North Star - November 2020 Issue - Special Edition

| COMMUNITY LEADERS PAGE 06 | CONTACT TRACING PAGE 16 | VIRTUAL HANGOUTS PAGE 25 |

NORTH STAR

FRANCIS HOWELL NORTH | ST. CHARLES, MO 63303 | 11.04.20 | VOL 35 ISSUE 01

THE STORIES BEHIND THE MASK THE NORTH STAR TAKES A LOOK AT THE STORIES OF THOSE AFFECTED

BY COVID-19 AND HOW THE COMMUNITY RESPONDED TO IT

CONTENTS REDISGNING LEARNING

THE NEGATIVE EFFECT

MOVING FORWARD

1 Canvas Learning

BRING IT AROUND TOWN 11 Bowling vs. Covid

17 Confront COVID-19

23 Making Masks

3 Teaching Virtual Art

12 Making Life Good

18 To Not Be Lonely

25 Virtual Hangouts

How FHSD came to the decision to move to canvas.

Kim Skwira takes on the challenge to teach art to virtual stidents.

How a local bowling alley survived the pandemic.

WHAT’S IN THE NEWS?

Local business, Jakes on Main tries new business tatics.

Senior Olivia Neunaber contracted COVID-19 over summer.

How virtual students are overcoming loneliness

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN SPORTS?

6 FHSD Equality Plan

28 Volleyball Q&A

7 Free Lunches

29 Football Scholarship Catch

Learn more about the new plan to encourage equal opportunity at FHSD.

There is a new policy this semester for free and reduced breakfast and lunch prices.

Senior Holly Winkle made a business out of making masks.

Coach Kent Stover talks about how the girls volleyball season went.

Here are some ways to hang out while socially distancing.

ON THE COVER

A FHN mask stands out against a collage of black and white masks.

This edition of the North Star talks about the impact COVID-19 made on FHN and the community around it. (Photo by Anna Hollinger)

Senior Adel Montassir recieved many football scholarship offers.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR G

oing into the 20-21 school year we didn’t know what to expect. Some of our friends decided to stay home for online school while others sit on the opposite side of the classroom due to assigned seats.

Students and teachers were sent home for two weeks in bunches, quickly having to adjust to school through a screen We’ve all had to get pretty good at recognizing faces from eyes up.

If this situation was presented to us at the start of the last school year most of us would have called it crazy.

COVID-19 will be a part of everyone’s history, from the world to the country all the way down to our school. The North Star staff wanted to memorialize FHN’s reaction to COVID-19 and how our community was built through the trials it gave. We decided to dedicate this issue to COVID-19 to tell the stories of how it affected the people inside our building.

This year it’s more important than ever to

work towards achieving your goals. We had the ground ripped out from under us when COVID-19 became a pandemic in America, so many of our dreams had no chance to become a reality. Now our feet are back on the ground as scary as that may be. Run towards your goals. Find a new path when things block the way.

Our year started rough and we still feel the effects from that but lets not get stuck in the past. Our struggles bring us together. So, while some of our friends are at home doing online school we have found new ways to hangout online that we can use for years. Assigned seats may take us away from friends we’ve known for awhile but now there are new conversations to be had with people you might’ve never talked to before. Even separated, we managed to find new ways to stay connected. We have grown and adapted, now it’s time to move forward.

Editor-in-Chief, Sydney Ellison

Page by Sydney Ellison

REDESIGNING LEARNING With social distancing, school had to be converted to virtual platform. This is the first time in FHSD a change like this has happened. Take a look into how FHSD has been handling virtual learning and bringing education over technology

LEARNING REDONE

The transition into including virtual education wasn’t easy for FHSD. Take a look into how FHN is incorporating technology into education so students can be safe and comfortable away from risk while learning

by Morgan Chairs

mchairs303@g.fhsdschools.orgw

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020 has brought problems beyond compare, including the mass breakout of COVID-19 all around the world.

It brought the closure of businesses and schools raising questions about the future of education.

Getting ready for the new school year came with some difficult decisions.

Switching to Canvas was not a decision that came on the spot. The plan to switch to Canvas was about a year and a half to two years in the making. It was time for a new learning management system, so the administration started to look at what they were going to do moving forward making sure they meet the right requirements.

“Google Classroom is a good thing, but it doesn’t have all the features that the canvas does,” FHN Principal Dr. Nathan Hostetler said.

For administrators Canvas checked that box and it also has been conveniently used for Project Lead the Way, Bio Med and Computer Science for many years, so the administration thought switching to Canvas made a lot of sense. So the administration decided to roll out the new learning system in the fall, then Covid

Page by Karsyn Williams

happened. However, the administration was still committed to implementing the switch.

FHSD thought it would be a good idea to prepare teachers for the upcoming year so they offered training to learn about Canvas and what the day to day would look like for teachers going virtual.

“I think that training was really great from Francis Howell and then I think, quite honestly, the best preparation is just getting in there and doing it and learning as you go,” Shelly Parks, an FHN English teacher said.

With virtual learning came a whole new set of problems and struggles for students and teachers alike.

“I think it has shown me that kids really do learn at different paces and in different ways, and virtual learning, like offers a lot more flexibility than a physical classroom does and so I feel like that I’m way more willing to take risks and differentiate for kids more than I have in the past in the virtual classroom,” Parks said.

Considering the abrupt move to this new form of education there is still a bright future for virtual learning.

“I would be kind of surprised if Francis The Francis Howell School District rolled out Canvas this year Howell school district ever again didn’t have a for students to use and be the primary place for all courses and assignments. In the past, FHSD has not had a set system virtual high school,” Hostetler said. available to all students. (Photo by Anna Hollinger)

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PROS AND CONS

Working diligently, senior Taylor Dunbar scrolls through canvas to get ready for the day of virtual learning.

The district gave students the option to learn virtually.

How online school is different than in person learning

by Kennedy Gordon

qgordon-qudamah396@g.fhsdschools.org

T

he world has been changing all around since the start of 2020 thanks to COVID-19 and the many challenges that came along with it. Workplaces, schools, families and more have been forced into new routines for an amount of time yet to be determined. One of the new norms is the switch to virtual school for some students. Now that school in the FHSD has been going on for eight weeks, the good and qualities are showing up for both virtual and in person learners.

FHC personal finance teacher Ashton Witthaus is in the middle of a whole new norm for in person schooling while simultaneously teaching virtually and senior FHN student Taylor Dunbar is learning to navigate life as a solely virtual student.

One thing that many people form throughout high school is bonds and relationships. Now that people are doing virtual school, some have realized that making connections is harder than what they thought it would be.

“I miss seeing my friends and teacher everyday,” Dunbar said. “I think that it is important to have a good relationship and bond with your teacher and you can’t really form a bond or relationship behind a screen.”

With virtual school comes a new platform of learning and getting information. One of those

platforms for both virtual and face to face students is Canvas. It is new to both the teachers and students.

“It is easier because all of our classes are on the same website and you have easy access to everything,” Dunbar said. “Everything is laid out for you including your assignments and tests.”

Now with new platforms there is a need for new learning styles. This creates more struggles for students and teachers transitioning from in person to virtual.

“Worries I have are not being able to help those who are not getting their work done,” Witthaus said. “I’m not physically there to help encourage and support them like I would in an in-person classroom setting. So it will definitely take a lot of communication to happen in order to support students who are struggling.”

Another thing that online schooling brings to the table is the importance of time management.

Most of the time students are able to do things at their own speed, which can be helpful with trying to balance other classes, but can also be difficult.

“I figured out less is more in an online class,” Witthaus said. “I didn’t want my students to be overwhelmed. I think the biggest thing for me was for me to recognize that I am not the only teacher and class that you are working through. ” Focus is a new thing that has come into view with online school. Of course there are students that don’t focus regardless of if they are in class

or virtual but some find that being virtual pushes them to the focusing limit with the amount of screentime they have.

“I am a person who likes being more hands on, Dunbar said. “Being in-person you get told directions directly. Sometimes, it’s a bit hard for me to focus and being behind a screen makes it more difficult to focus because I am at home and I have all sorts of distractions at home.”

THE NEW NORMAL

The struggles of teaching online and how teachers are adapting

by Chase Pray

cpray812@g.fhsdschools.org

W

Zooming in with her virtual students, German teacher Anne McPartland greets students. (Photo by Anna Hollinger)

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earing masks, seating charts at lunch, and taking classes from home is the new normal this school year. Online school was very hectic and stressful when it began this past March. This school year, some teachers are even doing a mix of online and in person teaching. Many teachers have to educate themselves about how to effectively teach via a computer because it’s not as simple as just changing your platform.

“It was wicked hard changing to virtual last year but I felt good about the relationships and trust I had with my students. This year it’s more difficult because these are new students and the relationships aren’t built up yet,” FHN German teacher Anne McPartland said.

Every teacher is feeling the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, not just the FHN teachers.

Jessica Ferri, an 8th grade ELA teacher at Barnwell Middle School, is also feeling the stress of the changes caused by the pandemic. With 4 out of 7 of her classes virtual Ferri definitely knows the challenge of teaching both virtual (and in-person) school.

“One teacher from each subject had to volunteer to do it online and I just volunteered. All us teachers

are just trying to serve the kids as well as we can. We just want to make their life as easy as we can in these rough times,” Ferri said.

Even though McPartland has taught for 20 years and Ferri has taught for 11 years nobody could have anticipated the challenge of teaching in such a new way. Both are learning new tricks and changing expectations as they go. Ferri highlighted the challenges of virtual teaching but did say it is helping her by challenging her and making her think.

McPartland shared that the excitement of the kids is still as noticeable even though they are learning from their homes.

The stress of grading hasn’t got any easier with the move to online school. With technology being a pain at times it’s been a task to get help for any questions a student might have. Teachers can keep papers in a stack while in person but when it comes to online teaching they are forced to open everyone’s work individually. This can become a hassle as teachers are forced to spend more time grading than teaching.

Between teaching and grading this year sure has been a hassle.

“I just hope our students wear their masks so we can get by this whole ordeal without any of us getting sick,” Ferri said. ”That would be the best case scenario.”

Page by Alex Thomas

Sharing her computer screen with a student, Kimberly Skwira helps to explain the assignment for her virtual art class. The virtual art class has students from all three high schools combined into one upper level class. The class combines techniques from painting, drawing, digital art and design, ceramics, printmaking and much more. (Photo by Anna Hollinger)

PAINTING THROUGH THE SCREEN Art teacher Kimberly Skwira teaches two art classes in school, as well as four online classes

by Chloe Horstman clshorstman@gmail.com

F

irst hour plan period is a huge blessing for art teacher Kimberly Skwira who sips coffee, scrolls through emails and grades assignments in preparation for the day ahead. Skwira taught Intro to Art, painting, drawing, and digital art classes before the outbreak of COVID-19 but this year she had to learn to use a different type of canvas.

“I had to get really creative to be honest and think about how I could get all of these students that had signed up for six different classes and how I could teach them in one class,” Skwira said. “That was the biggest challenge. I’m focusing more on the conceptualization of their idea, less about the technique because I’m not skilled in every medium and I can’t demonstrate every technique over zoom. So we’re focusing more on the process.”

When students join her Zoom call, she takes attendance and then teaches a short lesson. Afterwards, they break out into small groups based on their chosen medium or have the rest of the hour to work on their projects, while she stays on the Zoom call to answer questions. For the first unit, students chose a medium to create artwork responding to an essential question, and uploaded pictures of concept sketches on Canvas for feedback.

“The way we structure the units are similar (to in-school units),” Skwira said. “The biggest difference is they’re not getting any hands on demonstration. That’s why we’re focusing less on the technique and more on the process piece. I told them on the first day, ‘You’re in charge of your own learning, you’re in charge of investigating and researching your own techniques, and you’ve got to be pretty motivated.’”

On the other end of the Zoom call, sophomore Leah Laurentius sits at her school area in her basement and sketches out ideas for her first piece responding to the prompt. She had originally planned to take AP

Page by Chloe Horstman

Studio and Ceramics, but because she had to do virtual school, chose to use watercolor for her first project in Skwira’s ‘Art 2’ class and work on increasing her skills.

“I decided to do online school for my project,” Laurentius said. “I was thinking about how I feel stuck almost and it’s kind of stressful for me.

So my idea was to have a person stuck in a computer. I like the prompts that she gives us in art class, because my best artwork that I make is in art class because it makes you think a lot more on different projects, and since it’s for a grade you want to give your best work. I’m just really glad to be in art class with online school, I’m glad it was an option still.”

When Skwira isn’t on a zoom call with virtual art students, she tries to create a relaxing environment for her in-school students. She walks around the tables in her room to check on Painting 1 students, battles to stream Amazon Music (against her son, who keeps trying to use it in a different class) and demonstrates different methods to paint realistic grass. ‘Wipe Out’ by the Beach Boys eventually comes back over the speakers as junior Grace Flemming explores her art style and adds watercolor and incorporates culturally diverse elements to her painting of a girl who doesn’t look like her.

“When she comes around, it’s pretty helpful sometimes because she has pretty good timing,” Flemming said. “She’ll come around right when I’m stuck on something. It’s pretty cool.”

Though the pandemic adds a lot more to Skwira’s plate, she is grateful that she still gets to see her online students’ faces and can spend time with a small number of students in her two in-person classes.

“There’s obviously a lot of anxiety with the unknown,” Skwira said.

“Decisions are always kind of changing, plans are evolving. [I’m] just trying to stay positive. I always like to challenge myself in my job one way or another, so this is definitely a challenge. I mean, you got to be ready for it.”

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CHALLENGES IN LEARNING ONLINE

Spanish teacher Caitlyn Crain switches from all in-person classes to a mix of online and in-person classes

by Evan Becker

evanbecker64@gmail.com

C

ashiers wear masks. Lifeguards wear masks. Students wear masks. For most of the professional world, COVID-19 has brought a change in uniform. For Spanish teacher Caitlin Crain, not only has her attire changed, but so has the way her classroom looks and operates. No longer a bustling classroom with pods and large group discussions, but instead rigid rows of desks in her room and an array of vacant screens on Zoom. With change has come a challenge that Crain has faced with perseverance and optimism.

Crain, a Francis Howell Central teacher of nine years, applied to be an online teacher in order to protect her health. In August she found out she had received the position and would teach online four hours a day and in-person two, but she had little time to prepare before classes began.

“I honestly would have beefed up my knowledge on Canvas,” Crain said. “It was kind of hard to know what to prepare for. I didn’t even know if I was going to get the virtual position.

I had what, like, two weeks before teachers had to report back, so obviously it would have been nice to focus on lesson planning, but I was playing the waiting game.”

Crain spends a lot of her time planning fun

Virtual Spanish teacher Caitlyn Crain teaches a class over zoom. Last year she taught at FHC but now she teaches all three schools in a virtual format. She chose virtual for her own health.

(Screenshot by Macy Cronin)

activities to connect the class with each other and try and keep everything as interactive as it would be in class. Doing digital activities can sometimes bring challenges for participants.

Patience Beesly, a virtual spanish four student, experiences some of those difficulties each day.

TRUTH OF VIRTUAL FHN students learning virtually talk about their average day

by Alex Thomas

athomas492@g.fhsdschools.org

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nline or in-person school-- a choice that many students had to make over the summer. Many students found the transition back to in person learning an obvious choice. Others, however, thought it would be better to learn online instead.

The switch to online school after spring break was confusing for a lot of students and teachers.

Some students preferred the change, others did not, but virtual learning has changed. Teachers have converted to a more organized system to help students stay on track. They can post all of their online assignments in one place and can communicate with students using email or other messaging apps.

“For online school, we use Canvas,” sophomore Jax Baker said. “If I need to get in touch with a

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teacher, I can use either email or Zoom.”

For some, safety was a big concern. Many people were worried that they might catch the virus and pass it on to family or friends. Other students may have just wanted to get some extra sleep.

“I didn’t really choose to do online school, my parents kind of forced me to do it,” Baker said.

“But I like being able to wake up later than normal for school.”

Students doing virtual school are graded by attendance along with actual assignments. Online students will join Zoom calls from their teachers every day. They learn what is being assigned that day and can also get assistance from teachers.

These Zoom calls contributes to their grades.

“I do my classes in a specific order,” Baker stated. “But after I just work on any assignments left over in any order.”

“In person I would understand at least 85% of what [Crain] was saying usually, and now it’s like it glitches and stuff like that and I also have internet issues,” Beesly said. “It’s just a lot more difficult to comprehend our work, and stuff like that.”

While her students struggle to connect digitally to Zoom calls and assignments, Crain struggles to watch as the strong relationships she fosters in-person don’t develop as rapidly online.

“I’m really struggling with not being able to see your faces,” Crain said. “I feel like you guys don’t know each other in class. It’s hard to not see people’s faces but then also not have you guys work together and be able to interact with you guys.”

Even with all the change, Crain intends to treat her virtual students as she would any other class.

Coming into the year with few expectations, she strives for a class where her students can have fun and learn Spanish.

“I’m implementing the idea of grace for me and my students,” Crain said. “Sometimes I’m like, you know what, it’s just going to be what it is. It may not be the best thing I’ve ever done but I’m going to show my students that I care about them. I want my students to feel loved and I want them to feel cared about.”

Smiling for the screenshot, sophomores Jax Baker and Wyatt Caitlin are just two of the many students who chose virtual schooling this year. With the pandemic occurring, students had a choice between in-person and virtual classes for the first semester. (Screenshot

by Avery Witherbee)

Page by Alex Thomas

STORIES THAT LEFT AN IMPRESSION

While COVID-19 may end up being the biggest news event of a lifetime for many, relatives of current FHN students share some of the biggest news events during their lifetime and why the events were so impactful

FOR 78-YEAR-OLD, CURRENT CRISIS TOPS LIST

New York City firefighters work near the area known as Ground Zero after the collapse of the Twin Towers September 11, 2001, in New York City. (photo by Anthony Correia/Shutterstock.com)

9/11 HITS CLOSE TO HOME

A normal day can turn into a tragedy within a blink of an eye. Something or someone can be gone within a second. On Sept. 11, 2001, this tragedy came true when the twin towers were hit straight on by two airplanes.

“I was in shock,” Neil Scognamiglio said. “I thought it was just an accident when the first plane hit the tower.”

He couldn’t believe his eyes as he didn’t know what was going to happen next. Scognamiglio was born May 20, 1970, and grew up in St. Louis. He led a normal life working in the food and beverage industry at the Doubletree Hotel until he heard his coworkers talking about how a plane crashed into the side of one of the twin towers. He looked up at the small TV behind the bar counter and couldn’t believe his eyes as he saw the tower full of smoke.

“My family and parents are from New York so I was concerned for my family living there at the time.”

Scognamiglio said He couldn’t do anything but watch in terror as the first tower went up in flames. All he could think about was his family’s safety and all of the men and women trapped in the building fighting for their lives.

“I also have a friend that I went to high school with, whose brother, who I also knew, worked at the World Trade Center at the time,” he said.

As he looked to the screen again the second building was hit by yet another plane on the right side. Now everyone knew that it wasn’t an accident and this was an attack on the country. Most people were anxious just watching their TV screen, nervous about what was about to happen next.

“I think after the second building was hit we knew it was an attack we were all nervous of what was gonna happen next,” said Scognamiglio After the day passed, he checked on all of his family to make sure everyone was ok and safe.

Unfortunately, his friend Richard Salinardi did not make it out. Scognamiglio was devastated and felt for Salinardi’s friends and family.

“My friend’s brother was in the second building on the 9/11 attack and sadly he did not make it out,” Scognamiglio said.

Richard Salinardi’s name will not be forgotten as Scognamiglio plays in a golf tournament every year in honor of his friend’s brother.

“Remember and never forget.” Scognamiglio said. (story by Anna Scognamiglio)

KENNEDY’S ASSASSINATION SHOCKS

It was a beautiful fall day in Texas when suddenly America turned upside down. All too sudden, a beloved president was shot and killed during a parade on Nov. 22, 1963. It was an event that shook America to the core. It left an impact on Americans nationwide, including Debra Williams, who at the time was only 10 years old when security and protection were changed forever.

“I heard about it when I was at school in my classroom, I think they turned on the news so we could watch it and they let us out early because it was emotional,” Williams said.

This event was one that changed around a lot of things in the blink of an eye. Suddenly Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became president of the United States and the country had to start anew. Still people

by North Star Staff

were surprised that such an event even happened.

“I think I just went into shock, I was so young, it was just really shocking a president was killed like that out in public,” Williams said.

Slowly people realized that the country wasn’t as secure as people thought, so some things had to change, including the protection of the president and what events were allowed. This was only the start to a more protected country, but it was one that was greatly needed for America’s safety.

“There’s an importance of security and realizing that bad things can happen to good people, appreciate life and appreciate time when things are peaceful,” Williams said. (story by Sarah Williams)

People started to hear about this thing called “coronavirus”, but no one was really worried about it or knew what it entailed --that is until it showed up in the United States. Thomas Lafata was sitting in his chair watching the news when he heard it was here.

“All of a sudden it was here in the United States and people started dying and getting sick,” Lafata said. “It turned the country completely around.”

Thomas Lafata, grandfather of senior Kate Sauer, is 78 years old and lives in St. Charles, Missouri. Hearing about all of these people getting sick and dying made Lafata worried for his health since he is a heavy smoker.

“People were dying and people were sick, hospitals were full, people were wearing masks now. It shut down everything,” Lafata said. “The United States is not the same as it was and we’re hoping to get the world back to normal. It’s not just in the United States, it’s everywhere.”

This virus that started in China eventually reached the United States.

According to Lafata, nothing was done about it here until around February and March of 2020. He repeatedly stated that the United States is not the same as it was and that the whole world has been turned around because of it.

“It was traumatizing how people were dying, couldn’t breathe, and had to go on ventilators,” Lafata said. “This is the worst thing in the world. Just worried about our family in general.”

Lafata has been worried about his family, including his grandchildren, wife and relatives, since the beginning.

His oldest granddaughter, Grace Lafata, and his brother-in-law, Joe Schreck, are two people he personally knows who have had COVID-19.

“I feel a little better,” Lafata said. “I’m hoping there will soon be a cure for it.

It sounds like it’s getting a little better each day.”

Lafata said that he is hoping the coming generations will get their act together. He said he is sick of hearing about things related to the virus in general and he doesn’t like hearing that people are dying. He wants the whole world to go back to normal.

“Hang in there,” Lafata said. (story by Catherine Sauer)

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NEWS AT NORTH Take a look at some of the things happening right here in the Francis Howell North community

EQUALITY FOR ALL FHSD Board of Education has released a resolution promoting their goal to create an equal learning environment

by Justin Brewer

justinbrewer15@gmail.com

The Francis Howell School District recently passed a resolution in response to racism and discrimination. They spoke out against it at their Aug. 20 meeting in order to stand firm against acts of both individual and systemic racism. The resolution was brought about because of the social inequalities that have become increasingly more prevalent in the past couple of years.

“Just kind of noticing that, we wanted The Francis Howell School District Board of Education released a resolution to make a statement that the Francis with goals of equality and end to discrimination. Francis Howell North, one Howell School District is acknowledging of the many schools in the Francis Howell school district will benefit from that there are some inequities within this resolution. (Photo by Justin Brewer) our society,” FHSD Board of Education

member Douglas Ziegemeier said. “We are going to do our best to create an equitable and diverse school setting in our district.”

The board had many goals in mind when releasing this resolution. The main goal is to create an environment for students that is accepting of people and their background. They want to create a school district and a learning environment that is inclusive of everyone.

“Us as a school district is going to help facilitate an environment for the students that’s accepting of people’s race, culture, any basic background like sexual orientation, how they identify, etc.,” Ziegemeier said.

BECOMING LEADERS The new community leaders program has been implemented this year to promote community

by Sydney Ellison

sydney.ellison55@gmail.com

Community leaders have taken over the role of mentors and StuCo members at FHN this year. They’re up to four leaders in each homeroom and are tasked with building community throughout the school and in their homeroom.

“I would describe a community leader as someone who wants to play an active role in building community in their homerooms and in FHN as a whole through discussions and activities,” Community leader advisor Jordyn Kiel said.

Along with Kiel, Kristen Johnson,

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Shelly Parks and Jani Wilkens are teachers at FHN who help advise and train the community leaders. The decision to create a brand new group of leaders in the school instead of continuing mentors was in part because of the uncertainty of how the school year would pan out. Since schedules were changing and homeroom would not look like it once did, they decided this was the year to try something new.

“One of the biggest [goals this year] would be that the community leaders as a whole feel that they have an opportunity to build relationships and keep morale high in a year where a lot of things just feel a little bit off,” Kiel said.

Sitting at his computer, junior Jonathan Rorie votes for his homeroom community leaders on Sep. 28. Community Leaders are a new group formed between the previous groups of Mentors and Student Council representatives.

These leaders will be running homeroom discussions and activities to build connections between others to ultimately form a better FHN community. (Photo

by Elizabeth Runge)

Page by Justin Brewer

STAYING ACTIVE How NHS has adapted to still be active

by Justin Brewer

justinbrewer15@gmail.com

Despite many restrictions and challenges, NHS has continued to stay active in the community, both school and local. Many of the service opportunities in the past have been things like volunteering at a 5k or working at the middle school science fair However things like that aren’t happening this year.

“We’re so used to going out into the community and doing things and it’s become a lot harder with COVID,” FHN science teacher and NHS sponsor Donna Malkmus said. “We’ve had to come up with more creative ideas.”

Like most other things

this year, NHS has had to adapt and improvise the way that they operate and find new ways to volunteer their service to the community.

They have been doing that through things like placing post-it notes with encouraging messages on them throughout the school for staff and students to see. They also were given the opportunity to decorate boxes that were sent to soldiers.

“Last year we could go out in the community a lot more often that we can now,” junior Rachel Buchanan said. “Now we are doing things around the school and helping out here instead of helping out in the community.”

Junior Rachel Buchanan signs in at her NHS meeting. NHS has not been able to have in person meetings but they are still able to pick up and read the agenda for a point. NHS has found many new ways in which they can volunteer their service.

(Photo by Justin Brewer)

The cafeteria is empty after hundreds of students received free lunches. One out of every four students at North are eligible for free and reduced lunches, but won’t apply out of shame for being food insecure. Now, everyone is receiving free breakfast and lunch this semester. (Photo by Liy Taliaferro)

FOOD FOR ALL

FHSD is now offering free breakfast and lunch to all students for the first semester of this 2020-2021 school year

by Liy Taliaferro

liytaliaferro@gmail.com

For this semester, every student is eligible for free and reduced breakfast and lunch.

“There are some kids who would be eligible for free and reduced lunch but refuse to fill out the form because they don’t want to be embarrassed,” school principal Nathan Hostetler said. “In elementary school, little guys don’t know jack. You can see in a school district that there is a much higher percentage of free and reduced lunch in the elementary schools

Page by Justin Brewer

than in the high schools. If everybody is getting free food regardless, then it changes everything.

Everybody has access.”

The district applied for a program which allows for students to have access to free breakfast and lunch everyday. The district is also looking to have this in place for next semester as well.

“The thing about education is that if kids show up at school hungry or cold or if they don’t feel loved, then they really don’t learn,” Hostetler said.

RAYYAN HYDER PASSES In early October, junior Rayyan Hyder passed away. He was born on April 8, 2003, and was 17 years old.

According to his family, Rayyan was the epitome of kindness, bravery, courage, and pure love. He was a warrior that fought two battles of cancer since the age of 11 weeks and later the recipient of two, double lung transplants. He lived without questioning his suffering. He was without a doubt a good person and a kid at heart. He loved school, cars and going on road trips, but mostly he genuinely cared about people. He touched everyone he met and made a lasting impression. Rayyan will be missed and his family said if he were here, he would say “Thank you for caring. I hope you are all well & let me know how I can help you.”

Rayyan was passionate about the environment and computers.

He wanted to become a computer programmer. According to one of his teachers Yvonne Kehoe, he was selfless and always put others before himself. She asks that everyone remembers him when they are having a bad day and remember the positivity he brought even during his tough days.

Rayyan is survived by his father Ansar, his mother Narjis, and two siblings, Rizwan and Hasan.

NHS is in the process of having a memorial parking spot painted for him. Kehoe has a shirt of his hanging in her room signed by those who knew him. (Story by Karsyn Williams)

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CELEBRATING THE CLASS OF 2021 PURCHASE AN FHN YEARBOOK AD TODAY PARENTS AND FAMILY: Don’t miss this opportunity to applaud your child’s achievements and send them your love in a special way. Celebrate with photos and words of congratulations, praise and encouragement.

STUDENTS: Recognize and celebrate the relationships you’ve formed on teams, in classes, in clubs and in the hallways.

PRICES AND DETAILS: The ads will be produced in full color and designed by the trained FHN Yearbook advertising staff. You will be provided with a proof of your ad before printing. All you have to do is provide the photo(s) and message electronically.

FULL PAGE: $360 2/3 PAGE: $250 1/3 PAGE: $140

2/9 PAGE: $95 1/9 PAGE: $60

DEADLINE: DEC. 1 QUESTIONS? 1. Visit Balfour.com and find Francis Howell North 2. Click “yearbooks,” then “yearbook ads” 2. Select the ad size you’d like to purchase 3. Click “add to cart” and Checkout 4. Send the info, photos and message via the instructions in the Balfour email received after ad purchase

Contact Yearbook Adviser Jordyn Kiel: 636-851-5048 jordyn.kiel@fhsdschools.org

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BRING IT AROUND TOWN

One thing the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the most is local businesses due to closing. Take a look at how local businesses are doing and what you can do to help

TAKE IT TO THE CURB Curbside STL is a resource that allows people to discover small, local businesses and eateries in their area

by Liy Taliaferro

liytaliaferro@gmail.com

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n Mar 21, a website was launched. Making a lasting impact on the culture of running local businesses in St. Louis, CurbsideStl.com was the beginning of something memorable.

Curbside was born from an idea stacked on top of another idea. Attilio D’agostino, his partner, Elizabeth Tucker and the team at Novel, a creative agency, were helping Urban Chestnut Brewery build a new website during the shutdown. They knew this would be crippling for small businesses.

“The number one thing that we want people to do is to support their local restaurants, and their local independence whether they’re restaurants or retailers, small shops, because they are so important to our community, both the restaurants and their workers and the jobs they create and also the unique fabric of the community that they’re a part of,” D’agostino said.

“And so, what is important to us, is number one, that people are supporting local. And what we want you to know about curbside is a tool to help support local.”

On the site, users can choose what kind of services they’re looking for, as well as the communities they would like to support. Communities that are known to have a rougher start than most such as the black community, LGBTQ community, latinx community, foreign born communities and women in the business community.

“Systemic racism has only been amplified by the pandemic and it was our perspective that more black owned and immigrant owned businesses have suffered to a greater degree during the pandemic,” D’agostino said.

“It’s created unique challenges for those communities that are even greater than the community as a whole, so we wanted to make sure that we had a way of amplifying those communities for people who wanted to make sure they gave special attention to supporting them.”

Julian Washington, a sophomore who frequently uses food delivery services such as Doordash, believes it is important to have a resource like Curbside during these times which are often uneasy times for many.

“Not only could that be a place where you can find new places to eat [at]

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Local resident, John Dawson Scrolls through the about page of Curbside Stl. Curbside was created to support partners in the St. Louis community whose life work, businesses and workers have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. (Photo by Jordayn York)

and support, it’s also a place where you could probably end up finding a job, especially considering that most local businesses are family owned meaning they might be a little short on employees,” Washington said. “I mean your family only goes so far.”

Curbside sees themselves being around for a long time with the goal in mind of continuing to amplify and promote local over corporate through the use of social media and the support they provide on their website.

“Supporting local is part of our life and what we believe in, it’s not going to change,” D’agostino said. “Even if it’s not specifically just curbside service, it becomes more about supporting local businesses.”

Page by Liy Taliaferro

HOW HAS COVID-19 AFFECTED YOUR JOB? “We do a lot more cleaning, we have to wear our masks and we have to be more careful around the kids.”

Jenna Leimuehler, 12 Zion Lutheran School

On a Wednesday afternoon, an older man bowls at Olivette Lanes Bowling Alley against his close friend. Many stores and amusement places have reopened, but with many new sanitary measures. Olivette Lanes is one example of entertainment open with new measures such as wiping down bowling balls, cleaning their hands frequently, wearing masks, and cleaning shared shoes better than ever before. (Photo by Avery Witherbee)

SAFE STRIKES

A bowling alley during the COVID-19 pandemic works to keep its customers safe during this uncertain time

by Marina Williams

marinamad23@gmail.com

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n the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, no one has been fully at rest, since early March, the last time things seemed “normal”. This global pandemic took an especially hard toll on the small businesses trying to survive. Many of which are still being affected today, after having to shut down for so long. Don Klackner, owner of Olivette Lanes Bowling Alley, never would have expected the harm that this virus could do to his business.

“Our business is still suffering, it’s down by 40% [profit], and we lost a few employees who had to take new jobs when we first shut down,” Klackner said.

This difficult time has also led to lots of changes. Center for Disease Control guidelines and regulations made it very difficult to adapt.

Especially owning a bowling alley, where almost everything is shared, and many different things to rent. However, the safety of his guests was Klackner’s number one priority.

“Guests and employees have to wear a mask, we provide hand sanitizer, take employee temperatures every day and we sanitize the bowling balls and shoes after each use,” Klackner said. “We have to do a little more work which makes the job a little more challenging.”

The thought of this virus changing the lives of many forever can be a frightening thing.

Page by Liy Taliaferro

However, the procedures adapted during this time have the potential to grow businesses in the long run.

“The cleaning and sanitation will be good in the long run,” Klackner said, “Customers are happy we’re open and to see that we’re keeping everyone safe during this time.”

The lives of students have changed a lot during this time as well. Some students have found themselves missing the fun activities they were able to do before the pandemic. Things such as bowling and other recreational activities with shared equipment can be uncertain and make students hesitant to go out. Others are feeling just fine, as long as the companies are taking appropriate measures.

“I feel like I would be comfortable going out as long as it was safe,” Amber Kibera, sophomore at FHN said. “As long as the lanes are spaced out, and everyone has to wear masks and social distance I would feel comfortable.”

Most are not worried as much about the effects it has on their business, as they are worried about the safety of their customers and others around them. So, the extra precautions necessary aren’t too hard to adapt to.

“All of the employees accepted it, and were glad to be back,” Klackner said, “At the end of the day we just want to keep everyone safe.”

“We a have to wear our masks and are required to wear gloves. If were sick, we have to stay home and if we have symptoms, we have to report them to our manager.”

Zoe St.Gemme, 12 Imo’s Pizza “(COVID-19) hasn’t affected pay much…for a while we had to close the dining room, so we didn’t meet as many people at work, but now they opened it back up.”

Meghan Anderson, 12 Culver’s “We have to wear masks, when we blow bubbles (in swimming lessons) we take the masks off. We (the instructors and kids) wear masks when we teach swim lessons but when we go up on the life guard stand we can take them off. We work less hours because there’s so many of us. I was working almost every day (before COVID) but after COVID I work about 4 days a month.”

Madelyn Herrell, 11 O’Fallon Renaud Center “We always have to wear masks no matter what, we have to wear gloves all the time and replace them when they break.”

Lauren Willerton, 11 Culver’s “When we get the carts, instead of just putting them in the corral, we have to sanitize them and set them aside for the customer. Also, we can’t use every check-out lane, we have to use every other lane and the lines are spaced apart. And every customer is required to wear masks.”

Jamie Pugh, 12 Schnucks

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BRINGING THE POSITIVITY A local business, Jake’s on Main, continues to stay strong during the times of COVID-19

by Shivani Bondada

shivanibondada@gmail.com

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ife is good.

The message that Jake’s on Main embodies. Owner Amy Senter says the phrase is not saying life is easy or perfect but it is saying that life is what you make of it. Begin to say it and you might start to believe it. Start to look for the superpowers within people and learn to be open-minded, to be open to people, and have the courage to try things.

Life may not feel or look good now, but there is more to life than this pandemic. This pandemic caused a rollercoaster of emotions within people around the world.

Right here on St. Charles Main Street, Senter decided to trample those emotions to bring positivity to anyone who steps inside her store.

“People can get overwhelmed by negativity,” said Senter. “And by stepping into my store, I hope to bring those people a moment of positivity.”

Jake’s on Main sells Life is Good apparel, mugs, candles, Natural Life products, and much more. A fresh and exciting business enjoyed by a variety of people. The brand is unique because 10% of Life is good products profits go to kids in need that goes through the Life is Good Foundation and Natural Life’s Fearless line helps children with anxiety issues. Once COVID-19 caused the closure of the business on Mar. 20, Senter’s faithful customers rushed to help.

“I had one lady who showed up probably once a week for eight weeks and I said, ‘Why are you back again?’” said Senter. “She goes, ‘Because, I told my husband I was going to shop here every week until you open back up because I don’t want to lose your store.’”

Senter lost sales, but during the closure she gained income by staying countless hours in the store by herself, offering curbside pickup, porch deliveries and campaigning

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on Facebook. Through Facebook, she worked on advertising products, going live and posting pictures captioned “seeing the beauty” to motivate customers.

Senter also created a hero pack for people that nominated nurses or doctors through Facebook. She put together products from her store and mailed or delivered the hero pack to them.

“It's amazed me the continued feedback I get from people saying, ‘You're really connecting with me’,” said Senter. “I get people all the time saying, ‘I look forward to this post every day.’”

When St. Charles County allowed for businesses to open back up, Jake’s on Main did on May 1.

Immediately, Senter required precautions to be taken in the store for employees and customers. The precautions include a plexiglass shield on the counter, increasing sanitation, and a sign stating the requirement of masks in the store.

Not all customers appreciated the mask policy.

“A lot of people would comply and be okay with wearing a mask but there was a handful of people would get really mad and yell you just lost a bunch of business,” said Jake’s on Main employee Hannah Whitehead .

The pandemic still continues and Jake’s on Main continues to build as a business to bring positivity to their customers. Senter believes if people look at life through the superpowers of life is good the people will be more content. The superpowers are authenticity, optimism, fun, creativity, openness, courage, compassion, love, simplicity and gratitude.

“My hope would be either myself or someone else really dedicate time to getting those social medias going and helping expand,” said Jake’s on Main employee Emily Senter. “I think it [Jakes on Main and the superpowers] would be a brand and a message that a lot of young people would really enjoy.”

A couple walks down Main Street in St. Charles on Oct. 3rd past a clothing store known as Jakes on Main. Jakes on Main sells many different brands but primarily sells Life is Good products . (Photo by Sky Hebisen)

Page by Shivani Bondada

Two employees work to make food for customers inside of Valenti’s Delicatessen and Marketplace on Main Street St. Charles.. Valenti’s is open from 8am to 3pm each day and serves their signature grilled and cafe sandwiches. Valenti’s offers both a breakfast and lunch menu with an assortment of salads, soups, and specialty breakfast sandwiches. (Photo by Anna Hollinger)

A REVIVAL AND NEW ARRIVAL

Local business Valenti’s Deli tried new tactics to survive the economic impact of COVID-19

by Sydney Ellison

sydney.ellison55@gmail.com

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n St. Charles Main Street, Valenti’s Deli was one of the many businesses COVID-19 affected in the area. Shop owner Joe Ancmon had to make some tough decisions to keep the restaurant on its feet.

“Well, like everyone else in the restaurant business, we got very nervous and we were really wondering how we were going to make it work,” Ancom said. “I had a meeting with the employees and said that I was going to try to power through this.”

In March, Ancmon had to make the decision to close for six weeks to help curb the spread of COVID-19. With no customers coming into the store, Ancmon had to turn to something he had previously disliked, food delivery services like Uber Eats, Postmates, etc.

“Being a specialty sandwich company and being really protective of our products and our brand I didn’t want anything left to chance,” Ancmon said. “The reason I decided to use it was it became a necessary evil.”

Along with the safety precautions already in place when handling food, Valenti’s recommends that their customers wear masks and when they opened their doors to the public again it was at a limited capacity. The city of St. Charles doesn’t require masks so Ancom took the steps he

Page by Shivani Bondada

thought were best.

“It was good, people were excited to come in and eat,” Kiersten Odderman, the office manager, said.

Ancmon was not only working on keeping Valenti’s up and running during COVID-19, he also was working with a few others to open up a new fine dining restaurant on St. Charles Main Street called Novellus.

Serving upscale comfort foods, brunch and much more in a fine dining experience than is usual of Main Street, Novellus is much different than the casual Valenti’s Deli.

“We believe that people need and want to go out into the world and if we can do that in a safe and comforting environment for them, we believed it [opening a restaurant] was going to work,” Ancmon said.

The process was quick for opening a brand new restaurant, with a lot of sleepless nights it only took them four and a half weeks. Because of COVID-19, finding tradespeople to work on the building quickly became their biggest issue as many were shut down or booked out for weeks.

While Valenti’s prides itself on its homey feel, Novellus goes a different direction with a fine dining experience.

“We kind of thought that we already have a deli on Main Street that's doing well, why put another deli to just compete with the deli we already have,” Odderman said. “We wanted to give Main Street more diversity in the food and shops.”

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We can’t thank our business sponsors and patrons enough for their partnership last year. Their support could not have made the year possible for us, and we hope during this time you will consider supporting them.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Abusoud Familiy Adarza BioSystems Ammons Family Basye’s Birthright Bogey Hills Vision Bondada Family Boone Family Buse’s Flower Shop Central Fire and Rescue Chick-fil-a Clean as a Whistle CourseCreatorsHQ.com Crossfit - O’Fallon Cruise Planners Dance Plus Daniel’s Farm and Greenhouse Diva Nails DTJ Sports Academy European Accent FHN Booster Club Fierce Creative Agency Freddy’s Frozen Custard Glo Beauty and Tan H&G Schultz Door Hair Design by Becky Lutz Hanson Family Harvester Animal Clinic Harvestowne Auto Body Hogan Family

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Horstman Family Jamison Family JB Auto Body Kokomo Joes Kumon of St. Charles LA Jewel Hair Studio Laulie Cakes Lawrence Florist Lloyd and Company Lox Family Hair Design McGurks Public House Mike’s Lawn Service Nangle and Associates Next Step College Essays Niemann Family Steve Oien - State Farm Ortiz Family Peterson Family Peper Family Picasso’s Coffee Pickleman’s - St. Charles Q Nails Ramirez Familiy Ray Family Reese Family Restore St. Louis Rich Family Rohrbach Familiy Romero Family Roto Rooter

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Sederberg and Associates Shearlock Combs Dave Schlansker - State Farm Springhill Suites St. Charles Brick Co. LLC St. Louis Crossfire STL Buy and Sell Realtors STL Shirt Co. Jeff Strickland - State Farm Sumner One Sunrise Church Tafra Family The Collector Store The Painted Pot The Styling Team Tony’s on Main Street Tower Family Tran Family Walmart Williams Family Willmann Family Wilson Family Dental Valerie Winkler - Remax Witherbee Family Woodcrest Dental Wright Family Xtreme Baseball

THE NEGATIVE IMPACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world by storm and has affected families, the economy, schools and even ended the lives of thousands worldwide

TOGETHER BUT APART

Having dealt with the virus first hand, senior Zoe Meier discusses her family’s experience after her mother tested positive for COVID-19 in the spring and how the family coped while being under quarantine

by Ivy Lowery

ilowery408@g.fhsdschools.org

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fter a Saturday of socializing with friends and others in April, mother and wife Angela Meier came home to her family. She began to feel nauseous and felt a tightness in her chest, something she believed to be a symptom of stress. As she sat up on her couch, she unsuccessfully tried to sleep. After researching why she was feeling this way, Angela decided to go to urgent care because she was afraid she could be having a heart attack. The Electrocardiograms or EKGs came back normal, but then she was given a COVID-19 test. After three days of waiting, the Meier family got the news. They would have to quarantine together, separated through closed doors.

In the middle of the pandemic in April, senior Zoe Meier and her family suffered an unimaginable loss of her grandfather. Shortly after Angela began to experience the tightness in her chest, but these symptoms had been lasting for almost two months. Angela was tested for COVID-19 and her results were positive.

“Before my grandpa passed, he had COVID-19.” Zoe said.

On Angela’s facebook, she journaled every day she was feeling sick. She called this her ‘COVID Diary’. She recorded when she first

Page by Karsyn Williams

got tested, when she got back the results and cleared up a lot of misinformation about the virus.

“A lot of people are dramatizing it, so she wanted to alleviate some of that fear for others.” Zoe said.

Even after the Meier family lived through the unimaginable, they are not afraid. Instead of shutting themselves inside until the pandemic is over, Zoe and her family carry on like they did before.

“We pretty much do the same thing, we don’t wear masks unless they’re required.” Zoe said.

“If we get it again, that’s that.”

Since COVID-19 is a virus, the best thing to do is try to stay healthy. That includes eating well, sleeping well, and staying away from people who are sick.

“If you do start to feel sick just respect the situation and do your due diligence to just stay clear of other people.” Angela said.

COVID-19 will not be the end of the world fortunately, and it will eventually pass. Finding ways to cope with daily life in a pandemic can be hard, especially if you have to miss out on being with others.

“As someone who was diagnosed with anxiety and situational depression before quarantine, it’s hard to be alone at home sometimes,” Zoe said. “Just know that it will get better.”

Senior Zoe Meier and her mother, Angela Meier had their encounter with COVID-19 this past spring. Angela tested positive which led the whole Meier family into quarantining after attending an event with their friends. (Photo Submitted)

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PLAYING IT SAFE Brothers Oscar and Raymond Sun aren’t playing school sports due to COVID-19

by Aadhi Sathishkumar

T

msathishkumar431@gmail.com

Due to COVID-19, brothers junior Oscar and senior Raymond Sun couldn’t participate in certain sports. “It kinda sucked since volleyball season was cancelled before the first game even happened,” Raymond said. (Photo submitted)

o many students, sports and other extracurricular activities offered in FHN are seen as more than just hobbies, and are massive parts of who they are. Sports offer opportunities for students to develop friendships, be active and represent their school in a competitive environment. However, for brothers junior Oscar Sun and senior Raymond Sun, the progress they were hoping to achieve this year in sports has been suddenly halted, and one of their defining traits all through high school has abruptly been taken away from them.

“We started quarantining around May,” Raymond said. “We’ve only been out to our family restaurant and shopping just for groceries.”

The family is taking drastic measures, in order to stay safe. In their house, there are a few at risk people, namely Oscar and Raymond’s grandparents. Their mother, who encouraged the brothers to stay quarantined and learn virtually, doesn’t want to run any risk of anyone in the family catching coronavirus.

“I’ve been on cross country since middle school,” Oscar said. “I’m not doing it this year

because my parents won’t let me, and I have to worry about my family members so they can stay safe.”

Along with cross country, Oscar also does track and field during the spring season. Raymond is on volleyball during the winter season. The boys are still trying to stay active despite being home.

“I think I am coping better than [Oscar],” Raymond said. “Personally, since it is volleyball, I can practice whenever. Around three to five days a week, I do cardio or weight lifting.”

Oscar, however, isn’t as enthusiastic about having to work out by himself and without a team to accompany him.

“It has had a pretty hard impact,” Oscar said.

“I’m planning to work out, but not take anything too seriously. Running by yourself is boring, and I really liked running with the team”.

Despite the temporary setbacks caused by coronavirus, both athletes are optimistic and hope to be able to perform next semester.

“From what I’m hearing, [sports] are trying their best to stay safe,” Raymond said. “If next semester, everything is more sorted out, maybe I’ll be able to play volleyball.”

TRACED FIRST Seniors Jordyn Inman and Angela Cuccio were both sent home from contact tracing within the first week of school

by Sydney Ellison

sydney.ellison55@gmail.com

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itting in her fourth period study hall, senior Jordyn Inman got called down to the office just four days into school. At first she was confused, she couldn’t think of any reason the main office would need her. When she reached the office she learned that she had been in contact with someone who was assumed positive for Covid- 19 and that she had to be out of school for 14 days.

“I was like ‘oh my goodness, I guess I’m out of school’ and I was worried about keeping up with all my classes and teachers and everything,” Inman said. “We had just started that day working with Canvas for each class.”

Her mother, Kari Fichter, was notified by a principal over a phone call that Inman was contact traced. She got an email from the CDC with instructions on how Inman should quarantine. Some steps she had to do included filling out a daily survey and taking Inman’s temperature every day.

“I feel like the teachers were very supportive and I think for the most part, most of her teachers when she had a question and emailed them, they were super good at responding,” Fichter said.

Another student with a setback early in the year was senior Angela Cuccio.

She was also contact traced on the fourth day of the school year. Cuccio was sitting in lunch when a principal came to tell her to go to the office.

“I was very upset because I just kind of got back into my routine,” Cuccio said. “I was able to talk to people again and I was getting to go to school events and life seemed more normal than it has been since quarantine started in the spring then all that was getting taken away from me,” For Cuccio, learning online had its negatives and positives. For her classes

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Seniors Angela Cuccio and Jordyn Innman walk out of school to signify students sent home for quarantine. Since the start of school, many students have been faced with getting sent home due to contact tracing. This has caused some students to fall behind in coursework due to the stresses and confusion of going straight to online learning. (Photo by Ryan Ginn)

where group interaction was necessary, it was a struggle to figure out a way past that. On the other hand, learning online gave her the freedom with her time that in-person school didn’t give her.

“I was able to work ahead and make sure that I was understanding the material a lot better than I think I would have if I was still in the classroom,” Cuccio said.

Being contact traced and out of school so soon in the school was definitely a setback for both Cuccio and Inman. The year didn’t feel as exciting as it once did but they won’t let that mindset stay.

“I hope that since I have been quarantined it helps make me more aware of who I’m surrounded with and how close I am with people,” Cuccio said.

Page by Liy Taliaferro

Senior Olivia Neunaber contracted COVID-19 while hanging out with a group of friends in late July. “As soon as I found out that my friend was getting tested I told all my jobs that I couldn’t come in because I was quarantining and then I told my family, obviously they knew, and I stayed by myself in my room for the entire time.” (Photo by Taylor HIll)

SUMMER OF QUARANTINE Senior Olivia Neunaber tested positive for COVID-19 in July after hanging out with friends

by Maya Helbig

HelbigMaya77@gmail.com

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OVID-19 has spread quickly, affecting many lives around the world. Somewhere around July 20, senior Olivia Neunaber found out that she tested positive for COVID-19 after hanging out with friends that also tested positive. Her symptoms were not very noticeable, so she didn’t think much of it.

“I noticed that I had a sore throat, but honestly if she [Olivia’s friend] hadn’t been tested I would have thought it was a sore throat and nothing COVID related,” Oliva said.

Olivia’s family had contracted COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, weeks before she did. Her mother, Meghan Neunaber, had gotten the virus before Olivia in the beginning of July from her oldest daughter.

“Before we got it, I really didn’t think it was a big deal,” Meghan said. “But I think now that we’ve had it, I’m a bit more conscientious of it.”

Everyone family members symptoms were different.

While Olivia’s symptoms were barely noticeable, just a sore throat, Meghan had a lot more symptoms to deal with including a fever, headaches, body aches and more.

“After my fever went away, a couple days later I did lose my smell,” Meghan said. “I kind of felt like I had low blood sugar and then even after that, I had a weird chemical taste in my mouth for a couple weeks.’

Getting tested for the virus can be different for

What to do if you have COVID-19 or are showing symptoms

everyone, from the amount of pain to the time it takes for someone to get the test results back.

“I think mine only took two or three days,” Olivia said. “I went through my children’s doctor versus when people went to the ER or emergency care, it took close Self-quarantine to a week for them I’d say.” yourself from After contracting the virus, the family stayed others and quarantined and away from all other people, even the stay at home people in their house. as much as “I stayed by myself in my room for the entire time,” possible.

Olivia said. “ I worked out a lot on my own, either in my basement or in my room staying away from other people.”

Contracting the virus has caused many people to If you need to miss out on opportunities revolving around their jobs leave the house, and pre COVID-19 day-to-day life. Many people lost wear a mask their jobs at the beginning of the pandemic and some covering your had to quarantine, causing them to miss out on a lot of mouth and nose. hours and burdening them financially.

“I missed out on a lot of work previously, because I quarantined when my family got it and then I had to re-quarantine when I got it,” Olivia said. “I didn’t like Monitor your missing out on all the hours at work.” symptoms Now that the family has experienced the virus first regularly and hand, they are overall more cautious, making sure to seek medical keep themselves and others safe. attention if “We have a four-year-old, so I was kind of worried worsening. about her getting it,” Meghan said “I am more conscientious of it and I have seen how it affected us all Source: Centers for Disease Prevention and Control differently.”

(Infographic by Amber Winkler)

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With her coursework open, junior Macy Cronin scrolls through her phone, once again distracted by everything not related to school. Students this year had the option between virtual and in-person learning and many chose virtual. However, it became very evident for some students that virtual learning had its downfall of constant distractions. (Photo Submitted)

LONELY ONLINE

Virtual students combat loneliness from not being at school and try to still stay connected with their friends

by Justin Brewer

justinbrewer15@gmail.com

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s virtual students peer at their screens, some might wonder what it would be like to be in school with their friends again.

Due to the circumstances, they can’t do that but they still are finding ways to stay connected with their friends and combat feelings of loneliness.

“Me and my friends just talk a lot, whether we’re complaining about school or talking about school or just whatever, and I think that just helps us,” junior Pavan Kolluru said.

Virtual learning has its own set of struggles, like not being able to ask a teacher a question face to face or not being able to discuss a subject with your friends. Another thing that contributes to this is not being able to see people in general, which is a struggle for virtual kids with inperson friends. Finally, virtual students aren’t able to meet new people, at least not face-to-face, and they aren’t able to connect in the same way.

“The hardest part is not being able to interact with anyone,” junior Macy Cronin said. “ A lot of the time people will have their cameras off and you are just staring at the teacher for an hour and it’s very disconnecting whenever you’re in class.”

Thankfully, virtual students have found many ways to prevent feeling

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alone and stressed. They are doing everything from staying physically active to staying active and connected with their friends. From a physical activity standpoint, students, such as Cronin, are doing things like going for a run or just being active in any way she can. Students have also found that things like video games, zoom calls with their friends or simply hanging out with their families have helped them feel less lonely and more normal.

“She is [handling it pretty well]. She is definitely very into social distancing and keeping away from other people that are out in public,” Macy Cronins mom, Lora Grenier said. “She still gets online and facetimes and does video conferences with her friends so she is still doing her homework with her friends and socializing as much as possible.”

While virtual learning might be a struggle for some students, it’s actually proven beneficial to others. For example, Grenier doesn’t feel Cronin has changed much and is actually doing very well. She gets the opportunity to get her work done during the day which allows her to have more free time.

“A lot of the time class ends early so I have time to do my homework,” Cronin said. “Or they’ll meet with us for a few minutes at the start to kind of talk through the assignment but then we have the rest of the period to do the assignment and turn it in.”

Page by Sydney Ellison

COVID CANCELS EVENTS

Multiple FHN events have been cancelled because of COVID-19 including school dances, festivals and programs.

StuCo is making efforts to create a fun year for all students while seniors part with their favorite school celebrations

by Karsyn Williams

karsyn.williams15@gmail.com

L

ast spring, many seniors and juniors had their dresses picked out and their suits ready for the prom. StuCo and faculty had been spending the past few months preparing for the prom dance.

Unfortunately, that prom dance never came and students stayed home instead. Last years prom was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns alongside many other events for this current school year including the homecoming dance, the international festival and the DECA volleyball tournament.

“It’s sad,” assistant principal Chris Birch said. “A lot of these events were opportunities for students to socialize and come together as a community.”

In March, it was announced FHSD schools were going to be moving online for the remainder of the school year and with it, many plans either had to turn virtual or cancelled entirely. Events that were bringing the community together were no longer happening, but StuCo and staff were still determined to bring the school together as best as possible. The week of homecoming, rather than an in-person pep assembly, a video showcasing the fall sport teams, knightline and cheer performances and other pep assembly activities was made to still continue a few of the traditions.

“It’s definitely really sad because you come back to school and you want to have that same in person experience you’ve always had, especially as a senior,” StuCo Vice president and senior Ben Ell said.

The class of 2020 didn’t even

Page by Sydney Ellison

get to experience their last days of high school in a high school. Not to mention the hundreds of college students missed out on college tours or even go to attend classes in person. Many alumni and seniors feel that they are missing out on many experiences due to the pandemic.

“I wanted to have that fun moment with my friends just experience everything one more time,” Ell said.

“It’s just kind of sad to think that our last year was our last time and we didn’t even realize it.”

While unfortunate, it’s important that precautions and measures are in place for social gathering during this time. Multiple Missouri counties have guidelines in place in order to prevent spread as much as possible.

Some of these guidelines include mandatory mask wearing, limiting the amount of people at gatherings and required social distancing.

“I definitely understand why we’re doing it this way,” Ell said. “Its for the betterment as a school and the safety of everyone.”

Although there aren’t plans for resuming any of these events just yet, there is hope to rescheduling school events before the end of the year if situations improve immensely. But for the time being, StuCo and staff are continuing to try and bring school spirit virtually.

“A lot we’re trying to transition into a virtual method,” Ell said.

“We’re just trying to be innovative and create new opportunities that are still inclusive and fun for people hopefully, as they would have been otherwise. Just creating that community feel still.”

Seniors Gabe Lavato and Becka Brissette host the 2020 fall pep assembly on Oct. 8. The assembly was virtual this year to follow school policies on handling COVID-19. During the event homecoming court was announced (Screenshot by Anna Hollinger)

Knightsound sings the national anthem during the virtual pep assembly on Oct. 8. They use COVID-19 saftey regluations like wearing masks and socially distancing. Fall sports were also introduced during this assembly. (Screenshot

by Sydney Ellison)

The JV Knightline dances a routine on the FHN field. This preformance was a part of the virtual assembly on Oct. 8. Color guard, Cheer, Knightline and more are groups that performed during the assembly. (Screenshot by Sydney Ellison)

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PODCASTS

Keepin’ it Lowkey with American Poetry Club

In this episode, Brandon and Gabriel are joined by Jordan, Sang-Jin, Kaley, and Andy of American Poetry Club fame to talk about their music careers and the next steps.

Myths and Malarkey With Caleb Kruse #2 The Story of Ra

The Knightly Show #7 | Week of 11/9/20

This week’s show features Gabe on announcements, Brandon talking on music news, how to throw the perfect spiral and Ben and Will’s Fantasy Football Podcast.

The Knightly Show #6 | Week of 11/2/20

This week’s show features announcement by Sam, Andrew shows how to change oil in a car and Ray reviews iPhone cases.

WATCH The Knightly Show HERE:

In this episode Caleb talks about the story of Ra, the Egyptian creation story. Which entails the creation of Ra, Egypt, and the chaos that ensues a few thousand years later.

FHN Fantasy Football Week 5 Podcast

Will Perry and Ben Cavato give weekly fantasy football advice including Hot Takes such as the Steelers beating the Eagles, Boom Or Bust , Sleeper picks as well as 3 game picks of the week.

Crime Kooks Episode 2: Jeffery Dahmer Back again this week with another episode, Emily and Rachel discuss Jeffery Dahmer, an infamous serial killer who targeted numerous young men and boys.

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21

MOVING FORWARD COVID- 19 has affected most students in one way or another.

The downsides this pandemic has brought on can be seemingly never ending. Here is ways the FHN community has moved forward to make COVID-19 into a positive

UNITY AMIDST ISOLATION FHN principal Nathan Hostetler continues working on community amidst COVID-19

by Sydney Ellison

sydney.ellison55@gmail.com

T

he sunlight breaks into the morning as FHN’s principal Nathan Hostetler stands outside the front lobby doors greeting students. He does so with a mask on his face and a cup in his hand. The 20-21 school year looks and feels different than most. This year the main concern isn’t tardies or AP classes, its COVID-19.

“A part of being out there is like setting a tone and making people feel welcome and building community, then a part of it is checking in and making sure people are doing okay,” Hostetler said. “Then a part of it is reminding myself of why I’m doing this.”

In the last two years he has been here, Hostetler pushed hard in making FHN a strong community. He focused on making FHN a place that all staff and students could feel comfortable in.

“Creating that welcoming sense [in previous years] and I was really proud of the way this school started to feel,” Hostetler said.

COVID-19 put a pause on the community, the priority at the start of the year was to make people feel safe. Things like assemblies and dances aren’t in the plans for this school year.

The FHN staff faced a new challenge this year,

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how to make school feel safe and comfortable during a pandemic.

“A part of what I’m doing right now is trying to get out into the building as much as I possibly can, being as visible as I can, cause I know that can matter to people,” Hostetler said.

But FHN took COVID-19 in stride and now Hostetler has set his sights back on the community. The challenge is how to build a community when FHN has never been more physically separated.

“When we came back to school, I was really worried that we were going to be fighting lots of battles with masks that people would be all up in arms and wound up but instead it was this eerily quiet almost subdued feel that we had,” Hostetler said. “I hadn’t realized how worried and frightened people were until they got into the building.”

Stuco has been is one group at FHN that is fighting hard to build community back up again in the student body. They had the spirit week in the beginning of the year to help school feel more normal and are planning multiple virtual or socially distanced events to take place during the school year.

“We can’t control the situation but we can control how we react to it,” Stuco president, Caroline Blanke said.

On Oct. 19, Nathan Hostetler stands at the front of the FHN school building as students come in. Hostestler holds the door for the students and staff as they walk in the building almost every morning. When Hostestler greets the students he also plays upbeat music on his speaker. (Photo by Taylor Hill)

Page by Sydney Ellison

Smiling, senior Holly Winkle shows off her broad selection of masks she has made. Since the start of quarantine, Winkle has been making and selling masks along with the help of her sister. There is a Facebook account where she offers up what she makes. (Photo by Sarah Williams)

MASKS FOR A CAUSE Senior Holly Winkle and her sisters started to sell masks during quarantine

by McKenna Hudson

mhudson365@g.fhsdschools.org

F

or the vast majority of people, COVID-19 has brought upon isolation and boredom. Many have experimented with new hobbies or activities to pass the time. However, some have been able to turn their hobby into a business and a way to earn money during these troubling times. Over quarantine, senior Holly Winkle devoted her time to creating and selling masks with her sisters Theresa and Mary Winkle. Mary originally came up with the idea and both Holly and Theresa came together to help their sister in making the masks when she was going through a hard time.

“Honestly, both of my jobs were closed because of COVID-19 and basically I ended up getting stuff to do while I was home for a couple weeks and I was not getting unemployment,” Mary said. Mary is a former Knight and graduated in 2006. “I saw a news cast asking people to make and donate masks to hospitals and I thought, why not.”

The money made from masks was enough to help Mary to get by until she could find a job. Theresa, a marketing major at University of MissouriSt. Louis, had fun trying to come up with ways to market the masks. Holly also enjoyed assembling the masks and picking out the fabric.

“Yeah it’s pretty fun looking for new fabric,” Holly said. “I’ll be walking through Walmart and say ooh this would make a great mask. I had lots of fun cutting the masks and ironing them with my sisters.”

Page by McKenna Hudson

These masks were first sold through Facebook as a way to spread the word. The Winkle family also reached out to relatives and friends in need of masks. Mary also advertised on local Facebook groups and on Buy, Sell and Trade. Then, more people reached out and it became bigger. Soon, the mask business was booming. Holly and her sisters produced over 500 masks and made around $1,700 that went into supporting Mary. Mary also gave some masks made right back to the community.

“I have a friend whose family member works at a nursing home and she ended up ordering a bunch from me and I gave them to them at cost and I’ve donated some as well to hospitals,” Mary said.

During quarantine, many families were forced to be in close quarters with their siblings but the Winkle’s turned it into a flourishing business and a way to spend more time together. Holly, Theresa and Mary all enjoyed the time that they were able to spend together, at home and making masks.

“It gives us another reason to spend time together rather than having to pick a girl’s night and getting us all together,” said Mary.

“It was actually nice, while we were all just home spending time together and we didn’t have to plan it.”

But through the mask making process, these three sisters have gotten closer to each other and have valued the time they spent together.

“Just being able to spend quality time with each other has brought us together,” said Theresa.

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FROM IN-PERSON TO THROUGH A SCREEN

With COVID-19 still prevalent, many events that would usually be in person have gone virtual, here are the ways these events plan to hold virtual functions (Content and illustrations by Ryleigh O’Donnell)

Trivia Night

HOSA’s Trivia Night is turned completely virtual. Instead of sitting in teams at tables, everyone will be in a big zoom call. With the screenshare feature on Zoom, HOSA will share the presentation with the questions and people will either be in breakout rooms or just muted depending on if they are in the same room or not. After that teams will share their answers into a google doc or in a chat instead of turning in a physical paper.

“I think the one thing that we have learned is just how to rely on virtual platforms better going into the future. This might be a new normal so it’s really important that we understand and are able to utilize a platform like Zoom,” President of HOSA, Ben Ell said.

Veteran’s Day Assembly

On Nov. 11, FHN will honor veterans past and present for serving the country.

Traditionally, Veterans related to students, teachers or staff would attend while speeches were delivered, and dedicated performances were delivered by the school’s band and choir. Reflecting on those memories is bittersweet for many. This year, Veteran’s Day coordinator, and band instructor Rob Stegeman hopes to amplify the assembly while also bringing it into the online world.

“Even if there is one person that sees it, and it makes them feel better, I think now is the time to do that. I think an event like this, and what makes it so important is that it highlights that ability for us to think outside of ourselves and take that opportunity to come together again. [If it doesn’t work out this year] we’re hoping to do it the next year,” Stegeman said.

Drama Virtual Shows

The shows for drama will still be in person but also live streamed due to the maximum capacity dropping from 306 to 50. Drama Club will be performing two shows in the fall, one for only underclassmen and then upperclassmen will be crew. This means tickets will look a lot different as well, usually Kim Sulzner, the director of theater arts, would copy the tickets in the building or use handstamps, but now whenever she orders a script she has to get a streaming license, it has to be authorized by the playwright and then she has to buy their ticketing app.

“The plays will look different because we’re not even sure if they’re gonna be synchronous. Are we gonna be performing it on stage while you guys are watching it at home? Or are we gonna perform it, film it and then throw it out there to be streamed?”

Sulzner said.

Pep Assemblies

While usually students would all gather in the gym for this event, pep assemblies will also be a half virtual half in-person hybrid. The shows we would usually watch from cheerleaders and color guard are going to be recorded and shown to everyone while they remain in class for the games. MCs will be pulling kids out of their classrooms to go to the gyms and play the games while live streaming it.

“I was surprised, but we still get to experience the fun from a safe environment,” Treasurer of Stuco Manisha Muthukaruppan said.

Virtual Concerts Outside of School Lots of things outside of school are going virtual as well, for example artists have begun having virtual concerts such as Sam Smith, Avril Lavigne and BTS. In these concerts artists will have apps that you can virtually buy tickets to see their livestreams on. These concerts will look very different for each artist involved.

“Watching the BTS concert was such an uplifting experience since my escape from reality is going to concerts but that wasn’t able to happen due to the pandemic,” Senior Elizabeth Pundmann, who went to a virtual BTS concert, said. “All of the members putting in the effort to bring the fans joy as well as vice versa was really comforting to me.”

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Page by Ryleigh O’Donnell

GROUP HANGOUTS FROM HOME Here are some of the ways students have found to hangout with each other virtually (Content by Justin Brewer)

Ever since the pandemic has been going on and people couldn’t go out as much, virtual hangouts and party games have become more and more popular.

One such game is Among Us. “It’s a fun game about social distrust after a long quarantine of social isolation,” senior Ben Rogers said. (Screenshot by Sam Watkins)

Connection Method: Among Us

One way students are staying connected virtually is through the hit game, Among Us. It’s not really a new game as it was released in June 2018, but has become a hit as people are looking for easy ways to connect online. According to theguardan.com Among Us is an online multiplayer version of the party game Wink Murder, which is a game where a selected player is tasked with killing people by winking at them. Among Us is very similar in the plot only it is set on a constantly malfunctioning spaceship. There can be up to ten people taking part in the game which is making it a popular way for people to play together. “[I play most often] with my friends and random people,” freshman Sean Hartley said. “It involves strategy. It’s sort of like Clue and it can get very heated and extremely fun if you are playing with the right people.”

Discord is a communication app that allows people to create channels (group chats) as well as DMs to text or call people. It is used mostly for gaming, but can be used as a regular messaging platform as well. “It’s definitely helped me feel less alone because there is almost always someone to talk to in the Discord channels,” junior Lauren Willerton said.(Screenshot by Sam Watkins)

Minecraft is a single or multiplayer game that creates a virtual space that alllows for building, creating and destroying. Minecraft was released on May 17, 2009. It can be played on multiple gaming devices such as a laptop, X-Box, IPhone and more. (Screenshot by Chloe Ellison)

Connection Method: Discord

Connection Method: Video Games

Discord is a chat app similar to Slack, Skype and many others. It can be used to chat back and forth with individual friends or you can make group chats to talk to many people. These are called channels.

Discord is commonly used in video game communication, specifically for PC games. According to digitaltrends.com It makes chatting with people easy and it can help you find other friends and add them to your friends list for quick communications. It makes them easy to find and chat with. Discord and other similar virtual communication apps are being used more and more frequently due to COVID-19. It allows people to stay connected with their friends and it allows them to meet new people. “Discord is a fun way [to stay connected with your friends],” junior Peter Pae said. “You can all just talk together and stuff like that. It’s Zoom but better.”

Page by Justin Brewer

Another way that students are staying connected is through video games. Video games aren’t a new way that people are staying connected and hanging out with their friends but they have become increasingly popular amidst the pandemic, particularly multiplayer games where friends can play with or against each other. It provides an opportunity to connect. “Video games allowed for us to stay closely connected because we were able to spend time doing something we all love,” Senior David Lopez said.

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Students dressed up in Hawaiian theme for the Sept. 7 football game. Students at games have to sit on specifically marked spots on the bleachers to maintain social distancing. (photo submitted)

THE NEW NORMAL

Masks have become commonplace in school, at events and throughout the community

Jack Engelhard sits on the bus en route to Washington High School Oct. 15 for a JV soccer game.

Students are required to wear masks on school buses. (photo

by Sam Wilson)

Moses Metheny, Sam Sullivan and Heidi Huff work during Algebra 1 first hour with Tim Besse. Students have assigned seats in all classes this year to help with contact tracing. (photo by Melissa Perez)

The one place students can get a mask break during the day is in the lunchroom. Students sit in assigned seats to help with contact tracing. There are five lunches this year with fewer students in each lunch than past years. (photo by Kyle Button)

Anna Lowery works with Ali and Saied Abdallah at the British Swim School.

Masks can be seen throughout the community. (photo by Shahed Abdallah)

26 26

The volleyball teams took on FZE Oct. 13.

This year, games have new guidelines and restrictions. At volleyball matches, players must wear masks on the sidelines, fans are required to wear masks and can only sit in taped off spaces. (photo by Megan Steutermann) Freshman Chris Orozco works on math in Shelbi Dillon’s Geometry class. Students are required to wear masks throughout the school day in class. (photo by Hayden Puhr)

Page by North Star Staff

VARSITY BOYS SOCCER LOSES MATCH WITH FZN FHN’s varsity boys soccer team played a home game against FZN on Oct. 20. They lost the match 1-0. Check out FHNtoday.com to see more photos from the game.

(Photos by Avery Witherbee)

BRIANNA WORTMAN’S SURGERY POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19 Sophomore varsity volleyball player Brianna Wortman was scheduled to get hip surgery this past summer, so she can continue to play volleyball and college search in her junior and senior years. But like it did with many events, COVID-19 ruined these plans.

With the surgery postponed due to COVID-19 and her varsity volleyball season on the rise, Wortman had to decide what she wanted to do, and whether to get the surgery during her season or push it off. Visit FHNtoday.com to read more. (Story by Alyssa Seville)

JUNIOR MYA WALKER ADVOCATES FOR RACIAL JUSTICE Over the summer, junior Mya Walker spoke at the FHSD march for racial justice in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

With the support of friends, teachers and her mother, Walker continued to stand up for what she believes in. She has also used social media to progress her activism and spread awareness for the issues she’s passionate about.

Page by Ashlynn Perez

“If I want to see a change, then I have to speak up,” Walker said.

Read more of Walker’s story about her social activism on FHNtoday.com. Look out for the web package “Standing Up” to hear more about Walker, as well as people like her, who are striving to make a difference in the FHN and St. Charles community. (Story by Hugh Kibera)

RENAISSANCE FAIRE HELD AMIDST COVID-19 In early October, the annual St. Louis Renaissance Faire was held outdoors. Social distancing was promoted and workers wore mask.

See more photos from this event on FHNtoday.com. (Photos by Sophie Stachula)

KNIGHTPRIDE PERFORMS LAST TIME THIS YEAR The Knightpride Marching Band performed for the last time this year at the Oct. 17 Music in Motion.

Check out photos from the event on FHNtoday.com. (Photos by Avery Witherbee)

27

FOLLOWING FALL SPORTS

The return of the school year comes with the return of the fall sports, which started with tryouts in August. Since then, the FHN teams have practiced in new ways and under different circumstances. While some teams have had a difficult season with keeping their entire team on the field the whole season, the Knights have put forward their best efforts regardless of the circumstances

QUARANTINED TEAM

During halftime, junior Khalin Shah sits and listens to what his coach has to say during the game on Oct. 20. During the month of October, the team wears pink jerseys in support of breast cancer awareness. (Photo by Avery Witherbee)

Boys soccer had a tough season filled with struggles and confusion caused

by COVID-19. Many players had to be shifted around between the three teams and play positions they usually never do. Players missed practice due to them being quarantined, which caused them to not understand the plays and miss what was practiced by the team. Their games varied greatly, but they all tried

hard to make the best out of the season.

Their record for the season was five wins and 10 loses. ““We encourage each other to get better and become better and we support each other at our games, and we check up on each other and see how our journeys are going,” junior varsity player Khalin Shah said. (Brief by Amber Winkler)

Q&A WITH COACH KENT STOVER Varsity girl’s volleyball coach answers some questions about how the season went and the team’s improvement How did the season go?

“Actually, our season went pretty well. We were hoping to do a little bit better than we did, but we ended up about where we were expecting.”

How did COVID-19 affect the season?

“Let’s see, we had two games get canceled, we had two tournaments get canceled because the other teams had COVID-19 and couldn’t do it, at different points during the season I lost players. Right now, I’m still short a center, one of my one of my centers is out, because of being contact traced.

So we’ve lost players throughout the entire season.”

What was a highlight from the season?

“Our highlight of the season so far has been that we won a five set match against Fort Zumwalt North, which is where Mr. Janes, our AD, his daughter plays. So it was fun to win that game.”

(Content by Amber Winkler)

ON THE COURTS

Girls tennis had one of their best seasons yet with many girls placing at GACs and districts. GACs were on Sept. 29-30, the girls brought home 6 medals. Districts were on Oct. 2, senior Allie Moore got 3rd place at #1 singles and sophomore Maggie Koester and senior Gabbi Ladevito got 4th at #2 doubles.

Joining the courts this year, freshman Lauren Chance is ranked number seven on the girls varsity silver tennis team at FHN. Chance has been playing tennis for only a year and is already good enough to play with the juniors and seniors. She is motivated by her parent’s smiles and got where she is with practice and dedication.

“I felt that I wasn’t going to fit in just because I am a freshman, and because of my ranking. I do typically play with upperclassmen, and most of the girls are seniors, so I felt like I wouldn’t make friends and fit in with everyone else,” Chance said. (Brief by Amber Winkler)

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What was your favorite part of the season?

“This year we didn’t really have any tournaments. Yeah, I enjoy going to the tournaments, it is a good time. The one tournament we did go to we had a good time. We spent a lot of time together. It’s a big bonding thing for the girls.”

What was your team’s strongest point?

“Our two outside hitters were probably our strongest point and then my three seniors in terms of their leadership and their abilities on the court.”

How do you think you improved over the season?

“I think some of the people who were on varsity for the first time got a lot better. They got quicker, because the game is a lot faster at that level and so they got used to being at that speed. And they’ve improved a lot, which is nice. And I’ve put a couple of juniors who weren’t into specific positions into places they weren’t used to and really adjusted well.”

COMING BACK STRONG

Last year, the Knights varsity girls golf team had freshmen, now sophomores, Leah Heinschmidt and Chloe Perkins made it to districts and almost advance to sectionals.

“They had more experience,” Malkmus said. “Leah and Chloe played last year at districts but didn’t get to advance, so this year they definitely knew what to expect.”

Overall, the Knights have a lot of very young and talented golfers looking to make a strong impact on the team and possibly even play golf after high school, and the team as a whole is looking to have a very strong season.

“This season we had a lot more golfers,” Heinschmidt said. “We had a lot more freshmen join, more people on the team this year, We got good golfers who came in, and it just made [the] team better.”(Brief by Parker Kilen)

Page by Parker Kilen

Q&A WITH ALLIE VERNON After running on the team all throughout high school, senior Allie Vernon discusses and answers questions about the how the girl’s cross country season went and how it was effected by COVID-19

How was this season different from last season?

“There’s a lot less people on the team this year, there’s the whole masks and social distancing concepts which was a little annoying at times but it’s not a huge problem, the biggest difference is in the meets there’s a lot less teams, a lot less people competing, a lot of times we can’t have people come and watch which is kind of like a big part of what they’ve been about in the past which is disappointing especially since it’s my senior year.”

What runners on the team are you most proud of?

Focused on finishing the race, senior Alli Vernon runs with passion during the cross country meet at McNair Park on Sept. 4. Vernon has participated in cross country all four years. (Photo by Anna Hollinger)

“I’m proud of everyone every season. I think it takes a lot of courage, a lot of mental strength to do this sport period. And especially to see success and the effort that everyone on the team sticks through it to the end.”

How did this season go with GACs and so many meets being at McNair?

“Each year we run [at McNair] at least 3 times so already being accustomed to running there so much wasn’t really a big difference, but GACs was definitely quite disappointing this year just because I didn’t care for the course very much, I thought it was kind of in a place, they picked a really bad place for them to make a course, also I didn’t get the greatest time. It wasn’t a bad experience, I had fun with people there, we had good jokes, it was still a good time.”

Do you plan on running after high school?

“I don’t think so, I’m going into a pretty time consuming major so running probably is just going to stay as more of a hobby for me in the future.”

(Content by Parker Kilen)

TEAM LEADING

VARSITY PITCHES

This season for boy’s swimming turned out to be a great one for the Knights boy’s swim team as senior Jack Ferry and junior Aadhi Kumar were able to excel as captains, and junior Logan Schelfault had a great season as the team’s only diver and even shattered the six dive record “I just feel like everyone did way better than last season and put in a lot more effort,” Schelfault said.

Overall, the FHN boys swim team worked very hard this season and got better and better throughout the year and look to do even stronger next year. (Brief by Parker Kilen)

The varsity softball team had two freshman starting pitchers on the team, Evie Kraus and Jonica Schmidt. “[The freshmen] did really good this year,” senior Becka Brissette said. “A lot of them stepped up to the plate, a lot of them made crucial plays, big hits, and we were really happy they were on the team this year.”

According to Kraus, she has strong hopes and goals as a player and might play softball in college.

“I think we’ve done pretty well for handling the pressures of being freshman on varsity,” Kraus said.

“But the older girls have definitely made it easier to benefit in the environment because they’ve all been very nice and welcoming to us.”(Brief by Parker Kilen)

RECORD BREAKING FRESHMAN

Focused on getting ahead of his opponent, freshman Devon Alexander runs during the cross country race on Sept. 4. (Photo by Anna Hollinger)

Page by Parker Kilen

Overall, the boys cross country team had a very good season, they had full junior varsity and varsity teams. GACs occurred on Oct. 14, the cross country team earned four medals. On junior varsity, sophomore Nolan Walters placed 7th and freshman Andrew Head placed 12th On varsity, junior Justin Brewer placed 9th and freshman Devon Alexander placed 2nd. Districts were on Oct. 30 and state competition will be on Nov. 7.

Getting ready for the play, senior Adel Mountassir stands during the game against Fort Zumwalt East on Sept. 18. (Photo by Allie Moore)

Alexander placed well at GACs and joined varsity as a freshman due to his speed and didn’t hesitate to make FHN history.

He broke the record at North for the fastest time for a 5k by a freshman.

“He had definitely made it a little bit more competitive, he increased competition, but in a positive way,” boys and girls cross country coach Valerie Green said.

(Brief by Amber Winkeler)

PREPARING FOR THE NEXT LEVEL Senior defensive lineman Adel Montassir started playing football in 5th grade, and ever since then, that passion for football has taken Montassir a long way as he is now one of the top players and top leaders on the knights varsity football team.

“He has the ability to be a good player, a man of good character and does a good job of setting the example for the team, I’m proud of the work he put in to get to where he’s at,” head varsity football coach Brett Bevill said. “We depend on him a lot to disrupt other teams’ offenses and we’ll even play him on our offense to help open holes for our running back and our quarterback.”

Montassir has received at least 19 Division 1 scholarships to play football at colleges such as Liberty, Ball state, Missouri state, Northern Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Illinois state, and Navy, but does not know where he wants to play football at. And overall, Montassir has had a very strong senior season, looks to finish his final high school year strong, and then plans to play very strong and hard in college. “[On] defensive line I like playing dirty and overall just playing football it’s like the only time you can legally hit someone really hard,” Montassir said. “[In college I hope to] record 15 sacks, a scoop or score some kind of touchdown from the defensive zone is my main goal, [and] maybe to redshirt as a freshman.” (Story by Parker Kilen)

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