TheCommunicator_v.52_ed.1

THE COMMUNICATOR MAGAZINE

VOL. 52, EDITION 1, OCTOBER 2024

The only thing we can be certain of is uncertainty itself.

About the Cover

Often, journalism is about the things we know for certain — the cold hard facts. In this edition, we flip that narrative on its head and explore the unknown. On our front cover we feature Eloise MacDougald who is the subject of one of our package stories. In those stories, we explore the unknowns that CHS students and staff face every day, from starting at a new school three weeks into the year to watching your youth slip away to grappling with a family member’s declining health. We’ve put a magnifying glass on these truths within other people’s lives in order to remind you that there’s something (or many somethings) going on behind everyone’s eyes. You may never know what many of those things are.

The unknown is always with us.

Dear Readers,

We’re new to this. Not to The Communicator, no — we’ve all been here a while. Never before though, has the Print Editor-in-Chief team consisted entirely of journalists who are new to the position. Our unknowns vastly outweigh our knowns, which was a truth we may not have fully appreciated the gravity of when we accepted our roles this past spring (with the exception of Gabe who joined us when crunch time approached in late September, adding to the unorthodox series of events.)

Throughout the creation of this edition, we experimented and we failed often. We pushed deadlines back, we overhauled design elements, we corrected hundreds of grammatical mistakes in supposed final drafts (including our own) and we scrapped pieces that just didn’t make the mark in time. But just like we learned in FOS I with Courtney, Advanced Art Portfolio with Beth and Calculus II with Maneesha, we know it’s all a part of learning. How can you expect someone to know exactly what to do on the first try?

Mistakes are inevitable roadblocks on the path between the unknown and the known, and as hard as we try to avoid them, we’ve got to face the reality that errors are unavoidable. Remember that next time one brings you to a standstill.

We’re experiencing unprecedented political climates, never-before-seen technologies, hubbub surrounding our district’s budget deficit, an evolving Ann Arbor and all the newness that comes with the high school experience (especially the second half of it.) Often, it feels like we’re walking the tightrope between our childhoods and our futures, but in so many ways, we can’t quite see the end through the fog; we have no way of knowing precisely what’s next.

We hope that the stories in this edition can steady your balance on that tightrope, help you past your roadblocks or even be a lighthouse through the fog. That’s the true objective of journalism: to show you that you’re not alone in anything, that there is nearly always a way forward and that the only thing we can be certain of is uncertainty itself.

We’re glad to share a snapshot of this moment and what we’ve learned from it with you and we hope it helps guide you onward towards the future. We haven’t experienced it yet — welcome to The Unknown (Edition).

PRINT EICS

PIPER COOKE

GABE DEEDLER

CLARA FREETH

JANAKI NALLAMOTHU

LUCIA PAGE SANDER

WEB EICS

LUCA HINESMAN

VEDHA KAKARLA

PAIGE PLAVNICK

ANTHONY WANG

SOCIAL MEDIA EICS

JONATHAN CARTER

LEILA DURRIE

KATE GROVES

COPY EDITORS

CLAIRE LEWIS

IVY MILLER

MANAGING EDITOR

LYDIA DEBORD

ART & DESIGN

DIRECTOR

BEE WHALEN

ADVISER

TRACY ANDERSON

SECTION EDITORS

LEO CASTILHO

KAYLEE GADEPALLI

KYRIE GARWOOD

FINA KUTCHER

AWARDS

MALCOLM LONDON

ISABELLA MALDONADO

NINA TINNEY

JAKE WILLIAMS

WILSON ZHENG

PHOTO EDITORS DANIEL JACOB

SCHADEN IONIE STEUDLE STAFF SOPHIA ALCUMBRACK

BANTA

BEALS

BOYNTON

CLARK

COCCIOLONE

DAS

DINKELMANN

FARRELL

FOSLER

FREIWALD

GIBSON

GOBLIRSCH

GOMEZDOMINGUEZ

GROCOFF

HANNER-ZAWACKI

HOARD

KASCHUBE

KIRBAT

LAMB

LARIOS

MCDONALD

NELSON

ROTHSTEIN

SANDSTROM

SANTIAGO

SLY

SWERDLOW

TOWERS

WALKER

ZEIGLER WILSON ZHENG

National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker Finalist in 2024, 2023, 2022. 2021, 2020, 2019, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009 Pacemaker Winner in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2014

Columbia Scholastic Press Association Crown Finalist in 2023-2024, 2022-2023, 20212022, 2020-2021

Silver Crown Winner in 2023-2024, 2022-2023

Gold Crown Winner in 2021-2022, 2020-2021

Michigan Interscholastic Press Association Spartan Award in 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2006

POLICY

The Communicator is a open forum for student expression created by Community High School students. The Communicator does not represent the views of Ann Arbor Public Schools. The Communicator staff seeks to recognize the individuals, events and ideas relevant to readers. The Communicator is committed to fair reporting, providing a platform for student voices and equitable coverage. For our complete Guidelines & Policy, please go to www.chscommunicator.com

Janaki Nallamothu

Piper Cooke

Lucia Page Sander

Gabe Deedler

Clara Freeth

Table of Contents

VOLUME 52, EDITION 1 | OCTOBER 2024

All Eyes on the Debate 7

In this edition, we highlight the stories behind the things that CHS staff and students do not know.

BY STAFF

A new year always starts out the same for CHS, but how did new leadership, teachers and students change it this year?

BY LEO CASTILLO AND MALCOLM LONDON

What did the people at CHS think after viewing the 2024 Presidential Debate? BY

PAYTON SLY

Photography by Daniel Jacob and Luca Hinesman

18

Local Candidate Features

Local candidates up for reelection share where they stand on issues and how they connect with their communities.

BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI, ELIJAH MAKMAN-LEVINSON, MILLY SANDSTROM AND IVY MILLER

24

Robert’s Reversal

How staff at CHS came together to save their coworker’s job amidst the chaos of AAPS’s budget cut and ensuing layoffs.

BY LUCIA PAGE SANDER

28

The Olympics

Ann Arbor-based athletes who participated in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games reflect on how their stories inspire young athletes.

BY CLARA FREETH

52

Looking Up

CHS students and staff look up to all sorts of role models. Who are they?

BY WILLOW ROSENFELD, JANE GROCOFF, JESSICA ROTHSTEIN AND LUCY LOWENSCHUSS

54

Affordable Housing

Ann Arbor is changing. How is housing changing along with it?

BY NINA TINNEY

64

Project AI Arts & Entertainment Opinion

What will the future of artificial intelligence bring given a multitude of recent improvements?

BY WILSON ZHENG

Readers Write

Students reflect on past, present and future unknowns through short narratives.

76 BY

STAFF

Art Profile: Tempe Stiverson

Sophomore Tempe Stiverson discusses his journey as an artist.

80 BY

KAYLEE GADEPALLI

90 BY BEE WHALEN Movie Review

“Dìdi” is a coming-of-age film that tackles topic such as peer pressure and loss.

Counselor’s Corner

Community counselor Brian Williams shares his hopes and his expectations for the year ahead.

BY ZANE SWERDLOW

► For everything from schedule changes to planning the next 10 years, the counseling office is where people come for help. Along with dealing with these essential tasks, this year counselor Brian Williams wants students to practice resiliency and create their own spaces within Community.

“It’s been in some ways really exciting,” Williams said. “I’ve been putting in a ton of hours here and at home, but in some ways, I feel it’s been one of the better starts.”

High school is a pivotal point in life, and every student has different goals. This is seen at every level, and determining the counseling office’s goals can be a challenge. To Williams, a huge part of counseling is being available and making sure people are comfortable with reaching out for help. Williams wants to make sure that students are having their needs met, and feeling heard by the school.

“One of my goals is to really make sure the best I can that everybody that I’m in contact with feels good, feels heard and feels like I’m a resource for them,” Williams said. “And so that means first and foremost stu-

dents, but my colleagues are just as important.”

Every year at CHS, new students arrive and classes of seniors graduate. For Williams, an integral part of counseling success is having a pulse on the changing whims of students and adapting his strategies to help them get to their goals.

“We have over 100 kids doing CRs, which I think is great,” Williams said. “I would love to see that number continue to grow. I think we have increased closer to 50 college courses registered by our students this semester, which to me, shows kids thinking outside the box and pushing themselves.”

Outside of traditional CRs and dual enrollment, many students are taking other alternative classes like homebuilding, culinary arts and health sciences.

Yet not all alternative courses fit Williams’ CHS ideal. Along with this increase in unique classes, there is an increase in the amount of students taking online courses. Williams would much rather see kids taking advantage of Community’s offerings, using the school to its full potential instead of relying on online classes.

Academic changes and course

If you were to tell me that I would be writing this column, I wouldn’t have believed you. As a freshman going into the first meeting, I was in awe of the initiative and hard work put in by Forum Council (FoCo) leaders and members.

selections aside, Williams has a message for the student body. It is one of resilience and toughness in the face of adversity. For him, going through challenging times and facing defeat shouldn’t mean you give up.

“When you hear the word no, like ‘you don’t get this,’ or ‘we can’t offer you a spot in a college or university,’ or whatever it might be, it’s important to not let it feel like it’s the end,” Williams said. “We’ve done a great job of de-stigmatizing things, like anxiety and depression. But I fear that sometimes we just sit with that now and not know how to get through it.”

For Williams, feeling negative emotions like anxiety should not simply be an accepted condition. Rather, students should try and find solutions that will help them rebound and push through hardships.

“I want our ninth graders to come in and start to create their space here,” Williams said. “To be active and not be too shy, to really jump in and try to do some unique things and try to make us a better school.”

By overcoming challenges and being resilient, Williams thinks we can all make Community a better place.

PHOTO BY DANIEL JACOB

Three years later, I remember FaceTiming Clara Freeth and Lucia Page Sander whilst abroad and discussing our campaign for the election. Come April, the election hit and with a close call, it resulted with myself and Clara as Co-Presidents and Lucia as Vice President.

After our election, a few months passed, and we held elections for the rest of our team. This added three new members: Jasper Forgey as secretary, Eliam Rosenberg as treasurer and Claire Lewis as communications officer.

This whole team is special to me because we have grown up with each other and have watched each other succeed.

Having such a powerful and diverse team is meaningful and will make for a great year.

The first day of school arrived, and my heart pounded one billion beats per second as I looked out to the 520 students waiting to hear our speech. As the first breath began, all my worries washed away and we fell back on our preparation and practice As for the rest of the school year, we are excited to make it a memora ble and positive experience.

Jacqueline Boynton

Together Again

Students and staff filled St. Andrew's for an opening day where students led a ceremony that was full of information, introductions and celebrations.

BY LEO CASTILHO AND MALCOLM LONDON

► Meeting in St. Andrews Episcopal Church, co-presidents Clara Freeth and Jacqueline Boynton and Vice President Lucia Page Sander began to feel the pressure. However, as Page Sander began to practice her speech, her nerves soothed and soon enough she was standing in front of CHS’s 500 students to welcome the 2024-2025 school year. With hot air filling the sanctuary, students lined the pews. Loud chatter followed them, reverberating through the black and white arches of the church.

“I was a little nervous going into [the ceremony], but then we got there and people started coming in,” Page Sander said. “We were like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ But then it kind of got to the point where we know all these people, we know how this goes and we’re just talking, [so] it went really well.”

As per tradition, old and new clubs stepped up to the podi-

um, including notable ones such as Mock Trial, CET, Le Circle Francais and Writers Club. With new and returning staff members walking down the central aisle, there were varying levels of enthusiasm and confusion from both students and teachers. Audibly, students could hear the surprise with the announcement of new members such as Josh Skodack and Adelaide Barcalow. As the presidents reported their names, echoes of, “Who is that?” “Wait, what?” “Are they new?” rose over the thunderous cheering.

However, as exciting as the event may have been, many students complained about the heat within the church. Unbeknownst to them, one solution was sitting right in the next pew: church fans.

“The church was extremely hot today,” Zane Swerdlow said. “Thankfully, a hand fan was in my booth, so I was able to cool off.”

After clubs had spoken, var-

At Community, as long as I’m getting to my classes, I’m pretty much welcome anywhere.

- SYLVIE BLECKMAN

about putting an emphasis on forum bonding,” Page Sander said. “I think it’s really important and really adds to Community.”

She believes forums can give students a sense of belonging and that even if their friends are in a separate one or they didn’t get the teacher they wanted, forum members are “there to stay.”

ious presentations were given about changes in the forum curriculum and information about the school year to come. Forum Council leadership members were aware that her presentation would set an example and inform newer students about the strong sense of community at CHS.

“I was thinking a lot about how when I was a freshman, [the vice president and co-presidents] were the first faces I got to know. You’re an example right off the bat,” Page Sander said. “So we put a lot of thought into how we wanted to present ourselves and how we can people see Community as we’ve experienced it.”

This year, the Forum Council plans to focus more on strengthening “Community’s community” by continuing traditions like the Halloween dance and multiple field days along with other forum-centric activities and fundraising initiatives.

“There’s been a lot of talk

One way forums began to bond was through CHS’s annual scavenger hunt. As the all-school meeting concluded, students slowly filed out of St. Andrew’s Church and walked back to their forum rooms. There, they were paired into groups, each containing students from various grades. Groups were then given a list of 20 school landmarks to find and take pictures with. Sylvie Bleckman, a junior in the Michelle Yager Forum, thinks that the scavenger hunt could be improved.

“I liked the scavenger hunt, but part of me thought that it was kind of a waste of time,” Bleckman said. “It would have been fun to do it in larger groups. I only got to know two other people.”

Bleckman transferred from Skyline to Community this year, and her first impression was that Community gives her much more freedom.

“At Skyline, it’s a lot more boxed up,” Bleckman said. “You’re always thinking, ‘Am I allowed to go here? — Am I allowed to be here? — Where am I supposed to be right now?’ At Community, as long as I’m getting to my classes, I’m pretty much welcome anywhere.”

Photography by Daniel Jacob Students listen as Forum Council leadership members share information about plans for the school year ahead. Ryan Silvester, front row, is the adviser for Forum Council. This year Forum Council leaders met before school started to make a plan for a successful opening day.

CHS Travels to Costa Rica

CHS students embrace challenges and culture on their Costa Rican journey.

BY ANTHONY WANG AND KYRIE GARWOOD

► When the students on CHS’s trip to Costa Rica touched down in Managua, Nicaragua — a country not on their itinerary — they knew their trip would be eventful.

On June 17, three days after the 2023-24 school year came to a close, 14 students boarded a plane to Newark, New Jersey with CHS Spanish teacher Laurel Landrum and Tappan Middle School Spanish teacher Jen Shaw leading the way. Roughly 30 hours later, they landed in San Carlos, Costa Rica

Landrum had been wanting to go on a trip with students for a while. After she had broached the idea with her classes last year, everyone decided that Ecuador would be the destination. However, after political unrest, the country was determined to be too dangerous for a group of high schoolers and the location was changed to Costa Rica.

As students arrived one by one to the departures area of the Detroit Airport, they were buzzing with excitement. Having taken their last final of the

school year two days prior, a summer vacation sounded incredible. After a brief stop in Newark, New Jersey, the anticipation continued to build as students boarded the plane to San Jose, Costa Rica. Roughly eight hours later, they deplaned in Managua, Nicaragua. On the way to San Jose, the pilots were informed that the weather conditions were not fit for them to land. Knowing they would be traveling during Costa Rica’s infamous wet season, Landrum worried this might happen.

“June in Costa Rica is rainy season, and it’s pretty hot,” Landrum said. “I thought we were going to get a lot of punishing rain. There were storms over San Jose, and we couldn’t land so we circled for a really long time, and we were at the point where we were gonna run out of gas.”

After many updates, the pi-

lots came on the PA to announce that the flight would be forced to land in Nicaragua. The airline booked hotels for all the travelers and the students were able to get some rest after a day that seemed to never end.

After a night in Nicaragua, the students returned to the airport, bought all the Nicaraguan swag one could ever need and boarded the earliest plane to Costa Rica. After landing, they met up with their tour guide, Eddie, and finally their Costa Rican adventure had begun. To catch up to the itinerary the group drove five hours from the airport to Puerto Viejo. CHS student Maggie Williams enjoyed the long bus ride, using it to brush up on her Spanish knowledge.

“I always tried to speak Spanish because I wanted to get better and I think that was really

Photography courtesy of Laurel Landrum Students took a picture at the colorful entry sign for the city of Jaco. “We drove to Manuel Antonio and went to the beach,” Landrum said. "We hung out at our hotel and walked around Jaco, which is the town nearby.”

cool,” Williams said. “I also talked to the tour guide, Eddie, and to Laurel in Spanish as often as I could.”

Puerto Viejo is an idyllic region of the country is known for its cloud forests and is home to the Maleku Tribe, one of the five main indigenous groups in Costa Rica. The tribe treated the students to a traditional meal, a walk through their medicinal forest and a fire dance historically performed at celebrations. The students also spent a day at a local low-income preschool in the area, playing soccer, blowing bubbles and donating sweets and school supplies.

Next, the students traveled to San Carlos where water features were the big attraction. First, the group visited La Fortuna Waterfall, where they swam in natural pools and climbed through cascades as the 246 foot waterfall towered overhead. For Landrum, the experience was breathtaking.

“It’s a really beautiful waterfall,” Landrum said. “You go there and you feel like it’s a tropical paradise. It’s this super tall waterfall falling through tropical plants, and you swim in the pools underneath. It’s so gorgeous.”

After La Fortuna, the group dried off and made their own chocolate at Jauri Tropical farm. The students observed and helped with every part of the process, from harvesting the raw beans off the tree to roasting and filtering the cacao before adding different ingredients to get the best tasting product possible.

The last stop in San Carlos was Baldi, a water park fueled by the hot springs of the Arenal Volcano. This stop on the trip proved to be very popular with the group, as students met and talked with high schoolers from Ohio and California. With watersides that claimed to reach up to 28 mph, the water park was the perfect stop for the trip’s thrill seekers.

In Monteverde, a canopy tour awaited the CHS stu-

dents. Students zip-lined high above the forest floor. Treated to breathtaking views from a series of platforms and suspension bridges, the vantage point provided a unique perspective on the lush, vibrant ecosystem below. Students experienced the beauty of Monteverde as they took in the sights from the sky. Students were able to swung above the clouds and feel cold in summer.

The following day, students headed to the Carara Biological Reserve, where the dry tropical forest seamlessly blends with the lush northern landscape.

Established in 1978, this reserve is renowned for its exceptional birdwatching opportunities with colorful toucans and Scarlet macaws After soaking in the reserve’s natural beauty, students arrived on the Pacific Coast, spending the afternoon engaging with the local culture and relaxing amidst stunning beach views.

After a bus ride, students headed to Antonio National Park. Accompanied by a guide, they hiked along scenic trails that led to pristine beaches and encountered diverse wildlife, including playful white-faced Capuchin monkeys. The beaches were full of wildlife and beaches. Students stayed in a hotel on the beach and visited the local business near by.

Students traveled to Sarchí after Antonio National Park, known for its vibrant arts and crafts. Students participated in a workshop where they learned about traditional ox-cart making and painted their souvenirs.

At last, students concluded their trip in San José, enjoying a farewell dinner featuring a Costa Rican folklore show, complete with traditional music, dance and stories that celebrate the local culture of the Tico people.

Reflecting on the trip, not everything went as planned, but students had an immersive experience in a foreign country and strengthened their friendships through the uncertainties.

“I think they all bonded a lot,” Landrum said. “I think there was bonding through a shared disaster for parts of it.”

Despite unexpected setbacks during the trip, those unique experiences could potentially prepare students for the future in the constantly changing world today.

“If you’ve experienced that

kind of discomfort before, I think it makes it easier to work through that later on,” Landrum said. “Learning how to work through those feelings of discomfort, knowing you’re an outsider and acclimate in those situations will carry through to multiple different scenarios in the future.”

Photography courtesy of Laurel Landrum

Top: Pao Eagle enjoyed zip lining above the cloud.

Bottom: CHS students visited a local preschool. They interacted with the local students and brought them gifts. "It was a great way to practice our Spanish,” Nina Tinney said. “Since they don’t mind if you say something incorrectly in Spanish.”

A Rower’s World

In the world of rowing, CHS students make a big splash.

BY AVA GRIFFITH, VIOLET KNYAL AND ELIJAH MAKMAN-LEVINSON

► Rowing, or “crew,” as it’s more commonly known, is a sport that blends mental stamina and physical endurance.

For rowers Liliana Amjadi Klass, Eloise MacDougald and Sophie Banta who all row for Huron High School, rowing is much more than just a workout on the water, it’s a test of grit, skill and stamina.

For Amjadi Klass, MacDougald and Banta, practice begins around 5 p.m.. After retrieving oars from the boathouse and preparing the boats, the coach assigns lineups. They get seating arrangements for the day, and from there, it’s time to hit the water.

Every person in the boat plays a specific role. One example is the coxswain, they steer the boat and shout commands to control the boat’s speed, timing and fluidity. Another role that works directly with the coxswain is the stroke seat, this rower faces the coxswain and sets the pace, and everyone else behind the stroke seat will follow.

“We row as hard as we can, and it’s all about mental stamina,” Amjadi Klass said.

Rowing is extremely demanding. It’s not just the mental strength, but the physical too. Amjadi Klass, MacDougald and Banta

agree that it stands out as one of the toughest sports they’ve ever encountered. “It’s literally considered the hardest Olympic sport,” Amjadi Klass said.

A misconception in rowing is that the strength that is needed is mainly generated from the upper body, but in reality rowing is almost entirely dependent on the strength of the legs, back and shoulders.

MacDougald believes that rowing has developed her quads and made them “super ripped.” Additionally, MacDougald credits sculling, where each rower uses two oars, as a training that builds muscle into her shoulders and core more effectively than sweep rowing, where rowers use one oar.

Unlike other team sports, in rowing you can’t substitute anyone out or in. Once the race begins, giving up is simply not an option.

MacDougald, who has played a variety of sports, feels that rowing is incomparable to anything she has done in the past. It’s on a whole different level.

“[Rowing] is such a great community-building sport,” Banta said. “It’s not an individual effort, it’s an effort of a whole group. You grow such great bonds with the people on your team.”

Rowing is also extraordinarily time-consuming. At Huron, rowing practices take place every day after school for roughly three hours, and crew’s race days, known as regattas, are all-day events that take place almost every Saturday. Rowers spend more than 20 hours a week throughout the fall and spring sports seasons on the water with additional practices held throughout the winter season. The immense commitment rowers devote to their sport can make it very difficult for them to do things outside of rowing.

My least favorite part [of rowing] is definitely the time commitment,” Banta said. “It makes it really hard to do my homework and I can’t really have a social life

Rowers are typically in a boat with four or eight other people, and everybody in that boat must rely on each other. From every stroke to every order the coxswain shouts, every rower’s actions are necessary for success. The reliance each individual rower gives each other creates a strong sense of camaraderie.

outside of rowing because it just takes up so much of my time. And if you’re not careful, you can end up going to sleep very late, not studying for a test or not having your homework turned in because after you come back from practice, you’re so exhausted. So it can definitely be challenging.”

Despite how hard it is to focus on other aspects of her life, Banta knows that the huge time commitment that she and her teammates devote to rowing is crucial to performing well on regatta days.

During regattas, several teams compete. The day consists of setting up the boats, rigging them for racing and getting them onto the water. The first race usually kicks off at around 8 a.m. but the teams arrive beforehand between 6 and 6:30 a.m.

“Regattas are so early,” MacDougald said.

Despite the long hours of preparation, the actual race time is only about ten minutes or less, depending on the race’s length and boat’s speed.

Huron High School’s preparation for racing involves rigging the boats and going for a run an hour or so before launching

the boats for races. For Amjadi Klass and MacDougald, food plays a key role in fueling these intense race days. Breakfast at regattas typically includes options like pancakes and bacon, while lunch often consists of quesadillas and other snacks brought by the rowers’ families.

Most parents opt to follow the race by biking alongside the course, as most regattas take place along rivers or lakes. In MacDougald’s case, her parents don’t really watch, they just happen to see her if she passes by. Some families set up chairs near the end of the race to see the team’s finish and to catch a glimpse of the race in action.

Most rowers start in high school, which makes rowing a very accessible sport for high schoolers who haven’t played a sport in the past.

“If kids are interested in doing a sport in high school and they haven’t done one before, I recommend crew,” Banta said. “[In] all these other sports, like field hockey or soccer, in my opinion, many kids start when they’re really young, so if you try to start one in high school and you’re not naturally gifted, it might be challenging for

you to keep up with the rest of the team. But most people that join crew in high school are new, so you can easily progress and keep up with the team if you start crew in high school.”

Rowing isn’t for the faint of heart — it requires both physical and mental strength. Whether it’s the mental toughness needed to keep pushing during a race, the physical strength built through hours of training all year long, or the camaraderie shared among teammates and their families, rowing offers more than just a workout on the water.

It’s not just about the strokes you take in the boat, it’s about the community you build, the discipline you learn, and the mental resilience you develop through such a mentally and physically demanding sport.

Photography courtesy of Violet Knyal CHS coxswain Sylvie Bleckman leads her boat on the Huron River. That day the team was doing endurance training. “When I’m able to work with my team I just feel good,” Bleckman said. “When we give each other feedback that’s when we succeed and win races.”

CET Takes on Shakespeare

A new season of CET brings in new members and changes in positions.

BY MIA RUBENSTEIN, JESSICA ROTHSTEIN AND MARIAH ZEIGLER

► The Craft Theater buzzed with laughter and conversation as members of CET’s cast warmed up for auditions for the fall play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” by William Shakespeare. Each cast member performed a selected scene or monologue. Maggie Williams, a junior, felt excited yet nervous. She was surprised that CET would take on a Shakespeare production, as they typically choose more unconventional shows. But it’s become a tradition for CET to do a Shakespeare play every four years. It gives every class the chance to do it once within their four years at CHS.

“Shakespeare is wonderful for many practical reasons,” said Emily Wilson-Tobin, CET director. “There are large casts, it’s inexpensive to produce in terms of the fact that it’s free, we can make lots of changes and nobody cares. And then also, it’s really wonderful in terms of exploring depth of character.”

“I always love Shakespeare. ‘Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ In high schools, it’s a common thread to take Shakespeare and add a twist,” said Jules Gates, stage manager.

Because of the materials’ expired copyrights, there is a lot of flexibility, which CET members are excited to take advantage of. An overarching theme that has been discussed is a take on Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club.”

“We’re thinking about how the forest is a place for free expression,” Wilson-Tobin said.

The show’s cross-gender casting also supports this vision of inclusivity, representation and

challenging the norms.

Aria Rosenfeld, a new costume crew member, is one of many members who are excited to join the production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Drawn to CET for its flexibility and student involvement, Rosenfeld enjoys the freedom of contributing creativity to the show.

“I just really like clothes and styling,” Rosenfeld said. “I love making fun little outfits.”

She is eager to bring her passion for fashion to CET and looks forward to personal touches to the costumes. Rosenfeld highlights the inclusivity within CET and feels welcomed by students from all grades, even in the first few weeks of production.

For Stolerow, the inclusivity within CET means a lot to her. “I really love the close community,” Stolerow said. “My freshman year, I literally just randomly shouted out, ‘oh my god, I hate this math problem so much,” and five different people came up and tried to help me with it.”

Returning members are also taking on new responsibilities. After doing two shows with crew and one with cast, Gates has decided to explore stage management. Gates loves the camaraderie that comes with working behind the scenes and loves how crew members and heads form bonds while working together.

During Gates’ time as assistant stage manager last year, he’s found that managing the show from behind the scenes is especially rewarding. Even in middle school, he imagined taking on a significant role in

theater, inspired by the productions he’d seen, including CET’s “Cabaret.”

“Cabaret” was a show that Wilson-Tobin directed early in her career at CHS. She became the CET director four years ago alongside the current senior class. This fall, Wilson-Tobin chose a light and funny play.

“I’m looking forward to helping students feel confident about performing Shakespeare and finding humor in it,” Wilson-Tobin said.

Another CET staff member, Adam Weakley, is starting his first year as Tech Director for CET. Weakley split-enrolled to CHS during his high school career but ultimately graduated from Pioneer High School. Soon after graduating, he began a professional career in theater. Weakley’s worked multiple jobs, including Director of Operations for Tobin Lake Studios, which specializes in renting out specialized theater equipment and supplies. In addition to working with CET crews, Weakley freelances in both acting and theater equipment work, working on theater projects in and around the Ann Arbor area. The Tech Director position at Community

opened in early 2023 and Weakley jumped at the opportunity.

“I’ve been to several shows in the last few years here, and I’m really impressed with the level of theater that’s being done,” Weakley said. “I’m excited to be back and I’m looking forward to getting to know the cast and crew better. I’m looking forward to being a part of one of those shows that I was so proud to come and see.”

Most crews have started work on various design elements of the show, fitting in with the “Pink Pony Club” theme. The cast has also started meeting in their preliminary rehearsals. These rehearsals mostly focus on reading through the challenging Shakespeare script along with creating some initial blocking.

In addition, each member of the ensemble has received lines as a fairy. This means that every cast member will have a moment of dialogue just for themselves.

Wilson-Tobin, Weakley and members of the cast and crew including Stolerow are excited to continue working together to develop “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for their performances from Nov. 21-24.

Photography by Jessica Rothstein Jasmine Jennings, Luca Hinesman, Toula Greenawalt, Claire Lewis, Gwen Galvin and Malcolm London attempt a coordinated kick line just before rehearsal. Cast and crew began production for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in September. “I decided to do CET because the people here are great,” Galvin said. “It feels like home.”

A New Era of Forum Leadership

Changes in staffing bring new and returning leaders into the forum program.

BY ELIZABETH CLARK AND SOPHIE BANTA

► It was early August when Jesse Richmond received the news that was going to change his 2024–25 school year. When his call with Dean Marci Tuzinsky ended, he felt an overflow of excitement and trepidation for what lay ahead of him: taking over Maneesha Mankad’s forum.

With many changes in the Ann Arbor Public School district this year, the forum program at CHS was not promised to remain the same. This year, a change in leadership has occurred in three forums: Jesse Richmond, Marcy McCormick and Liz Stern are stepping into the roles of previous leaders, Maneesha Mankad, Luciana Qu and Dianne Dudley.

When Richmond learned he would be leading a forum, he began to wonder what path he should take for his group. Encouraging all of his students to take on leadership roles and be involved in the forum was his

first priority.

“I’m never going to be Maneesha, and there’s just always going to be things that she does better than me,” Richmond said. “I have some concerns about that, but I also see it as an opportunity to do something new.”

He is especially excited about the introduction of the TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Life of Students) program CHS brought into forum this year. TRAILS focuses on the mental and emotional health of students through lessons and activities such as mental health-focused bingo.

“I think that it’s important to get the opportunity to talk about different tools and strategies when you’re in high school, so you can be prepared for them when you grow up,”

Richmond said. “[TRAILS offers] valuable skills that I’ve seen help my own life and I’m

excited to spread awareness of them with high schoolers.”

Mankad, a forum leader and math teacher for the past decade, made the difficult decision to step down and hand off her forum to Richmond due to personal reasons. She sees forum as one of the backbones of both students’ and teachers’ experiences at CHS and misses the opportunity to keep up with her group of students.

“Forum is where the students start to feel a sense of belonging,” Mankad said. “It’s a very relationship-based school, and forum is what cements those relationships.”

She deeply enjoys seeing the development of students throughout their high school career. For Mankad, seeing how each student grows in confidence and maturity is one of the most fulfilling parts of being a forum leader.

While trusting someone new with her forum group was an initial concern for Mankad, she has nothing but confidence in Richmond’s ability to lead.

“Jesse has such a great personality,” Mankad said. “He’s such a thoughtful individual, he brings thoughtfulness and kindness to everything he does and he’s very generous with his time and spirit. I have absolute confidence that he will do the best job.”

Another change in leadership came to the Qu Forum, with McCormick taking over while Qu pursues a master’s degree in computer science.

For McCormick, forum is based around connection, leadership and service.

She feels that connection comes from feeling that there’s a space for you. There are people that care about you and that you’re going to get to know on a deeper level than just your classmates.

Leadership comes from the opportunity to be a leader in a small group. McCormick feels that by 12th grade, students have taken a huge leadership role in their forum, including leading forum bulletins and in-

troducing younger students to the complex atmosphere of our school.

The last theme McCormick has observed is service. Students are given the opportunity to give back to the community, engage in service programs and be of service to each other in many ways.

As McCormick navigates her new role as a forum leader, her students in her forum have guided her the most.

“They have been so supportive of helping me figure out how to run a forum,” McCormick said. “I’m like a student in that aspect. I’m going to learn from the forumettes what worked, what didn’t work and what they want forum to be. We’ll all figure it out together.”

Unlike McCormick and Richmond, Liz Stern has been a forum leader in the past. This year, she leads her fourth forum, taking over Dianne Dudley’s due to Dudley’s switch to exclusively teaching online.

“I love teaching all the classes that I teach,” Stern said. “But forum is definitely the only place where you’re going to see kids running around in the woods playing sardines.”

Similarly to Mankad, Stern deeply enjoys seeing, and being involved in students’ growth and development throughout their time at CHS.

Stern also enjoys how each forum is distinct, and how students with different backgrounds come together to create a unique group.

“It’s interesting how every forum has their own personality,” Stern said. “They kind of come together in a way that’s different from all the other forums.”

She hopes to expand on each student’s uniqueness and foster a supportive environment for each forumette.

While the 2024-25 school year comes with many changes, including to the beloved forum program, students have nothing to fear as three new strong and supportive leaders are full of anticipation for what this year holds.

Photography by Daniel Jacob Marcy McCormick laughs with her forumettes as they plan for their first forum day. This year, McCormick is excited to have a forum and to start this new chapter in her teaching career.

Inside 2024: The Events Shaping the Election

There are key points in this election cycle that will make a difference in the ballot box.

BY IVY MILLER AND JANAKI NALLAMOTHU

The Republican National Convention was held in Milwaukee, WI.

July 15

Michigan voters cast ballots for the presidential primaries.

Feb. 27

Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Biden as the Democratic Party presidential nominee.

Aug. 6

Former President Trump was shot in the ear at his rally in Butler, PA. Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20 year-old man who shot him, is registered as a Republican voter from Pennsylvania. Among the three rally-goers shot, Corey Comperatore, a volunteer fire chief, was the only victim killed. Crooks positioned himself on the roof of a nearby building, AR-style weapon in hand. Crooks’ father had legally purchased a gun and Crooks himself bought 50 rounds of ammunition the day of the rally.

July 13

“I am excited for the possibility of having a woman president,” said Ellie Robbins, junior.

The Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago, IL.

President Biden visited Ann Arbor, MI.

Aug. 19 Sept. 6

ART BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI

The parents of Ethan Crumbley, the Oxford school shooter, were sentenced to at least 10 years in prison.

April 9

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that former presidents can never be prosecuted for actions relating to the core powers of their office. The ruling of Trump v. United States favored the former president, rendering him immune to prosecution regarding his actions as president.

July 1

“I feel like some of the stuff I heard from both ends has been unprofessional,” said

junior Eva Millwood.

Former President Trump and Vice President Harris went head-to-head in the ABC News presidential debate.

Sept. 10

President Joe Biden visited Detroit, MI for the NAACP Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner.

May 19

“I think it’s pretty crazy that Trump got convicted, but I think it’s even more crazy that he’s still allowed to run for president,” said Lee

Greenberg, sophomore.

Former President Donald Trump was found guilty by a New York jury on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

May 30

An assassination attempt took place while Trump was golfing at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, FL. As the second attempt at Trump’s life in three months, federal officials were quick to take the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, into custody. The Secret Service spotted an AK-47-style weapon sticking out of the bushes alongside the golf course, roughly 400 yards away.

Sept. 15

All Eyes on the Debate

The first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump left conversations buzzing through the halls of CHS.

BY PAYTON SLY

► As Ella Weinberger finished packing for her trip to New York, her mother, just a few minutes past 9 p.m., asked to join her for a girl’s night on the couch. The first presidential debate of 2024 between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump began, though Weinberger hoped to witness a more focused debate than what she saw that night.

“I’d watch the [debate] in prior years once I could understand what was going on,” Weinberger said. “This year I kind of assumed it would be a little better of a debate than it actually was.”

Weinberger was shocked at the lack of composure from both candidates.

“I was a little confused how people running in the biggest election in the United States were kind of being just a little ridiculous,” Weinberger said. “I

had an ‘aha’ moment like, ‘Wow these people are running for president.’”

Maggie Williams, on the other hand, thought that Harris handled the debate very well compared to Trump.

“I just remember when it was Trump’s turn to speak, thinking ‘Oh, what is he going to say this time.’” Williams said.

Eight million new members of Gen Z will be eligible to vote in the 2024 election according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. Data shows that their motivation to vote is driven by topics such as climate change, economic stability, inflation and housing costs.

Celebrity endorsements of the candidates also play a huge role in swaying Gen Z voters one way or another. This has already happened with Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish endorsing Harris

through social media, while Trump won the endorsements of Bryce Hall, Hulk Hogan and more. Around 400,000 people registered to vote through the link Swift provided on her Instagram page.

Rebecca White, a senior at Community, and a first-time voter — having freshly turned 18 — is eager to make a difference, no matter how small.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life and I’m really excited to help make a change in the world because every vote counts,” White said.

What stood out to her most was Trump’s blatant comments, which were extremely inaccurate. White hopes that someone who lies this much doesn’t win the favor of the nation.

“He’s not mentally able to lead our country,” White said. “I don’t want someone telling me that my pets are go -

Who?

Who? Who?

Health Care?

ing to be eaten.”

Trump claimed that immigrants are eating the pets of the residents of Springfield, Ohio. This shocking claim was not only amusing for White but was also concerning.

Although they were young and fairly uneducated about the presidential candidates, White remembers herself and her classmates from her middle school: Summers Knoll, being overjoyed at the results of the 2020 election. She vividly recalls watching Joe Biden’s inauguration alongside her classmates. It was hard to tell if their relief was mostly rooted in the fact that Trump was no longer in office.

Chloe Root, CHS government teacher, eagerly awaited this debate, given that she felt "guilty" having watched the previous one. She was excited to watch an experienced attorney debate someone who had somewhat of a different approach. Root had more of an expectation for what the candidates would express and say in comparison to the 2016 debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton. Root recalled previous debates Harris had participated in which gave her a good idea of how she would handle situations. But before 2016, it was hard to get ahead of the game with Trump.

While his style was fairly unknown, it quickly became obvious.

As someone so interested in the American government and the flow of the election, Root forecasted the likelihood of different aspects of the debate, which made some things less shocking to her such as the claims Trump was making. However, something she hadn’t predicted was when Harris made a claim about U.S. troops being inactive in active war

sage across that would have been a little bit more honest,” Root said.

Naturally, teaching government comes along with discussions about the debate in class. Even students who hadn’t watched it were active in the conversation, given that it’s such a big topic. Root finds that an exciting part about being a teacher is to see students engaging in conversations like this.

I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life.

REBECCA WHITE

zones. Root believes that she understands what Harris was trying to say, but she thought it could’ve been phrased differently.

“I thought there were so many things that she was saying that were substantial, and there were probably ways that she could’ve said and gotten that same mes -

“We spent a good 15 minutes at the beginning of each of my government classes talking about it,” Root said. “It was nice to have all my students be excited about it and even the ones who hadn’t gotten to see any of it had heard about it. So there wasn’t anyone totally sitting out of the conversation, everyone was interested.”

The closing statements given by each candidate left Americans on a cliffhanger. What is their next step? Harris plans to invest in small businesses, reinforce women’s rights to their bodily anatomy, focus on promoting the middle class and strengthen the backbone of our economy. Trump plans to reinforce the military to protect the nation from external threats and, although disregarding fossil fuels, use energy to its fullest potential in an effort to make America stronger. What’s next?

All About Service

An Ann Arbor City Council member shares his political journey prior to his 2024 bid for reelection.

BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI

► Picture a town in Southeast Michigan called Franklin. It’s small, primarily conservative and touristy. Historically, roughly three to five graduates from the local high school are sent to the University of Michigan (U of M) every year. However, in 2004, 16 seniors from that high school moved to Ann Arbor to study at U of M. One student in particular, Travis Radina, planned to pursue a degree in political science. He became interested in politics at 14 years old when he volunteered as a poll greeter for Mike Hanley’s campaign for county clerk in Saginaw County. Little did Radina know, he would end up making headlines as the first openly gay mayor pro tempore in 20 years, a position authorizing him to assume mayoral duties in the absence of an official mayor.

After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2008, Radina worked in the state legislature for five years before working on a congressional race. After that, a state representative offered him a job in Lansing working for Kate Segel, who became the democratic floor leader of the State House. When Radina accepted a job at the U of M Alumni Association, he moved back to Ann Arbor and started getting more involved in the community. For four years, Radina served as the president of Jim Toy Community Center, an LGBTQIA+ resource center in Washtenaw County.

As a result, Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor asked Radina to serve as an LGBTQIA+ liaison, where he worked with both the mayor and the city council until 2020. This was the year that Councilman Zach Ackerman decided not to run again. Radina reached out to Ackerman to make sure that the next candidate was pro-equality, someone with whom Radina could work with as Jim Toy Center President and LGBTQIA+ liaison.

“If I have my way, we’ll have a great candidate, because I’d really like you to run,” Ackerman said.

Running for office was something Radina had thought about. He felt it could be a great opportunity to continue having an impact on the work he really cared about in the city.

“For me, it’s really about service,” Radina said. “I recognized that in my previous capacity, I had a lot of influence with the council on issues of LGBTQIA+ rights, civil rights and equality, but on all of the other things that were really important to me, like climate change and housing, I was just another voice. Having the opportunity to have a seat at the table and help shape some of that policy to improve our community has been really important, and that’s why I’m really excited about continuing to do it.”

Today, a moment just over two years ago when he unexpectedly made international news for calling out a colleague on the University Council for using homophobic and racist slurs still sits with Radina.

“Having progressive, diverse voices at the table where decisions are being made is really important to making sure that we’re calling out that hate and stopping it from be-

coming policy,” Radina said. “If somebody’s willing to say slurs, what are they willing to legislate? Those are the types of things that I think had a profound impact on what the outcomes [at the council table] are.”

For aspiring activists who identify as LGBTQIA+, Radina doesn’t deny that the experience will be tough. There are days where it can be “nasty, negative and cynical,” but in Radina’s experience, building a strong network of people around you — people you would rely on to pick you back up in your worst moments — can remind you of why you’re doing this all in the first place.

“You can have tough days,” Radina said. “I’m not gonna lie about that. But I am given so much hope by looking at folks who are younger than I am now, as they’re getting engaged and not backing down from some of these fights, voting in numbers that young people haven’t really voted for in decades and showing up and making a difference. So if you don’t think you can do it, yes, you can.”

Something that Radina noticed about the election cycle this year

“Having progressive, diverse voices at the table where decisions are being made is really important to make sure that we’re calling out that hate and stopping it from becoming policy,” Radina said. “If somebody’s willing to say slurs, what are they willing to legislate?”

Photo courtesy of Travis Radina Travis Radina delivers remarks at Ann Arbor Pride. Having held the position of president at the Jim Toy Community Center for four years, he addressed the crowd with pride.

is how local politics are trickling up. For example, Ann Arbor’s City Council passed a resolution supporting a ceasefire in Gaza. Radina and his colleagues have discussed related issues at the council table, pushing back on local rises in antisemitism while also trying to make sure that Middle Eastern and Muslim citizens feel safe and welcome despite rising division.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is not waiting to hear what the Ann Arbor City Council thinks,” Radina said. “But what we can do is continue to have an impact by making our local com-

helped to enact the Crown Act, a local ordinance that prohibits discrimination based on hair texture and protective hairstyles. “Now I realize how impactful it is to people who never thought anybody was caring about something like that,” Radina said. “That feeling really stuck with me.”

munity members feel safe and welcome in their community.”

Radina is aware of how international issues impact us locally, particularly in a diverse community like Ann Arbor with constituents from such a broad array of backgrounds. He tries to do the best that he can at the local level to make sure that people are safe and to make clear that Ann Arbor is their home too.

Radina asserts that we all have a stake in this election, even if our issues are local. Hearing both Kamala Harris and Gretchen Whitmer talk about the housing crisis on national and state stages, respectively, was extremely validating for Radina, as lack of affordable housing is an issue that has remained throughout his entire run on the council.

“I came back to council after witnessing the State of the State address and said, ‘Governor Whitmer says, “Build, baby, build,”’” Radina said. “‘So let’s get to work.’”

Radina encourages young adults to participate in their democracy. He finds the fact that we already have a Generation Z member of Congress amazing, and believes that this couldn’t have happened if people didn’t step up and build coalitions and support one another. For those who want to get involved but don’t know how, he recommends volunteering in a campaign.

“Those issues are your local issues,” he said. “To hear a presidential candidate talk about it, and the meaningfulness of having an ally in the White House to cities like ours and helping us achieve some of those things that aren’t just issues of zoning, but are issues of affordability, are issues of whether or not our community continues to be diverse, or if people have to flee to find housing elsewhere. Those are critical local issues and so they’re absolutely connected to one another.”

People can walk into the common law office on South State St. or email their city council members and simply ask how to get involved. There are youth spots available on boards and commissions, and many city council members are almost always looking for volunteers. Some of Radina’s colleagues have student interns who help research policy, and some need volunteers who want to knock on doors and get involved in ballot campaigns in state representative races or city council races.

“Everything that I’ve done throughout my political career was built upon building a network and getting to know people and building that trust and that reputation for myself so that when the next opportunity arose they thought about me,” Radina said. “That’s why you just gotta knock on that first door.”

While the prospect of going doorto-door and talking to people seems intimidating, Radina doesn’t shy away from campaigning in person and considers meeting people to be his favorite part of political involvement. When he ran for council in 2020, Radina announced his campaign in February. A month lat-

er, just after he had gotten enough signatures to qualify for the ballot, everything was shut down because of the pandemic. For the first leg of quarantine, Radina was miserable, making phone calls and trying to connect to voters. He dealt with the difficulty not being able to see the person’s face and even not some not picking up the phone.

“I know that most people are busy,” Radina said. “They have lives. They’re working, they’re raising their kids. Spending time talking to a candidate for city council is not

It's all about people. If I didn’t think that I was helping to make people’s lives better, I wouldn’t keep running.

TRAVIS RADINA

high on their priority list.”

For Radina, being able to see whether or not people are engaged in the conversation and being able to connect on the issues that matter to them is crucial. Face-to-face, it’s a lot easier for people to build enough trust to share that with you, and it’s not something you can always do through the phone. You can do it on somebody’s doorstep when you’re talking to them, engage with them and clearly show interest in what they’re talking about.

Learning what struggles people face on a daily basis shapes what Radina plans to do. He finds motivation in being able to represent the people in his district and push an agenda that is important to them and makes their lives better.

“It’s all about people,” Radina said. “If I didn’t think that I was helping to make people’s lives better, I wouldn’t keep running.”

Photo courtesy of Travis Radina Travis Radina speaks to attending members of the Ann Arbor NAACP. He

Behind the Bench

Tamara Garwood, Magistrate of the 15th District Court, hopes to continue promoting justice throughout Washtenaw County by running for judge.

BY ELIJAH MAKMAN-LEVINSON

► With over 25 years of legal experience, Magistrate Tamara Garwood has made the decision to run for the open judge seat on the 15th District Court in the Nov. 5 election.

A graduate of the University of Michigan and the Detroit College of Law, Garwood worked in the Child and Family Abuse Bureau at the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office throughout law school, where she handled hundreds of domestic violence cases and personal protection order cases.

Garwood worked as an attorney for 17 years and was then appointed Magistrate for the 15th District Court, a position she has held for eight years.

As Magistrate, she’s handled over 40,000 criminal and civil cases. Garwood has made the decision to run for the judge seat primarily because she has seen that as Magistrate, she has greatly increased countless defendants’ access to justice, and if elected, she hopes to continue to promote that access to justice across all of Washtenaw County.

For Garwood, increasing access to justice means a number of things. It means giving every person the oppor-

tunity to seek a fair, impartial ruling regardless of their social or economic status. It means ensuring that when people go to court, they understand exactly what’s going to happen to them and the repercussions of what they did. It includes guaranteeing that people’s voices are heard and that they are treated with respect in the court. It also means ensuring that people have the resources to physically get to court. Garwood believes that increasing access to justice should be a fundamental freedom in this country, and she wants to bring this access to Washtenaw County.

The main way Garwood will implement this in Washtenaw County’s local government is by putting an end to what she calls “cookie-cutter justice” and instead implementing an individualized approach to justice, which is something she already strives to do as a magistrate. Cookie-cutter justice involves applying the same rules and guidelines to people as you do laws. It fails to treat people convicted of crimes as individuals and instead treats them as the crimes they’ve committed, without looking beyond

to notice any conditions under which they may have been brought to court.

“If we just apply everything as cookie-cutter justice, if you get charged with driving while license suspended, that’s it. $500, this is your due date,” Garwood said. “But what if you don’t have a job, what if you have a disability? There’s no money coming in. Is it appropriate to say that person should pay $500?”

Garwood’s personalized approach to justice holds people accountable but puts the person before the crime they committed. It involves thinking through all she can about a convicted person’s background before sending them to court and deciding the verdict. It could mean providing people with online or remote options if they physically can’t get to court, scheduling court on Zoom for people who have to take care of their young children and can’t leave their homes, providing people with an attorney who don’t have access to one, making sure that people understand what’s going down during court appearances and providing people who are unhoused or who experience food insecurity

Photography by Kyrie Garwood. Tamara Garwood presides over a case in the courtroom.

Garwood has seen that the personalized approach she utilizes as Magistrate always treats people fairly and ensures justice. “Every day, I see the difference I make when somebody goes to court,” Garwood said.

shelter, food and ways to communicate with others.

“If someone comes to my courtroom, I’m going to treat them not as their crime, not as their criminal history, but I’m going to try to figure out who you are and what brought you here,” Garwood said. “I’m looking at you as an individual so I can address whatever disparities there are.”

Garwood always gets to know the people that come to court, which she believes many judges throughout America fail to do.

“I believe that I do a nice job of connecting with people,” Garwood said. “One of my favorite things is actually engaging with people in the courtroom, hearing their stories and trying to figure out what brought them to court and what we can do, because we as a community have a responsibility to uplift everyone in our community so we can all be productive members of society.”

As Magistrate, Garwood's approach to justice is something she knows that she can carry out on a higher level if she is elected.

“I can tailor the right solution for you so that you have effective and appropriate justice for you, not for the next person, just for you,” Garwood said. “Every time that I’m able to make one of those connections and make the world a little better for that one person, that’s enough to guide me to want to continue to do this and do this on a bigger scale.”

People often experience bias in court because of their race, ethnicity or sexuality. Garwood’s approach will help to eliminate biased treatment.

“By treating people like just regular people, like we’re talking on the street, I’m treating everybody equally and fairly and giving everybody an opportunity to be heard,” Garwood said. “It’s always my goal that there are no disparities based upon different things because I treat everybody with respect. You’re human and you’re entitled to that respect.”

In addition to implementing her individualized approach to justice in court, if elected judge, Garwood plans on increasing community engagement and youth outreach. This entails teaching the frameworks of law and policy to children of all ages through many different avenues. Most Ann Arbor children attended Safety Town, a Rec & Ed program to

teach kids about safety before they started kindergarten. Garwood has made an effort to go to Safety Town once a week during each session to teach the children about the consequences of not being safe. Garwood plans on continuing to do this, and if elected judge, she’ll find additional ways to teach young kids about the law and the criminal justice system.

“It’s just a little thing, but it’s getting kids used to knowing and understanding what the law is, what the expectations are and that there are consequences if you don’t follow that,” Garwood said.

In addition to teaching preschool children, Garwood plans to advance community outreach for high school students, like those at Community High School. She plans on creating a program for high schoolers, and a similar program for fourth and eighth graders, which introduces them to the legal system. She hopes to go to high schools across AAPS to teach 10th grade students about the law and help them write their own scripts to prepare for a mock trial. Then, she’ll organize an opportunity for these students to come to the courtroom, where they’ll participate in their own trials, with students acting as jurors, bailiffs and judges. This is an incredible opportunity to demystify what happens in the courthouse.

“[Through this, kids will] understand that there are rules and there are consequences if you don’t follow them and understand that the court isn’t just a place of punishment, it’s a place of healing, it’s a place of rehabilitation,” Garwood said. “So I think that does a lot to engage with the community and teach young people. And who knows, maybe someone will be inspired and they’ll go into public service or want to be a lawyer.”

Garwood also plans on finding more ways for high school students to be given opportunities for growth toward positive futures. Indeed, she views youth as a powerful force who holds the future in their hands, and she does what she can to promote the civic engagement of young people. Garwood encourages young people to vote as soon as they are eligible and hopes to continue to promote this if elected judge.

“What do you need to have a successful world? You have to vote,” Garwood said. “You have to vote because

it’s your turn, it’s your chance, it’s your opportunity to make a difference in the world, and the way you do that is by being involved, deciding who our leaders should be, deciding what our policies should be, what’s going to carry us forward. So I can make those decisions for you as a 50-something year old, but really, young people are the ones who should be making those decisions. Because it’s your world.”

Garwood is thus not someone who will only expand justice in the courtroom and in the community but will expand justice in schools, classrooms and in the minds of the youth.

It’s not uncommon for someone to be arrested for drug possession who

It’s always my goal that there are no disparities based upon different things because I treat everybody with respect. You’re human and you’re entitled to that respect.

TAMARA GARWOOD

hasn’t eaten a proper meal for days, felt clean for weeks or slept on a bed in months. Imagine an unhoused and underfed man walking into court on an early morning charged with drug activity. Picture Garwood as the judge, sitting on the bench in the courtroom ready to preside over this case. This man would have someone who wants to ensure that he’s treated with dignity, respect and care. This man would have someone who would ensure that he has a bed to sleep on, food to eat and a shower to get clean. This man would have someone who sees him as a whole person, not solely as someone who has done something wrong. This man would have Judge Garwood.

The Common Ground

Debbie Dingell, Michigan’s 6th district congresswoman, has always prioritized fighting for working families, and she believes in working together on critical issues.

BY AMELIA SANDSTROM

► When Representative Debbie Dingell first heard about Private Reheel Siddiqui’s death, she knew something was up. On March 18, 2016, Siddiqui — originally from Taylor, Michigan — died of a reported suicide at a marine boot camp in Parris Island, North Carolina. Siddiqui was a class valedictorian never had any previous mental health issues; his family couldn’t understand why he would kill himself. Neither could Dingell, so she went and talked to veterans, got out in the community, wrote letters to generals and pressed for additional information. Finally, she got to the bottom of what turned out to be a much more corrupt situation than what was presented.

Dingell discovered that Siddiqui wasn’t the first Arab-American that a Parris Island drill sergeant had violently mistreated. Her determination to help her people won justice for Siddiqui and his family and brought attention to the wrongs experienced by people in similar situations.

This is just one of the many instances where Dingell talked to the people in her community about the issues concerning them. She’s served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2014 and is up for reelection this November.

“As I prepare for this year’s election, I do what I’ve done since I’ve been elected, which is to listen to people,” Dingell said. “I go where people are. I go to the farmers markets. I go to the Union halls, the veterans halls, the schools. I love talking and meeting with kids and listening to what’s on people’s minds.”

Dingell has been at her home in Ann Arbor almost every weekend since August so that she can meet with people in order to understand the issues that they’re concerned about: so she can help them. She’s found that young people especially are worried about their own futures as well as the future of the environment and the United States as a whole.

“They’re worried about what the world is going to be like for them in decades to come,” Dingell said.

Dingell addresses these concerns by bringing people together to solve these issues in ways that the people she represents can be proud of. One of Dingell’s main focuses is on environmental issues. In dealing with the 1,4-dioxane plume issue in Ann Arbor, she

listened to the communities that were pitted against each other. She brought both sides together, held meetings and helped them to work together so that she could bring the issue higher and higher up, eventually getting some guidelines in place to reduce pollution and help begin to fix a long-lasting problem.

“Global climate is real, so I bring everybody who cares about it and has a perspective to the table,” Dingell said. “And instead of getting people to fight each other, [we] find the common ground where we can all work together.”

This idea of finding a “common ground” is one of Dingell’s key strategies for making change and ties into her essential process of listening and understanding people. In Congress, Dingell works with people who have different perspectives than her every day. Despite her current Democratic stance, her political views were different than they are today. Dingell has always fought for what she believed in, regardless of her affiliations with either party.

“I’ve been involved in the public policy process since I was in high school,” Dingell said. “In those days, I was actually a Republican.”

After Dingell married her husband, John Dingell, she shifted toward a more democratic approach. John, a Democrat, held the seat that Debbie now holds in Congress. Today, Debbie works with both parties frequently and strives to achieve the goal of helping the people of America, putting aside differences so that change can be made.

“I think it’s important to work with everybody, to listen to what they have to say, to find the common ground,” Dingell said.

Dingell works on bipartisan issues almost every day. In the House and on the streets, she solves problems with people who have all kinds of different perspectives, always seeking to better the lives of Michiganders in the 6th District and the nation as a whole.

Siddiqui’s case is just one of many examples of Dingell’s determination to help people. Even before she was in Congress, she was doing this. In Dingell’s time at Georgetown University, her roommate was diagnosed with a heart problem and Dingell soon realized there was a lack of research being done on women like her roommate. She found that even extremely large studies on heart disease

often included little to no data on women. Due to her findings, Dingell helped start the National Women’s Health Resource Center. Dingell has advocated for women’s health in a variety of areas, including breast cancer, endometriosis and menopause.

Issues like these are what drive Dingell. She urges people — young and old, experienced and new — to get involved.

“Become an expert on the issue. Get engaged in advocacy,” Dingell said. “Find people who want to work with you, to be the change you want to see.

Dingell is a problem solver. She is someone who knows how to get things done and finds that the best way to do this is to talk to people and to understand everyone’s point of view. That’s how she can represent the entirety of Michigan’s 6th District.

Photo courtesy of Debbie Dingell

Debbie Dingell gets to know her community during the Rosie the Riveter Honor Flight in 2023. Dingell has always found that the best way to make an impact is to engage with people, to listen to them. “If you care about something, you got to get involved,” Dingell said.

A Real Michigander

From manoomin to reproductive freedoms, she's eager to continue to serve the citizens of Michigan's 47th District.

BY IVY MILLER

►

Born and raised in Michigan, State Representative Carrie Rheingans is running for a second term. Rheingans represents Michigan’s 47th District, which includes western Washtenaw and southeast Jackson counties.

Rheingans ran for the first time in 2022 when there was an open seat in her district. After the 202 census, state districts were redrawn and new ones were created. Rheingans had primarily worked on state health policy and was interested in running to enact her policies.

Rheingans is a devoted advocate for water quality, which ties back to her health policy background. District 47 encompasses the 1,4-dioxane plume, a man-made substance that is a known carcinogen and was released with wastewater from the Gelman Sciences (later Pall Corporation and now Danaher) manufacturing facility on Wagner Road in Washtenaw County.

Local citizens have expressed their concerns about this to Rheingans and it is now a focus of hers for the coming term. Another key issue in District 47 is healthcare. Rheingans champions expanding access to mental health care and reproductive freedoms.

“I sponsored a bill to create a ‘Medicare for All’ style healthcare plan in Michigan, and I will continue to work on that for the next decade if I need to,” Rheingans said.

She is devoted to the mental and physical well-being of Michiganders from all backgrounds. Michigan is an extremely diverse state when it comes to religion, race and ethnicity.

Rheingans is also conscious of local Indigenous communities and their impact on the state.

“We have the natural beauty and the history of this place that was carved out by glaciers and settled by people thousands and thousands of years ago,” Rheingans said. “Those people are still here and they’ve had a strong impact on how we think of ourselves as Michiganders. I mean, the word Michigan even comes from Anishinaabemowin, which is the language of the Great Lakes peoples, the Ojibwe, the Odawa and the Potawatomi. So I think it’s really important for us to really keep honoring their contributions and keep moving forward.”

As a representative for all Michiganders living in the 47th District, Rheingans draws inspiration from leaders like Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. Ruth Bader Ginsburg has also had a profound impact on Rheingans; she recalls a time when Ginsburg was asked how many women she would like to see on the Supreme Court, and Ginsburg answered, “Nine.”

Another feminist who Rheingans looks up to is Kamala Harris. They share a passion for women’s reproductive rights and the rights of sexual assault survivors.

“I admire Kamala Harris for taking up the space she needs to take up, and being joyful while she does it,” Rheingans said.

As she reflects on the progress Michigan has made during the past two years, Rheingans is

Carrie

stands next to Governor

and Indigenous community representatives for the signing of house bill no.

That signing made manoomin the official state native grain. “The word Michigan even comes from Anishinaabemowin, which is the language of the Great Lakes peoples, the Ojibwe, the Odawa and the Potawatomi. I think it’s really important for us to really keep honoring their contributions and keep moving forward,” Rheingans said.

excited about the possibilities of the 2024 election and what a Harris administration could mean for advancing her policies.

When it comes to policy, Rheingans is ready to go. She hopes to do more to expand healthcare access and allow student-athletes to unionize in Michigan. Although there is much remaining to accomplish, Rheingans had a very successful first term in office.

“We have served hundreds of our constituents, helping them with doing things about unemployment, helping them get tributes for retirement and other fun things that have happened in the community,” Rheingans said.

She has been working with social work graduate student interns in her office, helping them gain exposure to state law. Additionally, Rheingans helped to secure funding for local Metroparks, the Dexter Senior Center, the Border to Border Trail and public schools. Rheingans and the state legislature have invested millions of dollars in water infrastructure and lead removal. She is proud of their budget work and how it has impacted Michigan.

Another success of this term was the naming of Michigan’s official state native grain: manoomin. Manoomin is wild rice, a local Indigenous staple for food and spiritual purposes. This grain is also an indicator of water quality and wetland health. A few other states have named state grains, but Rheingans is proud of Michigan for being the only state with an official state native grain.

Rheingans is passionate about the health of Michigan bodies of water because they hold sentimental value for her.

“I am very proud of our pleasant peninsulas and our five Great Lakes, even though only four touch Michigan,” Rheingans said. “It’s kind of a Michigan thing. When I was growing up, my mom always made a big deal about visiting all five Great Lakes and swimming in all of them. You’re not like a real Michigander until you do that.”

Rheingans has a second-grade daughter at Ann Arbor Public Schools and has taken her to see and swim in all five of the Great Lakes. Rheingans takes great pride in being a Michigander and supporting the District 47 community.

Photo courtesy of Carrie Rheingans

Rheingans

Gretchen Whitmer

4852.

Robert’s Reversal

A tumultuous tale of tracking down the truth.

BY LUCIA PAGE SANDER

RRobert Lavelanet’s coworkers saved his job. They saved the Lavelanet forum from having to transition to a third forum leader in three years, they saved CHS’s social studies department from searching for a non-Lavelanet entity to teach their painstakingly-curated Introduction to World History curriculum in its pilot year and they saved Lavelanet from needing to make himself at home at a new school.

CHS got to keep him, but in the mess of the Ann Arbor Public School district’s (AAPS’s) recent budget deficit and subsequent rearrangement, 55 teachers across Ann Arbor faced potential layoffs and many more faced grade, school and even subject changes. After 86 teachers elected to retire with the support of an incentive program (a $15,000 lump-sum contribution to their retirement funds) and many more departed of their own volition, all but 10 educators were welcomed back for the 2024-25 school year.

It was a turbulent sequence for students, teachers and administrators alike.

In case you haven’t been following the saga, AAPS added 480 staff roles over the course of the past decade, despite a dip in enrollment of 1,123 students between the 202021 and 2023-24 school years. The combination of that ebb and flow, paired with an administrative oversight worth $14 million left the district with a $25 million shortfall and at their feet and a host of impassioned community members in their faces. The ensuing remediation plan included controversial cuts, including the elimination of elementary school world language programs and the reduction of middle and high school band and orchestra co-teaching positions.

“Do you really want this as your legacy?” A community member at a May 2024 School Board meeting said. “To be the board that cut music?”

RUltimately, staff dismissals represented the vast majority of AAPS’s $20.4 million in total reductions. The distribution of pink slips was determined first by the presence of a significant disciplinary write-up, second by evaluation results (which are performed twice a year for least experienced educators, but are reduced in frequency for longer-serving employees) and third by seniority.

Lavelanet, who had left the district in 2019 and returned in 2023 hadn’t ever been written up, but also hadn’t been formally evaluated since his return to CHS. Lavelanet’s ratings hadn’t reported him as anything less than a “highly effective” teacher, so when he got the notice that he was on the list of staff to be let go, Lavelanet figured it was just a matter of seniority.

“I was a newer teacher and I had recently been rehired, so I thought, ‘okay, well, them’s the breaks, essentially,’” Lavelanet said. “I was very sad about it of course, but I was also afraid that if it wasn’t me it would be someone else who was just more senior than I was, and I wasn’t interested in fighting that then.”

When Lavelanet broke the news in a tearful confession to his forum that resulted in an exponentially more tearful reaction out of his forumettes, he spun the outcome into a lesson.

“I thought it was the real truth that from a purely professional or academic stance I could not save myself,” Lavelanet said. “I thought I had tried my best and failed or didn’t make the mark, so to say. And that was sad to me, but I also thought it was really good lesson for my forum that sometimes you try your best and things just don’t work out.”

Despite Lavelanet’s initial paralysis, Dean Marci Tuzinsky along with fellow teachers Liz Stern and Ryan

Silvester were determined to get to the bottom of the situation. Upon scrutinizing the contract’s language, Tuzinsky and Silvester (who cited “justice” as his one of his foremost motivators) discovered that Lavelanet’s evaluation from his first stint with AAPS had been erroneously overlooked. Thus, Lavelanet — who hadn’t done a mid-year evaluation since he wasn’t a rookie teacher and was in the process of wrapping up a successful end-of-year assessment with Assistant Dean Rebecca Westrate — was lumped in with the district’s newest teachers who hadn’t yet been evaluated.

Soon after Silvester’s discovery, Stern reached out to the district. She informed administration that the reason Lavelanet didn’t have a midyear evaluation wasn’t because he wasn’t performing well as they believes AAPS officials may have originally presumed, rather, it was merely because Lavelanet was a returning teacher.

Less than two weeks after receiving Stern’s message, district leadership contacted Lavelanet to admit their mistake and rescind their previous verdict. Shortly after, Lavelanet gifted Stern a bottle of champagne and Silvester a pair of silly socks in return for their efforts.

Though he spent the time between the layoff and the reversal “wallowing” and hadn’t embarked on a true job search yet, the whole affair wasn’t lacking in turbulence.

Eventually though, after the upheaval was righted, an even better lesson to share with his formerly-glum forum emerged: Lavelanet could have been a terrific teacher, but if he hadn’t cultivated the relationships that he did with his colleagues he would likely not be employed at CHS today.

“I clearly felt that Robert was not getting a just shake at what was hap-

pening here, but I think selfishness is another factor,” Silvester said. “We wanted Robert to stay, and we had spent so much time working on this new world history curriculum, and Robert was and is the person to lead this class. When I pictured this program, I pictured Robert as the pilot. We’re fortunate to have him.”

While Lavelanet’s circumstance was eventually resolved, it was a district-level error not entirely dissimilar in nature from the one that led to AAPS’s financial predicament in the first place.

AAPS school board trustee of eight years, Jeffrey Gaynor — who spoke solely for himself, not the board, nor the district — maintained that the board must be as open and transparent as possible and take its monitoring and oversight responsibilities “much more seriously” in order to prevent future mishaps.

“When I asked questions of the administrator giving a monthly financial report earlier this year, I was admonished by another trustee for doing so,” Gaynor said. “If I ask for information that is not provided by administration, other trustees won’t back up the request.”

He also asserted that if trustees only hear about what’s happening in the district from central administration, rather than from staff, parents and students, they’ll have a “limited and distorted” understanding of matters at hand. Gaynor believes it’s the staff’s commitment, intelligence and care that strengthen the district and that in spite of students’ caregiver’s disagreement with many administrative decisions over the course of this calendar year, they made sure to mention to trustees and district leadership that their children’s teachers — just like Lavelanet — are great. Just like Tuzinsky, Stern and Silvester displayed, their jobs are worth saving.

THE PARALYMPICS

BY KYRIE GARWOOD AND FINA KUTCHER

Eyes glued to the screen, CHS senior Charlotte Rotenberg watched in awe with so many worldwide as Hunter Woodhall won gold in the 400m T62 classification. The win was a triumph for the U.S. Paralympic team and the perfect cap to a heartwarming story that had captivated audiences since Woodhall’s wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, won gold in the women’s long jump at the Olympics earlier this summer. As a competition built on community and the strength of humanity, stories like this power the Paralympics.

The 2024 Paris Paralympics concluded on Sept. 8 with a total of 1,636 medals awarded. Of these 1,636, the USA went home with 105 medals won in 17 of the 22 sports competed. For those unfamiliar with the Paralympics, the 12-day competition features over 4,400 athletes with disabilities described by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as “physical impairments, comprising the eight impairments that cause activity limitations that are bio-mechanical in nature.”

For Rotenberg, the Paralympics hold even higher significance as her mom has a physically limiting disability. One of the competition’s hallmarks is the inspiration and vis-

ibility it provides for the estimated 16% of the world that lives with a disability.

“I think just showing that people who aren’t able-bodied, or as able-bodied as most can still be so incredible and amazing,” Rotenberg said.

This summer’s edition of the games garnered more viewership than any Paralympics have seen in its 48-year history with 15.4 million total viewers.

Charley Churchville agrees that the Paralympics contain an unmatched level of inspiration in the world of international sporting events.

“[Olympic sports] are already such a big challenge to begin with, and having a disability and doing that is especially inspirational,” Churchville said.

The Paralympics were initially created to showcase the triumphs of disabled athletes, and create an even playing field for these talented people who would otherwise be unable to compete in the Olympics due to their disabilities. Since the Olympics themselves can’t accommodate every disability, Churchville believes that the existence of more accommodating events is that much more important in providing equal

opportunity all over the world.

“It gives all sorts of athletes an opportunity to be seen,” Churchville said. “It gives us a chance to showcase so many deserving athletes.”

In addition to equal opportunity, Churchville also believes that the Paralympics can serve as a means to break stigma regarding disabilities — having an internationally broadcasted showcase of triumphs in accommodating sports proves to the world that disabilities cannot and will not prevent athletes from participating in international sporting events.

“I feel like too often people’s talents are overlooked because of their disabilities. Without the Paralympics, we would be set back in terms of acceptance and equitable opportunity for all people,” Churchville said.

The Paralympics have long served as a way for athletes of all abilities to participate in the world of international sporting events, and additionally as a means to publicize and advocate for the importance of those with disabilities.

For Rotenberg, Churchville and viewers around the world, the Paralympics prove time and time again that disabilities are not disqualifiers when it comes to sports.

Community High students tuned in to the Paralympics this summer.

Hunter Woodhall of Team United States celebrates with the flag of United States after winning a gold medal in the Men's Para Athletics 400m T62 Final Race during the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Stade de France on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Paris, France. (Ezra Shaw/ Getty Images/TNS)

U.S.A’s Ezra Frech celebrates after winning the gold medal during the Men’s 100m T63 athletic event during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on Sept. 2, 2024. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

Tara Davis-Woodhall of the United States competes in women’s long jump qualification at the 2024 Summer Olympics on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024 in Paris. (Smiley N. Pool/ The Dallas Morning News/TNS)

Goalball parathlete Calahan Young takes part in a training session at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista, California on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

T

H E

Ann Arbor area Olympians reflect on their experiences in Paris and CHS students share what it was like to watch them in this summer’s games.

BY CLARA FREETH

The room was electric with anticipation. On either side of her, Skyline High School runners were squished on chairs and couches, awaiting the men’s 1500-meter world final. Nina Beals, a current junior at Community and runner at Skyline, felt the nerves through the screen. Excitement was building.

Above, Hobbs Kessler — a former Community student and Skyline runner — took his place on the purple-colored track.

For the people in that room (and for track fans around the world), the next three and a half minutes were exhilarating. Everyone was on their feet. Everyone was screaming. Nobody expected what was to come. On screen was the men’s 1500-meter final at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Of the ten men on the start line, three were from The United States. Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse and Hobbs Kessler ran the race together — placing first, third and fifth, respectively — and in the process, they

each ran a new personal best.

“I had, like, this sort of patriotic pride that we got three people, three guys in this and one of them’s my son,” said Serena Kessler, Hobbs’ mom who coaches Skyline girls’ cross country. “There’s something about these three men wearing the same uniform. Even though they don’t run for the same sponsor and they don’t train together, there’s this sense of togetherness. Hobbs felt it too. It’s all he could think about. There’s three of us in this final and so that’s pretty special.”

Hobbs ran a time of 3:29.45, smashing his previous 1500 record by three seconds, landing fifth place on the world’s biggest stage.

The Skyline cross-country team was ecstatic. They watched it again. And again. And one more time for good measure.

“It was so cool to watch him in that race because, yeah, he’s an Olympian, but he’s also the guy who taught me how to do A-Skips,” Beals said. “It made Olympians feel like real people, and that’s pretty awesome.”

Sophomore Zoe Shuchman feels the same way about a different sport.

This summer, Shuchman and her teammates got together to watch

Abby Tamer and Team USA play field hockey at the Olympics. Girls of all ages were there watching a game where Abby scored two goals.

“It was so inspiring to see someone that I know, someone who’s coached me, playing at such a high level,” Shuchman said.

Tamer is no stranger to that feeling. She remembers a watch party with her club teammates during the 2016 Olympics that opened the door to international field hockey for her. She doesn’t remember who they played, she doesn’t remember the score, but she does remember how much she looked up to them.

She wanted to be like the people on that team, she wanted to play in the Olympics, and she made it her

LYMPICS

mission to achieve that goal. It came, but it didn’t come easy.

For a year prior to the Paris games, the team spent a year in Charlotte, North Carolina. Every single one of them was dedicated to their Olympic journey.

After they fell short in their first opportunity to qualify at Continentals, the Eagles knew they had one more opportunity in India. Here, the top three teams would earn an Olympic bid.

This tournament was their last opportunity to qualify.

In the semifinal game against Japan, they trailed for the first time. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, they were down 1-0 with fifteen minutes left to play. Fortunately, they got a corner — a set-play scoring opportunity caused by a foul inside the scoring circle — and were able to execute on the direct shot.

With roughly six minutes left in the game, the U.S. earned another corner. They ran the same play, but this time the goalie made the initial save.

“It was a rebound,” Tamer said. “The ball came out to me. I just shot it, and it went in. Then we were up.”

And that was that. The team was able to hang on for the remaining six minutes of the game and officially qualified for the Paris Olympics in January. It was especially exciting since the U.S. didn’t qualify a team for the 2021 games.

And yet, there was much work left, the roster had to be significantly cut down and the main event was still months away.

Even though Tamer scored the qualifying goal, her spot on the team wasn’t guaranteed — nobody’s was.

The teams were announced on June 10. Nine days prior, Tamer broke her hand in a game against Great Britain. It was set to heal in time for the Paris games, but five weeks off training is not insignificant. Still, Tamer made the roster and rejoined her team for the last week and a half of training in Dublin right before the games.

“That was a little bit nerve wracking to be like, ‘okay, the biggest tournament of my life, and I’m not training until a week and a half before it actually starts,’” Tamer said. “Of course, I had done all the work the rest of the year, it was just the six weeks I hadn’t been.”

In Paris, the U.S. team placed ninth, and Tamer scored four goals. Her family was there to support her.

“I almost can’t put the experience into words,” said Keely Tamer, Tamer's mom, who coaches for Dexter High School and Pinnacle field hockey. “It’s so weird because we sat beside her for the whole year of what it was like to have the goal, before

she even moved to Charlotte and took the opportunity. The reality is that it’s not easy to get there. Only 16 women get that opportunity, and I’m proud of her.”

Since returning home, Tamer has had time to reflect on the people who inspired her.

“I was so in awe of them, and I’ve been thinking, ‘I don’t feel like the people I looked up to when I was younger,’” Tamer said. “But objectively, our team is that for the younger girls. In the same way, the 2016 team was so inspiring for me, our team has got to be doing that for someone out there.”

In reality, that “someone” is more like a whole lot of someones, in field hockey and beyond. For Beals and the Skyline cross-country team, the Olympics taught them that with hard work and dedication, you can accomplish your dreams.

Full Speed Ahead

The director of women’s strategy for the brand behind the world’s most popular women’s stage cycling race discusses her journey through the sport.

BY KYRIE GARWOOD

How did you get involved with cycling?

It was 20 years ago. I was actually a college basketball player. I played basketball my whole life. During my college career I had a couple knee surgeries, and it sort of cut my career short. So after college, I was kind of looking for an outlet. A competitive outlet, a fitness outlet, and I started riding bikes. And shortly after, I started racing bikes, and that kind of got me into the whole scene. I fell in love with it and started racing.

What is your role at Zwift?

My job title is director of women’s strategy, and that’s kind of an interesting role in cycling. Cycling feels like it’s a little bit behind the times in terms of parity in comparison to other sports. It hasn’t always been a very friendly or inclusive sport, especially for women. With Zwift, we have this virtual community. It’s an online platform where you basically ride in a video game with other people. So we have no excuse not to do everything with complete parity, because we literally built our own world. We’ve had this opportunity to create a more inclusive, more accessible cycling world, and that has translated into us making it a big mission of our company to get more women in the sport and to elevate and grow women’s cycling. We realized that there’s different motivations, different behaviors, different barriers for women in the sport, so that it required a very specific role that looks into that and tries to find partnerships and content and communications

that better connect with women.

How did you work to get the tour up and running?

This is a fun story. So 2020, the pandemic hits and all of cycling is put on pause. Pro cycling races are all either canceled or postponed, including the men’s Tour de France. The organizers of the Tour de France got together with the leadership at Zwift, and said, let’s do a virtual race on Zwift, because the pros literally can’t go outside right now. So we did that in July of 2020, but because we’re doing it on Zwift, we already had a policy where we do always complete parity with all racing. So we said, if we’re going to do it on Zwift, we’re going to do it equal for women’s racing, equal distance, equal broadcast, equal prize purse, equal everything. And we did. It was actually broadcast on Euro sport in 130 countries around the world. People actually watched people race their bikes like inside their living rooms in a video game, because it was fun, and the women’s racing was fantastic, and the viewership was pretty much equal across the men’s and women’s races. And that’s what sparked a conversation with ISO — the organizers of the Tour de France — and Zwift, to put our heads together and say, what’s it going to take to bring back a proper women’s Tour de France stage race? There hadn’t been one since the 80s.

Were you on-site for the tour this year?

Yep! At the start, at the finish

a couple days, I rode in a car in the Peloton. I’m on the final podium every day for the stage winner. I love it. I even I dress like our Zwift colors which are purple or orange and pink, and we combine that with yellow for the Tour de France. My whole wardrobe is orange, yellow and pink for the week. I love every second of it. It’s like Christmas every day.

In the end, it came down to four seconds between Kasia Niewiadoma and Demi Vollering. What were you thinking as you were watching that?

My jaw was dropping every stage. From a spectator point of view you couldn’t have asked for a better race because every second mattered, and you didn’t know what was going to happen. It was so exciting to see such a fierce contest, and to see the limits of what they can do. Then having this moment where Vollering crossed the line with her hands out, she won the stage, and then you were waiting to see if Niewiadoma was gonna finish in time? That’s all you want from sport: everybody on the edge of their seat, and the agony and the ecstasy all in one. It’s incredible entertainment, beautiful, heart wrenching,

everything that you want from a world-class sporting event. I have so much love and respect for both of those riders. I was blown away by them, and I was so grateful for them for giving it everything they have.

What advice would you give to someone who’s looking to transition into the sport?

Just jump right in. A lot of it is finding people to ride with, and finding people to learn from and to help you build strength and skills. I always start at the local bike shop, they usually know the local rides. There’s a lot of early questions that you have

to ask like, what do I do in this situation? How do I ride the pack? And how do you ride so close to somebody else’s wheel? There’s just a lot of little etiquette and little efficiencies that makes you a good cyclist. But it’s really, it’s time in the saddle, and it’s learning from others. So it’s really about putting yourself out there, jumping in a group ride that might be a little bit harder than you want it to be, and that’s the only way you’re going to get stronger. In every sport you have to play with somebody that’s better, that’s more experienced than you, in order to learn and grow. So find a community, find some mentors and friends that can help you.

With all of this increased visibility on the sport, how has women’s cycling changed? And how has it changed your job? Yeah, it definitely has changed my job. The increased visibility is so great because it just feels like more opportunity, in general, more people interested in getting on bikes. This year we had TOGETHXR and Tobin Heath come to the race. She’s gotten into cycling. The cool thing about cycling is it’s an incredible cross training sport. It’s a great way to stay fit for other sports. So you have race car drivers and soccer players, they ride bikes to stay fit. There’s a lot of opportunity with such visibility on the women’s Tour de France to build new fans for the sport, I think that for the men’s Tour de France those fans are always there. It’s like, the same crew watches the tour every year. And the women’s race has this opportunity to bring new fans to the sport, just like women’s college basketball and the soccer leagues. They’re bringing people that maybe weren’t your typical fans. They’re engaging because women athletes have a

wonderful way of connecting with fans, with their audience, with creating great content and being great ambassadors for the sport that I feel like they get more eyes on, and people interested in new ways. The visibility is helping bring so many more eyes to the sport, investment to the sports resources, which is going to now turn and inspire that next generation and really help build a lot of the grassroots.

And if you had to give a two minute elevator pitch on why to watch women’s cycling, what would it be?

I think women’s cycling is at such an exciting stage right now where you have riders that are living legends that have been dominating this sport. But then you have this whole crop of new riders coming into the sport, and it’s this perfect time where it is very unpredictable what’s going to happen. The the depth of strength on the teams is getting so much better every year, like the level is rising so fast that it’s creating some incredibly thrilling race days, some incredibly thrilling moments, some surprising results, some new superstars. It’s unmissable right now. And you have these wonderful characters in the story, and you’re really starting to get to know the personalities under the sunglasses, and that’s really exciting. Now we have drama and rivalries and favorites, and Kasia Newiadoma is one of them. Kasia is probably the most beloved rider in the world. Everybody loves her, and she’s absolutely delightful. So it’s kind of fun to see people start picking their teams and riders and wearing jerseys and becoming household names. It’s a great moment to get into the sport, because it’s just rich.

Community Connection

“I’ve been a cyclist since I was like out of the womb. My dad, he kind of wanted my brother and I to become cyclists. I also used to do this all girls program, which was super cool. It was called Little Bella’s, and it was super cool just to have that community and be with a bunch of other women that love mountain biking and just like having fun on trails every week.”

- Sylvie Ellis

“I stopped running, and I was looking for something else to do, and my dad was part of the Ann Arbor Velo Club. He convinced me to try some of their summer Cyclocross practices, and I really loved it. It’s like biking on grass, and there are a bunch of obstacles where you have to get off of your bike and run with the bike. I remember the first time I rode my bike without training wheels. I just sort of like rolled and I was super proud of myself. I think about that when I’m trying something new at Cyclocross.”

-Ivy Miller

New Faces at CHS

Freshmen share their stories of how they came to Community and what influenced their choice.

BY PIPER COOKE, JANAKI NALLAMOTHU AND MARIAH ZEIGLER

Yuval Rosenberg is a freshman who got into CHS only one week before school started. Rosenberg's last-minute decision caused him stress as he was set on going to Skyline only a couple of days before. He appreciates the relaxed environment fostered at Community, especially regarding phone and headphone usage.

“It’s interesting, at my old school, if you had your phone out, you would get in trouble right away. Here, it is more laid back,” Rosenberg said. This flexible approach to tech enhances Rosenberg’s focus, allowing him to be more concentrated on his school work and dive deeper into his studies.

Recently, he has taken the bold step of joining the jazz program. Rosenberg plays guitar and the uku-

lele and had first learned about our school’s vibrant jazz program from attending his older brother’s concerts. So going here, he knew he wanted to join, too.

Though his taste in music may drift from the jazz tunes he plays, Rosenberg delights in the freedom to experiment with different sounds on his guitar and ukulele.

“It’s fun to mess around and see how things sound,” Rosenberg said.

As Rosenberg navigates this new chapter at Community High, his passion for music and insatiable curiosity will lay a solid foundation for what’s to come. With an open mind and a heart eager for exploration, he’s ready to embrace every moment of his high school experience, one note at a time.

Yuval

During her first day at Community High School, Caitlin Cho was filled with nerves. She was unclear about where to go in the morning and how the day would play out, but once surrounded by fellow students and teachers, Cho’s nerves started to dissipate and her first-day-jitters were soothed.

Cho was introduced to CHS through family and friends. Her sister goes to Huron, and one of her teammates on the field hockey team is a student at CHS. Seeing the potential fit, her sister introduced the two, convinced that CHS would be an excellent school for Cho. Intrigued by what she had heard, Cho decided to enter the lottery. Because her sister has been at Huron, Cho felt that she knew from stories and attending some of her sister’s events what kind of school it is. She knew that it was a great school for her sister, but she felt it wasn’t the school for her.

After spending a few weeks in high school, Cho has already noticed cer-

tain aspects of CHS that she loves, believing she made the right decision. One thing that drew Cho to CHS was the environment.

“Community is a really accepting school,” Cho said. “You don’t get judged here.”

Cho feels comfortable and confident enough to express herself through the clothes she wears and the activities she participates in. She believes she couldn’t do this if she were at Huron, her home school.

Not only does Cho feel she has freedom in how she expresses herself, but she also has experienced a sense of freedom in her classes. In her Intro to Literature class, they have choice reading, where Cho is able to choose any book she wants, or one she’s currently reading outside of school, and read more during every class.

Cho has begun to experience the positives of CHS, from meeting new people to self-expression to growing her confidence to finding what interests her.

Being the youngest child in her family, June Ye’s siblings had all gone through Huron High School and loved it. So naturally, that’s where she planned to continue her education. But when Community staff and students visited her middle school, she felt like there was no harm in applying.

During the application process, she talked to her teachers at Scarlett Middle School and asked for their opinion. They told her to go for it and take the opportunity and risk, believing that CHS would benefit her. They also reassured Ye that if she didn’t like Community, she could always go to Huron.

Making the decision to accept her spot at CHS was fast and scary. Ye and her family hadn’t known that she had gotten into CHS until the school called her home to remind them that she needed to decide. This left them with only a few days

to make a decision. The decision process included discussions about the perks of both Community and Huron, but most of all, Ye’s parents wanted her to take classes that interested her and that she could be successful in, regardless of which school she chose to learn at.

“I was really on the fence about coming to Community,” Ye said. “I didn’t know if I would like it more or less [than Huron].”

While she ended up accepting her spot at CHS, she also decided to take classes at Huron as a split-enroll student. During the first two weeks, Ye has split her time taking and taken classes at both Huron and Community. Ye found that she prefers the smaller school vibe and being able to connect with more students and teachers on a deeper level.

Ye has enjoyed her time at CHS, slowly figuring out high school. She is proud of her decision to come.

Eva Edwards, a freshman at Community High School, was hesitant to come to CHS because it meant leaving her friends and starting life at a new and unfamiliar school. But after she got to CHS she realized there were lots of opportunities to spend time with new people and become a part of the community

“But I realized I still get to see them at football games and homecoming because Community offers you to go to the other high schools [events],” Edwards said.

“A lot of people also split enroll,” Edwards said.

Forums are another specialty of CHS. They’re a community within Community, they’re the crowd you get to know and bond with throughout your entire time at CHS. Forums are the “Homerooms” of CHS, but they’re also more. They’re a place where students can learn about clubs, events, their teachers and the upcoming PSAT test. They also can give an opportunity to make friends throughout all grade levels by including students from every grade in

each forum, and they organize activities like community service, forum trips and CHS’s field day.

“I really like forums because we do a lot of fun experiences,” Edwards said. “We have forum days, and you go on trips and everybody’s really nice.”

To attend CHS, students have to enter into a lottery from which their numbers are picked at random. Because of this lottery system, students can’t start at CHS until their number gets chosen, this sometimes leads to students switching schools during their second semester of freshman year or even later. In this case, Edwards didn’t find out she got into CHS until about one week away from school starting. She hadn’t chosen CHS as her number one school, but she went anyway, and once she found her classes, she found CHS to be a positive and welcoming environment

“I feel like you just have a lot of classes, and you make a lot of friends in them,” Edwards said. “And the teachers are really nice.”

CHS Jazz IV Hits

All

the Right Notes

CHS Jazz IV is known for its in-class rigor and outside of class commitment.

BY AUGUSTUS KASCHUBE AND ESH SCHADEN

Jack Wagner

Jack Wagner has been running the CHS Jazz program for over 16 years after previously running an after school program at Ann Arbor’s School of Performing Arts. Throughout many years of teaching, Wagner has carefully constructed a curriculum that works to enhance musical education for students, teach them to perform and become potential professionals. He also believes that students who made it into the advanced classes of his program learn best from real world experience.

Being in Jazz IV takes a level of professionalism, and the classes leading up to Jazz IV are building up skills and foundational work so students can handle being in Jazz IV.

“People always talk about how doing project based learning in front of

audiences is like the highest level of learning you can do, because of the pressure that’s related to it,” Wagner said. “So jazz really comes to fruition because kids are performing in front of audiences more regularly.”

Wagner’s program acts as an outlet for students to pursue their love for music and strengthen their creativity, and also provide opportunities for them to make important jazz connections. Each year, Wagner works to bring some of the biggest names in jazz to visit his program: Joshua Redman and Victor Wooten, two highly decorated jazz musicians, held an open master class last year. Jazz IV students often also play private gigs at which they get to meet new people and enhance their connections.

William Militzer

William Militzer’s piano skills have influenced many of his peers as they play in the practice room on an almost daily basis. He is a junior in the jazz program and has been a part of it for three years.

He also really appreciates the feeling of the program and all of the opportunities it brings. Militzer is currently in the Jazz IV combo known as “Ice.”

“I would say the best part [of being in the program] is that everyone there is really dedicated to the music,” Militzer said. “If you are in Jazz IV, 90% of the time you’re going to

be really, really, into it.”

This year is Militzer’s second year in Jazz IV after joining a Jazz IV combo his sophomore year. Militzer believes that by maintaining a careful balance of internal motivation and healthy competition, one can improve much more efficiently. He practices so that he can be the best he can be. “Practicing just gives me hope that it’s not just all a big plateau,” Militzer said. “This program just opens so many doors for me, but only when I put the work in, and I’m trying to make the best out of it.”

Violet Collier

Violet Collier is a bass playing senior in Jazz IV who has been a part of the jazz program for all of her four years at CHS. She currently is part of two combos: Wind, which is commonly referred to as “Top Combo,” and the combo called “Fire.” She was placed into Jazz IV her sophomore year and has since become one of the core members of Jazz IV.

“I think my experience was very unique as a sophomore, because I definitely wasn’t supposed to be in Jazz IV; there just was no one else that played the instrument that I did,” Collier said. “But I think as the years progressed, it’s gotten easier but also harder. I know more now, but there’s also more pressure to live up to the expectations that were placed on me by peers and teachers.”

After being inspired by those more advanced during her freshman and sophomore years, she worked hard to get where she is. To this day, she emphasizes the importance of play-

Toula Greenawalt

Saxophonist and vocalist Toula Greenawalt is a sophomore in the Jazz IV combo temporarily titled “Earth”. She was placed into Jazz I her freshman year but then excelled into Jazz IV.

“It feels like I’m surrounded by people who are better at playing than me, but I think that’s a good thing,” Greenawalt said. “I think it will help me improve faster and I want to catch up as fast as I can.”

While going from Jazz I to Jazz IV

has been a difficult experience, Greenawalt is working hard to live up to everyone’s expectations.

“I think just making sure that you enjoy everything you’re doing and not pressuring yourself to be necessarily the best person in your band helps,” Greenawalt said.

Even though being in Jazz IV feels like a grind for Greenawalt, the pressure and determination to become an inspiring classmate and musician won’t let her down.

ing with those better than her, while also being a role model for those who are younger. Not only did Collier gain much playing experience, but she also made many new connections throughout her years in the jazz program.

“I think I never would have known about this whole [jazz] lifestyle that I now want to pursue, and I wouldn’t have gotten to know all my friends,” Collier said. “Fortunately, I met many great people like Victor Wooten and Joshua Redman, and hopefully will meet Christian McBride one day [who are jazz musicians].”

For Collier, the Jazz IV experience revolves around self motivation, as she believes that once one reaches a sufficient level, they must be intrinsically motivated to practice multiple hours a day. Not only has the program been about becoming a better musician, but it has also been about making friends and connecting with professionals.

Ise

Iseul Park navigates the world of split enrollment and playing field hockey for Pioneer.

BY FINA KUTCHER AND PIPER COOKE

PHOTOS BY IONIE STEUDLE

IIseul Park is no stranger to being a beginner.

She will never forget her first parking ticket — disoriented, Park fiddled with the rectangular piece of white paper, her feelings of ostracization settling in her stomach.

Earlier that morning and readily equipped with her mom’s staff parking pass, Park apprehensively pulled into the Community parking lot.

Lacking context, Park’s well-intending friends advised her to park in the same fashion as all of the other returning students. Following her friend’s advice, she opted to neglect the staff parking pass and instead park on a local neighborhood street near where her friends had suggested. Unbeknownst to Park, she had accidentally placed her car in a 2-hour-limit parking area and ended up with a $15 fine and hurt feelings.

“I have not gotten a ticket since then,” Park said.

On the first day of her senior year and the start of the 2024-25 school year, Park stepped into her new life as a new Community split enroller — commuting daily from Pioneer to Community. Recentering herself after her $15 loss, Park walked through the towering wooden double doors of St. Andrews Church for Community High School’s opening ceremony. Looking around the dimly-lit church, Park did not see a single other student that reflected her enrollment status.

“I was very overwhelmed,” Park said. “I didn’t think I was supposed to be there.”

Park, an incoming senior, had only ever attended Pioneer High School until this year. Although this is her first year, it isn’t the first time she approached enrollment to CHS. Back in her eighth grade year, Park had entered the CHS lottery and was offered admission. Though she was looking forward to being a CHS student, Park was unable to attend for the 21-2022 school year. Despite this setback, Park did not eliminate the idea from her future plans. In fact, the thought of attending had been poking at her since 2021.

“I think it’s just been in the back of my mind for a while,” Park said. “I just thought that it would be really nice to have a change my senior year.”

Of course, many things in her life have changed since 2021. Progressing through her first three years of high school, Park was able to seize new opportunities she’d never encountered before. For example, she has since become a devoted player on the Pioneer field hockey team. Having never played competitively before, her newfound passion took her by surprise.

“The whole experience was very new and something to adjust to,” Park said. “It ended up being one of the best decisions I have ever made.”

Her commitment to field hockey has brought her new connections to CHS she would have never had otherwise; including a handful of CHS teammates. These bonds reinforced her confidence in her split enrollment status, knowing she would have friends by her side as she navigated a foreign social scape.

Another significant revelation of Park’s life journey after declining admission to CHS has been the exciting endeavor of pursuing counseling at a local sleepaway camp. Having been a camper for most of her childhood, Park had to face a new shift into adulthood: transitioning from camper to counselor.

Leaving her sophomore year of high school in 2023, Park entered her first year on staff as a Counselor-In-Training. Beginning her new position, Park felt like an outsider — a feeling that would later reoccur time and time again — experiencing the same disorienting feelings of when she got that $15 parking ticket.

“Every year leads with new experiences,” Park said. “Every year I’ve been has been so different from the last and it gives you something to look forward to.”

As a camper, a lot of “camp magic” is delicately held behind closed doors. But as a leader, Park found herself exposed to the behind-the-scenes of this “camp magic”, including tightly held camp secrets and institutional knowledge other staff members had known for years. Park had a lot of catching up to do.

“I was super uncertain because I didn’t know what I was doing,” Park said. “Half the time you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, and then you just slowly start to adjust. Then, the unknown becomes not so unknown. You come out a better person with a lot of experiences behind you that you learned from.”

Equipped with the adaptability of a summer camp counselor and the drive of a devoted field hockey player, Park took her first steps through the front doors of Community High School with the foundational understanding that the unknown is not something to fear but a precious opportunity to grow and learn.

“I don’t think that the unknown can ever be like a bad thing,” Park said. “I can’t say one negative thing about stepping into the unknown and taking in new experiences.”

After years of conquering uncertainties, Park found herself back at Community, a changed person with a changed perspective.

“New experiences are always something I would encourage people to try,” Park said. “I think that all of those things have shaped me as a person and changed who I am today in the best way."

Oliver Myler grapples with the unsettling reality that his youth is starting to slip away.

BY PIPER COOKE

Oliver

MYLER

PHOTOS BY IONIE STEUDLE

CCaught between work, school and gym sessions, senior Oliver Myler is wrestling with the unsettling reality that his youth is slipping away. He can't shake his growing obsession with how fast time seems to be moving. He spent his childhood looking up to his two older siblings and admiring the freedoms of the adults in his life. From the perspective of a young Myler, they had the independence to make decisions for themselves and a sense of autonomy that felt distant to him.

Their lives seemed like an exciting glimpse into a world where the rules didn't apply as strictly. He couldn't help but yearn for that sense of freedom and control.

Reflecting back on the years he spent idolizing the lives of the grown-ups around him, Myler has finally reached the age he once aspired to. Now, at 16, Myler is beginning to experience the independence and responsibility he had long envisioned — but it feels a little different. This freedom has been paired with an unfortunate new awareness that each step he takes sends him careening closer to adulthood.

The relentless pressure of time has forced Myler into deep reflection, leading him to think more critically about his future. He's begun planning his life with a careful strategy, not just for the present, but with an eye toward making his younger self proud and setting up his future self for success.

stay friends after high school, but with all of the different factors that come with transitioning into adulthood, he is feeling an overwhelming anxiety about where life will take him and whether those around him will end up on the same path.

Beyond his fears and uncertainties, Myler holds high hopes for the future, especially when it comes to his passion for weightlifting. He envisions staying committed to the gym well into his later years, determined to maintain an active lifestyle for as long as possible. His commitment to staying active has served him well, helping him stay grounded and confident throughout the nuances of daily life.

Myler describes his relationship with working out as both an addiction and his happy place. The gym is a space where he can channel his energy into something productive, allowing him to feel a sense of control in a world that sometimes feels chaotic and uncertain.

There is always a fear of not having the people you rely on in the future.

Myler's vision for his future is vivid, stretching all the way through to his retirement. His ultimate dream is to spend his "golden years" in a tropical mansion, surrounded by a loving family and a couple of canine companions.

This carefully planned-out future is evidence of Myler's dedication to hard work and his desire to achieve personal success while staying grounded in relationships and the things that matter most to him.

Because connection means so much to Myler, his thoughtful consideration of the future has led to one of his biggest fears: that growing old might scatter the closeknit group of friends he treasures. He is anxious that the obligations of adulthood and unavoidable divergent paths of life will pull them apart.

"I joke with my friends about being old and dead," Myler said. "But deep down, there's some seriousness to that."

Myler recognizes that there are instances where people

For Myler, the gym has strengthened his discipline, offering him a firsthand understanding that there are tangible rewards for hard work and perseverance. He takes immense pride in his work ethic, seeing it as a defining quality that will shape and drive his success for years to come.

This enthusiastic drive extends well beyond the gym, propelling him to achieve remarkable things in his professional life. Myler has not only discovered his passion for computer science but has also begun to set ambitious goals for his career.

One day, Myler aspires to start a business in the fields of computer science or cybersecurity. He imagines himself channeling his passion and creativity to contribute to the exciting, ever-evolving world of technology. He is determined to not only fulfill his ambitions, but also contribute something positive to the world.

For Myler, the journey of growing old is full of unknowns, but it's also full of potential. Despite his despondency for the future, Myler plans to fulfill his ambitious plans by utilizing his work ethic and taking things one step at a time, seeing his everyday efforts as investments into his fruitful future. He envisions all of his hard work and dedicated kindness, all building up to one day finding himself happily enjoying his "golden years" in a tropical mansion, surrounded by his hard-earned success and his future family's genuine love.

Ava Griffith navigates uncertainty surrounding her younger brother's health and his future.

BY CLARA FREETH

Ava GRIFFITH

PHOTOS BY BEE WHALEN

WWhen she got her driver’s license, she didn’t think twice about being a donor; however, she never would have expected the order of the transplant list to take up 40 percent of her mental capacity.

transplants are delicate: blood type, distance from donor to recipient and various other factors can have an impact on who receives an available heart.

Luckily, Eli was near the top of the list.

In mid-August, Ava Griffith’s 14-year-old brother was at summer camp when he lost feeling in his arm and subsequently passed out. He spent the following month in the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Eli Griffith’s life has been forever changed.

But for Ava, things had to carry on as normal. School, swim and work all chugged ahead at full speed, but Ava was only operating at 60 percent of her normal capacity. Her life doesn’t stop just because her brother’s might.

For Eli’s whole life, he has tired quickly, leading him to avoid team sports. The Griffiths never knew why. When he was younger, they thought it could be asthma. Looking back now, Ava remembers family hikes in Colorado where they took additional breaks to accommodate him — little did they know that it was due to his condition.

The original Aug. 16 diagnosis was cardiac syncope (a brief loss of consciousness and muscle control due to the heart failing to pump the brain the blood it needs) but after a week of testing, the diagnosis was heart failure due to bilateral cardiomyopathy. His heart was inflamed on the right side, pressure was building and he needed a heart transplant as soon as possible.

“[When I realized that] he was going to need a heart transplant, that wrecked me,” Ava said. “It’s just been a roller coaster.”

The tricky thing about a heart transplant is that someone else has to die in order to produce an eligible heart, which could happen at any moment or could take months.

On Wednesday, Sept. 18, Ava was at swim practice — just like any other day after school — when she got the call. The time was 2:42 p.m. and her brother was getting a new heart. The empty pool deck echoed the sounds of excitement emerging from her phone right back to her.

The surgery was scheduled for the next day.

Ava sat in fourth block Precalculus, learning about polynomial functions. Her phone lay face up on the table, awaiting updates. 1.3 miles away, Eli and both her parents were in the hospital awaiting the procedure.

There were a few possible outcomes: the new heart takes, meaning that the right side kicks in, all numbers are good, and they close him up the same day; or, if the new heart doesn’t take, then Eli’s chest is left open (covered in a sterile film) while they monitor it. From here, the heart could either kick in or not. If it doesn’t, then a replacement for the replacement is needed.

Everyone’s fighting their own battle with themselves.

In the meantime, 14-year-old Eli’s heart could need electronic assistance for the rest of his life.

Ava was left to carry on with her regularly scheduled life: morning swim practice three times a week, school five days a week, afternoon training after school, swim meets on Thursdays, at least two hours of homework every night, eight hours of work on the weekends; the list goes on.

After a few procedures, including one that planted a permanent IV in his arm, Eli’s new friend followed him everywhere. The IV cart dubbed “Carl” provided the necessities that kept him up and running while he — and his whole family — sat in the unknown of what could come next.

Transplant lists are ordered numerically and alphabetically, with 1A being the top of the list. However, heart

Ava’s foot bounced below the table as she tried her best to focus on the global maxima of the graph. Eventually, she got a text: the heart was en route.

At 10:15 a.m. the surgery began. By 12:16 p.m. he was fully sedated. 2:23 p.m. and Eli’s original heart was no longer in his body.

All the while, at 6 p.m., Ava’s Thursday night swim meet began, but on surgery day she was too nervous to swim. She warmed up and cheered on her team just like normal, but today wasn’t about how fast she could swim laps around a pool. Today was about far more than that

Finally, by 8:23 p.m., Eli woke up with a new heart.

Almost a week after the surgery, he’d been disconnected from the machines that kept him alive. He was working with a physical therapist and professionals who are hopeful that he will return to school — as a member of CHS’s McCormick forum — by second semester.

When Ava turns 18, she plans on getting a tattoo to commemorate the whole debacle: a realistic heart with the number of days Eli spent in the hospital. However, the exact number is yet to be determined.

“I’m a lot more appreciative because everyone’s fighting their own battle with themselves,” Ava said. “Whether it’s mental health, depression or something at home, you never know.”

Andrea

BY LUCIA PAGE SANDER

Andrea

ADAMS

Adams, newest science

PHOTOS BY BEE WHALEN

WWhile Community High School students and staff enjoyed their traditional Opening Day Ceremony and festivities, Andrea Adams was beginning her own first day of school at Clarenceville High School in Livonia. She was getting to know a whole new crop of students just like any year, but this time around, Adams had another task in the back of her mind: that evening, she was scheduled to interview for a position teaching Foundations of Science (FOS) I and II at the school where her “ultimate teaching idol,” Robert Galardi, was a dean back in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

That school, of course, was Community High.

Adams met Galardi two schools back at her first teaching job. She was working in Detroit during a time when the district was trying to break larger schools into smaller ones with the intention of providing more streamlined pathways for students to hone in on and pursue their interests. In order to do so, school coaches (people who advise schools on how to better serve their students) — including Galardi — were hired. The project-based learning practices and general values that Galardi was aiming to instill resonated with Adams. Many of those systems stemmed from Galardi’s time at CHS, so when she saw that the FOS job had opened up, Adams went to him to discuss the possibility of applying for it.

“I was asking him what he thought as far as if Community would be a good fit for me since he knows my history and who I am as a teacher and what I'm looking for, and he told me, ‘Yeah, go for it, kid.’” Adams said. “That was the sign I needed.”

Ultimately Adams scored the job, though despite Galardi’s support and her own research, a third-week-ofthe-year school move along with the culture shift that comes with becoming a Rainbow Zebra is an immense undertaking. She’d taught at Clarenceville for four years, but had all of two weeks to say goodbye.

It was especially strange for Adams to have begun to build relationships with her classes just to have to leave them in someone else's hands and take on the process of getting acquainted all over again.

“At first I was kind of like, ‘Is this crazy?’” Adams said. “It was so weird to get to know my students and then pivot to a totally different place and a new way of doing things. Community as a whole was definitely a big unknown and came with a very stressful transition.”

While acclimatizing is still in progress, Adams has found her coworkers to be “amazing and supportive,” especially as a member the FOS department where she’s surrounded by some of Community’s most veteran staff.

Adams has experience with multiple teaching techniques that are universal at Community, but she hadn’t encountered an environment where science is taught in a way that integrates biology, earth science, chemistry and physics into a single, cohesive curriculum until this year. She believes overall instruction of the subject is evolving to be more similar to the intertwined nature that Community’s FOS curriculum teaches science to be, but that not all educators are there quite yet

“I love the way that the program is structured,” Adams said. “The way that science education is moving is to have everything mixed together so you're never learning a subject in isolation and you’re doing real projects and actual work. Community was doing this before it was cool and other schools are just kind of starting to turn around and do things this sort of way.”

These teaching methods align closely with Adams’ upbringing; her childhood was full of experiential science. For much of each summer, her family would travel north to Adams’ grandparents’ farm in Bellaire where Adams’ mom took it upon herself to keep the family’s gardening roots alive. When the farm was officially in operation it raised turkeys, but once her grandparents had retired it was up to Adams’ mother to get the 1942 Farmall tractor out, plow the field and plant enough food to feed the household — with plenty of leftovers for canning. Those summers, along with nights camping and plenty of time in the woods were the roots of Adams’ love for the natural world, but a high school biology teacher “sealed the deal” on it all.

Now, as Adams adjusts to life at Community, she grows produce (sans tractor) in her own garden at her own home; she’s got kale, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers and peppers to harvest and needs to build a more robust deer fence, but she’s also learning how to use PowerSchool and a Mac computer. Becoming a Community teacher was a leap and has come with a host of uncertainties, but it will allow Adams to flex her lived experiences within the classroom — it’ll just take time to familiarize herself with the community and its systems.

“I'd been working here for three days, and I was just thinking that at the beginning of this week, I had totally different students at a totally different school, and it felt like a lifetime ago already, just three days in,” Adams said. “There's a lot of stuff I'm still learning, of course because it has not been that long yet. It's a different culture and a different way of doing things, but I love the fact that everybody wants to be here and everybody's kind of on the same page. We want to be at Community.”

STEUDLE

Elois

Eloise MacDougald reflects on her high school experience and considers taking a gap year after graduation.

BY NINA TINNEY

MACDOUGALD

PHOTOS BY IONIE

G“Good luck.” That is all Eloise MacDougald’s teacher said to her as he dropped her off at the edge of the woods. With nothing but a tarp, a rope, a sleeping bag and some food strapped to her back she would be spending the next four days camping, completely alone.

not only can a different style of education work but a relaxed environment and rigor are not mutually exclusive.

In the second semester of her junior year, MacDougald attended The Mountain School in Vershire, Vermont. Located on a farm up in the mountains, the school is very secluded with the closest gas station being over 45 minutes away. Known for its unorthodox ways, activities at the Mountain School include farming, hiking, and an infamous four-day solo camping trip.

As MacDougald watched her teacher drive away, nothing but woods ahead, her nerves started to set in. She had tried to go into the experience without any expectations but this was going to be the longest time she had ever spent alone. No phone, no running water, no one to help.

“If I’m being honest I was freaking out,” MacDougald said. “I kept falling on the hard terrain and I couldn’t find a place to camp but I just kept telling myself, ‘Come on, you can do this.”

Eventually, after walking deeper into the woods, MacDougald was able to set up her tent. Though it was not immediate, she found peace in her loneliness. Over the four days she read books, journaled and even taught herself how to juggle. It is nontraditional experiences like this one, a solo camping trip, that she hopes to continue having long after high school.

One of the programs she is looking into for post-graduation is the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms otherwise known as “WOOFing." Through this program, she would get to travel around the world and work on different farms for room and board. Another program she is looking into is called “Class Afloat” which would give her the opportunity to live on a tall ship from the 1400s, work alongside other students and travel to over 20 different ports. No matter which program she chooses, it is a way that she can work, travel and learn all at the same time.

“When I ask people what they wish they would have done at my age, nine out of ten say they wish they had taken some sort of gap between high school and college,” MacDougald said. “We’re all lost, we don’t actually know ourselves and sometimes we just need a little extra time.”

We’re all lost, We don’t actually know ourselves and sometimes we just need a little extra time.

However, her interest in the nontraditional has not always been well received. Especially living so close to the University of Michigan, it can feel like everyone is on the same path: going straight from high school to college. And that anything other than that path is somehow less than.

“Every time I tell people that I am considering a gap year or a gap semester I get the same confused reaction,” MacDougald said. “They’re always really surprised by my decision. But I feel like what people don’t understand is that nontraditional does not equate to slacking off.”

Even with the Mountain School’s relaxed nature, MacDougald took multiple courses such as Environmental Humanities, Honors English and Culinary Studies, that she considers to be some of the most challenging and indepth that she’s taken in her life. It is proof to her that

Eventually, MacDougald does plan on attending a traditional four-year university. But for now, her goal is to seek out unique experiences, just like the ones that she had during her semester at The Mountain School. Afternoons spent playing Spikeball, morning walks to the sheep barn, or long, casual conversations with her Environmental Humanities professor were all things that would have never happened had she not been open to The Mountain School’s nontraditional ways.

“I think that before going to the Mountain School I would have been scared to take a gap year,” MacDougald said. “But what I have realized is just how much good can come from it.”

Whether she spends the next year on a farm or out at sea, she’s ready for the adventure. MacDougald’s gap year or gap semester will be the opposite of a “gap.” It will be filled with activity.

“I think I would be a lot more scared if I was just going straight to college,” MacDougald said. “But at this moment, I’m just excited and looking forward to what is to come.”

Just like when she stood at the edge of the woods, her teacher driving farther and farther in the opposite direction, she wants to relish in not knowing. Not knowing what the next moment, or day or week may hold. To MacDougald there is nothing more exciting.

Emily

WILSON-TOBIN

on her experience with casting and acting outside the gender binary.

BY CLAIRE LEWIS

PHOTOS BY BEE WHALEN

TThe Shakespeare play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” begins with two people longing to be with each other. The characters Hermia and Lysander plead for Hermia’s father to accept them as a couple. Her father denies their request and demands that she marry another man. This leads the two lovers to run away into the woods. These woods will soon act as an escape from reality, and in Emily Wilson-Tobin’s eyes, a safe haven for those not accepted by society.

This past summer, when Wilson-Tobin, director of Community Ensemble Theater [CET], listened to “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan, she was inspired by Roan’s story. Chappell Roan was raised by a conservative community, then went off into a wild queer drag land and finally experienced a place where she could truly feel like she could be whoever she wanted to be.

“That translated immediately for me into that experience [in Midsummer] of going out into the forest and craziness and expression,” Wilson-Tobin said. “The idea of gender fluidity and queerness is not a new one for Midsummer, but it felt very fresh to me.”

She first thought about these ideas a few years into her career as an acting teacher and theater director for middle and high school. It wasn’t until Wilson-Tobin had conversations and experiences with some students who opened up to her about not necessarily existing on the binary, that she started to think about it more carefully.

It’s not unusual for middle and high school theater directors to do what traditionally would be called “cross-gender casting,” often because many of the people who audition on that level identify as female.

“Cross-gender casting” has been in existence far before high school theater programs were. Since ancient Greek theater, women were banished from performing on the stage. Wilson-Tobin looks carefully at the history of gendered casting and the effect it has on performance and actors’ identity.

“If we’re talking about Shakespeare, women weren’t allowed to be on stage, and so men were dressing as them,” Wilson-Tobin said. “It became a joke at some point, for men to dress as women.”

In Shakespeare’s time it could be assumed that all the roles were being played by male actors. In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” there’s humor about a young man being forced to play a female role, which is something that Wilson-Tobin hopes to explore through CET’s production.

Throughout Wilson-Tobin’s life as an actor she has always been interested in playing male roles such as Hamlet or Richard the III because of the power that those characters held. When she did get cast as male characters it was easy for her to fall into stereotypes of masculinity.

“I felt like I had to be sort of Uber masculine, but it also felt really good to be less sexualized on stage,” Wil-

son-Tobin said. “Often when you end up playing those roles, if you are a female presenting person, you’re actually embodying a lot of the misogyny that is normally directed against you.”

Last year Wilson-Tobin acted as an advisor for a Gender in Performance CR with student Eli Braunschneider, which opened her mind to many ideas regarding casting and conversations surrounding identity in theater. The themes the two reflected on heavily centered around the gender of the actors vs the gender of the character they are portraying.

“We looked at things more carefully, and found that it’s actually more important for roles to be written for people who are either female presenting or non binary, rather than trying to stuff people into these masculine roles that they don’t necessarily naturally fit into,” Wilson-Tobin said. “Why is that where all the power should be?”

When thinking about casting for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Wilson-Tobin wanted to be purposeful about thinking outside the binary and representing people on stage in a way that made them feel honored in their identity.

“I pushed myself to approach casting without fixed ideas about how I might explore flexibility and fluidity in gender identity/expression,” Wilson-Tobin said. “This isn’t atypical for my casting process - I always try to come to it with an open mind - but I really wanted to see who showed up and how their identities could shape the story the casting would tell. As a result, how gender and gender expression would be part of our story was a big unknown.”

Now that the cast is set and Wilson-Tobin knows more, she wants to continue to approach the show with discovery in mind.

“If you are open to discovery rather than a fixed idea of how everything should work, you are a powerful artist,” Wilson-Tobin said.

She casted the role of Lysander (the man at the beginning who’s in love with the girl whose father doesn’t approve) as someone who doesn’t necessarily fit into the binary.

“That decision was purposeful,” Wilson-Tobin said. “There’s no question that the actor is going to be wonderful in that role and that the person wouldn’t have gotten that part if they couldn’t hold it. But there are some interesting things to explore that add layers to that.”

Wilson-Tobin hopes to open up this conversation further than just the audition room and casting decisions. She wants to show the audience that the cast and crew have had these conversations and provoke reflective thinking. How the audience will respond to the show is unknown, but Wilson-Tobin is confident that this show will leave the audience with more to think about.

Managing Our Devices

As CHS teachers begin to implement phone policies, the impacts are clear, though all involved must consider what is given up when devices are taken.

BY AMELIA SANDSTROM AND WALKER LEDBETTER

As Ryan Silvester walked into his room — lit with the sun of a mid-August morning — he immediately knew that something was missing.

“Stefan was back there, and there were no magnets,” Silvester said. “My industrial strength magnets were gone.”

Stefan, a name given to Silvester’s phone caddy, after the action of stuffing one’s phone into the pouch, required magnets. With those magnets gone, Silvester had no choice but to find an alternative. Something in this bizarre occurrence gave Silvester the push he needed to decide that this would be the year to finally put Stefan to use.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s this cool box, It can be Stefan Jr,’” Silvester said. “Then the more I thought about it, the more I was like, ‘Well, why don’t I try?’”

In years past, Stefan had been used as a last resort to keep phones from distracting students in his classroom. The idea was to let students find what works — or doesn’t work — for them while still maintaining an active learning environment. In theory, this would teach them self-control they would have to learn in their adult lives one day.

For his first six years of teaching, Silvester didn’t have phone policies and this idea of teaching his students self-control and responsibility was one of the primary reasons. He worried that taking away phones wouldn’t set up his students for success in the future, when they didn’t have someone to remove this distraction for them. This year though, Silvester decided to try it, to see how it went. He has seen so much more engagement and while this is still a worry for Silvester, he has noticed many students independently choosing to remove their phones from their learning, more and more. As Silvester gives students the opportunity to see what happens when

they remove their phones, they can find the motivation to work on the self-control that Silvester wanted to maintain.

With “Stefan Jr,” Silvester has his students put their phones in the box as soon as they walk in, preventing any distractions in class and keeping their minds off their phones. As a clinical professor at the University of Michigan in the Marsal Family School of Education, Liz Kolb has found in her research that even having phones close to students can impact the way that they learn.

In one study, Kolb found that cell phones can be distracting even if they aren’t in use. She noticed that when students had their phones close to them, they retained information worse than students that completely separated phones from their learning environments.

For, Clara Freeth, a senior at CHS the distractions of cell phones, whether in use or not, have been apparent in her experiences. Specifically, when she was in Silvester’s world history class, in her sophomore year.

“It was quite something,” Freeth said. “I remember sixth-block world history is where I learned that the Queen of England had died, everybody was going crazy and it was because we were all on our phones.”

So after a semester of frustration, Silvester decided to bring out Stefan. This decision was not taken well by the class, as the students were used to having their phones and didn’t appreciate the change.

“I felt like [removing phones] failed,” Silvester said. “There was so much fighting.”

After that, Silvester didn’t continue carrying out any specific phone policy and continued to experience the frustrating distraction of phones in his classroom. Silvester felt that he was always asking his students to put their phones away. It got to a point where he felt hopeless, that

there was nothing he could do, and that his effort wasn’t worth it. Ul timately though, Silvester is so glad he put that last sliver of patience he had into Stefan, because of the pay off he is seeing now.

Silvester has adjusted the way he approached phone policies since that world history class. This year he set his rules around phones early and clearly. This year, the difference in engagement has been striking and relieving for Silvester.

“People are up. People are engaged. People are in groups,” Silvester said. One class that has adapted well to the new policies is Silvester’s Modern Global Relation’s class. Ryan Grant, a senior at CHS, is in this class. Grant, someone who has struggled with disconnecting from his phone in the past, has found Silvester’s phone policy to be bene ficial. Because in years past, Grant has experienced exactly what Kolb sees in so many classrooms and in her research.

“You don’t feel like you’re learn ing,” Grant said. “You don’t feel like you’re turning in assignments when you need to, because you’re just on your phone, or you have your ear buds in. So you’re just kind of wait ing for the clock to pass.”

Grant has found increased productivity and engagement going without his device this year.

Despite the positive effects, when technology is as ingrained into our lives as it is, removing it will come with many challenges. While Kolb is very supportive of cases like Silves ter’s, she also wants to remind teach ers about the apprehensions and concerns of parents and the lim itations of schools that don’t have the means to access technology, like computers.

“There is a concern amongst par ents that if their children don’t have immediate access to their phone in schools and something does hap

Ryan Silvester

pen, their parents won’t be able to keep them safe or communicate with them,” Kolb said.

Furthermore, students in those schools deserve to be taught important technological skills. Phones can become an alternative tool for teaching technological literacy, Kolb has found tools like blogging on phones that can be used in classrooms that don’t have computer access.

“You may end up disadvantaging the students who are the most disadvantaged in the first place, because [their phone] is often the one device they have to grow economically, academically in society,” Kolb said. “So it is important to really weigh the needs of the community.”

Kolb — a parent herself — understands parents’ worries but also strongly believes that phones require structures in place. This varies from person to person and for some can mean removing phones from classrooms and bedrooms. In addition, Kolb finds that parents modeling good behaviors in their phone usage is paramount for kids just beginning to navigate phone use.

So while teachers like Silvester are seeing dramatic changes in their classrooms, as Kolb points out, there are certain situations where removing phones can have the opposite effect. With the removal of phones to aid in struggles like cyberbullying, when phones aren’t in school, the incidents are happening at home, and teachers aren’t always aware. Kolb’s advice in this regard is

“I don’t want you to be overly reliant upon your phone, because there’re going to be situations in life where you don’t have it and you’re going to need to figure things out.”

for teachers to make decisions that are right for their unique environment,considering all these possible consequences,but still being able to put structures in place so that stu dents can learn effectively with min imal distractions.

As the effects of Silvester’s phone policy become more and more per manent, other CHS teachers have started to join him. Silvester finds that a lot of his colleagues share his frustration with these devices.

“Something that [another teacher] said that was so profound is that we have lost our ability to be bored,” Silvester said. “And boredom is what breeds creativity. Boredom is what breeds friendships in so many ways.”

lenges and emerge,” Silvester said. He is also very interested in exploring the perspectives of students. To find ways that can maintain these benefits while considering the wants and needs of students to create a support that can exist outside of his class.

“I want to partner with students,” Silvester said. “I want to have these conversations about why, and think through the data about whether or not it’s worth it with students so that we can come forward with best practices and with a policy that we all can agree upon as a building for next year.”

Silvester’s phone policy isn’t going anywhere. As more and more teachers express interest in adopting these phone policies, Silvester hopes to create best practices for other teachers to follow and make it easy for other teachers to implement. Silvester continues to push for other teachers to implement phone policies that generate controlled boredom and create a fun and interactive learning environment for students and teachers alike. A group of teachers, including Silvester, have started to exchange their ideas on this topic and explore the ways to keep the engagement up in classrooms across CHS.

“I’m excited about how this group is going to work together to come up with how we deal with the new chal-

Ryan Grant

“I think the more we get off our phones, the more we can learn and stay engaged in conversation.”

Phone policies can be tricky to navigate, but students, educators, parents and experts can all see the huge impact having structures around our devices can have on learning. Silvester knows that each classroom is going to be different and, as Kolb supports, phones can be extremely helpful in schools. That said, they can also be harmful and students like Grant and Freeth can attest to the effects of them. What Silvester and others like him are doing is pushing through these challenges so that their students can have as safe and supportive learning as possible, where phones can be tools and not a toy.

Silvester’s ultimate goal is to provide policies and best practices for CHS students and the school as a whole. He wants to keep the freedom that gives CHS students the room to learn responsibility and self control while understanding that phones can be difficult to manage. Simply, to give students the support they need.

“Not everyone’s going to have a box,” Silvester said. “I don’t think it’s ever going to be worthwhile for us to come with a uniform policy for every class at Community, we’re the alternative. It makes sense. Every classroom is different.”

Getting Comfortable With the Unknown

Sean Eldon uses literature as a tool to approach existentialism, self-reflection and all things philosophy.

BY ZANE SWERDLOW AND MIGUEL LARIOS

In Sean Eldon’s Philo Lit class, the unknown takes center stage. The study of philosophy is the art of asking big questions, many of which don’t have definite answers.

The full title of Philo Lit is Philosophical Issues in Literature. This means it strays from the typical methods of philosophical study, choosing to view the big questions not through pure analysis but through a deeper lens of stories and metaphors. Despite pulling from sources from many time periods, some more modern than others, the essential ideas in all of Philo Lit’s texts date back to the ancient world.

For Eldon, context is everything, and in order to answer the important questions, he feels you have to first understand how they came to be asked. In room 306, Philo Lit students explore the history of philosophy, building their own philosophical foundations on readings like Plato’s Cave, Oedipus Rex and The World’s Wife. Through having conversations with philosophical works and inviting dialogues with their authors, Eldon

and his students have started to unpack some of the biggest mysteries throughout history.

“What’s a meaningful life? How do we know that we’re living a meaningful life? How do we know that we’re doing well by others?” Eldon asked. “Those are some of the types of questions we ask of texts like ‘Oedipus’ and ‘Hamlet’ and ‘The Stranger’.”

For students in Philo Lit, these texts serve as ways to access obscure concepts. When examining meaning in reality becomes difficult, literature presents an alternative, often simplified reality to analyze from an overhead perspective.

In Philo Lit, the day starts off with a general read of the room. For Eldon, creating a comfortable environment is paramount. He asks each student what they’ve been doing recently, helping them bring their lives into the classroom. Talking about mundane things like movies and football games helps to set up an open environment, testing the waters before diving into the day’s

through a historical timeline of early philosophical forums. As group discussion plays a significant role in Eldon’s classroom, studying these early forums has been key for building solid philosophical foundations in room 306.

Photography by Daniel Jacob Sean Eldon leads his students

texts. As they start asking questions, Eldon uses his own experiences and questions to provide his students with a broader perspective.

“I have a foundation — an academic foundation and a personal foundation. I think for all the major questions we asked, what I mean by foundation in this case is that I’ve thought about these questions in my own life, and I’ve also thought about these questions in the specific books that we read,” Eldon said. He uses these foundations to help him impart knowledge and guide his students.

“I’ve done a lot of reading, and I listen to philosophy podcasts and I’ve taken philosophy classes where we use literature as an entry point for thinking about these ideas,” Eldon said. “If you ask, for example, ‘What does it mean to live a meaningful life?’ Not only is it a hard question, but it’s a question that is going to require you, on some level, to ask, ‘What does it mean if life doesn’t have meaning?’ And that can really be personally destabilizing and make you uncomfortable.”

This potential for discomfort is part of what makes the lens of literature so useful for Eldon’s class. “One of the ideas is that by asking these questions of literature, rather than just of yourself, that we can take some risks and find some risky answers,” Eldon said. “Because at the end of the day, these are fictional characters. They’re not real, right? If we ask too many of these questions of ourselves too quickly, it can be really overwhelming. So I think that that’s one of the ways that the questions drive the class — by virtue of giving us permission to take some risks that might feel uncomfortable in real life.”

Philo lit is not a traditional English class, nor is it taught like one. Getting deeper into the topics is an essential part of exploring philosophy, and no stone can be left unturned.

“I think it comes down to how it’s being taught,” said Klava Alicia, a Philo Lit student. “And I think Sean really goes in depth about all perspectives in Philo lit and he really explains the topics in depth. I don’t know how to say it, but he gives more background on it than just ‘Oh, this is what happened.’ He explains why it happened.”

For Eldon, it can be hard to know the best approach towards such big ideas. Before you tackle the big questions you have to acknowledge that you don’t have the answers. Eldon thinks that people often pretend like they do, and fail to realize that everyone is searching for different things.

“You just have to encourage people to trust their own intuition, experience, perception, knowledge, throw it in a mixing bowl and come up with something that feels meaningful,” Eldon said. “So I think it can be difficult

What I really want my students to take from this class is the enthusiasm for the search.

with students who are very concrete, who are very uncomfortable in ambiguity, with students who expect there to be an answer.”

This difficulty can even become hurtful, for students who take answers personally. When the answers they find in Philo Lit don’t line up with their existing worldview, they can feel destabilized. However, some students find that answering these big questions is the opposite of hurtful.

“I definitely believe, and this is my own personal opinion, but I believe that we can’t see true philosophy or true knowledge or truth or enlightenment without others,” Kaylie Peters said. “There’s an allegory that my dad had for a very long time that true light, or like the world, is like a prism, and that when a light hits it like truth. Or again, if there is such a thing, pure truth. It hits the prism and it showers into many lights, different colors, different shapes.”

For Peters, Philo Lit helps to explore these lights and colors. “Without knowing all of those lights, we can’t know what truth is,” Peters said. “And I find that really true in my own life. And so I try to understand how people see the world and see their own life, their own perspectives, and by understanding that by piecing each little piece together, I can fully understand the truth.”

Photography by Daniel Jacob Carlos Finks reviews an excerpt from Plato's Cave to prepare for a class discussion.

Looking Up

CHS students and staff share about the people who inspire them most.

BY LUCY LOWENSCHUSS, WILLOW ROSENFELD, JESSICA ROTHSTEIN AND JANE GROCOFF

For years, Desmond Lorenz has taken music lessons with his bass teacher, Rob. Over time, Rob has become a role model to Lorenz. Lorenz lives by Rob’s quote, “Practice slow to go fast.” Although the quote seems like it only relates to music, Lorenz applies the saying to many facets of his life.

“It’s cool to have somebody that can teach you a lot and kind of show you the path that you want to take in something that you’re interested in,” Lorenz said.

Lorenz feels that his music teacher is a source of knowledge and inspiration and he’s glad to call him a role model.

Brian Williams and his father both share a love for music. One of the reasons Williams is a counselor at Community is so that he can still play music over the weekends and during the summer. It gives Williams a connection to his father, after a rocky relationship during his father’s life.

“I didn’t see him a whole lot growing up,” Williams said. “He had a lot of issues. He was a high-functioning alcoholic.”

Though his father isn’t what people might think of as a traditional role model, Williams still found ways to look up to him.

“He struggled through life but always tried to make things better with me and my brothers,” Williams said.

William’s father passed away from a stroke at the age of 53, but Williams still carries these lessons of perseverance with him through life.

Anna Chomistek was in second grade when she first watched “Soul Surfer,” a movie based on a true story about Bethany Hamilton, who as a teen, was attacked by a shark while surfing and lost an arm.

Ever since then, Bethany Hamilton has been a constant role model for Chomistek. Even though Chomistek is not a surfer, she relates Hamilton’s actions to her daily life.

“For a long time, I was the shortest person,” Chomistek said. “[Hamilton] had a disadvantage, but she kept going. So that’s what I feel I have in common with her.

The way Hamilton pushed through after her injury continues to inspire Chomistek. It reminds her to never stop working hard in the sports she plays and in her day to day life.

Desmond Lorenz Role Model: His Bass Teacher

Brian Williams Role Model: His Dad

Role Model: Her Favorite Surfer

Lee Greenberg, a sophomore, and her older brother, Noah, tell their best jokes after dinner. Most of Lee’s favorite memories of her brother involve the conversations they have after the meal. Their shared sense of humor is one reason Greenberg thinks of her brother as a role model.

Another reason is Noah Greenberg’s ability to talk through problems and change his sister’s mind set.

“I don’t even know what we were joking about, but he took something I was nervous about, and turned it into something that we were joking and laughing really hard about,”

Greenberg said. “He just understands how to talk to people in a way that I really hope I can be like in the future.”

Andrea Adams, the newest addition to our science department, has looked up to her grandmother since she was a kid. It all started when her grandmother would take her and her cousins on “mystery trips” to places around Detroit: the dog pound, the flea market, the Symphony Orchestra. Adams — wanting to follow in her footsteps — was inspired to become a teacher by her grandmother.

“She’s a force of nature, she lives life how she wants to and she’s amazing,” Adams said. “She’s got a great network of people, and has always done what she wanted to do. She’s traveled the world, and she’s an amazing matriarch for our family.”

Adams and her grandmother still have a close relationship to this day.

“She’s 92 and still around,” Adams said. “I’m going to go and play cards with her on Friday.”

Carter Lee, a sophomore, has traveled to three national parks with his role models: his parents. His favorite memories of them involve going out west and seeing the sights of Yellowstone, Mount Teton and Glacier National Park. Trips like those improve Lee’s mood and outlook on life, especially with the help of his parents.

“They pick me up when I’m down,” Lee said. “They help me out when I need help.”

One piece of advice his parents gave him is to give himself a compliment any time he’s feeling down. This recommendation has stuck with Lee: he tries to use it in his everyday life.

Lee Greenberg Role Model: Her Brother

Andrea Adams Role Model: Her Grandmother

Carter Lee Role Model: His Parents

An Ann Arbor

Inside the City of Ann Arbor’s plan to provide more affordable housing and what it means to the community.

BY NINA TINNEY

ART BY GABE DEEDLER

63 residential units at 121 Catherine Street

Every day, as she walks to and from her bus stop, Charlotte Rotenberg makes note of the ongoing construction projects. Whether it’s a new University of Michigan building or a fancy condominium, there seems to be a new project every day.

But there is one project in particular that Rotenberg pays attention to more than the rest: 121 Catherine St.

The site, located just two blocks from CHS, was once a parking lot. Now it is a deep hole in the ground, seemingly a mess of pipes and machinery. In actuality, it’s a part of the City of Ann Arbor’s plan to provide more affordable housing for its residents. After breaking ground this April, 121 Catherine St. is set to become a six-story affordable housing building with 63 residential units and open community spaces on the ground floor.

The first time Rotenberg learned about this project was in the Youth Civic & Community Engagement CR. For a semester, every Tuesday and Thursday she would walk to city hall and learn about different facets of the city, including housing. Rotenberg got the opportunity to hear from members of the Housing Commission who explained their work taking underused, city-owned lots such as 121 Catherine St. and turning them into new housing.

“When I heard about the project happening so close to Community I thought, ‘this is so cool,’” Rotenberg said. “I’d heard about affordable housing before taking the CR, but it gave me a much better understanding of what it really is and how much it is needed.”

By definition, affordable housing is housing made for a targeted community, usually those with lower annual incomes. It is housing — unlike most — created without the intention of making a profit, but instead merely to provide homes to the people who need them.

In just the past few years, the price

of living in Ann Arbor has increased exponentially. More than half of the people who work in Ann Arbor don’t live within city limits, forcing them to make daily commutes. These facts alone raise red flags to the city, signaling that something needs to be done and it is units like 121 Catherine St. that may just be able to address them.

Arin Yu, a Planning Specialist with the Ann Arbor Housing Commission, sees the project at 121 Catherine St. as the beginning of a much bigger change.

“The city needs more housing in general,” Yu said. “Whether it's affordable, market price or for middle-sized families, we need it. But this project is about more than just housing.”

For 121 Catherine St., many factors are being taken into consideration: affordability, community engagement, arts and sustainability. Using an application process, the building is set to house people coming out of homelessness as well as artists and creatives. Not only will the building have typical apartments, it is set to heavily incorporate the work of local artists into its design. Also, to stay in line with Ann Arbor’s carbon neutrality plan, the building is going to be made of sustainable materials and will have an underground geothermal heating system.

Besides art and sustainability, historical significance is also being taken into consideration. Located right across the street from the Kerrytown Market & Shops, 121 Catherine St. is in an area rich with history.

For the majority of the 21st century, what is now “Kerrytown” was a predominantly Black neighborhood. From Ann St. to N. Fourth Ave. there was a thriving business district. Just steps from 121 Catherine St. were community organizations such as the Colored Welfare League, Jones Elementary School and the Dunbar Community Center.

However, as a consequence of the

desegregation of Ann Arbor Public Schools and the fair housing policies of the 1960s, many community members were pushed out. And later, with new investments, the area was completely gentrified.

Currently, there is little recognition of the Black community that was once in the area. In efforts to change this, the Housing Commission has been in partnership with both Avalon Housing and the Community Leadership Council (CLC), whose members are multi-generational Black former and current residents of the neighborhood. The CLC decided that a portion of the community space as well as the building’s name will be dedicated to historical recognition of the area. Named after the Dunbar Community Center — a social and social services resource for the city’s Black community in the mid-1900s — 121 Catherine St. will be known as “The Dunbar Tower.”

This building is from the community for the community. In a time when housing prices continue to climb, it is fulfilling a great need. And though The Dunbar Tower isn’t projected to be done with construction until 2026, it is one of many more to come.

“It takes a lot of time and effort, pushing through all the different difficulties of trying to do affordable housing,” Yu said. “But it is important to show people that not only is it feasible, but you can create an affordable housing building that has beautiful artwork, that has strong meaning, that ties to the community and is also sustainable. You really can do it all.”

Now, when Rotenberg takes her daily walks to the bus stop she continues to watch the progress at 121 Catherine St. Whether they are pouring concrete or drilling in pipes she watches. She watches progress towards a more affordable Ann Arbor.

We aren’t learning how to conquer the unknown. We aren’t learning how to conquer conquer the unknown.

We aren’t learning how to conquer the unknown.

We’re learning how to befriend it.

STAFF EDITORIAL

Here at Community High, we’re constantly absorbing knowledge: how to find the relative minima of a function, how The Treaty of Versailles impacted the 20th century, how a river’s benthic population indicates how healthy it is, how color theory applies to the paintings we’re creating.

Five days a week, we spend six hours (give or take) a day officially “learning.” We take notes and present slideshows and read articles. We prove theories through labs, practice our French and solve plenty of math problems. Beyond the building on 401 N Division St., we take Community Resource classes (CRs) at a Spanish immersion preschool, at City Hall, at the University of Michigan — all over the area.

With our forums, we go on camping trips, foray into public speaking, cook breakfasts and remove invasive species from nearby parks. In addition to our more requisite curriculum, we play jazz gigs at galas, lead our Mock Trial team in state and national competitions, establish CHS’s Society of Speed Walkers and stay up all night giggling at journalism conferences with our Communicator colleagues.

We are learning more than how to fill out worksheets and even more than what it takes to be successful students; we are learning how to navigate — and lead —in this world that feels like too much too often.

Sometimes, the gravity of it all pushes down on us: a family member’s failing health, the seeming end-all-beall nature of a college acceptance, the state of modern global politics, an impending orchestra recital. It adds up, and that’s heavy. Burdened by the stress of these tests, your whole life can feel exactly like sitting at your desk staring down at the same algebra problem for 35 minutes. It’s everyday, but in that moment, not knowing

the answer or even how to get to it feels earth-shatteringly catastrophic.

It can feel impossible to see that the weight of the world rests on more shoulders than yours, but no single one of us is Atlas. Together, we keep the globe spinning, and together, when the sky feels like it’s falling, we’ll put everything back where it should be piece by piece.

You’re not supposed to know it all — no one does. Instead, what CHS aims to teach you — what you need to know — is how to be prepared for the unknown. It’s something you’ll never escape individually and is a fact of life we won’t ever triumph over as a society. It holds every possibility, which is what gives it its gravity, but to expect the unknown and to be able to adapt in the face of it is the very most we can do.

The decision to become a Rainbow Zebra is a commitment not just to be emboldened to be a scholar, but to be implored to get more in touch with the characteristics that make us human than ever before. The very act of choosing CHS is a gamble; so many of us leave behind our closest friends and the futures we’d always anticipated in exchange for an unknown quantity. It’s a common truth that bonds us on impact — we’re all new to here and to this. You can’t really know what a first day or the four years that follow it are exactly like until you live them.

For the entirety of our CHS careers, we’re encouraged to push past our comfort zone and learn just how much connections (not the New York Times game) matter. We are designed to be different and quickly realize that those differences are what set us apart. We’re supported when we leap and once we have leapt, we know we can again.

Here at Community High, we aren’t learning how to conquer the unknown; we’re learning how to befriend it.

Our Unknown Afterlife

When we die, do we follow what religion tells us, what science suggests or is there nothing at all?

BY ISABELLA MALDONADO

When I was younger, I would see little specks of dust sparkle in the sunshine and I was sure that it was my grandmother. Dust doesn’t give you a sense of warmth like that, it doesn’t make you feel like your grandmother is watching over you. I had wondered what was to happen to me when I die, with the multitude of options which was right. Yet sometimes I find myself wanting to be the dust in the sunlight that warms my loved ones heart.

Many people turn to religion to explain the unexplainable, a comforting hand that holds you as the fear of the unknown lurks around the corner. Some find solace in science like theories that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, or that the brain can stay active even after death has been declared. But rather I find peace in not knowing at all. It’s not about arguing whether which is right; it is simply that it doesn’t matter what happens when you die because you’ll never know.

Every religion has its own belief of what happens after you die, it’s one of the key components that guide people to choose a given religion. The majority of mainstream religions fall under one of the following beliefs or a combination of some: heaven or hell, reincarnation or resurrection. It brings hope to people that just because a heart stops beating doesn’t mean that the soul stops existing.

ART BY ISABELLA MALDONADO

When we are kids many imagine heaven as a maniacal place among the clouds where everything is peaceful. This rings especially true for Kyra Kahana, a senior at CHS, who wishes for the afterlife to be like her childhood vision.

“When you’re a little kid and you think of heaven. You’re in clouds that are like cotton candy clouds, and you’re with all your friends who eventually pass. Your soul is there,” Kahana said. “If I had to create what I would want to believe it would be something like that, in the cotton candy clouds for like eternity with whatever greater being you believe.”

One scientific theory of what happens when we die is called “life recall.” It is the moments after your heart no longer beats when your brain still produces activity. Scientists have found that brain wave patterns are similar to brain waves that occur during dreams, memory recall and mediation.

“Something we may learn from this research is [that] although our loved ones have their eyes closed and are ready to leave us to rest, their brains may be replaying some of the nicest moments they experienced in their lives,” said Dr. Ajmal Zemmar, a neurosurgeon at the University of Louisville, US, who organized the study (Frontiers.org).

This not-so-new idea of your life’s memory flashing before your eyes and giving you a moment to reflect

on all the good you had while you were living is comforting now that there is a small chance that science backs it up. Neuroscientists are constantly looking for ways to explain what happens to the brain when death occurs and this study just might be the first step to a minuscule understanding of the seconds after death.

“On the spiritual side, I think it is somewhat calming," Zemmar said. "I face this at times when you have patients that pass away and you talk to their families; you have to be the bearer of bad news. Right now, we don’t know anything about what happens to their loved one’s brain when they’re dying. I think if we know that there is something happening in their brain, that they are remembering nice moments, we can tell these families and it builds a feeling of warmth that in that moment when they are falling, this can help a little bit to catch them.”

On the other hand, there could be absolute nothingness after you die. You don’t remember what or who you were before you were born so who is to say that there will be anything after you die? Although this may seem like a somber thought, Elizabeth Clark, a CHS sophomore, fears the fact that you can’t plan death no matter what you do.

“I’m a person who plans out things, and not knowing what happens when you die and not having

a plan — it’s just uncomfortable for me to think about,” Clark said.

Just because you are no longer alive doesn’t mean that what you accomplished while you were alive was for nothing. Even if after death there is only nothingness for your consciousness you still leave behind a legacy that lives on in your family, your friends and sometimes even your work.

Although at this point in time we have absolutely no idea what happens when you die but it doesn’t mean that we won’t find out. For most, death is feared not because you are gone from the universe, but because you truly don’t know what is going to happen. Kahana would rather know that there is absolutely nothing after she dies than not knowing what happens.

“Honesty, I think I’d rather know. I think it would bring me peace of mind,” Kahana said.

I find comfort in not knowing what will happen to me when I die. Despite wanting to have constant control over my life, I know that death is part of being alive. I'm grateful I got the chance to live, so what happens after is not my place to worry about. You don’t need to know what happens when the clock of your life finally stops because right now you are living and you have all the time in the world before the question of the afterlife is finally answered.

AGREE TO

Aliens have to exist in some form: There is too much that is unknown about the universe to refuse the idea of extraterrestrial life.

BY ISABELLA MALDONADO

► It is ignorant to believe that there is no chance of life on another planet.

To be honest, the history of the Earth is just plain weird. Basically, 4.54 billion years ago, a big mass of dust and gas left over from the formation of the sun created the early phases of the Earth. Over time, by some miracle, the Earth developed into a place where intelligent life could grow and flourish.

First, let’s set the standard for what aliens are, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an alien is defined as a being that comes from or lives in another world: extraterrestrial. Any other living being that has not originated from Earth is an alien in this context.

There are an estimated over 700 quintillion planets in our universe. How can someone truly believe our planet is the only one of 700 quintillion to have humans or something

akin to us? The odds don’t match up. Kaylie Peters, a CHS senior and a believer in aliens thinks that there is too much about our Earth that we don’t know to make assumptions about the rest of the universe.

“There’s so much that we don’t even know about our own world, we’ve only explored about 5% of our oceans,” Peters said. “So who knows what’s in there? It’s very possible that life exists outside of our world.”

There are too many claims of experiences with aliens to merely make extraterrestrial life a coincidence. For all we know, Greek Gods could have been an alien race. Peters believes strongly in a famous quote by Arthur C. Clarke who said, “Magic is just science we don’t understand.”

“It’s impossible to tell if they really do exist,” Peters said. “But who knows? Maybe they stop by and are just in disguise because they know humans freak out about aliens.”

ART BY ISABELLA MALDONADO

Peters thinks that one possibility is that aliens are part of a more advanced civilization than we can comprehend. They might be so far advanced that they have been here on Earth but have used their resources to avoid detection.

“They have more knowledge of the unknown than we do,” Peters said. “I kind of believe that they have more understanding of the world, that the worlds that they live in or that the universe, surrounding them and how to manipulate it.”

There have been too many occurrences of people claiming to have seen aliens throughout history for them not to exist. I believe that throughout the immense amount of planets in the universe there has to be at least one other form of intelligent life that are similar to humans. We might not find out for sure in our lifetime, or even in several generations, but never say never.

DISAGREE

With all of our technology and exploration, Mankind has yet to find signs of extraterrestrial life. All signs point to Earth being alone in the universe.

BY ZANE SWERDLOW

► There is no life beyond Earth. Time and time again, when I voice this opinion I am met with something approaching pure disbelief. It is impossible for people to give this idea leeway, shattering the epic sci-fi perceptions that they have been eating up all their lives.

To me, the idea of aliens just doesn’t sit right. For reasons both empirical and vaguely spiritual, I do not believe that any aliens worth our time are out there.

One of the major arguments that people use when arguing for the existence of aliens is the fact that the universe is infinite. Because it’s infinite, they often say there must be some other combination of conditions out there that is just like Earth’s, or that there has to be some alternative life-sustaining environment.

This is not how the infinite nature of the universe works though. Imag-

ine an infinite field, grass stretching out as far as the eye can see. This is an infinite space, yet it somehow does not necessitate the existence of some advanced civilization a million miles out.

To me, it seems sensible that the universe consists of endless expanses of rocky and gaseous nothingness. Perhaps on some warm, wet planet, there lives some thoughtless amoeba pulsating in a primordial soup. Is this really what people mean when they talk about aliens? In my experience, it's not. Apart from the fallacy of infinite space guaranteeing infinite outcomes, I find that thinking of some greater, possibly conscious alien life conflicts with my view of the world itself. When I observe the world around me, the precise beauty in all things strongly suggests something divine operating behind the scenes. Human consciousness, the thing that

appears to separate us from all other life, is so unexplainable that science has yet to even come close. We have no evolutionary explanation, no framework derived from scientific methods. If humanity is already unique to Earth, and Earth is unique to the solar system, and our solar system is unique to the galaxy, the development of other life seems incomprehensible. Even if this unicorn race of beings did exist, surely we would have seen them by now or at least caught their signals in our probing satellite dishes. The golden record, NASA’s cryptic capsule of humanity that blasted into space on Voyager in 1977 is symbolically beautiful, but to me, it serves no purpose as an instructional guide for extraterrestrial civilization. Flying into the stars, the golden record glows in the darkness of space with the touch of the loneliest thing in the universe: life.

Between

Know what we

Being a scientist requires sitting comfortably in the known and the unknown.

BY JANAKI NALLAMOTHU

We never know what’s going to be an important discovery. Scientists can never be sure if the topic they’re researching is going to change humanity — until it does.

Kaitlin Kariko explored the function and usage of mRNA starting in the late 1990s, focusing specifically on mRNA vaccines. At the time, her research wasn’t acknowledged as important. Her findings were published in lower-tier scientific journals and weren’t widely recognized.

Almost 30 years later, Kariko and her colleagues were finally recognized: the base formula for an mRNA vaccine they created in the 1990s was applied to COVID-19 in 2020. Their discoveries allowed us to defend against COVID-19 in less than 12 months, launching a vaccine for global use more quickly than humans ever have. Kariko finally earned her recognition in 2023 when she won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. The importance of her original discovery didn’t come to light until almost 30 years later.

Ever since I was young, I’ve been curious. I’ve bugged my parents with the “whys” and the “hows,” no matter the setting. I always had questions and sometimes didn’t even care about the answers, I just liked asking them.

As I grew older, I started to lean more towards finding answers rather than just asking questions. I would sit in science class and listen to my teacher’s lecture while I tried to grasp a concept, whether it was cellular respiration or natural selection. These facts would be talked through during discussions and appear on tests. We would be graded on what we knew, not the questions we asked.

Yet, while we might have learned how a process worked, something in me always came back to fundamental questions of why that process ex-

ART BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI

isted and how a discovery was made. And asking these questions made me feel like I was unfamiliar with the topic all over again.

As I’ve thought deeper about these ideas, I realize that in science class, we learn a lot about the results of discoveries, but much less about the process of how a discovery was made. Through years and years of intensive scientific studies, we’ve created an amazing bank of knowledge that allows us deep insights into complex ideas like the timeline of the universe and practical treatments like antibiotics. But how did we get here? How did we make the journey from the unknown to the known?

Things we don’t know are often scary. They can make us feel inadequate or like we should understand more, both of which can be discouraging and uncomfortable. When I don’t know an answer, I avoid it and shy away, but scientists act differently when they see a question without an answer; they’re drawn toward it.

Scientists have to be comfortable being in the unknown. To them, it’s more interesting than the known. At the same time, knowing baseline techniques and concepts is essential to begin discovery. The foundational knowledge can be another’s research or personal knowledge.

“You have to have some aspect that is known that’s your jumping off point,” said Dr. Ann Miller, a Biologist at the University of Michigan. “It’s hard to take a giant leap into something that’s totally unknown, so you need some kind of ladder that gets you the unknowns that you can jump from.”

Finding the balance between what you need to know and when you can start researching isn’t a definite line. Instead, experimentation should be integrated. In her classes, Miller makes sure to teach her students

Don’t what we and

the basic foundational material that they need to know before opening the window to discovery. Some of the students she teaches also work in her lab with her, and seeing them connect ideas further always brings a smile to Miller’s face.

Marcy McCormick, science teacher, argues that learning content is important, but when a student is given just enough information that they can solve the problem on their own, it’ll ultimately be a better learning opportunity for them, even if it’s more challenging or frustrating.

Taking science at CHS allows students to connect what they learn each year and bring it to the next level, weaving a web of ideas in their minds. Each year, having a theme that ties all the ideas we’ve learned together helps students visualize how the different sciences work together holistically. McCormick chose CHS for that reason when she was looking for teaching jobs.

“I sought out CHS because of the integrated science program,” McCormick said. “It is unique. It teaches [science] in a way that is more realistic, because in my opinion, biology and chemistry aren’t standalone disciplines, they work together.”

Another key way to balance the known and unknown is through collaboration. With newfound technologies that bring us together, growing partnerships between scientists are now occurring all around the world. Breakthroughs in science often involve cooperation across fields. The science community can work off of results that may not be significant for one person’s study, but could be the key to another’s.

In the high school classroom, student engagement fuels collaboration. McCormick believes that student voices are important, especially when designing experiments. Students being engaged in class s helps students work together through problems together.

Miller, on the other hand, works with the students in her lab to find support from outside of her laboratory, usually in the form of scientific papers that are produced by scientists from around the world.

“Every time we’re thinking about starting a new project in my lab, we’re looking at the scientific literature, at what other people have already done,” Miller said. “We’re trying to figure out what questions haven’t been answered.”

Research collaboration is also present in Miller’s labs. There are some things that Miller can study and experiments she can orchestrate other’s can’t do in their systems.

This is an example of why collaboration not only across fields but even professions can create profound impacts. Working together allows discoveries from some fields to permeate into others.

Just like teamwork can look different at each stage, science is taught differently at each level. As a high school student, I’m learning the basics and getting information thrown at me. I’m learning how to set up and clean up a lab, how to interpret data and understand basic scientific principles, like the periodic table and photosynthesis. In school, working on projects bridges my creative and academic side together while allowing me to have fun in class and learn alongside my friends.

At the collegiate level, Miller teaches her undergraduate class in cell biology. They learn the language and terms of cell biology, but Miller and her co-teachers always encourage interest in discovery and getting involved in lab work. She encourages her students to change their way of thinking of scientists as they embark on discoveries, changing the way they look at problems.

“Students have to shift their perspectives from learning things that we already understand, like textbook knowledge, to focusing on things

we don’t really understand,” Miller said. “We’re trying to have graduate students think about the most pressing unknowns so that they can do that kind of research for their thesis project and get their PhD.”

In those introductory classes, Miller is adamant to emphasize the importance of introducing the scientist behind the science. Talking about these individuals highlights diversity in the science field, and can humanize science by learning about the people who are actively working in these fields.

“In textbooks, we often see some old white gentlemen who have made a lot of discoveries,” Miller said. “But there are scientists all over the world who are making important discoveries and from a lot of different backgrounds. We try to help students see that the scientists who are making important discoveries are just normal people like they are”

Science has become an interest of mine. It’s taught me to think in a different way, taking in multiple angles and carrying on when the task at hand is difficult. Science is all about persevering through the wild unknowns. If Kariko hadn’t believed in her work, the COVID-19 vaccine wouldn’t have been realized so soon.

“The power of science is exploring the unknown,” McCormick said. “I love that in science, there are still so many unknowns because it means that anyone could potentially discover something new.”

Miller is in agreement, believing anyone with practice and training could make important contributions to understanding scientific topics.

When Kariko won her Nobel Prize last year, she wrote “Science, at its best, is about asking questions, trying things, and going wherever that inquiry takes you. It requires walking into the unknown — the unknown is the very point!”

The unknown involves venturing into areas where knowledge is limited. Science celebrates the adventurous spirit and creativity, encouraging an open-minded approach to learning and discovery. There’s so much that’s yet to be discovered, and each day, scientists get closer to making our world a little less unknown.

1946

The first computer made in Pennsylvania, named ENIAC weighed 30 tons and took up 1,800 square feet. It was used in WWII.

Project

AI is improving. What’s in it for us?

BY WILSON ZHENG

Marci Harris, French teacher, thinks that AI won’t be taking over jobs any time soon. She thinks that they will be helping professionals improve their work rather than replacing them. Personally, she uses Claude to help find her starting point in writing letters of recommendation, and she’s able to modify and personalize the work afterward.

“You know how when people ask someone something they don’t know, they’ll say like, ‘oh, go google it,’ and I think that’s what it’ll be like with AI,” Harris said. “There’s a saying that AI won’t replace you, but the person using it will. I think we all can benefit from using it.”

Recently, within the world of technology, there’s been a huge Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom that has come with rapid progress in just the past few years. Let’s take, for example, ChatGPT: the generative AI that we all know for doing homework, answering questions and even generating images. Launched in Novem-

Introduced in 1939, it finally came into fruition after years of testing and cost around three times as much as black and white TVs.

1953

ber of 2022, the AI was text-only and often made up facts when it didn’t know the answer, later being defined as “hallucinations.”

Two years later, it’s now more fluent at responding — but still has the “hallucinations” quite often — and can now create photos and art from a prompt and analyze photos. The company that made ChatGPT, OpenAI, has been developing a text-tovideo AI model called Sora, which is currently not open to the public.

Looking at face value, it seems like everything is only improving exponentially — but that’s not exactly the case. Most professionals believe that growth follows an S or sigmoidal curve: it has a shallow developing phase, a steep growth phase and a maturity/limit phase that flattens out, and we happen to be on the very steep part of that curve right now.

“The biggest foundational enabling piece that allows technology to advance so fast right now is really a wealth of data that was previously unavailable,” said Jose Nazario, who works in cybersecurity. “Before, there were teams of people who are basically teaching computers what math is and how it fits together, and they’re doing this manually. Now, like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and others really have the world’s data available to them, and very large computers to process it.”

Nazario works in cyber threat intelligence, meaning he investigates cyber attacks and gathers data on who’s behind them to try to under-

ART BY BEE WHALEN

The first microprocessor, the Intel 4004, was introduced. It's the size of fingernail, and more powerful than the ENIAC.

stand what happened and what matters. He uses this information to warn and inform his customers. Recently, the two big areas he’s worked on are the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

He uses AI to accelerate parts of his work. For example, translating, automating and structuring data, although he still finds that it does a pretty terrible job at replacing analysts and their unique insights due to the fact that they are rare and require creative thinking, the two places where AI really falls.

“I believe we’re already seeing outsourcing by some firms to automated software development platforms hosted by companies like GitHub and others. The quality of the code, the security of the code, and things like that are open questions, so that gives some of my peers and colleagues a lot of concern about this situation,” Nazario said. “It could just be a reaction to people feeling like their jobs are under threat, but I think we’re already seeing some of this happen. I would argue the story of John Henry is instructional here: Remember, in the story, John Henry swings a hammer to lay the railroad, and he’s challenged by a steam drill. He fights back, but dies in the end.”

Currently, well-known AI — ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot just to name a few — doesn’t really have “intelligence.” They aren’t really original thinkers, but more like noise machines that generate answers based on what they’ve been

The official birth date of the Internet is considered Jan. 1, 1983 and is now the global network that connects billions.

1983 2007

The Apple iPhone was released, which revolutionized the world with its captive touchscreen that had various capabilities.

taught. They aren’t creative and they’re unable to create their own original work.

We haven’t been able to make AI with human-like intelligence and the ability to self-teach, also known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), and I don’t think we will be able to in the near future. Right now, most AIs are made to do specific tasks such as playing chess, chatting or generating art and we would need to combine them all. And with what professionals have learned they don’t generalize well.

“Think Ultron, for example, a machine that can really sort of master domain and its own objectives to achieve them,” Nazario said. “That is, in my estimation, preposterous right now to imagine having any real chance of happening, but that also doesn’t necessarily stop people from throwing money at it.”

Right now, many of the big companies who have a large share of the market, such as Tesla and OpenAI, are working towards AGI as sort of their goal, or promise. So what happens when these big companies with a lot of funding and hype fail? Well, there’s been a specific term coined called AI winter, which in a classic case is where almost everybody put away their research programs, funding, hopes and dreams for AI for a long time.

We probably won’t see something on this level and quite as abrupt as this, but there certainly will be a reckoning. As it is right now, the

promise and hype which back the funding and investments seems to outstrip the real promise here. Just this past summer, there has been a report made by Goldman Sach that looked at the anticipated payoffs of AI. It noted that the numbers that people were promoting and promising are simply unobtainable and don’t justify the levels of investment that we’re seeing.

“It’s already happened at smaller scales, where we have seen venture investments get a lot more savvy and scrutinize deals more, the land grab, if you will, is shifting into a new phase,” Nazario said.

So maybe not a full “winter,” but a cooling off of sorts seems likely.

Even though AI development is fast right now, the future of robots taking over the world doesn’t seem too close in grasp. However, word is that OpenAI is currently working on a secret project called Project Strawberry, which is supposed to push the boundaries of AI reasoning and be a step towards the AGI enthusiasts want to see, but only time can tell if it turns out well or not.

“I don’t have a crystal ball, but this sort of hype cycle has played out before to these kinds of effects,” Nazario said. “Maybe it’ll be more like the Internet revolution wise at the turn of the century, where there was a lot of investment, a lot of silly money thrown in, a lot of things that didn’t pan out, but ultimately, there were some lasting, durable changes that could get built on.”

Terror of Project 2025

BY PAYTON SLY

For CHS social studies teacher Joslyn Hunscher-Young, the idea of a national policy about what can be taught in the classroom is daunting, she feels that it’s not likely to happen at a national level because of the pushback it would and has already received.

“I think that it’s too important to not talk about,” Hunscher-Young said. “It goes to show how history can silence certain voices and what that means for our education about history today and what it was like in the past.”

Not only does Project 2025 call for the Department of Education to be terminated, but the public education system would censor topics such as race, gender identity and LGBTQ+ rights. The importance of diversity and equity would be significantly stigmatized and federal funding would be cut from schools who choose to discuss these topics.

Project 2025 is a set of plans curated by the extremely conservative Heritage Foundation. However, they have purported it’s the work of conservatives or conservative organizations around the nation. If Donald Trump were to be reelected, the Heritage Foundation claims that Project 2025 is the blueprint he would follow. The so-called “conservative promise” forecasts danger for women, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, our environment, diversity in schools and more.

One of the main ideas proposed in Project 2025 is placing all branches of government directly under the control of the president, an idea called “unitary executive theory.” This would completely disregard democratic values, providing a strictly one-sided perspective of politics, pushing the nation toward a very conservative standpoint.

The plan also discusses abortion.

Project 2025's implications stir up a mixture of emotions at CHS.

It plans to place a nationwide ban and would cut all federal funding for not only abortion procedures but also pill induced abortions, mifepristone. Much is stated encouraging pro-life viewpoints and funding accommodations related to pro-life ideologies within workplaces, education systems, collegiate athletics environments and more. The project would employ the Comstock Act to further limit the receiving and sending of contraceptives and abortion pills. The Comstock Act prohibits post officers from carrying illegal substances.

A prohibition would also be placed on gender reassignment surgery, and any hospital that performs gender-affirming procedures would almost certainly lose its Medicaid funding.

Project 2025 also enforces deportation methods currently used only within close proximity to American borders. This would allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids to happen in schools, places of religion, treatment centers and most other locations at any time. The amount of immigrants that would be locked up daily would likely amount to more than double what it is today, which puts countless immigrants at risk of mandatory deportation, no matter their circumstances.

Federal funding would also be taken away from research about our climate and spending on renewable energy sources. Instead, the funding would be put towards increased energy production by any means, which would disregard previous efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Chloe Root, another CHS social studies teacher, agrees with Hunscher-Young on the negative impact of limiting the voice of educators and the possibility of it becoming

ART BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI

prominent on a national level. This does not, however, diminish the horrifying idea of it.

“I’ve met a bunch of high school teachers from places like Texas and Florida at conferences that I’ve been to who said that they’re basically given a script they have to read, and if they deviate from that, they aren’t protected by their administrators at all or they can get fired depending on what they bring up,” Root said. “And that’s really terrifying.”

Former President Trump claims to have nothing to do with Project 2025 and has made efforts to distance himself as much as possible, which was witnessed during the first presidential debate. Many find this hard to believe as six of his former cabinet secretaries were openly involved with the project, according to CNN.

“I have nothing to do with Project 2025,” Trump said during the 2024 presidential debate. “That’s out there. I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it, purposely. I’m not going to read it. This was a group of people that got together, they came up with some ideas. I guess some good, some bad. But it makes no difference.”

Although it may not directly affect our life at CHS, so many other education systems would be infected and students would be under-educated about many prevalent topics that pertain to our daily lives.

Keeping the truth about Project 2025 and not spreading rumors about its implications is important to America’s political atmosphere.

“No doubt, we shouldn’t go down that road,” Root said. “But there are enough other scary things that we should be looking at without making stuff up, because it undermines the credibility of people who are arguing against it.”

Hope & Harris

If there is one word to describe how Kamala Harris makes Americans feel, it’s hope.

BY ISABELLA MALDONADO

My family gathered in our living room with snacks and blankets around the TV. It felt like we were about to watch our favorite movie but instead, we were watching our hope for our country be reinstated. The night of the Democratic National Convention was a phenomenon I had never seen before, to be honest before this year I didn’t know that it was even a televised event.

Through the screen, I saw the hope in the attendees’ eyes, a wish upon a star that might just come true. A woman of color who could actually become the first female President of the United States, Kamala Harris.

The originally assumed candidates for the 2024 presidential election were two men cut from the same demographic cloth. Trump and Biden, two white men over the age of 75 from the East Coast raised in multi-generational American families. They both represent the minority of American citizens. It is time for a president that reflects the actuality of America.

Elliot Paloff, a junior, believes that it is time for the era of the white man demographic to stop representing the whole country.

“I think that everybody thought if Biden continues to be in the race, that we’re not winning this. Because a lot of the people who are Democrats, would not vote for him, just because they have no trust in him,” Paloff said.” And I think also because he’s an old, white, rich guy. He represented the kind of people who have been overrepresented.”

Kamala Harris is just not one thing, she is a woman who possesses great intersectionality. A Black and Indian woman raised as a first-generation American in a middle-class environment, if she doesn’t represent what we so call “The Great American Melting Pot” I don’t

know who else would. June Ye, a CHS freshman, believes that Harris’ upbringing has made her more personable.

“I think a lot of how she has marketed herself as the hope for the democratic party has helped her a lot in how she is viewed,” Ye said. “I know she has recently talked more about her being a McDonald's worker which I think helps people relate to her or see her as having a normal life compared to the other billionaire candidate.”

Kamala Harris has proven that she will be a better choice for members of the lgbtq, immigrant, women, and people of color communities. According to the FBI annual reports hate crimes between 2016 and 2019 have had a 19.49 percent increase across America. During Trump’s term, the country entered a state of vitriol and it has been fighting to get out of the state of hate. Trump will send us back, Kamala gives us the possibility to move forward.

“If Kamala won, I’d be very relieved, I think that would be a big step in maintaining what we have right now and then building off of that to make a better future,” Paloff said. “I think if Trump won, I’d be worried for the rights of my friends and people around me as well as myself, and I would fear for the safety of a lot of people. It would make it harder for us to change anything for the better, and make it much easier for us to change things for the worse.”

Kamala has not just brought hope to the 2024 campaign, she has been the light that people need. If Trump was to win it would send our country back even further, rather than make our future brighter. It is not just a hope to have Harris win the election it is a need for human rights to be protected.

ART BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI

“Hey, we need to talk.”

The fear surrounding confronting a friend and the response you will receive.

BY LUCA HINESMAN

Your friend has been stepping over a boundary of yours for too long and it’s begun to take a toll on you. You don’t know how much longer you can take it. The rude, unkind, unfunny, unintentionally hurtful remarks start to drain you. It becomes necessary to put yourself first and correct a friendship before it becomes a chore. You text your friend, “Hey, can we talk?” They leave you on “read,” filling you with guilt and dread.

Ideally, your friend could accept this confrontation to strengthen your relationship and help express your needs. Confrontation involves communicating about an issue in your relationship. This act can look like you talking face-to-face, or texting your problem to your friend. It can be casual or very serious, depending on the challenges you are facing. A situation where one’s boundary is overstepped needs to be addressed in order for your friendship to continue. It’s unfair for you to resent someone for something they didn’t know was wrong. Take care of it before it becomes unbearable.

Confrontations serve as a reminder to friends that maybe something isn’t right. If your friend is talking about you behind your back, you confront them. If your friend picks apart your appearance daily, you confront them. If your friend is ghosting you confront them. Your friend, your friend, your friend.

To some, standing up for yourself can feel empowering, but to many, the experience is full of fear. You’re confronting someone about something they are doing wrong or you dislike. You’re correcting them in a way and sticking up for yourself. You can feel powerful yet anxious because you don’t know the outcome.

What if your friend lashes out at you? What if your friendship ends? What if your friendship is permanently changed for the worst? What if they don’t understand what you’re trying to say? What if they take it the wrong?

But what if your friend takes it and learns from it? What if your friend apologizes? What if your friend accepts it and moves on? What if your friend completely understands? What if you build a stronger trust?

I’ve confronted someone, which ended the friendship. I’ve confronted someone, which created permanent tension. I’ve confronted someone, which made our friendship stronger. I’ve confronted someone, which created better habits for us to communicate.

The fear of the unknown reaction of your friend when confronting them is what stops many from standing their ground. Confrontation is worth it in the end. It’s always worth it to speak your truth, even if you don’t know how someone will respond. You can’t control someone, and if they can’t respect you, maybe it’s not meant to be.

she’s everywhere she’s so kamala

Is pop culture’s effect on the election genius or a ploy of propaganda?

BY LYDIA DEBORD

Adorned with lime green and a Microsoft-reminiscent font, the album “Brat” was released June 7, 2024, and within weeks it was soaring.

With songs’ high key beats and threading auto-tuned vocals, Charli XCX was hailed by a culture already shifting to the cheery innuendos of Chappell Roan, a rising musician. Adopted by the general public, she was especially recognized by the “party girls” of the internet, with Tana Mongeau saying that on her podcast, “Cancelled,” brat sounded like how drugs felt.

This is a sharp contrast from 2023-esque aesthetics: light makeup, matcha, yoga and tidy slick back buns. The “brat” attitude, as defined by XCX, is a mindset: messy makeup and hair, late nights at the club and rebelling.

Not what you would typically associate with a presidential candidate. The social ramifications of brat go beyond the Los Angeles scene. Brat has made its way into every corporation, with the template of the album used in countless businesses and advertisements, hoping to appeal to Gen Z. Quickly, brat was merged into a micro trend. Companies used it as signage, with audiences both buying into it and getting sick of the trend. And if this summer has made anything clear: the presidency and politics are job promotions.

When Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential candidacy, Kamala

Harris slid into his place, the world met with reactions. This was not exclusive to the United States, with influencers, politicians and celebrities remarking on the nation’s state.

Charli XCX joined the bandwagon, proclaiming to X — formerly known as Twitter — “kamala IS brat.”

The post garnered 55.7 million views. Quickly, Harris’ team took advantage of this opportunity. KamalaHQ, the campaign’s home base on TikTok and Instagram, quickly started editing Harris to songs from the album, plastering her quotes onto the album format. Her X account’s background became light green. Along with the use of her viral coconut speech, the lines between Harris’ candidacy and memeification became blurry. BBC began to talk about brat and gossip podcasts about Harris.

The minds behind KamalaHQ are smart. Utilizing trends to sway voters is, in some sense, genius. However, at the same time, it is a step backwards. Why can we not respect women at face value, and criticize them while still supporting their ideas? Why do female candidates have to dress up their ideas in 15-second chunks of humor, and why does their “coolness” appeal over their responsibility?

Plenty of people weren’t willing to vote for Biden after his debate with Donald Trump, which is immensely understandable, given their “debate” for the presidency centered around golf scores. But, when a replacement is found, it is clear that the issue

was never that people were against Trump and his party enough to go to the polls and stop it; a lack of PR was enough to silence America.

While Harris and her team give a new staple to American politics, one portrayed and accepted as good, it begs a question: Will voters know their president or her image?

As of Sept. 25, 2024, KamalaHQ is still going strong. Their highest viewed TikTok is a slideshow comparing Harris and Trump, hefting a respectable 58.9 million views. Harris and Trump are both utilizing their staples of being public figures. Trump is matching suit with the influencer personality, meeting up with YouTubers like Logan Paul and holding rallies with his name in balanced LEDs.

An edit of Trump and Kamala’s race to the presidency, backed by a viral Chicago song sits at 397.3K favorites. This election is no longer a business transaction; it has become a collison of narratives and plots.

Brat summer is over. Charli XCX bid it “goodbye forever” on Sept. 2, 2024.

Although brat summer and Charli XCX aren’t a staple to lean on anymore, KamalaHQ is still going strong, utilizing debate clips and streaks of power and eloquence from Harris. If she wins, what will happen to KamalaHQ and the supporters they garnered? When the green of summer fades, we are left with a choice — one forming our future.

Steaming Hot Water

Struggle is the first ingredient in success.

BY ELLORA KIRBAT

The director’s eyes were green. I added it to my list: green, brown, blue. All with the same icy glare, even the hazel eyes last week had been stripped of their warmth. I walked into the center of the room, my eyes scrambled for a spot to focus on.

My footsteps seemed to echo as I came to a stop. It was audition time. I opened my mouth and let the words I had said over 20 times flow out: “Hello, my name is Ellora and I will be singing ‘On My Own.’”

I had the routine down. Wake up at least three hours before the audition, warm up, practice the song two times and then wait. Talk to someone and mindlessly stare at the wall as I try not to think about every possible outcome.

“Good afternoon Ellora, start whenever you are ready,” the director said, their head buried into countless audition packets.

I snapped back to reality as the pianist started the intro. I glanced up to see her nodding along to the pulse of the music as if a small dance could change the tense mood. I turned my gaze towards the director who had looked up from her files and finally focused on the small speck of chipped paint on the wall that I had chosen to be my scene partner.

The verse passed by slowly, and then it was time for the end of the audition cut: The problem area. I felt the piano behind me grow louder and louder as I tried to mentally prepare. My breaths became shorter as my heart rate grew faster, my hands shook and my feet couldn’t be properly planted. My stomach was upside down and I couldn’t even hear the piano anymore, just the ringing of panic in my ears. Panic that I had already messed up too much. Panic that I wouldn’t be able to finish. Panic that the notes would come out crumpled as if someone had stomped on them and then laughed.

I stared at my little chip in the wall and belted. The note shook as if it was recovering from a punch to the gut, but it was there. The music slowly came to an end as I gained the courage to scan the director’s face. All I saw were green icy eyes.

“Thank you Ellora, we’ll let you know as soon as possible,” the director said.

I nodded my head and gave my thanks to the pianist. A sinking feeling dragged me down on my way to the door. The weight on my shoulders kept crushing me as I trudged my way out of the building and onto the pavement. I pulled my bag tightly towards me, and took a sip of the boiling liquid inside my water bottle

I waved goodbye to the lady holding the door with her daughter closely by her side. I couldn’t help but notice that the girl was holding her bag just as tightly as I was, the same steam rose from her water in little gray lines. I walked out, the door swinging closed behind me as I stepped on to the freshly watered grass. Pictures of those cold, icy stares flashed into my mind. I wondered why I kept looking for another audition, another chance, if I always left squeezing my bag and chugging hot water.

PHOTO BY ESH SCHADEN

That’s the Pointe

It's going to feel strange before it feels like home.

BY JANE GROCOFF

I stepped off the plane and the heat hit me like a wall. Sweat instantly formed on my skin, making my clothes cling to me and my hair curled up even more, each strand bouncing up wildly. I checked my phone — 107 degrees. How was I going to survive the next three weeks alone, without my parents? Worse, how was I going to manage living with people I didn’t even know?

The whole idea of being away made me want to throw up. I had spent the last two days packing and preparing to go to Austin, Texas, where I would be dancing at the Ballet Austin summer intensive from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday, for three straight weeks.

I stepped into my dorm room, and the sharp scent of cleaning supplies greeted me. As I dragged my suitcase inside, a friendly face popped out of one of the rooms.

“Hey! I’m Addie. I’m a little nervous, but I’m sooo excited!” she said with a bright smile.

Her excitement was contagious, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I lugged my giant suitcase into the room and laid it down on the bed. The room was surprisingly spacious: two beds, a bathroom with two sinks, two closets, two desks and a giant concrete wall separating the beds. Just as I began to unpack, I heard a knock at the door.

When I opened it, another girl stood there, looking just as nervous as me. Addie quickly stepped out and introduced herself again.

The girl replied, “Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Sofia. I’m from California.” I realized that I would be living with people from all over the country. After about two hours, I was all settled in. Addie, and Sofia and I had already gotten closer. I felt more comfortable. But my mom was still there. Addie’s dad was still there. I forgot that my mom had to go back to Michigan. We walked into the other room, said our goodbyes and she walked through the door, closing it behind her.

I was now on my own for the next three weeks. My eyes scanned the room, trying to take it all in. My heart, which had been racing earlier, now beat slower, though I could still feel my hands fidgeting with my nails. I took a deep breath and walked back into my room.

The night flew by in a blur. We ate dinner together like we’d been best friends for years. After showering and changing into my pajamas, I laid my head on my pillow, knowing that tomorrow was the placement class — the moment I’d find out what level I’d be in during the intensive.

I woke up at 9:30 a.m., though placement class wasn’t until 2 p.m. I was a bundle of nerves. For a moment, I had forgotten that I wasn’t at home. When I remembered, the homesickness tugged at me. I hadn’t slept well, my eyes struggled to stay open and though my breathing was slow and steady, my heart raced. I grabbed my phone and saw a text from my mom, one of those long, heartfelt messages filled with love and encouragement, ending with a flood of heart emojis. Addie came and sat on my bed, sharing that she was nervous too, and hadn’t

slept much either. Somehow, knowing she felt the same made everything a little bit easier.

By 1:15, we were out the door, fully dressed and ready for our first ballet class at Ballet Austin. The wait at the bus stop seemed endless. My bag felt like it was full of bricks, sweat trickled down my forehead and my legs were already tired. When the bus finally arrived, we all climbed on and made our way to the studio. There, we split up to warm up in different rooms, surrounded by people I didn’t know. Yet, despite the unfamiliar faces, I felt oddly at home in the ballet studio, a place that had always been my safe space, surrounded by my closest friends.

The moment finally came to head into the placement class. My leotard clung to my skin and I could feel every bobby pin pressing into my scalp. The barres were already set up, so I found my spot. My palm was sweaty, making the barre feel slick. My legs felt weak and my eyes struggled to focus through the nerves.

“I’m already in the intensive, so the stressful audition part is over,” I kept reminding myself. This was the reason I was here. It wasn’t just about dancing; it was about facing my fears and not being afraid of the unknown. I realized I didn’t need to be at home to feel comfortable, I could find that comfort in the dance itself, in every plié and jump. The next three weeks would be tough, but they’d also be a chance to grow, not just as a dancer, but as a person. And in that moment, I knew I could handle it, just like everyone else around me. We were all going to get through it together.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JANE GROCOFF

Fresh Water Freedom

Lake Michigan taught me that I am enough.

BY JESSICA ROTHSTEIN

As the packs were being thrown into the back of the minivan and the GPS was set to the Subway with the smallest detour from our three-hour drive, I went over the packing list again in my mind, sure we'd forgotten something. Tent? Check. Sleeping bags? Check. Food? Check.

After months of planning meticulously crafted lists, nights of tester freeze-dried food dinners, and the seven trips we’d taken to our local REI, we were finally on the road to our first backpacking trip.

We hiked three miles through woods, then on the wet sand because dry sand is hard to walk in. We had to pick a spot to camp at least 200 feet away from Lake Michigan, then set up our tents, sleeping pads, and sleeping bags. Finally, we hung our food over the nearest tree.

Then I curled up in my sleeping bag, listened to the sounds of the lake, and drifted off.

In the morning, I peeled open my eyes to see the sun rising up the canvas of our tent. The leaves shake overhead as I pull my beanie tighter over my head to fight off the chilly morning breeze. My mom is lying awake next to me and sits up when I do. We pull on our fleeces and clamber out of the tent. I take the food bag down from the tree and it dawns on me that what we have in a bag, hanging on a tree, is the only food in a three-mile radius. We are literally on our own.

After taking the bag down, I realize I’m thirsty and grab a water bottle from my pack (a huge REI water bottle, of course, purchased two days before our trip). Well,

turns out we were a little thirstier than expected from the hike in, and there was barely any water left in my bottle.

For my whole life, what comes next is I grab another bottle from a pack, or turn on a tap. Even when we’re car camping there is a well to pump from. But then, I had to go to the source: the lake. And not just any lake. This was the lake, Lake Michigan, a lake that is part of the biggest freshwater system in the world. And I had a filter. I could get my own water.

I knew exactly where the water filter was in my pack. I grabbed it and ran down to the water’s edge. Throwing the nozzle in the lake, feeling icy water nipping my ankles, I pumped and pumped until the bottle was full of the freshest, clearest water I’d ever tasted.

As I took that first drink, I realized that I had the freedom to be exactly what I need for myself. I am all that I need to survive. For the first time in my life, I could provide for myself everything that I need.

Late on Sunday after we got home, after the packs had been emptied on the living floor, stuff sorted into piles and put away throughout the house, I grabbed the packing list I had left on the kitchen table on Friday. Edits that had accumulated in my mind over the weekend needed to be recorded, so I wouldn't forget them for the backpacking trip I already was planning for spring. As I plopped down on a kitchen stool to get to work, I took a sip from my REI water bottle, leftover Lake Michigan water giving me the power to do anything.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSICA ROTHSTEIN

Lake Michigan is home to many national and state parks. One of them, Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area, is bordered by a stretch of Lake Michigan and boasts miles of dispersed camping opportunities.

Time in a Bottle

A song from the 70's taught me how to say goodbye.

BY WILLOW ROSENFELD

The first time I heard the song “Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce, I was sitting in a van driving back from a camping trip in June. Surrounded by my cabin mates, all of us were tired from a night of mediocre sleep in a wind-battered tent. One of my best friends, Coco, asked our counselor to play that song on the van’s radio. Its haunting melody and poignant lyrics stuck with me, if only because Coco wouldn’t stop singing it from that point on. But as Coco began the refrain for the fiftieth time, I finally stopped to consider the meaning. If I could save time in a bottle, what moment would I save?

As the summer progressed, I often thought of “Time in a Bottle” at significant moments. Watching July Fourth fireworks on the shores of the lake, hiking Franconia Ridge with my friends, going to the nearby candy store as a reward for keeping our cabins perfectly clean. As the end of camp drew nearer, I thought of “Time in a Bottle” more and more. I wanted to remember each moment, even the ones that were less important. Washing my face in the morning at the outdoor sink, sitting outside the dining hall waiting for meals to begin, running into the cold lake for swim class.

The second time I heard “Time in a Bottle” was also in a van. This time it was on the way back from a trip into town for the local county fair. Full of sunshine and strawberry lemonade, the song seemed to mean more than ever. Once we were back at camp, Coco and I made a plan. We were going to sing the song at the chapel service on the last day of camp. “We’re going to make everyone cry,” we joked as we signed up.

Armed with freshly-printed lyrics from our counselor, Coco and I headed down to the waterfront during free swim. We sat on a towel on the warm sand, looking out on the crystal-green lake, and sang the song through a

couple of times before getting distracted by the task of burying Coco in the sand.

Now, with our plan in place and the end of camp looming, I couldn’t help thinking of “Time in a Bottle” at the strangest times. Sweeping the dining hall during morning chores, brushing my teeth at night, hearing the bell ring. The song was seriously stuck in my head. It seemed like every lyric fit perfectly to that summer, which was our last as campers. I did want to make days last forever; I did feel like these people were the ones I wanted to go through time with.

Before I knew it, the last day rolled around. All of the sudden, time was moving too fast. I wanted to, well, save it. In a bottle. And then chapel was over, and Coco and I made eye contact, rose from our seats, and made our way to the front of the chapel. I wiped my eyes, a futile gesture, and laughed when Coco did the same. I pulled the crumpled-up lyrics out of my pocket. We began to sing. We got through the song one time before the words got lost in our sobbing. It should have been embarrassing; we were crying in front of all the parents, counselors and campers. But it wasn’t. It would have bothered a younger me, but it didn’t bother me then. All that mattered was that I was with Coco, and we were singing our song. Time was rushing us toward a moment in which we would have to go our separate ways, and there was no way to stop it or to save it for later. There was only one thing to do: savor it.

A counselor motioned for us to go join the rest of our cabin mates. As we left the chapel for the last time, I heard the counselors pick up the song where we had left off. I looked down the sun-dappled path and saw our cabin mates waiting for us. Coco and I ran to meet them and enjoy the little time we had left together.

ART BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI

Jim Croce wrote the song “Time in A Bottle" in 1972. A year after its release, the song hit number one on Billboard s Top 100, and remained there for two weeks.

Big Adventures for Tiny People

Are you and your younger self still connected?

BY LUCA HINESMAN

I’m taller than her despite being younger. But at that moment, we sat on the swing as we got pushed high into the air. I wore a thick, striped polo shirt that hung off of my tiny frame. Blonde hair, big teeth and a cheerful grin. My tiny self and my tiny sister. Childish cackles were heard as we went up and down, up and down, up and down.

I loved that big basket swing. I remember it being absolutely huge compared to my tiny self. Made of rope and attached by thick metal supports, which helped create an odd shape, ensuring you wouldn’t hit the pole. A sanctuary of big adventures for tiny people.

By the time I was 13 I realized this faint memory was my earliest memory. Seen in dreams and flashbacks, I thought I was making it all up, or it was strangely recurring in my dreams. It wasn’t until I mentioned this memory to my mom that she responded with, “You mean the swing by our old apartment complex in Switzerland?”

After living in Switzerland for the first three years of my life, I made my return 13 years later. My made-up perspective and memory about a place I barely knew transformed as we revisited the playground behind our old apartment complex. Once a picket with two or three apartment buildings was now filled with a maze of apartment complexes. It was filled with new structures, new people, new everything; yet some aspects remained the same. I saw the big swing, which I thought was in a park, not in my three-year-old self’s Switzerland backyard.

We walk through the archway that is carved into the apartments on the way to the park. The park is near a forest and spaced out so everyone can play. It includes worn tables, which are probably older than me, and a schoolyard — all a two-minute walk away.

The greenish park with a little bike merry-go-round; a tiny one built for four-year-olds. Immediately, I jump onto it and go around and around. I look like an im-

poster with my long legs bent all the way up as I’m crouching down holding the steering wheel.

Me and my siblings then move to the in-ground trampoline, where Addi, my older sister, used to jump as if she were a tiny fairy. Now more than two times her little self’s height, she jumps again and again. I continue eying the basket swing as it’s occupied by a kid experiencing her first big adventure as a tiny person.

Instead, we climb on a pyramid-like play structure. It’s metal and spins. My siblings jump onto the structure as I run around, spinning them to the point where they feel sick. Finally, the kid leaves, taking the hint we want a turn with the swing. I bolt for the swing and jump in.

The basket, still huge but not as huge as it used to be, is slightly uncomfortable. I don’t care. I beg to be pushed. My little brother pushes me, but it isn’t enough. I need to be soaring like I used to. So, Addi pushes me, and I feel the same sensation from 13 years ago.

I go up and down, up and down, up and down. The same cackle, now deeper, is heard throughout the air. The same big teeth remain.

“Do you think that part of you right now, a combination of that three-year-old self, is in there?” said Tracy, my journalism teacher.

I pause. Is the three-year-old still inside of me? Is he alive, or has he vanished?

Returning to Switzerland, a place where I could’ve grown up and become a completely different Luca, didn’t feel real. It wasn’t what I expected. But I should’ve expected that it wouldn’t be what I thought it was, considering it was made up of ancient memories of mine.

I was once thee, enjoying that basket swing, and now I am 16, having still enjoyed that basket swing even after returning more than a decade later. I didn’t feel he was even a fragment of me, but now, at my core, I feel and know he is still alive in me.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNIFER HINESMAN

Sisterhood and Silent Car Rides

Miles of silence: Driving through the ups and downs of sisterhood.

BY MAGGIE LAMB

Snoozed alarms and rushed breakfasts. Angry sisters and parents trying to stop their useless fighting. Rushed hair and impatient urges out the door. I yelled at my sister for the third time that morning, mentioning that we didn’t have to leave right at 7:20.

She didn’t care.

Loud music blasts through the speakers as she drove, staring straight ahead. Too mad to talk.

Her red Subaru sits in the driveway with both seat heaters on. She would always turn them on when she was losing her patience. I usually got the hint.

It’s her senior year of high school, and she can’t bear the idea of not being the first car in the lot. I mean, it’s annoying. Why do I have to wake up early just to sit in the car for 30 minutes before school?

Every morning it was the same routine of barely leaving on time because I took too long to get ready. We started off the year strong, always leaving right when she wanted. I got tired of getting to school 30 minutes early every day. So I started sleeping in, causing us to leave later and later.

My sister can be hot-tempered. Her face turns bright red when she gets mad, almost as red as her hair. And she’s mad at me a lot. I guess I can be a bit annoying sometimes.

We drove in silence most days, eating our chocolate Eggos and listening to her music, always her music, because my music taste is “bad.” Even though she never bothered to listen to it.

On some rare days, when we didn’t fight, when we weren’t late and when my hair actually looked good, we would sing. Spending months listening to her music, I’d memorized it all. I think she secretly played songs she knew I liked, even when she was mad at me.

We would sing, we would laugh and we would talk like sisters. We’d yell at the bad drivers in front of us and the never ending stop signs.

We always made it to school on time. Whether the drive was full of laughter or silence.

By the time the last month of school rolled around, there was less fighting. She didn’t care about being the first in the lot anymore, and she really only cared about making it to graduation.

I found myself wondering in those last few months why it was so important that we left so early when we always made it there on time. My mom told me that it was because she was nervous about parking in the small parking spaces, that she wanted to be able to park without the stress of a packed parking lot.

Suddenly it all made sense. It wasn’t about being the first one there, it was about being able to have a stressless morning that would start with easy parking.

Something that made my morning so much worse, made hers that much better.

Still, as she loaded her trunk full of packed suitcases and hugged me a final goodbye, I wish I had woken up earlier. I wish we fought less and I wish we weren’t so mad at each other during the little time we had together in those mornings.

The final hug set everything into place. I wished for the time I want back, emotions I could take away, and a sister who didn’t move 862 miles away.

READERS WRITE READERS WRITE THE UNKNOWN

ELLIE FOX

I knew something was wrong the second my feet hit the pool floor. Blinding pain shot up my right leg, freezing time as the cold, chlorinated water swirled around me. I wasn’t sure what had happened.

My manager’s deliberate yelling pulled me out of the trance. I limped towards my coworker, my guard tube trailing behind me. The pain fogged my brain, so much so that I started to do the wrong type of lifeguarding save. That day was an in-service, a weekly training all lifeguards had to attend.

“I think something’s wrong with my knee,” I had said to my manager. I couldn’t put any weight on it. I had no idea if I could even walk anymore, let alone dance. I had faced many unknowns in my life before: first days of school, musical auditions, things like that. But this one, not being able to use my knee again, wasn’t an option for me; I would lose a part of myself, a part of the way I express myself. Not being able to dance again would be devastating.

I got the diagnosis a few days later. I hyper-extended my knee and jammed my ankle, which put me out of commission until my knee was healed: no strenuous activities allowed. While it could’ve been worse, a knee brace, an ankle wrap and a bag of ice became a new constant in my life. This scary unknown suddenly morphed into me waiting for my life to return to the way it was before my injury. I sometimes doubted if normal would ever come back. It was a painstakingly slow process, but as my knee and ankle healed, I learned to take the small gains as wins. Walking without a brace, even for a few hours, was progress. I slowly got myself back. I could dance again. I went on runs with friends, stretched and swam without discomfort. Now, even though I can’t get my passé to exactly 90 degrees or land my round-off perfectly, I know I can face the unknowns ahead of me, whether it be dancing or anything else.

CLAIRE LEWIS

Driving down I-96 East, from Ann Arbor to Detroit should only take 45 minutes. But the evening rush of 5 p.m. on a Friday night, pulled our red Ford Escape to a dead stop.

It had been weeks since my dad got sick, and it was now normal to spend most days away from both my parents. My uncle would take us around town, my neighbors would take us to school and my grandparents would stay over in the night to watch us. This was all known. Schedules were posted all over my life, dictating my days from the time I woke up to the moment my head hit the pink floral pillow atop my bed.

The people that made up me and my sister’s lives began to turn our days into a game of distraction.

One Friday night, our Uncle Ryan decided to take me, my cousins and my sister to a monster truck rally in Detroit. The proposition was exciting, so we all piled into the back seat of his red car. I was squished in the middle, sandwiched between reality and distraction.

We tried to play games as we watched as the left side of the highway zipped past us, we stayed stagnant for hours. Whenever I thought of my dad, his unknown, I would turn my face toward the world and decide to let myself be consumed by the known.

ISABELLA

MALDONADO

When I was three my favorite word was “why.” I would lay in my bed staring at the ceiling, and as soon as my mother closed the book she was reading, a trillion questions would come out of my mouth. “Why do I have brown hair?” to “Why don’t trees have moms?” I wanted to know everything. I needed to know everything. I need to control the unknown.

I have carried my need to know everything throughout my life, from asking as many questions as I could to my teachers to being nosy and sitting outside my mom’s door while she was on the phone.

So now three weeks after one of the people closest to me has passed, I sit in my room asking why. Yet I can’t bring myself to find the answer. I know the scientific answer, it was a heart attack, but it’s not real, it can’t be. Now, “Why?” has become a question I don’t have the strength to ask.

I have had my future planned for what feels like forever, she was in every vision of the future; my 17th birthday, my getting into college, my graduation. She was supposed to be there. Now my future has changed and the plan I have carried so close to my heart has fallen into a state of uncertainty.

She read every piece of writing I ever wrote, we were good that way. I wrote, she read. It was our thing, but now I feel as though I am a writer without a reader. It doesn’t make sense just as you can’t be a teacher without students, its inexplicable.

As I sort through the thousands of books she kept in her small room down the hall from mine, I can see the past. I can hear her laugh. I can smell her perfume. I have no idea when the cloud of uncertainty will clear and when I will stop wondering when she will knock on my bedroom door.

LYDIA DEBORD

I didn’t expect to meet my sister in my sophomore year of high school. But our matching Converse was an instant sign, and I have never been one to ignore signs. She was the only freshman girl in my forum, and I invited her to sit with me, cheekily noting that we we’re "shoe twins!”

Amelia Knight is two inches taller than me, but in platforms, I almost match her. Her hair is naturally a silky brown and mine is bleached blonde. She can knock out math problems in a second and I edit her essays. She is a year younger than me, but our minds rush at the same pace.

Within two weeks of knowing her, she was pinned on my phone.

We live 15 minutes away from each other, and in a year, it will be much farther than crossing school districts. I am going to college, and the year that separates

us kicks in — she will stay without me.

One thing is certain, I won’t find another Amelia. That isn’t to say there won’t be beauty and good in my next adventures, but something so firm and constant won’t be there. Lunches will turn to FaceTimes, hallway whispers will become texts under tables. She will be going to senior prom as I apply for internships.

Despite all of this, I know I will always have Amelia. We loved the fourteen and fifteen-year-old versions of each other, which is something so special and rare. Meeting someone at a time of vulnerability is an experience within itself — coming out of it together and still seeing eye to eye is something you find in a sister.

Amelia sees me for everything I am, and accepts all of it. I never have to hide, and she will call me out if I need it. I met her at the right time, and I have faith that it was for a reason spanning beyond Ann Arbor.

BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI

A few weeks ago, Tempe Stiverson was hit with a textbook case of “art block.” As days passed without him drawing, he felt like he was regressing, losing inspiration and skill. Now, every sixth block, Stiverson attends his advanced art class.

He creates pieces to build a portfolio, which he is planning to use to apply for art college in a few years. As one of the only underclassmen taking the course, Stiverson knows he is serious about keeping art in his life.

“My favorite part of creating is working through it,” Stiverson said. “Getting across the starting point and seeing how it progresses as you’re going through it.”

Stiverson’s favorite medium for creativity is pencil, however he also experiments with other mediums, like photography, painting, charcoal and ink. He sees himself as a very traditional artist, using 6b pencils to add depth and value to his drawings.

“Adding depth to my drawings used to be really hard for me,” Stiverson said. “Now that I’ve gotten so used to it, it’s almost hard to not add depth. It’s hard to get light areas in my drawing because I add so many dark areas to my drawings.”

Stiverson has always felt a connection with art but only began getting serious about it in fifth grade, which for him was when the pandemic started. Stuck in quar-

antine, Stiverson felt he needed to try art and has focused on creating ever since then.

Stiverson has never taken an art class outside of school, choosing instead to learn and practice on his own time or during school classes. However, he credits Jason Tracey, his seventh grade art teacher, as a big inspiration to his own art style. Stiverson recalled that Tracey’s affinity for drawing skulls was passed on to him, resulting in a taste for drawing the macabre.

“I painted Frankenstein’s monster one time,” Stiverson said. “I feel like that turned out pretty well. And then I did another piece for the Neutral Zone, and it was for a horror art show last year.”

Stiverson generally tries to create from his mind, but it’s difficult to go completely without references, especially if he’s aiming for anatomical accuracy. He is working on leaning away from references as he practices drawing skulls and is proud to see his improvement and growth throughout the years.

Reflecting on his artistic journey, Stiverson advised beginner artists to be persistent with creating.

“This is going to sound so cringy, but just don’t give up,” Stiverson said. “It’ll get easier, and as you keep practicing, you’ll reach different points where you’ll be like, ‘Oh, I progressed,’ which is definitely cool to see.”

Tempe Stiverson

Tempe Stiverson connects his past, present and future through art.

Ofelia Ziegler

Ofelia Ziegler finds a sense of community through her art.

BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI & FINA KUTCHER

Though she doesn’t consider herself a traditional artist, senior Ofelia Ziegler has found herself drawn to creating ever since she was little. In elementary school, she would enjoy doing little projects, like creating collages from cut-outs and glued paper mosaic triangles. After taking one of Beth’s art classes in her junior year, Ziegler found her favorite medium in oil painting and even went on to have a piece in an art show. This year, she is taking ceramics for the first time as well as experiencing her first year as a member of Skyline’s Symphony band.

“I like to be able to have a creative outlet,” Ziegler said. “School can be a lot at once, and it’s really nice to have a break in the day where you can just play music or make a little pinch pot.”

Ziegler has participated in Skyline’s music program since her freshman year, and she’s built her schedule around it for four years. After playing the clarinet for half a semester, Ziegler decided to switch to the tenor saxophone, which she now plays in the Symphony band, the highest band level at Skyline. She enjoys both listening to and playing concert pieces, and revels in the dynamic of playing music in the marching band. Beyond that, she wants to branch out and learn how to play more instruments.

“I really want to be able to play a string instrument,” Ziegler said. “I’ve tried really hard to learn guitar, but I’m not willing to cut my nails for that. I’ve tried some piano, but wind instruments are what I like the best.”

In her free time, Ziegler also enjoys going to museums, appreciating the techniques and fall colors used in still lifes and art from the 1800s.

She finds it interesting to look at pieces from a time when painting and art was so vibrant and ingrained in the culture.

“Renaissance art is always something that I feel is so gorgeous,” Ziegler said. “I really like going to museums and seeing old art because I like to see the different techniques that they use.”

While Ziegler doesn’t have a set process, she likes to have a visual of what she’s doing before she does it. She takes inspiration from trips that she goes on, observing the different colors and cultures that she becomes immersed in. She will also occasionally flip through her camera roll,

looking for pictures to use for ratios and reference.

“I do like to know what I’m making before I make it,” Ziegler said. “I’m not really going to improvise, so I like to sketch it out and map out the colors that I’m using so I have a visual of what I’m doing.”

Above all, Ziegler appreciates having a community of artists, which is in part a large reason why she continues to play an instrument in band and take art classes. She welcomes the opportunity to combine different creative methods, which is clear from her favorite band piece “Baba Yatu,” a song that they play with the Skyline choir. She advises students to try as much as they can and to just see how it goes.

“It doesn’t have to be for you, but I think it’s really important to have experience with different creative outlets,” Ziegler said.

While Ziegler doesn’t know how she’ll be able to fit painting or ceramics into her college career, she knows she wants to continue pursuing musical art.

“I really want to minor in music,” Ziegler said. “I don’t know if I would have an opportunity to do other kinds of art because I want to be focused on music. I’m hoping that that’ll play a part in my career in the future.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF OFELIA ZIEGLER

FRESHMANFASHION

SYLVIASTOERMER

LYRICSTEVENSON

Photos by

Ionie Steudle

Photos by Ionie Steudle

Marcel Proust’s questionnaire, created in 1886, featuring Sharon Harrison.

BY CLARA FREETH

WWhat is your idea of perfect happiness? I don’t think anything is perfect. I think there are things that are close to it. So I would say knowing that my kids are happy. What is your greatest fear? Alligators. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? My outspokenness. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Liars. Which living person do you most admire? Too many … my husband. What is your greatest extravagance? Pedicures. What is your current state of mind? Contentedness. On what occasion do you lie? To save somebody else’s feelings? Which is funny, because I also said I didn’t like liars. What is the quality you most like in a man? Humor. What’s the quality you most like in a woman? Humor. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

I don’t know, you’d have to ask somebody else, because I’m not listening to myself talking, I just spew it out. Who or what is the greatest love of your life? My husband. When and where were you happiest? Anytime that I was with friends and family Up North at the lake. We have a house up there, so when our friends come, it’s my happy place. Which talent would you most like to have? Oh gosh, so many. I wish that I could play a musical instrument really well. I think the piano. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My outspokenness. What do you consider your greatest achieve-

ment? My kids. If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?

One of my dogs. It sounds funny, but we treat our animals really well. Where would you most like to live? Up North. What is your most treasured possession? My memories are my most prized possession, but I’m not sure that qualifies as an object. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? I would say losing a child would be the lowest you could go. What is your favorite occupation? When I had my ice cream store. I liked Boston Cream Pie. What is your most marked characteristic? Maybe my humor. What do you most value in your friends? Non-judging. Who are your favorite writers? It’s too long of a list. They’re all swimming around in my head right now. All I can say is, like, anybody that writes historical fiction, historical non-fiction, I love that genre. Who are your heroes in real life? I think friends and family that have lived through some horrific things. What are your favorite names? I love my dad’s name. He was Kent. That’s my brother’s name. I think it’s a really strong English name. What is it that you most dislike? Olives. I hate them. With every fiber of my being. Green and black. What is your greatest regret? Not going through with dental school. How would you like to die? In my sleep. Or doing something super fabulous and stupid, one of the two. What is your motto? It’s only illegal if you get caught.

Photography by Daniel Jacob

Our beloved office professional Sharon Harrison takes a break from her desk in the front office. Harrison takes care of attendance, books and more. And, she always makes people laugh.

Sharon HARRISON

The Things We Carry

BY NINA BEALS, EDDIE MOBILIO BRECK AND TIA COCCIOLONE

Accidents Happen

“I hate the feeling of a perfect outfit ruined by a tiny inconvenience like a stain, so having my little Tide pen is super convenient. I also love to be the person that’s prepared and can lend someone a fix to their problem like pen ink on a clean shirt.”

- Isla Tharp

Brush It Off

“I often don’t have time in the morning to brush my teeth before I get on the bus. It would be really embarrassing if I was talking to a new friend only to scare them away with the smell of my last meal. I got them for free at my dentist office all the way in Wyandotte, Michigan, but I could have bought them at any drugstore.”

- Neila Shee

The Lip Life-Saver

“Chapped lips are my personal nightmare, so I always make sure to have Vaseline on me. I have a tub at home as well as one that stays in my backpack to make sure I’m covered at all times.”

- Addie McCreadie

Film on File

“It’s such a tiny camera that I thought I had lost so many times. I’ve had it for around six months, since I bought it on eBay.”

- Wilson Zheng

A Bag of Future Memories

“Even though it’s small, I love putting all my treasures and trinkets I find around the school inside of it. I’ve always loved robots even since I was little, so the design on the front of the pouch is very fitting. I bought it in 2022 from Rocket Fizz. I got it for $10 and while my cousins were in town visiting, we each were allowed to get one item from the shop.”

- Bee Whalen

Ducky Charm

“I take one [duck] out every test day as a good luck charm. I’ve had it since high school started for me, so about a year. I actually have four, one from my sister, one found on the ground at Pioneer, and two others that I don’t remember finding.”

- Avery Nelson

Hand-Held Energy

“I often forget to charge my things overnight, so I rely more than I should on the orange bank. It also doubles as a flashlight and hand warmer. It was a gift I’ve had for two years.”

- Jonathan Carter

"Dìdi"

BY BEE WHALEN

► Turning 13 years old takes a lot of being cool. Skateboarding, kissing girls and filming YouTube videos isn’t something you can learn from your mom. Not from your sister. Or your grandma. Sometimes not even from your best friends. Chris Wang, a Taiwanese American boy who goes by the nickname “Wang-Wang” with his friends, is going to be a freshman at Fremont Springs High School. And he needs to make sure he’s got his game together. He’s (almost) got a girlfriend, he (sort of) won a fight and he (kind of) knows how to make new friends. What could he possibly lose?

Dìdi is a wonderfully nostalgic coming-of-age story that illustrates what it’s like to be growing up in the awkward flux between MySpace, Facebook, hanging with the right people, digital cameras, pretending to hate your mom and feeling alone. Directed and written by award-winning filmmaker Sean Wang, the story reflects a part of Sean's life that he wouldn’t define as autobiographical but instead “a very personal story.” (IMDb) Right away, the film captures your eye by inviting you into Wang's life. Shaky camera movements of a camcorder recording Wang’s grandmother quietly hanging laundry and speaking (played by the director’s grandmother) soon shift to Wang, who records himself running away, loudly screaming and laughing as a mailbox explodes behind him and his friends.

A series of various digital video files are shown, all of which are memories captured by Wang himself. However, whether Wang decides to keep these memories alive later depends on if his cursor decides to click on the condescending, irreversible “delete” button.

But why delete these memories? Things begin to take more negative twists and turns as the movie continues. Ten minutes later from when he’d been excitedly messaging a girl named Madi back, Wang is then shown hovering his computer cursor over the “block” button after a flustered, embarrassing scene at the park earlier that night. He’d missed every movie trivia question she had asked him while sitting alone on the slide next to her, and he seemed to realize his quick lies wouldn’t carry him for long. And although his friends glorified the idea of sexual attraction, Wang felt consumed and overwhelmed by the pressure to feel that same excitement.

This film tackles the subject of peer pressure in a powerful way. Sean Wang’s writing steals your breath away at Wang’s attempts to fit in. When some of that poor advice backfires, it’s a literal feeling of awkward realization that hits both you and Wang in the moment.

This film is unafraid to feature the more difficult sides of Wang’s middle school experience in 2008, including facing harsh jokes from friends and casual yet more blunt racism in the dialogue from many of the teenage kids. “You know, you’re cute for an Asian,” Madi said, sitting next to Wang on the slide. He stared back silently, negative implications of what she had said sinking in before accepting the questionable “compliment.” Wang’s writing doesn’t hesitate to show the audience a raw reality — even though the story is still fictional.

Rather than “Chris” or “Wang-Wang,” Wang’s mother refers to him as “Dìdi." She plays a leading role as contrast against Wang’s character. He’s desperate for social acceptance and modernity through the lies he tells through his teeth, and partially fuels his passion for creating videos. Meanwhile, his mother is a painter and takes her time more slowly in life. Serving Wang and his sister, Vivian, home cooked Taiwanese dishes and sending them to one of the neighbor’s homes to learn Mandarin each weekend, their mother tries her best to encourage their family culture and language to them. However, both children eagerly instead search for their place in a very American structured society, wanting to be known as more than how others perceive them upon a first glance.

At the end of the film, Wang seems to lose everything. He loses his sister, he loses his conversations with his grandmother, he loses the skating buddies he made and he loses himself. However, after running away, he returns home where he finds his mother reading in bed. The house is nearly silent as he walks in.

“Are you ashamed of me?” he had asked.

“Not ashamed. Proud,” she replied, smiling.

As the final credits rolled for this film, I felt an inspired, but sickly, bittersweet feeling. Told through the eyes of a kid who’s at his lowest while still making the memories of a lifetime, the cinematography highlights his failures through duller, darker tones, and brighter, more saturated colors during his moments of friendship. I felt humbled by the reminder of my own middle school experiences and would like to re-watch Dìdi once I feel ready again.

Entering high school offers an opportunity of growth and redemption for Wang, as it does for many. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a personal story that takes the time to hit close to home. There are uncomfortable moments, but that’s what teenage years feel like — uncomfortable and unknown.

Your darkest moments don’t define you. But learning how to walk through open doors gives you the chance to be more than 13 years old. It gives you the chance to be more than what you’ve lost.

Chris Wang (Izzac Wang). (Unapologetic Projects)

"The Thing"

BY QUINN HANNER-ZAWACKI

► Twelve men are isolated in a research station surrounded by endless ice and snow. Months on end pass by with no one but each other and the dogs. When an alternate Norwegian research team comes running to them in a fatal panic, will the pandora’s box they open be too much for the team in the end?

John Carpenter’s “The Thing” (1982) was up against impossible odds from the moment it was released to the public. In the midst of the Cold War, horror movies about paranoia, distrust and uncertainty were not what the American family were looking for. When it released that summer, even more was stacked against it.

It released alongside other iconic titles from wellknown artists: ET, Poltergeist, Bladerunner, Tron and Annie — the latter of which was no doubt a more feelgood choice for young kids and their parents.

What it was: a movie with disgusting practical effects and a terrifying cosmic threat where the main characters can’t possibly survive at the end. No one was going to take their niece or nephew to watch the beginning of what could be the end of a world — at the very least the ends of the young men on that doomed research station. Despite this and the complete box office failure that was a 15 million budget and only a 20 million return, the recent years have been good to “The Thing.” Theater re-releases, home viewings and a new rise of devoted fans has brought the alienated film back from its frozen grave. Will you be one of them?

"Love Lies Bleeding"

BY EVA MILLWOOD

►

It’s a slow burn: tense and shocking. “Love Lies Bleeding” is my most anticipated movie of 2024 and is directed by Rose Glass who also produced “Saint Maud,” which was one of my favorite horror films of a release-saturated 2019. The film follows a gym manager named Lou (played by Kirsten Stewart) and a bodybuilder named Jackie (played by Katy O’Brian). Jackie is hitchhiking to Vegas to pursue her dreams of taking part in a competition. Kirsten Stewart's performance is possibly her greatest ever, it felt as if this role was made for her, and the same is true for Katy O’Brian. Their characters feel real, their diversion of a free-spirited, ambitious Jackie and an introverted and stagnant living Lou.

It subverts expectations with its mafioso-revenge directed plot, walking the tightrope of intimacy and a hair-raisingly lurid thriller. It’s a 1980s neo-noir inspired fever dream. This film had me at the edge of my seat, biting my nails throughout its entire runtime. Its adrenaline-pumping plot is vibrant. Each twist in the 104-minutes felt cathartic, and the longing, heat and destruction the characters feel is something that digs entirely into your skin. The visual direction of “Love Lies Bleeding” is characterized by its vivid neon lights and gritty atmosphere. It will not disappoint.

Left to right. Jackie (Katy O'Brien) and Lou (Kristen Stewart.) A24

Official poster for The Thing, 1982. (Universal Pictures, Truman-Foster Company)

"The Three-Body Problem" "Slaughterhouse Five"

BY WALKER LEDBETTER

► Imagine you take a cue ball, and hit the 8-ball into a pocket of that same pool table from 3 inches away — not that hard. Now imagine that same cue ball and that same 8-ball on the same pool table, still three inches away from the pocket. Think you can do it again? Not in Cixin Liu’s “The Three Body Problem” It tackles questions about the fragility and harshness of life on Earth, and then contrasts that with an alien world where the sun does not rise daily. It compares our struggle as a species with the struggles of a species where all of the odds are stacked against them. It tells the story of two races that both are trying to survive in their separate environments and become masters of their own world.

The story’s dedication to hard science makes the story not only believable but plausible. It spins a narrative of human failure and illustrates how small actions can have impactful effects on the whole human species as it follows the most terrifying character in literature: Ye Wenjie. Ye Wenjie watches as her family is torn apart by the Chinese Cultural Revolution, her mother suffers a mental breakdown; her father is killed by revolutionaries. She is sent to a work camp deep in the Greater Khingan Mountain Range, and is recruited into a top-secret military project known as Red Coast. Disguised as a satellite defense system, its true purpose is to establish contact with extra-planetary civilizations. And after many years of work — Ye succeeds.

The first message from an extraterrestrial organism reads: Do Not Answer! Do Not Answer!! Do Not Answer!!! But Ye, after witnessing the horrors of humanity, decides to get ultimate revenge on the whole human race. “The fate of the entire human race was now tied to these slender fingers. Without hesitation, Ye pressed the button.”

“The Three Body Problem” illustrates how Ye's actions on that fateful autumn night in 1971 affected every human in the world and managed to capture the beauty of both human and alien societies as they brace for their final confrontation. It is the story of a struggle overarching thousands of years of technological and social evolution of two sapient organisms. It is a story of the human spirit and ingenuity even in the face of unwinnable circumstances. It is the story of beautiful and terrible life.

BY MARK IONIDES

► On the final page of “Slaughterhouse-Five” by Kurt Vonnegut, Billy Pilgrim finds himself lost in the ashen moonscape of a city bombed to the ground. But as the book builds to its climax, Billy’s narrative cuts out. All we’re left with in the sweeping scene of destruction is birds singing, and the book ends: “Poo-tee-weet?”

This is the core dilemma of “Slaughterhouse-Five”: how do you express something beyond expression? Centered around the Allied firebombing of Dresden in 1945, which Vonnegut lived through as a prisoner of war, the book constantly struggles for words. Sometimes it finds them and sometimes, in the most crucial moments, comes up short.

Slaughterhouse-Five follows Billy Pilgrim through his experiences as a captured American soldier in the Second World War. Billy’s fictional path mirrors Vonnegut’s lived one, except for one important difference: Billy is immune from facing the atrocities occurring before him. At times when things get too painful — when it would be impossible for anyone to make it with their mind in one piece — his consciousness leaves. He becomes “unstuck in time.”

While "Slaughterhouse-Five" can feel frustratingly impenetrable at times, taken as a complete work it paints an impressively rich picture. Motifs that make little sense when they’re first encountered develop their meaning throughout the book. This creates a unique sense of circular resolution, as the first pages can only be understood in the context of the final ones.

"Slaughterhouse-Five" is a deeply personal story about truly traumatic personal experiences. Despite this, Vonnegut never loses his signature sense of humor. Indeed, Vonnegut’s deadpan wit is packed so densely that extracting meaning from it seems impossible. It can easily feel like the stream of one-liners impedes the story but Vonnegut is actually making a deeper point. His book is itself a demonstration of shielding trauma behind humor. In that light the jokes’ purpose becomes clear.

"Slaughterhouse-Five" does not pretend to be easy reading. It is confusing, redundant and plays no games of building suspense. Many of Vonnegut’s threads are never concluded and others are drawn out painfully. It requires an ability to look past the distractions, combined with a perceptive view of them, to appreciate fully.

Despite the depth of meaning in the work, readers hoping for a neat conclusion will be disappointed. Ultimately, it’s a book about the futility of war, but it’s designed to confound attempts to read it as a war story. However, Vonnegut’s genius is to focus distracted tangents into one unified story. Finding that story in "Slaughterhouse-Five" is a rewarding experience that has a lot to teach about how humans can endure the very worst and tell the tale.

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Out Loud.

Out Loud. Out Loud.

Three

albums to hear now.

BY JAKE WILLIAMS

“BRAT” by Charli XCX

Charli XCX’s “BRAT” was the album of the summer and for good reason. Fun and catchy front to back, paired with the genius strategy to continue releasing extras and remixes for weeks after made this an album you could not get away from.

My personal favorite song, “Talk talk,” is, like most songs on this album, unbelievably catchy. Pulsing bass and shimmering synths with some of Charli’s best vocals on the album and an infectious chorus make this something that’s hard to stop listening to.

“Von dutch,” the lead single, is ridiculous. The synths on this song sound like a car engine revving, and the layering makes it feel very dense. Charli’s lyrics are incredibly boastful with several refrains about how she’s “your number one.”

All around, it’s a really fun banger that is only heightened by its remix featuring A.G. Cook and Addison Rae. The remix feels like a much smoother, more up-beat version of an already pretty up-beat song.

“365” is an interesting track as it’s a remix of the album’s opener, “360.” This version follows the same kind of vibe and melody as “360” for about 90 seconds before becoming its own thing entirely with heavy synth and bass hits that sound like some sort of futuristic lazer.

Near the end of the second chorus, the beat starts to distort, and out of nowhere, the song goes full EDM. It’s so much fun and is a perfect closer, as it feels almost like a recap of all the styles Charli touches on throughout the whole album.

“BRAT” is a near-perfect album with some unbelievably great production and writing that ranges from insightful to braggy to fun. It’s also the album that keeps on giving with its deluxe tracks, endless remixes and recently released remix version titled, “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat.” It’s a project that will be talked about for years to come and excites me for whatever Charli XCX does in the future.

“I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU” by JPEGMAFIA

JPEGMAFIA (a.k.a. Peggy) had an incredibly eventful 2023 with the release of his collab album with Danny Brown and the re-release of his 2013 album, “The Ghost~Pop Tape.” He had shared plans to release a third album last year but sadly he wasn’t able to finish it in time. Eight months later, that album is here and it’s just as electric as his past releases.

The album’s opener, “i scream this in the mirror before i interact with anyone,” sets the tone for the rest of the album with quiet cymbals that get disrupted by a blaring electric guitar. The second half of the song features a sample of a Fortnite emote that for almost any other artist would be a bit of a ridiculous decision, but it fits right at home with Peggy’s style.

The next track, “SIN MIEDO,” is one of the best on the album on account of it feeling like three songs in one. During the first part, Peggy raps over a 2 LIVE CREW sample that isn’t arranged in any sensical way. The second part combines that sample with insanely hard synth hits and a deafening electric guitar until it crescendos into some intricate riffs before switching one more time into a more breakcore-style beat. Peggy’s rapping on this track and the album as a whole isn’t too stylistically different from his past work, and while he does give some genuinely fantastic performances on this album, he left me wanting a little bit more in the lyricism and flow departments.

Denzel Curry makes an appearance on the song “JPEGULTRA!” and delivers one of the best verses on the album. Peggy’s verse isn’t anything to sleep on, though, as it has one of my favorite lines on the album where he says, “JPEGMAFIA, making grown men emotional since 2008 at least.” The beat consists of loud, in-your-face horns and some well-assembled drums that completely switch up into a much more low-key, acoustic guitar-centric beat in the second half.

“I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU” is another fantastic addition to Peggy’s already unbelievable discography and makes me incredibly excited for the future, as he never seems to stop growing and expanding as a musician.

“I Saw The TV Glow (Original Soundtrack)” by Various Artist

This is a bizarre album to review because there is no central artist, rather, there is a central vibe and theme. The corresponding movie is drenched in a nostalgic feeling that these songs reflect heavily.

“Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl” is a pretty straightforward cover, but is more lo-fi and glitchy, which makes it fit incredibly well within the movie. Like most songs on this album, it exudes a feeling of sorrow that is only heightened in the movie when it plays while the main character navigates both high school and their reluctance to accept themselves for who they are.

“Starburned and Unkissed” is my personal favorite song of not just this album but of the whole year. The simple percussion and quiet synths lull you into a false sense of security before the chorus arrives and a shoegaze-esque guitar just swallows everything. Caroline Polachek’s vocals are phenomenal throughout the song, but my favorite part is at the end of the chorus when her voice becomes so distorted that it’s hard to distinguish the vocals from the instrumental.

“Taper” by Maria BC feels distant. The subdued, repetitive guitar paired with angelic-sounding vocals makes this feel melancholic, but in the film, it’s re-contextualized to feel more like someone beginning to come to terms with who they truly are. The lyrics about someone being hard to find and how their fate is a compromise tie directly into the central conflict of “I Saw the TV Glow” where Owen (played by Justice Smith) refuses to accept their gender identity out of fear.

Despite being a soundtrack for a movie with 15 different artists creating 15 different songs, this project still feels cohesive to a degree with little to no weak spots. It’s definitely worth watching the movie to see these songs in context, but listening to this project as if it were a “regular” album makes perfect sense too.

“What is life’s greatest mystery?”

BY MIGUEL LARIOS AND ELEANOR FARRELL

Visual Arts Teacher HUMANS

Beth Portincasa

One of life’s greatest mysteries is why people lie. I always think and wonder why we’re so quick to lie when in reality, the truth is often a lot easier. Dishonesty takes so much effort, and I just don’t understand how people can get so stuck into that pattern and the dark place that comes from that. I honestly don’t even think that the people who lie the most know why they do it. I guess, when we lie to ourselves and others enough, we start to believe it. And to me, that’s the real mystery.”

Jasper Forgey Senior

For me, right now, life’s greatest mystery is how I can be happy. I guess it’s something I have been thinking a lot about lately, especially with the stress of college applications and senior year. I feel like I can have the best night and an incredible time with my friends and everything just feels right, then the next day, I’ll be freaking out and hyperventilating thinking about the one-thousand things I have to do. It’s so easy to get lost in that and completely forget about all the good. So if I had the answer, it would be sort of comforting because then I would know, no matter where I was, I could achieve happiness.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL JACOB

Meghan Pillote

Senior

To me, I think life’s greatest mystery would be balance. How you can create and maintain balance. I just think that it’s so difficult to truly find that, and honestly, it’s difficult to say if true balance even exists. That’s why it’s so mysterious. I’ve had those moments in life where I’ve really felt concrete in my relationships, my job and academic life, and had what felt like a good balance, but I’ve never really been able to get into the rhythm of it enough for it to stick. As I get older, I’m realizing that even when you think other people are balanced, they’re usually not. I guess we’re all just kind of a mess a little bit. That’s not a mystery.”

Nicolas Villamor Junior

“I think life’s greatest mystery is how we’re able to experience consciousness. The way we are so complex and complicatedly human, and how we used to be just simple cells. It’s really amazing. What’s so fascinating is how those little parts become bigger parts that become us. But how come when they’re all put together in just the right way, we become conscious? I guess the most “magical” part to me is that deep down, science has to somehow explain it. As we try to explain consciousness, we have to go smaller and smaller and then eventually we can make sense of the really little parts and end up explaining something that’s so much bigger.”

Monkey Cookies

BY ELLIE FOX

EVERY SUMMER I would go to visit my grandparents up north in Honor, Michigan. My grandma’s ceramic cookie jar was a staple in her kitchen, always filled with some sort of treat. She always gave me one when I arrived, whether it was chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin or molasses.

The cookie that filled that jar most often, though, was something I called “monkey cookies.” They were molasses cookies adorned with raisins that resembled a monkey’s face. She’d send them off with me to summer camp, on long drives or just when she felt like it, and their silly faces never failed to make me smile. These cookies are soft, chewy and delicious, making them the perfect sweet treat for any time you want a cookie.

TIPS

I like to get all of my ingredients out before I start baking and I put them away throughout the process. I find it helps to keep your kitchen clean and makes everything go faster. I also recommend experimenting! Trying out new spices is one of my favorite parts of making molasses cookies. Another thing to note is that this recipe was originally from the 1980s, so some ingredients might not seem like part of a classic cookie recipe. Don’t worry! These cookies turn out perfectly.

INGREDIENTS

½ cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar (packed)

½ cup molasses

½ cup milk

1 tsp. White vinegar

2 ½ cups sifted all purpose flour

1 tsp. Baking soda

½ tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Ground ginger

1 tsp. Cinnamon

Optional ½ tsp. Ground cloves

Optional ½ tsp. Allspice raisins

DIRECTIONS

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2) Using a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer, combine the shortening, sugar and molasses on medium-low speed until fully incorporated. Stir the vinegar into the milk, and then add to the sugar mixture. Don’t over mix — it should look mushy.

3) In a separate bowl, stir the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger and cinnamon. If you’re using cloves and allspice, add them now. While the mixer is on low, slowly add the dry ingredients into the original mixture until fully combined.

4) Drop rounded, heaping teaspoons of dough 2 ½ inches apart on baking sheets with parchment paper. Place three raisins for the eyes and mouth, with the eyes being vertical and the mouth horizontal.

5) Bake for 10-12 minutes Let cool for 1-3 minutes before removing. Store in an airtight container.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL JACOB

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Our Turn

Staff members discuss the unknown.

BY AVA GRIFFITH AND MAGGIE LAMB

Sophie Alcumbrack McDaniel

“Everything is unknown, especially considering the future with people. Coming to terms with the fact that everything is unknown brings a lot of peace to people's lives and the anxieties that revolve around their future. It's really interesting how one single thing about your day could be different and completely affect the rest of your life. I think it’s just a really interesting phenomenon, and it’s super fascinating to think about my past and the things that I don't know are coming and how those things will affect my life. Don't be afraid of what you don't know, because it's inevitable to change and at some point, it will all make sense.”

Nina Tinney

“The unknown can be both scary and exciting, because we're not fortune tellers. We can't know what's going to happen next. I feel like it's hard to not be in control. I don't know what grade I'm gonna get on a test, I don't know where I'm gonna go to school next year, I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow or in the next week or in the next month, and that's scary. But it can also be so exciting, because, what if, just around the corner, something great is going to happen to you? The next great opportunity, next great experience, so much can be in the unknown. There's no way for me to know what's gonna happen. So that is something that's hard for me to come to terms with.

Kyrie Garwood

“There's a lot of unknown being a senior right now. I think that knowing will be bigger once I can get Common Apps done and know what I'm doing with the rest of my life. But I don't know right now. I do like the unknown, though. That's part of why I do so much stuff. For example, I have never dived before high school. The unknown is exciting and that's why I joined softball too. I think it helps build character. If you aren't willing to embrace the unknown, I think you should get to work on that because that's an important skill to have.

WHAT DON’T YOU KNOW?

WHAT DON’T YOU KNOW?

WHAT DON’T YOU KNOW?

WHAT DON’T YOU KNOW?