were seniors, an age gap which felt huge to Ulaby at the time. As she aged out of high school, this gap closed and Ulaby now describes her connections with some of her CHS friends as her “bedrock.” “These are the people who are with [me] in this incredibly profound way in that I’m 50 [years old] now,” Ulaby said. “They have helped me make decisions that I can only describe as life changing and I wouldn’t have found these people without [CHS].” Ulaby felt constant and necessary support from these friends through every phase of her life: from the breakup of a high school relationship to the eventual breakup of her marriage. Ulaby’s friends provided her with encouragement, advice and love. Her success is owed not only to these meaningful connections, but to the school that gave her the space to grow and to be herself. “Being in a place where I felt loved and encouraged and supported provided me [with] a foundation that I rest upon to this very day,” Ulaby said. “What I owe to [CHS] is incalculable.”
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R Randy Napoleon
During Randy Napoleon’s days at Community High School (CHS), you could almost always find him in the jazz room. Although the school has changed since his time as a CHS student, the spirit remains the same — a space for music, friendship and community. Napoleon would spend hours at CHS listening to jazz records and playing music with peers, including Justin Walter and Benjamin Janssen, both of whom became major musicians. Napoleon feels extremely lucky to have had this experience in his youth. After graduating from CHS in 1995, Napoleon attended the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance. As soon as he finished college, he moved to New York City in search of his dream — becoming a musician, which he described as “swimming with the sharks.” Additionally, he believes that attending CHS gave him an advantage in college and as a professional musician, given that he grew up in a musical community with supportive teachers and peers. Napoleon found many opportunities in New York City, including touring with famous musicians like Michael Bublé, Freddy Cole and Benny Green. He believes these musicians had a great influence on his life, as did life on the road. “I’ve had some incredible mentors in my life,” Napoleon said. “I’ve gotten to travel and play with many of my heroes and they gave
me a great gift. I want to keep on making sure that other people know what music is about.” Napoleon has channeled this desire into teaching. After touring the country for fifteen years with Freddy Cole’s band, he found himself back in Michigan teaching jazz guitar at Michigan State University. What he remembers the most from CHS are his teachers. Staff like Judith DeWoskin, an English teacher, and Carolyn Siebers, a math teacher, helped him understand complex subjects, and he hopes to do the same in his teaching. “They helped me learn how to think,” Napoleon said. “That’s priceless.” CHS has changed in many ways since Napoleon’s time. He describes his experience there as funkier and more influenced by counterculture, which he attributes to Ann Arbor’s environment at the time. He thinks of CHS as “funky,” with lots of hippie and punk cloth-
ing and attitudes. When Napoleon goes back to CHS, he describes it as having had a “face-lift,” with a cleaner environment and more respectable student body. However, Napoleon believes that CHS’ atmosphere remains the same, with a love and respect for its students and surroundings. “[CHS] students just seem a little bit cooler than everybody else, and you get some interesting, really individual and unique people there,” Napoleon said. “I think it’s always attracted that.” Overall, Napoleon views high school as a time for growing, learning and finding yourself as an adult, which helped him become the person he is today. Looking back, he believes he took his time at CHS for granted. “When I was [at CHS], it had this feeling of timelessness — like you had all the time in the world,” Napoleon said. “I felt very safe and happy at Community.”
Photo Courtesy of Randy Napoleon Randy Napoleon poses with his guitar in front of the DIA. Napolean is still in touch with many of his high school friends, nearly 30 years after graduating. “[CHS] really forms some lifelong bonds,” Napolean said. “Those [friendships are] something you carry with you forever.“
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For Better or Worse? Judith DeWoskin and Robbie Stapleton, former CHS teachers and forum leaders, have seen significant changes in the structure of forum throughout their time at the school. BY SANA SCHADEN
Although forums at Community High School (CHS) have changed over the years, they remain an important part of the school. Former CHS personal fitness teacher Robbie Stapleton spent over 20 years making her forum feel like a family. “I really loved everything I did at Community: all the classes, subjects and content that I taught,” Stapleton said. “Yet when someone says ‘What do you remember most?’ I have to say forum, because it really felt like family to me. Forum was a team: You go through stuff together and come out the other end. It’s a very special thing.” When CHS first opened, kids would join forums largely based on the nature of that particular forum. During visits to middle schools around the district, CHS counselors used to bring forum descriptions
written by the forum leader and members. As the culture changed a decade ago, they stopped bringing them. For example, Stapleton’s forum was largely fairly athletic and sports inclined kids, so her forum description usually included lots of physical activities and team building exercises. Over time, these descriptions disappeared as students were no longer able to choose which forum they were placed into. As CHS expanded, so did forum size. Originally, every staff member was a forum leader, so there were less kids per forum. During the 1980s, the administration changed the rules so that only teachers were allowed to be forum leaders, and the number of kids per forum increased significantly. Stapleton
Photo Courtesy By Robbie Stapleton Stapleton’s forum gathers for their victory photo after winning forum competions. “Robbie’s forum became known to be they were they would win the tug of war every year,” DeWoskin said. “I just thought it was hilarious because we’re not exactly a team sport school.”
started her first year as a forum leader with only 15 students, and ended her last year with 29. According to Stapleton, the size increase made it more difficult for her to bond with forum members. Stapleton also had many students who were unable to switch out of her forum, because other forums were already at capacity. Allowing kids to electively switch forums raised concerns that a mass of students would flock to one forum or students might switch for frivolous reasons. Even with these apprehensions, there are benefits to choosing a forum based on your personality or interests, and having the ability to switch out of a forum that doesn’t suit your needs. “I will argue this until the day I die,” Stapleton said. “Kids should
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be able to choose their forums. Forum is the most important class we offer; we choose all of our other classes and we take pride in that. Why can’t you choose your forum? I think when you can do that, it [lets] kids know that we trust them to make good decisions.” CHS operated under Stapleton’s mentality for a while, but as schools became less flexible, students were no longer allowed to choose their forums or easily switch out. These structural changes inevitably forced students to interact with people they might not have met outside of forum. Judith DeWoskin, former CHS English teacher, asked her forum students what they did on weekends together. She was met with bewildered faces as one student explained that forum members didn’t hang out outside of school. “[My student] was informing me that this was a relationship that the kids had within the context of the school,” DeWoskin said. [For example,] you work with your colleagues and you appreciate them, you respect them and you admire them, but that doesn’t mean you go out to
dinner or you invite them over to play Bananagrams or something.” In recent years, the emphasis on forum has been diminished by the addition of lunch forums. When Stapleton and DeWoskin began teaching, there were fewer kids who had conflicts such as split enrollment at other schools or afterschool activities that interfered with the time after forum. These students were placed into the “Phantom” forum that met during the school day or less frequently. Over time, more and more forums would meet during lunch for at least one out of the two weekly blocks. Both Stapleton and DeWoskin resisted lunch forum for many years, insisting that it diminished forum members’ relationships. The shortened forum lunch-time left implied that forum was no longer important enough to meet after school for a longer period of time. “[Forum] is like hanging out with a bunch of second graders who really need to run around and bang their heads against the wall because they’re tired,” DeWoskin said. “It’s a way of debriefing and winding down, venting or laughing or just
Photo Courtesy of Judith Dewoskin DeWoskin’s forum gathers for one of their forum trips. “Planning the food for all of those events for me was a lot of fun,” DeWoskin said.
being stupid at the end of the day. One of the things I loved about forum is [that] kids were raw and honest. I don’t think you can get that in 20 minutes of lunch.” After receiving many requests from her forum to switch one meeting a week to lunchtime, DeWoskin finally caved. She was forced to rush through forum bulletin which created an uptight environment and eliminated time for other forum activities or projects. Both DeWoskin and Stapleton have observed a de-emphasis on forum since the addition of lunch forum, because it significantly decreases the overall amount of time forum meets. Over the years, there have been conversations among staff about whether or not forum should cease to exist in order to make more space for elective blocks. The majority of teachers, however, want to keep forum and continue to make it a meaningful time for students and teachers to connect. “Forum is critically important to Community,” DeWoskin said. “It’s what makes Community really different from other small schools, really good schools.”
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HISTORY OF AP
Three former CHS teachers describe their experience with Advanced Placement classes and why they believe Community is better off without them. BY ANJALI KAKARLA
College Board administered the first AP tests to 27 high schools in 1954. College Board administered the first Advanced Placement (AP) tests to 27 high schools in 1954 as part of a pilot program. Last year, 22,169 schools offered AP classes to prepare students for those tests. CHS was not one of them. Although these classes have become a core part of the curriculum at all three of the other high schools in the AAPS district, they have not spread to CHS due to the separations they create within the student body and the negative impact that those separations can have. When Judith DeWoskin first started her job as an English teacher at CHS in 1984, it was widely accepted by teachers and students that there were no AP classes offered. DeWoskin felt that part of the reason for this was that teachers at CHS wanted to offer their
own classes with curriculum they made. “Nobody was particularly interested in it because we felt that the material in our courses was generated by the passion we had for certain content,” DeWoskin said. “If you teach an AP class, the curriculum is given to you. We wanted to do it ourselves.” DeWoskin had taught a variety of English classes throughout the 36 years she spent at CHS. She believes the goal of any good class should be to reach as many students as possible. By offering AP classes, DeWoskin feels there is an assumption that the brightest kids are put on a pedestal and the kids who are below that level feel discouraged and don’t have the opportunity to expand to their potential. Carolyn Siebers, a former math
teacher at CHS, agrees with DeWoskin. “I believe that all those divisors are artificial,” Siebers said. “Who am I to judge who’s an excellent student and who’s just regular?” Siebers taught math at CHS starting in 1981 and has seen the firsthand impact separations can have on students. Many years ago, CHS had extra support math classes for students who were deemed unready for Algebra 1, such as Consumer Math and General Math. CHS eliminated all of these clases during the 1986-87 school year. Siebers believed these classes were a “failure ground” for students because they grouped students together who had been previously unsuccessful in school or simply didn’t like school. Siebers kept data on the math courses at CHS and
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began to see that fewer students were failing math each year after all students started with Algebra 1. The year before the classes were eliminated, 45 students failed their first-year math course, but after the classes were eliminated, that number significantly decreased to 25 students. Siebers believes that when students are divided by level, the normal diversity of skill sets are removed; when all the brightest students elect to take more advanced classes, the positive role models and the leaders are also lost. Siebers believes that having classes with a mix of different skill levels benefits the brighter students in a class as much as the other students. She argues that the leaders and the go-getters also benefit by staying in these classes because they get to reinforce their education by teaching and working with their peers. Both Siebers and DeWoskin do not remember ever feeling pressure from the district to start an AP program at CHS. Siebers, however, did occasionally feel there was a level of disrespect for CHS from faculty from other AAPS schools. As the head of the CHS math department, she attended many district-wide meetings. When Siebers argued that a wider variety of kids could take upper level classes, she sometimes felt other teachers and administrators believed their courses were more rigorous or more advanced than the courses at CHS. Anne Thomas, another retired CHS math teacher, thinks one of the main reasons CHS never had an AP program is due to Community Resource of opportunities and the ability for CHS students to take classes at the University of Mich-
“If a department is strong and they’re really inspiring kids to learn and preparing them well for college, then they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Thomas said. igan (UM) and Washtenaw Community College (WCC). Thomas believes that it is not necessary for students to take AP classes in preparation for college. She has seen many of her students and others excel in college and she feels her own daughter was thoroughly prepared to go to college after going through CHS’ curriculum. Thomas believes her daughter left CHS loving learning, and, to her, that is far more valuable than an AP exam. “If a department is strong and they’re really inspiring kids to learn and preparing them well for college, then they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Thomas said. Although AP classes are not offered at CHS, some students still opt to take an AP exam at the end of the year. These students typically self-study for the test or dual-enroll at their home school to take an AP class. CHS classes that line up with the AP-based classes are sometimes taught to prepare their students for the AP test throughout the year. Math teachers at CHS have been preparing their calculus students for the AP exam since 1985, when calculus first became a class at CHS. Siebers began teaching calculus
in 1989. She estimates around 25% of the students in her calculus class took the AP test every year. To prepare her students for the test, Siebers would attend AP conferences and gather old AP exams for her students to practice. After Siebers retired, Thomas started teaching calculus and also began to prepare her students for the AP exam. Thomas offered extra office hours and stayed after school to help students in the weeks leading up to the exam. Although they opposed the separation of students into different class levels, DeWoskin, Thomas and Siebers were not directly opposed to the idea of students taking AP classes and exams; they just didn’t believe it was the right decision to have them at CHS. “There were students going to Huron and Pioneer to take AP classes, and we didn’t have any problems with that,” DeWoskin said. “We were just trying to be a little more inclusive [at CHS].” Siebers, Thomas, and DeWoskin have all found success through teaching students with a diverse range of academic abilities at CHS. All three believe that every student has the potential to succeed and that having different levels of classes creates an unnecessary separation.
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A HANDBOOK FOR LIFE
CHS English teachers reflect on the books they read in high school and how the texts differed from those they now assign. BY MAGGIE WOLF
When Jessika Whiteside graduated high school, she had never read a book in class written by an author who shared her cultural background. As she progressed from introductory to honors English, Whiteside read all the classic great American novels: “Catch 22,” “Moby Dick” and “Lord of the Flies.” Although she read a diverse selection of authors on her own, it wasn’t until she took a Spanish class in college that Whiteside analyzed a piece of literature in a classroom setting written by an author with a similar background to her own. “I thought about how transformative it is to have that moment where you realize there are some pretty fabulous people that [you’re] connected to culturally that have done really amazing things as writers,” Whiteside said. “Why did it take so long [to read their work]? Why did it take 20 years of my life?”
Matt Johnson also spent his high school years reading classic literature that represented a singular American perspective. “What you’ll notice about these [books] though is that they are all by one type of author, which is an old classic book by a white, male author,” Johnson said. While Johnson enjoyed reading these books as a student, throughout the course of his college education and the beginning of his teaching career, he became more conscious of the neglected value of other points of view in literature. When students are only given the opportunity to understand and analyze the white American male perspective, they are likely to remain ignorant of the wide range of experiences really present in America. In Johnson’s experience, when the curriculum included only limited perspectives, students’ learning
“I thought about how transformative it is to have that moment where you realize there are some pretty fabulous people that [you’re] connected to culturally that have done really amazing things as writers,” Whiteside said.
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was restricted. “Learning about the experience of somebody who’s very different from you in any number of ways is incredibly important because it allows you to better understand the world, better interact with people and walk around in their shoes for a little bit,” Johnson said. As he chooses books for his high school students, Johnson considers educational theorist Rudine Sims Bishop’s idea of the importance of windows, mirrors and sliding glass doors. This theory proposes that a book can serve as a window into someone else’s life and experiences, a mirror reflecting a reader’s own lived experiences, or a sliding glass door by immersing the reader so deeply in another experience that it feels as though they are living it themselves. Johnson believes that students should have the opportunity to read texts that fall under all three categories. Historically, the singular perspective represented in high school literature classes, described by Johnson and Whiteside, has largely served as a mirror for only a few students and a window for many
others. When this pattern occurs, it excludes a majority of students’ backgrounds and perspectives. As a result, it can be difficult for high schoolers to learn from and find meaning in the literature they study in class. This is part of what teachers like Johnson and Whiteside take into account when choosing novels to teach. Johnson believes that the complexity of a novel he chooses for his students is not necessarily correlated with surface-level considerations, like its vocabulary usage. “There are some texts, like ‘The House on Mango Street,’ where the vocabulary used is not very intense, but there’s not a more complex book that I can think of when you really dig into it,” Johnson said. Whiteside also strives to incorporate as many different voices and backgrounds as possible into the curriculum she teaches. During her high school years, when reading a narrow selection of texts in class, she had to independently seek out a wider variety of perspectives. As a teacher, Whiteside now introduces her students to texts like “The Color Purple” and “Their Eyes
Were Watching God,” in addition to widely read classics, like “Romeo and Juliet.” She believes that this introduction to diverse literary viewpoints allows students to better understand the world they live in. “[Even if] an author is writing from a different time and perspective, there’s still this universal way that we can understand somebody else’s struggle or growth as a person,” Whiteside said. Both Whiteside and Johnson hope to help their students gain this understanding and make connections with the books they read in school. These connections are what stick with students after a class ends and after they graduate high school. Such powerful connections have the potential to guide people as they begin to navigate adulthood. “We don’t get a handbook for life,” Johnson said. “You just have to make your way through it, but I think that a really good novel is about as close to a handbook for life as you can find because you get a chance to walk in other people’s shoes.” Feature | February 2022 | 29
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“We were really committed to the idea that this is not women’s history,” Stapleton said. “This is not African American history. This is not Indigenous American history. This is American history. And, of course, these stories should be told, because we’re all Americans.”
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Redefining American History
Marion Evashevski, Robbie Stapleton and Cindy Haidu-Banks changed the CHS history department during their tenure, paving the way for a new generation of teachers. BY ELLIOT BRAMSON
A turning point for the U.S. history curriculum at Community High School (CHS) came in 1994 when senior Sasha Polakow-Suransky approached history teacher Marion Evashevski with a new idea. He wanted a US history class that focused less on mainstream, white U.S. history, and more on the experiences of minorities throughout history. He suggested that the class be taught using Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States:” and Ronald Takaki’s “A Different Mirror:” two untraditional U.S. history textbooks. Evashevski asked Polakow-Suransky if he wanted to co-teach the class. He said yes. “He single-handedly wrote the grant that got us the two textbooks,” Evashevski said. The class was called U.S. History: Minority Perspective, and it was an immediate hit. Within two years, all of the U.S. history classes began using Evashevski and Polakow Suransky’s curriculum. When Robbie Stapleton was hired at CHS in 1987, the history department looked different than it does today. There was a wealth of electives: Western Civilization, Non-Western Civilization, Civics, Psychology, Peace Studies, Model UN and more. In 2000, the district put a cap on how many classes a student could take: six classes, plus forum. On top of that, there were new requirements on classes a student needed to take to graduate. All of those requirements left less room in students’ schedules for electives. When Stapleton began teaching U.S. History, she enjoyed more ac-
ademic freedom than teachers at other schools. “I could use my own resources, journal articles and primary sources,” Stapleton said. “That’s what I really loved about the freedom at Community. I didn’t feel constrained by state [requirements]. We all had to teach the required courses, of course, but what I loved about it was that I wasn’t wedded to a textbook.” History teachers at CHS did not have to take the common assessment, did not have to sync their classes with each other and did not have to use regular history textbooks. They were able to offer their students a version of their classes that included the perspective of Americans who had been left out of the story. Stapleton also offered independent studies that covered topics like the 1960s, racism, sexism and environmentalism. When Stapleton reflects on the controversy surrounding how U.S. history is taught in the country today, she feels like what she and her colleagues were teaching was not out of the ordinary. “We were really committed to the idea that this is not women’s history,” Stapleton said. “This is not African American history. This is not indigenous American history. This is American history. And, of course, these stories should be told, because we’re all Americans.” Another former CHS history teacher, Cindy Haidu-Banks, also watched her curricular freedom slowly disappear throughout her 20 years at CHS. She found herself having to adjust her schedule to fit state-mandated tests that collected
data on her students, and she was required to cover a certain time period in history by the end of the first semester. At the start of her career, HaiduBanks could spend an extra week on the Great Depression, for example, depending on what her students were interested in, but by the end of her career, there was less wiggle room in her curriculum. She felt more stress and tension in her teaching and less joy. While she loved teaching until she retired in 2020, she felt that state requirements for testing and data collection were taking away time that she could have spent with her students, teaching more valuable topics. When she looks back on her time at CHS, Haidu-Banks is happy with how she left the history department. Despite having to follow state requirements, she was committed to teaching the harsher truths of history, and not only the progress the US has made, but where work still needs to be done and why. “I’m proud of us,” Haidu-Banks said. “I’m proud of Chloe and proud of Ryan. I feel like all the teachers have embraced in a passionate way that they’re still going to encourage the students to question what’s being taught and how it’s being taught. ‘Is this the real story? Is there more to this story?’” Haidu-Banks knew she could retire when Sarah Hechler was in line for her job. It felt fated that Hechler arrived while Haidu-Banks had her own reasons for retiring. “I was leaving my forum in good hands [and the] history [department] in good hands,” HaiduBanks said. Feature | February 2022 | 31
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In Over Our Heads
The rowdy and revolutionary story of alternative high schools in Ann Arbor, Mich. BY NOAH BERNSTEIN
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In 1971, Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) tried something new. Under the leadership of Dr. Bruce McPherson, the district’s newly-minted superintendent, a team of teachers at Pioneer High School dreamed up a radical idea. The group, which called itself “Teachers for Change,” proposed the establishment of Ann Arbor’s first alternative high school: Pioneer II, later renamed Earthworks. On Oct. 11, 1971 — only seven weeks after the school’s initial conception — Earthworks opened its doors. The students, 108 strong, selected gray and clear as the school’s colors. The building, formerly Fritz Elementary School, consisted of three main rooms. Inside, narrow lockers were covered in artwork and scribbled handwriting, a sofa sat against the wall and tires hung from the rafters, serving as repurposed chairs. The school’s bathroom was coed and covered in graffiti — including a gargoyle next to the urinal sneering “He’s back.” The two adults in the building, Tom Dodd and Allan Schreiber, designed a curriculum that included “Creative Assholism,” “Imagination Marathon” and the innovative Community Resource (CR) program. Only a year later, in 1972, Community High School (CHS) followed in Earthworks’s footsteps. That September, roughly 300 students ventured to the old Jones Elementary School on Division Street in Kerrytown — a historic district in Ann Arbor. Given its name and proximity to downtown and the University of Michigan’s campus, the school was uniquely positioned to pursue McPherson’s “school without borders” philosophy. In the nursery, school-aged parents dropped off their children, who were cared for throughout the day. In the classroom, Preston Slosson, an 81-year-old professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, taught history. In the parking lot, Greg Clark, a junior at CHS, taught a CR on motorcycle maintenance. In the fire escapes, students listened to Earth, Wind and Fire, smoked weed and played Euchre. And, although it was originally left undetermined, the school’s mascot eventually became the rainbow zebra. Throughout the 1970s, these two schools ran parallel to one another — with Earthworks taking the more radical route — until their paths eventually converged.
A Safe Haven Photos courtesy of Allan Schreiber Teachers and students spend the day together at Earthworks, Ann Arbor’s first alternative high school. The school opened in 1971, and eventually merged with Community High School in 1978. “Students came in and learned whatever [they] wanted to do,” said Mike Mouradian, a substitute teacher at Earthworks. “Tom and Allan just oversaw the mayhem.”
In 1974, David Mosher — a self-described hippie who had sharp features and wore his hair down to his shoulders — moved from New York to Michigan. His parents had recently divorced, his mother needed to make money and his grandfather taught at the University of Michigan, so Ann Arbor was naturally a safe haven for him. In New York, Mosher had attended the semi-alternative Briarcliff High School (BHS) for his freshman and sophomore years. There, he would go to class once, “charm the teacher and then not show up [again].” After Mosher’s grandmother learned that he was coming to Ann Arbor, she quickly suggested CHS. Shortly thereafter, he enrolled and became a member of the high school’s very first, full graduating class. “I joke about this, but [at BHS] I smoked a lot of pot
and played basketball,” Mosher said. “When I got to Community, I pretty much got credit for doing that.” On a more serious note, however, Mosher believes that he was lucky to attend CHS. In fact, he credits the school with giving him the support and the freedom he needed to graduate. “Community, for all its goofiness and unrealized focus, saved my life,” Mosher said. “For a certain kind of person, it was a watershed moment, a boon to whatever [we] were trying to do.” Mosher’s watershed moment manifested in music. He played in the jazz band with Bart Polot, sang in the vocal studio with Betsy King, took a CR on fingerstyle guitar and acted. All four experiences taught him skills that he still uses as a roots musician today. “I’m not a jazz guy,” Mosher said. “I read like shit. But I can play mandolin, fiddle, guitar, banjo, bass, whatever … It was the kind of thing that Community did really well. [The school] helped you find what you liked and said, ‘Here’s some options. Go do it.’” However, learning the guitar, smoking weed and playing basketball weren’t the only things Mosher did at CHS. He also took a course called “Human Relations,” taught by Tom Johns. According to Mosher, the class was essentially a therapy session, supplemented with weekend camping trips. Notably, Johns had no formal psychology training. “I watched other people go through some major shit, for sure,” Mosher said. “I eventually found it to be a little unwieldy. Now, from this perspective, it wasn’t as professionally run as it could have been. They wanted to do the right thing. I just think that sometimes they might have been in over their head … We were all a little bit in over our heads.” For Mosher, one camping trip to a park in Jackson, Mich. was more memorable than the others. To him, the weekend felt especially out of control. “I remember [a classmate] sobbing, and thinking, ‘This didn’t need to happen this way.’ They took her apart and didn’t put her back together. It just seemed to me like we were playing with fire, with people’s feelings, both unrealized and realized.” Today, camping trips are only reserved for forum overnights, a fundamental part of one’s experience at CHS. After graduation, Mosher left Ann Arbor and didn’t come back until 1986. In fact, just last summer, Mosher married his high school sweetheart, Lisa Davis. They met during his first year at CHS. “I never fit in with the mainstream, and I don’t wear that as a badge of honor,” Mosher said. “I know that because Community was not normal, I wasn’t normal, and we got along well. I’m just not a four-classes-inthe-morning, three-in-the-afternoon, turn-in-your-paper kind of student. [Community] was my little hippie heyday. It was the way life should be, a buffet.”
The End of the Beginning
In the spring of 1975, one semester after Mosher be came a student at CHS, Mike Mouradian graduated from Feature | February 2022 | 33
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“
Nobody in the district really wanted Community and Earthworks, but they realized they could dump 300 troublemakers somewhere else. from Eastern Michigan University. That fall, with degrees in Biology, Chemistry and Counseling, a “revolutionary” and “outside-the-box” approach to education and uncertainty about his future, Mouradian found his way to Ann Arbor. More specifically, he found his way to CHS as a student-teacher and to Earthworks as a substitute. “[I was] young, and I wanted to change the world … I was looking to do things outside the normal, traditional route,” Mouradian said. Despite Mouradian’s optimistic worldview — and a coworker saying that he’d “be okay” at Earthworks because of his background in social work — his first day at the school was understandably eye-opening. “There [were] couches and bean bags and stuff every-
where,” Mouradian said. “There [were] kids all over the place just laying around, playing checkers. And there was this little guy who immediately grabbed me and said, ‘Hey, I’ll show you around.’ As he was [doing so], I wondered, ‘What am I supposed to do?’” Expecting to work alongside other teachers, Mouradian was even more surprised to learn that he was the only adult in the building that day; the school’s two full-time teachers, Tom Dodd and Allan Schreiber, weren’t there. Nevertheless, Mouradian slowly embraced Earthworks’s unique, camplike culture. “Students came in and learned whatever [they] wanted to do,” Mouradian said. “Tom and Allan just oversaw the mayhem.” Although the mayhem was supervised — and some-
Photo courtesy of David Mosher David Mosher and Lisa Davis sit outside. The couple first met and dated at CHS, and they got married last summer. “Community, for all its goofiness and unrealized focus, saved my life,” Mosher said. “For a certain kind of person, it was a watershed moment, a boon to whatever [we] were trying to do.”
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times supported — by Dodd and Schreiber, the students were also key contributors to Earthworks’s creative chaos. “Pioneer was very happy to clean the jails out and send students to Earthworks and Community because they were so overcrowded,” Mouradian said. “Nobody in the district really wanted Community and Earthworks, but they realized they could dump 300 troublemakers somewhere else.” However, this approach of simply sending rebellious students to CHS and Earthworks was not sustainable forever. Like many of its fellow alternative schools from across the nation, Earthworks’s enrollment sank in the latter half of the 1970s. According to Schreiber, by the fall of 1977, its enrollment had declined to roughly 60 students, four of whom had been patients at the University of Michigan’s Children’s Psychiatric Hospital since that summer. Finally, in 1978, there were no options left. The remaining 50 students and two teachers merged with their sister school, CHS. According to Mouradian, doing so might just have saved CHS from suffering a similar fate. “Tom [Dodd] was a great ideas guy, but not a great implementer,” Mouradian said. “A lot of people who went to Earthworks were going there just because they didn’t really want to be in school in the first place.” To absorb the immediate influx of students, CHS restructured an integral part of its identity: Forum. Originally, the class was an unorthodox homeroom.
Forums would meet for two hours a day, every day of the week, and forum leaders would teach the subjects that they were most familiar with. In turn, students would use their elective hours to study the topics overlooked in the forum. Upon merging with Earthworks, two forums of opposite expertise joined together to create a “component.” “It was a way to combine the two schools without them losing their identity right away,” Mouradian said. “But after a couple of years, it didn’t matter.” In Mouradian’s case, his forum, with a focus on science, joined forces with Elaine Headly’s forum, who focused on art. Together, they became the Da Vinci Component. On the other side of the school, Earthworks became the New Educational Opportunities (NEO) component. 11 years later, in 1989, Mouradian and Headly got married.
A Neverending Show
In the spring of 1975 — both Mosher and Mouradian’s first year at CHS — “The Midnight Sun” published its third yearbook. Inside is a fictional movie script that describes a typical CHS school day. Its message still resonates today: “Camera makes full frontal picture — shooting out of window, looking over at farmers’ market. Soundtrack is heard: Anyone for Euchres? … Rundown school. Rundown school board. Traditional dislike of authority. Heard over school PA system: Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends.”
Photo courtesy of Allan Schreiber Students at Earthworks play checkers in the hallway. The school opened with 108 students in an effort to solve overpopulation in Ann Arbor Public Schools. “A lot of people who went to Earthworks were going there just because they didn’t really want to be in school in the first place,” Mouradian said.
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A Dream Land Christine Crockett fell in love with historical houses early on in life. Now she lives in one and unravels the history of the Old Fourth Ward. BY RUTH SHIKANOV
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Christine Crockett has always had a love for historical houses, starting in her childhood. Although she grew up in a rural area of Michigan, she remembers constantly admiring her friends and family’s older houses, especially those in the Detroit area. Crockett’s relatives lived in a Victorian home, which Crockett thought was “the greatest house in the world.” “Going to Detroit, for me, was just going into [a] dreamland,” Crockett said. Crockett worked as Community
High School’s (CHS) first librarian for 34 years and currently resides in a beautiful Queen Anne Victorian home on 506 E. Kingsley Street. The house is easy to detect with its beautiful wrought iron fences which border the lively, green garden. Flowers, when in season, hang from the porch which bloom with vivid colors. The long wrap-around porch is lined with carved pillars that are painted red, green and yellow. Crockett’s dream of living in a historical home has truly been realized. Built in 1891, this house has
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seen many people pass through its doors. John and Sarah Schumaker moved into Crockett’s current home in 1892. The couple was from Lima Township, just outside of Ann Arbor. After getting married, they opened Schumacher’s Hardware, a hardware store on Main Street. The hardware store was open from the 1870s until the 1940s. “I feel that our historic house carries the positive spirit of all the people who’ve ever lived here,” Crockett said. “We found out [that] the people who have lived here, are all really wonderful people.” When Crockett and her husband purchased their house, a study was being conducted in the neighborhood to see which houses could be considered historical and if the neighborhood could, in general, be considered a historical area. The study was undertaken by the owners and occupants of the neighborhood and made its way to the city council, where a document was configured and documented the historical significance of these houses. Despite being newcomers, Crockett and her husband came together with their neighbors to form a neighborhood association. They sent out notices to neighbors and held a meeting, at which Crockett was elected president. The Old Fourth Ward Historic District was established in 1984 and comprises 400 buildings; the earliest buildings date back to the 1820s. The district extends east to west from Glen Street, to Fifth Avenue and Detroit Street and then north to south of Huron and Depot. Generally, it is the neighborhood that surrounds CHS. The Old Fourth Ward, previously a political ward, is the designation of this historic district because, in the 19th century, there were six political wards in Ann Arbor.
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Before, where CHS sits now, Jones Elementary School was the neighborhood school designated to the Old Fourth Ward. During the 1930s and 1940s, Ann Arbor’s Black population was growing and many moved to the Old Fourth Ward, due to segregated living and housing. The student population of Jones Elementary School consisted of Black and white children, and immigrant residents as well. However, the Black population of Jones Elementary was 75%. In 1963, after the verdict of Brown v. The Board of Education, Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) conducted a survey that ended up closing Jones Elementary in 1965. Students of Jones Elementary School were assigned to the different schools of AAPS and the future generations of those born in the Old Fourth Ward would be assigned to schools throughout the district. Crockett’s son, for example, was sent to Haisley Elementary, a predominately white school. Crockett pushed to arrange her son to attend a more integrated school. In 1974, Crockett was hired at CHS when there was no library at all. Originally employed at Brighton High School, she eagerly took the opportunity. While not having to drive every day to work was one of reasons she took the job, the task of building the school’s first library was a compelling project. Disderide’s Days was two doors down from Jones Elementary. It was the neighborhood’s old grocery store, and it is now Zingerman’s. The older neighborhoods of Ann Arbor, like the Old Fourth Ward, always had stores that were walkable for daily life. Zingerman’s was established in the early 1980’s when Paul Saginaw and Erin Weiss purchased the small, two-story brick building. Over the years it has grown in fame as a grocery
store that serves its community. Aside from having many stores and schools, churches are also prevalent. There are many like St. Thomas and St. James, both Catholic. There is a Unitarian Church on the corner of North State and Huron, across the street from North Quad. There is Harris Hall which is across the street from where the Episcopal students had a meeting place. The first African American church in Ann Arbor is on High Street. There were a multitude of activities that
“I feel that our historic house carries the positive spirit of all the people who’ve ever lived here. It’s a very special gift to be able to live in an old house.” took place in town and close to one another. “There were houses, schools, businesses, barns, churches and everything that pertained to everyday life all grouped together,” Crockett said. “And that’s what makes this neighborhood so interesting.” Crockett feels that historical houses have a special gift that new houses cannot possess. Going back to the very first people who lived in the home, each and every family has left a mark, one way or another. “The Schumachers were great people and very important to the early days of Ann Arbor,” Crockett said. “There are positive spirits in the house that have left their mark and remain here in some sense.”
Drawing Courtesy of Christine Crockett
A 2021 calendar, curated by Ruth Forrest, featured 506 E. Kingsley for the month of Dec.
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GIVE H T R A E A CE N A H C As the health of Michigan’s natural resources rapidly declined, Ann Arborites of the ‘70s stepped up to make a change. BY GRACE WANG
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The Detroit River ran red and green. Piles of trash floated down the Huron. The Cuyahoga and the Rouge rivers, filled with oil and waste, caught on fire. The signs of economic prosperity in Michigan — billowing smoke stacks — covered the cars they built in black dust. As each of these events piled up next to each other, Michiganders began to realize something was very wrong. Through the 1960s, environmental organizers worked to teach the public about these man-made disasters and the issues with consumption. However, they needed larger demonstrations in order to really make a change; through the very first Earth Day celebration and making environmental education accessible to everyone, demands were made to clean up our air and water. Earth Day was meant to be an educational event to get people to take collective action. While the rest of the U.S. planned to hold their ‘teach-ins’ April 22, 1970, students at the University of Mich-
igan and some of the surrounding high schools organized for about a month earlier to avoid conflicts with trimester-based final exams. Buttons labeled with the phrase “Give Earth a Chance,” were printed by local environmental groups to get the word out. On March 11, 1970, thousands of people came to the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor to learn. “A big part of the early ecology days was education,” said Mike Mouradian, former Community High School (CHS) science teacher and local environmental activist. “Explaining that you could take a plastic bottle, chop it up and reuse it again, or glass could be remelted: that was not in people's heads at all. [A] big part of the environmental movement was not actually doing stuff as much as [it was] educating people. [It was] to make people understand that when they threw something in the water it didn't disappear. Or [when] you threw something on the ground it didn't just disappear. It's all happening in a terrarium.”
Photo By Mike Mouradian Students at Allen Park High School symbolically bury the Earth. On their 1970 Earth day observance, they showed the planet klled by pollution. "Earth Day was all over the place at that point," Mouradian said. "The environmental movement was a big deal."
Mouradian recalls an old term in science, “dilution is the solution,” that justified much of the pollution from factories in the industrial revolution and beyond. When waste products were dumped into rivers that emptied into lakes and then into the ocean, people believed that: “There’s just so much ocean,” Mouradian said. “There’s no way you could ever pollute it.” However, gradually, Mouradian and others interested in sustainability began to realize that the Earth could not take on endless pollution. “When they were up in space… it was the first time anyone took a picture of the Earth and you saw it as a fixed thing,” Mouradian said. “It wasn't infinite. That was very profound to me, seeing that image.” As a teacher at CHS, Mouradian organized its first ecology and recycling club and got students involved in the creation of the 10-cent bottle deposit. The broader state and nationwide movements inspired students and local lawmakers to make Feature | February 2022 | 39
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changes with what they had. “I was part of an environmental group, and we were working with Perry Bullard, who was the state representative at the time,” Mouradian said. “A group of students from Community High worked with him and pursued the idea of a deposit on pop bottles. Then, people would just drink their pop and throw it out the windows. It was extremely controversial to have a deposit on the bottles like that. And it's still 10 cents, which it was back in 1970, which would be like
$1 now, so it was a pretty serious deposit at the time.” Mouradian viewed the deposit as a huge success, as it got people thinking more deeply about how they consume and where their waste goes when they’re done with it. By recycling at schools and through the creation of Recycle Ann Arbor, which started according to Mouradian as, “some guy in a pickup truck [who] would come by and pick up the stuff,” Ann Arborites pioneered much of the change in the Midwest.
Art By Mia Wood The globe sits shown as a fixed, finite place as Mouradian saw it after the 1969 moon landing.
Now as people live with the accepted norms of reducing, reusing and recycling, there is still work to be done. Sylva Das, a CHS senior, helps implement local change through her involvement in the Freeman Environmental Youth Council (FEEC). The group's main goal is to further educate students in the AAPS and help the district become greener. Through educating even elementary schoolers with structured videos, FEEC promotes getting outside and doing small things like
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“
It's all happening in a terrarium.”
removing invasive plants. “Working with kids has been something that is really important to me because I loved spending time in nature when I was young, [which] has been a large contributor towards my activism today,” Das said. “Especially after so much remote learning inside on screens, getting outside is really important for everyone’s mental health.” The council’s work, whether it’s through community education events or through reestablishing native plants, is building on the
foundation of work done by conservationists of the 20th century. “Being a part of the FEEC has really taught me the value of communities,” Das said. “Before when I would think of activism, I would often think of large-scale action like legislation and mass solar panel installations, which is important, but I have realized that smaller scale community change is too. It is also more motivating because you can see the change you are implementing which has given me a lot of hope in a movement that some-
times seems hopeless.” Whether it’s just from home or through a group, smaller-scale changes help better the community. Mouradian tries to live a reasonably careful life in terms of his sustainability. “I am by no means Mr. Perfect environmental person,” Mouradian said. “There's no way I'm going to change one minute of Ford Motor Company’s pollution. So some of the changes have to happen in [a] big sense, but I can do my little bit." Feature | February 2022 | 41
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Community High School has always been an experiment. To sustain our school’s unorthodox and unexpected success, everyone at CHS must appreciate the fragile nature of its identity. STAFF EDITORIAL At its inception, CHS was never meant to be this successful. We were never meant to outscore Ann Arbor’s traditional public schools on standardized tests. We were never meant to win the Blue Ribbon award. We were never meant to annually send students to the Ivy League. But, we do. In 1972, Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) founded CHS to combat overpopulation throughout the district and test Superintendent Bruce McPherson’s “schools without borders” philosophy. According to former staff and students, this strategy initially resulted in a school full of “hippies,” a place where Pioneer High School and Huron High School could dump their “troublemakers” and “clean out the jails.” Nevertheless, this founding group created an identity that embraced CHS’ external community — in Kerrytown, the University of Michigan and Ann Arbor — to
strengthen its internal community — in forums, classrooms and clubs. However, in 1994, all of this progress was nearly scribbled over, crumpled up and thrown out. That year, Ann Arbor held local elections for the school board. Despite prospective students camping outside of CHS for 96 hours just to enroll, three incumbent candidates accused the school of draining the district’s resources. They supported drastically cutting the school’s funding while increasing the school’s enrollment. If implemented, it was all but certain that these policies would overburden CHS and destroy the school that we love today. Thankfully, these candidates were met with stark resistance. In April of that year, Ann Arbor Students for Political Action — a student-led group of 150 AAPS high schoolers — registered with the Washtenaw County
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Clerk’s office and officially became a political action committee. Immediately, they began fundraising and endorsed three opposition candidates who supported the “personalized education” that students received at CHS and other alternative schools in the district: Diane Hockett, Nicholas Roumel and Ann Lyzenga. That June, with the fighting spirit of CHS’ own students, they flipped control of the school board. Now, 28 years later, CHS is facing another pivotal moment. With the rapid departure of 16 staff members in four years; many of CHS’ core traditions sidelined because of Covid-19 precautions; and three grades experiencing their first full, in-person year of high school, it is easy to worry that CHS’ identity will never be the same. To a certain extent, this is true. However, change is not necessarily a bad thing. As we wrote, designed and published this issue, we found three elements of our school’s history that we hope everyone at CHS rediscovers. In doing so, we can all examine CHS’ current culture and construct our future identity. 1. Make the Community Resource (CR) program widely available. In 1973, CHS’ entire enrollment consisted of 413 students taking a whopping 550 CR courses. Today, this number has flipped: 516 students taking only 115 CRs. We must reaffirm our former level of commitment to the program, because the opportunity to learn outside of the four walls of a traditional classroom — at the University of Michigan, the Neutral Zone or elsewhere — is precisely the type of boundary-breaking experience that all CHS students should have.
2. Emphasize the importance of tight-knit forums. In the mid-1970s, forum was CHS at its finest. Students had forum two hours a day, five days a week, and it anchored a typical schedule at CHS. To be clear, we don’t believe that forums should return to this historical model; however, they should return to their pre-pandemic purpose. The valuable time spent in forums should be focused on recreating a place for staff and students to seek candid advice and form deep friendships. 3. Create new traditions and carry on old ones. We recognize that public health considerations prevent a full-blown return to the original format of many CHS celebrations. However, this shift will be temporary. In the near future, we must revitalize our old rituals and create new celebrations. Previously, those subtle, in-between interactions during Field Day, Commstock, Soul Food Wednesday and MultiCulti taught new students and staff the unique essence of CHS. Unfortunately, these are moments we have lost during the pandemic. But the hard work of recreating them is necessary to uplift us and our school’s identity. On their own, all three of our propositions are simple. But, together, they work in synergy with one another. This collective embrace of the CR program, forum time and CHS traditions will help steer our school’s identity back to its revolutionary roots and continue our compelling underdog story.
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Test-optional admissions, previously few and far between, have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years amid pandemic and equity concerns. Where previously almost every school would have required an SAT or ACT score on an application, most have not required them for the 2021-22 application cycle. But amidst test-optional admissions, test-blind schools and general panic over scores, a new SAT is arriving. According to College Board’s press release, the new test will be completely digital and administered on a student’s own laptop. It will also be significantly easier. Students taking the test starting in 2023 will no longer have a ‘math-no-calculator’ section, and the reading passages will be fewer and shorter. The whole test has been reduced to two-thirds of its former length. The change has been framed as a bid for keeping College Board relevant, a last cash grab before all schools go test-blind forever. However, knowing the number of students still taking and submitting the SAT in hopes of strengthening their applications, I can’t help but think that this is pushing the test’s relevancy the other way. Ironically, this could very well be the last straw for taking the SAT out of college admissions entirely. Making the test easier is great for students until, of course, colleges raise their standards to reflect it. It’ll depend on how much easier
the test gets, but it is not unlikely that, when admissions officers shift their standards to reflect the new test, there won’t be enough room to shift them higher. If schools are suddenly overwhelmed with SAT scores above their benchmarks, especially at top schools where the benchmarks are so high already, it seems a real possibility that scores will stop being considered altogether. But colleges are always going to rank applicants somehow. They need to compare students from different schools using some universal measure, and if the SAT can no longer be that measure, colleges will turn to another choice. The SAT getting easier — and declining in relevancy — looks like a good thing on the surface, but the alternative may be much worse. Advanced Placement (AP) exams, coincidentally also run by the College Board, are rapidly rising in significance while the SAT declines. As more and more schools go SAT optional, AP exams are quietly ascending in their place as the standardized benchmark for student abilities. However, in terms of student access and equity, there couldn’t be a worse choice. Designed to mimic year-end exams in first-year college courses, AP tests are normally only possible after a year of an associated higher-pace AP class offered through your school — a chance, according to educational research nonprofit
The Digital Age The SAT is going digital and getting easier. That’s not necessarily a good thing. BY RITA IONIDES
the American Enterprise Institute, that is offered only for three of every four schools and at that only for a few subjects. Sometimes, like at CHS, this is because of an alternative curriculum, but it is often because a school doesn’t have the teachers or the resources for separate AP classes on top of their normal curriculum. Independent study is possible, but is only accessible to students with access to AP course materials and without a job after school. And even if a school does offer AP, the costs to students can be prohibitively high. A single AP exam, as per College Board, costs $96, not including extra administration costs, and AP students take up to six of them a year. Preparing students for the SAT is not equitable. Wealthier students from better school districts have the advantage of more school support services, prep courses and harder classes. However, at the very least, access to the SAT is more or less equitable, free to all students and taken during the normal school day. It used to be that if you couldn’t pay for AP exams, or didn’t have access to the classes, you could still prove your knowledge in wide-spread standardized tests like the SAT offered for free by the state. Increasingly, that’s not the case. We are phasing out the SAT— parts both equitable and not — only to make way for students to be judged by tests that are more expensive and more exclusive. There aren’t any easy solutions here. College Board is hardly going to change their rollout, and colleges, whether it’s fair or not, still have to rank their applicants. At the very least, though, we can stop pretending the problem doesn’t exist. As a society, we need to resolve the inequalities in standardized tests like the SAT — but while we have standardized tests to measure students with at all, getting rid of the SAT is only making things worse.
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Living History What can we do in our lifetimes to influence the story of history? BY RYAN SILVESTER
At the end of each year in World History, I tell my students to go from my class and make their own history. World History is all around us, and it will never cease. At least not in our lifetimes. This short, closing remark is often met with half-laughs and eye-rolls as students ascend from their seats and move on to take their next final or leave for the afternoon. Most have forgotten those words before they even walk out into the hall. Yet the importance of history lies in what we make of it ourselves, and how we use it going forward. Those few sentences are some of the most important that I share as a teacher. These words wrap up history in its own relevance. History does not begin and end within the
confines of textbooks, no matter how heavy and lengthy they may be. We look at events and people in history to help us better understand our present. For instance, we can analyze the lead-up to conflict during World War I to gain a deeper understanding of nationalism and tensions between Russia and Ukraine today. Or consider when trying to establish public health policies to combat Covid-19, we benefit from lived experiences and practices during the Flu Pandemic of 1918. Whether we like our present or not, we can no longer rely on the likes of Lincoln or Curie or Tubman to change it for us. Presently, we get to be the vessel of change and must use history as our guide. Toni Morrison sums this up best with “if we understand
a good deal more about history, we automatically understand a great more about contemporary life.” I also share these words to inspire. In history classes, we spend the majority of our time learning about significant and influential figures who have shaped some considerable aspect of the world. Yet, the vastness of history is truly decided by the everyday interactions of normal people. Wars cannot be waged by individuals; revolutions cannot be started without a crowd; nations cannot be formed without a community coming together. The way we choose to live our lives will influence history for centuries to come. The story of World History is considerable, but it is also unfinished. We are living through the tale of history, and the actions we take, the decisions we make will operate as its continuation. We have the power not to rewrite, but to extend this great story. So, how will we choose to shape the future? What decisions and actions will we take to determine the way of this world? How can we use history as our guide in this process? When we study history, these questions are essential to consider. These answers will not come easily. Our names may not end up mentioned in future history books, but when we confront these questions, we progress the story of world history nonetheless.
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The Ann Arbor Recreation and Education Program offers casual sports leagues for everyone from kindergarten to eighth grade and even adults. What about high schoolers? BY KURT HAUSMAN
Intramural sports have long been an afterthought for high school students in Ann Arbor. The Ann Arbor Recreation and Education Program (Rec. & Ed.), a direct partner of Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS), has a strong emphasis on youth sports. There are a variety of sports offered year-round to kids from kindergarten to eighth grade. But there aren’t any intramural teams for high schoolers. Intramural sports should be offered to high schoolers because it is important for all youth, no matter their age, to have access to extracurricular activities. As a young elementary schooler, I played soccer, basketball and baseball through Rec. & Ed. It was always the highlight of my week to go and play sports with my friends. Doing so helped me grow and build valuable relationships with my best friends and life skills such as communication and leadership. As I grew older and progressed further in sports, I began to participate in school sports and competitive travel sports. I played on teams where the priority
LOCAL
Let The Kids Play: A Case for Rec. & Ed. Expansion
switched from simply having fun to competing. Now, as a high school athlete, I have seen the focus shift completely. After three years of football and two years of basketball, I know that high school athletics are not a place for everyone to play; it takes hard work, commitment, and skill to be able to continue to play sports at the high school level. For some students, rigorous competition and work are beneficial. But what about the others? What about the kids who love to play sports but don’t have the means to play school sports? Sports are valuable to so many people, but, for everyone, that value means something different. For high school students who still want to play sports without the commitment nor stress of a competitive high school team, Rec. & Ed. should offer an intramural option for high schoolers. “It’s difficult for kids, especially in this town,” said Adam Wellman, a resident of Ann Arbor and former member of the University of Michigan Intramural Sports Student Board. “I’m sure there’s a lot of kids who’d love to be involved in a league where they can play with their friends and have fun, but there’s just not a space for that in Ann Arbor.” I find it confusing that Rec. & Ed. offers team sports for preschoolers, elementary students, middle schoolers and adults, but nothing for high schoolers. Why are high schoolers the only age group with no options? A program for high schoolers to play intramural sports with their friends would be extremely beneficial. Keeping students engaged in extracurricular activities, such as sports, is good for both their mental and physical health. Giving students an activity to look forward to each week would have a positive impact on their lives. When I was in elementary school, I loved being able to just go play sports with my friends. Once one season would end, I would be looking forward to the next. The joy I got from playing sports I loved, with my friends, was unmatched. It is important to offer that same opportunity to every kid within our school district.
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NATIONAL
We Deserve More Than Your Thoughts and Prayers Being a Jew in America is becoming more dangerous as the sheer number of antisemitic threats and incidents rise. BY SCARLETT LONDON
Since the pandemic, it has been hard for my family to get to synagogue for Shabbat services on Friday evenings or Saturday mornings. We still try to attend virtually during the high holidays, as well as other Jewish holidays, but I sometimes miss getting dressed up and listening to the cantor sing, as I flip through the pages of my Etz Hayim prayer book, trying to practice my rudimentary Hebrew. Since I was a child just starting out in Hebrew school, my family has attended Beth Israel Congregation, right here in Ann Arbor. Beth Israel is a common name for synagogues. As it happens, it is also the name of the congregation outside Dallas-Fort-Worth, TX, where, on Saturday, Jan. 14, a gunman stormed Shabbat services, and held the rabbi and congregants hostage for 11 hours. They were eventually able to escape, when Rabbi Cytron-Walker threw a chair at the gunman, giving congregants time to rush to the nearest exit. His act, though bold, wasn’t just blind improvisation. Since the recent rise of threats and attacks against Jewish people across the nation — and the world — Cytron-Walker and his congregation had participated in numerous security courses with local law enforcement, to help plan for these kinds of situations. Although this sort of crime is not exactly normal, it does feel familiar. I don’t remember a time where I didn’t see police standing guard outside our congregation as I walked inside. I don’t remember a time where I didn’t feel at least a little bit uneasy taking a seat far away from an exit. I don’t remember a time where we were never offering our “thoughts and prayers” or having difficult conversations about how to stay safe in our community. This latest incident serves as yet another reminder of the precariousness of Jewish life in America, and that antisemitism is still thriving, both here and abroad. Incidents of antisemitism are again grabbing headlines.
For example, in 2017, an alt-right “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, hundreds of people gave Nazi salutes, waved flags with swastikas emblazoned on them, and shouted “Seig Heil” and “Jews will not replace us!” According to a 2018 study, at least 4.2 million antisemitic tweets were shared or re-shared on Twitter over a 12-month period. Bomb threats have been received at synagogues across the nation. And antisemitic incidents in the U.S. hit an all-time high in 2019. The problem is getting worse. Although antisemitism has been an underlying issue for thousands of years, the Trump presidency, as well as a fresh Israeli-Palestinian conflict has emboldened antisemites and made our community less safe. After the Holocaust, a lot of us believed we were born into an era where antisemitism would never be allowed to flourish again. Incidents such as the one in Texas, along with the terrorist incident in Pittsburgh and bomb threats elsewhere, show that, if antisemitism is given a platform and a voice, it can flourish and remain a threat to Jewish people across the world. The success of a society can be measured by the absence of discrimination, not just against Jewish people, but against any and all minorities. Problems like this fester when there is no action against them. Communities can fight this if they have a will to do so. It takes work to become more active in recognizing the diversity that makes a community vibrant. A good first step is for community governments to condemn hate where they find it. I applaud the Ann Arbor City Council for recently approving a resolution condemning anti-semitism. But more can be done. Community members need to educate themselves and others. Knowledge and appreciation of each other’s humanity are, above all, the keys to stamping out hate. We must spend the calories it takes to spread awareness — being passive won’t create change. Opinion | February 2022| 47
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Art by Mia Wood
AGREE TO With the district’s low positivity rates and the county’s high vaccination rate, keeping schools open should be a priority. BY SIMON SHAVIT
A brief stint of virtual schooling after a long break. A repeat of what occurred almost two years ago now. The threat of an extended stay away from school looms fresh in everyone’s minds. Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) shouldn’t further complicate the stressful learning environment during a pandemic. Schools should remain in-person. With a new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, fear has spread across Washtenaw County and the school district. However, the data demonstrates that schools are not superspreaders of the virus. According to the AAPS Covid-19 case dashboard, only one student at Community High School (CHS) has tested positive for the virus during the week of Jan. 14. With CHS hosting roughly 500 students each day, that makes only 0.2% testing positive in the past week. In addition, only one student at Huron High School has tested positive in the same week, even though Huron contains around 1,720 students. That means only 0.05% of students at Huron tested positive in the past week. This shows that the mask mandate enforced by AAPS along with the high vaccination rates within the Ann Arbor community have prevented the virus from spreading at a rate high enough to warrant a return to virtual learning. Caught up in preventing ourselves from catching the disease, we forget to consider the impact of staring at a screen for seven hours straight. Students succumb to eye strain and headaches each day. This was, and is, yet another harsh reality of virtual school, a reality that nobody wanted to go back to. But that’s not all. In a study by the Center for Disease Con-
trol (CDC), 63% of parents reported that their children experienced decreased physical activity while in a virtual environment. I experienced this myself as my daily step count was 4,000 steps lower in each day of virtual school compared to in-person school. The consequences of virtual school — eye strain, frequent headaches and lowered physical activity — are already very prevalent issues in a world taken over by technology, but going virtual would make all of them worse. Physical health isn’t the only health at risk during the pandemic. Mental health is a serious concern. Students are already anxious enough. A change in their daily routine would make it much more stressful for students. In addition, for many students, social interaction in a virtual setting is almost impossible to come by. The most social interaction students are able to enjoy in an online environment are blank zoom screens and muted microphones. According to the CDC, 25% of the parents of children in a virtual environment reported that their child experienced worsened mental or emotional health. That’s one in every four students that suffer from the effects of online school in not only physical, but mental and emotional ways. While changing school to a virtual environment for a week may have been a necessary precaution for the district, it is not necessary to keep students in a virtual environment. Throughout the first semester, local mandates and rules have kept Covid-19 numbers comparatively low and allowed us to prioritize our education. In the second semester, we need to keep it that way.
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DISAGREE The best of both worlds: We should have virtual school when we need it. BY CLAIRE STEIGELMAN
When Covid-19 spikes, going online may be our best option. The Omicron variant peaked in January and, because it’s winter, everyone is staying inside more, especially while eating lunch when everyone removes their masks. I would prefer to be in-person, but I don’t mind being online for short periods of time, if the activities are engaging. There are also other aspects that make online school appealing, such as sleeping in and being able to eat during class. The foremost reason to stay home is the Omicron variant. According to the official Washtenaw County government website, during the week of Dec. 11, 2021, Washtenaw County had approximately 1,093 new COVID-19 cases. By the first week of 2022, that had grown to 3,972 new cases. But we are all tired of hearing about the latest variant and how it’s more contagious than the last. Let’s look at the other benefits students may get from staying at home. Generally, my day starts roughly between 6:45 and 7:00 a.m. with the alarm on my phone going off. I have to be out the door by 7:30 a.m. — although that typically doesn’t actually happen until 7:45 a.m. With online school, my commute time is cut out. I can get up at 7:15 a.m. or even later. I can eat breakfast during my first class instead of grabbing a baked good on my way out the door, because the kitchen is only three steps away. Additionally, less time spent traveling to school equals more time for students and staff to do work. Instead of being in the car, I can study French or Precalculus. I can also stay up later to do work, because I get
to wake up later. Staff and students are burnt out. For some people, having that extra time and not having to rush around can make everything more calm and laid-back. It gives us a much-needed breather, while still furthering our education. I know it’s not ideal. Nothing about this situation is ideal. The district has tried to make it better for everyone by offering chromebooks and hotspots to everyone who would like one, and they have persisted to provide breakfast and lunch for those who want it even when we weren’t in person. We have Mental Health Mondays and there is a mental health hotline on the back of our student IDs. We have staff and teachers, especially Forum leaders, who care and will help if asked. We have been using Schoology and Zoom for almost two years now. We know how to use them for the most part. We’re not completely in the dark. No one was really given time to prepare for Covid-19. If students, families, staff and administrators had been given the time to prepare physically and mentally, this transition would have been smoother and perhaps not as painful. If we had a virtual week every once and while that was planned months in advance, even when Covid-19 will hopefully be over, maybe it wouldn’t be so frustrating. We would feel like we’re in control instead of figuring it out as we go. We have to accept that our world is ever-changing. We are tired. We don’t want to adapt anymore. We want to move on. But we can’t. We have to continue being flexible. Opinion | February 2022| 49
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ON MARCH 13, 2020 I WAS 16 YEARS OLD. TIME HAS FLOWN BY. BY CHRISSY KUIPER
On March 13, 2020, I was 16 years old. Today, Jan. 4, 2022, I am almost 18. I am a different person today, with new experiences and feelings. I’ve gotten my driver’s license, made new friends, started my first job, worked on myself, went on adventures and so much more. Time has flown by. Yet we are still in a pandemic. Looking back at 2020 is a nostalgic feeling for all of us. At some point everyone wants to travel back in time and tell their past self something they wish they had known then. As the clock ticks on and the days turn into months and the months into years, lessons are learned, experiences are had and feelings are changed. What would you tell your past self? I would tell myself so many things. You deserve more than the person in your life right now. You don’t need others’ validation to feel good about yourself. You are perfect just the way you are. It’s okay to reach out and ask for help. I have learned many life lessons in the past two years, and those are
only a few. The world we are living in today is vastly different than before, and the unknown casts shadows over our heads every step of the way. I can’t travel back in time to tell myself what will happen next. What I can do is continue to learn, grow and experience what life has to offer me. I am not going to grieve the life I could have had; I’m going to live the life that has been given to me in the midst of a global struggle. I have held onto the idea that everything happens for a reason in the back of my mind since March 13, 2020. I have experienced so much of my fading childhood during a pandemic, yet I cannot imagine the person I would be today without that experience. I’ve laughed and cried and felt everything in between. I’ve left the shell of my old self back in 2020 and will continue to grow my mind and body to become the person I see myself being. Change is an experience many struggle to adapt to, yet we all have overcome hardships to continue to live lives that bring us joy. As I re-
flect on my days in quarantine I see the changes that have led me to become the person I am today. What would I be like today without all of the change? In the midst of a global pandemic the world has come together. All of us have sacrificed something in our lives for the well-being of the rest of the world. We all have the lingering shadow of Covid-19 above our heads following us around. Darkness can lead to light. I have seen the immense struggles of others and witnessed the pain felt by many. I have felt the unknown and experienced the familiar. We have all learned that time doesn’t stop for the world’s problems. It continues on and so will we. On March 13, 2020, I could not have imagined the immense amount of change that was to come. I still struggle to imagine the change that will inevitably occur in the future. What I do know is that the world will keep spinning. The clock will keep ticking, and I will keep living my life day by day, month by month, year by year.
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ON MARCH 13, 2020 I WAS 15 YEARS OLD. IN THE 664 DAYS SINCE, I PUT MYSELF THROUGH HELL . BY NOAH BERNSTEIN
On March 13, 2020, I was 15 years old. In the 664 days since, I put myself through hell. As a critical foundation to everything that I eventually describe, these were my decisions and, at any point, I could’ve stopped. But I didn’t. If I had, I would be a lesser version of the person I am today. On March 13, 2020, I was 15 years old, and all I had was time. Like many others, I started working out — seriously. As an athlete and lifelong lover of the outdoors, I always spent time in the gym and going on runs. However, searching
for control in an uncontrollable world, I took it to another, regrettable level. As spring turned to summer, 30 minutes turned to 60 minutes turned to 120. Three miles turned to nine miles turned to 12. 2,500 calories turned to 2,000 calories turned to 1,500. 170 pounds turned to 160 pounds turned to 150. The results, however concerning they now seem, were addictive. In my “progress,” I found protection from a society whose fabric was tearing apart, just like the muscles in my body. As summer turned to fall, I found
yet another vice: academics. I said yes to every club and course. However, instead of enriching my life, this pursuit of every single thing that I loved diluted the exciting qualities in each of them. Nevertheless, I kept saying yes until every mile I ran, pound I lifted, word I typed, and assignment I completed overwhelmed me. On March 13, 2020, I started saying yes — to a fault. In the 664 days since, I didn’t have a serious injury nor a great epiphany — and society is still tearing apart at its seams — but now I know I need to regain my balance. Opinion | February 2022| 51
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SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
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AW alk T hro Pas ugh t an d in the t o the Futu re
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The University of Michigan’s Museum of Natural History recently opened its new and improved doors to the public with more extensive Covid-19 policies. It has also introduced exhibits focused on biology and genetics, as well as a brand-new planetarium. BY RIA LOWENSCHUSS AND ARISTA LUONG
When you walk into the University of Michigan’s (UM) Museum of Natural History, you are greeted by gleaming windows, hand sanitizer and, of course, dinosaur fossils. A pterodactyl floats above your head and you can almost see it swooping down to capture a museum-goer for its dinner. Before its grand opening in April 2019, the Natural History Museum was housed in the Ruthven Building across from its current location, the Biological Sciences Building. Its move brought with it a modernization of the previous museum, with enhanced interactive exhibits and a new planetarium. This move marks a major improvement for the museum, and visitors will be pleased by the multitudes of things to learn from. As the Omicron variant continues to spread, the Museum of Natural History mandates that all guests over the age of two wear a mask. In addition, all visitors must complete the UM health screening and encouraged to wash their hands frequently while enjoying the museum. Guests who show any symptoms of Covid-19 will be asked to leave and return at a later date. Pavithra Mahadevan, a PhD candidate in molecular biology at UM, appreciates the Covid-19 precautions the museum has taken. She thinks it makes everyone feel safer.
“They have a lot of protocols and social distancing going on,” Mahadevan said. “They also have sanitizer stations everywhere, which is really neat.” Mahadevan’s department at UM frequently collaborates with the Museum of Natural History’s department, and she loves to spend time in the museum. She often takes her friends on tours, showing them her favorite spot — the fossils, of course — and sharing her love of science with them. “It’s amazing to look at life from what it was before to see what it has evolved to,” Mahadevan said. When Mahadevan is feeling pessimistic about her work, she visits the proteins and life sciences exhibits to help her work up motivation as well as take a break. “It’s really nice to see kids playing with [the proteins],” Mahadevan said. Sarah Lancaster and Sabina Morris, two museum goers we encountered, were excited to explore the new Museum of Natural History. Neither of them had been in the museum for years, so walking through the exhibits and seeing the new building had a positive effect on them. Their favorite parts were learning about the different mass extinctions that have taken place in human history and the fossils. “I just remember when I was a
child going through [the museum] and it was a very different experience,” Morris said. Tanner Gritzmaker and Joyce Ho started working at the Natural History Museum in the spring of 2019. They were drawn to their positions by the calming atmosphere the museum provides. “For the most part, the people who come in are really friendly, of all ages and very diverse, so it’s really enjoyable,” Gritzmaker said. “It’s just nice to work in a building where the purpose is knowledge and learning, but also having fun.” As students at UM, both Gritzmaker and Ho value the opportunity their respective positions at the museum give them to connect with their community. “The people are really nice to work with,” Ho said. “I like the small interactions you get to have with people because it’s relatively easy to make people happy here.” On our recent visit to the Museum of Natural History, we loved walking through and exploring the many exhibits. We saw a mouse fetus, wrote down our opinions on genetic modification, measured ourselves in cats and stared a white wolf in the eyes. We got lost, but it’s okay — we loved it. We hope to visit the UM’s Museum of Natural History again soon, as we could never see all of it in one trip.
Photo Courtesy of Randy Napolean Larger-than-life prehistoric fossils greet visitors as they walk through the front doors of UM’s Museum of Natural History. Since the museum’s reopening on June 25, 2021, guests have returned in full force. “I love all the fossils,” said Pavithra Mahadevan, a PhD student at UM. “It’s amazing to look at life from what it was before to see what it has evolved to.”
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UM MA University of Michigan Museum of Art
You Are Here On March 16, 2020, the UMMA closed shortly after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 to be a global pandemic. The museum announced its reopening after 448 days on June 17, 2021. Excited and eager about its reopening, the UMMA wanted to show an exhibit that encapsulated the feeling of the time it closed. The exhibit is called “You Are Here” and features five paintings and a sounding sculpture. The pieces in this exhibit were specifically chosen to remind visitors to be truly present and immerse themselves in the artwork. Throughout the pandemic, connecting with one another virtually was the new normal, and many of us lost touch with reality. The exhibit is a reminder to stay grounded and be conscious of your environment: where you are and where you aren’t.
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Following the theme of consciousness, trying to make meaning of what an artist is trying to convey can be intimidating and leave people confused. In order to make the most out of trips to museums like the UMMA, consider researching the background of the exhibit, the artist and what they chose to make because it leads to a better understanding of it all which makes it all more a meaningful and mesmerizing experience. That’s what I tried to accomplish, with the mindset that anyone can enjoy art and discover different meanings. BY RUTH SHIKANOV
“Oh, Honey...” A new exhibit called “Oh, Honey…” premiered in Aug. 2021 and features works that Sean Kramer, the Irving Stenn, Jr Curatorial fellow, felt like they challenged how he thought when trying to figure out what “queer art” is. Being a queer man himself as well as a graduate student and art historian at the University of Michigan, he wondered how he could portray his message -- art that allow us to question the categories of gender, power and the sexuality dynamics that operate within them -- in different pieces of art, how they are arranged physically and encourage us come up with our own understandings. Overall, Kramer creates an environment discussing and showing topics differing from AIDS, sexuality and gender, intimacy and so much more.
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Around the World in Blue and White “Around The World in Blue and White” is an exhibit that made its debut in Dec. 2021 and consists of beautiful, unique pieces from all over the world. Blue and white porcelain was first made in China during the 14th century by Muslim merchants. The style quickly spread and was found in homes across East and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the eastern coast of the African continent and eventually, Europe and North and South America. The exhibit features pieces varying from a ceramic tiger pillow to ceramic plates. An image of Bruce Lee is composed of small, circular plates and is surrounded by dragon and flower-scroll designs. The piece is called “Icon” and is made by Ste-
ven Young Lee, an American ceramic artist who questions the history and symbolic meaning behind blue and white ceramics. The distance between the plates implies the distance between Asians and Americans, and how they are seen in an American consciousness. This piece is personal to Lee, given the fact that he grew up as a second-generation Asian American. Bruce Lee was a significant and fundamental figure in the lives of young boys. Many of the images of Bruce Lee we see today are sensationalized and sometimes campy versions of who he was and what he meant to our culture. “This is simply a portrait of an individual who became an icon,” Lee said in the exhibit label.
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Behind The Walls
“Behind The Walls’’ was previously installed at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, but relocated to Ann Arbor as a gift in November 2020. Made by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, the statue symbolizes a teenage girl covering her eyes. While all art is subjective, this piece can be interpreted in a multitude of ways; is she shielding her eyes from the world and encouraging us to stop covering our eyes and to see what surrounds us? This sculpture is a part of a series about the “likenesses of young women” (UMMA) and who is paid attention to compared to who is not in art. “Sometimes, our hands are the biggest walls,” Jaume Plensa said. “They can cover our eyes, and we can blind ourselves to so much of what’s happening around us.”
Sophie/Elsie When you first enter the room, a life size mannequin wearing a blue and white uniform captures your eye. The mannequin is positioned in the middle of the room and is in front of a bright red wall curating a stark contrast between the two. The piece is called Sophie/Elsie and is part of a series in which Mary Sibande, a South African artist, explores and learns more about her family history. Three generations of the Sibande women were domestic workers in Apartheid South Africa and while Sibande was born after Nelson Mandela’s presidency started, she could imagine the dreams her ancestors envisioned. These dreams are carried out by her alter ego, Sophie, the mannequin. Sibande created this piece in honor of her great-grandmother, named Elsie, because her masters couldn’t be bothered to learn her African name. The mannequin’s eyes are shut to symbolize that Sophie is envisioning herself as a businesswoman, an orchestra conductor and a superhero. Her maid dress transforms into a dress that a Victorian queen would wear which is complete with a large cape and long train. Constants | February 2022 | 59
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Photos By Ella Rosewarne Brendan Grover models two outfits at CHS. “As time has gone past I’ve decided on what I want to wear,” Grover said. Since quarantine started, Grover has developed and re-invented his fashion. 60 | The Communicator Magazine
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BRENDAN GROVER
Through the ups and downs of Covid-19, Brendan Grover has grown confident in his clothes and can now wear what he wants, when he wants. BY ELLA ROSEWARNE
“I’m a boy wearing girls clothes: You don’t really see that often,” Brendan Grover, Community High School (CHS) sophomore said. When Covid-19 hit, Grover transformed his fashion. He had wanted to for a long time but lacked the confidence. So when he had the time, Grover and his mom went shopping and redesigned his wardrobe. Unlike most, Grover dresses disregarding the weather. “Today is 20 degrees outside, [but] I don’t really care how cold it is,” Grover said. “I’m going to wear what I want, when I want, so [the weather is] not really a big deal for me.” To counter the weather, he finds ways to stay warm by adding fuzzy socks, a matching jacket, legwarmers and more. He gets inspiration from the show RuPapul’s Drag Race. Grover has watched the show since 2017. “I see how confident [the contestants] are with what they do and they don’t care about people’s opinions, and I want to be like that,” Grover said. “I don’t want to care about if people think I look horrible or if I shouldn’t wear what I’m wearing. I’m just gonna do it because I want to do it and I have been since [quarantine].” Grover does not consider himself
“fashionable.” Instead he chooses to wear what calls to him, whether that is “in” or “out” of trends. Now, Grover has developed his style and gotten more comfortable and confident in his fashion. Each morning he wakes up at 6:30 a.m. to get ready. He devotes 30 minutes of his morning routine just to getting dressed. Grover’s aesthetic changes day to day based on his mood that morning. Generally, he picks one thing to base his outfit on and then builds off that with a color scheme and accessories. He picks from about 17 necklaces, seven rings and several other accessories. “I feel more confident in what I wear, like I can do anything and I feel fine with it,” Grover said. “I feel more comfortable now with what I’m wearing. In freshman year I was really horrible at dressing up, let’s just say that. As time has gone past I’ve decided on what I want to wear. And I like myself a lot more now.” Grover isn’t the only CHS student whose style has changed over the course of the pandemic. “I would say that for a lot of people after [returning to] school you could see the change in people and their style after Covid,” Grover said. “The reason I decided [to was] I had to just change on what I want to change.” Constants | February 2022 | 61
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Proust Questionnaire
HAZEL DERRY
CHS junior shares her most treasured possesion, her favorite names and her motto. BY ELLA ROSEWARNE
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What is your idea of perfect happiness? Just being content with the biggest parts of my life. What is your greatest fear? Suffocating. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? My lack of shame. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Dishonesty. What is your current state of mind? A little crazy right now. What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Being good at math. On what occasion do you lie? I don’t lie enough. What do you most dislike about your appearance? Not a fan of my nose. Which living person do you most despise? Anyone who doesn’t tip. What is the quality you most like in a woman? All of it. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Weird, outdated catchphrases and euphemisms. When and where were you happiest? When I came out of the gym locker room and then biked home while smiling and listening to ABBA. Which talent would you most like to have? Being able to play the harp really well, it seems so out of reach for the normal person to be able to play it. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I wish I was a little less rash about my decisions. What do you consider your greatest achievement? Making it through the hardest periods of my life. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what
would it be? Definitely a mallard. Where would you most like to live? Somewhere in the woods in a house with at least 4 floors and so many rugs. What is your most treasured possession? My bed, I paid for every part by cleaning and selling homemade bagels. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Guilt is my least favorite feeling. What is your favorite occupation? I respect all to most artists. What is your most marked characteristic? My humor. What do you most value in your friends? Acceptance and the ability to be completely yourself. Who are your favorite writers? I don’t read a lot but I enjoy poetry. But don’t ask me any names because I won’t know them. Which historical figure do you most identify with? Goldilocks. Who are your heroes in real life? Fiona Apple has perfected the art of putting such raw anger into beautiful music and I admire the way she stands up for herself in the face of adversity. What are your favorite names? Mark is such a funny name and I like really stupid names like Oak or Boston. What is it that you most dislike? Scratchy socks and bland people. What is your greatest regret? Accidentally turning down a free donut in 2nd grade. How would you like to die? In a really stupid way like falling in the shower and hitting my head. What is your motto? My name is Hazel.
Photo By Ella Rosewarne Hazel Derry sits in the new UM Natrual History Museum. This is her first time going since it was re-done. “They changed a beautiful and timeless museum into a characterless room with fossils in it,” Derry said.
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OUT LOUD LOUD Three artists to hear now. BY EVAN OCHOA, ABBI BACHMAN AND RIA LOWENSCHUSS
“BRANDO” LUCY DACUS Let’s skip school and listen to “Brando” by Lucy Dacus. “Brando” is the 9th song on Dacus’s 2021 album, “Home Video.” NPR Music ranked “Home Video’’ third in their Top 10 Albums of 2021 ranking. The album is about growing up and the experiences that made her who she is. There are a lot of high school coming-of-age details through this album. She expands on discovering her bisexuality, and what she went through, from struggling in Vacation Bible School to her friend’s mom not letting her stay overnight at Dacus’ anymore. The title Brando is a reference to the movie “A Streetcar Named Desire,” which premiered in 1951. In the song, Dacus’s love interest references this, showing the dynamic between the subject and how they thought they were superior to Dacus. Dacus is a master of lyricism, which stands out in the line “Who doesn’t know left from right from wrong.” I love the wordplay, plus it is something I have never really seen done before. Dacus is very intentional with her lyrics throughout all her songs. The song is a narrative of the ups and downs of her relationship with this person, with a chorus of: “All I need for you to admit is that you never knew me like you thought you did.” This line refers to a very dramatic friend she had in high school “whose whole personality was the media he consumed,” Dacus said. “He claimed to know me better than anyone else but I started to feel like all he wanted from me was to be a scene partner in the movie of his life,” Dacus said in a press release. Lucy Dacus will grip you with this song, and she won’t let go. We can all relate to someone feeling like they are better than you, just because they know an obscure artist or reference you don’t. Beyond that, Dacus has a way of writing emotions into poetry in her music. This song is one that really got me into her as an artist, and she’s now one of my absolute favorites.
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“SAOKO” ROSALIA
“LAUREL HELL” MITSKI
Beginning a new chapter in Rosalia’s career, “SAOKO” is the new single teasing her upcoming project “MOTOMAMI.” Revealed from the tracklist of this new record, “SAOKO” has been placed as the intro track of the album. It sounds as if it’s setting up for something more developed to come, with its stated yet brief presence. The track starts off with off-kilter acoustic drum rhythms, sounding like an improvisation solo with a jazzy feel. Over this, Rosalia chants “Saoco, papi, saoco,” a saying which expresses a feeling of flair and swag, as if she’s lifting everyone around her. The overall tone of the song is to emulate a good time and uplift herself and her peers, celebrating everything they are. “SAOKO’s” instrumentals happen to also be as uncompromising and brash, yet complicated and intricate, as Rosalia’s delivery and persona. Following the drum intro, a grimy synth bass loop starts to play, an element which will be present throughout the majority of the track. A beat also drops multiple times with a heavy, old-school dembow rhythm, an infectious sound which Rosalia has been pushing for with her latest offerings. Mixed with the braggadocio of her words, it’s clear to see how this song could set the tone for a full-length project, as well as show promise for what’s to come. As a single, however, it is a structurally chaotic experience, latching onto multiple ideas and, in the end, is more of an intriguing piece of art than an absolute head-banger. With a relatively short run time of barely two minutes stuffs a multitude of diverse ideas into one track. With that said, its lack of replayability for me is less of a problem, considering this works well as a tempting teaser for the album to come. Since every idea here is executed well, the listener ends up wanting more than just a sample of it. Thus, any of the issues that could be nitpicked from this track are made up for by the song’s message and purpose.
Four years ago, indie-pop sensation Mitski disappeared from public view after releasing “Be the Cowboy,” her highly-acclaimed fifth album. Now, she has made her entrance back into the music world with “Laurel Hell,” after teasing fans with singles like “Working for the Knife.” “Laurel Hell” is a return to the Mitski we know and love. In this collection of short, hard-hitting songs, Mitski creates a gorgeous and opinionated exploration of loving and losing, especially in the music industry. Mitski wrote these songs as soon as “Be the Cowboy” was released in 2018, finishing the recordings during the Covid-19 pandemic. She released the first two singles “Working for the Knife” and “The Only Heartbreaker” in fall of 2021 to critical acclaim and growing excitement for her return to the spotlight. I have never been a diehard Mitski fan, although I listen to and enjoy her music. In all honesty, I listened to her new album all the way through solely for this assignment. I thank the musical gods that I did. I fell in love with these songs because of Mitski’s raw and emotional writing and her varied musical talents — she draws from a multitude of genres, like electronic pop, country and blues. “The Only Heartbreaker,” with its upbeat melody and downtrodden lyrics, is a stand-out song on “Laurel Hell.” It has not left my mind since I listened to the album. I feel connected to Mitski’s feelings of displacement and distrust of herself, which is especially prevalent in the lyrics, “So I’ll be the loser in this game/I’ll be the bad guy in the play/I’ll be the water main that’s burst and flooding.” Mitski’s sixth album and her return to the music industry deserves to be celebrated. As an artist, a lyricist and a musician, Mitski blows music as we know it out of the water.
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Reviews
Spider-Man: No Way Home “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has hit the theaters. Fans worldwide are shocked at the game-changing events in the movie. BY MADISON BELL
On Dec. 17, 2021, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) hit fans worldwide with another life-altering movie: “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” “Spider-Man: No Way Home” stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker who had been revealed as Spider-Man by the villain Mysterio, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, at the end of the previous movie. As a result, everyone knows that Peter is Spider-Man. Life as he and his friends knew it is no more. This is one of the few Marvel movies to show that the glitz and glam of the Avenger lifestyle isn’t what it is made out to be. The love and
support the Avengers get throughout the other movies isn’t always the case; this film shows that the public can fear and hate the Avengers when the public deems it fit. When Parker and his friends, Jacob Batalon as Ned and Zendaya as MJ, are rejected from their dream school due to their affiliation with Spider-Man, Parker decides he needs to recover the life they had. Parker enlists the help of Avenger Doctor Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, to try to get the world to ‘forget’ Peter Parker. In true MCU fashion, this plan goes awry when Parker realizes a problem with this request.
Villains from the Spider-Man movies from 2002 through 2014 begin to attack and destroy the world as they look for Peter Parker. Parker from this world then makes it his mission to put the world back as it was and send all the villains back to their respective universes. He can’t do it without help. Although it has been heavily alluded to throughout other Marvel productions, this is the first introduction to the multiverse in the MCU. By bringing in the characters from other studios, the film confirms that the multiverse does exist and sets a precedent for all future Marvel movies.
Available in theaters now. Released on Dec. 17, 2021, Peter Parker, MJ and Ned take on new challenges and familiar villains.
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THE
MUSTLIST
A series of must watch movies ranging from 2000s classics to Marvel blockbusters. BY OLIVER LETE-STRAKA
1. Spider-Man: No Way Home
A Man Named Scott “A Man Named Scott” brings an interesting story of one of the most influential rappers of all time with great visuals and amazing acoustics.
2. The Alpinist
BY SAM CAO
Breaking music boundaries is Kid Cudi’s claim to fame. Kid Cudi was one of the first artists to rap about his emotional journey and vulnerability using melodic sounds, reminiscent of a pop sound with rap-influenced beats and instrumentals. However, the Amazon Prime biographical documentary “A Man Named Scott” doesn’t accomplish this level of genre-defiance Kid Cudi is known for. The movie begins with Scott Mescudi, Kid Cudi’s birth name, and his humble beginnings as he moved from his home in Cleveland to Brooklyn. The documentary shifts focus to his hit song “Day & Nite,” which is a perfect introduction to his music. The song shows the change from the radio era of music to the internet generation we see today. His producers, fellow artists and managers filled in the gaps to talk about how his career came to be and his struggle of identity as an artist. The documentary uses great visual elements, like perfectly juxtaposed backstage interviews from the first tours to present interviews done for the documentary. The visuals are strong and use video clips from the start of his career with in-
sert shots of abstract ideas of dance and art. The soundtrack is perfect, using instrumentals from Cudi’s songs and changing them to fit the mood of the scene. For example, the documentary uses the instrumental version of the song “Pursuit of Happiness” multiple times throughout the documentary but changes it into a slower tempo or a violin solo, which fits perfectly with what was going on. The formatting of the film is hard to follow; it doesn’t fit well together. There are times in the film where we are deep into the production phase of music and the film cuts into a completely different story. When Cudi talks about his battle with addiction, it feels like a turning point in his life. This moment is capped off with his song “Reborn,” which speaks about his attempt to get away from drugs. However, this is only a five-minute scene when it could fill half the documentary. The story tries too hard to fill the 90-minute mark with filler content but it could easily hit that mark with Cudi’s actual stories. I recommend this film if you are a fan of Cudi and his music already.
3. Surf’s Up
4. No Time to Die
Available on Amazon Prime. Released on Nov. 5 2021, “A Man Named Scott” delivers an untold story of Kid Cudi. Constants | February 2022 | 67
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Succession “Succession” merges imperial power dynamics with satirical writing through one of HBOs most flawed families, the Roys. BY HENRY CONNOR
On Dec. 12, 2021, critically acclaimed HBO TV series “Succession” released the final episode of its third season, “All The Bells Say.” Wrapping up another great season of the show, the episode has many twists and turns and concludes with a thought-provokingcliffhanger. The series has been renewed for a fourth season, and fans of the show can’t wait to see where the writers take it next. When determining what makes the show stand out from other satirical dramas, the brilliant performances can’t go unnoticed. The
performances from Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox — the two leads of the series — have received multiple nominations and awards, including Outstanding Lead Actor at the 2020 Emmys. Brian Cox was nominated and Jeremy Strong ultimately won. The show won the Outstanding Directing, Writing and Drama Series awards at the Emmys as well. The most recent season was the most well-received yet. With the highest IMDB scores of the show and an increase in viewership of 39% since the series debut, it’s clear that the show is only on the
“Attack On Titan” is a critically acclaimed anime series adapted from the manga, written by Hajime Isayama in 2009. The anime series has won numerous groundbreaking film awards in Japan and was ranked the seventh most popular anime worldwide in a study done by ReelRundown. After four and a half seasons, Wit Studio brings the journey to an end by releasing the final episodes to the public. The show follows a young boy named Eren Jaeger who lives in Shiganshina, an isolated city surrounded by towering walls. Jaeger is frustrated that his whole life will be spent isolated from the world; only military troops are occasionally allowed to leave the walls of Shiganshina. Despite Jaeger’s parents’ disapproval, he dreams of joining the military to explore life outside
his home. When a human-like, 60-meter titan peeks over the walls of Shiganshina, Eren’s life changes forever. It’s hard not to become infatuated with this show from the beginning; every episode is just as exciting as the next. Just when you think you have everything figured out, a new question will arise on the identity of the titan, or your favorite character will make a questionable decision. The animation is astounding and the characters develop like butterflies from a cocoon; watching Jaeger and his friends grow up from kids to adults make the story special. If you enjoy a fast-paced, action-filled and heartwarming story, this show is for you. I would also highly recommend this show to anyone who wants to get into anime.
rise. It’s currently one of the most popular shows on HBO and HBO Max, as the third season’s premiere had the highest digital release for an HBO series since June of 2019. The series is known for flipping the script with each season and the characters’ perpetually experiencing new beginnings coupled with tragic ends. Each character’s development throughout the season keeps the viewers engaged and the finale certainly leaves you with a shock. If you like family dramas that mix comedy and drama, “Succession” is the show for you.
Available on HBO. Released on Dec. 12, 2021, season three of “Succession” brought new issues and enemies to the Roys.
Available on Hulu. The final episodes of “Attack on Titan” wraps up the story or Eren Jaeger and friends.
Attack on Titan “Attack on Titan” blends an action-packed anime series with breathtaking animation. BY KEVIN DUTTON
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Books That Change Lives CHS history teacher Sarah Hechler describes how books have influenced her exploration of sustainability. BY RIA LOWENSCHUSS
Up North In Michigan
This Is Your Mind On Plants
Salvage the Bones
Braiding Sweetgrass
BY JERRY DENNIS
BY MICHAEL POLLAN
BY JESMYN WARD
BY ROBIN WALL KIMMERER
How has climate change and the changing ecosystem affected the Great Lakes?
A deep-dive into drugs, plants and how they connect to each other.
The story of a Mississippi family preparing for Hurricane Katrina, and how this storm and climate change in general affects them.
An exploration of the role of Indigenous knowledge as a way of approaching sustainability.
Sarah Hechler is hard-pressed to think of a singular book that changed her life. As the daughter of a librarian, she recalls growing up in her town’s public library, devouring book after book. Her mother brought home the first “Harry Potter” book far before it was the global sensation it is today. However, in her first year of college, Hechler found the book that truly influenced the way she lives her life. “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” a nonfiction memoir by bestselling fiction writer Barbara Kingsolver, details her family’s foray into local food and their attempt to solely eat locally grown and sold food for a year. When Hechler, now a history teacher at Community High School (CHS), read this book, she knew it was going to affect the trajectory of her life. “This book completely changed my way of thinking,” Hechler said. “I’d always been passionate about nature and the environment but there was just something about [this book] that completely opened up a new world to me.” As soon as Hechler closed the back cover of “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” she rushed to her college’s computer lab to research opportunities in environmental studies. She was majoring in American Studies, but she knew she needed to incorpo-
rate the environment into her college experience. Hechler immediately applied to her school’s sustainable agriculture program, which allowed her to spend a semester working on a local farm and learning more about sustainability within agriculture. Eventually, she added an environmental studies concentration to her major and traveled to Costa Rica as part of a field research program. “This whole trajectory opened up for me once I read “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” Hechler said. “I was like, ‘I want to learn more about what I just read.’” Hechler has carried this feeling with her throughout her life by using the things she’s learned to connect to the people and places around her. She has become an avid gardener, growing vegetables like tomatoes and squash which she then preserves for the winter. Her gardening has helped Hechler create relationships within her neighborhood. Her next-door neighbor even let her expand her garden into his yard. “I think showing up is a really important thing,” Hechler said. “In the case of my neighbors, spending time outside being in a place where you can have casual run-ins and conversations in the street is really valuable and does massively increase one’s social capital with their community around them.”
“I’d always been passionate about nature and the environment but there was just something about [this book] that completely opened up a new world to me.”
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Humans of Community: What is your favorite place in the world?
PHOEBE PARMER
TOMMY SIMON
GRADE: Freshman
GRADE: Junior
“Every year my family goes up to this island in Lake Michigan called Beaver Island. My cousins’ dad owns the place, so he lets us come up every year with them. His family and my cousins come, so it’s three families all in one house. Every summer we stay there for two weeks. It’s [a] tradition — [my family] has gone for 20 years. When [my cousins and I] were younger, we used to catch snakes. We’d go to the lake and find water snakes and pick them out of the water. We used to hunt for frogs and paint rocks. [My family] used to drive to this tiny lighthouse. We would look outside at the view because it’s facing right towards the lake, so it’s really nice for sunset. [It’s my favorite place because] there are a lot of memories there and a lot of time has been spent there. Two weeks is a long time so you can enjoy yourself and just forget about school and work.”
“My favorite place on earth is North Avenue Beach in Chicago. [The park] has a great view of the skyline from across the water. It looks out at Lake Michigan. It’s a really big park, so there’s a lot of space to just sit and relax. There’s a bike path near there that [my family] has used a few times. We start in Streeterville, around the mouth of the river. And then we bike up to the North Avenue Beach. [The bike trail] is really nice. It has a nice, wide path. I have lots of good memories in that area. It’s a really nice spot, especially for as big as Chicago is. [My family] has visited North Avenue Beach on a few vacations. We usually like to look at the view. I would love to go back. If I went to the beach I would probably have a picnic. I might try out volleyball. There’s a lot of people playing volleyball at courts [at the beach]. I would probably use the bike path again.”
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KARIM MOHAMMED LEAH VAN DER VELDE GRADE: Junior
GRADE: Senior
“My favorite place on earth is probably a town in Egypt called Hurghada. It’s a really pretty town. It’s on the north east coast of Egypt, on the gulf of Suez. When I studied abroad in Egypt last year, I went there a couple of times and it’s really gorgeous. I went with my family [to Hurghada] for the first time 10 years ago. I remember thinking that it was one of the most beautiful places in Egypt or that I’d ever been to. When I was studying abroad, [my family and I] went for a week. We went to the beach and stayed in beachfront villas. [The villas] are a couple hundred years old and you can rent one out and stay there. I think for me, since I’m obviously not from Egypt, the people there are super cool because they live in a tourist town. They meet tons of people from all over the world. I would ask people, like the person who was serving my food, a question about someone or something. So for me, talking to people and listening to all their experiences was so cool.”
“I think my favorite place on earth is this little cabin that my family goes to every year on Lake Michigan. I go with my extended family, so it’s 14 of us. Because there isn’t really service there, I kind of get away from everything. I find myself reading and spending a lot more time with my family. I don’t get to see my cousins very much because they live in other states, so we spend a lot of time together there. We play a lot of card games; every night our whole family will play some kind of game. I also get to see my sister, we like to go on walks on the beach and stuff. [The house] was built by my great aunt and uncle. It’s this little cabin that’s kind of beaten up but it feels very homey. Right next to it is like a huge house that’s very modern. [The cottage] is in the woods and there’s a big yard with a tire swing and hammocks. The house is 52 steps from the beach and Lake Michigan, I counted.”
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BY JOHN REED
Games - He Loves Me He Loves Me Not & CHS Crossword
For each of the flowers below, the answer to the first half of its clue can be written clockwise around all of its petals, starting at 12 o’clock. Then, two or three of the letters can be removed (like petals in a game of He Loves Me He Loves Me Not) to make another word, as clued by the second half of each clue. The letters of the removed petals will then, in order, spell out the name of a flower. Clues Ex. [long] / [short] 1. Ask for (some(# of petals thing) / Relax (3) removed) Sprouting / Bell sound (3) Ex.
3. Crossed, as a bridge / Made haste (3)
2. Dental or paid time off, for a job / Suit (2)
3
2
1
5. Clean clothes / Below (2)
4. Be in charge of, with “over” / A group of lions (2)
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6. Arm muscles / Stumbles (over) (2)
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b u d
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b u Ex. d i d
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ACROSS
1 Letters that filled the circles in last editions crossword 4 Tic - ___ 7 Cinema chain 10 “That’s gross!” 11 Nickname for Hayden Christensen’s character in the Star Wars Prequels 12 Communicator print EIC Goldstein 13 With 32-, 37-, and 58- Across, what “[fighting with him was like]” in Swift’s Red 17 Bad atmosphere 18 “Friend ___” (2 wds.) Robin Williams’ song in Aladdin 20 Computer spec. 21 Laffy ___ 25 One of twelve en un año 26 The notes C E G, for one 29 August person? 30 Answer to “Did you go?” 32 See 13-Across 35 Zingerman’s founder Weinzweig 36 Prof. in Pokemon Red and Blue 37 See 13-Across 46 Subject taught by Jen Niner 47 Stern, in Sicily 48 Manning or Whitney
49 Alongside 51Doodle Jump or Clash Royale 52 The higher-ups, abbr. 53 Brothers of fairytale 56 John ___, tractor manufacturers 58 See 13-Across 62 Most recently School of Rock and Working, and soon Pippin 63 Seoul’s zone 64 With “9000,” infamous space computer 65 What comes before Maine of Nimitz DOWN
1 Vase material 2 High speed limit Rds. 3 Complete the first leg of a triathlon 4 Playground game 5 Hill builder 6 AFL - ___ 7 Mine, in Marseilles 8 First openly gay man to hold public office in California Harvey 9 Primitive wall painters 13 Diadem 14 Wash. baseballer 15 Like foxes 16 Make changes to 17 Actor who “pities the fool” 19 Detroit and NYC’s
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zone 22 Ice Bucket Challenge cause 23 Not many 24 ___ Fighters 27 Vanishing sea 28 Actress/singer Day 30 State with shortest land border with Canada 31 Boat’s trail 33 S or M 34 Decays 37 Unedited, as audio
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38 Verify one’s identity digitally 39 Major 90s music trend 40 Retirement saving option 41 Bite sharply 42 Party of G.W. Bush 43 Fall back (to) 44 Fudd who hunted Bugs 45 Command to a dog 50 Brings on 52 Cries like a kitten
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54 Romney of the 42-Down 55 Studio with a familiar lion roar 56 Quadrennial gathering most recently held in Milwaukee, WI 57 Biblical twin of Jacob 59 Sound of confusion 60 Who might ask you to remove your shoes 61 Be under the weather
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Our Turn What was the return to school like for you? BY SANA SCHADEN
SCARLETT LONDON “I was back in school for the hybrid program last year, but I only got a few weeks back. At the end of this summer, I was kind of nervous to come back because I was so used to online school that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to change. It’s been really good, though. There’s a lot of things that I missed that I didn’t really realize I missed. Being able to joke around with my friends in the hallway, or even being able to just see people. Last year, my friend circle was closed off to whoever was in my classes, but now I get to see new people and form relationships with them even if I don’t have classes with them.”
LUCY TOBIER
“This school year is my first time back in person since March of 2020. One unexpected thing is how normal being in person has become again. I remember feeling like online was the norm, even though it was uncomfortable. I’d always think about what I’d give to be back in person, walking around the halls, doing normal things. I thought, ‘When we go back in person, I’m never going to take the little things for granted. I’m going to soak up each day and really enjoy being there.’ I can already feel myself starting to get used to being back. It’s weird to think about how we’re already starting to take something for granted that we were hoping would happen for so long.”
SYLVA DAS “I felt like a freshman on the first day. I felt like I had to know things, but I felt clueless instead. I’m trying to get into the flow of Community and start to feel like a part of it. Being productive and feeling like a part of a group is helping. Upperclassmen have been helping start group initiatives, and they make me feel heard. They always ask my opinions. Last year, I was way too shy to talk to any upperclassmen. I’ve been trying to branch out more and ask questions when I need help. In journalism, my editing family is really helping with that. Other upperclassmen in my other classes have been too.”
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