THE VERITAS
May 2, 2019
Covenant Christian High School
Issue 5
WALKING IN THE HALLWAY: IT’S A LIFE SKILL
Article by Tatum Julian (‘20) “It’s discouraging how people don’t know how to pick up their legs and walk.” Walking. This is something I would hope we all know how to do; after all, most of us have been doing it for at least the last 14 years of our lives. Yet, walking down the crowded two hallways that our school consists of, I see that, apparently, we do not all understand how we are supposed to pick up our left foot and then our right foot, and our left foot again to quickly and swiftly move us to our next class. Coffee is almost spilled, books are nearly dropped in a rear end accident as someone abruptly decides to change course without first checking their surroundings. The not-so-pretty and very much impatient side of our students threatens to come to the surface as the clusters of
Photo courtesy of Brie Schleinz (‘20)
social butterflies block the path to the doorways at the end of the school day. This issue leads to creative problem solving from those more interested in life outside of school than loitering in their free time. Although not the most humane solution, an upperclassman advises us to “Just grab a freshman and use them to plow through. Or use them as a shield.” To avoid the shoving, yelling, and not so kind words that may come about due to the frustration of hallway traffic, I am going to give a how-to for something I never thought I would write a how-to about: How to Walk (in the hallways). To keep the first step simple, let’s use a rule we all know and apply it to the hallways: no texting while driving. Or in this case, no texting while walking.
Secondly, although we may not have that convenient rearview mirror like our cars do, check your blind spots before stopping or turning around. No one wants the collision your sudden change of direction will create. Lastly, do not cluster. Picture one of those signs in your head anytime you’re in the hallway that says no stopping or parking. Imagine if cars randomly stopped on the highway to chat with each other. It would not be good. I hope that with these tips we can all work together to improve our hallway walking experience and minimize the number of tragic collisions, awkward encounters, and rising frustrations. Good luck.
HYPE & THEORIES OF ENDGAME (*written before the release) Article by Joann Ncube (‘21)
Grab your comfy pants, a huge bucket of popcorn, and a bunch of snacks. Also, don’t forget a smallsized drink, because you CANNOT take a bathroom break during this movie or you will miss something in these three hours full of important details. Everyone, it’s here! The biggest movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is here. It’s time, everyone! This is not a drill. For those of you who have no idea of what I’m talking about, you must have been living under a rock for the past year. Avengers: Endgame came out last week on Friday. Before we talk about the hype and theories about what happens in Endgame, let’s discuss what happened in Infinity War. **Disclaimer: I am about to spoil this movie for you. If you haven’t seen Infinity War, put this article down, open your computer or phone, open your Netflix, and look up Infinity War! Take that 2 hours and 30 mins to closely look at and examine all aspects of the movie. Trust me on this, you’ll thank me later :)** All our favorite superheroes, including Spider-Man, the Avengers, Black Panther, the Guardians of the Galaxy, etc., come together to achieve one goal: defeat Thanos before he wipes out half of the population of the whole universe *insert gasp*. Since the universe suffers from resource limitations, like lack of food and water Thanos sees it as his duty to save the universe by wiping out half the population in order to solve the universe’s resource limitation issues. Throughout the movie we see Thanos doing everything in his power
to obtain all six infinity stones. These stones, when put together, give Thanos the power to do pretty much whatever he wants *more gasps*. In the end of the movie, the guy we think that can kill Thanos, Thor, throws his new weapon, the Stormbreaker, at Thanos, but unfortunately Thor throws the axe at Thanos’ chest instead of his head. ( I don’t know about you, but being a god, I thought he would’ve known where to kill Thanos. I am kind of happy it didn’t happen, because seeing Thanos decapitated would have been really scary and very gross, and I’m not up for that. ) Since Thor missed his shot to kill Thanos, Thanos uses this opportunity to snap his fingers and erase fifty percent of the universe’s population. Unfortunately for the Avengers and the Marvel fans, we see half of our favorite superheroes disintegrate into thin dust and blow away in the wind. Marvel has made us to believe that some of our favorite superheroes like Bucky, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Groot, etc. have died. In my personal opinion, like other students, I believe that these superheroes aren’t dead, but somewhere else or can easily be revived. Junior Emma Hunt states, “The thing that I like about the Avengers is them coming together in one movie instead of individually, that comradery and that all are together to accomplish one goal. I like having them all together, because it’s like finding out that all your favorite celebrities are friends, like ‘wow, they’re friends too!’” Many people also agree with this about the Avengers, which is why the superheroes dying was such an upsetting moment. Emma continues
to say, “so I want them all to be back and have that connections, and I want that to be expanded upon, but that can’t happen if more than half of them are dead.” Senior Sari Strayhorn comments, “I’m anticipating that they aren’t actually dead. I feel like they went to a whole other world, or somewhere else we don’t know. I feel like they’re not actually dead dead because they are too important to just die like that, but I do feel like some of them are actually dead, especially the ones that seem misleading.” Junior Brie Schenliz stated an interesting theory about what she hopes to see in Endgame: “So, I am really into Marvel, and I have read a bunch of fan theories and articles of what ‘endgame’ really means, and it means, in chess terms, where you give up the most important piece in order to win. If Marvel is going that route to give up their most important piece, then I want to see who they are going to determine to give up and how the loss of that person affects everyone else.” Though we may have theories and hopes on what will happen in Avengers: Endgame, as all Avengers fans would know, Marvel producers aren’t always predictable and may go in a completely different direction than what the audience thought. This direction may upset or surprise fans, but either way be ready for whatever Marvel will throw at you. Be prepared for anything!! I mean it’s Marvel; who knows if Thanos is actually going to die, or if the Avengers will actually know how to beat Thanos. They might have the Avengers lose, or they could be setting us up for another movie, that may be even bigger and better than Endgame. Who knows...
THE VERITAS
May 2, 2019
Issue 5
100 VICTORIES: THE HISTORY & SUCCESS OF COACH BIRD Article by Jerusha Long (‘20)
Photo courtesy of Brie Schleinz (‘20)
This year we are celebrating Mr. Bird reaching his 100th Tennis Team win! Since Mr. Bird has been the tennis coach, there have been a total of 75 wins for the boys team and, now, 26 wins for the girls. When asked about his thoughts on this tremendous feat, Mr. Bird credited past Tennis players in helping him to this point, and explains how he became the Tennis coach to begin with. Sean Bird came to Covenant in 1998, over 20 years ago today. To put that into perspective, the school started in ‘95, meaning he was there to teach the very first Covenant seniors. The school was in desperate need of a calculus teacher, and Mr. Bird rose to the challenge. Not only did he teach AP Calculus, he was also asked to teach physics, AP physics, pre-calc, and the Freshman bible class.
Since 2003 there has been a Rocket team run by Mr. Bird, and they have gone to nationals multiple times. And to top it all off, Mr. Bird is also in charge of the iconic Robotics VEX team that qualified first in Worlds. “That was huge, qualifying first in worlds— that was a big year, man that was good.” One interesting year, Mr. Bird participated in Seaperch, which is underwater robotics. He decided to put together this rather peculiar team because the Seaperch Competition was being held in Indianapolis. Mr. Bird chuckled about the shortlived program, saying, “It’s real helpful when you have a swimming pool. We don’t.” The only way it worked was with an aquarium inside of his classroom; but in any case, the team didn’t last long. Since Mr. Bird has been here almost the entirety of Covenant’s existence, he has been able to experience all of the major changes that have occurred over the years, such as with lunch and announcements. Because Covenant is so focused on the community of the school, they tried to have everybody eat in the Commons. But it didn’t take long for the student body to be larger than the Commons could handle. So the school tried to have two lunch periods so there could still be one place for everyone to eat together, without feeling so cramped. But that didn’t last long either, and classrooms have been open to students during lunch ever since. Also, announcements have changed throughout the years. This is the first year Covenant has done daily announcements over the loudspeaker. Mr.
“ Mr. Bird has been able to experience all of the major changes that have occurred over the years at Covenant.”
Bird especially likes how the student-led announcements have, “added the bible verse everyday, thank you guys.” Mr. Bird didn’t start out as a tennis coach, but was the first volleyball coach. That didn’t last long, because the assistant coach had a habit of yelling at the players and, as Mr. Bird put it, “that’s not my style.” After he left volleyball he told Covenant that, “if you ever build tennis courts, let me know, because I would love to coach tennis.” To his surprise, the very next year the iconic Emich Family Tennis Courts opened. This resulted in Sean being the very first tennis coach at Covenant. However, his time as coach was short-lived after he had an abundance of children who needed him at home more often. From 2003-15 Sean Bird was not the tennis coach. He was dearly missed. “Since I’ve been back, we have won sectionals a lot.” In regards to finishing this season, Mr. Bird says, “We have hopes of winning sectionals this season. It’s not gonna be easy, but hopefully we can figure out how to get it done again.”
CHECK (IT OUT) MATE: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CHESS CLUB Article by Hannah Mossbarger (‘20)
Mr. Stevenson’s room. Thursday. After school. I went. Here’s what went down… There is playful banter back and forth between the players, rather than concentrated silence, and people are having fun. There are several intricate boards set up with multiple games occuring at the same time. People wander in and out to observe the games. I spoke to several participants, Josiah Suarez (‘19), Kristen Asato (‘22), Davis Trujillo (‘21), and Garrett Forston (‘21), most of whom confessed that chess club is more of an opportunity for a relaxing mental break than an intense competition between them and their peers. Even though chess still requires strategy and problem-solving, this is a club that provides a quiet atmosphere for concentrated game between friends. When asked about the general atmosphere of the club, Josiah describes it by saying that it is “mentally stimulating, but we all enjoy each other’s company. So it’s competitive, but it’s not just to beat the crap out of each other.” So what’s “mentally stimulating” about the game? What makes
it so challenging, and why is it enjoyable to play? Well, according to Garrett Forston, (and this may be a slight exaggeration) it’s because “you could count down from the age of the universe, even if it was around for billions of years, and still not have played all of the strategies— there’s so much diversity in it that makes the game really interesting.” First of all, there are approximately 400 ways that you could set up the board, 197,742 possible games after only the second pair of turns, and after three moves, 121 million. Davis Trujillo comments that “you can’t just be like ‘oh, I’ve mastered chess’ because there’s always someone who is either at your level or better.” It is a never-ending progression of skill and method. Not to mention the impact that strategic problem solving has on your brain. To name a few intellectual benefits as listed by writer Paul Ratner, it can improve your memory, increase your IQ (when you are younger), and keep aging brains keen.
for yourself and there’s not all this pressure. It’s something fun to do outside of school that’s also like mental gymnastics. I stole that phrase from somewhere…” So if you like a cognitive challenge, comradery, and are looking for an extracurricular to become involved in, why not join chess club? It’ll be a knight to remember...
Davis says, “I love other clubs, but this one specifically feels like it’s just something that you can do
STUDE NT S H O U T-O U T
Photo courtesy of Elaina Essig (‘20)
GEOFFREY Geoffrey is a character created by Emma Hunt (‘20). In this issue, we meet Poppy. A dear friend of Geoffrey’s and a lover of nature, she is photographed here preparing her garden for spring. Right now she only has one flower planted, but soon enough her backyard will be blooming with daisies!
Photo courtesy of McIntyre Imaging
“Jay Wright has a great attitude in my class. Even when he’s being a bit too loud during class, he’s usually being loud ‘on topic,’ if that makes sense. “He’s always volunteering his thoughts, and he doesn’t get discouraged when he offers a wrong answer; he jumps back on that horse and tries again. That’s a truly invaluable trait, not only for school but for success in life. “Jay overcomes frustration and keeps working toward success everyday. I love the example he sets for all of us.”
MY JOURNEY
(cont’d)
memes. The first few hours of the first day were amazing, euphoric even. I woke up to no messages, no updates, no nothing; and instead of spending the first ten minutes scrolling through Instagram, I checked the weather and cuddled with my cat. I went from your average teenager to an old lady in fewer than twenty-four hours! Usually, my evenings are spent on Instagram complaining about homework, school, boys, lack of sleep... basically anything you could think of. What was I supposed to do now that I had no way of releasing my emotions? The solution: bother almost every person I have in my contacts. Luckily I had two very great friends who were willing to chat with me all night. Any time I felt the urge to get onto Instagram to post something, I just sent it to my friend in the form of a post. Without the distraction of social media, it’s amazing what you can do. I had no idea I could cook dinner and do my chores without it taking me two hours. It was still light outside when I finished all of my homework! My first day without social media was truthfully tranquil. I was able to keep busy and get so much done, which relieved a lot of the stress from my shoulders. Though I am only a few days into my challenge, I have started to see a change in who I am. My mind is clearer, my dreams are more vibrant, and I truly am more confident in myself. I have started to make more of an effort to spend more time with the people I love and to reach out to people that I want to build a relationship with. I am more conscious of my work and living space and I am trying harder to stay organized. I can see the distraction that social media has provided me with. I used to sit there scrolling for hours, wishing I could be like the people on my timeline; but now, I am making a conscious effort to be like them while remaining true to myself. Social media is designed to distract us from achieving the world of our dreams by providing us with content that shows others living in our dream world.
Congrats on your Conference Championship,
Photo courtesy of McIntyre Imaging
JUSTIN FOSTER!
MY JOURNEY INTO GETTING TO KNOW MYSELF PT. 1: My Identity Off of Social Media Article by Brie Schlienz (‘20)
Photo courtesy of Mrs. Shields
To hear the sarcastic ‘Good Luck’ spill out of the mouths of everyone who heard about my challenge to go without social media for 30 days only encouraged me. I started with the intent of learning who I really was outside of social media, but as I heard more and more sarcastic remarks, 75% of me was interested in the self-discovery that would come from this challenge and the other 25% wanted to do the challenge out of spite. Going in, I believed that every story I had ever heard was exaggerated for the point of making it more interesting; I also believed that the challenge would be easier for me because I did not have a big influence on social media, nor was it part of my career. Let me just say, my expectations failed me. I entertained the idea of the challenge over a weekend
and all throughout the following Monday. I was so excited to start that, when I got home on Monday, I started to work on how I wanted to fill my time in the coming 30 days. I made myself a list of April goals and a list of May goals. I also made myself a high school bucket list that would push me to get out of my comfort zone. My list includes going on road trips with friends, finding new hobbies, having countless photo shoots with my friends, and meeting at least one new person everywhere I go. I added such simple and ordinary things to my list in order to remind myself, as cheesy as it may sound, to find adventure in every day. As I researched more into the idea of how much time teenagers spend on social media, I thought about how easily I am wasting away my high
school years. I found that the average teenager spends over 2 hours on social media a day. That means that 30 days of the year are spent on social media. Our time on earth is shorter but our time in high school is so much shorter. High school is supposed to be some of the best years of our childhood. It’s the last hurrah before we enter adulthood. We all know that this is not High School Musical, or anywhere even close to that— though we do come one step closer when the sound of Elton John’s Bennie and the Jets floats down the hallway from Mr. Watson’s room thanks to some of our seniors— but just because Disney lied to us doesn’t mean we can’t make these very important, very influential four years into something more than just last-minute studying, failing tests, and only going out with friends every fourth full moon. We do not break out into song whenever our emotions get to be a little too much, nor does the entire school partake in a dance routine at lunch talking about our battles with the status quo. Instead, we spend all the time we have studying and pushing ourselves to be the best at everything, but I believe that we forget that we are only one-fifth of the way through our lives. We should push ourselves to do well in school because that is what God calls us to do; but we cannot forget that our time here on earth is limited. Honestly, this was the first time in the past 17 and a half years that I have actually had a list of goals, let alone a list of goals so detailed that it basically told me how to function like a normal human being. To kick off day one, I deleted all my social media apps that night. But not without posting on my finsta a couple of hundred of times to make sure that everyone knew that I would not be on social media for a long time and to keep sending me
Continued on back