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SPANISH IV SMASHES EGGS ON HEADS
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our dedicated years spent immersed in Spanish have built up to this moment. In a classroom for most of the day, teachers find reason to take their classes outside, and for Spanish teachers at this time of the year, the Cascarones event was one of those reasons. Cascarones is the name of the event that Señora Amy Muhs is credited with starting according to Señora Melissa Ryan, who started actively participating in this event with Señora Muhs and her classes in 2004. Spanish IV students on May 4 had the privilege to decorate eggs. Aside from sounding like an Easter project, the eggs were filled with biodegradable confetti in order to create a lasting, explosive effect once more. “Cascarones have been a tradition for years and years and years and years.” Señora Ryan said. “Cascarón means shell. It is also
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FIESTA DE CASCARONES By Jessica Blum EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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the name of these confetti-filled eggs. Señora Muhs taught me to do it, so that was our Cinco de Mayo tradition was to fill eggs with confetti, paint them with our students and then on the day of our party, we crack them on each other’s heads.” This event built up emotion and anticipation for the final act. Even on the day of the party, students had to wait until the last ten minutes of class to go outside. Additionally, some of the traditions that come with this party have deeper meanings than just an egg cracked on the head. There is a meaning to the madness. “You are supposed to crack them on the person who you have a crush on, that is whose head you are supposed to crack them on,” Señora Ryan said. “It is a cultural craft, and these crafts are very memorable, fun and kinesthetic.” Taking this event outside of the classroom and learning about a cultural activity like cascarones meant more to the students as
well. It brought students closer together with their teacher while also adding some lastminute memories to their senior year. “Being able to be active and a part of the celebration made it more memorable than just being in a classroom,” senior Broderick Diez said. “My favorite part was watching Landon (Watson) run down Mrs. Ryan and crack an egg on her head.” Transitioning the class to the front lawn, students picked their target and fired away as soon as Señora Ryan’s countdown commenced. Spanish IV students regarded this feeling as a feeling like no other. “I was super scared,” senior Lindsey Johnson said. “I was wincing and closing my eyes, waiting for them to crack it on my head. Honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect. I didn’t know if it was going to hurt or not. I think it hurt a little bit, but only because the person who cracked it on my head cracked it really hard. I cracked mine on Laurel’s head, and it was fun to see all the confetti dump all over her head and to see her reaction to it.” It is a very selective group of students that got to participate in Cascarones. They had to be a part of Spanish for three prior years and make it almost all the way through Spanish IV. With their accomplishments, the
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event suits its purpose: it is a celebration, not only of the ending of Spanish in high school, but also for making it this far in the year altogether. Senior Andrea Atkinson explained what the event feels like for those who have not had the opportunity to experience it yet. “It’s not like anything you’ve ever done before,” Atkinson said. “It’s very celebratory, and it seems very festive. It’s super fun and funny. It opened my eyes to different cultural traditions.” With rain becoming a factor for more activities than sports, Spanish teachers carefully regarded the weather outlook for the week of Cascarones. It did end up raining the day before May 4, but in all good fortune, the sun came to the party as well that day. “Occasionally the rain makes us delay it, but rain would never stop me from doing it two days later, maybe that day,” Señora Ryan said. “I love this tradition so, so, so, so, so, so, so much.” Señora Ryan enjoys this event because her former students will come back and still remember Cascarones. With all the emotions coursing through the brain and body that day, a lasting memory was born for this year’s Spanish IV classes as well.
FINGER SCAN USED TO PAY FOR LUNCHES SAFE, EASY WAY OF GOING THROUGH LUNCH LINE FASTER By Jacey Hammer NEWS EDITOR
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here are nearly 1,400 students attending GHS, and almost half of those students order hot lunch every day. The routine is the same every day: each student goes through the lunch line, and then, the students punch in their fourdigit lunch number. The administration has become aware of the issue of students using other people’s lunch numbers. The finger scan is meant to resolve that. “They’ve had some situations at the high school and middle school where kids find out other kids numbers,” Tech Coordinator Mr. Jerome Skrdla said. “We’ve gotten big enough where the lunch ladies used to know who everyone was who came through was, so they knew if the right person came up or not. Now we are so big we’ve had some complaints about people using
other people’s numbers and people not catching them.” Another reason this change is happening is because elementary school kids cannot remember their code. The fingerprint scan will make going through the lunch line more efficient. “For elementary kids, it’s hard for them to remember a four-digit code everyday when you think of first and second graders, and so for them, the fingerprint scan is much easier, and it is a much easier way of looking at going to it,”Mr. Skrdla said. “It was a decision, and they were looking at options, and this kinda came about at the start of the year.” The finger scan will be more efficient going through the lunch line. It will take away the stresses of remembering a number and secure lunch accounts. “I think that having the finger scan at lunch is a good idea,” junior Jadyn Makovicka said. “It’s easier for both
students and staff.” Students were given the option to not do the fingerprint scan. Those students will get their name written down, and they will be able to continue using their four-digit code. “Some people do not want anything to do with a fingerprint or any information, and so they will do the numbers if they want to,” Mr. Skrdla said. “We didn’t want to force anyone to do it if they don’t feel comfortable getting a fingerprint scan. That was kinda the reason we have the option. We just need to have those students sign up so we know who missed.” Overall, the finger scan is meant to help prevent students from using another student’s lunch number, and it will prevent students from having to memorize a four-digit code. Students will begin scanning their fingers to receive lunches near the end of the current school year and in the future.
Getting Scanned After scanning a majority of student’s fingers during their study halls, some have to get theirs scanned during their lunch. Hannah Dudrey (21) got hers scanned during lunch. “ As of Monday (April 23), we still have 500 students that we need to get,” Mr. Skrdla said. “We started with study halls and at lunches.” photo by Jacey Hammer