May 8, 2024 - Underclassmen Edition

NORTHSTAR

NEW FHN OPENING DAY

by Miranda Fabian mfabian486@g.fhsdschools.org

As FHN is preparing to go into the new building, many don’t know what change they’ll be walking into that first day. The typical three stairwells will be replaced with seven to eight to combat student traffic flow.

“We don’t know where the next butterfly hallway is gonna be at,” building principal Jeffrey Fletcher said. “In my brain right now, it’s the business cross hall, but I could be wrong.”

The official grand opening of the building will be on Aug. 24 during Black and Gold Day. Former students, recent graduates, and past alumni are invited to come and see the new building after the opening to the public occurs.

Some different procedures will come along for the next school year as adjustments are made for how students react to the new building. Things like where students will be able to hang out in the morning and tardy procedures can vary as the school year goes along.

“It’ll kinda be one of those structures, it’ll be how can we manage some of that stuff, supervise it,” Fletcher said. “Make sure we’re implementing it in an effective manner.”

SUMMER SCHOOL SIGN UPS

FHSD Credit Advancement

Scan the QR code below to register for an advanced credit through FHSD

EXPLORING SUMMER SCHOOL

by Sam Hall

shall102@g.fhsdschools.org

Scan the QR code below to register to retake a credit through FHSD FHSD Credit Recovery

Scan the QR code below to register for a credit through MOSI

As the last bell rings before summer break, all people can think about is the long break ahead. At this time summer school might sound like a big nightmare, but in reality, it comes with many benefits. Summer school gives students a chance to do certain classes over the summer that they may not have had time for in their school schedule.

“Summer school helps students to get ahead in their credits and make room for other classes and opportunities,” special programs counselor Stephanie Johnson said. For students who are thinking about joining summer school, popular classes to take over the summer are physical education and personal finance. To sign up for summer school, set up a meeting with a FHN counselor and sign up for the MOSI program. Before signing up for summer school, it’s important to consider if it’s a smart choice to learn over the summer and if one can be committed to it.

“It really depends on the student, it takes a lot of dedication and commitment to be able to be self-motivated to do it while the summer is off,” Johnson said.

FLAMM PLANS ART TRIP

by Naomi VanDyne nvandyne312@g.fhsdschools.org

Art students will be journeying to Greece this summer from June 12-22. Students will visit the Acropolis, the Ancient Olympic Stadium, olive farms, tour Delphi, take a cruise ship to certain islands, and more. The trip is led by several teachers including Kim Skwira, Sean Fowler and Courtney Flamm.

“I love art history, so I’m really looking forward to experiencing it in person,” Flamm said.

Flamm teaches Digital Art and Design, AP Art and Design, AP Art History and Drawing, so all students in art classes were given the option to go. Many students are excited about all of the things they will be seeing on the trip.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the art because in AP Art History we’ve been learning a lot about it, so I’m excited to see it in person,” senior Viridian Easterling said.

For students wanting to take a vacation out of the country, Flamm provides some advice and confirmation.

“It is a tad stressful to plan your first international trip, but once you do it the first time, it will make you more confident to plan more trips in the future,” Flamm said.

A WEEK TO APPRECIATE

by Canyon Dubis cdubis608@g.fhsdschools.org

With a nationwide shortage of teachers, it is important to show teachers how much people appreciate them. For this reason and many others, FHN is celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week this week alongside the rest of the country.

This week and its activities are put together by KOE. These activities include teacher spirit days like wearing pajamas or dressing like a pirate, activities for the teachers to participate in and snacks every day for the teachers. KOE members, with the help of PTO, brought in snacks, sodas and prizes for the teachers to win.

The goal of this week is to have something fun every day for the teachers to enjoy and to show them how much they mean to the entire FHN community. Teachers often enjoy this with the extra attention students give and the gifts that they receive.

“I love seeing everybody dressed up,” KOE sponsor Kristen Johnson said. “I feel like that kind of can just make people happy and excited. So does the camaraderie that comes with planning what you’re going to wear or what you’re going to do. And there’s lunch on Thursday, that’s pretty exciting.”

The upper mezzanine looks over the rest of the large gym in the new FHN. (Photo by Eashaan Patel)

(Photo by Alayna Clement)

(Photo by Maddie Huckabay)

(Photo by Alexis Rowland)

MOSI Credit

(Photo by Thomas Noltkamper-Jones)

STUCO ELECTIONS

FHN’s Student Council hosted elections in the cafeteria on April 11. The new Vice President, Rishitha Vendanapathi, along with the new President, Madeline Hecht, are now the leaders of STUCO. With the construction of the new school coming to an end, all of the newly elected officers are preparing to step up and guide the rest of the school through the moving process.

“I was really trying to help our school more and more,” Vendanapathi said. “I thought it would be more possible for me to help if I was involved with STUCO.”

According to STUCO’s sponsor, Rowan Pugh, it is the job of the officers to organize large events and incorporate the general student body’s ideas into their decisions. The new STUCO President, Madeline Hecht, is prepared to take on any challenge she is faced with for the betterment of the school.

“The biggest thing I want to improve is the communication between the student council and the student body,” Hecht said. “It’s important that everyone can come to an agreement.”

(Brief by Riley Jensen)

(Photo

by Angelee Orozco)

JOURNALISM AWARDS

The FHN Journalism program returned home from a national convention hosted by the Journalism Education and National Scholastic Press Associations that took place in Kansas City, MO from April 4 - 7 with an array of accomplishments.

The North Star and FHNtoday.com were given second place in Best of Show, with the FHNtodayTV video program being awarded eighth in Best of Show. Along with this, 20 students were presented with awards from various categories in the individual Best of Show. In the on-site National Student Media Contests, five students received honorable mentions, six received excellent, and senior McKenna Hudson received a Superior in the Feature Writing category. Upon arrival back to school, the publication staffs celebrated their work with cake and an in-class recap of the awards received.

“I was really shocked when I got an award because I’ve only been in here for a semester so I was not expecting that but it was really cool,” freshman Bri Taliaferro said.

(Brief by Violet Newton)

RESULTS FROM STATE

Numerous journalism students were honored by the Missouri Interscholastic Journalism Organization for work on their staff this past year.

Earning Honorable Mentions for their work this year were:

• Mallory Barker in Sports Action Photography

• McKenna Hudson in Indepth Feature Writing

• Noah Tucker and Cherry Clark in Center Spread Design

• Eeshaan Patel in News Photography

• Ray Hathcock in News Writing

Earning Excellent Rankings for their work this year were:

• Cherry Clark in Artwork/Illustrations

• Madelyn Brewer in News Photography

• Camden Blair in News Feature Podcast

• Violet Newton in Infographics

• Camden Blair in News Feature Broadcast

• Victoria Montgomery in Sports Action Photography

• The @FHNtoday TikTok team, headed by Vanessa Ng and Harper Schneider, in Social Media Reporting

Earning a Superior Rankings for her work this year was:

• Michaela Manfull in Artwork/Illustrations

Earning All-Missouri Rankings for their work this year were:

• Violet Newton in Infographics

• Katie Head in Sports Reporting

• Cherry Clark in Artwork/Illustrations

• Chase Pray in Editorial Writing

• Drew Johnson in News Feature Writing

• McKenna Hudson, Violet Newton, Payton Johnston and Vanessa Ng in Breaking News Multimedia Story

• Brianna Dunham and Payton Johnston in Social Media Reporting

Earning Best of Show at State, the top individual awards, were:

• Madeline Hecht in Yearbook Design

• Michaela Manfull in Editorial Cartoon

• Parker Smith and Owen Gonzalez for Broadcast Commercial

SUPPORT STAFF OF THE YEAR

by Sam Hall shall102@g.fhsdschools.org

Each year, a staff member at FHN has the chance to receive the “support staff of the year” award. There are many supporting staff that have the chance to win this award here at our school. This year, administrative assistant Stephanie Slaughter has been awarded with the honor. Overall, Slaughter feels very proud to be able to have this award.

“I felt shocked, but also very honored that I won,” Slaughter said.

TEACHER OF THE YEAR

by Riley Jensen rjensen810@g.fhsdschools.org

Each year, FHN staff vote to honor one teacher as the “teacher of the year”. This year, the award went to Journalism teacher Jordyn Kiel.

“I was really positively impacted by so many of my teachers growing up,” Kiel said. “I felt like it was kind of ingrained in me.”

After she graduated from FHN, it didn’t take Kiel long to discover her true calling: education. She always puts her best foot forward in any project she does and never

Slaughter works for Erin Steep, Monica Perry and Brett Bevill in the main office. Slaughter is tasked with assisting the staff in the main office. She is driven by bringing positive energy into the school and office environment. Slaughter is mostly dedicated to working hard everyday while giving anyone who comes into the office a welcoming smile.

“I try to do my job well, and to mostly treat everybody who comes into the office well and to do a good job on everything I’m working on,” said Slaughter.

hesitates to lend a helping hand to students and colleagues who are struggling.

“I think it’s just important to show kindness and respect, to be open-minded and welcoming to every person that you encounter on a daily basis,” Kiel said. “I try to just be a face of goodness in the hallways or in my classroom.”

Kiel encourages more people to go into the field of education, especially now that the demand for teachers is increasing.

“It’s the best job in the whole world,” Kiel said. “It’s exhausting. And it can be overwhelming. It’s unpredictable and challenging, but this is the only career I know and I can’t think of a more rewarding and special job.”

Administrative assistant Stephanie Slaughter won the staff member of the year award. Slaughter just wants to bring positive energy and happiness to the school. (Photo by Madelyn Brewer)

Teacher of the year Jordyn Kiel hands out awards to students on the FHN photo staff. (Photo by Madelyn Brewer)

Award plaques are shown from previous seasons of sports and various clubs. (Photo by Kyra Landers)

FHN’S STATE QUALIFIERS

by Miranda Fabian mfabian486@g.fhsdschools.org

Many clubs are now reaching an end to their season which means clubs are reaching state and more.

Speech and Debate

Speech and Debate went to State with four competitors on April 19 - 20 in Springfield. They competed in different categories, some in pairs and some in singles, three competitors winning 8th place.

FBLA

FBLA went to State on April 14-16 in Springfield and many qualified for nationals. Students had varying competitions, with seven Top ten Finalists and 14 National Qualifiers

“The students who are competing have worked so hard to be where they are now,” FBLA and DECA adviser Abigail Davis said.

Mock Trial

This is the second year Mock Trials won State as they went this year on March 22-24 in Saint Charles. They represented Missouri at Nationals in Delaware May 2-5. The case they practiced and learned by heart throughout the year was about a car accident. The task included going through the details to find out who was at fault for the crime.

DECA

DECA competed in March on the 13-15 as they went to Kansas City, MO. Competing in a similar format to FBLA with 13 who qualified for internationals, they competed in categories of their choosing while enjoying fun events throughout the trip.

“There was an opening ceremony with a guest speaker who motivated the students and a hypnotist who made everyone laugh,” Davis said. “In their free time, the students got to walk around the mall that is connected to the hotel where they could shop, eat at the many different restaurants, or just hang out.”

Robotics

In Robotics, the female-led “Robbadies” team went to State on March 2 as they competed in different rounds of competitions dealing with key goals of coding, robot documentation and robot movements.

“We definitely worked hard this year to go to state and it sets a good example for future students to know we can do it,” Robbadies President and senior Mary Niu said.

BLAIR AND OWENS JOIN

THE BOE ON APRIL 2

Meet the new Board members, Steven Blair and Carolie Owens, that were elected recently on the April 2 Board of Education election

by Gavin Swart gswart370@g.fhsdschools.org

On April 2, Steven Blair and Carolie Owens were elected to the Francis Howell School Board. The newly elected members defeated Adriana Kuhn and Sam Young in the election. They replaced retiring Board Directors Chad Lange and Janet Stiglich and will hold office until 2027.

“It was very exciting,” Owens said. “And the best thing for me was seeing so many happy people. I’ve never felt that this is about me. As a teacher, you always feel like it’s about everybody.”

The new members have expressed wanting to focus on bringing more action to the Board’s collaboration with teachers in the school district. Blair and Owens both expressed discomfort with how the previous Board majority approached teachers and their concerns and saw changing that conversation as a key way they could create positive change.

“First up has to be repairing the culture that is pushing teachers away, including prospective teachers,” Blair said. “The problem is that the board over the last year has not listened to teachers’ complaints of feeling micromanaged and disrespected.”

Students were an active part of the recent controversy on the removal and reinstatement of Black Literature classes by the Board of Education. Their actions took many forms from participating in a walkout to speaking at monthly board meetings. Owens took a stance of listening to public discourse and student interest.

“I think we need more student activism because I think students have pretty much kind of backed off and not paid attention,” Owens said. “I think they need to pay attention to what’s happening in their society. They need to pay attention by voting when they’re old enough because voting is really your power in our Democratic society.”

MEET THE NEW BOE MEMBERS

STEVEN BLAIR

Blair has expressed that he wants to build more cooperation within the Board to address divisive issues. The newly elected members claim to stand out because of their prior experience with getting people to cooperate and come to a conclusion.

“First, it starts by not vilifying the other side, whether it’s the other side of the board or other side of the community, and realizing that we have a lot in common,” Blair said. “From there, it includes trying to build consensus and conversation on a topic. In my opinion, the hotter the button topic, the more important it is for the leadership to be cool-headed and to have roundtable conversations around it.”

One plan that Owens has for expanding communication is meeting with the students of Francis Howell. Owens expressed her desire to spend time physically going into different schools to see what the day-to-day concerns of students and teachers are.

“I think if you’re going to serve at every school, you really need to know the schools,” Owens said. “So, as soon as I get sworn in, I want to start going around to the schools, and just kind of hang out and meet people.”

CAROLIE OWENS

Whether the new Board members will be looked at fondly or not remains to be decided, but it certainly is clear that they are bringing new ideas to the Board of Education. Implementing those ideas may be difficult considering they are in the minority on the Board; however, many voters have been seen speaking out on the change they’re hoping to see.

“Ten years from now, I hope people see the 2024 election as the time that Francis Howell shifted back to what made it such a great school district, the number one school district in Saint Charles County,” Blair said. “That in 2024, Carolie Owens and I started this turnaround and that people saw our leadership, our passion for student success and supporting teachers.”

Carolie Owens participates in FHSD Board of Education meeting. After just being elected early this month, Owens participates in her first official board meeting on Thursday, Apr. 18. (Photo by Chris Brandt)

Steven Blair believes in giving students a good education based on his religious teachings as a pastor.

Carolie Owens believes in improving the way teachers are treated after working as an educator for 32 years.

PATH TO A GOOD SUMMER

During summer break, the sudden change from going to school every week to having so much free time can be hard for some students to adjust to. Here are some tips from on finding purpose and mapping out what should be done with all that time. (Content by Brianna

Taliaferro)

CONNECT WITH FRIENDS

While it’s hard not having the built-in time school brings to see friends, it’s still important to have ways to keep a buddy around.

“Make sure you maintain your friendships, and that nothing gets “awkward” and that they don’t wear down,” senior Anotonio Oestereich

“I’ve made necklaces and bracelets and stuff. Whenever I give it to someone and I see how they react it’s more personal than just buying it for someone,” freshman Presley Jaques

“Main Street is really nice to hang out in the summer with your friends. I’ll also sometimes do camps with my friends,” sophomore Harper

STOP SCROLLING

There are so many different hobbies to develop over break. This time is a great way to discover interests and activities that can help with potential careers as well.

“I do like to learn languages; I like to learn Korean,” junior Ava Richmann

have to be good at painting to enjoy painting,” Whitten

It’s easy to rely on a phone as a source of comfort and easy entertainment, however, the farther one is in high school the more this choice affects overall future goals.

“If you spend all your time on your phone and tik tok… that means taking away from reading, being outside, being active or you know, hanging out with other people so all of these normal healthy aspects of life are removed from your life if you spend all of your time on TikTok. And then...your attention span gets smaller and smaller and it gets more difficult for you to succeed when you’re in school.” AP Psychology Teacher Sean Fowler

“TikTok or Instagram; they have things in the settings that’ll block the app after a certain number of hours in the day, you can turn something like that on.” senior Antonio Oestereich

GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH THE EARTH

While a bed can be rather cozy after a long school year of hard work, it shouldn’t be the only place one spends their summer. The outdoors is a great place to give the mind a proper renewal.

“Do a seven-day detox or just delete apps… you can get a minimalistic app where you open your phone and it just shows you what you need.”

junior Ava Richmann

“I really just like going to pools. Probably my favorite summer activity,” sophomore Schneider

“I like collecting rocks, that’s always fun. Going on walks and find ing cool rocks,” sophomore Whitten

“I play lacrosse and I go camping a lot.” freshman Presley Jaques

“I like to read outside,” junior Ava Richmann

(Illustration by Naomi VanDyne)

THE MUSICAL RISE OF BEATSTAR

by Noah Tucker ntucker088@g.fhsdschools.org

Mobile games have been coupled with phones as early as 1997 when all Nokia phones began to come pre-installed onto all Nokia devices. The usage of games on phones has only evolved since then, notably skyrocketing in count and popularity with Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play store being put on phones. Today, the list of hit mobile games available on the internet is nearly endless, meaning there’s something out there for everyone.

As of late, one of the newest hit games for mobile gamers is a game called Beatstar. Beatstar is made by Supercell, the same company that has made hit games in the past such as ‘Clash of Clans’, ‘Clash Royale’, ‘Brawl Stars’ and ‘Boom Beach’. This allows players to link their Supercell accounts and get an extra song at the beginning of the game.

Beatstar takes heavy inspiration from another mobile game called ‘Piano Tiles’. The player has to use both thumbs to tap “hits” which line up with the song’s rhythm. Each song has a difficulty rating and the harder a song is, the higher the score you can get on it.

Like Supercell’s past games, Beatstar has a level-based program system, where you level up by getting stars on songs. The higher level someone is means the more times someone levels up and the more songs that are unlocked to be played. At the beginning of the game, a player will have access to a small set of songs based on their music preferences, which the game asks for when an account is created.

“My favorite song to play is Humble,” Junior Alex Williams said. “My highest score is 50.000 on a normal song.”

Beatstar has well over 500 songs within the game - many from famous artistswhich allows for endless replayability and guarantees an enjoyable song for everyone.

Along with Beatstar’s recent popularity spike, the game has also come with consistent criticism about the game. The biggest critique users have has to do with how the game is monetized, as well as the randomness that is present in unlocking songs. Players unlock songs by earning boxes, which contain a random song in a specific genre after being unlocked; a process that can take hours. Once a player has earned three boxes, they are barred from playing the game until a box is unlocked. The only way this can be circumvented is if a player uses in-game gems, which can only be obtained through an online purchase.

SIMILAR GAMES

Read more below about other rythmic music games.

Piano Tiles

Another music based game, Piano Tiles. Uses classical piano music instead of popular songs.

A moblie rythym game with Vocaloid characters, considered one of the hardest available rhythm games. Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage!

Beat Saber

A VR rhythm game where the player slashes through blocks in tune with the music.

DOUBLE ALBUM SURPRISES FANS

Taylor Swift released two albums on April 19 surprising fans and critics alike

by Peyton Thies pthies629@g.fhsdschools.org

The theories about what Taylor Swift’s newest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” would contain have built the anticipation to its peak preceding the release of the synth-pop album on April 19. This is Swift’s eleventh studio album and her fourth to be released during her yearand-a-half-long “Eras Tour.”

Friday Night Funkin’

Unique in it’s function, players must use arrow keys instead of tapping the blocks themselves. A mobile version of “Dance Dance Revolution.”

“It’s a lot longer than other albums and it’s also just very deep,” freshman Lucy Haar said.

While accepting a Grammy award for “Midnights” in February, Swift completely surprised many of her fans by announcing a new album instead of “Reputation (Taylor’s Version),” which many were convinced would be announced. Later, Swift curated five playlists on Apple Music representing the five stages of grief and titled them after lyrics in her songs on the new album.

“[I was surprised by] how angry she was in the album,” sophomore Olivia Abeln said. “We were all thinking that it’s gonna be a sad album but it wasn’t. She was like throwing anger aggressively.”

The week of the release, Swift started leaving hidden words in the lyrics of random songs in her discography on Apple Music every day until the release date. The six words found during that week spelled: We Hereby Conduct This Post Mortem. After the release of the album, listeners found that sentence in the song “How Did It End?”

“I was expecting it to have very odd lyrics and I feel like it does,” Haar said.

Going further than ever to promote an album, Spotify set up a pop-up in Los Angeles that took fans inside an open-air library that was, of course, album-themed. Visitors were able to search for easter eggs or hidden lyrics in an immersive way. This along with the constant teasers of new lyrics dropped or videos kept fans on their toes until the release.

“It was actually really cool how they would change out the lyrics in the library,” Abeln said. “Plus, a bunch of my friends were trying to figure out stuff and it was fun to hear all their theories.”

It is well known that Swift releases her albums at midnight ET, but at 2 a.m. she announced that it was a double album with a second installment called, “The Anthology” that includes fifteen additional songs. This included the four songs that were previously called exclusive bonus tracks: “The Bolter”, “The Albatross,” “The Black Dog” and “The Manuscript.”

“I just assumed there’d be a drop at 2 a.m. like everyone else did just because I follow all the TikTok theories,” sophomore Regan Wilson said.

Swift continues to write about historical figures, finding similarities in their lives and turning them into stories. In this album, she does it with “Clara Bow,” a silent film star who was the “It girl” of her time, but her experience with fame was what led to her downfall. Another song, “The Alchemy” is

FALLOUT FALLS INTO THE TV

by Cherry Clark cclark599@g.fhsdschools.org

On April 10, the “Fallout TV” show was released on Amazon Prime Video. This post-apocalyptic TV show, inspired by the Fallout video game series, was directed by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, who are mostly known for their roles as directors of Westworld (2016). The story mainly follows the protagonist, Lucy MacLean, who leaves her home vault behind to explore the empty wasteland in search of her kidnapped father, Overseer Hank. Many elements from the video game series are featured. Other characters include a ruthless Ghoul played by Walton Goggins and Maximus, a Brotherhood of Steel squire.

“I honestly liked the show, despite knowing little about it,” junior Rishitha Vedanaparthi said.

Fallout was created by Tim Crain at Interplay Entertainment and debuted in

RYAN REYNOLDS REAPS REWARDS

by Izzy Lash ilash623@g.fhsdschools.org

There’s a certain genre of movie that has been increasingly popular lately. Around two hours of masculine, comedic, and actionpacked good times that real-life people can only dream of. The man to star in these movies, with the perfect personality for witty one-liners and silly guy looks, Ryan Reynolds has gained immense popularity with the teen-and-up community.

“He’s really cool and I’m just going to be blunt, he’s hot,” freshman Oliver Bosanquet said.

1997 with the video game title Fallout (1997). Today, the most popular games include Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4. The Fallout games, which can be played on PC or console -with some exceptions such as Fallout Shelter, available on mobile devicesare set in a world devastated by a global nuclear war that has destroyed modern civilizations and transformed the world into a nuclear wasteland. Players can role-play as a courier or vault dweller, exploring the ruined sites around them and interacting with survivor NPCs to survive and thrive.

(Illustration by Izzy Lash)

suspected to be about her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, who is a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. It is full of football references and uses similar language to a song Swift wrote about her past boyfriend, actor Joe Alwyn. This song in “Reputation” titled “Call It What You Want” contains descriptions of a circus when she compares their love life to everyone around them.

“She was calling people out,” Haar said. “I thought that she was gonna talk a lot about Joe Alwyn and I feel like she did.”

This album can be compared to “Folklore,” “Evermore” and “Midnights,” but it is also still something different from all of her previous works. The lyrics are much more explicit than any other album she’s ever released, but they are also more poetic and intricate. It appears as if Swift has collected the five stages of grief and put them in one album while staying true to her storytelling roots.

“This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up,” Swift said in her Instagram post for the release of the album. “There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed… Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it. And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.”

After a quiet start with Green Lantern, he began to break out on the scene with Deadpool. The role allowed him to truly connect with the audience, and this style of role, which he happened to be quite suited for, ended up becoming one of the most popular character types, creating endless opportunities for Reynolds in almost any media avenue.

TOP FOUR ROBLOX GAMES

by Cheyenne Stead csteed056@g.fhsdschools.org

Murder Mystery 2 is an eventful game packed with suspense and competition. Players are assigned various roles: one sheriff, one murderer and the rest are innocent. The innocent must help the sheriff identify the murderer and win the game while being picked off one by one.

“I like to play ‘Murder Mystery 2’ because it’s a fun game to play with my friends,” sophomore Kailynn Smith-Fellhauer said.

Welcome to Bloxburg is a calm, roleplaying game that allows players to explore jobs, interact with other players and design their own house.

“I like ‘Bloxburg’ a lot because I feel productive and actually get to work in the game like in real life,” sophomore Heaven Martinez said.

Flee the Facility is a classic, fast-paced game that has players “hack” a certain

Now, Reynolds is considered a popular icon in both movies and social media, with many big brand contracts like Kraft Mac n Cheese and Mint Mobile, and plenty more to come. Reynolds was able to make and keep his success due to not only his range and stage presence, but also his good-natured personality and actions.

“I just watched Deadpool the other day and he was super funny” junior Lily Brethaur said. “He’s also a good person and donates to, like, a bunch of different charities like water education and safety training foundations.”

(Illustration by Cheyenne Steed)

amount of computers to open up exits. One player is chosen to be the “beast” and has to hunt down the other remaining players.

“I really like ‘Flee the Facility’ because it reminds me of ‘Dead by Daylight’,” senior Demi Johnson said.

DOORS is a popular horror game where players must reach door 100 while listening for entities trying to scare them, harm them, or even take them out completely.

“I like DOORS because it is a scary, fastpaced game that you have to constantly be ready,” junior Neely Bengtson said.

(Illustration by Naomi VanDyne)

(Illustration by Miranda Fabian)

(Illustration by Izzy Lash)

COMICS

PROJECT: TIM

By Bri Taliaferro

CAT MEETS WORLD

By Izzy Lash

SILLY CAT

By Cheyenne Steed

TWEAK WEEK

By Violet Newton

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Art Supplies

A list of the top art supplies for current and aspiring artists (content by Moira Dustin)

1

Graphite Pencil

Ordinairy graphite pencils can be one of the most useful tools in art. They are highly durable have many different uses such as sketching out a plan for a future piece, shading, small details and as a main medium.

Colored Pencils

3

Colored pencils are one of the most commonly used tools for art, and for good reason. They color well, shade well and can make your design pop out with unique colors.

“I like colored pencils because I am used to them and I believe they blend well if you put time and effort into it”

- Scarlett Fischer, 9

Sketchbook

5

2

Ink Pens

There are many advantages to using ink pens in art. They glide well against paper and give you a smooth line almost every time. Some different ways you can use them is outlining, finelining details and shading.

“I like using pens because I like the way it glides on the paper.”

-Sophia Haar, 10

4

Having a good sketchbook is very important, you can use it to plan ideas and can use almost any medium with it. A good brand to use is called Strathmore, they make a large variety of sketchbooks for different supplies.

7

White gel pen/ Hilighting tool

White gel pens are exremely useful in making your art stand out. Most of the time they are used last to add white hilights on certian points of a drawing. “I like using gel pens because I think they make the image pop a lot and make something dull really into something like shiny.”

Oil pastels

- Brianna Taliaferro 9

6

Watercolor Paint

Watercolors are one of the most common types of paint. They can make so many gorgeous types of art and are used by adding a small amount of water to the concentrated paint and applying it to wherever.

“I like watercolor paint, because there are so many techniques that you can use and it’s really easy to blend.”

- Claire Brightwel, freshman

Alchohol Markers

Alchohol Markers are a great medium to use. They are vibrant, easy to blend colors together, draw smoothly and dry fast against the paper. Some good brands are Ohuhu, Prismacolor and Copic but usually are good with any brand

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Blending sticks

Blending sticks or blending

stumps are a very useful tool. if you struggle with shading or just want that part of your art to go faster. They are mostly used with graphite pencils to smudge the drawing out.

MORE INFO

Below is more art suppy options (Content Cheyenne Steed,

Pencil Sharpeners

Pencil sharpensers always a nessessary art tool, they can improve the ability of a pencil and make the final product cleaner.

Paint Brushes

Paint brushes can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and styles. paint brushes can help us create shapes and designs that we cannot by ourselves.

Sketchbooks

Sketchbooks provide a stable, soft surface to expreess creativity as well as keep

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Oil pastels are another good tool for adding a pop of color to your designs. They are praised for being extremely vibrant and blending really smoothly. They can be used on almost every paper type but there are also some sketchbooks for just oil pastels.

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Eraser

Erasers can be one of the most important tools in art. If you struggle getting small details right they make it so much easer to just try again.

“I like erasers because I can get rid of my mistake and redo it.”

- Kylie Meeker 9

Ruler Rulers make measuring, drawing straight lines, cutting, and other various stratagies a lot easier for an artist.

FROM PAGE TO SCREEN

Various books and stories have been remade into movies, with many receiving mixed reviews

by Eleanor Mathewson emathewson884@g.fhsdschools.org

The television world is no stranger to creating shows and movies based on books. With an estimated halfmillion fiction books released each year, there is certainly no shortage of material. Many incredibly popular movies such as ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Lord of the Rings’, ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘The Hunger Games’, and more were books first. More recently, some popular YA, or young adult, adaptations have been ‘Heartstopper’, ‘Shadow and Bone’, ‘Percy Jackson’, ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’, and more.

“The Heartstopper series was just incredibly well done,” English teacher Ashley Seiss said. “I think it’s really hard to stay true to a text. Whether that’s, if you go film you have such a short period of time to cover the entire scope of multiple hundreds of pages. But if you do a TV show, especially if it’s not a series, you can potentially struggle to fill in the gaps to make it a well-rounded narrative, in terms of a visual narrative. So I felt like Heartstopper did a really, really, really good job of honoring the story and the imagery and even the subtle details with the soundtrack and Alice Oseman’s art popping up to illustrate strong emotions. Those things to me I thought it was just a very spectacular, really well-done job.”

Selection’, ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’, ‘They Both Die at The End’, ‘Red Queen’, and more.

“I will watch those,” senior MiKayla Brewer said about A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. “I don’t care if I am 80 years old when they come out, I will be watching those. It’s just really exciting because those are good mystery books, and I love reading mystery books and having seen them put in movie form because it just adds so much more suspense even though I know who it is.

Like ‘how is this gonna play out?’, and you can see the character’s emotions

However, with every adaptation made, there will be talk about it among people who read the book and watched the adaptation. Things about what was done well and often, what wasn’t. Whether it be something small like minor details that were left out to an actor looking different than their character was described to even something bigger like a character’s fate being changed.

dies, and then in the movie they’re alive. And I’m like, ‘You can’t do that.’ You can take some liberties with the story, but you can’t change the outcome of a narrative. And so I remember being extremely disappointed with that one. But the rest is just kind of minor stuff.”

While there’s no denying that there are screen adaptations of books that have been disappointing to fans, that doesn’t mean that adaptations are a bad idea or that they should stop being made.

“I think they’re good in theory,” Seiss said. “Especially because there are so many kids that I know are people that aren’t readers that will watch it and be like ‘Oh my goodness, I had no idea it was a series’ and it may inspire them to go back and pick it up. Do I think they’re always well executed? More times than not, no. But you never know. To me, anything that’s going to get somebody to pick up a book is a novel pursuit, no pun intended.”

While Seiss believes that adaptations can be good because they may encourage people to read the book or books that the adaptation was based on, Brewer believes that there’s another benefit of novels being adapted to the screen.

“They can give some people who have trouble visualizing certain scenes or certain parts of books that visual representation of how someone else interprets it,” Brewer said.

‘The Hunter Games’ is one of the most critically acclaimed franchises in modernday media. Many fans of the books are impressed by the movie adaptations.

‘Heartstopper’ started out as a popular web-comic, and once it was adapted into a television show, it climbed the rankings and held a spot in the Netflix Top Ten for more than a week.

More YA books are set to be adapted to the screen in the next few years such as ‘The

“We read The Chocolate War,” librarian Tara Willen said about an English class she used to teach. “And I watched the movie because I was going to show it and they changed the ending. As in, in the book, somebody

“And I find it always cool, whenever I read a book, like with Hunger Games, the way I envisioned it was not how the movie was.

But seeing how the movie was, it kind of helped me envision how other people could see it.”

With the original book series beginning in 1996, ‘Game of Thrones’ was ahead of its time in terms of brilliant world-building and plot lines. The live-action series certainly lived up to expectations, and it now holds just as much fame as the books.

(Illustration by Kaylee Priest)

The Hunger Games

Heartstopper

Game of Thrones

LOOKING BACK THROUGH THE YEARS

As the original FHN building begins to close, take a look back at a few of the moments that have made the taken place since the high school’s first class graduated in 1986. The photos and cutlines here can all be found in yearbooks from the past 38 years. Don’t forget to buy your yearbook this year so you have all the memories from this final year in the original FHN

1986 Times are tough, even Santa (Nancy Box) needs a bodyguard.

1987

Mr. Harold Ritchie (Industrial Arts) finds a peacful moment to catch forty winks on the bus.

1988

Not only do these two have softball skills but Alicia Bushman (11) and Ms. Sam Brumbaugh have mastered the art of sliding down railings.

1989

A back view of the old homestead. Complete with the workers trucks. High school, home, prison, and trailer park, North has it all!

1990

J.V. baseball managers Stephanie Mueller (10) and Tracie Myers (11) load the Gatorade bucket to take it to the field.

1991

After hundreds of sets of gloves were distributed, Mike Heimos (12) found they could also be used to get rid of the day’s stress.

1992

Riding a pink Barbie Corvette during the Homecoming spirit assembly, Coach Mark Malawey was met with many laughs.

1993

Getting in the spirit of Halloween, Mr. Steve Kelly, biology teacher, suggests to his classes he might be as crazy as the mad scientist he portrays.

1994

Using Sumo wrestling techniques, Jack McGraw and Scott Patterson, seniors, attempt to get each other out of the ring.

1995

For her Ceramics Il assignment, Shannon Guinn, sophomore, moistens her pot to keep cracks from forming.

1996

Making sure the props were working properly Lisa Brunquell (12) goes in to kill the real phantom, Chris Simon (12).

1997

Kevin Bond, senior, tries to convince everyone that he is a nice monster, although in reality he really is not.

1998

Generating spirit for the Knights, Norm the Knight, the school mascot, trots around the TWA Dome in his new uniform before a football game.

1999

Designing a program on the computer to match the handout, Mark Vonfange, senior, attempts to make an exact copy.

2000

After the announcement, Laurie Beck, 1999 queen, crowns Erin Greenwood, senior, as the 2000 coronation queen.

2001

Getting down to business, Selling prom tickets during lunch, Melissa Keeney, junior class delegate helps prepare for prom.

2002

Writing her answer, senior Jessie Klocke identifies the familiar mask.

Sculpture I students created masks after a dead person.

2003

Members of FEA get together for a photo to remember their outing. The students traveled to the Lake of the Ozarks.

2004

Seniors who are enlisting in some branch of the military stand for recognition. Darlene Jones spoke and gave memoration.

2005

During a JNHS meeting on Oct. 10, president, Danielle Karstens talks about an upcoming service project called Operation Christian Child.

2006

Franz Kohler presented slides describing each individual government job and the Legislative Branch.

2007

Students pose with singer Taylor Swift after appearing in her music video for “Teardrops on my Guitar.”

2008

Students of the new table tennis club on Jan. 29 play table tennis upstairs by the commons.

2009

Shelly Grimshaw sells tickets to incoming children at the beginning of the night.

2010

FCA members throw cheese balls onto sophomore Zach Verret’s face. They covered his face with peanut butter to stick.

2011

Students Justin Henry, senior, and Diana Strutman, junior, discuss their unique twin outfits.

2012

Megan Frkovic holds a homemade sign with pictures of her niece and nephew whose mothers both chose life.

2013

Darlene Jones was announced as the first ever “Mrs. FHN” by Student Council for her work as principal over the years.

2014

Two district officials stand in one of the hallways where the water pipes burst on Jan. 7.

2015

The juniors chant at the seniors during the scream meter competition in the annual homecoming pep assembly.

2016

Norm greets a child at Black and Gold Day right before the child starts to cry. Many children and students got their picture taken with Norm.

2017

Senior Katherine Hassinger helps two kids off of the bounce obstacle course after they’re done running through the course.

2018

Instead of the normal dress, pants, dress shirt, and tie, Senior Dan Bell dressed like The Joker for homecoming.

2019

Class Officers host a field day to celebrate their last days together.

2020

Students paint parking spots in the parking lot in order to raise money.

2021

Students celebrate the ground breaking of the new school construction and mourn the removal of the FHN field.

2022

Nominees for prom court pose. Members were elected by their class and attendees voted for King and Queen at the event.

2023

The JV boys volleyball team huddles during a game.

Sophomore Yocelyn Gonzalez poses with a flower bouquet she arranged.(Photo by Kylie Ramirez)

YOCELYN GONZALEZ EMPIECE SU NEGOCIO DE RAMOS

by Miranda Fabian mfabian486@g.fhsdschools.org

En su segundo año de secundaria, Yocelyn Gonzalez creció con flores siendo un gran querer por mucho de su familia, amigos y de su comunidad en una manera especial. Para muchos, las flores son regalos para aniversarios, graduación y funerales y se usan para ocasiones especiales como una moneda para una novia durante su boda. Además, en la comunidad

ENGLISH VERSION

Scan this to read this story in English.

Hispana, es especial que formen parte de una quinceañera al lado de su vestido.

“Empezamos [regalando ramos] en la familia como si querian para completarnos,” Gonzalez dijo. “Y luego la gente se enteraba y empezamos a hacerlos para amigos o comadres.”

Gonzalez empezó trabajando con su mama en el último año haciendo ramos para su familia. Su mamá empezó el negocio y cuando la gente empezó a escuchar del negocio, su mamá fue a ella para que formara parte más grande del negocio.

“Me hace feliz cuando veo las sonrisas y reacciones de las personas cuando les doy su ramo. Me hace feliz cuando soy capaz de poner una sonrisa en la cara de alguien,” Maria Gonzalez, mamá de Yoceyln, dijo. Han hecho varios tipos de ramos que van desde flores de 300 rosas y hasta arreglos de meza para eventos. Ella trabaja con sus clientas para encontrar algo especial para cada persona.

Gonzalez comenzó a aprender un lado económico de esto con sus precios aumentan, creando una curva de aprendiendo cómo vender ramos de varios tipos. El nuevo negocio ha liderado muchas nuevas habilidades. También quiere abrir un Instagram y Facebook, además sus habilidades y parte que va ha dirigir.

“Ha visto que le ha ayudado hablar con gente más fácilmente,” Gonzalez dijo

Mientras recibe más peticiones para sus flores, también tiene un buen balance en la escuela. Ella considera que poder trabajar según peticiones y rechazando y aceptando peticiones, ayuda a balancear mejor la escuela en vez de agarrar un trabajo típico con horas programadas.

“Yo los hago porque a mi me gustan mucho las flores y yo creo que es bonito que la gente recibe flores por la ocasión que sea,” Gonzalez dijo.

NEW KID BY JERRY CRAFT

Jordan Banks is a new seventh grader at Riverdale Prestige Academy. He wanted nothing more than to go to a fancy art school where he could live out his passions, but his parents weren’t exactly supportive. Jordan lives his life stuck in two different worlds. The world of color cartoons and art, and the world of academics, sports and being known as popular. And at the end of the day, he doesn’t feel like he fits in either.

PERKINS

Makani Young used to live in Hawaii, but now resides in a small town in Nebraska. During her first week at her new school, she realizes students one by one have mysteriously gone missing. It’s rumored that a man in a mask is going around killing the students at the high school. Makani has some secrets of her own she tries to keep hidden while also trying to find out who’s next on the list.

5 BOOKS TO GET YOU INTO READING

If you’re looking to read but don’t know where to start, these are five great book options that are beginner friendly

by Kaylee Preist kpreist027@g.fhsdschools.org

If you’re into fantasy, drama, or fictional books, then this series is a great starting point. A series about groups of people forced into an arena and are told to fight to the death.Participants are given minimal resources and trustworthy individuals are a rare find. This suspenseful series will keep you on your toes. This series is expected to be read in chronological order.

“The plot of the story was super interesting. I think for me the characters and their goals were one of the other things that really drew me into it. Also the way that Katniss would strategically think about her plans to stay alive and keep Peeta alive. Another aspect I enjoyed was the world that they live in. With the way that the society was controlled by the government was just really cool to unpack and kinda try to figure out how it worked or why they did it,” Samantha Slunaker, Sophomore.

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS BY JOHN GREEN

‘The Fault in Our Stars’ is a fictional story about a girl named Hazel Grace and her journey through her diagnosis at age 13 with stage five thyroid cancer. At age 16, her parents forced her to go to a support group where she met a boy her age named Augustus Waters who had lost his leg in a tragic accident. She was given the opportunity to join a program that allows her to be granted one last wish in case she doesn’t survive cancer. She chooses to fly Augustus and her mother out to Italy to meet one of her favorite authors. The trip, not ending as expected and feeling like she wasted her life on a lie will leave you in tears.

HEROINE BY MINDY MCGINNIS

Mickey Catalans suffered injuries from a tragic car crash right before softball season. Being the catcher for the school softball team, her team counted on her, and without her, they weren’t able to win the tournament. She was prescribed heavy doses of pain medication to help her get through minor injuries. The pain medication turned into more than just medicine; it became an addiction that made her feel good emotionally and physically. The addiction turns into something she no longer can control, but there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s a fast read, I feel like it’s kind of dark and gritty, and I feel as if people tend to enjoy stuff like that,” English teacher Ashely Seiss said.

“The book does a good job of talking about addiction and things like that. Even beyond that, it’s a really good read. ”

COCA SPARKS CREATIVITY

by Sadie Ortmeyer sortmeyer483@g.fhsdschools.org

Creativity can take on many forms and can be expressed in hundreds of different ways. This is why COCA, the Center of Creative Arts, took it upon themselves to make sure creativity can be shown in as many ways as possible.

“I think we do offer a lot of really fun things,” director of executive administration and special projects at COCA Lucy Gossett said. “There’s so much that we offer that I think often people don’t understand the breadth of what we do.”

COCA is a non-profit community arts center that has been offering classes in the creative arts since 1986 on the Delmar Loop. Originally starting as a synagogue with little staff and classes to offer, it quickly grew to what it is today through many renovations and hard work. Now, it offers numerous classes to choose from, theatrical productions, an art gallery, summer camps, and has multiple partnerships with other businesses and schools to expand opportunities for all of its students.

“We’ve basically outgrown this building that we’re in, and we needed to expand so we basically doubled our building space,” Gossett said. “We built a whole new wing and more studios, a bigger stage because we had so many waitlists of students wanting to take more classes.”

COCA offers many ways to let their students of all ages show creativity through classes in dance, voice, music, visual arts like drawing and painting, fashion, film, culinary arts, and much more. These classes take place Mondays through Saturdays in the evenings from the earliest classes offered around 4 p.m. up until 9 p.m. and range in price from around $180 to $275.

“There’s 1,000 things to kind of go through and choose from,” artistic director of voice at COCA Philip Woodmore said.

Not only is COCA about having fun and being creative, but it also has many educational benefits. For schools that don’t have access to creative arts, it provides a chance for students to learn skills they wouldn’t typically learn in the classroom. Furthermore, COCA also provides after-school training sessions to help students with things such as homework, college applications and readiness, and planning for their future.

“We have a space dedicated for students to sit and do homework,” Gossett said. “There are tutors, ACT tutors, and we provide other resources. We had someone come speak to the students about financial planning for their future. Just trying to make sure that when they’re here, they’re getting what they need.”

With all that COCA offers, every class brings a different experience and an opportunity to try something new.

However, what is even better is that COCA brings together a community in which there can be a spot for everyone who wants to take on education in a fun and creative way.

“What I’d love for everybody to know about COCA is there’s a place for everybody here,” Gossett said. “Whatever it is that you think you would like to do as an artist, or as a creative person, you will find your thing here and you will have fun doing it.”

Senior Delanie Riggs paints in Kimberly Skwira’s Painting two art class. (Photo by Miranda Fabian)

INTERACTIVES

The school year is coming to a close, so that mean summer is staring soon. Here are some interavites to get you excited for summer (Content by Kaylee Priest, generated by Discovery Education and ehh Books)

SUMMER WORD SEARCH

BEACH BREAK GRADUATION HEAT

SUDOKU

Photo by Kylie Ramirez

Designed by Naomi VanDyne

THE SPORT ESSENTIALS

There are many factors that influence a sucessful sports season. See below to find important gear, team information and more (Photos by Faith Smith, Images from Shutterstock)

GEAR FIT FOR A PRO

The starting point for many players is picking the right equiptment. From Rawlings to Nike, there are overwhelming amounts of choices for players. See below to find some of FHN baseball players’ go-to gear

FHN baseball teams use Diamond baseballs. They are also known for other products.

“They’re good quality and the seams are nice and pretty,” junior Owen Gonzalez

New Balances are popular cleats often repped by players like

“I think they are just very comfortable,” freshman Camden Peck

EvoShield is known for their protective gear not only withing baseball but among other sports as well. We can see players like Jonathan Aranda and Randy Arozarena wearing the brand on the field.

“I like the logo and a lot of major leaguers use it,” sophomore Nathan Bitter

A GROWING GROUP

It is important to have a team to lean on. The track and field teams have grown exponentially compared to the previous season. See below a breakdown of the 100+ runners, throwers, jumpers and pole vaulters.

SPRINTERS

115 TOTAL MEMBERS

DISTANCE RUNNERS

THROWERS

JUMPERS

VAULTERS

09 15 21 64

Francisco Lindor and Oneil Cruz in the MLB.

OVERTAKING THE RANKS

A leader is a necessity on any sports team. See how junior Kai Gustafson works to the top of the boys tennis team by Avee Patel

apatel463@g.fhsdschools.org

This year, FHN boys tennis has a new captain on their hands. Junior Kai Gustafson has taken the reins and become the team’s number one. According to teammates, Gustafson has demonstrated all the characteristics of being a good captain such as leadership, determination, work ethic, accountability, coachability and being the most skilled on the team.

“I’ve known Kai for almost four years now,” teammate and friend Robert Silzle said. ”We met when I moved here to St. Louis and started playing tennis with him. He’s a great friend that has always been there for me and just as good of a leader being the confident voice of reasoning in the group.”

According to teammates, Gaustafson’s ability to get the team in the right mindset is one of his best characteristics and he is a pivotal part of the team’s success.

“I remember at a tournament we played at Holt, I was having a tough match,” ‘teammate and friend Beckett Silzle said. “I was getting in my head and had no motivation. Luckily, I could hear Kai on a nearby court yelling things like ‘Come on!’ among other things which, while it might’ve been motivation for him, it also encouraged me to push through my

Through his experiences and victories, Gustafson can help mentor newer players and motivate them to work harder.

“One of his best qualities is his determination. After every practice he’s always asking “You guys wanna stay a little longer”, just to get in that little bit of extra hard work.” Beckett said.

Gustafson’s teammates also state that Kai is very consistent and finds ways to constantly win.

“He helps the team succeed by winning almost every single one of his matches but also motivating the team to work harder and play more,” Robert said.

When a team has a good leader like Kai, they have someone to fall back on when they are faced with adversity.

Gaustafson displays his strong work ethic by always looking to get better and training outside of just practices and games.

“One of his best qualities is his determination,” Beckett said. “After every practice he’s always asking ‘you guys wanna stay a little longer’, just to get in that little bit of extra hard work.”

Gaustafson’s competitiveness gets contagious and he inspires the rest of the team to dig deep and find a way to win.

“Even though he’s a grade below me, he’s always been better at tennis than me,” Beckett said. “It’s always helpful to have a teammate more skilled than you who’s willing to go and hit with you to learn from and improve your game.”

TOUGHEST OPPONENTS

Opponents are what allows games to be played. See below some of FHN’s toughest games

Boys Volleyball

A familiar foe, Francis Howell Central gave North volleyball their toughest game of the ‘24 season. In a straight 3-0 loss on April 2, FHN lost their sets 25, 19-25, 17-25.

Girls Soccer

Timberland, atop their own respective district (Class 4 District 3), had two fights with FHN this season, both coming out on top. In the first matchup, Timberland shut out FHN 4-0. In their second meeting on April 11, Timberland took the win with a score

Track

In four of their first five meets, FHN has squared off against Lafayette. A particular strong suit of the Lancers is their girls sprints team. Freshman Ida Moczerniuk is a top ranker sprinter in the state, running a 12.25 sec 100m.

Baseball

Coming into a two-game series with FHN, FZW sat 9-5, near the top of their district. In the two games April 9-10, the two teams traded blows, with West winning 6-1 in the first game, North winning 6-1 in the second.

A SEASON TO REMEMBER

As the season comes to an end, it is time to refelct on the spring season

“At the Jamboree

Walter bounced it and it showed us how the season was gonna start off and it felt junior Alex Williams

“At this point, we’ve already doubled the amount of goals we’ve scored last year,” coach Matthew Havermale

“When we played Webster Groves it was the best defense we’ve ever played,” senior Maggie Cuccio

“The new track is really nice because I don’t have to drive to central everyday so it helps practice get started quicker, it helps me get home quicker, and helps me have time for other things,” junior Delaney St. John

Boys Golf

FHH has been a thorn in the side of FHN all season. Sophomore Nick Halterman has been the star of the show, being tied for the 4th ranked golfer in the St. Louis area. Howell High sit at the top of their district.

Girls Lacrosse Ladue, coming into their matchup with FHN, sat 7-0. Their success continued into this game with a win of 16-10. This was a hard fought battle where both goalkeepers made 8 saves.

Boys Tennis

On Mar 28, the Knights traveled to Ft. Zumwalt West, a chance for revenge, with FHN going 0-2 against the Jaguars last season. FHN did make up for their defeats the prior season, going a perfect 9-0 in all matches.

PRESSURE IN SPORTS

Atheletic pressure in sports affects all players, whether it be positive or negative. Not just certain sports, not just certain people, but any player

by Esther San esan231@g.fhsdschools.org

It’s pressure to serve an ace. It’s pressure to hit the three’s. It’s pressure that pushes a player to finish the end of a run or swim. Yet pressure is how a player falls at the hand of the opponent. Pressure is felt by every athlete and comes in a variety of forms.

Pressure can be split into two kinds: external and internal.

External pressure is pressure that comes from the outside. The “outside” is anything that happens directly to an athlete. These pressures can include grades, teammates or even coaches.

“I’ve had a lot of good coaches where I know they see potential in me growing and learning so they’re mostly hard on me because they know I can do better,” varsity volleyball player, Junior Rachel Bruemmer said. “And sometimes, it’s frustrating when I just do something stupid and they’re like, ‘what the heck.’ But a lot of pressure is just I want to make my coaches proud and do what I can because they always work so hard for us to win so I don’t want to give up on them and my team.”

In a study published in the National Library of Medicine, researchers tracked the relationship between coaches and players and how it affected player performance. Results showed that coach pressure improved player performance, but also hindered it, aligning with Breummer’s suggestions. Track and cross country runner Sophomore Moya Jefferson relates to this idea.

“I’d say standards [are a pressure],” Jefferson said. “You have people who are looking at you like your coach or something, and you have a varsity sport and you’re trying to keep your time and you know, if you do bad you can get kicked off.”

encompasses many things including nerves.

“I get nervous easily by the desire to get better,” Junior Edward Lee, varsity swimmer said. “I want to do better. So, that’s like, that brings me down. Always before the race, I get nervous, and there’s like the most pressure and I have to overcome that to become a better swimmer.”

David Udelf, a writer from Psychology Today, interviewed Britton Colquitt, a Minnesota Vikings punter. During the interview, Colquitt touched on nerves he has even as a professional player.

“You’re terrified,” Colquitt revealed in the July 2023 article. “It gets in your mind that ‘if I screw this up, I could lose the Super Bowl.’

But internal pressure is not only nerves, it can also be comparing yourself to others.

“They say 90% is mental, 10% physical, because you’re already in shape, you already do the workouts, but how you perform is based on how you think.”

- Moya Jefferson

External pressure is not limited to pushing someone to better, it can also help someone stay grounded. Cohen Oster is a Freshman on JV and varsity basketball. As the only freshman on varsity, Oster liked the experience which kept him grounded.

“Everyone gets on you if you do bad because you’re the freshman you know, keeps you in check,” Oster said. “I think it humbles me. If I’m like messing around, it shows me that I can’t be doing that.”

Internal pressure is the opposite of external pressure. This means the pressure comes from your mind, as well as how you see and view things. Internal pressure

“Sometimes when you see [teammates] do better it can make you do better,” Jefferson said. “But sometimes it’s just like, ‘wow, they did a lot better than me and I wish I could have done as good as them.’”

Arguing what pressure impacts athletes more is objective, but either side can also be backed with evidence.

An article published by Montana State University Athletics states, “It is welldocumented that mental health challenges greatly impact athletic performance. Stress, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, trauma, substance use and loss of relationships impact athletic performance.”

This article was college-athlete-centered, high school athletes relate to this idea.

“They say 90% is mental, 10% physical,” Jefferson said. “Because you’re already in shape, you already do the workouts, but how you perform is based on how you think, it’s your choice to perform good or not. And if you are brought down and have a bad mental lookout, you’re not going to do good, you know?”

These students come from varying sports ranging from individual to collaborative sports. Both types are very different from each other. Individual sports promote self-reliance and self-discipline, while collaborative sports emphasize teamwork and sportsmanship.

“In track, if I mess up like I know, nobody cares, because I’m not affecting them and I can just do better next time,” Bruemmer said. “But then volleyball, it’s like, I’m letting down my team or people are being like, wow, she kind of sucks and then they start to care a little more.”

Lee agreed.

“The difference between individual sports and team sports is in individual sports I feel more pressured and more responsible on myself,” Lee said. “Because like team sports, I can rely on other teammates, but individual sports is like lonely. I got to do by myself, so it’s more pressure. In swimming, if I do relay event, it’s definitely more reliable. It’s more relaxed. It’s fun to do that. And I feel less pressured under that. But individual event there’s kind of more lonely cause I got it because I gotta do it by myself.”

FHN Athletes are not alone. According to a study released by the National Library of Medicine, 91 percent of students interviewed said playing sports caused them some kind of pressure or stress. Coach Tracy Wuertenberg coaches varsity cheer and says to help cope with that pressure, athletes need to know who’s there to support them.

“The biggest thing when it comes to motivation is just knowing that there are people who are there for you and that support you, no matter if you’re struggling or you’re excelling,” Wuertenberg said. “As athletes, the girls truly do care about each other. And number one behind anything no matter I think anything in life is developing a relationship with people and that leads to success, both mental success and skill success. It’s understanding that everybody has a good and a bad. Some days are great, some days aren’t and a relationship with a person helps you accept that.”

Rachel Breummer with Kierra Williams showing positive form of pressure. Breummer, a junior, brings veteran leadership to a young team competing at a high level. With such high competition, pressure is something Breummer and the team deal with on the regular. (Photo by Angelee Orozco)

GIRLS LACROSSE

On Tuesday, April 9, varsity player Lauren Robnett tries to steal posession of the ball from a Northwest High School player. (Photo by Taylor

SPRING SPORTS IN FULL SWING

Catch a glimpse of some of the best spring sports in mid-season action

GIRLS TRACK

GIRLS SOCCER

BOYS TENNIS

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Griffin)

Junior Dominic Jefferies follows the baseball as he is up to bat on March 18 against Parkway Central High School.

(Photo by Victoria Montgomery) BASEBALL

On March 1, during the last day of tryouts, junior Jordan Ousley plays doubles with junior José Delapaz. (Photo by Faith Smith)

At St. Peters Golf Course, on March 21, freshman Ryan Bechard looks for a line to putt during a match aganist Fort Zumwalt East. (Photo by Mallory Barker)

On April 12, sophomore Jaden Slusser hurdles at the Henley Holmes Invitational. (Photo by Ankita Pandurangi)

During a match against the Saint Charles High Pirates, sophomore Amari Jones fights for possession of the soccer ball. North kept hold of the ball and scored multiple goals, with the game ending 5-0. (Photo by Jordan Ousley)

Seniors Sam Reimer and Walter Hammond jump up to block a spike hit by a Timberland player on Apirl 11 at Francis Howell North. (Photo by Eashaan Patel)

(Illustration by Violet Newton)

INTELLIGENTLY USE AI

by Violet Newton vnewton158@g.fhsdschools.org

From singing cats to perfectly written essays, artificial intelligence has certainly changed the way people interact with the internet. However, beneath the shiny finish of AI, there is a dark underbelly that hasn’t been handled responsibly thus far.

One of the first and most prominent concerns with AI was, of course, it taking jobs. However, recently AI has been seen being used to deep fake images and videos of unconsenting parties. With all of this transpiring, it’s hard not to wonder what dangers AI will bring further down the road. It’s only been about a year since the mainstream usage of AI programs and there is no doubt that our government needs to get involved and limit the abuse of these programs.

Within the last month, sexually explicit images of Taylor Swift were used to present the No AI FRAUD bill. The proposed bill is set to “Reaffirm that everyone’s likeness and voice is protected and give individuals the right to control the use of their identifying characteristics, empower individuals to enforce this right against those who facilitate, create and spread AI frauds without their permission and Balance the rights against First Amendment protections to safeguard speech and innovation.” Similar laws have also been proposed in Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Texas, Vermont and Washington.

Another major concern regarding AI and unconsenting parties is the usage of random people’s faces in marketing campaigns created by AI. There have been multiple accounts of this, the most widely known being a lifestyle influencer finding a video of herself in her room, in her clothes, speaking words she never said. AI was used to create a fake rendering of her voice and added atop a video she had previously posted that was slightly altered to make her lips match up to the words the synthetic voice was saying. This has not just happened to her but to celebrities from Mr. Beast to Bill Gates. The need for legal intervention goes without question as people being used as the poster child in advertisements for companies without ever getting paid or consenting to being used as a promotional tool is deeply unethical.

Citizens need to urge local and federal governments to protect their people against the unsafe and abusive use of AI before it gets out of hand. While AI is new, it should be kept exciting and not dangerous to community members.

ADVICE FOR COUPLES

People aren’t taught the correct way to treat each other; however, it’s easy with these five tips.

1

Trust each other

Relationships require you to recognize that a significant other won’t lie to you. People have to trust each other; more importantly, people have to give others a reason to trust them.

2 Hang out together

The “PDA” in the halls is unmatched, people need to meet up outside of school to avoid the awkward hall meetings.

3 Communicate your issues

People always say “Communication is Key,” and yes it is. When people are upset with one another they have to share that.

“Communication is important. Thats it, you need communication to make something work and if you don’t have that it’s not gonna work out.”

George Jackson, junior

4 Be friends before dating

Many people jump to relationships without truly knowing the person they’re getting with. Avoiding this issue is easy when you already have a prior relationship with the person.

5 Recognize when it’s toxic

Being toxic will tear a relationship apart. Keeping toxic vibes away will ensure everybody feels respected.

“Don’t be toxic, just talk things out. For example, you shouldn’t go to bed mad at each other, just work the issues out.”

Chase Schulte, freshman

THE DOWNFALL OF TEENAGE RELATIONSHIPS

High school relationships are failing miserably with their lack of respect and influence of others

WCOLUMN

hen I think of relationships, two words come to mind: relationships suck.

Well, at least a lot of the time they do. Most teenage relationships end up tumbling down leaving everyone involved wishing it never started in the first place. Every little kid hopes to live in a teenage Rom-com where the big popular guy finds the cheerleader and they live happily ever after. But, in the majority of these situations, this just isn’t an option; people often end up crying on the floor after their boyfriend of three weeks leaves them in the dust. Ever since my friends and I had some interesting relationship flops, I have been reflecting as to why this happens so frequently.

I mean come on, people run into each other in the halls and can’t even bother to say “Sorry man.” Are these the same people you’re expecting to have a happy relationship with? That’s just unrealistic. Teenagers can’t even treat their peers with basic human decency, how are they supposed to treat a partner? I can answer that question for you, they reflect this quality of low respect for others in their relationships.

That being said, sometimes people can be great, but sometimes people cheat on each other for eight months and couldn’t care less about the effects. It’s one of those things that’s seen in black and white, either you get an amazing person who treats you great, or you get someone who doesn’t

recognize you’re a person with feelings. When you can’t tell if you’ll be madly in love or simply be used, people have no trust in each other and the relationship loses its spark.

But even aside from all that, relationships just aren’t the same as they used to be. What happened to love notes or little drawings? Now it feels like all that people care about is what clothes you’re wearing and if you look good in them. Nowadays teenagers sit in class rating their crush on a scale of one to ten with their friends, prioritizing if they’re “hot enough” for you. With the value of how you look higher than anything else, people end up dating someone that they don’t even get along with, mainly because they find them attractive.

On the note of prioritizing looks, it’s obvious that social media has changed how we see each other. Teenagers went from passing notes in class to adding one another on Snapchat only to ask, “What do you look like?” The influence of social media leads people to treat each other poorly because that is all they are exposed to. “Screenagers” watch people online saying they hate women, then proceed to sexualize them at the same time. At that point, you can’t let young men take all the blame for their views on women or how they treat them. This goes both ways, seeing people on social media platforms posting videos sexualizing gray sweatpants or veiny hands. This once again leaves men objectified. When people continue to post things like this for a teenage audience, teenagers are not properly taught how to treat anybody, much less how to handle a relationship.

Overall, sure, relationships might suck, but if you both put in a little bit of effort, a relationship can be pretty cool. But, until people are mature enough to apologize for bumping into someone in the hallway, I still think maybe they could avoid the

(Illustration by Michaela Manfull)

Regan Griffin

Instagram has created ‘Meta AI’ that works toward removing false information on its platform through people’s searches.

Did Taylor Swift join the Kansas City Chiefs cheer team?

Meta AI: I couldn’t find any information or credible sources indicating that Taylor Swift has joined the Kansas City Chiefs cheer team.

If you have any more information or a specific source regarding the news, I’d be happy to help verify it!

THE TIME FOR MEDIA LITERACY IS NOW

Fact-checking information from the internet is something that more high schoolers and the general public, need to learn how to do

On Behalf of the Editorial Board yourfhn@FHNtoday.com

“Taylor Swift is joining the Kansas City Chiefs’ cheerleading squad for the next season because of her boyfriend, Travis Kelce.” - an Instagram post reads.

One person scrolling past doesn’t think too hard about it, but mentions it to a friend.

Another runs around their neighborhood on FaceTime with five of their best friends making sure that everyone knows about it.

Either way, neither of them fact-checked it and the word spreads like wildfire.

Media literacy is a necessity in today’s digital world, especially for teenagers. Ensuring that the information a person is sharing is accurate is imperative in making fully informed decisions. This applies to all aspects of life.

doing a bit of research. These decisions include everything from who to vote for to where to go to college. It even involves things as important as career choices and simple things like where to eat dinner on any given day.

To be more media literate is simple. A quick Google search of the person who posted information or a search of the topic itself can immensely help reduce the amount of misinformation that can be spread.

‘Media literacy is an important life skill, just like learning to balance a checkbook or how the human body works and should be treated as such.’

Almost everyone these days is on social media. Whether it’s Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, at some point most people have seen a social media site that uses advertisements. According to a study done by Stanford University, 82 percent of students couldn’t tell the difference between a sponsored post and a legitimate news article on the same site.

Plenty of major decisions in life can be made much easier and more solid just by

There are even websites that can help fact-check information along with media bias charts that show if a source is skewed heavily in a political direction, or if it stays consistently objective.

Not every instance of fake news is going to be as harmless as Taylor Swift gossip, though. When it comes to politics, some people are willing to say or do anything to make themself or their favorite candidate look better and make their opposition look worse.

Much of this false information is posted on social media websites. Studies from the Pew Research Center shows that younger adults are more likely to trust information from news sources on social media than the actual news websites.

This means young adults spend more time on social media trusting the information they’re given, without realizing it may be

harming or misleading them. Another study from the Pew Research Center shows that Americans who mostly get their news from social media are less engaged and less knowledgeable, especially when it comes to hearing and sharing false or unproven claims.

A more media-literate world is essential for continuing to have the freedom of speech and expression. Making sure that future generations are prepared to protect themselves is the best way to do that. Media literacy is an important life skill, just like learning to balance a checkbook or how the human body works and should be treated as such.

Being able to understand that Taylor Swift isn’t actually joining the Chiefs’ cheerleading squad for Travis Kelce isn’t a deal-breaking situation. That rumor could travel around the world and back and likely wouldn’t do much other than annoy some Chiefs fans and freak out a few Swifties.

On the other hand, there are things that can affect peoples’ lives, especially as high school students. Reading an article ranking the top 25 colleges in the world that claims that Awesome University is the number one and has a 90 percent acceptance rate seems like an amazing deal, prompting many to apply.

Those who conduct further research find that the school costs $60,700 per year for tuition alone, the application cost is well over $300 and the post itself was sponsored by Awesome University itself.

While that’s a made-up example, things like this happen in real life all of the time. When it comes to the media today, remember to search before you scroll past and treat the first thing you see as 100 percent true.

(Illustration by Violet Newton)