ENGINEERING CLASSES BUILD PROJECTS

Exploring Engineering

Blake Kruse, sophomore, works on his Drafting 1 assignment during fourth hour, which is designed to teach students what they would see if they cut through an object. The big takeaway is to teach students the architectural understandings of an object’s interior. Photograph by Shyam Punnachalil

New Architecture Club encourages creativity

shyam PUNNACHALIL

students’ brains. “Architecture develops those ideas and creates After visiting Chicago and seeing its vast, towering problem-solving skills inside your brain that you will skyscrapers, Thanvi Ravala, junior, gained an interest hold onto for the rest of your life,” Starr said. “It’s so in architecture. good for you. It’s almost like having your vegetables.”

“For many people, nature is something that they Starr is in the process of acquiring more resources might consider beautiful,” Ravala said. “I feel the from architectural businesses in the St. Louis area. same way for the skyscrapers I saw.” “It’ll be very beneficial for students to work with

Ravala decided to start the Architecture Club, with resources that actual architects work with,” Starr the goal of formulating said. designs for different types of 3D models and building them with a hands-on “It’s so good for you. It’s almost like having your vegetables.” Saadhvika Mohan Singh, junior, joined the club because she wanted to approach. express herself. Kelsey Starr, art teacher, sponsors the club because of her fascination with 3D Kelsey Starr, art teacher “It takes a lot more creative energy in comparison to something sculptures. like drawing,” Mohan

“With 3D, we create things with different Singh said. materials, and architecture just perfectly fits in that Mohan Singh enjoys designing architecture to lift role,” Starr said. people up.

Starr said she enjoys seeing the design process of “Being able to express yourself through 3D sculptures in the club with the students involved. architecture and sculptures allows for people to be

“I love the brainstorming and creativity behind it,” there and feel your impact through your message. It’s Starr said. “I love seeing what my students can make empowering,” Mohan Singh said. and design with from just simple ideas.”

Starr said 3D art and architecture is good for

Rusty Willis, senior, makes an updated trail condition monitering apps in his engineering classes. Photograph by Aubrey Lacavich

Rusty’s trusty biking solution

aubrey LACAVICH

Engineering Design and Development teaches students how to use their problem-solving skills in order to create a solution to a real-life inconvenience they face.

Rusty Willis, senior, undertook finding a faster way to update trail condition monitoring apps. As an avid biker, Willis comes across the problem of unusable trails quite often, even if they aren’t marked on the apps.

His project is a kiosk located at a park that will update the trail condition apps when someone submits an update. Inside, protected with waterproof material, a computer chip will receive and send the updates.

“I’m replacing the apps with a physical kiosk to make updating the app quicker,” Willis said.

issue IV New art class features fibers, printmaking

aubrey LACAVICH · willem HUMMEL

Janyla Holsur, senior, is excited to start her weaving project this week.

Holsur is one of many students taking the new Fibers and Printmaking class.

Holsur said hooking looms are used in the course along with woodcarving and plaster.

The class helps teach time management and patience, Holsur said.

“You have to wait for things to dry,” Holsur said. “It will take a whole class and then you have to wait until the next class so you can start working on it again.”

Melissa Wilson decided to teach Fibers and Printmaking after meeting with art teachers in the district during curriculum writing. “Printmaking and fiber were kind of missing from the curriculum, so we put them together and made a new class,” Wilson said.

So far the class has completed printmaking techniques, macrame, silk screening and is just now starting a weaving unit. Students are using new tabletop looms for their unit project.

Wilson is allowing students to pick either printing or weaving for the final course project.

Miranda Linenbroker, senior, said her favorite part of the course is the many different techniques of printing. They have made their own stamps and have silk-printed tote bags and shirts.

“I like it because I took painting, and I think it’s easier than that,” Linenbroker said. “But it’s also fun because it’s something we’ve never done before.”

Ava Nordman, junior, is taking the class after receiving the recommendation from their counselor. Nordman’s favorite project was the intaglio project. They scratched a design into plastic, pushed ink into it and pressed it onto paper.

“The class is much more experimental compared to other classes,“ Nordman said. “You can do a lot more of what you want to do than just what the prompt says.”

1. & 2. Juniors Ava Nordman and Marquese Roberts work on their weaving project for their Fibers and Printmaking class that started new this year. 3. Ava Nordman, junior, used carving and ink skills for this intaglio project by carving into plastic and stamping ink. 4. Nordman also silk printed a t-shirt and tote bag. 5. Ava Westhues, senior, works on screenpainting and creates a stencil to apply to bags and shirts.

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Photographs by Shyam Punnachalil and Aubrey Lacavich

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Collectible Craze

Items become more valuable in collections

Coin collecting is the 2nd most popular collection type in the country

Information from newson6

Hannah Brandon, senior

Collects foreign coins

jacob ROBINSON • rue SIDDIQUI

What might be an ordinary object used to attach photos and invites to a refrigerator to most is a collector’s item to sophomore Evan Voelker.

The collection began when Voelker was a child and his mother brought back a magnet from an international work trip. Voelker said he was intrigued by the design and wanted to know what magnets from around the world looked like. So, his mother continued the practice.

“They remind me that she was thinking of me during the trip,” Voelker said. “I get excited when she comes home because I get to see her again and I get a new magnet.”

Now, Voelker has 12 magnets and counting. He said his favorites are three from Dubai that are durable and of high quality.

“If something is meaningful to you, it’s absolutely worth it to collect it,” Voelker said.

Voelker isn’t alone in collecting. In fact, approximately 40 percent of the American population collects something, according to Psychology Today.

WORLD CONNECTION

Like Voelker, many collectors collect items from around the world to serve as souvenirs and mementos.

While browsing a gift shop in Key West, Florida, as a child, Rayan Khan, junior, stumbled upon a keylime pie key chain. After being told the pie originated in Key West, Khan purchased the key chain as a memento of the trip.

“It became a habit,” Khan said. “Whenever my family went somewhere, we would get something that was unique to that geographic region. Something to remember that trip by.”

Since then, Khan has collected more than 100 souvenirs. His favorites include a china set depicting Australian birds from Australia, a wine bottle set from Hungary and a Mughal-era portrait from Pakistan.

“It’s cool to have things from different parts of the world,” Khan said. “Not only because it helps us understand and learn about different cultures, but also because it has helped me learn a lot about myself and what my interests are.”

Similarly, Hannah Brandon, senior, has accumulated a piggy bank of various coins from around the world. Brandon said she credits her mom for the idea, as she would bring back the currency from whichever country she was traveling to for work.

Once Brandon began traveling herself, she continued the tradition.

Brandon said her favorite was the Bahamian dol-

lar.

“I like to compare the coins to what we have in America,” Brandon said. “It’s crazy how a bunch of money in a different country really only means $1 in America.”

Brandon said the coins give her a glimpse into different cultures and parts of the world that she otherwise wouldn’t have.

“It’s a great way to have a souvenir,” Brandon said. “Especially if you don’t want to buy something.”

NOSTALGIA

Another one of these collectors is Dylan Porath, sophomore.

Throughout his childhood, David Porath, sophomore, remembers building LEGOs with his family. “They’re all around the house, my dad has them, my brother has them, so it’s a family thing,” Porath said.

His father’s love of the toy as a kid was passed down to him, and as a result, Porath has been collecting LEGO sets ever since.

Though his collection includes nearly 40 sets, Porath said the Minecraft ones hold a special place in his heart.

Porath said he plans to pass the tradition down to his own kids someday.

“When I’m older, I’ll collect even more, probably,” Porath said. “It’s one of those things that is always fun and nostalgic for me, so I want to pass that down.”

The feeling of nostalgia is the reason why Lisa Del Pizzo, science teacher, collects snow globes.

“I’ve always loved Christmas time,” Del Pizzo said. “When my kids were little, I’d get them Disney snow globes, and after that I continued to buy them. Now I

Seek & Find

Bring this issue to Room 226 with these items circled on the cover before Wednesday, Dec. 21, to earn candy: Lego girl • green paperclip heart • mini gnome figurine • green pin • Rubik’s cube • Altoids tin • crochet hook • yellow magnet • frendship bracelet • snow globe • turtle keychain

7 LEGO sets are sold every second

Information from southlakestyle

Items become more valuable in collections

have a collection that I’ve named ‘snowglobe city’.”

Out of the 30 snow globes Del Pizzo has collected over the years, she said her favorite features a red station wagon with a Christmas tree on top.

“It just makes me happy,” Del Pizzo said.

PSYCHOLOGY

While there are both internal and external factors that motivate people to collect, there is a psychological explanation for it as well.

The endowment effect describes humans’ tendency to value something more once they own it. Therefore, people feel more inclined to purchase and collect these items as they will hold more value to them, according to Shirley M. Mueller, neuroscientist and collector.

This phenomenon is called the oddball experiment. Specific areas of the human brain light up when the unusual is presented, which can explain why people seek novelty when collecting.

Other collectors collect to feel closer to history through acquisition of antiques, and others may enjoy the intellectual satisfaction it brings.

Aside from these ideas, collectors are motivated by the simpler sense of pride when they find something to add to their collection.

“My collection is not the biggest, but I am pretty proud of it and what it may some day become,” Voelker said.

Evan Voelker, sophomore Collects magnets

A collector of fridge magnets is called “memomagnetist”

Information from claycritters

Looking Local

Rayan Khan, junior Collects souvenirs

The largest keychain collection is 62,257 by Angel Alvarez Cornejo

Information from guinnessworldrecords

Collectibles like baseball cards and bobble heads can be bought from 1,000,000 Baseball Cards. The store has been open since 1989. Photograph by Jacob Robinson

1,000,000 Baseball Cards

14560 Manchester Rd

Card shops, pawn shops, antique stores and gift shops are hubs for collecting.

Though the store specializes in baseball cards, they carry many sports-related items.

Tom Wallis, an associate at 1,000,000 baseball bards, has been a collector for 40 years. Wallis started collecting Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears memorabilia while living in Chicago during his adolescence.

“It’s a part of your nostalgia, your memories as a kid,” Wallis said. “You know my dad took me to Wrigley Field when I was 8 years old, and seeing a baseball game for the first time and I got to meet a bunch of the Cubs players when I was eight years old, that’s really a cool thing.”

Wallis said he really loves sports as a whole, which sparked his interest in collecting.

“Well everybody collects something. It’s just a fun hobby, whether it’s Beanie Babies, antiques or Pokemon,” Wallis said.

Antique items and collectibles like figurines, cups and other miscellaneous items are sold at the Chesterfield Antique Mall. Photograph by Rue Siddiqui

Chesterfield Antique Mall

16635 Old Chesterfield Rd

Jamie Walters, manager at Chesterfield Antique Mall, has been a vendor at the store for eight years. Walters has noticed a change in the items that are popular now versus in the past.

“Now, collectibles are selling like crazy again,” Walters said. “There was a bit of a lull for a couple of years, but especially now that it’s Christmas time, people are collecting vintage christmas items. It’s funny when we have toys come in that are similar to the toys I played with as a kid.”

Walters said she interacts with hundreds of people every day, and each one is looking for something different to either add to or help begin their collection.

“Everybody collects something on some level,” Walters said. “It’s like a treasure hunt, who doesn’t want a good treasure hunt?”