THE
TROJAN TIMES
20 20
Details
Helelia Wa Kalala: Editor in Chief Rachel Swack: Designer/Artist, and Writer Willow Oleson: Photographer and Writer Zoe McLaskey: Photographer and Writer Nao Oya: Designer/Artist, Writer, and Photographer Sofia Wells-Lu: Designer and Photographer
Page 2: Table of contents
Contents
Staff List
Page 1: Cover
Page 4: Online School, Zoom, and Organization (Continued) Page 6: Tik Tok Pros and Cons Page 7: Top 10 Hobbies, Snacks, and Music Page 8: Cover story: Senior Focus (Continued) Page 10: District Efforts to Supply Materials (Continued) Page 12: High School and College Sports (Continued)
Kevy Huynh: Photographer and Writer
Page 14: West Photography from Home (Continued)
Olivia Beoglin: Designer
Page 16: Get your dot to dot on (Back page)
Dear readers. With the whole pandemic situation going on, I know that our lives have drastically changed in many ways. Although for us introverts, nothing has really changed. Our lives have switched from seeing our friends, teachers and coworkers at school and work to now only being able to see them through video calls. Again, for us introverts nothing changed, I mean I have no friends both physically or virtually. Each one of us has been affected by this pandemic in very different ways with very different impacts. In this issue we covered how seniors have been affected academically and outside of school. We talked about their graduation, sports, colleges and how they were affected. Most importantly, we highlighted what the district had done to help out these students and families. I know that it must be difficult to find ways to have fun during this which is why we came up with fun things you could do at home. In this issue, we also dug into the famous app Tik Tok and its pros and cons. Hopefully this issue makes you happy and takes some stress off of you, if not, there’s always Tik Tok so try new things!
Helelia Wa Kalala
Paras Bassuk ‘21
Feature Photo
A look at
Online School Discussing the impacts that online school has had on West High student’s lives, and how effective it is Helelia Wa Kalala, Kevy Huynh
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n Monday, April 27, the Iowa City Community School District announced that high schools would be moving from optional enrichments and class Zoom sessions to the option of continuing mandatory online learning. Many students leaped at the opportunity to continue their education, but it also meant getting used to the changes. Learning became 100 percent online, Zoom sessions replaced a teacher teaching in a classroom, and students found new ways to stay organized, many preparing for AP exams. The week leading up to the official start of online learning, students were faced with the decision of continuing with a letter grade or taking a Pass in each of their classes. For those who chose to work towards a letter grade, weekly assignments must be completed by their deadlines, and Zoom sessions are attended once every week per class. While some students relish the opportunity to earn a letter grade, others are grateful to accept a P, and still others had to think between the two options. “Though it is a much more flexible way of learning, it may also make some students feel inactivated and give up on learning as well as decreasing the rate of participation,” says Sophia Wang ’23 regarding online learning.
Design by Sofia Wells-Lu
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DISCUSSION MAY 26, 2020
“I think that online school is not as effective as normal school, but it’s the best it can be right now,” says Caroline Mascardo ’22, “There’s not much to be improved, in my opinion. For the circumstances, I think the ICCSD has done as best of a job as possible. The only thing I’m concerned with is the equity of schoolwork, especially for students without access to WiFi or electricity.” Online learning is working, although it may not be as effective as what school used to be. Teachers have been working to ensure that students are learning with work that is doable during this time. Cooperation and communication between teachers and students are key to students’ success in learning. “Given the circumstances, I feel that teachers and students are fully participating, and making learning effective,” says science teacher Brad Wymer, “I have set my office in my shop and try to designate times throughout the day from early morning to late at night to do school-related work. Canvas has done the organization of the work so it really has been a commitment to organize time.” Thoughts on online education at West vary from hate to love, but it seems that most students are taking advantage of the chances they are given. One part of these learning opportunities available for students is attending Zoom meeting hosted by their teachers.
Zoom With West high’s need for communication between students and teachers, they needed a communication software that was easily accessible for both teachers and students and the option for face to face communication. In the midst of an emergency crisis and a global crisis , the Iowa City Schools district and other districts across the country had to quickly come up with a way for continuous education online. Then came Zoom, the top video conferencing app and fastest growing app for 4 years according to Okta’s Businesses at Work Report 2020. Zoom Video Communications Inc, is a company for technology and communications, it is an American company and was founded on April 21, 2011 by Eric Yuan, a Chinese-American billionaire businessman.
Net Worth 2019-2020 May 2019 Zoom helps its users by allowing multiple users to have conferences and meetings online with or without videos. The app includes chat, sharing content from many websites or other apps. It is set up like a classroom with options to raise hands for questions, give feedback with Emojis and what feels the most like a classroom is that you can write on the screen and it’ll show up to everyone as if it were a board. With all the great things Zoom had to offer, the app fit really close to what the districts were looking for. On April 27th, West High School announced that it was switching from optional to required online learning which included attending zoom meetings each week. Although students were given an option to choose to continue learning with either a letter grade, a pass or to continue class and getting that grade as they normally would have. There has been some concerns about privacy and safety issues and dislikes about the app from at home workers and students. Some teachers have had difficulties adjusting and using the app, students have also had issues with learning how to use the app. “I like the concept but I’ve had issues with it glitching and stuff like that,” Zoe Scott ‘23.
Organization For most of the part, keeping up with regular classes is easy for most students however, students taking Ap classes have different Ap exams which start May 11 to May 22. Students have to spend extra time to prepare for these exams, “I’m taking APUSH and AP French. I make sure to study for at least 30 minutes each day for each test, take advantage of school learning activities, and [attend] class Zoom meetings,” Caroline Mascardo ‘22. While some students have a hard time managing time with regular classes and Ap, others find it easy since they haven’t been giving much homework, “My AP classes give the most work, but during those weeks they didn’t give homework. For other classes I just have to spend more time doing homework.” Aviva Fraer ‘23. All Ap classes are different and cover different amounts of work and thankfully College Board, a non-profit organization which develops and administers standardized tests such as all Ap exams, decided that they would only test what most classes had already covered, therefore making it easier for students to earn a better score.
$90,000,000
September 2019 $70,000,000
January 2020 $123,000,000 It’s very clear that education in the last trimester of the year has changed dramatically to what all West High students have been used to. From teachers using whiteboards to weekly Zoom sessions, daily sheets of homework to relying solely on Canvas, and the biggest difference of all, from sitting in high school classrooms to learning from home. Despite the changes, students have been taking advantage of the opportunities they have to continue their learning and do the best they can to adjust to the new situation. One thing that’s guaranteed is that no West High student will forget how education temporarily changed in 2020.
DISCUSSION MAY 26, 2020
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Pros and Cons of Tik Tok TikTok, an app where you can watch and create original content like lip syncing, dancing, creating POV (point of view) and comedy videos, has people of all ages, especially teens, joining the hype. But the app’s quick rise in fame has some people worrying if TikTok is really safe. In 2016, the one and only app, TikTok, previously called Musically, was launched. Since then, TikTok has gained 800 million users throughout the world. There is no doubt that this app has caught the attention of many people, but what do people find in it?
BY KEVY HUYNH AND NAO OYA DESIGN BY OLIVIA BOEGLIN
ENTERTAINMENT For one thing, TikTok plays a huge part of entertainment in people’s lives. Especially during this uncertain time, many people endlessly scroll through the app, watching one minute videos that make them burst out laughing and feel a little less anxious during this time of isolation. Also, TikTok is the key to having a sense of relaxation without feeling like you have loads of worries on your back. In addition, many people post their short videos in hopes of getting a glimmer of TikTok fame. Since TikTok has launched, numerous people have gotten famous in many different ways. For example, the 15-year-old, Charlie D’Amelio has gained over 50 million followers on TikTok after she started posting dancing and lip syncing videos for fun. “What I like about TikTok is that it’s a platform where anyone can share their videos and have the possibility of going viral, and it allows people to be super creative about the content that they post, Jenny Tang ‘23 writes. Even though many people dream of getting famous on TikTok some are not so sure. Ava Conrads ‘23 says how she feels about going viral, “I had two videos get a little attention. The first one was fun because it was just making a video with my friends, but the second one did better, and it had a positive outcome on the viewer which made me happy, but I wouldn’t choose to go viral again just because I feel like it’s not really for me. Whenever I’d see people, even some friends, that’s what they’d start to see me by, which I felt was really stupid and I just didnt like it.” Although that may be the case for some people many people still love TikTok for its content and entertainment, but TikTok doing more than entertaining, it’s also addressing many important events like the #MeToo movement, feminism, body shaming and racism. Lots of people share their stories on TikTok to inform other people about their experiences and how to deal with what they have faced. “I really like how diverse the content is on TikTok and that there’s going to be at least something someone’s going to enjoy,” Conrads says. On the other hand, there are some who do the opposite. There are many people who use TikTok to disrespect other people, their bodies, races, genders, and more. Since the coronavirus outbreak, there have been many incidents where commenters have been called out as racist for what they say to some Asian TikTok accounts. Although many of the videos on TikTok are uplifting and fun there are always some people who use this app to bring others down.
DISRESPECTFUL CONTENT One thing adults may find inappropriate for young users is the disrespectful content and racism on TikTok. There are countless videos of people being rude, racist, and disrespectful to other users. For example, two teens from Carollton High School made a TikTok describing how black people were made in a very racist video. Both users faced an extreme amount of backlash and were both expelled from school for their actions. Also, racist comments and slurs about the coronavirus against Asians have been seen on the app, accusing Asian users of bringing the virus everywhere in the world, and some go as far as accusing an Asian of being patient zero, the first COVID victim. There is also a trend called “How’s my form?’’ on TikTok. This trend typically starts off with the user offering “advice” meant to attract a specific audience.
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ENTERTAINMENT MAY 26, 2020
Then, the video jumps to a highly edited photo of the user imitating the target audience, with the question “How’s my form?” This trend can easily offend or make the targeted person feel bad about themselves, but people all over social media have been standing up to this racism and disrespectful content on TikTok, bringing in the cancel culture and other methods in hopes of facing realistic consequences for those who participated in the racism and rude videos. Another thing that is common on TikTok is body shaming. There have been many times when someone makes fun of a person’s body and gets canceled because of it. Tang explains how people feel the need to talk about other people’s bodies on their TikToks, “I don’t really like how mean people are within the app, like a lot of the times, if a girl posts a video of her dancing, people in the comments feel obligated to talk about her body and it’s very sad.” Although there is a lot of hate on this app there is also a lot of love and support that prevails in the end.
DANGEROUS CHALLENGES + DANGEROUS PEOPLE As TikTok has blossomed into a platform with many creative and new ideas, some challenges that have come from the app may do more harm than anything. The Skullbreaker challenge involves three people standing side by side in a line, and as the middle person jumps up, their legs get kicked out by the two other people. The middle person in these videos often wasn’t aware of what was about to happen, and many people have been seriously injured, hospitalized, or even died from participating in this challenge. Videos of the Skullbreaker challenge were declared against community guidelines and were taken down. Another dangerous challenge originating from TikTok is the penny challenge, which includes slipping a penny behind a phone charger only partially plugged in. As a result of attempts at the penny challenge, outlets have been scorched, fires have been started, and it has come to light of how dangerous this challenge is. The Skullbreaker and penny challenge are not the only challenges that have risen from TikTok, but warnings against challenges such as these are spreading a message of the danger behind them all. Besides dangerous challenges, there are also dangerous people. With all social media there will always be creepers who lurk around the app looking for defenseless people (Usually young people). As a result, there have been people who have posted TikToks trying to convince people to join a group chat with different ages as low as eight. Overall most people seem to love TikTok and the content that comes with it. In spite of all the negatives, users enjoy spending some time out of their day to watch funny, adorable, and weird videos. “TikTok has definitely made me procrastinate more, I spend hours on the app instead of doing homework sometimes. But I think overall, I still really enjoy scrolling through my for you page.” Tang writes. Even some adults think it’s a fun place to spend some time. Jolie Kalala says, “I think it’s a fun place to waste time. I don’t have time to waste, but I go on it from time to time. If you want to learn more about your kid [and] their generation, I would totally recommend TikTok. I mean it’s fun right, and you know what the ‘youngins’ are up to.”
Finding Stuff To Do 101 by Willow Oleson and Zoe McLaskey
Everything has been put to a halt in our lives due to the Covid 19 pandemic that has hit the United States with a huge punch in the face. Quarantine has come into all of our lives without us getting the chance to realize what is actually going on and that has been hard for all of us. Not being able to be in a classroom, seeing friends everyday and even going out for fun has all been stripped away. This time period is an important lesson to take for granted our opportunities but this quarantine has given us some creative minds to work with. Getting into new hobbies has been a gateway for some people and here we are giving you some suggestions. Some sneak into baking, creative hands on activities and even music! Having a healthy snack is always important especially Everyone during quarantine has become a baker of some sort. Even during this time. It gives our bodies a chance to work if you make a packaged cookie dough.. We still count that as baking! at full capacity when we are doing activities such as It helps distract use from the outside and feed our sweet tooth! These going on a walk or simply just relaxing outside. Even cookies fit the best of both worlds because of their bananas and chocif you have a sweet tooth this recipe can further that olate chips. The perfect combination for a movie night. healthy opportunity for your body! Banana Chocolate Chip CookiesFrozen Berry and Yogurt Swirls: What do you need? What do you need1/3 cup butter, softened, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 large egg, 1/2 cup mashed 10 plastic or paper cups (3 ounces each). 2-3/4 cups fatripe banana, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour, free honey Greek yogurt 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon baking 1 cup mixed fresh berries. 1/4 cup water, 2 tablespoons soda, 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips sugar, 10 wooden pop sticks. DirectionsDirectionsStep One: In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and Step One: Fill each cup with about 1/4 cup yogurt. fluffy. Beat in the egg, banana and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking Place berries, water and sugar in a food processor; pulse powder, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and until berries are finely chopped. Spoon 1-1/2 tablemix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Step Two: Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 spoons berry mixture into each cup. Stir gently with a in. apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° pop stick to swirl. for 13-16 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire Step Two: Top cups with foil; insert pop sticks through racks to cool. foil. Freeze until firm. The most listened to songs on Spotify from a multitude of genres are Don’t Start Now by Dua Lipa, Señorita by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello, November Rain by Guns N’ Roses, Nothing Else Matters by Metallica, In the End by Linkin Park, Loco by Mosa, Demons by Maka, Let Him Go by Cg, One Number Away by Luke Combs, More Hearts Than Mine by Ingrid Andress, and Up Down by Morgan Wallen feat. Florida Georgia Line. Another song we recommend is Stuck With U by Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, it helps a lot of people with it’s proceeds! We recommend these songs right now to help you relax and free your mind. ACTIVITES Sidewalk chalk Drawing, coloring, and painting in chalk can all go hand in hand with the outdoors. It allows us to express our thoughts along with getting that fresh air in our systems. It’s important to also try new things! Since we are stuck in quarantine what better way to spend your time then to create the chalk itself! Creating the chalk it would be even more excited to cue those quarantine blues and here’s the recipe! IngredientsPlaster of Paris ( dry powder, not mixed, you can get it at Michaels), Tempera paint, Silicon Mold, Water , Disposable Cups, Plastic Spoons Directions (Note- For each color use a separate cup!)Step One- Fill each cup with ¾ cup of water, Step Two- Add ¼ cup of paint, Step Three- Add 1 cup of Plaster of Paris, Step Four- MIX!!, Step Five- Pour mixture into molds, Step Six- Let it dry for 24 in molds and out of molds Gardening Tips: Flower EditionDuring the new seasons of summer and spring we have the joy to see the flowers pop back into our life. We are getting the chance to venture out to our backyards to see what is here to say hello in 2020. Along with the new flowers it’s time to diversify your garden with some flowers that will add that extra pop because what garden does not deserve some newbies. Here are some tops five flowers you can purchase in your local area. Coming in on Number OneSalvia, Spikes and dark shades of purple with green stem will steal the eye of any guest in your garden. These flowers also are a part of the mint family and will attract hummingbirds due to their delicious flavor. Number TwoRussian Sage, not only is color important but so is the smell. Russian sage has an intoxicating smell that brings a sense of calm and relaxation. This flower loves the sun and will not need much attention for a gardener. Number ThreeBeard Tongues, for such a unique name the flower doesn’t fall far from the pedal. These flowers are made up of spiky colors that can range from all over the rainbow. These flowers will give your landscape more diversity not only in flowers but in bees and birds! Everyone has something they are passionate about. Even when in a pandemic it’s important to recognize that it’s alright okay to take a break from school work and focus on bettering yourself. These activities are something to focus on during an afternoon or morning where you have some left over eggs to make an element or listen to one of your favorite songs. Something to take away from this article is to explore these activities if you need or want a distraction and also there is more to quarantine then people are making it out to be. This time provides a perfect opportunity to try something new. You never know, you might be finding yourself a new hobbie, snack, or some new favorite music to listen to. Enjoy.
Our video:https://youtu.be/jYlvMyynOtc *all recepies from taste of home, flower tips are from Ted’s garden* VIDEO BY HELELIA WA KALLA PHOTOS: GOOGLE
ART & DESIGN BY RACHEL SWACK
INFORMATION MAY 26, 2020
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THE SENIOR STORY BY KEVY HUYNH, ZOE MCLASKEY AND HELELIA WA KALALA ART AND DESIGN BY OLIVIA BOEGLIN, SOFIA LU AND HELELIA WA KALALA PHOTO EDITING BY WILLOW OLESON
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his year has been a whirlwind of change for everyone around the world including here at West High due to the rising Covid- 19 pandemic. Actions such as wearing a face mask in stores and closing schools are in effect to slow the spread. During this quarantine online schooling has been decided to take place for the remainder of the school year to ensure that learning is still happening. What does that mean for Seniors this year with them graduating this year? We wanted to focus our attention on them to see how they are feeling and what West High is doing to insure that they graduate with pride.
What’s Happening? Seniors this year have sadly lost ⅓ of their final year of completing high school. Getting the chance to have last goodbyes and walk through the doors one last time is going to be a halt in their lives. Seniors have lost their Carver Hawkeye Arena where they host their large graduation, finishing their last sports season, and finishing strong with their final credits not in person but online. Social aspects have also hit hard on seniors during this time period because school may have been their only outlet to feel social with friends.
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COVER
MAY 26, 2020
West has also stated recently they are going to try out a new graduation process in two steps. The first one being that students will be able to receive their diploma along with photographs. The second part focuses on graduation speeches and honors to seniors, this step will take place online. This process will be done on the Thursday of the 28th through the Saturday of the 30th. All at different time periods that are scheduled by families for 15 minutes intervals.
How do the seniors feel?
Chen you- Wu, a senior this year has felt some of the effects of not being able to see friends everyday due to the quarantine. “I don’t really hang out with my friends outside of school, that’s just not me, and so school was my time to be social. Not having that has been kind of hard.” says Chen- you Wu ´20. Being out of school can be hard for some seniors especially with their last year being stripped away from them. One thing that West has done that has been made a big deal was a ceremony that took place celebrating what accomplishments some seniors faced during their school year. Senior Chen-you Wu attended the online celebration and saw some key components that went into it. “It was nice to recognize each other’s accomplishments. I kind of just let it play in the background and did some other stuff, just occasionally checking in and feeling proud of some of my friends.” Chen-you Wu ´20. Recognizing who the seniors are is very important because it symbolizes the experience of all four years of high school. Even through this pandemic West is still trying to capture their seniors and making them hopeful of feeling that they completed it.
“IT WAS NICE TO RECOGNIZE E ACH OTHER’S ACCOMPLISH MENTS.” - CHEN -YOU WU ‘20
It’s no secret that the class of 2020 has been robbed of many opportunities and experiences this year. With the third trimester being spent at home, seniors are missing out on a lot of activities that past seniors have experienced. However, many seniors are determined to make the best of what they have left in the rest of the year. Senior Sumner Wallace was not at all happy about having to miss out on the end of her last year, but her attitude towards the situation has changed from what it was before. “I was definitely super angry and sad about missing out on all the classic senior end of the year activities when school was cancelled for the rest of the year. But now that I’ve had some time to acclimate to the new situation, I’m just very grateful to all the people who are still trying to make this time of year special for us,” says Wallace.
“I’M JUST VERY GR ATEFUL TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL TRYING TO MAK E THIS TIME OF YE AR SPECIAL FOR US.” - SUMNER WALL ACE ‘20 Jessica Moonjely ’20 had similar feelings about spending the last of her senior year in quarantine. “It was pretty disappointing to have to miss the end of my senior year. After four years, I was really looking forward to finally relaxing and enjoying all the senior traditions that usually happen in that last stretch,” says Moonjely.
She adds, “I think what made it worse was that I didn’t even know my last day was my last day at the time, and I wish I could’ve said goodbye to people in person.” Everyone has their own ways of coping with this position that we’ve been put in, from being extra lazy to being the most productive they’ve been the whole year. “A group of seniors and I have been trying to plan different ways we can still celebrate some senior traditions and maybe start some new ones,” says Moonjely. She adds, “I have also been taking this extra time to try out new hobbies and practice more self care. I’m normally so busy that this pandemic has shown me that sometimes it’s a good thing to slow down.” While Moonjely is allowing herself the luxury of slowing down, Wallace has been trying to keep herself as busy as possible with a positive attitude. Wallace says, “I’ve been getting as involved as possible. Distributing WSS to the community without contact and writing articles, finding creative projects to do, connecting with friends and teachers are all things that have kept me going and made me feel like I was leaving some sort of final mark on West High.”
“I’ VE AL SO BEEN TAK ING THIS E X TR A TIME TO TRY OUT NE W HOBBIES AND PR AC TICE MORE SELF C ARE.” - JESSIC A MOONJELY ‘20
After the Pandemic Senior year is a very emotional year for most seniors and a global pandemic for the year of 2020 only makes it harder. Students at West are looking forward to their futures, new friends, new teachers, new life. Some students are planning to attend their dream colleges while some are planning to travel and experience new things. For seniors, these choices can be very hard to make but students at West have worked very hard to achieve their goals, “I will be attending Grinnell College to double major in French and biology,” Maia Degrazia ‘20. Like many students at west Maia has options for her future career field in which both of those jobs include her love for the French language and traveling, “After that, I either want to go to medical school to become a pediatric cardiologist and travel with doctors without borders to French speaking countries, or I want to become a French teacher.” She then concludes with, “As long as I’m traveling, helping people, and speaking french I’ll be happy!” Leaving friends, teachers, family is very hard for most people, saying goodbye is always hard but experiencing new things is always good while knowing that the memories are always there with us no matter what or no matter where we go.
“AS LONG AS I’M TR AVELING, HELPING PEOPLE, AND SPE AK ING FRENCH I’LL BE HAPPY!” - MAIA DEGR A ZIA ‘20 COVER
MAY 26, 2020
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District’s Efforts to Supply Meals
BY KEVY HUYNH, WILLOW OLESON, AND NAO OYA
D
uring the coronavirus pandemic, isolation has been difficult for everyone in their own ways, but have you ever wondered how difficult isolation would be if you didn’t even know when you were going to get your next meal? There are many people who aren’t able to get the food they need for this global pandemic and isolation. Furthermore, with all of the panic buyers, many things like toilet paper, sanitizing wipes, and other necessities are running out in stores, but with the school district’s help of supplying meals and supplies, people are able to get the essentials they need. Every Monday to Friday from 11-1 O-clock the school district and volunteers are helping to provide food and supplies to anybody who needs/wants it. You can see where to pick up the meals, which are available at multiple schools, and see what you will be receiving in the meal bags online. They also give out weekend bags on Friday with supplies that last through the weekend. Keeping students and staff safe during this pandemic is very important so during the pickup times the staff wear gloves and masks to maintain safety. “I think it’s great that the district is providing free lunch especially in times like this where everything is uncertain, “ Annie Schwartz ‘23 writes. Eva Jordan ‘23 says her opinion on the school’s way of providing food, “Me and my siblings can walk there, and it makes us feel more connected to the school.” Jordan also explains how the whole process works, “You walk or drive up to the front of the school and tell them how many you want, and they bring them up to your door. They even give you little treats for your dog.” Eva Oleson ’21 describes how she feels about the meals they give out. “I think the meals have been good, they do a good job of providing a lot of options and have a lot of food in them.”
“IT MAK ES US FEEL MORE CONNEC TED TO THE SCHO OL .”
- E VA JORDAN ‘23
PHOTOS BY CAROLINE MASCARADO
Even though there is no school, the district still keeps the school spirit up. Yearbooks and WSS copies are being delivered, and the district is helping anyone with internet/technology difficulties during this time. The local food pantry also helps out by giving the schools different foods and supplies to hand out with the meal bags to further help the district community during this time. Though it is important to keep ourselves isolated, we also need to work together to keep people safe and healthy. We can do this by getting the meals the school offers. This keeps less food leftover to worry about and shows support for the district as they count the number of meals picked up. On a wider spectrum, the Coralville Community Food Pantry has been providing food for families currently struggling with food insecurity. This allows families in need to get the food they need while avoiding crowds in stores and effectively practicing social distancing. The Food Pantry has a drive-thru system, allows walk-in customers, and delivers to Coralville and Tiffin residents. “We are committed to ensuring that anyone in our community who needs food can continue to safely access it every single week,” says Executive Director John Boller. He adds,“When a person utilizes our food assistance services, whether drive-thru, walk-up, or delivery, we provide them with pre-packaged bags of groceries. People essentially place an order and our volunteers fill the order and then distribute it to the person.” Because of the pantry’s efforts, many people are receiving the food and nourishment they need, despite the difficulties of this time. However, one of the challenges that the pantry faces is having to cut many of their volunteers. “We reduced our volunteer base by about 90 percent, because the bulk of our volunteers are age 55 plus are at higher risk for other reasons. We limit the number of volunteers and staff in the building at any given time,” says Boller. Volunteers help tremendously in the pantry by doing things such as unloading trucks and stocking shelves.
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INFORMATION MAY 26, 2020
Along with reducing the number of volunteers allowed, greater safety measures have been taken to ensure the protection of the remaining staff and volunteers. Any volunteer or staff person entering the building must self-report whether they are experiencing a fever or any other symptoms. All personnel must wear masks, gloves, and wash their hands upon entering the building and once per hour. We sanitize all surfaces inside and outside of our facility before and after every shift,” says Boller. “As far as what I see for the food pantry, we will continue to provide our services in a way that promotes physical [and] social distancing best practices as long as it’s necessary.” Currently, there are three staff working at the pantry: John Boller, Paola “PJ” Jaramillo Guayara, and Hai Huynh. Their hard work, with the good and the bad, has helped residents from all over Coralville and Tiffin. “Every day, you are reminded of the drastic inequalities that exist in our society. No one deserves to go hungry, or become homeless, or have health issues go untreated, or experience violence, or not be paid a living wage. So many of our neighbors are suffering and have been for a long time. And it’s not their fault,” says Boller. “Our society has failed them. This pandemic has only shed light on this reality and it’s scary to think about what could come next.” Boller and the other staff are very committed in what they do, wanting to make the absolute best that they can of it. “We will continue doing home deliveries from now until the end of the time, that really is a valuable service that is deeply helpful for people who can’t leave their home for any reason whatsoever,” says Boller. Still, those in higher positions have the power to help relieve some people that are in rough positions. “There is a major crisis looming and our poorest neighbors will face the brunt of it first. As an organization, we are urging legislators to swiftly put forth legislation that provides continued monetary stipends, increased assistance benefits, rent forgiveness, and universal healthcare. Without these supports, we will see another unprecedented disaster,” says Boller. The work that the staff and volunteers at the pantry get done is very rewarding. The experience and the outcome of helping people get the food they need brings a sense of satisfaction in doing a good thing. “It’s incredibly fulfilling to provide one of the most basic human needs for our neighbors who are struggling at no fault of their own. We believe everyone deserves good food, so we are committed, even during a pandemic, to ensure that all of our neighbors go to bed with the food they need and deserve. The other wonderful part about this work is that you get to meet and connect with people from an incredibly diverse array of backgrounds,” says Boller. The school district and food pantry have planned and carried out many things to help families and people in need right now. The schools have provided food, school supplies, and technology, and opportunities to pick up anything you have left at the school. The food pantry has also been working hard to help the people in the community that need food and supplies during this pandemic. Both the school district’s and the Coralville Community Food Pantry’s efforts to help distribute food have helped Iowa City, Coralville, and Tiffin residents receive the food and nourishment they need. These are excellent examples of how our community is working to help each other in a time where support is much needed in the midst of this pandemic.
“ WITHOUT
THESE
SUPPOR TS, WE WILL SEE ANOTHER UNPRECEDENTED DISAS TER .” -JOHN BOLLER
PHOTOS BY CAROLINE MASCARADO
PHOTOS BY CAROLINE MASCARADO Information DESIGN BY RACHEL SWACK
May 26, 2020
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Corona VS. Sports
Sport players from college level to high school level explain how their sports have been affected by the pandemic. They talk about how they’ve been dealing with the situation and their plans for the future. BY RACHEL SWACK, WILLOW OLESON, HELELIA WA KALLA
Many people were disappointed when the news of Corona hit Iowa, others not so much, whether it being the schools closing, or just everything closing in general. For high school and college athletes alike, their sports seasons were affected. For many, they knew their season would be canceled, but others still held a bit of hope. For seniors, the season being gone means a lot more, this was their last season, and for college, if they had hopes of going somewhere, that dream could be affected. Many seniors were looking forward to playing their last season with their team and friends, considering they have built friendships with each other over the years in their sports.The missed chances of scholarships and more team building will affect members of the team greatly. For many, they knew they weren’t going to have their spring season, but the news still had an impact. For baseball and softball, there is still a chance they will be playing. For freshmen, their first spring season is gone, and for seniors their last. Juniors and sophomores lose a season, and won’t have the chance to play with seniors. Many sports have taken to emails and possibly zooms to contact each other. Others don’t have too much contact. Recently some sports have gotten together as a program for keeping up with practice with Brendon Panther. Of course, this isn’t the same, and for many, the lost season of their sport is still a sore subject. For Carmela Cohen-Suarez ’20, her final season of soccer has been lost. “At first it was pretty upsetting because we were just about to finish with preseason training. I wasn’t sure if they were going to cancel the rest of the school year or just a portion of it. But when it was evident that we weren’t going to end the year, or start the season it was pretty upsetting. I was looking forward to spending some time with the team and getting more in shape. While soccer isn’t my main sport, I was looking forward to it,” Cohen-Surarez says. Her season left when West’s doors wouldn’t be opening again, and all hopes of spending a season with her team left with it.
ALEXANDERSWACK ‘19
PHOTO BY OF KARA WAGENKNECHT
BRALYN BIGLEY ‘23 PHOTO BY ALYSSA SKALA
West High students who play sports in the summer, and not through West, have also been affected by the pandemic. Carolyn Pierce ’23 plays competitive basketball over the summer with Team Iowa’s girls basketball. Pierce says that her high school season wasn’t affected, but her summer was, they haven’t started to practice and they have had to cancel tournaments. She says that the team calls every Friday to talk about the season, and they have workouts that people can do to keep in shape. “Our plans are that the summer season will be extended into the next school year and a lot of the tournaments are making rules that only one person per player can come and watch you, so that is a huge change. Also, college coaches can come [to] watch you and recruit you, but this season they can’t because of the pandemic so I’m really bummed out about that.” Pierce explains how the season will continue once it starts up again. For both Caroline ’22 and Julianna Mascarado ’23, their tennis season has been canceled. For the girls’ tennis, they have once a week check-ins over zoom. Juliana expresses her disappointment for not being able to play with fellow team member Jessica Moonjely ’20. For Caroline, the opportunity to go to state and play for the title has been taken away from her. “we were really upset [that] we didn’t have the the opportunity play for the state title this year, we were runner ups last year.”
“I DIDN’T GET For sports that don’t have a spring season, but still hold tryouts for the fall have also been affected by the pandemic. Olivia Boeglin ’23 tryouts for cheer have been affected. “Our tryouts are virtual this TO FINISH MY says her year. Currently, we are all unsure how we will do summer conditioning and practices, or if we will even have any. Same with this [upcoming] SENIOR YEAR HOW fall season.” Boeglin says she’s had little communication with her only when talking about the tryouts. I PLANNED” coach, For softball and baseball, there hasn’t been a final decision, but
CAROLYN PIERCE ‘23
by June first, there will be a final decision on what the season will hold for its players. Softball is said to start practices soon, most likely in a couple of weeks. “Our practices have been canceled so far, and we are waiting to see if we have a season. We hope to have a season this year, but if we don’t we plan to come back big next year and win some games.” Bralyn Bigley ’23 says. When talking about communications with her coach, Bigley comments that she’s talked about the progress of her injury, working out, and then the possibility of the season, “[the] coaches have been amazing, they are open to talking about anything going on [with] sports or just life related [things], like being stuck at home, stressed, and being away from sports. “They also check in about our grades and are willing to help us to get them up if we’re struggling.” Even if you’re not in high school, the season has been affected. For Alexander Swack ’19, his first season of college baseball has been taken away. “We were very excited, as a team, to go on our trip to Arizona, and to play together because we had been working [towards the season]. We had been together since August, and it just sucks because it won’t be the same group [of guys] in the fall because of people moving on, so it’ll be different. We didn’t have a chance to actually play[together this season].” Swack says. For college seasons being canceled, it means that the players gain their year of eligibility back. “This year didn’t really count [sports wise]. Next year I’ll go in for sports as a freshman, but academic wise as a sophomore,” Swack explains on his standings for next year. Drew Klein ’20, hopes for the baseball season to happen so he can go to state in his senior year with the rest of his teammates.“It hasn’t really affected me all that much, I’m still working hard at baseball every day, trying to get better. [I’m] hoping we start June 1 when they said we can.” Klein wishes that he can go to college to continue his academic and sporting career. “As a senior, I’m sad that I didn’t get to finish my senior year how I planned and didn’t get to spend it with my friends, but I don’t care a whole lot about walking across the stage, I’m just more excited about my diploma and graduating.”
-DREW KLEIN ‘20
ART & DESIGN BY HELELIA WA KALALA
SPORTS
MAY.26, 2020
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West Photography from Home Compiled by Nao Oya Designed by Sofia Wells-Lu
A collection of photos taken by West High students over their time at home. While it’s a new challenge for all of us, many students have fallen back on innovative practices such as photography to create new things.
Caroline Barker ‘22 “I wanted to represent the COVID pandemic in a photo and the idea of being surrounded and almost suffocated by essential items that had been running out in stores... I thought framing myself in the mask with all those products and piling them on top of each other would create a kind of chaotic and stressful feel to the photo. I don’t have a specific process for inspiration for photos, but I surround myself with photographers I admire! I follow lots on instagram and look at Pinterest when I need inspiration.”
Owen Aanestad ‘22 “I usually cover sports for West Side Story so when coronavirus canceled sports worldwide it was hard not only not being able to take pictures of west high athletes but watching college and professional athletes. I think the biggest thing I love about it is having the ability to kinda freeze time. With sports photography, there is nothing more exciting than hearing that shutter go at the perfect time to get the shot you want. Also just the ability to get creative and produce things that other people want to see. “
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PHOTOGRAPHY MAY 26, 2020
Paras Bassuk ‘21 ”Over the course of my time in social isolation, I have been shooting a lot. Without my friends as subjects, I have focused on developing more complex styles of self portraiture that are much more than selfies. Experimenting with lighting, new focal lengths and shutter speeds, composition, editing styles and compost work in Photoshop has been very rewarding and fun. I owe my interest in photography to my exposure to art and design through my family and community my whole life.”
Design and art by Sofia Wells-Lu Compiled by Nao Oya
Alyssa Skala ‘21 “I have been taking some pictures, not many though since I’m more of a sports photographer, but I’ve been taking pictures of nature when I go on walks. I have been reading and practicing my skills for when the sports seasons start back up! I honestly have been very productive during quarantine on the photography side of things, I’ve gone through so many of my photos via Google photos and deleted ones that didn’t turn out, or lightly edited ones I really liked. I currently have over 100,000 photos stored in Google photos right now so I’m trying to sort them and really find the best one to post on my photography account.”
PHOTOGRAPHY
MAY 26, 2020
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Direction Connect the dots by following the numbers in order to complete and reveal the outline of our surprise image related to our issue’s topics. You can have more fun by adding colors to the final outline and make sure to send us your amazing drawings! ART & DESIGN: OLIVIA BOEGLIN, HELELIA WA KALALA