Volume 33, Ed. 5 by The Communicator

Vol. 33, Edition 5, May 2016

the communicator

may

letter from the editors

At the beginning of this school year, we conceived of a publication that reported the news fully and honestly, gave student journalists a chance to be independent in their storytelling, and continued to be a place where those students could let their voices be heard. Now, nine months later, as in a pregnancy, we are proud of how our publication has grown. After avoiding wine and heavy lifting, we have popped out a beautiful, fresh-faced 96page edition (a Communicator record in length). At Community High we talk a lot about identity - social identity, personal identity - but one that is largely neglected from the discussion is age. What does it mean to be a young person? When do we become old? (It’s great and probably not for a while). Sometimes I stare in the mirror and grab my mom by the shoulders and shout, “I LOVE MY YOUTH!” and try to do a handstand, and other times as a ~legal adult~ I feel like I’ve seen it all - but even the oldest among us are little babies compared to rocks and stuff. How come Judith and Tracy can emanate youth while sometimes my great friend Ruby Lowenstein seems like she has the wisdom of thirty lifetimes? In a class of 17 and 18 year olds, how massive of an age range is present? When I look at my graduating class it’s easy to think that everyone will go out and become the world’s greatest poet or scientist or architect or whatever it is they excel at now, but of course the world is bigger than Community High and there is talent and wonder beyond what we know, which is good, because our world needs so much wonder. And anyway, “world’s greatest” is an obscenely limited version of success. I hear of an old friend leaving to make a life for herself in Northern Michigan or a new friend beginning volunteer work with Ann Arbor’s immigrant community, and that is wholly and truly success. So how will our lives move forward? Slowly, and completely, because that is in large part what we learn here - how to fill the bellies of our lives until they are wide and satisfied. Last week Courtney took our Ecology class bike riding in Detroit, and I cruised along the riverfront on a tandem with beautiful Sophia and thought of our quality of life here and how often I take it for granted that every day will bring me education much bigger than the term’s formal implications. Thanks for that, Community. Sincerely, ½ of your Print Editors-in-Chief, 2

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see chicagoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attractions from its structural beauties to its delicetessans.

22 sights and sounds of chicago

bike tours of the city give people a closer look at the changes being made in the d.

20 cycling in the motor city

new blanket technology to incubate infants.

warmilu

26 senior profiles

class of 2016 share their thoughts on their time at community, friendships, the future, etc.

42 promposals

a look at the creative ways chs senior and juniors popped the prom q.

70 chalk the streets

advocates for flint take on a new medium of protest.

80 op-ed

students share their takes on fracking, school closings on polling days, costs of clothing and more.

90 15 things

little beauties around community for you to discover.

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communicator staff Print Editors-in-Chief Eva Rosenfeld Hannah Rubenstein Web Editors-in-Chief Matthew Ferraro Matty Hack Anurima Kumar Sophia Werthmann Managing Editors Cameron Fortune Jack Kelley Grace Koepele Frances MacKercher Sophia Simon Hannah Tschirhart Copy Editor Alexandra Hobrecht Arts and Entertainment Editor Andrew Gechter Social Media Editors Kate Burns Megan Syer Mentor Isabel Ratner Adviser Tracy Anderson Staff Elena Bernier Carson Borbely Vivienne Brandt Benjamin Chosid Marika Chupp

Mary DeBona Anna Sophia Dinov Brennan Eicher Francisco Fiori Abigail Gaies Lily Gechter Madelynn Gracey Hunter Guyer Emily Hatch Shane Hoffman Rachel Hystad Grace Jensen Ethan Kahana Charles Kotila Jennifer Krzeczkowski Gina Liu Caitlin Mahoney Kailyn McGuire Claire Middleton Samuel Millman Maizie Montgomery Omolara Osofisan Victor Oswald William Panitch Sophia Rosewarne Suephia Saam Aviva Satz-Kojis Alexander Shaw Hannah Simon Mira Simonton-Chao Kenneth Simpson Sophie Steinberg Stavi Tennenbaum Shannon Thomas Minna Tremonti Emily Tschirhart Nora Weiss Hevin White Isabella Yerkes Grace York

The Communicator, being committed to the free exchange of ideas, is an open forum for expression of opinions. It is student-run; students make all content decisions. Letters to the editor are encouraged and can be sent to thecommunicator@googlegroups. com. Signed articles will be accepted with no prior administrative review as space is available. The Communicator reserves the right to edit submissions. Furthermore, opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and not of this newspaper, Community High School, or Ann Arbor Public Schools. For our complete policy, please see www.chscommunicator.com.

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eleni tsadis “When I did my first dance competition it was really fun and we did really well. I was 10 years old. It was jazz. [Jazz] is my favorite dance style.”

abby roberts “Regionals in gymnastics right when I came back from an injury and won vault. My coach did not believe in me and she really didn’t think I was going to be able to compete at all so that just made me want to prove her wrong.”

the sweet life what were some of the sweetest moments in the lives of students and staff?

sophie swan “When [my grandpa] was dying he had Alzheimer’s and I was four at the time. I was talking to him and sitting on his lap at our annual family bonfire and he kept talking about this grape on the ground. Something about it was sweet, it was funny but cute.”

sophia rosewarne and omolara osofisan

noah dean “Last summer I did a whitewater kayak trip in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and there was one waterfall that I kayaked off of, which was one of my favorite moments ever. It was really scary, but the current pulled me in I knew that I had no choice but to go.”

mackenzie quigley “I was in 8th grade and I got first place in my synchro competition in the 13-15 category. I got this huge trophy, but they did the scores wrong. I still won the solo part but I didn’t score highest overall.”

claire benard “There’s a cabin that I go to with my family in the summer, that’s always really nice. It’s really the only time that I get to spend with my whole family. It’s in northern Michigan, I don’t remember exactly where it is. We swim in the lake and there’s a fire pit.”

may

ARTIST PROFILE: ELEANOR OLSON cameron fortune carson borbely

Can you tell me a little bit about the contest you just won? Yeah! The Congressional Art Award. So, I don’t know if it’s in all of the districts, but in a lot of the districts across the United States the Congress people who run those districts will hold an art competition for their districts specifically. Our congresswoman is Debbie Dingle, and she’s really into art. So, she holds one every year and I entered it last year and got third place. I entered again this year and I got first. It’s really cool, you get your piece hung in the walkway that connects the Senate and the House of Representatives. I’m going to D.C. in June for the ceremony. What motivates your art? It’s definitely a good way to express things. I’m an Aries-Taurus cusp which has got an intense amount of emotion running through it for sure. So I’ve always been a pretty big emotional person, and I think that art is a really good way for me to process my strong feelings towards the world. I have a lot of feelings of hatred and love so it’s easier to express it through art because it’s not language. I don’t know, I find it easier. Is there a medium you lean towards most of the time? Yeah, I mostly paint often because I like to work big and it’s easier to paint bigger than it is to draw something bigger just because it’s less time consuming. I’ve only ever painted in water based media. It’s watercolor, gouache, and acrylic paint. I’ve never used oil paints. I use a lot of colored pencil. What artists do you draw inspiration from? My favorite artist ever since I was a little kid has been Degas which makes a lot of sense because I’ve been dancing since I was like three. So, I was drawn to his art even before I was doing art myself. His style is incredibly loose. It’s crazy. He does these crazy things with pastels where if you’re close it doesn’t really look like anything but then you get away and it’s the most detailed and really finely done picture and you don’t understand how he made it both so loose and controlled at the same time. And the fact that he would draw all of that from life. I really respect it a lot especially now that I’m getting older and trying to draw people dancing is the worst, because they’re moving. I’ve also always been inspired by Vincent Van Gogh. The impressionist movement has always been my favorite movement. I really enjoy the vibrant color usage of it. I really like the use of color and light. The impressionists are definitely my favorite. 6

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tempus fugit wins prestigious downbeat award.

sam millman article alexandra hobrecht design megan syer photos

s students filed into Craft Theater for the BSU Talent Show on April 26, members of the CHS jazz band, Tempus Fugit, played on stage. After they wrapped up the introduction to the show, jazz teacher Jack Wagner hopped up on stage to end their part of the show. Wagner expressed how hard the band has been working, and its hope to win a very prestigious award from DownBeat Magazine, the world’s largest jazz periodical. He then surprised the band, along with the crowd, by announcing that the band had officially won the 39th Annual Downbeat Magazine Outstanding Performance Award in the high school combo contest. The expressions on the band members

were ecstatic as they celebrated the great achievement accompanied by a roar of applause the audience. “I am truly happy for these terrific students,” Wagner said. “They are so dedicated and hard-working, and they have a wonderful chemistry in the classroom and on the bandstand. It’s been a pleasure working with them and watching and hearing them grow so significantly.” This is the most prestigious award the program has won as it is the biggest worldwide high school contest for jazz combos. It has been won by students around the world, in countries such as Germany, Japan and Israel. DownBeat Magazine was established in 1934, named after the first beat of a musical measure, the “downbeat.”

“We have to thank Jack Wagner for all he has done for us, and this program,” said Seamus Lynch, the bassist for Tempus Fugit. “He is a brilliant music teacher and an incredible man, and we all owe him very much and wouldn’t be here today without him.” The band will be featured in the June issue of the DownBeat Magazine. Tempus Fugit, along with the other students in the jazz program, will play on May 16 at their annual Year End Blowout at The Ark. Tempus Fugit’s members are Erez Dessel on piano, Danny Freiband on guitar, Seamus Lynch on bass, Jonathan Lynn on alto saxophone, Aidan Wada-Dawson on alto and tenor saxophones and Aaron Willette on drums.

may

warmilu hannah rubenstein photos and graphic courtesy of warmilu & tigoni hospital staff

In 2012, recent University of Michigan College of Engineering graduate, Grace Hsia, turned to Facebook to solve a rather pressing problem: the naming of her and her classmates’ new company. Their product was a blanket designed to keep premature infants warm, particularly in resource-scarce settings. When Hsia posted this request for company name advice on Facebook, it did not take long for one of her former favorite professors to respond with the suggestion of “Warmilu”. When Hsia asked him about the name, the professor explained that, while a parent might love their child, their love is not enough to keep the baby warm. So Warmilu, he said, stood for “Warm - I Love You”. Warmilu has now been in existence for almost five years. The now-named IncuBlanket was first inspired by a senior design capstone course, the goal of

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a blanket may help to save infants’ lives around the world

which was to make the world a better place through some form of engineering innovation. Hsia, who was born prematurely herself, and the other Warmilu co-founders honed in quickly on helping to warm babies in undeveloped areas. They were struck by statistics showing that out the 15 million babies born prematurely every year, about 1.5 million die. Many of these infants die of preventable causes, such as hypothermia, lack of basic oxygenation or an inability to fight off simple infections. According to the World Health Organization, “More than 60% of preterm births occur in Africa and South Asia.” Incubators are one of the most common solutions to keeping infants warm, but the group quickly discovered that electricity was often unpredictable and unreliable in these resource-scarce settings, so they decided to seek a non-electric solution. One of the other most common ways to keep babies warm is known as Kangaroo Mother Care, in which the mother or somebody else taking care of the baby will place the baby on their chest for extended periods of time. Since it is nearly impossible to use this method all the time, however, they still saw a need for an engineered solution. The group finally found success in the invention of a large pack filled with phase-change material. Phasechange material can store energy in a liquid form, but when a small metal disk is pressed, the liquid begins to heat up and change into a solid form. These packs can continue

holding energy in their liquid form for years so long as the disk is not pressed. The solid pack only needs to be boiled to return to its liquid state, ready to be used again. The Warmilu creators were particularly innovative by adding a certain type of wax into their packs that helps control the temperature once a blanket has been activated and heated. They did this to ensure that babies would not get too hot when the product was in use. But the Warmilu blanket consists of both the pack and the blanket itself. While Hsia and her coworkers have had preliminary designs and prototypes since 2011, Larrea Young, designer, illustrator and Warmilu’s Vice President, was able to give the IncuBlanket a redesign in 2016. The blanket is intended to hold the baby and keep it close to the warm pack. Young has designed the blanket so that it now includes a hood and is made of products entirely from the United States. The fabric material has three layers, and the layer closest to the baby is specifically designed to be absorbent since many infants in resource-scarce settings will not have diapers. “Everything that went into the blanket was meant to be used with a baby,” Young said. For the past few years, as Warmilu has had various stories written about their mission, an Ann Arbor-based nonprofit organization, Relief for Africa, took notice. After about a year of communication and planning, Hsia and Young visited Kenya in March of 2016 to see the country’s hospital system and assess whether there was a real need for their product. “When you go into a different country, you have to make sure that there is a real pain that you’re addressing, otherwise you’re going through so many regulatory and legal and export hoops and distribution and logistics [for nothing],” Hsia said. During their trip, they were also able to learn things that they wouldn’t have been able to unless they were ac-

TOP LEFT: Hsia and Young in front of an ambulance for Tigoni Hospital, a level four hospital on the outskirts of Nairobi. They are with the Relief for Africa team, the director of the hospital and two women from the Newborn Unit. TOP RIGHT: Two premature babies (under 1700 g) in one of the Tigoni Hospital functioning incubators. In America, keeping two infants in one incubator is subject for a lawsuit. BOTTOM RIGHT: Hsia and Young (center, first row) and the attendees of the IncuBlanket product launch at the Panafric Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. Many of the guests in attendance were doctors, nurses and county health and government officials. BOTTOM LEFT: Warmilu’s IncuBlankets in various colors. These particular blankets were displayed at Warmilu’s product launch along with some of the heating packs in their liquid state.

tually on-site, such as the fact that the boiling the water to bring the packs back to liquid form takes longer at that elevation, or that babies are thought of as underweight in Kenya at 1,800 grams, whereas they are thought of as underweight at 2,500 grams in the U.S. As they visited hospitals and medical centers around Kenya, they discovered that the country divides its hospitals into six numbered groups, each higher number meaning the hospital has more money and experienced staff. Even though the level six hospitals were the best, they noticed that there was consistent overcrowding in all of the hospitals. At a level five hospital they visited, they saw a newborn unit with a capacity of 40 housing anywhere from 90 to 120 newborns. They saw that there were simply not enough incubators to serve all of the infants that needed them. While the nurses had gotten creative in some locations, doing things like using an empty Dasani water bottle to give an infant Continuous Positive Airway Pressure,

sometimes it could get dangerous, such as when they saw more than one infant being kept in one incubator. Incubators are specifically designed to hold only one infant, and keeping more than one baby in a single incubator in the United States is illegal; receiving too much or too little oxygen from the machine can permanently damage the child. “Each of these different levels, we felt like, and the people we talked to felt like, had a need for the blanket, but it was different at each level,” Young said. “For some of them it’s for intermittent Kangaroo Mother Care, sometimes it’s for transportation, sometimes it’s for back up for the generator.” After returning from their trip, the Warmilu team had many ideas of what their next steps should be. They saw that the need for their IncuBlankets was immediate, and while the exact number is not set in stone, they have been asked to produce up to 10,000 blankets in the next six months. In order to get that large-scale operation going, they still

need to talk to some investors, find an ideal office and manufacturing space, make a few minor adjustments to the pack and blanket and run a few more trials. The need for the blanket is by no means limited to Kenya. In fact, Warmilu has already been contacted by people in Rwanda, Somalia, India, Saudi Arabia, Liberia and the Congo about introducing the IncuBlanket in those locations. The exact future for Warmilu is not fully formed, but one goal that Hsia and Young agreed upon was being able to establish a system through which mothers in resource-scarce settings could share blankets. Their blanket was, after all, designed to make the world a better place, and charging families who might be bringing in as little as the equivalent of one American dollar does not meet that goal. They are considering trying to create a Kickstarter or some kind of donation process whereby families who are capable of giving could pay for a blanket to be sent to infants and families in need. may

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1000 aviva satz-kojis marika chupp photo

words

uring Halloween of 2015, Marika Chupp was on vacation in Laguna Beach, California. She felt inspired to take a photo of the waves colliding against the rocks as the sun set into the water. “They had these huge rocks where the waves would just crash, and I was like, ‘Wow, it would really be great to catch it in the middle of that.’ and so with this one, the wave is coming up and it sort of stopped,” Chupp said. Chupp typically prefers taking photos with people as the subject, so this nature photo is one of her only favorites that is not of a person. “With people when I’m asking them to pose and stuff, it can get kind of repetitive,” Chupp said. “I just have to go out and find something I don’t have to direct.”

may

roasting more beans.

roos roast expands to downtown area.

alexandra hobrecht

n a brisk Saturday morning downtown, John Roos arrives at the Farmer’s Market with cheerful greetings and sets down his bicycle. He joins workers Andy and Michael behind the stand pouring freshly roasted coffee, wisps of steam twirling in the chilly air as he hands the cup to a customer. These original blends range from a variety of options, such as Lobster Butter Love to Rich French Neighbor and Portland in the 90s. By eight o’clock the market is buzzing with life. Annie Noffke, CHS junior and employee, arrives to take her position behind the stand as Roos chats with other vendors and shoppers. Many women are intrigued by a favored blend of Noffke, Bad Ass Women Blend. “Hell yeah,” Noffke tells them. “That’s what we’re about here at Roos Roast.” the founding

Once a wind surfer and burrito truck owner on the West coast, Roos found his love for roasted coffee in Portland, Oregon in 1989. “I walked into this coffee place and it was so entrenched with the coffee smell,” said Roos, hypersensitive to smells because he had a background in cooking and had worked in multiple restaurants. He ended up moving to Portland and living in the rainy city for 10 years, moving back to Michigan in 2002 with the dream to run his own coffee shop with a roaster. He began goofing around with a roaster in his garage and spending more time on art. “Part of the thing I did in Portland was I sort of transitioned from being a chef to doing a lot of artwork,” he said. “Almost the whole time I was there I was having art shows, painting paintings, coming up with cool designs.” Attending art residencies and workshops, Roos learned the art of printmaking, which was a key element in the development in Roos Roast. He was out 12

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for a bike ride along Huron River Drive with friend Chris Donnelly and shared his idea for the coffee shop. When Donnelly suggested to name it “Roos Roast,” inspiration struck and the two headed back to Donnelly’s house. “I drew a picture of his hand and started carving a wood block print and that’s kind of how it happened,” Roos said. “That became the original image for Roos Roast and [it] just sort of went from there.” Continuing in his garage, he would roast about 10 pounds of coffee, bag it into 10 bags and sell it. Jefferson Market, a bakery and cafe in Ann Arbor, began carrying it, followed by Eve Restaurant. Meanwhile, Roos took a job at Subaru to make money while business took off, though he had no experience as a salesman. “I was roasting in the morning, going to work at Subaru, coming home, roast-

ing at night,” he said. “It was really getting busy.” Four years passed, and after opening a stand in the Farmer’s Market, he quit his job selling cars to focus on the business. the employees

A series of events led to the opening of an official store on Rosewood Street, and the employee base of Roos Roast began to expand. Roos was now faced with decisions of whom to employ and what to consider for applicants. “The most important thing is that they want to be here,” he said. “They want to be doing this job.” As much of the business requires interacting with customers, Roos looked for people who knew how to “smile, keep the place clean [and] be on time.” Noffke was hired on the day of her interview. Coincidentally, it was the same day Roos was shooting promo pictures

for the Bad Ass Women Blend. He asked Noffke and all of the female workers to pose outside with “bad ass things,” she said, including a giant stabler gun. This was her first impression of work at Roos Roast. Noffke and her father had been customers for years. With a trip to Italy to pay for and need of a job, she found her place at the coffee shop. “I really like the atmosphere,” she said. “It’s based off your own work ethic so you get stuff done yourself. It’s not like people are telling you exactly what to do. It’s more like ‘I need to do this so it’s going to get done because it needs to be.’ It works for me.” the future

Roos is now working on opening a second location on Liberty Street. Although selling downtown is more risky because the business flow can vary, he is excited to be involved in the environment.

“I feel like it’ll be really fun to be part of the whole downtown scene, get to know other businesses, be right down here,” he said. “[We will] try to make it a place where if you’re coming to Ann Arbor, you’ve got to stop by.” Expected to open around the end of April, the store will carry the signature blends of Roos Roast, which can also be ordered on their website, roosroast.com. Grace York, CHS sophomore and employee, currently works at the Rosewood store. “Everyone is very positive, and connected,” she said. “Every time I’m there I’m like, ‘Wow, I’m so lucky that I get to work here.’” The business, of course, would not be the same as it is today without the encouragement and ethics Roos brings. Both York and Noffke appreciate his positive energy. “It’s funny, I’m like the source for everyone’s dreams,” Roos said. “That’s what I want. I want to be the source for everyone’s dreams.”

LEFT PAGE: A Roos Roast employee prepares the stand for customers in the chilly air. ABOVE LEFT: John Roos bundles up and pours coffee at the market. ABOVE RIGHT: Bags of roasted coffee sit waiting for purchase with creative names such as Lobster Butter Love. RIGHT: Customers wait for coffee and chat with employees.

may

walk with the people who are here now at the tail end of her senior year, athena le discusses cross-eyed cats, the value of diner work and the role of love in crisis. eva rosenfeld

Q: Where do you feel like your story begins?* ATHENA LE: Well, I know that one thing that says a lot about me is how I actually got my nickname, Teena. So what happened is my sister, whose name is Natasha, one day she told me to start calling her Tasha and I said no, only if I get a nickname too. So that’s how people started calling me Teena. My mom likes to bring up that story up a lot. I was so stubborn. I love my sister and I wanted to be like her, especially when I was younger. And now later I still like to follow in her footsteps. Q: How so? AL: She really impresses me. She was in a really dark place in high school and she got herself out of it. I mean we’re still sisters, so we fight all the time, but I do definitely look up to her. She knows what she’s doing, she knows who she is as a person. And that’s one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen. I think it’s really hard to find yourself especially at a young age, I mean she’s 24, so she’s not that young. Q: What do you spend your time doing now? AL: Well, I work a lot. I work two jobs. I really like it because I get to meet a lot of people. I waitress at Benny’s, so I get to meet a whole variety of people there. Lots of people from Community go to Benny’s. I meet families, I meet people who are just in town for the day. Like the other day I was talking to this computer analyst, and he definitely looked like a computer analyst, he was very pale, did not look like he got a lot of sunlight, but he was just in town for something at the university. I’m a very social person, I like to learn about people, I like to meet new people. I work a lot, I really like to explore, just around my neighborhood and stuff. I go on a lot of runs, mostly because of Robbie. When I took Personal Fitness I realized, oh, this is an awesome way to stay active. And I can do that any day, just wake up a little earlier before work and start off my day the right way by going on a run, get that endorphin rush. More about me… my mom’s Malaysian and my dad’s Vietnamese. They’re both world travelers, obviously, they come from a completely different part of the world, and they’ve seen a lot of it. So that’s sort of something that really helped me realize who I was. Everyone wants to see the world, but for me it’s not about finding a job or finding someone to spend the rest of my life with, it’s about seeing as much of the world as possible, because that’s what my parents always did. 14

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Q: It seems like there’s a connection between that and your love of meeting these different people, because of these different little pieces of the world that you get to know. AL: It’s true, I feel like the reason I’m like that is because of my dad, he was very social. I remember when we used to go on road trips every single time a stranger talked to him, either at a toll booth station or at a drive-through, he would always say ‘Howdy, how you doing today?’ I remember thinking, oh my god, this is just my dorky dad saying howdy, who says howdy? But when I look back and think about it, it was so amazing how warm and welcoming he was to every single person. No matter who they were or what they did. But yes, traveling is sort of like that. I feel like my want to travel, and my want to learn everything about other people, is definitely because of my dad. He actually passed away in February of this year, which obviously was a really hard thing...He had been diagnosed with leukemia back in my sophomore year of high school, so it was something our family as a whole had been struggling with, and then him obviously, because there was that fight inside his body. My dad was one of the strongest and bravest people I knew, which it was kind of heartbreaking to see him struggle with something like this, but he was always really brave; he wanted to fight and he wanted to stay strong as long as possible, because he really wanted to be there to see me graduate, to see my sister get married, and all that stuff. Which unfortunately he didn't get the chance to see, but he never lost hope in those sort of things. Q: How is your family doing now? AL: We’re doing okay, as good as you can be. I think that it has really brought us together, in a way. My mom [and I] the other day, we went over to Barton Dam and took a walk along the river. And my mom was like, we never did this when my dad was here, we should do this more often. And I feel like that’s how it has sort of brought us together. Just sort of that realization that now I don’t have the chance to walk with my dad along the river anymore, so I should do it with the people who are here now. I don’t know, it is a very cheesy realization, you know, everyone has it at some point, but it’s still important. Just because it’s a cliche doesn’t mean it’s any less real. Q: You’re so cheery and loving at school, even though you have to spend so much time working. Do you ever wish that you could take it easier?

AL: In a way. Sometimes I’m like, this would be easier if I wasn’t always trying to seem cheery and energetic when sometimes I don’t have energy. I feel like if I do that then life’s just going to pass by me. So even though I get those thoughts occasionally, it’s never really swayed me in any direction to act differently than I do now. I might as well just act like I have all this energy, because then maybe I will. But that’s not to say that resting isn’t important and all that jazz, but...All that jazz is my favorite thing to say ever. I don’t know anything about jazz, but all that jazz is just a nice saying. I have a cat, she’s really cute. Her name is Hadley. Her eyes point in different directions and she’s really fat, but I love her more than anything, because she’s kind of dumb. What else is there? I love Community, I love my Forum. Q. And you’re volunteering at a church next year? AL: I’m teaching English as a Second Language to immigrants, which is something I’ve really wanted to do for a while. It’s so hard to immigrate into this country. So I’m mainly teaching natural-born Spanish speakers. It’s something that I’ve always really wanted to do - I even took a class for linguistics and we learned about developmental linguistics and how to become fluent in a different language, so I feel like I’m pretty qualified. And it’s also the whole meeting new people, and meeting people who have such a different background than me, because, you now, I’ve been here in Ann Arbor my whole life, English is my first language, it’s what we spoke at home. But I can learn, I can broaden my horizon by talking to these people. I’m really excited about that. Q: Are there any other people or teachers that are really important to you, or have really been here for you this year? AL: Definitely Anne Thomas. She’s my forum leader, and she went through something really similar with her daughter passing away. So she’s always been there for me, she always understood what I was going through. She just taught me so many lessons in term of how to get through such a heartbreaking tragedy. And it’s definitely different, because, my loss was in order, you know. A parent isn’t supposed to outlive a child. Which is also why I love Anne so much, because she’s one of the strongest women I’ve ever met. And she makes me like math, which is just such a feat. Also Will Norton, he’s been one of my friends since freshman year but we’ve especially gotten close this year, because he’s been taking me home from Mock Trial, since I don’t have a car. He’s a very positive energy in my life. With so much negative stuff happening around me, in terms of my dad, and all the stress for college and everything, it was good to have a positive person who always knew the right thing to say. Also because we have the same sense of humor and all that. My friends are the most important people in my life, I feel like. We’d be here for ages if I tried to talk about people at Community who positively affect me.

*interview has been condensed. may

AVERY FARMER will be attending Amherst College in Massachusetts. What are you most excited about for next year? “The opportunity to live more on my own terms and live more independently. Even just the opportunity to be out of my house and be away from my parents for a little bit.”

KAIYA WOLFF is planning on attending Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City. She is wants to become a preschool teacher and has known this for her entire senior year. What advice would you give to a freshman who will be in your shoes in three years? “Don’t take everything too seriously.”

AIDAN COTNER is attending Michigan State University and majoring in Jazz Studies. Why have you chosen jazz as a major? “I play guitar and have been playing guitar for 10 years, but jazz only for three. I think [by] the end, I would like to be a collegiate professor [for jazz].”

MONICA NEDELTCHEV knows she is going to the University of Michigan next year. She believes she wants to major in Psychology or Public Health. Are you doing any clubs in college? “I do depression awareness club [at Community] and it’s something that I want to be involved in because I want to learn more about it.”

sending off seniors madie gracey and anna dinov

MARIE JACOBSON is set on attending Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. How did you choose a college? “I applied to over 20 schools. I wanted a smaller school because the large universities don’t offer any support. I didn’t want to just feel like another face in the crowd. [At one college], the Dean actually showed me around the school, which says a lot about how much attention I would get and how much support [I would get].” 16 t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

MAYA BURRIS is going to DePaul University in Chicago. She is thinking about majoring in Computer Science. What are different aspects you’ve been considering for choosing a college? “[There are many aspects] you have to think about: do you want to be in a bigger school, do you want to be at a school where they have certain majors that are highlighted more than others? And also, location is more important than you might think.”

SEBASTIAN INIGUEZ is planning on attending the University of Michigan. What is your biggest fear about next year? How are you planning to overcome that? “My biggest fear [would be] making [new] friends. I’m not going to know people next year at University of Michigan. Of course I’ll know people, just not people that I’m close to [location wise]. [Next year] I want to room blind and meet new people that way.”

MOLLY PROCHASKA is starting off at Washtenaw Community College to fulfill all of her requirements. What advice would you give to an incoming freshman? “Be open to talking to people who you wouldn’t think you would be talking to coming out of middle school. It’s really nice to have a variety of people that you are friends with. Even [if you’re] not even friends you kind of get along and just talk to [each other].”

ALEX SPRANGER is going to study Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Loyola.

SARA JACKSON will be attending Michigan State University. She is planning on majoring in neuroscience.

Why did you decide or pick this major? “I had no idea what I wanted to do for the longest time. I had to settle something in between doing what I love and something that actually makes a decent wage, so I decided I’d like to be a politician.”

What advice would you give to a junior who will be in your shoes next year? “At the application standpoint you should definitely start it early, applying early action to schools is a lot less stressful because that’s not binding and you just get to hear back a lot sooner.”

MIRANDA IANNELLI is planning on attending Washtenaw Community College, and then transferring to Michigan State and going to vet school. Do you think that Community has prepared for college? “Yes, I think that it has, especially for the SAT and ACT. The conversations that you have with John and Brian are really helpful because they help you get ideas for everything.”

KEN SIMPSON will be attending Washtenaw Community College for two years and studying film. Why did you choose film as a major? “I want to be a film director. It’s been a dream of mine since I was 10 years old and making movies, writing them or being a part of the industry is something I have been really fascinated by since I was a kid.”

16 seniors share their thoughts and plans for next year after parting with Community High School.

ELONAH KIRK will be going to Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, and majoring in Biology. What do you want to do with your degree? “I want to become a perinatologist, which is a doctor that takes care of high risk pregnant mothers. When I was younger, my mom was high risk and I was super premature. I [want to] help people like me and my mom.”

SADIE STROUSE is going to attend Kent State University in Ohio. She wants to major in Dance. What are you most excited about? “To do more [dance] than just ballet. I think that will be interesting.” What do you want to do with your degree in dance? “I would like to start off with traveling, like [dancing on] a cruise ship and entertaining, things like that.”

ANGEL RICH wants to go to Eastern Michigan University this fall to major in Athletic Training. She currently plays volleyball and would like to continue playing it in college at the club level. Once you get your major in athletic training, what do you want to do? “I want to work in a high school setting, maybe college. I just want to be in a training room at a school facility, [working] with younger people.”

ATHENA LE is staying in town for a gap year. She hopes to teach English as a second language to Spanish speakers. The year after, she will be attending Minnesota University to study Communications and Linguistics. What do you want to do with this major? “I am not sure what I plan on doing with that major, but [communications and linguistics] are two things that I actually want to learn about, which is not something I can say about most things.” may

nine S T O R I E S

seniors recap their favorite memories from Community. brennan eicher emily tschirhart

Maddie McCarver

Alec Neff

Immediately after I got in, the first few days here, everybody was so welcoming to me and I was introduced into a new group of friends. I felt so happy to be here. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel it back at Pioneer.

Keshav Kanapur

My friends and I would sit on the back lawn and we would grill meats and sit on our lawn chairs. We would sip on some lemonade and chill and talk. It was almost like a second forum. It was a bunch of guys, just talking about school and how our days went.

Natsume Ono

Dario Zullo

In my sophomore year on Field Day, Tuzinsky beat Stapleton in tug-of-war which was very surreal because Stapleton had been rolling through and beating everyone by a landslide but Tuzinsky was the underdog and they pulled through.

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During my freshman year on spring forum trip we went to Sleeping Bear Dunes and I just felt like I really got to bond with everybody and we all got to know each other so well. It was one of my favorite Community experiences.

Thea Spindel

The Halloween Dance at the beginning of my senior year. I had just gotten back from Mexico last year and it was just really nice to be with everyone and dance. Everyone was really crazy and in really cool outfits and I just had so much fun.

Sophomore year, Obama came to Zingermans all of us were really excited and I had a free block. A couple of friends and I thought it would be a great idea to go outside and see if we could spot him. We went out walked around and saw all of these security people but no Obama. We tried to come back into the school after an hour of failing to find Obama and we were locked out and I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get to my seventh block. It was pretty fun.

Avery Farmer Nick Middleton I really loved going out to eat with my friends and getting lunch with my friends. I have so many memories of going to different restaurants like Kosmos or No Thai and just having a fun time just talking to my friends. I have a bunch of great memories of playing basketball and hanging out on the back lawn too. Those are the memories I will look back on and probably cherish the most.

I think it was sophomore year. It was the first snowfall of winter and Emre Babbitt walked in the snow to make this huge penis taking up the entire back lawn. It took him a long time to make it and you could look out the third floor window and see him out there walking in the snow. Kevin got really pissed when he saw it and knew it was Emre right away. So Kevin made Emre shovel all of the back lawn. So for the rest of the day, Emre was outside, sad and shoveling all the snow off of the back lawn.

Natsume Ono I think I want to go backpacking through Europe.

Hadley Huffman I want to skydive.

Sadie Zinn I want to go swimming with sharks and dolphins and travel and do crazy stuff that I haven’t had the opportunity to do and just travel places and go swimming with the animals.

Britta Carlson I want to travel on my own and helping children will be a part of it.

claire middleton and aviva satz-kojis

Freshman year. There was this woman who protested capitalism and promoted Communism across the street in Kerrytown. And we were all a little bit afraid of her. So one day in our [Econ] class with Chloe, she somehow found out that we were all scared of the woman but interested and she brought the woman in to talk to us. I just loved that. I was like “This is such a great school. We are bringing Communist women off of the street to talk to our students.”

Marin Scott I guess one thing I really want to do is go to India, that’s definitely up there. I’m hoping to do it the summer after this summer. But I think it would be really fun.

Isobel Roosevelt I want to climb Mount Everest, even though it sounds crazy I really want to do it.

what do community students want to do before they die?

Erez Dessel

Sophie Jones I think it would be really fun to go skydiving except my parents say that they won’t pay for my college if I go skydiving so I’m going to do it and just not let them know.

Maggie Mihaylova I want to spark a movement that will inspire the youth to fight for women’s equality.

Jenny Dean [I want] to visit the icehotel in Northern Sweden. Sophie Swan I want to go camping with my friends and go backpacking with them. Jada Wilson Go to Colorado with all my friends and hike. Levon Cooper Probably travel to England.

may

cycling in the motor city

ABOVE: Andy Staub (middle, front row), with regulars of the Beat the Train Ride.

mary debona

n a 38 degree Saturday morning in April, roughly 50 bikers gathered in the darkness of the Michigan Welcome Center parking lot in Detroit to depart on the Beat the Train (BTT) ride; a weekly bike ride that meets from April through October and ranges from 30 to 35 miles. At 6:30 a.m., the bikers crossed the Bagley Pedestrian Bridge led by Andy Staub, the founder of the BTT. Cycling in Detroit isn’t like it is elsewhere. Before 7 a.m. on a Saturday in a city five times the size of Ann Arbor, cyclists can get on ground level with Detroit and experience it in ways that aren’t possible on foot or by car, with the freedom of miles of nearly empty streets and mixed-use paths. When on bike, one can cover most of the city, but still enjoy the smell of fresh corn tortillas being made in Mexicantown and admire the murals that line the Dequindre Cut. The BTT is unique in many ways because Detroit itself is unique. It’s been decades now since many houses and factories in Detroit that still stand today had been abandoned, but as of the last few years, the city has begun to rise from the ashes. Change is happening all over De-

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troit, and the BTT allows people to witness and benefit from it. “ [People] want to see change and by being on a bike, they can really see the change, they can see more of it, rather than in a small area if they had to walk,” Staub said. Some of the change going on in Detroit that is best viewed while on bike includes the River Walk and Dequindre Cut, the transformed riverfront and Grand Trunk Railway tracks that were made into safe and scenic greenways that are influencing exercise in the area. Community gardens are being grown all over Detroit along the route, giving access to healthy food for 20 percent of the city. Businesses like Shinola are employing the citizens of Detroit by bringing manufacturing jobs to their store in Midtown and many new restaurants have been opening up around the city over the past few years. “At the same time we see history and we see progress,” Staub said, describing how Detroit is one of a kind, especially while on bike. “It’s kind of the best of times and the worst of times coming together. It’s gradual, but we see progress.” In April of 2005 Staub noticed a lot of bike rides beginning in the Detroit area.

He decided to start the BTT because all of the other rides in the city were on weeknights while traffic was heavy. “I couldn’t make those rides, so in order for me to be able to be there, I had to make my own time slot,” Staub said. “I had to be unique, whatever you do in life, you have to be unique.” The route, the riders and the city itself continue to change over the years, but Staub tends to leave a few of the popular stops among the riders the same as well as incorporate new destinations into the route. The bike route usually winds through Corktown, Brush Park, the riverfront, Indian Village, the Heidelberg Project and usually stops in Eastern Market or Mexicantown for breakfast. A few destinations along the route include the historic Michigan Train Station, Belle Isle, where most riders do a lap of the island and the Dequindre Cut. When riders of the BTT began hooting and hollering as they picked up speed on the Dequindre Cut, which felt like a “bicycle freeway” from the Detroit River all the way to Eastern Market to grab breakfast after a morning of cycling, the enthusiasm of the group made it appear as though it was always a highlight of the

ABOVE: The group waits to depart on the ride in the parking lot of the Michigan Welcome Center at 6:15 a.m.

ride. At the end of the ride, when asked about why cycling in Detroit is unique, Staub, tired from the ride, sat on his bike, leaning on the handle bars. “I think people are enthusiastic about fitness,” he said. “They want to see change and by being on a bike, they can really see the change, they can see more of it, rather than in a small area if they had to walk. So far, nobody’s tried to copy that. So that’s something I’m proud of and there’s several rides that have started after Beat the Train and still, nobody has started their rides this early in the morning. If you really want to set yourself apart, you have to do something different and stick to it.”

ABOVE: Three riders bike past a mural on Agnes St. in West Village.

ABOVE: The polka dot house in the Heidelberg Project. may

sights & sounds of

chicago mary debona and megan syer

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

lincoln park zoo

Founded in 1868, the Lincoln Park Zoo is a free 35-acre zoo in Lincoln Park, Illinois. It has over 1,000 animals, representing nearly 320 species. The zoo offers many other features, such as a children’s zoo, paddle boats and a carousel.

the bean

Cloud Gate, nicknamed “the bean”, is a public sculpture made by Anish Kapoor between 20042006. It is located in Millennium Park and is made of 168 highly polished stainless steel plates. Don’t forget to bring your camera to take pictures of your reflection if you visit here!

field museum

art institute

giordano’s

The Field Museum of Natural History includes a wide variety of exhibits including the Evolving Planet and Inside Ancient Egypt. It is home to Sue, the largest and best preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex ever discovered and available to the public.

Founded in 1879 as a museum and school for fine arts, the Art Institute of Chicago is home to more that 300,000 pieces of art in its 10 curatorial departments. Artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso have their artwork here on display.

belinda hankins mille photo

The famous chicago-style pizza at Giordano’s was introduced by Mama Giordano in a small, northern Italian town near Torino, Italy. Later, two immigrants, Efren and Joseph Boglio, moved to Chicago and started a pizza business, introducing the idea of stuffed pizza. The first store was opened in 1947, and has been serving pizza since.

shedd aquarium kirstin eye photo

Between 1924 and 1926, John G. Shedd, the chairman of Marshall Field & Company donated a total of $3 million so that Chicago could be home to the best aquarium in the world. The Shedd Aquarium building was designed by the same firm that also designed the Field Museum. Until the saltwater exhibits at Shedd were full, railroad cars made rounds continuously made from Key West to Chicago. In later years, the collection of marine animals have diversified and efforts to include both species from across seas and from the Great Lakes have been made. may

do something meaningful this spring

caitlin mahoney

o Something is an organization marketed towards teenagers to make a meaningful difference in their community and beyond, or as they say on their website, “make the world suck less.” The goal is for teens to be able to make a difference without needing a parent’s assistance, money or a car. This is practiced through their motto, “any cause, anytime, anywhere.” The organization has 5,246,763 members, all whom were active in the past month alone. This makes them one of the largest global organizations for young people. “[What’s cool] when you look at how many members they have there’s [over] 5,000,000 members now and it’s not just someone who once upon a time signed up and put their email or their cell phone number in,” said Susan Can, Senior Director of Corporate Equity and Partnerships at Johnson and Johnson. She is also on the corporate council advisory board for Do Something. Do Something has partnered with companies such as H&M through the Comeback Clothes and Jeans for Teens campaigns. They have also partnered with other companies and organizations such as Google, Girl Up, Coca Cola and 3M. The organization has even gotten the attention of fashion designer, Alexander Wang. “[Wang] had [a section] in his flagship store in SoHo dedicated to Do Something, and he gave [Do Something staff] 24

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

some tickets for the fashion show, which is how I got invited,” Can said. “It was wild. It was really different. It was because of Do Something.” Partnerships, like the ones with well known figures such as Wang and cast members of Parks and Rec, Aziz Ansari and Chris Pratt help drive more deserving attention to the organization. With an emphasis on social good, Do Something’s campaigns focus on homelessness/poverty, climate change, discrimination, sex education, mental/ physical health and many other meaningful causes. Participation in the majority of their campaigns can happen from home with resources there. One of the most recognizable Do Something campaigns was convincing Apple to diversify their emojis to include people of color. Another one of the most successful rotating campaigns has been Birthday Mail. This May, Birthday Mail is coming back. In this campaign, people can participate by making birthday cards for the 2.1 million kids and teens in homeless shelters, as many do not have their birthdays celebrated or recognized. Not only is this campaign easy to do with supplies at home or school, it also can make a meaningful difference for a kid or teen who is in need. People can donate your completed cards to a local homeless shelter to make an impact in theircommunity. Through this campaign, Do Something

is partnering with Johnson and Johnson’s Donate a Photo app. In the app, people can upload a picture taken on their cell phone and choose a cause to which they would like to donate. For every picture uploaded, a dollar is donated to a cause. When the Birthday Mail campaign begins in May, people can upload a picture of the cards they have made to Donate a Photo and donate to kids in homeless shelters or a picture of anything and still have money donated. The Donate a Photo app is available in the Apple App Store and the Google Play store and is free to download. Do Something partnered with Donate a Photo in 2014. By donating a photo, it helped supply paper, markers and other supplies for the members of Do Something to create cards. Through the effort, 10,211 homeless children were given a happier birthday. Making these birthday cards can provide joy to a kid in need.

climbing

higher

zoe lubetkin reaches new heights.

elena bernier

oe Lubetkin, a ninth grader at Community, enjoys being up high. “When I’m on the [rock] wall I’m not thinking about anything else,” Lubetkin said. Lubetkin first started climbing when she was ten years old at a camp run by Planet Rock, a local climbing gym in Ann Arbor. She has been doing it ever since. “I just really liked it,” Lubetkin said. “I like the motion, I like climbing, and I like being high up.” She’s currently on Planet Rock’s climbing team. As a dedicated member of the team, Lebetkin practices nine hours a

week, along with general fitness training. All the practice paid off when Lubetkin competed in a regional bouldering competition. Bouldering, a form of rock climbing, uses no harnesses or ropes. The climbers who placed in the top ten got to go to the divisional competition in Chicago, Zoe being one of those ten. For Lubetkin, rock climbing is a stress reliever and a way to get all her energy out. But rock climbing has many other benefits. A study by the University of Indiana showed that when climbers got totally immersed in the moment, their minds entered a state that creates the sense of euphoria and can even block pain. A small study in the journal Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly looked into the benefits of indoor rock climbing by kids with special needs. The study showed that after just six weeks the kids’ belief in their ability to succeed improved drastically. In addition rock climbing also boosts problem solving skills, lowers stress levels and generally im-

proves one’s mood. “I don’t think I would be as happy [without rock climbing],” Lubetkin said. Lubetkin was proudest when she got to climb outside at Red River Gorge in Kentucky. Going to the Red River Gorge was a new experience for Lubetkin. She believes she got a taste of the professional rock climbing community. According to Lubetkin, the climbing community is mostly out West where the mountains are abundant, but there’s also a climbing community down in the Red River Gorge. Lubetkin remembers a pizza place where all the climbers go that allows them to camp there for $2 a night. “There’s all these climbers in tents and it’s really cool, and you’re just surrounded by climbers,” Lubetkin said. Rock climbing is being considered for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Lubetkin thinks this will help rock climbing gain more recognition as not just an activity, but as an actual sport. “It’s not very popular [yet], it’s gaining popularity, but it’s not like mainstream,” Lubetkin said. Looking to the future, Lubetkin wants to get out of the gym, do more climbing outside and get more connected with the climbing community. She plans to travel and continue to climb for as long as she possibly can.

Lubetkin climbs in Red River Gorge, Kentucky over spring break 2016 while on a trip with the Planet Rock Climbing Team.

may

by eva and sophia

â&#x20AC;&#x153;...We sledded today, the first time since 8th Lord, let this not be the because there may be coincidence of global policies, and the next time may our own?

Raves, rants and reflections from the class of 2016. 26

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It seems Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done a lot the first-time-since-, snowball offerings to that we allot adequate remaining moments of -Avery Farmer,

grade. last, no snow days after this year, warming and college attendance be holding children -of this lately, last-time-until-, the gods cranial capacity to these youth.” senior, “Snow Days” may

milo tucker-meyer

“A great day at Community involves a lot of pressed apple Nanny that has been shaken to the point where a good layer of froth has formed at the top I guess. I’m not too picky. Seeing my friends is cool. Seeing Mak is a great time too. I like her a lot. Going to rehearsal after school is always good. I like acting, it’s trill. Sometimes that theater gives me a stomachache though. Sup widdit. Almost every good experience or friendship or GIRLfriendship ;) is derived from [the Craft Theatre]. I feel most at home in that theater and the possibilities within it feel limitless and all that. Had a lot of euphoric experiences there. Gonna miss it a whole lot probably. Memorriiieeesss doonnn’tt livvveee like peeeooople doooo. I learned a lot about myself this year and about life and mostly about bones. I became really close with some pals who I should’ve been closer with earlier on and I became real close with the person who makes me happiest. I also discovered young thug this year. Senior year is good. I didn’t really know what being a senior meant until I took forensics. That class is the greatest. Liz is the most understanding person alive. I’m not saying it’s a blow off class

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

because you do a lot of cool projects and learn about lots of interesting things. All I’m saying is that class is just one hundred percent pals. Liz is pals with everyone. Except Jack Kelly, that dude never gets off his phone. I’m most excited to meet a lot of people who are passionate about the same things I’m passionate about. Also they are people who are presumably pretty good at the things they are passionate about so that’s cool that will be nice. My biggest fear is that everyone at college will be one of those people who is a total narp about being passionate about something and will suck the fun out of it for me. I feel like some people who go to college feel the need to showcase the fact that they deserve to go to college at all times even though they already got in so they walk around name dropping unreleased Bob Dylan albums and scoff when you tell them you haven’t seen Mad Men and pretend to cry when they watch Up because everyone else says that they did. I think I made these people up. I hope they don’t actually exist. But at the same time I’m sure they do. These are the people who scare me.”

emily hatch

“As a freshman I was much more shy and pretty scared of talking to anyone I didn’t know. I would have to say that senior year so far has been the best year of high school because I am the happiest now and really feel comfortable with my routine plus now that school is almost over I’m really taking the time to appreciate it more than I had before. One thing I’ve learned in high school is that even if it doesn’t seem like things are working out the way you want them to everything will turn out okay and maybe even better than you expect. A lot of different things make a great day at Community but one thing I really like is when it’s nice and sunny and everyone sits out on the back lawn. I’ve seen some weird stuff in Community bathrooms including someone dying their hair. Also there is a closet with a ladder in the third floor bathroom but I think they locked it because people were climbing it. There was nothing exciting at the top though. What excites me most about college is also what makes me the most nervous which is moving away from home. I’m going to MSU so I won’t be that far away from my family but it will still be really different living on my own.”

matty hack

“Senior year has definitely been my favorite year of high school. The stereotypes about first semester seniors being perpetually stressed about college is pretty true, and it was occasionally frustrating when all the conversations were college-related. Once applications finished, though, I think this is probably the most relaxed I’ve felt in high school. At this point, we know the school better than anyone else, and it’s a lot of fun to at least feel more like you know what you’re doing. I personally have been appreciating my teachers and classmates more than before since I know that I’ll be leaving soon. There are certain events, like prom or Field Day, where seniors have the most fun. And knock on wood, I still don’t have senioritis!”

may

gloria fall

maddie teece

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

“Sophomore year was probably the best because I made the mistake of only making friends with upperclassmen so I had my close friends nearby at school with me. In college I’m excited to have a curriculum that I form more so than in high school, but tuition prices are terrifying. I feel like the bathroom is the place where the Community difference really happens, like once there were sliced cucumbers on the bathroom trash, bathroom plant especially.”

“Being a senior can actually be very stressful but all of the good that I was told about senior year was real. It is a time where you become even closer with all of your friends and it is so fun. Once you find your group of people, it is the most amazing thing in the entire world. I have really become so much closer with all of the people in my life and it is such an exciting time when you are deciding what to do with your future. I am so excited to go to a new place and make new friends and become my own person and really figure out what I want to do in my life. I think Community is just such a special place and I know that I will miss it when I am in college. I have always felt nothing but love from everywhere in the school and it is such a nice thing we have. The third floor book room is my favorite place in Community. I just find it so calming and peaceful and I love the stars and and moon stickers that glow in the dark that are all over the walls and ceiling.”

erez dessel

“Freshman year me was very fresh. I looked at everything about Community in wonderment and excitement and tried out a lot of new things. I was going to the Neutral Zone and trying clubs at school and starting musical projects and exploring a lot, but I was probably a little loose. I think one transition that everyone goes through is kind of realizing that they don’t need to prove themselves to other people, friends, teachers, or parents. You start to prioritize the things that are important to you and not do things just because other people want you to, and you also realize that you don’t need to try to act a certain way in front of certain people, you can be who you are and just be ok doing your own thing. Greatest year of high school was junior year, I became friends with one of my best friends and knew what I wanted to do with my life. I’m going to miss the friendly supportive teachers and the shenanigans of the back lawn and of the jazz room [but] I’m excited to be going to a place where I’ll be surrounded by people who are as driven and passionate about music as me. I’m excited to be in a city, I’m excited to be taught by intimidatingly good teachers, I’m excited to get to play with new kids who are probably much better musicians than me. I’m nervous about running out of money, that I won’t be able to see my friends, that the kids at school will be really odd and not into cool music, that the dorms will be falling apart, that the adjustment to a new environment will make it hard to be creative, that I won’t be able to wear sandals often. I don’t know if everything worked out in the end - I hope it does, but I don’t think anyone is ever really sure if everything has worked out.”

may

ken simpson

“My freshmen year was really eye opening. I was on Pioneer’s football team freshmen year and I made a lot of good friends during that time. I was also part of an exchange student program and I was able travel to Japan to study and travel around the country. I once heard two synchronized farts from two bathroom stalls. [Greatest year] would have to be my senior and junior year because I feel like I’m kind of finding who I really am. I’m going to miss the friendliness of everyone in the school. Everyone was really nice in the school compared all of the schools I’ve been to [but] I’m really excited to go to college so I can be able to work on my career that I want in film but I’m also nervous about the big changes that are ahead in college as well. I’m most relaxed when I’m at home with my family. [My favorite kid photo] would have to be my old soccer photos because when I was a kid I played soccer and I just remember having a lot of good times during those games. I guess [major transitions] will be finding out who I really am. Just try to be yourself because there are so many factors that want [you to conform] to be something that you really aren’t but in the end you just gotta be yourself. Enjoy life and just undo things you’re ashamed of.”

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

carson borbely

aidan wada-dawson

“I think my freshman year self had a very performative personality, as in I’d kind of look and analyze what the people around me liked and were interested in, and not even always consciously, but I would actively emulate that instead of thinking, what is it that I want or that I like? Which was interesting because it led me to have connections with a lot of people that I really admired and enjoyed, but it took me a few years to realize that it was okay to like the things that I liked, and that certain interests didn’t make you inherently superior to other people. [Now], I have better hair. I really do have better hair. Shoutout to box dying my hair with Manic Panic and bleach from Walgreens. I think I’m way more sure of myself, and way more willing to just say ‘f**k it’ and go on adventures. I think I’m way less bitter and I think I’m more interested in having fun.”

“Perfect day at Community, I imagine walking through the 3rd floor. Tracy bolts out of her room starts singing and dancing and the hallway is packed with groups of people talking to each other and then one of my friends sneaks up behind me and we walk to class together. Actually then there are just no classes the whole day. I love class, but I just like the atmosphere. We’re all just having a party on the 3rd floor. Everybody is here. All the teachers are singing together. They’re all standing on these tables. I don’t really know what to say - there’s not a perfect day at community. It’s just a day; everyday is a good day here. I don’t think I’ve really had a bad day because I’ve been at Community. You know what I mean? I’ve had a bad day, but not because I’m at school. Being at school doesn’t make it worse. Being at school probably makes it better. I get to see awesome people like teachers. Should I talk about my senior year? I had mono for a long time. I got behind on school work. I played some music and made some great friendships. I got into some really nice colleges.”

may

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

joseph ferraro

eleanor olsen

“I hate it when I bite into a potato chip and it tastes like a ladybug. Does that ever happen to you? One day, you’re just munching on some potato chips, and then you put another in your mouth, but it tastes like that bad smell that ladybugs make when you try to pick them up. If I had to rate an experience like that, I would give it a 1/10. Would not do again nor recommend to a friend.”

“I thought senior year was going to be so much less intense than it was. Everyone gave the impression that senior year was just like entirely a blow off year and it was so stressful. But I feel like a lot of other seniors felt that too so I don’t know. It’s really sad to be leaving here because I’m gonna miss all the freedom that we have like this is such a wonderful environment to be finding yourself in and just growing in general. So it’s gonna suck to lose that. When I was a freshman I didn’t actually go here full time. That was probably the biggest thing. I went to Skyline for all of my morning classes. I hated everything. I was really really depressed. I dual enrolled my freshman year. Then I did advanced art which I loved more than anything in the whole world. I don’t know, I’ve definitely grown a lot as a person. Especially in my art I’ve gotten a lot better since I’ve gone here. I’ve definitely been a lot happier here. I feel like I’ve found more of a self rather than just kind of moping around. [My favorite room is] probably the art room out of any other room. When I was a freshman I actually got into the advanced art portfolio class because my mom was really adamant that I was going to be in it. I’ve been in that class every since semester since then. I also have a free block and I usually spend it in here doing art.”

violet webster

“My freshman year self was... embarrassing, to say the least. I was at Skyline and super into My Little Pony and it was the most awkward time. Freshman year is always awkward for everyone and anyone who says it isn’t is totally a liar! My greatest year of high school is by far my senior year. It sounds so cliché saying it, but it really is. Everything gets so much better by the end of high school, I can promise that 100%! Everything always works out in the end. It always gets better.”

dom difranco

“Kerrytown’s second floor bathroom has always been like a place of zen for me. My purpose is Kerrytown’s Second floor bathroom. It encapsulates all that I hold dear in a bathroom. What I call the one-stall factor, a bathroom with one stall will be more clean than those with multiple because people will take initiative to clean a stall they know that is the only option to others. I think people need some time everyday to steal away from the sometimes mundane cycles that our daily lives sometimes fall into and go somewhere to self reflect or just relax. I’ve seen it change throughout the years. The second floor bathroom went through a makeover during my sophomore year. No longer were the words of encouragement and angst that were strewn across the walls of the stall. My favorites were the phrases written in a graffiti-style font that read “Nice Poop,” or “Impeach your Bush.” Now there are faux-mahogany floors and an hand air-dryer that almost strips your skin from its body, but I love it all the same.” may

“I would say that probably my biggest takeaway of my time here at Community is learning that it’s really important to find enjoyment and purpose in what you do, and just being into what it is that you’re doing is so much more important than anything else. I think that Community High School is definitely a place where you find that out, and it does allow people to get into things because of the environment here. I think that doing theater here especially is something that helped me find a reason to be committed to something. And then on the negative spectrum of things, if that’s at all wanted, you should really find motivation to do well in your classes, because second semester senior year I really dropped down my record, and a large reason for that is that I just couldn’t find a reason.”

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

will wolf

molly prochaska

thing about them that’s sweet. Greatest year of highschool definitely is this year. I’ve been dreading senior year since like 7th grade but it’s really nice. I’d like to think my freshman year self was like a completely different person but I don’t think that’s entirely true. Maybe I’m less sweaty I dunno. The years in between freshman and senior year were more like different versions of myself, different things going on in my life and such. But overall, my freshman year self was just incredibly shy, and no idea of what the things that make me happy are. Also I had a terrible haircut. Okay so I’m excited for college, yes, but I’m more terrified about everything else. I’m also excited to be living on my own, but I am coming to terms with the fact that doing simple things like making an important phone call, asking for help at like Home Depot or something, or like actually going out to buy a new couch and putting it somewhere of my choosing, really is what is freaking me out.”

elonah kirk

“A great day at Community: the air in the hallways are just a smidge moist, and in certain corners of the school you can catch the faintest scent of fried potato. I mean obviously spring is Community’s prime. Frisbees being lobbed at your head and stepping on sandwich crust from a couple days ago. The most accurate way of determining the best days at Community is when Kevin has to yell at the entire back lawn go get to class. I mean all of this in the most positive way possible. What I’m going to miss is everything I stated above. But I think what I’ll miss most is just the people in general. Everything is just really comfortable, and there’s soooo many hilarious and cool people it’s just gonna be weird not walking past them in the halls. Also of course having Steve as a teacher. Something I learned in high school: there is a lot of stuff I have learned, most is pretty obvious and dumb stuff. But one thing is to just be into the things that you’re into, have an open mind and literally just talk to anybody and you will discover some-

“Over the past five years I’ve learned to become responsible for my actions, which is pretty simple, but goes a long way. [My freshman year self was] optimistic and oblivious. My favorite year was definitely sophomore year. It was my first year at community. My friends are amazing I don’t know what I would do without them. I like Cindy’s room a lot. The Christmas lights really bring a homey effect. [A great day at Community is] Zingerman’s gelato for lunch on the back lawn. [I’m going to miss] all of the sweet, open and accepting people I’ve made connections with over the past three years. [Senior year has lived up to my expectations] for the most part, even though I expected to have a lot less homework. I’m excited to take a step closer towards what I want to do in life, but at the same time I’m afraid to be on my own.”

may

WORLD FASHION gina liu

3looks 2continents 1world a look at trends and styles from across the globe. 38

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

mainland china pictured: track jackets that are pastel colored and light are popular, but not with matching track pants. don’t forget to accesorize with baseball caps or square glasses

“I think that they’re adopting more of the hip-hop style, if you look at [a music video like] Girl’s Generation, “I Got a Boy.” Asian clothing is more cute, but I think they’ve been bringing in a lot more cool things. Colorful things with big patterns.” -Jasmine Chang

light-wash jeans, usually skinny and go down to ankles with few to no rips tennis shoes or sneakers for every occasion, popular brands are adidas and new balance

italy

shoes that are all the same color or monochrome tennis and sneakers may seem unusual to americans, but are common among men in italy pictured: the most popular articles of clothing worn by men are windbreakers, particularly napapirjiri jackets, which are from norway. fashionable in venice and florence are all things leather: leather purses, wallets, and gloves are found among all ages and genders

france french up do what you need: 1. two large hair clips 2. head full of hair

step 1. curl hair in loose waves, or simply prepare your natural waves step 2. gather hair at the nape of the neck step 3. clip the bunch with first hair clip step 4. twist the hair loosely up to the top of head step 5. use second hair clip and clip the portion, leaving ends out

may

a rare delight

how kickshaw theater is creating fresh and unusual experiences for audiences francisco fiori sean carter photo

hroughout history, many playwrights have written plays for and about people. Theater has existed for centuries, starting predominantly with the Greek tradition of the amphitheater. Famous Ancient Greek playwrights, such as Sophocles and Euripides, wrote plays to tell seemingly superficial stories about heroes and love in Greek mythology, but underlying the surface were complex insights on human nature and relationships. Playwrights such as William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Tennessee Williams and Eugene O’Neill all wrote about what makes us uniquely human, despite the fact they were all born in different time periods and wrote in different styles. And that’s exactly what the brand-new Kickshaw Theater is trying to showcase.

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

People of all different backgrounds. The idea of devising Kickshaw belongs to Lynn Lammers, the Artistic Director of the theater. Prior to founding it, Lammer was a director with 10 years of experience in small professional theaters all across Michigan. She thought of creating an alternative theater while working with actress Julia Glander on a one-woman show called “Shirley Valentine” at Williamston Theater. “We just started talking about what kind of theater we’d like to see and then we started to get serious about it,” Lammers said. “There were certain kinds of stories that weren’t being told, and it felt like there was some opportunity in telling these stories that maybe could attract different people to the theater.” Lammers was also inspired by Taylor Mac, an eclectic actor and playwright

based in New York City. She heard Mac talk at a conference and was inspired. “I heard Taylor say that ‘We should be asking audiences rather than to expect relatability on the stage that they should come to the theater with their curiosity,’” Lammers said. “That really made a lot of sense to me that if people can come curious, then they are open to seeing stories about people who are very different than them.” Fast forward three years, and the idea of an alternative theater has been transformed into a reality. The theater is located in Ann Arbor. Lammers co-founded her theater last year with Glander, who now serves as the Associate Artist. The theater also has a name: Kickshaw. Lammers and Glander had many conversations debating the name of the theater before finally deciding on Kickshaw.

“A kickshaw literally is ‘a little something special’,” Lammers said. “Another definition for it is ‘a rare delight’.” Kickshaw Theater’s mission is exciting the curiosity of their audience and themselves with plays that represent humanity in all its complexity and multitudes. It tries to differ from traditional theater to new experiences for audiences that do not normally come to plays. Kickshaw also works with the community to look at their experiences and bring them to the stage. Lammers created Kickshaw because she felt that there was not enough representation in mainstream professional theater. “The most important thing about it is representation and opening up space for people to see theater as a place where they would feel welcomed and they would want to go to,” Lammers said. “Some people have certain associations related to theater and I want to break down those associations and those assumptions and I have to do that by actively changing the way we’ve historically done things. It’s really important to me that theater experiences reflect the diversity of our world and that our audiences reflect the diversity of our world.” Kickshaw started out by hosting house parties to get people excited about the Kickshaw idea and to see what aspects of theater excited, frustrated and inter-

ested them. In the fall, Kickshaw hosted readings of interesting and unique plays such as “The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence” and “The Ohio State Murders” to give people an idea of what

“‘We should be asking audiences, rather than to expect relatability on the stage, that they should come to the theater with their curiosity,’” Lammers said. “That makes a lot of sense.” Kickshaw was all about. All this lead up to their big inaugural production: “The Electric Baby”, by Stefanie Zadravec. Kickshaw chose “The Electric Baby” for their first stage production for a myriad of reasons. “It’s a really unusual play, it’s funny and otherworldly and strange, it’s a very beautiful play,” Lammers said. “I chose it as our inaugural production because it tells a story from many different perspectives. There are six very different people whose lives all come into con-

tact with each other around this tragic car crash, and then they find their lives intersecting in these really interesting ways as they move toward the direction of healing, hope and connection, and it all centers ultimately around a baby who is pretty magical and makes people feel things that surprise them.” “The Electric Baby” ran from Jan. 28 to Feb. 21, and was met with excellent reviews. “If you see Kickshaw Theatre’s inaugural production, Stefanie Zadravec’s ethereal drama “The Electric Baby”, you just might wonder where the company will go from here – because, wow, is the bar already set high,” wrote Jen McGee for Encore Michigan. With the success of their inceptive play, Kickshaw is moving on to their next project, and they’re calling it “The Kickshaw Lab Experience”. “I’m working with a comedian, a woman who’s been in comedy to develop a 15-minute long piece, rather than sitting in chairs, you’re going to walk through it,” Lammers said. “It’ll be like a little journey you go through for about 15 minutes. Really fun, really funny, we’re pretty excited.” “The Kickshaw Lab Experience” will open in June of 2016. Kickshaw Theater opened just last fall, but Lammers is certain that it will go a long way. The future holds many things for this small seed of theatrical change.

may

red hot chili love miranda ianelli & john fisher “So with the help of my sidekick Sara, I got Chili’sto-go chicken tenders for John, but Chili’s didn’t open until 11 so we sat in the parking lot for like 15 minutes waiting. Then we had to hurry to Pioneer to get there in time before John had class and we had to get his friends to walk him to where I was in the parking lot so he would see me with the sign but for some reason he was facing the opposite direction of where he was supposed to be walking and like where his friends were so I ran up to him and asked him to prom but then he didn’t even take the Chili’s because he wasn’t hungry.” - Miranda Ianelli

a mark of friendship

louisa judge & taylor erhardt

“I asked the man himself, Taylor Erhardt. I was struggling to think of ideas but then I was thinking of all the things he loves and one of them is Mark’s Coney Island which he frequently goes to during his free third block and he’s just really obsessed with it...I’m not really sure why because the food is really bad. But, anyway, I used the pun ‘Mark your calendar...Prom?’. I went during lunch and picked up Mark’s Coney Island #1 which is his favorite order, with raisin toast. It was a little bit weird because no one gets takeout Mark’s, but I did it and then I wrote on the box and gave it to him at lunch and he was like ‘Omigod best promposal ever’ and then we took a bunch of cute pics for the ‘gram.” - Louisa Judge

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

just roll with it keshav kanapur & helen kulka

“I promposaled to Helen. My original plan was to use a drone but that would just be too much work so I asked my uncle if I could borrow his Rolls Royce to use in my promposal and he said yes. I made a sign, obviously it had to be a pun, it said ‘Roll with me to prom’. She said yes.” - Keshav Kanapur

it’s a wrap

joel appel-kraut & catherine nicoli “Me and Catherine are both Planned Parenthood Peer Educators and one of the things that we do is distribute condoms around to youth in Ann Arbor, so I wrote ‘Prom’ in condoms because I thought it would be funny. And she said yes!” - Joel Appel-Kraut

spicing it up anurima kumar & marin scott “[Marin] really likes the Bollywood movie Bajirao Mastani and the actors are dating so I asked her if someone ordered a hot Indian on her doorstep.” Anurima Kumar “It was really adorable and totally unexpected and I love the Bollywood reference and now it leans against my tv in my bedroom.” - Marin Scott

may

prom

gina liu, marika chupp, brennan eicher and emily tschirhart

da Banks, in a shimmering jeweled eye and lips dress, strode up the steps in the front of Eastern Michigan University’s McKenny Hall and posed for the flashing lights of the cameras at the top, with her friend Griffin Hall. Students, at Community High’s “Night Of Mystery” Prom, filed up a staircase wrapped in twinkling lights. The theme of this year’s Prom was “A Night of Mystery” and was complete with a scavenger hunt to solve the mystery of “Who Kidnapped Steve Coron?” Clues were littered about the facility and dance room, alluding to many different possible suspects. By 9 o’clock, the spacious ballroom, aglow with blue and purple lights, was slowly filling with enlivened laughs and shimmering evening gowns. “Walking into Prom felt so magical,” said Yasmeen Shakour, a junior in a Von Maur a-line dress. “I felt like I was in one of those high school movies, like Sixteen Candles.” Shakour attended Prom with a group of friends and enjoyed seeing her classmates all dolled up. Seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen alike found themselves in awe of the beautiful hall and ballroom. Students rocked out to CHS band Earl Gray and the Teabaggers’ nontradition-

Cameron Fortune arrived with his old friend from middle school, Rachael 44Goldberg, t he c oexcited m m u nto i c acatch t o r up and dance the night away.

al takes on long-loved songs like “Last Christmas” by Wham! and contemporary alternative rock song “The Less I Know The Better” by Tame Impala. The band, made up of Dylan Stephens, Luc LePottier, Patrick Eagle, Aaron Willette, and Noe Barrel, had the crowd dancing and singing along to their brilliant covers. The DJ played music ranging from 1980’s pop to current chart-topping hits, occasionally throwing a “Turn Down For What” into the mixes. The crowd jumped around to “Take On Me” by A-Ha and “1999,” by Prince. Over 240 students came in and danced throughout the night with one another. Monica Nedeltchev, the organizer of Prom, was overjoyed with the outcome. “I mean it sounds cliche but being there at the end and seeing all the fun everyone was having was amazing,” said Nedeltchev. “It was so awesome, when we had finished decorating and all the tables were set up and the lights were glowing, to see all the hard work that everyone was doing was paying off.” Teachers danced along with students and their friends at prom. Teacher and former student of CHS Chloe Root, reminisced on her prior experiences at the unique event that is Community’s Prom. “I feel like at Community we have

Taylor Tucker-Gray and Athena Le pose for a picture while dancing at prom.

some of those barriers broken down anyway, but I don’t think there is a school where teachers could come up and dance and students wouldn’t be like ‘Ah!’” she said. “[When I was a student] it was smaller, and it was really fun. It was a little less traditional, nobody got limos, people wore crazy outfits, but it was still a really fun time,” Root marveled. Although Community Prom is meant for juniors and seniors, many underclassmen made an appearance at prom. “I didn’t even know I was going to prom for a while because I’m a sophomore,” CHS sophomore Lia Kahan said. “I’ve only been hardcore preparing for the last 24 hours, but I bought my dress and my shoes the past 3 weeks.” Preparations for prom ranged from months to days, as all schools witnessed students asking each other with creative “promposals” as well as previews on social media of dresses and outfits that were seen on prom night. Finally at midnight, as the night drew to a close, students and chaperones alike reminisced on this prom and the proms before. “It’s really fun to see all the kids dressed up, and having a good time,” Liz Stern said. “I think it’s one of their first night they get to dress up, and go out to dinner, and kind of do that transition to an adult sort of thing on their own.”

Will Norton and Carrie Duerkson arrive in style for Will’s last prom.

Isabel Ratner and Callum Mein met while working on a musical last fall and have been friends ever since.

Elle Konrad was elated to be at prom with her close friend Molly Shapiro, a Senior at Huron, after fear of Molly not being able to attend a CHS dance.

Maddie McCarver spent over three hours crafting her prom look.

Kaiya Wolff and Sam Works loved jamming to Earl Gray and the Teabagger’s live music.

MIlo Tucker-Meyer and Makela Lynn take a break from the dancing to converse with Maddie McCarver and Laura Westervelt.

Although Monica Nedeltchev attended last year’s CHS Prom, this year’s brought an array of novel experiences for her including getting her hair and makeup done for the first time.

Luc Le Pottier and Sophia Simon came to prom with Gabriel Maguire and Hannah Tschirhart. The couples were excited to attend with their best friends.

Robert Morgan happily strolled into McKenny hall expecting a pleasent night of chaperoning with his date, Lisa Lavelanet. He was not aware of the infamous murderer that would later be revealed.

Eva Rosenfeld waltzes in with Aidan Wada-Dawson, in a dress that was tailored by her good friend Hannah Tschirhart.

Robbie Stapleton could not recall where her dress was from. “It was thirty years old,” Stapleton said. “I borrowed it from my sister.” may 45

Britta Carlson takes on the dance floor with her makeup done by CHS freshman Katie Parr.

Sophie Haviland and Yasmeen Shakour had no idea that there would be a ping pong table when they arrived at prom that night, but admitted that it made it a hundred times better.

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

what’s one thing you like about your bella yerkes eva rosenfeld graphic

“I think I’m empathetic and I’m a genuinely kind person.” -Sophie Swan

“I like that I’m a feminist.” -Isobel Roosevelt

“That I’m gay.” -Lainey Queen

“I like my sense of humor and my eyelashes.” -Aviva Satz-Kojis

“One thing I like about myself is that I am a very passionate person and I have a lot of endurance and determination for the things that I am passionate about.” -Ella Ruderman

“I like my ability to ask questions.” -Ruby Lowenstein

“I like being able to go about life in a happy way.” -Danny Freiband

“One thing I like about myself is that I am very confident and I do what makes me happy.” -Ella Mosher

“I think that I am personable, I like people.” -Brandon Jackson

self?

“I like my eyes.” -Vivienne Miller “One thing I like about myself is that I’m very confident and I have really nice legs.” -Annie Noffke

“That I’m confident and I know where I’m going.” -Aris Chalin

“One thing I like about myself is that I am very real, and I will tell people things that don’t want to hear but sometimes they need to hear it.” -Mackenzie Quigley

“I like that when I have a lot of energy, I laugh a lot.” -Jasmine Chang

“My eyelashes, I guess.” -Delaney Mohney

may

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may

g n i r o n o h & g n i r i p s in

community sophomores and juniors are inducted into national honor society.

gina liu

s the first candle on the stage was lit by Community High School senior Avery Farmer, all eyes were directed forward and held the podium in focus as he delivered the first few words of Community’s National Honor Society 2016 Induction on Feb. 19 in the Craft Theater. Seats were filled to the brim with students being inducted and their beaming family members. On stage were notable members of the Community family, NHS advisor, counselor John Boshoven, 52

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

Dean Marci Tucinsky and four CHS seniors. Avery Farmer, Eva Rosenfeld, Eve Zikmund-Fisher, and Matty Hack were requested to each give speeches on one specified quality of a NHS student. Farmer started off the student speakers. He focused on the quality of leadership. The program that was handed to the attendees stated, “The student initiates and facilitates school and class activity. They demonstrate personal conviction, initiative and positive attitude.” The leadership role was fitting

for Farmer, as his role as Forum Council leader has brought him to a high leadership position in the Community. Following was Rosenfeld, who spoke about the facet of service. Rosenfeld spoke about how service works at Community, using Diversity Club and its newest project, the Race Card, as an example. “Diversity Club has done a wonderful job of adjusting,” Rosenfeld said. “We recently did something in the forums in our school, called the Race Card Project, which was a project in which every

forum’s students wrote down on an index card how they feel about race and shared them anonymously and opened this dialogue in forum for everyone to discuss it more openly. It’s really just one example of students in Community who are providing a service. I really believe that everyone who is here right now and a lot of people who aren’t, are going to continue to be doing work that they care about, that they will reach out to people.” The next speaker was Zikmund-Fisher, who continued the night with a speech about character, a trait that must be used wisely, in her opinion. “What makes a good person is heart, and empathy and compassion. It’s using what you have to help other people, to care about other people, the difference between someone who is a real leader and someone who just has a lot of power is a leader has followers, and a leader cares about them and a leader listens to them,” Zikmund-Fisher

said, ending with a note to the newest inductees. “My challenge to all of you smart people, who are joining the National Honor Society, what are you guys going to do with that, and where are you guys going with that. Being in National Honor Society is great, but you also have to do something with that.” Ending the night’s speeches was Hack, who was asked to speak on scholarship. Hack expounded on his mother’s first false impressions of Community and how Community can educate bright students without these labels. “I think her early concerns underscore some common misconceptions about how people view scholarship at the high school level, and what it means to be a scholar,” Hack said. “At Community, it becomes pretty clear that you can have rigorous courses without an AP or AC label. But there’s a deeper held misconception that scholars are boring, or that they’re spending all their time study-

ing. I think it’s important to realize that scholarship can mean so much more than that. At its core, anything that involves learning is scholarship, and that can take on many different forms.” Once all the candles were lit, counselor John Boshoven read off the names of the inductees as they went to the stage and received their certificates. As parents snapped their final photos and went outside to eat cake and listen to the jazz band, a sense of fulfillment and future endeavors came into place. “[Before this] I didn’t know what being a National Honor Society student meant,” said Mary DeBona, one of the newest sophomore inductees. “At this ceremony I learned what kind of stuff the National Honors Society does together, and I learned a lot from the students that spoke at the ceremony.”

“What makes a good person is heart, empathy, and compassion. It’s using what you have to help other people, and the difference between someone who is a real leader and someone who just has a lot of power is a leader has followers, and a leader cares about them and a leader listens to them.” -Eve Zikmund-Fisher may

staying connected to crew through coaching emily hatch elizabeth vandermark photo sue shink photo

TOP: Coach Kit Bennett talks with rowers before a race at Midwest Scholastic Rowing Championship about their race plan.

y the age of 15, Kit Bennett, the head coach of Skyline Crew, knew that he wanted coaching to be a significant part of his life. “I was working very hard at crew and realized that I probably wasn’t going to be super great at it,” Bennett said. “But I really enjoyed teaching and working with younger kids. I worked out that coaching was going to be a big part of who I was going to be.” But what makes a good coach, a strong leader and a successful team? “I think a strong and successful coach is one who is able to offer confident 54

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coaching, while maintaining respect for the athletes,” said Sarah Gronewold, the current director of the Ann Arbor Rowing Club. “Respecting the athletes is incredibly important; without athletes, there is no team. Open mindedness is crucial, but so is having the experience to know what basic aspects of the sport are essential to the team’s success.” Gronewold began coaching because it was important to stay involved and contribute to the sport that had given her so many opportunities, even though she was retired from competing. “I became involved in coaching when I was asked to coach a summer row-

ing program in Boston at my alma mater, Boston University,” Gronewold said. “Summer rowing was available to members of the community, was noncompetitive, and focused on having fun. It was a great experience, and I decided to try to do more coaching after that.” Being a part of a team with a supportive and hard working environment can be very important for athletes. For Natalie Lakin, a junior and rower for Skyline Crew, being a part of the crew team has been beneficial. “I think it has made me more aware,” Lakin said. “I like that it really brings everybody together and we can really work

“

Skyline Crew prepares for a race in the Women’s Varsity 8, while spectators watch other races go past.

as a team. We’ve all really grown as humans.” For Bennett, crew stands out differently from other sports that he has participated in throughout his life. “The amount of work involved is just more than the average sport, and I think that has a lot of meaning when you have a group of people that are going through that same kind of set of trials and tribulations,” Bennett said. “I think just that is a very special bond created when you’re putting that amount of work in, day in and day out, to achieve an end goal by the end of the year. There’s no real instant gratification; it’s all long-term based.” “I believe the key ingredients to a strong team are respect and trust,” Gronewold said. “A team full of individuals can only be successful working together when they believe in each other and trust each other. This trust comes from spending countless hours training together, supporting each other and pushing each other to be better.” Each coach’s path to where they are today is unique. Bennett moved to the U.S. in 2006, and eventually moved down to Ann Arbor for grad school and ended up contacting Pioneer High School

The goal is focusing on development of kids into healthy young adults who will be able to thrive elsewhere that has nothing to do with crew.

coach Rich Griffith. “I was with him for two years and I was coaching lightweight girls and then I was the novice boys coach for the last year,” Bennett said. Then Skyline High School was built, “The Huron coach Mike said ‘you know, maybe you should look at running Skyline’s program.’ So I spent a year meeting with parents, looking for a site, trying to work out all of the logistics. Basically it took 12 months to work out what was our goal and then the program started in fall 2009.” Skyline crew has grown an incredible amount in its short lifetime, even winning multiple national championships in recent years. “I don’t shy away from work. I lead by example with the parents and the athletes,” Bennett said. “I think that passion and sense of community has produced the success that we’ve had.” “Our whole team philosophy is that

we look at things other than winning,” Bennett said. “The goal is focusing on development of kids into healthy young adults who will be able to thrive elsewhere. That has nothing to do with crew. Crew is a good medium which I happen to enjoy that is a good teaching tool for lots of life skills. Whether it’s work ethic, time management, public speaking, fundraising, these are all skills that the kids are being exposed to but really they could be useful skills down the road.” So why continue to coach? What makes it a job worth doing? “I continue to coach because I love it! I care about the people on the team, and want to see them succeed,” Gronewold said. “There will always be challenging personalities, in every team situation, but the team as a whole consists of people who bring their best, every day, and genuinely wish to improve themselves. That inspires me.” may

military ave. a church in detroit continues to serve the surrounding community.

megan syer

THE PAST:

t 7:30p.m. on Apr. 28, four pairs of middle schoolers’ shoes squeaked across the floor of the gymnasium to the sound of the words, “Pizza! Pizza!” Just moments ago, basketballs ricocheted off of the backboards and kids raced each other from one side of the gymnasium to the next in a blur of motion. In another room connected to the gymnasium, boxes of pepperoni and cheese pizza were stacked along with paper plates, 56

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waiting to be placed in the hands of the eager kids. It was the last session of tutoring that Military Avenue Church in Detroit offered for the year, and having pizza afterwards was their way of wrapping up the semester. Military Avenue Church has been located on the corner of Military Avenue and West Lafayette Boulevard, next to I-75, since 1885, first in use as a house church by Second Presbyterian. It then began taking in members and starting ministry in 1902. Between 1940 and

1950, the church had expanded to nearly 400 members; by 1970, since the construction of I-75 separated part of the neighborhood, people were displaced and membership declined. In 1989, Dr. Randy Brown and his wife, Barb Brown, were called to the church to minister and are still serving there today. With the help of Mayor Dennis Archer, the church was able to acquire the vacant lot across the street and build a gymnasium in 1997. Next to the gymnasium was a party store that primarily sold alcohol,

lottery tickets and cigarettes. The church did not have any involvement with the store at the time, other than attempting to purchase the property from the owner. Nearly ten years ago, the church was able to purchase it from the city of Detroit after the party store went out of business. It was converted into the Solid Rock Cafe and is connected to the gymnasium, providing youth and adult outreach through Bible studies and activities.

THE PRESENT: During the school year, students ranging from elementary school to high school can get academic support through tutoring at the church. The program starts with worship, which then leads to tutoring and is later followed by snacks and games. Through this, Military Avenue Church focuses on helping children develop a relationship with God while providing a safe environment and assistance with academics. “When I began going, I assumed that the most important thing was to provide education,” said Tammy Ause, former tutor in Detroit from Knox Presbyterian Church. “Military Avenue [Church] has made me think differently about that. Their relationship with God will sustain them through many difficult things ahead.” Ause has been helping out in Detroit each year by co-leading the middle school girls program during Vacation Bible School (VBS). Each summer, volunteers from Knox Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor participate for one week during the two and a half week program which has been running annually during the summer for nearly 25 years from Mon. to Thurs. for ages five through 15. In previous years, they’ve had up to 200 kids come each week to sing, hear a Bible story, play games, make crafts and have class time. Many other churches and individuals are involved with Military Avenue Church and serve in Detroit. All volunteers must be Christian, as all outreach is based on teaching the gospel to the kids whether they seek volunteering at VBS or tutoring. Along with VBS and tutoring, churches can get involved by donating food.

About five years ago, Military Avenue Church had to discontinue their relationship with Gleaners Food Bank, which supplied around 1,000 to 1,500 pounds of food at a reduced rate each month, for the church to distribute to people in need through a food program. The church could not agree to the new requirements, which would allow people to collect their food with or without listening to the gospel prior. Other churches have been donating food ever since to ensure that those in need receive assistance. The church has to supplement each month, but so far the switch has been manageable, according to Barb Brown.

THE FUTURE: Additionally, Military Avenue Church

“There’s history tied into this [church].” hopes to start a soup kitchen within the next year, which would allow more of the community to be involved. “We have a lot of homeless people where we give them a bag of food and they don’t have any way to cook it, but, if we gave them a meal at lunch time, that could carry them through the whole day,” Barb Brown said. “Our food program only goes to [so] many people, but if you give them a meal, more homeless people might come in.” Along with the soup kitchen, another opportunity may come for Military Avenue Church: relocation. As of now, a bridge is planned to be built across the Detroit River, having six lanes: three going to Canada, and three going towards the United States. The bridge, nicknamed the Gordie Howe International Bridge, has four key project components — the bridge, Canadian Port of Entry, United

States Port of Entry and the Michigan Interchange to Interstate, which will potentially replace the church’s properties with a ramp for a new bridge to Canada. According to Barb Brown, the problem with the new bridge is not knowing when it will be built and the full effect it will have on the church. If the church ends up having to relocate to another area of southwest Detroit, it will face some new challenges. As of now, the church stands on a well-lit corner with easy access to the expressway, as opposed to being in the middle of the neighborhood and having to drive through it. The location allows more volunteers to come down and help the church as they feel safe within the area, according to Barb Brown. Having to relocate may result in fewer volunteers, depending on the location of the new church. Another challenge is letting the community around them know where they have relocated to, as some know where the church and VBS are held simply because of their location. Barb Brown admitted that if these changes do happen, signage may be necessary in redirecting them to their new location. Along with this, there are some members of the church who have been with the church since the 1930’s, and to see the church removed would be hard for them. “There’s history tied into this [church],” Barb Brown said. “The state’s supposed to compensate for your property, [but] moving to another place can’t replace the reputation in what you’ve put into it with 26 years.” If the church does need to relocate, the leadership team of Military Avenue Church has recently started viewing the positive side. Relocating would allow them to recreate the gymnasium and the Solid Rock Cafe and, although they are not looking to take over any vacant churches, would be able to reach out to new sections of the community. The church would also be able to have new features that the current location does not have, such as a parking lot and a safe area for kids to play in during VBS. Although the future of the church is unknown, the impacts that they have made to reach out to those in Detroit will only continue, whether relocating or not. may

letter home

alumni give advice for current seniors: where they are now and what they’ve learned there. isabel ratner

quinn burrell

current city of residence: Chicago, Illinois currently: artist for a small educational gaming company in Chicago, freelance scientific and medical illustration on the side advice: Cliché, but it’s okay if you don’t have a set path going into college. In most cases, that is the best way to go since you will try more different things at a place that will inevitably have so much to choose from.

carlos jackson

current city of residence: Delaware, Ohio currently: finishing up junior year of college, and thinking about grad schools advice( (for seniors): Stop freaking out, you have time to figure out what you want to do with your life, and even if you make a bad choice you can change your mind.

kelly arnold

current city of residence: Holland, Michigan currently: student at Hope College advice (for seniors): Cherish every minute. Listen in class. Spend time with your teachers, and your friends. Lay out on the back lawn on a sunny day. Treat yourself to Zingerman’s at least once. You deserve it.

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mollie ruth

current city of residence: Ann Arbor, Michigan currently: environmental engineer at a consulting company advice: Take a CR to explore a career path you’re considering (or even one you’re not considering)! Enjoy summer vacation to the greatest extent that you can!

mark hanss

current city of residence: Montpellier, France currently: just finished teaching contract in France, will be spending the next two months traveling around Europe on a motorcycke. advice: Learn from your experiences and seek new ones. Refrain from making the comfortable choice. Life is improved by experiencing it from a multitude of perspectives.

laura waltje

current city of residence: Berlin, Germany currently: in Berlin researching, interning and taking classes advice: Talk to your professors. Ask for help and ask for favours. By the end of your first week, all your professors should know your name. Those connections have gotten me amazing opportunities and more importantly, really great friends and mentors.

joella bennett

current city of residence: Ann Arbor, Michigan currently: works at Mathmatical Reviews downtown advice: [Community is] such a special school and an amazing experience and make the most of it! There will always be that random person who graduated years before you and you’ll always be able to talk about “the good old Commie days”---even if they’re a complete stranger! may

in the outback

Jenni Clancy poses atop a sand dune in northern Wentworth, New South Wales, on a day trip with her farm work colleagues.

as it comes to an end, jenni clancy shares her experiences from her gap year in australia and how it helped her find herself and define her future. stavi tennenbaum photo courtesy of jenni clancy

enni Clancy, CHS graduate of 2015, found herself at a crossroads at the beginning of her junior year. All around her, her classmates were studying for the ACT, working on bulking up their coursework and visiting colleges across the country. “I decided then that college wasn’t for me,” Clancy said. “I was a terrible student and didn’t really care about graduating. So [my parents and I] went to a gap year fair at Skyline to see what kinds of things I could do [instead].” At the expo, Clancy found herself immediately drawn to a table that said ‘Australia.’ It was a booth advertising the

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program VisitOz, an organization which organizes and coordinates working trips to Australia for young adults. VisitOz claims to arrange travel plans and the acquisition of a work visa for its travelers, as well as provide them with one week of general farm training before handing them the reigns to explore the Australian outback. With her parents’ support, Clancy, intrigued by the allure of a new, far-away continent and the thrill of work she had no experience in, applied. She began her journey in late August, and for the next eight months, sought out and worked in various labor intensive jobs in different backpacking towns

across the country. Staying in international worker’s hostels, she met travelers from all over the world and made lifelong friends. After one month in the first job VisitOz assigned her—which was working as a night shift sorter in a macadamia factory, where she stood in a solitary room sorting good nuts from bad nuts from 10 pm to 6 am every day— Clancy quit and went north to Cairns, a touristic coast town off the Great Barrier Reef. “I actually met my travel-mate/boyfriend in Cairns,” she said. “As you travel, you notice that everyone tends to pair off. I think the need for human connec-

tion is really strong when you’re away from home by yourself, so when you connect with someone really well, you just end up making travel plans together.” Due to the short term nature of the farm work available for foreign backpackers, Clancy and her travel partner Stan were forced to relocate often. They stayed in Cairns looking for work for about four months, during which they ate mostly meat and vegetables, swam in free local pools and drank a lot of Australian boxed wine called ‘goon.’ Clancy found herself on a budget of about 180 U.S dollars a week: 130 for rent and 50 for food. Without a job, she couldn’t afford much else. “During this time I had to ask my parents for money about 12 different times,” she said. “It was always really hard, and involved a lot of crying and reassurance from my mom. I really started to feel like I was failing at the whole ‘real-world, being an adult’ thing.” In search of more stable farm work, Clancy left Cairns in January and spent the first few months of 2016 in Red Cliffs, a small, isolated farming village deep in the Outback. The labor was manual and back-breakingly intense, out in agricultural fields under a blistering, 110 degree sun. She and Stan first found work covering grapes with plastic tarps, and then were moved to picking and packaging melons on a melon farm. “Both of us absolutely hated it,” Clancy said. “We lasted two days [there], and then we did a bunch of odd jobs, like picking raisins, packing grapes, uncovering grapes, almond picking, house cleaning and reception work.” Although the minimum wage in Australia is over 15 U.S dollars an hour, Clancy’s farm work was paid for by bucket or barrel picked, usually 2 to 3 dollars each, and so she found herself making very little money for what was difficult, physically and emotionally exhausting work. Additionally, with the high cost of living in Australia, her income was barely enough to cover her food and rent expenses. She and Stan relocated about three and a half months later to Byron Bay in New South Wales, traveling on

money her parents lent her. This was to be her last excursion Down Under. As her traveling comes to a close and she prepares to return to Ann Arbor for the summer, Clancy looks back on the last eight months as a learning experience that despite its hardships, was ultimately priceless. “I think being a backpacker in Australia is completely different than being a resident,” she said. “We’re treated like slaves. We do all the shit jobs Australians don’t want to do and get paid shit for it too. They really take advantage of us, and it’s

frustrating. If it weren’t for the financial support of my parents, I wouldn’t have lasted 8 months [there.] Maybe not even three. But I wouldn’t trade this experience for college or being at home. Do I wish I made different decisions? Sometimes. But then I think about all the things I did and all the people I met and shared memories with. [It’s] the people you meet [that] really make the traveling experience great. And I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything.” Clancy’s time in Australia motivated her to want to go back to school, to prepare for a future that she finally feels like she can envision. Having found a passion to work against social injustice and inequity, she plans to study political science for the next two years in Seattle, before embarking on her next travel adventure.

Jenni Clancy and her travel partner Stan Tillingat relax in the shade after a long day of farm work at their lodging, Red Cliffs Oasis Backpackers, in Red Cliffs, Victoria.

may

GET IN THE GAME!

Teen Membership at the YMCA ANN ARBOR YMCA

Teens aged 12-19 can join the Y for $15/ month and access all the Y has to offer. Get in shape with pick-up basketball, teen yoga, studio cycling, strength and conditioning, free weights and two indoor pools and an indoor track. Not into sports? Our Youth in Government provides opportunities to get involved with governmental processes (including a three-day trip to Lansing!) and Youth Volunteer Corps gets you involved with service in your community during the school year and all summer long. The Y is open 5:30 am to 10 pm Monday through Friday, and 7 am to 7 pm on weekends, so, no matter what your schedule, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to hang out at the Y. For more information, go to www.annarborymca.org, call 734.996.9622 or stop by after school. 62

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What Should I Listen to? hannah simon what to listen to

listen to when you are

Graduation- Vitamin C

graduating!!!

If you want to hear the playlist:

Home- Jake Isaac

missing your pals

Chou wasabi- Julien Dore (feat. Micky Green)

doodling

1. download a QR code scanner on your smartphone

Big Ideas- Boxer Rebellion

walking in the woods

Old Thing Back- Matoma & The Notorious B.I.G (feat.Ja Rule and Ralph Tresvant)

partying

3. your phone will open the Spotify app to the songs

All the Pretty Girls- Kaleo

sad

4. plug in your earbuds

Drop the Game- Flume & Chet Faker

playing monopoly

5. have a listen

Grow- Rae Morris

gardening

Crocadile Rock- Elton John

dancing at prom

The Night We Met- Lord Huron

making sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;mores

Games Continued- Bakermat & Goldfish

having a good time

i hate u, i love u- gnash

in love but indecisive

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Hurt Yourself- Beyonce

dedicating a song to your cheating ex

Tennesse Whiskey- Chris Stapleton

willing to listen to country

#88- Lo-Fang

falling asleep

Low Life- Future (feat. The Weeknd)

chilling with the cool kids

Heaven (Mowe Remix)- Alex Adair

driving with your head out of the sunroof

Flower- Moby

squating

Somewhere Only We Know- Keane

how to listen

2. take a picture of the code below

looking back on the good times

may

medicine for the soul carson borbely awes judges and crowds with her self-inspired poetry.

TOP: Borbely poses at Gallup Park this year for her senior portrait.

mira simonton-chao

eated at a booth in Espresso Royale, Carson Borbely grips a pen tightly, her hand hovering just inches above a fresh sheet of notebook paper. The smell of coffee wafts around the spacious shop, the hum of music just barely audible above the light chatter of other customers. As a current senior at Community High School, Borbely has been writing poetry since she was in the seventh grade, where she was first formally introduced to it. “My poetry in eighth grade was just atrociously bad, I mean really bad,” Borbely said with a laugh as she reflected upon those early poems. But Borbely has come far since eighth grade; she was runner up for the Community High School poetry slam the last two years, and this year, Borbely won first place. Along with five other poets from CHS, she moved along to compete at the City Slam, an event hosted by the Neutral Zone in downtown Ann Arbor. Though Borbely has loved poetry ever since she was first introduced to it in her seventh grade classroom, she never considered it as a viable career choice. Borbely’s winning of the CHS poetry slam opened her eyes to the possibili-

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ty of pursuing a side career with poetry, though she clearly stated that she does not intend to support herself with her poetry. Instead, she intends poetry to act as a creative backdrop in her life no matter where she goes or what she does. “You should never make your main source of passion in life your profession,” Borbely said. A realist in her views of the world, Borbely accepts the fact that she may never be able to support herself through her writing, as many are unable to no matter how talented they may be. The importance of poetry to Borbely makes her almost unwilling to try, not wanting to spoil her writing with something as messy as money. Through her poetry, Borbely finds a place for her to investigate her most conflicted feelings. Words enable her to move forward through tough decisions and times. Conflicting feelings drove Borbely to paper nearly five months ago, the words of “Medication” flying onto the paper and winning her the One Pause Emerging Poets contest. The poem, inspired by a struggle Borbely herself dealt with, explored an issue that she saw others around her struggling with as well as society as a whole.

“People either overblow or underscore the importance of medication in terms of people’s mental health,” said Borbely, talking about the subject of her poem, her medication, which is also its namesake. When first writing “Medication,” Borbely was really trying to work her way through a subject she felt rather conflicted over, having no idea that it would go so far as to win her the title of an emerging poet. The writing of “Medication” helped Borbely wrap her head around her medication. It helped her reach this point she is at now—unashamed to call it her “little anchor.” Ultimately, Borbely sees the moderation of her mental health up to her and her own responsibility. Borbely’s poetry helps her evolve as a person and discover more about herself. As Borberly continues on with poetry into the future, she hopes to at some point get a Master’s of Fine Arts in poetry after college, but intends to minor in writing next year at Washington University. She will continue to write long after college. Borbely’s poem can be read on the Communicator site, filed under ‘poetry’.

meet madisyn gina liu megan syer graphic

the beloved daughter of community high school’s brandon jackson had an exclusive interview with communicator staff. She dished out details about her future, favorite colors and activities. What’s your name? Madisyn.

Do you want to say it again? You can say it again. Madisyn.

How do you spell it? M-A-D-I-S-Y-N.

What do you want to be when you grow up? A soccer team. A soccer player. Because they can kick the ball. I also want to be a superhero. I want to be woman-woman. I want to be something else. A mermaid.

How old are you? Three. What is your favorite color? Pink and blue. What is your favorite thing to do? Shopping. What’s your favorite food? Carrots and broccoli. What’s your favorite TV show? PJ Masks. Why is it your favorite TV show? Because it has Gekko, Catboy, Owlette, and Romeo as a bad one. Do you have a favorite character? Owlette. Because she can fly. She can do something else, “Owl-Eyes.” What is your favorite thing to do in your free time? Eat. We know you like to draw, what pictures do you like to draw? I like to draw on paper. What do you like to draw on paper? Mermaid. What’s your favorite type of candy? I don’t know. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Super Owlette power. Why would you want that one? Because it’s my favorite. That’s it. Wait, I have to say my name.

may

making mason

madie gracey

using mason jars to keep a consistant theme around your home, bedroom or school. FLOATING CANDLE

Use for centerpieces for weddings, parties, etc. Directions: 1) take desired mason jar and fill it up with water to its first rim. 2) put three drops of desired food coloring in the water. 3) take a small wax candle and place inside mason jar so that it is floating on the top of the water. 4) light the candle with a match or a lighter. RECIPE MAKER Use for gifts. Directions: 1) Find a recipe that will fit in desired mason jar. 2) Measure out all dry ingredients and keep separated. 3) Put ingredients in one by one so that you can see the different layers. 4) Place the lid back onto the mason jar. 5) Write on a piece of paper what is already in the jar and what needs to be added. 6) Make sure to include baking/cooking directions. TISSUE BOX/JAR Use for decoration in bedrooms, homes, etc. Directions: 1) Take a tissue box of any brand and cut out the top. 2) Pull out the tissues inside and reduce amount until it will fit inside mason jar. 3) Remove lid and stuff the tissues inside. 4) Pull top tissue up. CUPCAKE TIN HOLDER Use for organizing and/or decoration. It also can be used to store many different items and/ or groupings. Directions: 1) Take any amount of cupcake tins and divide the stack into piles, about 5 or 6 piles. 2) Carefully stuff each pile into the mason jar. 3) Screw on lid when finished to avoid cupcake tins from falling out. SHARP AND DULL PENCILS Use for classrooms, offices, etc. You also can use pens and pencils or any combination of materials. Directions: 1) Take groups of sharp and dull pencils and separate them. 2) Take two one inch by two inch piece of paper and label sharp and dull. 3) Design and place to your liking.

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what do you remember about your ife at age

12 13

15 16

aviva satz-kojis

“I remember there was a lot of eating of chicken nuggets, that was the only food I ate. I went to Jewish Day School so I was being a Jew, that was great.” -Jonah Eichner

“When I was 11 years old I first started getting into my sport so I first started diving when I was 11 years old and I made it to nationals. That was very exciting for me.”-Henry Schirmer

“I thought I was really cool because I was an eighth grader, and we got to go to D.C. and we got to go to Quèbec with my french class, and that was fun but then in that fall I came here and then I was like ‘Oh wait I’m a kid, I remember that now.’”-Ellen Reed

“Me and my friend Kiara both had the same favorite colors; we had two each and they were purple and green. They were both #1 on our favorite colors list, and we created a name for them called ‘purpeen’, a combination of purple and green.”-Bella Yerkes

“When I was 12 I really wanted to be 13. Literally I spent all of my time wanting to be a 13-year-old because 12 was a tweenager and 13 was a teenager. [At] my 12th birthday literally the only thing I wanted was to be was 13.” -Kaleb Doughten-Priuska

“It was really awkward, just like an awkward year. There was a lot of awkward interactions. I was really awkward in everything I did. I was in some musicals and those were all awkward, every time I talked to someone it was awkward. We had to give away my cat and that was sad.” -Emily Fishman

“I was always getting beat up by my sister. We never had a day where it was lovey-dovey.”-Terrance Vick

“When I was in eighth grade my friends and I tried to write a play about an elevator, but then we gave up.” -Olivia Comai

“I had a great Sweet 16 birthday party in my garage, and when I was decorating for it, this enormous june bug came flying at me and I remember screaming bloody murder as I set up for my beautiful birthday party in the garage.” -Judith DeWoskin

may

What advice would you give your past self? “Don’t make a habit out of procrastinating because the more you get used to procrastinating, the worse it gets and I’m struggling now I guess. Sometimes different things that I have going on I’ll be like, ‘Oh the deadline for that is two weeks from now I’ll just hold it off until then and concentrate on this,’ but that never works. I multitask and spread everything out so that it’s not too much at once. I don’t know if I ever stopped [procrastinating] but I did realize that the problem was that I was procrastinating. That was probably around my junior year when I was really busy with dance and I knew I had maybe two hours when I got home to do everything that I had to do. I think I’m less stressed when I’m not constantly working on a time limit.”

Natsume Ono

HUMANS OF COMMUNITY sophia rosewarne and omolara osofisan Who do you look up to?

t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

Ingrid Ford

“It’s going to be cheesy, but my mom. It’s just the two of us at home and she actually went back to college as an adult and she’s also a musician. I’m really into music and I’m going to be a music major next year and seeing her go back to school and how much she values my education and her own education. I think that’s really important as a parent to show that it’s important and to support your kids because even though she’s a teacher and she doesn’t make a ton of money she’s always supported me financially and just whatever I want to do and I really admire that. She started me out on piano when I was four years old and then violin, which I broke pretty shortly after that, but I’ve always really enjoyed music probably from her starting me out on instruments at a really young age. I love to sing, I play flute now and I’ve always been involved in something musical. I’m in my church choir and because it’s just the two of us I go to a lot of her concerts or her rehearsals and just hang out. My mom plays cello and she is an Ann Arbor Public Schools teacher so she’s actually at five different buildings in the Tappan district. She also plays weddings, she’s in a trio. She’s in the Adrian Symphony Orchestra she does some stuff with Pinckney, Ann Arbor and Detroit Symphony Orchestras so she’s sort of all over the place.”

What is your biggest fear?

Clarence Collins III

“I don’t like bees at all. Bees are terrifying. I don’t think they deserve to be on this planet to be completely honest. I don’t like them, they just scare me. I also think that there’s this weird fear, I just looked it up, it’s a fear of specific alignment of holes and if you look like a lotus flower seed, I think it’s that, and I can’t look at it for some reason, I’m just terrified of it and I don’t know why. A superficial fear is not amounting to what I’m working for and not really achieving any goals I’ve been working for. I’m not allergic to bees, I’m just terrified of them. I don’t like them, they look weird. The hole thing I figured out two weeks ago and I didn’t [know] that it was like a legit fear until a while ago. For the bees I just make sure, if it’s summer or something, I’ll make sure I don’t go outside as much. I’ll usually be in the city but not in farms or a forest or [anywhere] I know there will be bees. I also think that the thing about not amounting to all the things I work for I just make sure I spread out activities as much as possible so I make sure I don’t fail at something. If I find something that I’m really good at and I’m succeeding at that thing over and over again then I know I can spread out my career and make sure I can be good at something.”

What are your plans for the future? “After I graduate I want to go to U of M. I’m planning on studying medical science and maybe engineering. The normal science classes that we have to take really got me into it. [I want to be] a biomedical research scientist or just anything in the medical science [field]. I know U of M has a good science program and it’s really close by so it works. I kind of want to take the engineering class here but I’ve heard it’s hard.”

Lindsey Dye

What is the most important moment in your life? “Health wise, when I found out I had Celiac Disease because I changed my dietary stuff again. I already knew about all my allergies and I started feeling a lot better. I started growing a lot more, and I’ve gained a lot of weight since then. I used to be first percentile and now I’m like twenty fifth. [It was hard] because I already had so many restrictions from my allergies, but now it’s not very hard because it became a trend and it’s cheaper and more stuff is available. I thought I was okay before, but when I started dieting again I felt like a lot happier generally and I felt like I had a lot more energy and I was able to concentrate in class more.”

Lainey Queen may

chalk the streets

fighting for flint one chalk stick at a time.

shane hoffmann

group of almost 20 people walk the desolate, midnight sidewalks of downtown Ann Arbor. Few others wander the illuminated streets, aside from the occasional passer-by. It’s Sunday. They are not here to eat, as every restaurant has long since closed. They are not even here for a concert or a trip to a bar for a drink. They are here for a far more important purpose: to protest Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. This group, however, is not protesting in a way one might expect. Instead of a typical protest, they are chalking short messages to governor Snyder on the downtown sidewalks. Many members of the group had previously been a part of some type of Snyder protest. On this night, however, Ann Arbor citizen Susan Fecteau united them in hopes of turning them on to chalking. The chalkers spread out in groups from two to four and begin their work, covering nearly three blocks. Their messages range from things as simple as “You lied!” to longer phrases such as “Okay, you can stay in office, but only if you pick up a shovel and start digging.” Several even included Shakespeare quotes. When Fecteau first started writing in the alley behind Snyder’s condo, she noticed the security lights and security cameras and figured she was being recorded. “I just decided, it’s a stage, so I waved and then it just hit me,” Fecteau said. “I used the Shakespeare quotes I could remember in my head. The first couple times I got them wrong.” Although she already harbored dislike for Gov. Snyder, Fecteau was infuriated 70

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by the recent actions in Flint. The Flint water crisis sparked something in her -- a need for protest. “The effect on the kids, that’s what got me up out of my seat,” Fecteau said. “I realized that [Snyder] wasn’t doing anything.” In early January, Fecteau began to act out. She engaged in weekly protests outside of Snyder’s condo. She joined others in recall petitioning and eventually decided to chalk the streets. Fecteau usually chalks every two to three days in the afternoons, often in the alley behind where Snyder lives and up and down the Main Street area. Fecteau has had mixed results when dealing with the public in response to her chalking. “It’s been 99 percent positive and supportive,” Fecteau said. “People have been giving me chalk, people have been sending chalk to me. Some people get down on their knees and help me chalk. [But] I have had a little bit of resistance where people have kicked my bucket or yelled at me. I had a women who followed me around for an hour absolutely screaming at me.” In addition, she has run into several people erasing her work, some being business owners who just want it gone and others who are against what she believes. Many members of this group have done what they can to support Flint and are impressed by the work the community has done to help. Many are disgusted by the lack of government action towards the situation. They, along with

many others, believe Snyder must at the very least resign, if not face further punishment, including jail. “Do I believe he’ll resign over this?” said Leslie Sobel, another chalker. “No. Should he? Yes.” One member of the chalkers who advocates for further punishment is Roxanne Minch. “Really, it’s criminal,” Minch said. “He knew those kids were drinking lead water. This is a problem that’s going to go on for 70 years or something and he could have stopped it for 100 dollars a freaking day and he didn’t.” Snyder has said that, in the future, Michigan will have the “toughest” lead standards in the nation, yet many think he has neglected to clean up the mess right under his nose. Minch has met many of the Red Cross members on the ground in Flint and believes most don’t even understand how to use the new government-issued filters. “People have not even been taught how to use those filters, they don’t know that you can’t run hot water through them,” she said. “Now they’re finding that they’re not even that effective. And now Snyder’s going to put his attention toward having the toughest standards?” The Flint crisis has torn apart Michigan and garnered the attention of citizens nationwide. Some have chosen to ignore the situation, but others have lent a helping hand to those in need. The midnight chalkers are just one of many groups trying to make an impact in a cause they believe in.

Left: As security lights beam down on them, Chalkers write Shakespeare messages next to Snyder’s condo’s garage. Further down the alley, one chalker explains their cause to a group of locals. Whille encountering some resistance from Snyder’s security guards in the past, no one bothers the chalker’s efforts on this night. Middle Right: The chalkers pose for a group photo, shortly after arriving around midnight. Equipped with knee pads, buckets of chalk and cut out Snyder masks, they prepare to hit the streets. Some chal, while others walk around the blocks, periodically checking in on the groups. Middle Right, Bottom Left and Bottom Right: Some examples of the Chalker’s messages on Main Street and the surrounding blocks.

may

senior map

a herd of zebras is called a dazzle. follow the dazzle!

CALIFORNIA

California Polytechnic State University Dylan Stephens Claremont Mckenna College Frances MacKercher Humboldt State University Dylan Partin Menlo College Tatianna Orndoff University of California, Berkeley Noe Barrell University of California, San Diego Daniel Metzler University of Southern California Sophia Werthmann

COLORADO

Colorado State University Keshav Kanapur University of Colorado - Boulder Sam Rickman

CONNECTICUT

Southern Connecticut State University Myel Ristenbatt Yale University Matty Hack

FLORIDA Eckerd College Katy McKay

GEORGIA Savannah College of Art & Design Ava Sherick

ILLINOIS DePaul University Claire Bendard Marin Scott Knox College Natalie Delph Simon Rutkowski

INDIANA Indiana University John Christiano Myles Markey Butler University Devin Weeks

IOWA Grinnell College Elise Brod 72

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MASSACHUSSETTS Amherst College Avery Farmer Eva Rosenfeld Berklee College of Music Aidan Wada-Dawson New England Conservatory Erez Dessel Smith College Clara Kaul Eve Zikmund-Fisher

MICHIGAN Concordia University Clarice Wang Eastern Michigan University Angel Rich Grand Valley State University Elonah Kirk Kalamazoo College Dominic DiFranco Maya Gurfinkel

Nicholas Middleton Nathan Silverman Kettering University Luke Merritt Michigan State University Aidan Cotner Andrew Gechter Emily Hatch Sara Jackson Jack Kelly Grace Koepele Brendan Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Rielly Pamela Quintana-Salazar Michigan Technical University William Norton Northwestern Michigan College Kaiya Wolff Sam Works

NEW YORK Cornell University Matthew Ferraro Eastman School of Music Max Meza New York University Milo Tucker-Myer The New School Sarah Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor University of Rochester Jacob Melchi

NORTH CAROLINA Davidson College Taylor Erhardt

OHIO

Bowling Green State University Meghan Napolitan Case Western Reserve University Conan Cekola Gabriel Maguire College of Wooster Joseph Ferraro Tyler Schmader

OREGON

Lewis & Clark College Thea Spindel Oregon State University John Hocking

PENNSYLVANIA

Bryn Mawr College Sophia Simon Pennsylvania State University Paul Cook Swarthmore College Abe Weiner University of Pittsburgh Katie Gerdenich

RHODE ISLAND Rhode Island School of Design Eleanor Olson

VERMONT Norwich University Ethan Giordano Middlebury College Sophie Steinberg University of Vermont Graham DePriest

WASHINGTON D.C. American University Gloria Fall

University of Michigan Jasmine Chang Cameron Fortune Jae Hwang Sebastian Iniguez Liam Knight Anurima Kumar Elle Konrad Monica Nedeltchev Alec Neff Sonny Newman Joe Reisterer Mohan Ritsema Natsume Ono Will Welch Aaron Willette Will Wolf Dario Zullo

Washtenaw Community College Patrick Eagle Nico Figueroa Miranda Iannelli Colin Jones Kathleen LaJeunesse Nicholas Lange Maddie McCarver Molly Prochaska Kenneth Simpson Violet Webster Wayne State University Maddie Teece Western Michigan University Janie Burns Jack Margolis

MISSOURI Washington University Carson Borbely

WISCONSIN Beloit College Aric Rasmussen Marquette University Marie Jacobson

ONTARIO, CANADA Brock University Ariana Gould-Tasoojy

GAP YEAR/OTHER James Austin Ada Banks Athena Le Eva Rosenfeld Hannah Simon Hannah Tschirhart As reported to the counseling office as of May 9.

NEW HAMPSHIRE University of New Hampshire Finn Seely may

comic books you should try ken simpson

1 4

1.“Batman”

by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo

In this relaunch of the Dark Knight, you can expect some great adventures in Gotham City. Snyder writes Batman the way many see him on the big screen. The story switches from a great detective story to a sociological thriller. This series is great for anyone who is interested in Batman’s escapades into fighting the criminal underground of Gotham City.

2.“Shaft”

by David Walker and Bilquis Evely

In this prequel comic to the famous blaxploitation character from the story, you see John Shaft before he became the baddest private detective in New York City. David Walker provides a very detailed look into Shaft’s thought process and how he sees the world while dealing with the grief of his murdered girlfriend and his thirst for revenge towards her killers.

3.“Southern Bastards”

by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour

No one knew that revenge, corruption and football would mold so well together. “Southern Bastards” follows the gritty underground of Craw County, Alabama. Each issue has a different main character that is connected to the main villain who has done something terrible to each main character in some kind of way. This is a fantastic series that leaves you in anticipation for the next issue.

4.“Spider-Man: Miles Morales”

by Brian Michael Bendis & Sara Pichelli

The Spider-Man of a new generation, Miles Morales is a teenager growing up in Brooklyn; he was also bitten by a radioactive spider. Morales takes the mantle as Spider-Man when Peter Parker dies in battle. Bendis creates an incredible origin story of a young boy finding out who he is while managing a double life as superhero.

5.“Deadly Class”

by Rick Remender & Wes Craig

What happens when the violence of Kill Bill and the drama of a teenage soap opera are combined? “Deadly Class” is a story of sex, drugs and assassination. Set in the 80s, the story follows Marcus Lopez, a street orphan who is recruited into boarding school that trains the next generation of assassins. Marcus must now balance his social life and watch his back for peers who want to see live him six feet under. 74 t he c o m m u n i c a t o r

6.“Civil War”

by Mark Millar & Steve McNiven

This crossover event changed the way comics are viewed in the 21st century. “Civil War” follows a massive event that shakes the superhero community: the U.S. government decides to make a bill to have superheroes register to the government. Iron Man and Captain America both pick different sides of the subject matter. Millar makes a great story about government control and how much people are really willing to give up to feel safe.

7.“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”

by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz and Dan Duncan

In this gritty take on the family friendly Saturday morning cartoon, fast-paced ninja action is in full supply. This series follows the adventure of the four pizza-loving band of brothers as they fight the sinister Foot Clan and mutated monsters that threaten New York City. If you’re interested in ninja turtle action, then you should check out the latest crossover with them and Batman called “Batman Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”!

9.“Ms. Marvel”

by G. Willow Wilson & Jamie McKelvie

“Ms. Marvel” follows the adventures of Kamala Khan, a Middle Eastern teenager growing up in New Jersey who found out she has super powers. Wilson tells the story of what it would be like as teenager who randomly develops superhuman abilities. The series also does a great job at portraying Middle Eastern people and people of Muslim faith in more positive light compared to how mainstream media portrays them.

8.“Paper Girls”

by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang and Matt Wilson Picture

“The Goonies” combined with “War of the Worlds,” and the end result is “Paper Girls.” Set in the 1980’s, the story follows a group of girls on an ordinary paper route until a huge mysterious portal from another planet or dimension enters their world. Now the girls must find a way to survive an intergalactic invasion and save their town from impending doom.

10.“Preacher”

11.“Deadpool”

The most blasphemous, raunchiest comic on the list, “Preacher” follows Jesse Custer, a preacher who is bonded with Genesis, the offspring of an angel and a demon. With this new bond, Custer has the ability to use the voice of God to command people to do his bidding. Jesse sets out on quest to find God with the help with his ex-girlfriend and his Irish vampire best friend. This is a highly enjoyable comic book adventure. This series does deal with very controversial topics like drug abuse, religion and sexuality. If you’re looking for a comic that deals with mature themes, “Preacher” is right up your alley.

In this fast-paced, ultra-violent action comedy, the reader tags along on “Deadpool’s” wild adventures as mercenary for hire from fighting zombified, undead presidents to time traveling to 1940s and battling robotic Adolf Hitler all for a paycheck. If you like your comics to be as intense as a video game, “Deadpool” is the book for you.

by Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon

by Gerry Duggan and Mike Hawthorne

12.“Justice League”

by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok

In this superhero blockbuster, the world is literally ending in every issue. Join Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman as they lead a team of the world’s most powerful heroes and fight against some of most dangerous villains from Earth to the farthest galaxies in the universe. Written by comic book legend Geoff Johns and illustrated by Jason Fabok, the reader is in for a treat when they pick up a issue. The latest story arc follows the Justice League becoming gods as they fight the evil Anti Monitor. may

panda-monium

Courtney Kiley and Ryan Sauer, also known as “Panda”, hang around in Kiley’s room at Community High School after class. While bonding over their matching hats and playfully showing them off, Sauer’s relationship with Kiley grows.

ryan “panda” sauer’s ever-evolving identity and his hat started with courtney kiley, chs science teacher.

W suephie saam

hen strolling around the Windy City with his family in December of 2014, Ryan Sauer came across Chicago’s famous Christkindlmarket, a Christmas market in Daley Plaza. He decided to go around and find a gift for every member of his family. While he was doing this, his family decided to surprise him with a panda hat, which soon became one of his most prized possessions. It was here that Sauer vowed to wear his panda hat every day unless the weather forced otherwise. Courtney Kiley, science teacher at Community High School, had two Ryans in her seventh block during the 2015-2016 school year. Since Sauer wore his panda hat so often, Kiley decided it would be easier to start calling him Panda to differentiate the two students. Af76

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ter this, Sauer’s close friends caught on and started calling him Panda too. Since Kiley also has a panda hat, she placed a bet with “Panda” that if he wore his hat everyday, she would wear hers on the day of the final, which she then did. This past November, Michigan experienced a hot spell, so “Panda” stopped wearing his precious hat. Once the weather started to cool down again, he was looking for his hat and was not able to find it anywhere. “I looked all over my house three times,” “Panda” said. “Every room, every closet. It was really tough to think I’d lost it because the panda was my identity.” He continued to look in places outside his house - his church, the school and even the bus station. After a long few days, he decided to look up the company

that made his hat, and sadly received the news that they weren’t producing the hat anymore. He had felt like he’d forgotten something and started to dread the feeling that he had lost something so close to his identity. While trying to accept his loss, Robert Morgan’s fourth block short readings class was interrupted by Kiley barging in. “Panda” looked up and noticed his hat flying across the room. “I had never been so excited in a long time.” “Panda” said. Kiley had found his hat in the computer lab. He explained he doesn’t feel he will ever outgrow the hat. “I might outgrow it physically but never mentally, I will always cherish the hat, especially wearing it with Courtney,” “Panda” said.

CAR REVIEW: MAZDA MIATA

sam millman

he Mazda Miata has been a driver favorite since 1989 when the first model came out. With similar styling from the first model to the present one, the Miata is Mazda’s most iconic car and has the best tradition of any car they have made. The Miata is a lightweight, two-door roadster with rear wheel drive and a convertible top. The combination of these things makes this car the perfect drive. The simplicity of this car is what makes it so special and technical. The car is made to connect drivers with the road, because the car is kept so simple. The Miata I tested was a 2001 Special Edition with the larger 1.8L engine and six speed Aisin manual transmission. The car is owned by CHS junior Sean Kiel-locey who recently purchased

the car. “I saw it on Craigslist in Atlanta.” Kiel-Locey said. “My uncle lives there so he had it inspected and drove it. Everything checked out so the weekend after finals my mom and I drove down there. I bought the car, my uncle got me new tires, I changed the oil spark plugs and filters then drove it back to Ann Arbor,” Keil-Locey said. By buying the car in Atlanta, he was able to get a better deal on it. The price was lower, but the real difference is that it had not seen winters yet. The moisture and salt of Michigan roads in the winter is absolutely terrible for any car. With its solid body, the value of the car increases. The car has a few modifications on it. It has a K&n air intake, Bilstein shocks and dampers and sporty black and

chrome rims. “The car is so clean it was best to keep it close to stock,” Keil-locey said. The modifications help, but are not so excessive that they have negative effects on the car over time. Jeremy Clarkson of the recently ended show Top Gear sums the Miata up perfectly. “The fact is that if you want a sports car, the Miata is perfect,” Clarkston said. “Nothing on the road will give you better value. Nothing will give you as much fun. The only reason I’m giving it five stars is because I can’t give it 14!” Clarkson test drives multi-million cars for a living, so his positive opinions of the Miata are a testament to its supreme quality.

may

happenings

megan syer and grace jensen

commstock

TOP LEFT: Alex Hughes from Art Kills sings and plays guitar. TOP MIDDLE LEFT: Spencer Harris from Art Kills plays the drums. TOP MIDDLE RIGHT: Ben Schaff from Art Kills plays guitar. TOP RIGHT: Eleanor Olsen reciting her poem after a slight change for the order of the show and waiting for the next performance. BOTTOM LEFT: Dylan Stephens from Earl Grey and the Tea Baggers sings and plays guitar BOTTOM MIDDLE LEFT: Kaleb Doughten-Priska dances to “Young and Beautiful” by Lana Del Rey. BOTTOM MIDDLE RIGHT: Jordan Smith-Hays plays an electric guitar solo towards the end of Commstock. BOTTOM RIGHT: Aaron Willette from Earl Grey and the Tea Baggers plays guitar. 78

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bsu talent show

TOP LEFT: Quinn Strassel raps about forum at the talent show and came in second place. BOTTOM LEFT: Members of the Dudley forum dance the Macarena. MIDDLE LEFT:Robert Morgan gives an attendance rap with his forum stomping behind him. MIDDLE RIGHT: Kenny Simpson sang along to his song, “I’m a Quadrilateral,” as the Dudley forum danced behind him. TOP RIGHT: Grace Jensen playing Hillary Clinton in the Root forum’s political debate parody. BOTTOM RIGHT: Members of the Strassel forum sang “Drop it Like it’s Hot” as their forum leader, Quinn Strassel rapped.

arts, science and letters night TOP LEFT: Student’s artwork from advanced portfolio. TOP MIDDLE: “1 Year and 6 Months” by VIncent Barlow. Made during free block with pencil and sharpie (11th grade). TOP RIGHT: Untitled by Clarisse Jorah. Made during art & design (11th grade). BOTTOM LEFT: Untitled by allyn sims-myers. Made during advanced art with hot glue, paint and cardboard (11th grade). BOTTOM MIDDLE: “Yellow Submarine” by Natalie Lakin. Made during advanced art with acrylic paint (11th grade). BOTTOM RIGHT: “Portrait of Colleen” by Erika Chesky. Made during advanced art with graphic pencil.

To see more photos from the BSU talent show and read the article, got to www. chscommunicator.com

may

op-ed.

the case against fracking matty hack hannah simon graphic

The state of Oklahoma is experiencing what could reasonably be dubbed an earthquake epidemic. Over 3,000 earthquakes have been reported in the state over the past year alone — far more than in California over the same period. They are frequent enough that my cousin, who lives in Oklahoma, has become quite skilled at guessing the magnitude of the earthquakes on the Richter Scale when they occur. This is not the natural geologic state for Oklahoma; its rise in earthquakes has correlated with the increased rate of fracking (a method of natural gas extraction for energy) in the state. This fact, however, is not enough evidence to convince Gary Sernovitz that fracking poses significant environmental risks. In an op-ed for the New York Times on April 11, 2016, Sernovitz argued that while fracking is opposed by most liberals, it is in itself not antithetical to liberalism and may actually be compatible with the ideology. However, Sernovitz’s argument both cherry picks upsides to fracking and ignores several of its significant drawbacks. A key component of Sernovitz’s argument is that fracking does not inherently go against the principles of liberalism; therefore, liberals should not oppose it. Perhaps that is true, but that is not a strong enough reason to justify the continued use of fracking without examining its considerable costs. It is also beside the point; a clean and sustainable environment is in everyone’s best interests, not just liberals’. Sernovitz — who, it is worth noting, works at an investment firm that funds the extraction of fossil fuels — begins by pointing out that reliance on natural gas reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This is true, and is admittedly one of the major perks of natural gas; combustion of natural gas releases fewer tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than coal or oil. However, fracking releases an even more dangerous chemical into the atmosphere: methane, 80

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which is far more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere and furthering global warming. More methane in the air also reduces air quality and can cause respiratory issues. Sernovitz goes on to argue that fracking reduces poverty by providing cheap energy, thereby lowering energy costs. This again overlooks a more significant drawback of fracking. Natural gas extraction is notorious for lowering the quality of life in regions where the extraction takes place. Fracking releases countless dangerous chemicals — among them, benzene, particulate matter and carbon monoxide — that are linked with cancer, nervous disorders and other dire health issues. Finally, Sernovitz makes the case that natural gas reserves will reduce dependence on foreign oil. But while we do want to reduce foreign dependence, it does not follow that fracking is the solution to this problem. Natural gas is a nonrenewable resource; American reserves are estimated to last about another 100 years, and ramping up fracking to reduce dependency ensures they will be depleted even more quickly. Switching to natural gas is akin to using a bandage, and a flimsy one at that. Moreover, Sernovitz is wrong to dismiss concerns about earthquakes, methane leakage and groundwater contamination. The extent of earthquakes in heavily-fracked states is hardly exaggerated, given the staggering numbers in Oklahoma. Even Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, a notorious opponent of clean energy regulations, has acknowledged that fracking leads to earthquakes and has identified it as an issue that must be resolved. Groundwater contamination, despite Sernovitz’s claims, has proven to be a major issue. In northern Pennsylvania, heavy fracking led to significant con-

tamination in wells used for drinking water. More recently, fracking caused groundwater contamination in Wyoming. Sernovitz references an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report that states that “[actions related to fracking] have not led to widespread, systemic impacts to drinking water resources in the United States.” But when it comes to safe drinking water, it is not justifiable to ignore a problem just because it does not affect the entire nation; it is unacceptable for these rural areas to not have access to safe drinking water. In addition, a systematic shift to renewable energy is not nearly as improbable as its detractors claim. We are not stuck with fracking; a large percentage of the United States has the resources and capacity to switch to solar energy, wind energy and other renewable sources. Solar and wind energy are not panaceas, but they are far better solutions than fracking. Perhaps there is not enough evidence to convince Sernovitz that fracking, by definition, goes against liberalism. There is certainly enough evidence, however, to conclude that fracking is no better than other unsustainable energy sources, and that we should be doing everything we can to move away from it.

should ann arbor public schools be open on voting days?

op-ed.

anna dinov

frances mackercher graphic

On May 3, 2016, more than 20 Ann Arbor Schools closed for election day. The reason for the closure was that many school officials and parents were worried about the safety of students and staff members during this election. There are six excused days off each school year that are usually used for severe weather. Only one of them was used this past year, which allowed superintendent Jeanice Swift to make the decision to close schools for a day, about a month prior to May 3, after talking it through with the Ann Arbor Board of Education members. The recent election’s purpose was to vote on the Special Education Millage Proposal. The question was this: should a 1.5 millage increase be provided to special education services in Washtenaw County (levied through 2025)? Special education services have been very helpful for those needing accommoda-

tions for over 40 years. These services have made it possible for many students with disabilities to find employment and learn how to support themselves. Many of the Ann Arbor Public Schools are used as voting locations; therefore, the schools do not have control of the the people who come in on voting days. There were reports of people carrying guns into the schools during this year’s primary election. This was allowed because of the open carry law, but staff were unsure how to respect everyone’s rights while simultaneously ensuring student safety and security. The voters’ rights to bear arms clashed with the no-weapon policy that exists at all Ann Arbor Public Schools. Many school officials were worried about the safety of students and staff, so their solution is to close schools on voting days until they can talk with the Washtenaw County Clerk’s Office to

find a way to ensure safety for voting days in the future. This decision is definitely a good one. When there are weapons allowed in a school, there is no way to make sure everyone is safe. Also, there is a rule that prohibits the use of weapons in schools. Having voters who are able to have weapons goes against this rule. Lastly, the risk isn’t worth it for one extra day of school. Safety is the first priority. If a student or staff member happens to get hurt, they will miss much more than just one day of school. The decision to close schools on May 3 was a good way to resolve the worries about safety of students and staff who work at or attend schools that serve as polling locations. Until another way to resolve the safety issues is created, closing schools on voting days is the best and only way to ensure security. may

op-ed.

education for education’s sake grace jensen

Why do we come to school day after day? “Because I have to,” said Jaleana Pace, a junior at Community High School. “It’s mandatory. If I didn’t have to, I wouldn’t be here. Honestly, I’m sorry, that’s it.” “I come to school because, mostly, if I didn’t come to school, I wouldn’t have anything to do all day,” said Ned Capuano, a freshman. “Why do I come to school? I don’t know,” said Emily Solbrig, a CHS sophomore. There is a problem when students ar-

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en’t coming to school to learn. Schools are places of learning. We are extremely lucky to live in a country with free public K-12 education for everyone. According to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, 42% of school-ages kids in poor countries affected by conflict are out of school. However, there are still problems with our system in the U.S. There is too much emphasis on taking tests, getting good grades and strengthening college applications. If instead the school system focused more on teaching students how to logically reason, how to learn

about what they’re interested in and how to apply that information, the tests, grades and college applications would practically write themselves. Learning is a wonderful thing that should not be condensed into taking notes from a textbook and memorizing facts for a final. Part of human nature is curiosity, the tendency to question the world around us and want to know more about it. That curiosity should be fueled, not dulled with Powerpoint after Powerpoint and pages of SAT preparation. The ultimate goal of schools should be

op-ed. to help students find interests in important topics so they will go out into the world and further that study, whether it’s Italian art or a space mission to Mars. As Marci Tuzinsky, Dean of Community High School, explained, “[Education] is also to help students find what their passion is. Like what is it when you talk about that or think about it, that inner fire just starts burning? To figure out what that is is part of the educational process, too. Because whatever that fire is, that’s what has to fuel you for the rest of your life.” If the students aren’t interested in what they’re learning, they won’t remember the lesson after the test. It’s not as important that they remember the name of a historical figure as it is that they find a passion for politics during history class and pursue it later in life. Most tests seem to be based on mindless facts, while true learning is based on understanding ideas. This is something I think Community High understands pretty well. We have a slightly different philosophy than other schools about the best way to learn. At Community, we encourage the use of the Community Resource (CR) program, allowing students to explore topics they’re interested in that aren’t taught in the offered classes. The open campus policy lets students explore downtown Ann Arbor and learn through experience. From what I’ve seen in comparison to students at other schools, we use textbooks less but have the same amount of homework. However, even with Community’s differences, there is always room to improve. A big threat to true education is standardized testing. Tests are not an efficient method of assessing how much students know. Instead, the vast majority of testing only determines who is best at test-taking: time management, the process of elimination and following formulaic writing styles. Worse, test-

ing takes away from valuable teaching time. While students are taking tests, they aren’t getting an education. According to the Washington Post, New York seventh and eighth graders spent an average of 1,134 minutes on standardized testing in the 2014-2015 school year. This doesn’t include all the time their teachers may have spent preparing the students for the tests, commonly referred to as “teaching to the test”: teaching test-taking skills instead of real world skills and knowledge. Chloe Root, a teacher at Community, said she uses testing in her classes but wonders if there is a better form of assessment. “I don’t necessarily think it’s worth all the energy showing what you know on a test when you could be learning new things or taking a test that’s relevant to the information you’re studying at that time,” Root said. “But it’s hard, in my own classes I struggle with the idea of tests a lot, because I do have traditional unit tests at the end of each unit and sometimes I’m like, ‘Man, is this the best way?’ or like, ‘What could I do that would work for kids who the test doesn’t serve?’ Because I know there are kids who just don’t test well.” Standardized testing has not brought up the national level of student performance, as it was meant to. Since No Child Left Behind passed in 2002, requiring standardized testing all over the country, the United States has dropped from 18th best country in the world for teaching math to 31st in 2009, according to the Program for International Student Assessment. (No Child Left Behind was replaced last year by the Every Student Succeeds Act, but this also requires standardized testing, just at the state level instead of the national level.) Finland was number one on these rankings from 2001

to 2008, but does not use standardized testing in schools. Grades can also get in the way of learning. Instead of focusing on acquiring knowledge to use in the future, it’s easy for students to focus on bringing an 89% up to a 90% so they’ll have an A- instead of a B+. However, grades are a much better indicator of student success than standardized tests are. According to the Washington Post, the best indicator of how well you’ll do in college is your high school grades, not your test scores. So it’s up to students not to let numerical grades consume their idea of school, and up to parents to understand that the most important thing to take away from high school is new ideas, relationships and opportunities, not a National Honor Society certificate. However, the biggest threat to learning is not testing or grades. It’s a lot simpler than that. What’s missing is excitement from students. We need to remember why we came to school every day in kindergarten—our love of learning. It’s hard to wake up to a loud alarm at 6:30 in the morning and remember why we used to be so excited to go to school, but I think if we try, it’ll be a lot easier to get out of bed.

may

op-ed.

freedom for sale: modern clothing’s moral cost mira simonton-chao grace koepele graphic

In white walled department stores, young women and men wander through racks of clothing. Their fingers brush against the diverse selection of colors and materials. Though many companies have pledged sweatshop-free production, there are still a great many popular U.S. clothing companies that fly under the radar with cheap and unregulated labor. With unsafe buildings and fire regulations allowing the bare minimum, the clothing industry has overlooked the deaths of thousands of workers over the years. For the most part, the public’s knowledge of these horrific working conditions is made of news about large sweatshop tradgedies, such as fires and buildings collapsing. The drive of producing cheap clothing for the masses first changed the clothing industry nearly a hundred years ago. The allure of affordable clothing for many condoned the purchase of

clothing made by workers being paid below minimum wage in unsafe environments. Despite the fact that the public has become more aware of the serious dangers of the clothing industry in recent years, there are still many chain stores in the U.S. that produce merchandise using sweatshops. These companies flying below the radar of US labor moderators. Though many are disgusted by the conditions of sweatshops, they continue to buy from stores using sweatshops for production. Americans around the country blindly supporting the mistreatment of labor worker around the world. Men and women supporting their families on less than $8.25 an hour, risking their lives everyday just by going to work. Many companies in the US and internationally have made huge strides to becoming completely ethical in their pro-

what you can do

Try to buy a few high quality, ethically made, long lasting items of clothing instead of buying lots of cheaply, non-ethically made clothes. The next thing you need, like a new pair of shoes, try buying the ethical option.

3. 4.

duction. But even the large amount of mass media sweatshops have received in the last few years has not been able to put an end to this abuse of labor. The fight for labor rights has continued on into the 21st century—this 500 year long struggle hopefully close to its end.

Try to buy secondhand clothing when you can! Be aware! Read the news to make sure that you know what companies are using non-ethical production techniques and sweatshops.

unethical shopping topshop

Going as far back as almost a decade, Topshop had been accused of having sweatshops in various locations. The first allegation being that the company was using immigrant laborers in potentially dangerous conditions in London’s East End. In more recent years they’ve been accused of underpaying Sri Lankins, Indians and others while working absurd hours. In 2015, a report was found showing Topshop had made demands for their manufacturers to slash their prices when an order total had already been agreed upon. These actions most likely resulting in the decrease of workers wages 84

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though there have been no recent investigations into Topshop’s manufacturers.

uniqlo

As a fast growing brand, Uniqlo has more than 446 stores outside of Japan and additional stores recently opened in Australia. In 2014, the Sustainability Report conducted evaluations in 294 of Uniqlo’s supply factories. Four of these evaluations resulting in E’s because of child labor, false reporting and along with other violations. Overall, the majority of the factories were given a B grade for “one or more minor violations.”

forever 21

After a four year investigation revealed sweatshop like conditions in various Forever 21 locations, random supplier inspections began. After these investigation revealed below minimum wage payment of teenagers uneducated in their worker rights, Forever 21 moved most of its production to Asia after complaints of sweatshop like conditions spread across the US. In 2014, around 30 percent of Forever 21’s clothes were made in Southern California and a worker is quoted in telling Bloomberg Businessweek that she was paid 12 cents per vest she sewed—the vests sold for a near $14 in Forever 21 stores.

QUESTIONS

SEBASTIAN IÑIGUEZ cameron fortune

Sebastian Iñiguez is a happy-go-lucky boy just trying to make it to the league. Like many seniors, senioritis is hitting Iñiguez hard, but he is excited to attend the University of Michigan in the fall.

What was your most memorable experience at Community? Getting manhandled by Mark, the student teacher, on the basketball court in the 3v3 tournament last year. He really did a number on me. What mark have you left on Community? Hopefully this one about a happy-golucky kid that just wanted to make it big, make it to the league. Where is your favorite spot at school? A parking spot, I never get one. What puts you in a good mood? When it is a sunny day. When it is a dreary day out I am kind of a little bit more down, but when it is sunny out everything just looks up. What is a future goal you have? To become a successful individual and not live on the street. What is your biggest regret from high school? Not hanging out with my buddy Abe Weiner more. I’m going to miss him when he goes to Swarthmore. Love you Abe. What was the best class you have taken at Community? Fish Ed with Mike Mouradian. Mike was one of the people that founded the FOS program and who is right now teaching me how to fly fish. What is your favorite quote? “The job that is never started takes the longest to finish.” - J. R. R. Tolkien What are you most excited for next year? Tailgating every Michigan football game for the next four years. How do you fight senioritis? I just kind of embrace it. You can only fight it so much. may

collegeessays aidan wada-dawson | the new school for jazz and contemporary music | describe your personal definition of success in today’s music scene, what you feel you will need to do to build a career, earn a living, and make a difference. Tell us how you feel The School for Jazz will help you achieve these goals. “Success” in the music world is a tricky thing to define, because it can be very subjective. Squeezing your way into the circumscribed music ecosystem is hard and being able to support yourself as a musician can be viewed as a successful career to some, but distinguishing yourself and making a name for yourself is when an artist gains the ability to influence others on a grand scale. Part of being successful in today’s music scene is based on your ability to sustain an audience. People have to be willing to listen to what you’ve created. If your audience doesn’t have the capacity to listen to your music than you can’t become successful. Music needs to speak to different people. Immersing yourself in other people’s music and learning as much as you can about your listeners can help cultivate an audience with willingness to consume your music. A single influential musician can push the boundaries of how the world hears, creates and loves music. Success can be measured in the way one contributes to

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the history and continuum of music. It seems to me that the New School pushes past the convoluted social and political blockade that can surround a music scene. The idea that in order to be successful you must make “X” number of dollars and have “X” number of record sales is a discouraging thing. Granted, no one wants to be poor, but when we talk about great musicians we highlight their contribution to music and not their bankroll. A healthy and successful career is a balance of many things: being able to earn a living, your ability to produce amazing music, your connection with other artists, having time to spend with family and friends, staying healthy and staying passionate about what you’re doing. I’d love to be touring and making lots of money all the time but I also know down the road I want to be able to have a family and that may require time off the road. I also, like I said earlier, want to contribute to the music continuum and help add to its ethos. But all this starts with a good

foundation and The School for Jazz seems to be a great place to begin. The school’s eclectic music flavors and ensembles, and emphasis on independent growth is the perfect environment for students working towards an impactful career. The School of Jazz’s required proficiencies add structure to the “freer” aspects of the school’s curriculum and ensure that the fundamentals are in place. In addition to the school’s structure, its facilities, premier concert venues and highly sought-after faculty would bring me closer to becoming an influential musician. In addition, New York is such a great place to learn jazz because of all the various clubs and musicians that reside in the city. So much can be learned by just talking, listening and playing with professional musicians of such high caliber. I believe that the environment that the New School can provide is the what I need to become a unique jazz artist.

milo tucker-myer | emerson college | some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. The story of my life up to this point would be titled “The Gravy Boats Of Hell Never Cease” because of one Thanksgiving in particular. I do not want to go into vivid detail regarding the events that transpired on that fateful evening, but I will tell you that I woke up the next morning wearing a dia-

per made out of dark turkey meat and my otherwise naked body was slathered head to toe with cranberry sauce. The diaper was not hard to remove, while the cranberry sauce took weeks to scrape from my limbs. The kids at school referred to me as “Sticky-StickyBoy” during those few weeks and I

do not blame them, for the remaining sauce did leave my body quite, for lack of a better word, “sticky.” This event shaped my life as a whole, and to this day I wake up every night with a start —sweating—the scent of gravy still fresh in my mind.

sophia werthmann | common app | some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent

that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. When I was two, I stood on my mother’s lap and pointed at the stage as a live performance unfurled before my wide green eyes. “I want to be up there,” I said. Yet, in first grade, I embarked on a 10-year athletic adventure. At age six, sports became my main extracurricular activity. I weaved my way through soccer, swimming, basketball, field hockey, and water polo. There was only the occasional blossom of a theatrical endeavor. I especially treasured the feeling of being backstage before the opening number of my middle school’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors” – the music of the pit singeing the cut of my sparkly red dress, the energy of the cast and crew pumping through my heart, the delight in knowing what the audience did not. When I entered high school, I became exclusively involved in sports. Water polo and field hockey were what I knew. Underneath my shin-guards and swim cap, eager thoughts whispered that I wanted to act. During my athletically-teeming sophomore year, I considered participating in theatre at Community High School two separate times; however, the shows conflicted with sports and I twisted away. The longing grew more insistent and confident. I taped 11 pieces of computer paper across my bedroom wall, and everyday the words, “What would

you do if you knew you could not fail?” gently taunted me. Looking back, maybe it was seeing “The Book of Mormon” performed professionally in Chicago that brought me even closer. Or it could have been that I began to feel less connected to sports. Or it may have been the realization that my life should be lived as I wish, not as I think I should wish it. At first, letting go of sports for theatre left me crestfallen. I was leaving behind an identity of sunscreen-scented field hockey camps, team runs across concrete avenues, shouts of “P-H-S,” asiago-cheese morning-practice bagels, and chlorine-infused hair. I realized however, that signing up to play had become a reflex, a repetition of familiarity. It had always been hard for me to understand that I had a choice. Nevertheless, I do not resent my athletic past – not even the six blue stitches that were sewn into my left eyebrow after a field hockey game. Playing sports gave me the opportunity to learn how to change the direction of my life, no matter how scary it originally felt. Ultimately, I chose theatre because it makes me so content. It is a medium which blends storytelling with teamwork. Athletics only gave me half of this essential concoction. My junior year, I participated in three shows with Community Ensem-

ble Theatre (CET), my high school’s theatre organization. I was in “Twelfth Night, Or What You Will,” “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” and “Just Desserts 24-Hour-Edition.” I felt solely myself. “Just Desserts 24-Hour-Edition,” was a cluster of monologues and short plays, all student written. I co-wrote, directed, and acted in a play. To create a show within such a short period of time was wizardry. It is one of the best experiences I have ever had. After a year packed full with shows, I attended a teen class through Michigan’s highly respected Purple Rose Theatre Company; I co-wrote a screenplay; and, I recently performed in CET’s production of “Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind.” I am so glad to be engulfed by theatre culture again: vocal warm-ups about the blue-black blood of big black bugs, pasta-brimming tech weeks, and exhausted blissful laughter. There is no such thing as “the right life,” but there is truth in living the right variation of life, and I have found it. Performing in plays and musicals has me smitten with the camaraderie it builds, the thrill it creates, and the way stories are told. My two-year-old self screams with glee looking at me now. I am just so thankful I found my way back.

may

clara kaul | common app | some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so

meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. When I was fourteen, I read a poem aloud on stage for the first time. It was about life as a mermaid. I had recently dyed my hair bright blue and my friend told me I looked like mermaid. With my strange affinity for sea cucumbers and love of the deep blue, I embraced it: I can live in the abyss and when the days are long / you won’t even notice because it’s so dark down there. As I stood on stage and read what was, in retrospect, one of the worst poems I had ever written to sixty strangers, I felt unbelievably peaceful. My first introduction to poetry was at the beginning of my freshmen year. I joined a poetry workshop called VOLUME. We met once a week and wrote off a prompt together. Most of the poets there had been writing for years. At the end of the two hours we shared what we had written. When it was my turn, my voice shook as I read my piece-- usually only five or so lines of mediocre (at best) writing. But, regardless of how boring my metaphors, everyone in that room listened to me. They nodded. They smiled. They waited, ready and open, for whatever I had to say. Since that fateful day freshmen year, I have performed countless times in

a variety of venues. In 2014, I gave a speech at the Ross School of Business’s Positive Business Conference. I’ve performed at TEDxYouthAnnArbor, at school board meetings, at protests, and at a myriad of poetry slams. While audience varied from businesspeople to middle schoolers, the one uniting factor was that when I started reading, they fell quiet. This is what I love most about poetry. I love the way it turns heads. As I stood on stage for the first time, loudly musing about life with the aquatics, the audience mused with me. For those two minutes, that room full of sixty strangers had nothing to listen to but me. And there is such power in that. This is how I learned bravery—the ability to know what you’re saying, and say it, loudly. There’s a popular phrase in slam, don’t hold the audience captive. This is usually to serve as a warning to poets who tend to ramble on, but to me, it perfectly illustrates the participatory nature of the audience in slam. The goal isn’t to hold them captive but instead to create a mutual respect. The audience doesn’t belong to you or your voice, rather, they are choosing to be part of it with you. No place was this more clear than

at the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam. I qualified for the team my sophomore year and my teammates and I traveled to Philadelphia where we competed against five hundred other youth poets. Here was a community of people who knew how to tell their stories and what power they had. Here was also a community of people who knew how to listen, how absorb stories, and how to respect them. I sat in the audience surrounded by my peers and listened as poet after poet took the stage, and we waited, ready and open, for whatever they had to say. It was here that I fully realized what poetry had done for me. It didn’t just teach me how to speak-- it taught me how to listen. Last year, I won the Ann Arbor Youth Poetry Slam. As I stood on the very same stage I had two years prior, that same unearthly peaceful feeling came back to me. Performance poetry gave me the tools to build myself a house-- a house that I am constantly outgrowing and recrafting. A house where I learned how to use my teeth, how to curl my fists, and how to remain ready and open for stories -- my own and others -- everywhere.

liam knight | common app | discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. (250-650 words) The night before I was scheduled to fly unaccompanied to France to pursue my wild fantasy of studying French in a language immersion school this summer, I found myself in a state that can only be described as an incoherent daze. I sat across from my dad at the kitchen table as he talked me through everything that was going to happen and handed me a paper that detailed every step of the journey: I would be flying from Windsor, Ontario, to Toronto to Paris, then boarding a train to a station outside of Tours. Chantal, my dad’s business partner, would pick me up and take me to Amboise, where I would be staying with her and taking classes. 88

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The next morning, my dad drove me from his home in metro Detroit across the border to the Windsor International Airport, which had an ample staff of approximately twelve people. After checking in, we stopped in a tiny bar in the airport and chatted about the trip. He told me not to worry enough times that I began to think he was saying it more for his benefit than my own. Eventually, we said our goodbyes and he watched as I walked across the runway, into the prop plane, and flew away. I landed in Toronto after about an hour, intimidated by the behemoth of the Pearson International Airport. I stood in various lines, hoping I was going the

right way until I eventually found a path to my gate. I walked into the terminal and passed through a sculpture made of two black arches on their sides, looming above and around me. I couldn’t help but view it as a giant threshold, through which I left my childhood behind and stepped into adulthood. After eight hours on the plane with little sleep, I landed in Paris and entered the lobby of Charles de Gaulle Airport. I found myself plunged into a merciless deluge of the adult world—people wearing suits, talking on phones, lugging their luggage, frantically dodging carts, looking at signs, checking in, and rushing around. As I weaved through

the crowd, I felt connected with these people who were coming and going from all over the world, confused and trying desperately to find what they needed, just like I was. Surrounded by hundreds of my fellow travelers, I walked to the train station at the airport to wait the five hours for my train to arrive. I received a phone call at around 3:30 AM EST from my mom, who had been tracking my flight for several hours and noticed that I had landed recently. I told her that I was doing fine and had made it without too

many problems. Relieved, she asked, “I’m not momming you too much, am I?” Afterwards, I called my dad, who told me he was proud of me. On the train, I tried my hardest to keep my eyes open, fearing I would doze off and suddenly awake to find myself miles away from my stop. Eventually, I arrived in St. Pierre des Corps, where I’d be meeting Chantal. I shuffled through the door with the crowd, looking for her in the sea of people on the platform. Fatigue-induced panic set in when I didn’t see her, until I heard

something that sounded like my name. I turned around to see Chantal walking towards me, smiling. “Tu l’as fait!” she said. You did it! I let out a long breath while reflecting over the journey I had just made. I understood in that moment the enormous trust my parents must have had in me to send me on this trip alone, and how anxious they felt letting go. What surprised me more, however, was the trust I had gained in myself. “Oui,” I said, exhausted. “Je l’ai fait.”

natsume ono | common app | some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. Over 100 million people speak Japanese. Yet, growing up, I knew less than 30. I only spoke Japanese to my family and a select group of my parents’ friends, making Japanese extremely personal to me. Thus, I refrained from speaking it in front of my friends, and I hesitated to share homemade mochi with my classmates because “they might not like it.” However, this all changed when I experienced the language and the culture in its homeland. The second semester of freshman year, my dad’s sabbatical brought me to Japan for seven months. I didn’t want to leave my new friends and my beloved new high school, but no whining or complaining could change the plan, so I boarded the 13-hour flight to Japan to begin a new chapter of my life. There, I attended the American School in Japan, which felt like a regular American high school, but unique because of its location. Along with its metal lockers and football team, ASIJ offered ramen for lunch and cultural clubs that explored Japanese theater or practiced calligraphy. Utilizing this chance, I joined a club called Community Oriented Student Action, in which members volunteer to help within the community. One project—English lessons for students at Sakari Elementary School—caught my attention. I organized Skype lessons with three other students, and we enthusiastically taught young children some basic

English through games and songs. They were ordinary aside from the fact that they lived in Tohoku, Japan, which was devastated by a tsunami in 2011, just two years before. Working with these students led to my desire to learn more about the tsunami and the people who had survived it. After school ended, I went on a tour with a youth group to Tohoku to see the areas that were destroyed. I met residents in the area who were personally affected, and I was able to homestay with some of them. They told us the terrible stories of their houses being swept away and of friends who lost family members. Tears pooled in my eyes, threatening to trickle out, as I imagined losing my home or family. I admired their bravery for carrying on. The most memorable part, however, was near the end of our stay when we participated in a local festival. In it, two large mikoshi—portable shrines— were rammed together from both ends, like a reverse tug-of-war. I watched the community, which was still recovering from a crippling disaster, come together to cheer on the mikoshi fight. They even let us, the young volunteers, pull the mikoshi to the “fighting” site, and I felt a connection to these unfamiliar faces who were discovering joy in their lives. This connection sparked an interest in me to further explore the culture. Back in Tokyo, I attended classes to learn

Noh, a traditional Japanese dance, with a professional. For the first time in my life, I sang a solo while I danced atop a historical wooden stage in traditional garb. An intense exhilaration swelled, squeezing my heart. Now, I vividly felt the traditional story that I was expressing with my motions and voice as one of my own. The Japanese culture that lives within me awakened at that point. The constant exposure to the Japanese people inspired me to share the importance of my culture, which had always been hiding within me. Upon returning to Ann Arbor, I joined the Asian Student Union at school to share my experiences and emotions regarding my culture with peers. Sharing my experiences of these seven months abroad allowed me to feel more comfortable about my Japanese-American heritage. Educating people about Japanese culture has become an important goal in my life. Therefore, as I currently lead ASU, I teach peers how to make origami, share Asian films, and I no longer hesitate to share homemade mochi with my friends.

may

things to find at

community

first student (or teacher...) to find all 15 things and tell tracy anderson gets a batch of cookies. just saying. (we are 100% serious.) abbie gaies and megan syer

Object 1 2 3 4 5 6 90

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Location/Room

Object

Location/Room

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 may

ben chosid and viv brandt chloe diblasio illustration

SABINA FALL

Breakfast. Always. And Kasey Neff.

KIM PIESKE

The game I’m playing on my phone, SongPop.

ANDIE TAPPENDEN

How it’s kinda cold outside and I hope it’s not this cold outside for practice because I didn’t bring sweatpants.

DAILLE HELD

Cthulhu, which is part monster and part octopus.

ZANE JONES

We ‘bout to get this dub in lax today. And Julian’s smile. 92

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SAM URIBE HANNAH CHOSID

Wondering why your arm is around me.

TAYLOR ERHARDT

I have a gig tomorrow and a competition at Michigan State this weekend.

CHRISTIA WEST

Spring and paddling; I want to be in my kayak right now.

Rats. Frozen rats.

ROBERT MORGAN

I’m really into this band called Haim and their song “The Wire”.

PAMELA QUINTANA

Preparing for college; I’m leaning towards MSU.

CAM SCHNITZER

Kobe Bryant. I just watched a video on him.

SEBA INIGUEZ

Why Ben’s beard looks so good.

zebrotics

forge ahead alex shaw zebrotics photo courtesy

community’s robotics team finishes its second season strong.

ommunity High School’s robotics team 5708, “Zebrotics”, completed its second FIRST Robotics, the organization which manages the robotics teams and competitions. This competition season surpassed last year’s rankings despite encountering multiple issues including overheating motors and tricky programing. The team competed in two regional tournaments: Waterford and Livonia. Their robot this year was named Achilles. Achilles earned its name “Because it was very strong in general, but it always had one thing that was messing up,” Sean Tichenor, program manager and vice-president of the Zebrotics, said. At their first competition of the year in Waterford Michigan, the Zebrotics placed 30th out of 40. The ranking system is based on wins, as well as achievements within each match. In each match six teams, three per an alliance, compete by scoring goals and crossing obstacles. The team with the most points by the end of the match wins. Last year, Zebrotics placed 31st at their first competition in Livonia. During this year’s competition, their main driving motors started to overheat. “[We would] get snow from outside and put it on the motors,” said Neil Beveridge, engineering lead of the Zebrotics. “It wasn’t the best method, but for the time it was the best we could do.” The team had resolved this by the second competition by using cooling fans to cycle in cool air. “Some of the torque calculations we did weren’t completely correct, so we didn’t have enough torque to drive our huge wheels,” Tichenor said. “Over the week we got some cooling fins and fans, which helped it a lot.” Their second competi-

tion had fewer issues, as evidenced by their end ranking of 17th, surging from last year’s rank of 35th. One of the few issues during the second competition was getting the robot to go the correct distance at the start of the match in autonomous mode, where the robot is preprogrammed and runs without being controlled by a person. During this time goals and other action earn more points. Twice the robot slammed into the wall separating the field from where the opposing teams control their robots. “We really scared them, and their stuff went flying,” Said Christia West, head mentor of the Zebrotics team. “Autonomous programming is really difficult because there were so many different obstacles… they weren’t easy to measure.” Challenges the team faced during robot construction included getting the chassis just right. “It had to be aligned really perfectly,” Beveridge said. “It took us a couple 12-hour work sessions to get the chassis built.” Not every part of the competition was quite as serious, as the team played a few games of ultimate frisbee with another set of zebras: Team 313, The Bionic Zebras from Wayne. “We didn’t win the competition, but we got some wins on the frisbee field,” Beveridge said. One aspect of doing well at competition that is easy to overlook is having a robot that can work with other robots

to win. “I think the thing we did best this year was doing something that helped other teams,” Beveridge said, “Last year we were able to perform the task that we set out to accomplish, but we realized that it didn’t really help others that much.” One of the strategies the team used to gain points was the use of a terrain-friendly design to get over obstacles, which racked up the team points. “We had 13-inch wheels, so we just kind of plowed over all of them,” Tichenor said. The obstacles involved in this game included a 4-5/8” “Rock wall”, a series of staggered metal boxes, creating rough terrain, and a few others. The other focus of the robot’s design was to shoot goals. “We were pretty consistent once we got everything down shooting in the low goal,” West said. “Once we got all of the bugs worked out we were very consistent at what we did.” “I think that our team dynamic is really good because it’s a small team and a new team, so we all get to do a lot,” Tichenor said. “We are all really dedicated to it because we spent a lot of time on robotics.”

may

baby got book suephie saam

KALEIDOSCOPE BOOK STORE

• 200 N. Fourth Avenue • Since 1990 • Mon-Wed 10AM–6PM, Thurs-Sat 10AM–8PM, Sun 12PM–5PM • Used book store Jeffrey Pickell opened up his bookstore, Kaleidoscope, in 1990 on State Street next to the State Theater. The store is now moved to 200 N. Fourth Avenue. Pickell is a former school principal, but he always knew that his passion and hobby was collecting books. Pickell decided to try to sell the first edition of “The Catcher and The Rye,” one of the most valuable books in his collection. “After doing that, I knew I could sell the things I treasured and prized,” Pickell said.

TOP Jeffrey Pickell, the owner of Kaleidoscope book store, stands in the center of his store admiring his collection of old vintage books.

LITERATI

• 124 E. Washington, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 • Since 2013 • Mon-Thur 10AM–9PM, Fri-Sat 10AM–10PM, Sun 10AM–7PM Literati book shop was opened three years ago by a couple Hilary and Michael Gustafson. Even though they both grew up in Michigan, the couple met in NYC and later decided to move back to Ann Arbor and open a book store. According to Deb Leonard, who is on the Literati staff, the store is a part of a resurgence of independent bookstores in the United States, and has opened about 500 new independent bookstores across the country in the last three years. Literati holds weekly readings and book clubs for their customers. TOP Inside of Literati, an independent bookshop opened in Ann Arbor in 2013.

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MOTTE & BAILEY BOOKSELLERS

• 212 N 4th Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 • Since 1996 • Mon-Sat 10 AM- 7 PM • Focus on history books of all kinds Gene Alloway, a former librarian and the current owner of the Motte & Bailey book shop opened his store in Oct. 2000. After being located on 111 E Ann St for six years, he and his former co-owners decided to move their store to its current location, 212 N 4th Ave. This book store focuses on the history of architecture, religion, cooking and art as well as history of politics and military work. “So many of the book stores have a lot of literature and we felt history wasn’t really getting its fair due,” Gene Alloway said. The bookstore also holds reading groups that are all focused around history.

WEST SIDE BOOK SHOP

BOTTOM Outside of West Side book shop, owned by Jay • 113 W Liberty St, Ann Arbor, MI Platt. The book store specializes in rare and collectable books. 48104 • Since 1976 • Mon 11AM–6PM, Tues-Sat 11AM– 10PM, Sun 12–5PM • Used rare autoprint and collectable books In the 1870s John Haarer used the West Side Book Shop as a photographic studio. In 1888, the frame white building was replaced with a brick building and was used for selling German books and textbooks to the German community. After that, Haarer started selling insurance. Until 1968, one of his sons used the shop as a living space. The current bookshop was opened in 1976 after it was sold to the city, and it was later sold to Jay Platt, who is the current owner of the bookshop. Doug Price, a business partner of Jay Platt, specializes in selling photographs in the back of the store. According to Price, the West Side bookshop sells used rare autoprint books, collectable books and reading copies. “Sometimes people say, ‘What’s a rare book?’ and I say, ‘Well, a rare book is one that you can’t wait to finish reading, the one that’s so good you read it on the bus going home, the one you read when you wake up in the morning,” Price said.

CRAZY WISDOM

• 114 S. Main St, Ann Arbor - MI 48104 • Since 1982 • Mon-Thurs 11AM–9PM, Fri 11AM–11PM, Sat 10AM–11PM, Sun 12PM–8PM • Locally owned and independent book store •Tearoom Crazy Wisdom was opened in March of 1982 by Aura Glaser. The store was originally located on Ann street where the boutique Heavenly Metal is now. Later it was moved to Fourth Avenue. Crazy Wisdom is currently located on 114 S. Main St and is owned by Bill Zirinsky and his wife Ruth Shekter who bought the store in 1989. The bookstore also has a second level where there is a small tea room.

may

art throb

molly prochaska, senior “Ricardo [was] jumping onto a bed at Bed Bath and 96

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Beyond and it was really late and no one was in the store so we didn’t get yelled at. Actually that night we toured around a bunch of stores and took pictures.”