September 2017

central

FOCUS VOLUME 21, ISSUE 1, SEPTEMBER 2017 FRANCIS HOWELL CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

F

ighting

with

Fetsch

Math teacher, Sensations coach Roxanne Fetsch battles B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, bringing her life to a standstill

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SEPTEMBER 2017

ABOUT

DEAR READERS,

On Aug 8, math teacher and Sensations coach Roxanne Fetsch was admitted to the ER with severe back pain. Within the week, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, also called ALL, a disease rarely found in young adults. Although it has a 95 percent survival rate when diagnosed early enough — which it was — the entire experience has been physically and emotionally taxing on Mrs. Fetsch. In this issue, the Central Focus shares the story of her battle.

STAFF

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Skylar Laird & Emily Mann & Belen Herrera DISCOVER EDITOR: Garrett Allen FEATURE EDITOR: Liz Baker MOVE EDITOR: Juliet Fuhrmann VOICE EDITOR: Whitney Klein ENTERTAIN EDITOR: Millennia Simmons PHOTO EDITOR: Sydney Robbins VIDEO EDITOR: Connor Crites LIVESTREAM EDITOR: Zach Jones SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR: Tyler Summers STAFF REPORTERS: Catherine Analla, Craig Eddy, Carlin Bippen, Chloe Bockhorst, Kana Chung, Marcus Falcomata, Jennifer Ferry, Jessica Fults, Justin Hedrick, Bryce Lee, Reese McLaughlin, Gillian Pendel, Megan Percy, Lanie Sanders, Caroline Schroeder, PJ Sheehan, Talia Thambyrajah, Kira Zerbolio.

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS:

Alura Berry, Mackenzie Craven, Jordan Dusenberg, Kierston Fisher, Olivia Fong, Emily Hall, Brynlee Hendricks, Liv Hritzkowin, Grace James, Gracie Kruep, Gillian Lee, Zoe Lentz, Josie Prince, Ethan Wagman, Doug West.

THOUGHTS?

Have a letter for the editor or a question for us?

If something we wrote demands your voice, please e-mail us at fhcpub@gmail.com or drop your handwritten letter off with Mr. Schott in Room 139. The Central Focus staff will print the entirety of your letter, providing it meets the standards of publication laid out in the FHC Publications editorial policy, which is available in Room 139 or at www.fhctoday.com for your perusal.

CONNECT

FHCtoday.com is the online home of FHC Publications and serves as a hub for all of our breaking news, photography and video work. For all you need to know about the FHC community, head to FHCtoday.com

Social media is a vibrant part of FHC Publications publishing endeavors. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat by following us at @FHCToday. Instagram will focus on photography and videos and update daily, while Twitter is your go-to for places to get breaking news and links to all content on FHCtoday.com. Snapchat will let you see the fun side of what it’s like to be a member of FHC Publications, while our Spotify (@FHCPublications) will house all of the playlists you see in the Feature section of the paper.

WILL YOU GO TO HOCO?: Worried about having the best hoco-poposal? Look no further, Kira Zerbolia has plenty of options laid out for a proposal they won’t forget. PHOTO BY MILLENNIA SIMMONS

content

SEPTEMBER 2017

3

Extreme views ... 4-5

The rise of alt-right and antifa affects how people act, learn about current events.

FHSD finance update ... 6

Funding issues continue to affect experience in classrooms, activities

Meet the new faculty ... 7

Fourteen faculty are either new or in new roles this year. Get to know them.

In love with sound ... 9

Enjoyment of music fuels passion of Savannah Drnec and Joey Black.

Playing with style ... 10

St. Louis musicians styles reflect the city in which they’ve grown up.

Inside the art studio ... 12-13

AP Art Studio offers a less conventional class for artistic students .

NEW TEACHERS IN TOWN: Mr. Jacob Hudzinski, leans over junior Nicholas Cummings as he helps him with a math problem in Intermediate Algebra. Mr. Hudzinski began teaching this year, right after college. PHOTO BY LIV HRITZKOWIN

Lessons learned ... 14-17

The in-depth process Roxanne Fetsch has undergone since being diagnosed with b-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

A closer look ...

Information beneath the surface of common leukemia knowledge, and a further understanding of how you can help out Mrs. Fetsch.

Dance harder ... 20-21

Sensations use this tough time for their coach as a motivator to improve.

Battling back ... 22

Athletes are forced to be benched due to unfortunate injuries.

Get healthy ... 23

Working out is essential to a healthy lifestyle, even with a hectic schedule.

A LOVE/HATE THING: Skylar Laird and Reese McLaughlin share their contrasting views on the school’s annual Homecoming dance. PHOTO BY WHITNEY KLEIN

Meet your fall athletes ... 24-25 This year’s fall athletes reflect on their achievements .

Know your students ... 27

Jennifer Ferry encourages teachers to truly get to know those they teach.

Homecoming: YES! ... 28

Lean into everything that makes Homecoming amazing, Skylar Laird argues.

Homecoming: NO! ... 29

Reese McLaughlin says if the production of going to the dance isn’t your thing, don’t go.

SURROUNDED BY SOUND: Junior Bill Sanders looks at his music while in band class. Where musicians write music and grow as artists heavily impacts their music. PHOTO BY ETHAN WAGMAN

STEP IT UP: Members of Mrs. Jennifer Denny’s first hour Personal Lifetime Fitness class descend the stairs in Don Muench Memorial Stadium on Thursday, Sept.

14. PHOTO BY GILLIAN LEE

Fun science experiments ... 30

Rubber eggs, easy slime and fireworks in a jar make for scientific fun at home.

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SEPTEMBER 2017

DISCOVER

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

By Garrett Allen and Catherine Analla Discover Editor, Staff reporter

Directly following the campaign and electoral upset victory of President Donald Trump last year, a new wave of extremist rhetoric and violence has gripped the nation, dividing and polarizing the citizenry along party lines.

Recent events, including the 24 hours of horror in Charlottesville, Va. on Aug. 12, and the continuous farleft violence on the West Coast since February, have served to bring the political extremes into the center of the public eye, as well as that of the nation’s youth. While not as large as mainstream groups, extremists’ allor-nothing principles and increasing willingness to use violent action against opposition has called into question the stability of American political culture today.

Becoming extremist

In America, the vast majority of citizens lie in the “normal” spectrum of beliefs — either left (liberal) or right (conservative) — their beliefs varying hugely from issue to issue, but never within the realm of the

insane. Extremists lie far beyond Following the president’s casting those norms. And according to AP of a large part of the mainstream US Government and Politics teacher media as “fake news,” people have Mr. Nicholas Beckmann, recent been more likely to go to extreme circumstances have allowed it to sites in search of stories that confirm spread. their beliefs.

“There has been a push over the “That’s a problem, that’s how past two years to delegitimize extremism is perpetuated,” Mr. legitimate Beckmann said. news, and Among others, prop up A m e r i c a ’ s illegitimate youth is one news.

That’s of the most bad, when susceptible you can’t groups to trust your the allures sources,” Mr. of extremist Beckmann ideology.

To said. “Basically, Steve Smith, what it’s p r o f e s s o r come down of political to is any type science and of negative director of the - Prof. Steve Smith, poli sci professor coverage is We i d e n b a u m considered Center on the fraudulent or fake news, and that’s Economy, Government, and Public not true. And that’s the biggest Policy at Washington University in St. problem I’ve seen, because now Louis, it’s a matter of experience. people are going to places like “There is a tendency for young Breitbart and Mother Jones and the people to find some extremist Huffington Post because they’ve got appeals enticing, and I think that’s predetermined views looking for always been the case,” Prof. Smith backing.” said. “We hope that we devise a

“It only comes with experience to recognize the range of values that you’d like to see pursued, and the difficulty of balancing them.”

system of government so that these competing values can be balanced in a way that allows society as a whole to thrive, and that’s not easy for people to come to recognize.

It comes only with experience to recognize the range of values that you’d like to see pursued, and the difficulty of balancing them.”

Especially after the aggressively polarized election season that set young people into a frenzy of new beliefs and values, balance in any issue-based situation can come difficult to individuals devoted to their views. Lyndsey Barillier, freshman at Saint Louis University with majors in political science, international studies, and criminology, as well as FHC alum, thinks that in high school, it’s a matter of fear.

“It goes back to people being afraid to express their views, especially in high school,” Barillier said. “People are afraid of saying, ‘Hey, I can agree with this view on the left, but I also agree with this view on the right,’ which is completely fine.”

The lack of dialogue between people of different beliefs can lead to intolerance of not only the beliefs themselves, but the personalities of those who hold them.

DISCOVER

SEPTEMBER 2017

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“When are these people going to realize they’ve lost? You lost. You lost in 1865, you lost in 1945; stop being a Confederate, you’re not going to rise again; the Nazi Party is not coming back. It’s messed up.”

- Mr. Nicholas Beckmann, AP U.S. Government teacher “There are people who don’t know how to engage in proper dialogue, and don’t understand how to separate someone’s ideas from them as a person,” she said. “We attack ideas, [not] people.”

Neo-Nazis and supremacists far-right extremism

Perhaps the most prominent event of extremist violence in the 21st century, the “Unite the Right” rally planned at Charlottesville, Virginia on Aug. 12 in protest to the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee quickly de-escalated into street violence, incited by neoNazi and white supremacist groups against local residents.

The night before, a 350-plus march of white nationalists, carrying torches and chanting Nazi slogans like ‘Jews will not replace us’ and ‘Hail Victory’ (Sieg Heil), raged through the University of Virginia.

“People think of these white nationalists as these kind of rural area, rough around the edges kind of people, but a lot of those people were clean cut, from the middle class, the suburbs, and that’s the scariest part … that they felt it was okay to show their faces,” Mr. Beckmann said. “I think this has been a point in our society where it’s okay to be proud of your ‘nationalistic heritage,’ to not like [other groups], and that it’s ‘in the name of the United States.’”

For senior Caleb Mundle, conservative, the outright violence displayed by extremists using his party as a springboard was unacceptable and un-American.

“Those people are definitely not part of my party. They say they’re ‘patriots,’ and they use ‘patriotism,’ but it’s really nationalism,” Mundle said. “They’re not a part of my party, and I don’t see them as true, good American people. They don’t stand for American values.”

In the long run, the words of the new president may be affecting the rise of rightist extremism as well, according to Prof. Smith.

“There’s no doubt that Trump has articulated an intolerance that some groups, always poised to come to the surface, might take as a signal — that the ‘times have changed, that there’s a base of support out there, that we

just need to exploit,’” he said.

The far-right violence at Charlottesville concluded with a deliberate car-ramming of a crowd of peaceful counter-protesters by white nationalist Alex Fields Jr., 24, causing the injury of 19 and killing 32-year old Heather Hayes, a local resident and political activist. Though some news outlets were originally hesitant to say the words, to Barillier, it was indisputably an act of domestic terrorism.

“Of course it was. Anybody specifically using their views to enact a terrible act of violence like that is a terrorist,” Barillier said. “It doesn’t matter what they believe in; it doesn’t matter where they come from. It is terrorism, [and] typically the further forms of extremism can lead to violence and acts of terrorism.”

In Mr. Beckmann’s eyes, the culture of the extreme right is outdated and obsolete.

“I can’t believe we’re still having a conversation about the KKK and Nazism in 2017; when are these people going to realize they’ve lost?

You lost. You lost in 1865, you lost in 1945; stop being a Confederate, you’re not going to rise again; the Nazi Party is not coming back. It’s messed up,” he said.

Anti-fascism and free speech far-left extremism

On the opposite side of the nation, in the majority liberal states of California, Oregon, and Washington, an extremist group on the left has also emerged as a response both to the far-right and to Trumpian nationalism.

Calling themselves “Antifa” for anti-fascist, members have been inciting street violence, property damage, and most notably suppressing any opposing free speech, for months.

“One of the things I want to make sure [my students] realize is that the xenophobia [on the far-right] has led to extremism on the other side as well,” Mr. Beckmann said. “It’s helped lead to people like Antifa, who tell others ‘You can’t have free speech; you don’t have it if we don’t agree with it,’ and that’s wrong.”

While seemingly a force of good against evil, anti-fascists against fascists, Antifa shuts down the free

speech of any right-leaning source, whether it be an extremist, a Trump supporter, or a vocal Republican, labeling any non-liberal as “racist,” “supremacist,” or “Nazi,” and beating them in the streets when they peacefully protest.

“There’s no doubt that on the left, like on the right, there’s an intolerance of radical views on the opposite side,” Prof. Smith said.

“Self-proclaimed Nazis should not be let off the hook for their open affiliation with historical Nazism; it’s horrendous, and it violates basic American values. However, to condemn it to the point where those people should be prevented from speaking in public places is equally dangerous to the survival of American values.”

Though left-leaning herself, Barillier finds the violent suppression of Antifa, a group whose members are in her own party, as atrocious nonetheless.

“I strongly disagree with anybody who uses that kind of rhetoric toward anybody who holds an opposite view,” she said. “[We] should recognize and condemn those certain people. It is important to recognize that beating anybody is not okay, and we should hold that ideal to anybody on any party.”

Mundle concurred.

“They’re narrow-minded.

They don’t want to take in any sort of other ideas, [rather] they want to force their ideas upon people, which has never been something that America has stood for,” he said. “They claim to be ‘anti-fascist.’ I’m an anti-fascist too.”

Pushing back

Yet, with the silencing intolerance of the far-left and the racist white supremacy of the far-right polarizing both spectrums farther and farther, the path to peace agreed upon by all is a return to moderateness, open dialogue, and tolerance.

“You can be objective and care, that’s what a physician tries to do.

There is a ninth grade civics view that to be sophisticated in public affairs means to take sides, and I think that’s basically a mistaken view,” Prof.

Smith said. “I think what we need to do is rise above the players who are taking sides, come to recognize

the legitimate values that each side is advocating, and look for a way to see that our public policies reflect a balance of those competing but legitimate values.”

To find balance between sides, however, requires a trait largely disappeared from American politics: empathy. Barillier believes it is critical to stemming the flow of extremism in America.

“You need to be willing to understand where they’re coming from,” she said. “You need to be willing to understand that they might have parents who are completely extremist; you have to be willing to understand where they grew up, what kind of financial situation they’re in. You need to be open-minded about where they’re coming from, because that can affect a lot of your views on the world. Have compassion.”

“I think people should maybe just take a step back, just talk, try to understand where [people] are actually coming from,” Mundle added.

According to Prof.

Smith, compassion is not a simple thing to achieve, especially in the American democracy.

“Protecting democracy and democratic values is an ugly business; it’s not an efficient business,” he said. “It requires extreme tolerance, and [that] is not something that comes easy.”

As extremism continues to shock America, and the Trump presidency reaches its 8th month, the future is uncertain for the stability of beliefs and values between people. Extremism is not going away; furthermore, it will continue to attempt to attract newcomers, primarily the youth, through the moments in which we are at our most vulnerable. One thing that can go though, according to Barillier, is fear.

“Don’t be afraid. In general, just don’t be afraid; don’t be afraid to speak with somebody about hard things that need to be talked about; don’t be afraid of somebody for what their opinion is; don’t be afraid to voice your own opinion; don’t be afraid to hear something that is against your own views,” she said. “You can be in the middle, and that is all right. Don’t be afraid to be peaceful. Don’t be afraid.”

“You can be in the middle, and that is all right. Don’t be afraid to be peaceful. Don’t be afraid.”

- Lyndsey Bariller, SLU freshman

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SEPTEMBER 2017

DISCOVER

Straining the system Repercussions of Proposition Howell showing up in classrooms FULL HOUSE: In classes like this one, space is limited with 30 or more kids filling the room, affecting the learning process and concentration of the students in it. “They distract me a lot more and make me get less learning done. There is slower progress in class and my grades are generally lower. It can even make me a little anxious or stressed if everyone is taking or being distracting in class,” junior Jackson Timblin said. PHOTO BY SYDNEY ROBBINS

By Liz Baker

on a personal level when there’s not 30 of them in Feature Editor a class,” Mr. Beckmann said.

In the wake of the failed Proposition Howell in Classroom size not only affects the teachers, the local 2016 election cycle, things have changed but the amount of disruptions a class has, for both faculty and students. It has become especially for a student like Jackson Timblin, evident in athletic and academic lives. Previously, junior, whose Pre-AP Calculus and Pre-AP people were cautioned about expanded Chemistry classes have 30+ students in them. He classrooms, lack of resources, an activity fee and finds it harder to focus in large classes where he a loss of teachers. sees the disturbance 30 or more teenagers can For faculty such as Mr. Nicholas Beckmann, cause in a room. they’ve seen these changes in the way things are “There are a lot of differences [between small going in their sections of and large classes]. The the school. Mr. Beckmann teachers are obviously has seen changes in more stressed the larger his class sizes, which the class they have; go beyond just a more students are usually more crowded classroom. distracted and prone to be “The biggest problem distracting,” Timblin said. really is the size of classes “A lot of the time in larger and loss of teachers. When classes the kids feel like you have 30 AP kids, 32 they have more anonymity AP kids, 33 freshman in so they tend to act up more a class, that takes its toll and cause distractions. on teachers especially Whether it be kids talking - Jackson Timblin, junior when it’s 5-6 hours a day,” in class, or on their phones Mr. Beckmann said. “The or even picking fights, students feel it too, when kids are in crowded there just seems to be more distractions and less classrooms there’s less of a desire to speak out, so learning in my larger size classes.” kids like smaller classrooms, teachers like smaller The lack of money in the district can and does classrooms, and the environment’s better in go beyond school borders. Educators are seeing smaller classes.” a change in the way they’re paid along with the The growth in class sizes puts limits on the disruption in classroom life. assignments a teacher can assign and affects how “Teachers’ pay has been frozen. This is my fourth well they can get to know their students, which Mr. time in 12 years that my pay has been frozen. [It’s Beckmann puts value to in his classroom. something] some people don’t care about, but “The size of the classroom [is affecting me]. as a teacher, that’s the only way [we get raises],” When you teach an AP Class, you want to give Mr. Beckmann said. “There’s no bonus system, no more writing, but all writing needs to be graded. I commission or anything like that. You just expect have 150 AP kids, and if you do essays, that’s a lot of a raise every year because of experience, and the essays to grade. It’s a lot easier to get to know kids scale, and the step. When it gets frozen, it affects

“The teachers are obviously more stressed the larger the class they have; students are usually more distracted and prone to be distracting.”

us, because the cost of living continues to rise and we make the same amount.”

Along with many challenges on the academic side of the school, the athletes and their activities department are also adapting to a new way of life starting with Athletic Department Director Scott Harris.

“This year, to avoid additional cuts, the Board of Education has implemented an activity fee and additional cuts/reductions in transportation to sporting events, limiting return home transportation to trips over 15 miles or extreme circumstances,” Harris said.

Any student who plays for a school sport or participates in clubs or co-curricular classes must pay an activity fee of $40 starting this year. Among the changes is a new game transport rule.

The activity fee and bus differences are not the only things affecting students. Previously, the activities department and budget had been cut by 32 percent. This year, the cuts continued; there are fewer coaches and student managers this school year.

“Having less coaches impacts the quality of instruction that our student-athletes receive in their respective sports and cutting sponsors reduces the number of clubs we can offer and limits opportunities for our students to be attached to school, which we feel is very important,” Mr. Harris said.

While the changes are widespread and range in level of intensity, the district is in damage control mode. They are trying to make the best of the situation and cut and affect the students as little possible.

“They’re trying to balance the best learning environment with a declining budget. They try to make the little changes they can without completely overhauling the system. They’re just trying the best they can,” Mr. Beckmann said.

DISCOVER

SEPTEMBER 2017

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OLD SCHOOL, FRESH FACES: (From left to right) Mr. Michael Crowell has dialogue in Spanish with his Spanish I students. When in high school, Spanish was a weakness; he now has a doctorate in it.

Mrs. Laura Swetnam explains an element of the writing process to English III students. Her passion for the humanitiies and English drives her to communicate the art form to her students.

Mr Jacob Hudzinski takes questions on a mathematical concept from his Algebra I students. His youth compared to the majority of FHC’s faculty has helped him resonate with students in class.

PHOTOS BY SYDNEY ROBBINS, BELEN HERRERA and LIV HRITZKOWIN

A new home

New teachers ENGLISH Mrs. Melissa Fry Mrs. Laura Swetnam Ms. Chrissy Young MATH Mrs. Brittany Williams Mr. Jacob Hudzinski PE Mr. Brett Bevill Mrs. Malach Radigan FACS Mrs. Tracy Gruener INDUSTRIAL TECH Mrs. Andrea Elliott SPED Mrs. Maggie Parks WORLD LANGUAGE Mr. Michael Crowell Mrs. Jennifer Liberson SCIENCE Mrs. Kellie Staback Mr. Brian Bitney

Faculty adds diverse new members to its 2017-18 team

By Carlin Bippen Staff reporter

The new school year has begun and not only does it bring new students, but new teachers.

There are 19 new faculty members FHC has decided to take on for the 2017-18 school year. Many departments, such as English, math, P.E, FACS, industrial tech, administration, guidance, the learning commons, special education, world language, science, and industrial tech, contain new staff members. From various backgrounds, new faculty members are having different experiences when it comes to making the shift into FHC. Mr. Michael Crowell is a new Spanish I and II teacher. His passion for teaching Spanish grew from his previous struggles with it.

“I was really bad at [Spanish], like terrible (and you probably shouldn’t say that as a teacher) but it was the first thing I really struggled with so I spent a lot of time trying to get better at it. I figured out the problem wasn’t that I was bad, it was the way I was being taught. It wasn’t the greatest so I wondered if there was a different way to do it,” Mr. Crowell said.

Although Mr. Crowell is new to FHC, he is not new to teaching at high schools.

Crowell has been teaching for nine years, at schools such as Troy Buchanan and Kirkwood. Over the years, the different schools each brought their own different experiences regarding their quirks and

what they hold important.

Mr. Crowell also noticed differences in the student bodies. New students bring new personalities, some that might have been unexpected.

“I didn’t expect the kids to be so nice. I expected them to be like normal high school kids, but all of my Spanish I’s, for example, I’ve never had such a great group of kids,” Mr. Crowell said.

Within the Communication Arts department, Mrs. Laura Swetnam — English I, Pre-AP English, and English 3 teacher — is experiencing a lot of new changes. Mrs. Swetnam has traveled from her family and previous job in Ohio and is feeling the differences.

“I came to a new city, and I’m learning a new school, and a new job, and a new life, and a new everything- so that’s been hard,” Mrs. Swetnam said.

Despite the shift in location, she has found that as far as the students are concerned there is not as much variation as one might expect.

“Teaching English to high school students is not as different in different states as people might think, because kids are kids — and they look different and they come from different places — but ultimately they are a lot more alike than they are different,” Mrs. Swetnam said.

The art form of English is what brought Mrs. Swetnam to where she is now.

“Since the time I was little, I loved reading and writing, and I think that stories have

power to connect us to ourselves and each other and the world around us in a way that other things don’t,” Mrs. Swetnam said.

Overall, Mrs. Swetnam is excited to start her new journey of teaching at FHC. the math department gained a new teacher this year, Mr. Jake Hudzinski, recent Francis Howell High graduate, teaches algebra I, geometry, and intermediate algebra.

“This is my first job [teaching]; so I’m brand new,” Mr. Hudzinski said.

Mr. Hudzinski explains what it’s like being affiliated with the two high schools, “I coach soccer at Howell and we played Central last week on Thursday; it’s fun. I do have students that play on the soccer team and so it’s fun to have that little bit of rivalry.

I love it,” Mr. Hudzinski said.

Getting a high school teaching job right out of college has been an interesting experience for Mr. Hudzinski.

“The atmosphere definitely feels the same, the only difference is during high school I probably didn’t talk a lot during classes. Now I’m the one talking and that’s the only difference. Other than that it still feels the same; I don’t feel that much older than everyone, because I’m not. But it is a cool experience to be this young as a teacher,” Mr. Hudzinski said.

The new staff is headed toward success as they learn the ins and outs of FHC, and are excited for their journey.

“I love teaching, I love working with high school students, I think they’re the best,” Mrs. Swetnam said. “I’m happy to be here.”

SEPTEMBER 2017

DISCOVER

2017-18 YEARBOOK FORM

FHC, SAY WHAT?!?!

Reserve your copy of the 2017-18 yearbook at registration.

Cost of the book is now $50.

You can also order the book online: www.jostens.com (this goes live on July 25)

Order form for the 2017-18 yearbook

Grade: ____

Date:________

Cash: ____

Check#_____ All checks must be made payable to FHC Publications

RECEIPT

The price of the yearbook will be $50 until Friday, Dec. 22, 2017.

After that date, the price will rise to $65 until the end of the school year.

Staff signature:

GET YOUR YEARBOOK FOR FREE!!

FHC Publications has partnered with Club’s Choice to give FHC students the chance to earn a free yearbook.

Sell 15 tubs of cookie dough and you’ll get your 2017-18 copy of the Odyssey for free.

Order forms are available at our table at summer registration DEADLINES Order forms to Rm. 139: August 28, 2017 Cookie pick-up: Sept. 28, 2017 in room 139 2:30-5p

Name: _________________________________________

RECEIPT

8

____________________ REMINDER: All high school yearbooks are delivered at summer registration for the following school year.

Collect all money/ checks (made out to FHC Publications) at the time of order. Money is due when order forms are turned in.

Questions? matthew.schott@ fhsdschools.org 636.851.5636 Room 139 @FHC

feature

SEPTEMBER 2017

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Concerts attended in 2017 by Savannah Drnec:

A DAILY LIFESTYLE: Senior Joey Black plays the alto saxophone in wind ensemble. “I play music for two hours everyday in class and I usually practice at least every other day for about two hours. Sometimes in study hall I leave to go practice because I don’t have any other homework,” Black said.

PHOTO BY SYDNEY ROBBINS

Music’s provoking prevalence Music has the ability to reach us on many levels

By Talia Thambyrajah

Staff Reporter Music is no doubt an important aspect of life in general. Simply listening to music during a strenuous school day can alter your mood. Listening to music over your headphones is one thing, but listening to live music entails an entirely different atmosphere and frame of mind.

For sophomore Savannah Drnec, life is packed with attending concerts with her family and enjoying music on a daily basis.

Imagine your life without music.

Weird, right? The absence of music in life could dramatically alter our lifestyle; for some more than others. We are exposed to music every day, whether we realize it or not.

Music connects us, it connects the world. It has the ability to communicate and express feelings and moods that we may not be able to put into words, and reaches us on intellectual, social, emotional and even spiritual levels.

Many of us, though, take for granted all that music offers.

“I usually go with my brothers [to concerts], and we usually go about two times a week, maybe even more,” Drnec said. “Over summer, we saw over twenty [bands].”

Attending concerts is an eye-

opening experience for her; when in the moment, she realizes how similar everyone who is attendance at the concert is, and how the music brings about community for people who may not know one another.

“Everyone [at concerts are] the same,” Drnec said. “My favorite part is getting really excited when [the band] comes out on stage.”

Music hits home at an emotional level for Drnec.

“There is a lot of different emotions that come with music,” Drnec said.

“Sometimes sad and sometimes happy, it just kind of depends on how I’m feeling at the time.”

The life of Drnec, without question, revolves around listening to and enjoying music on a daily basis, like many of us. Whether it be listening to music to block out the stressors of life, or to simply meditate in peace, tunes that appeal to our ears can drastically transform our moods and emotions with ease.

For senior Joey Black, music is a considerable fraction of his life, both during and outside of school.

He is involved in wind and jazz ensemble playing alto saxophone and in marching band after school, in addition to several hours of at-home practice of his instrument. Black’s

appreciation for music in general has grown tremendously since he began playing in the sixth grade.

“The more I stopped and slowed down to play [music] the more I appreciated listening to it,” Black said.

“Which made me want to play even more … it’s a loop.”

Similar to Drnec, music has had an emotional impact on Black, as well as an intellectual impact.

“You can’t put words to the it [emotions you have when you play music] because if you could we wouldn’t really need music to do it for us,” said Black. “Music is really important, though, because it can express ideas that just can’t be said through words.”

For Mr. Andrew Messerli, one of the band teachers here at FHC and at Saeger Middle School, music is a crucial aspect of his everyday life.

“Music is my entire life. If I didn’t have music, I wouldn’t be anywhere and my life would be less purposeful,” Mr. Messerli said.

Music is, obviously, an imperative fraction of our lives. It has the ability to do many things; it accommodates our moods and develops our inner being.

There are thousands upon thousands of articles that demonstrate the benefits of music, for which Drnec, Black, and Messerli can all testify for.

Red Hot Chili Peppers Panic at the Disco Kings of Leon Sturgill Simpson Death Cab for Cutie Wiz Khalifa MGMT Ben Harper 2 Chainz Grouplove Ziggy Marley Silversun Pickups Midnight Oil Taking Back Sunday Highly Suspect Booker T. Jones The 1975 Los Growlers The xx Cage the Elephant The Shins Chet Faker Portugal the Man Moon Taxi Catfish and the Bottlemen Fidlar Los Growlers Warpaint Car Seat Headrest Twin Peaks Temples Pond Pup Saint Motel Ryan Adams Band of Horses Phoenix Franz Ferdinand Lewis Del Mar MGMT Mac DeMarco Shaggy Modest Mouse Morning Teleportation Glass Animals Electric Guest 30 Seconds to Mars Muse Grateful Dead John Mayer Third Eye Blind Alt-J Snoop Dogg Houndmouth Run the Jewels Nathaniel Rateliff Weezer

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Sound affects

Exploring how St. Louis impacts its’ musicians and their art MUSIC: Bill Sanders, junior, looks over sheet music, and plays the guitar in sixth hour jazz ensemble. “In cities like New York and Los Angeles, I feel like you’d have a lot more opportunities. But with all that said, I wouldn’t really want to be anywhere else but here,” Sanders said. PHOTO BY ETHAN WAGMAN

By Lanie Sanders Staff reporter

People tend to adapt to their surroundings, and this is demonstrated by the way local musicians’ art is affected by their environment.

Depending on the mood of the city you’re from, your music tends to reflect that. With the music industry being primarily based in larger cities such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New York City, it poses the question: How does being from St. Louis affect local musicians?

Personal connections are what make music so powerful. When people hear something they can relate to, it makes the experience more enjoyable. Since art is a reflection of the soul, one could be left wondering if the city in which the musician is raised impacts their sound. We’ve all heard the phrase ‘nurture vs. nature’, but how does this relate to music? Nurture is a combination of external influences, including, how, when, and where you were raised. But nature is all internal, it’s how you feel about yourself, and your overall outlook on life.

Junior Bill Sanders, guitarist and singer of his band, The Slow Boys, gave his impression on how the city can affect the sound of a band.

“St. Louis is a depressing city,” Sanders said.

“That definitely puts a sense of hopelessness in a person.” Sanders went on to explain people are like sponges, when something bad

happens, even those who are not affected will feel some sort of pain. Certain areas exude negativity, and are a breeding ground for creativity. “Nothing identifies with people more than sad songs, or songs that at least sound sad.”

Likewise, it is safe to assume that the popular genres, and the unique sound of an area shape local musicians writing processes.

Focusing on jazz, we know that style of music is saturated in areas such as New Orleans. So if a composer from the Midwest were to move there, would their sound change?

When analyzing music, it is imperative that we look at the professional point of view. Andrew Messerli, the AP music theory teacher, expressed his opinion on whether or not moving to a different area would impact one’s music.

“I think it depends if they want [it] to,” Mr. Messerli said, “Composers generally pull from their lives, but one could isolate themselves and not have that effect.”

With the times changing rapidly, it is often difficult to keep up. In this day and age, there isn’t really the location barrier we’ve faced in the past. Music sharing platforms have streamlined the way musicians get discovered.

Senior Travis Ketteman, the bassist and singer of Year III, shared his gratitude for the way streaming platforms have helped him.

“In our community, we are very centered around music, so any forward motion in any

genre is always appreciated,” Travis Ketteman said.

It’s no surprise St. Louis is a smaller city, so when you think of cities centered around music, you probably don’t picture ours. With technology evolving at an alarming pace, this is becoming less and less of an issue.

Networking is a huge part of the industry, and greatly affects whether or not the word gets out.

“A lot of it is somewhat based on who you know, a lot of times, if you meet someone who is involved in the music scene here, they’ll have friends that are in a bunch of different bands,” Sanders said, “The internet definitely helps a lot though, but it is mainly who you know.”

When analyzing situations, it is important to ask ourselves, what if? What if you were born in a big city, how would that impact your soul, and your sound?

“In cities like L.A., there are lots of other rock groups. Here, it is a lot easier to be different,” Ketteman said.

Everyone has an opinion, the varied views and voices is what makes music so diversely beautiful. Where you grow up has a large impact on the person you turn out to be, and therefore creates an opportunity for a unique sound. Technology has had a huge impact on the sharing of music, and the discovery of new artists. Whether or not the impact is positive, or negative, St. Louis is home.

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1930

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1930: Josephine Baker sang professionally for the first time in 1930, and soon became an international superstar.

1965: Fontella Bass shot to fame with her single ‘Don’t Mess Up a Good Thing.’

She found immediate success reaching the top five on R&B radio.

1968: ‘Stoned Soul Picnic’ by The 5th Dimension reached #3 on the Hot 100, and stayed there for three weeks in the summer.

1984: ‘How Will The Wolf Survive?’ was produced

by St. Louis native T-Bone Burnett in 1984. This album was ranked #30 on Rolling Stone’s top 100 albums of the 80’s.

MAKING MUSIC: Much like T-Bone Burnett, Mr. Andrew Messerli has a large impact on music. Although he doesn’t make his own music, he aids in the direction of it; producing and directing are two major aspects of music that are often ignored.

PHOTO BY SYDNEY ROBBINS

2000: Nelly was put on the map by his debut album, ‘Country Grammar’ it reached #7 on the Hot 100, and #1 for Hot Rap Tracks

2001: R&B singer Toya, hit #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 with her song ‘I Do!!’

2008: Ludo’s single “Love Me Dead” peaked at #8 on Billboard Magazine’s ‘40 most played alternative songs.’

BAND PRACTICE: Travis Ketteman plays the trombone in third hour wind ensemble. “While environment has a huge impact on who you are, the music you write is an explanation of who you are,” Ketteman said. PHOTO BY SYDNEY ROBBINS

2004:Rapper J-Kwon’s 2004 single ‘Tipsy’ reached the #2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached international success by reaching top ten charts in the United Kingdom and Australia

2008

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A playlist to mellow out and pass the time as you drive through the streets of St. Louis.

Songs

1. “Do You Ever Think?” by Decedy

Trapped: Want to get away and think about something bigger than this small town?

Tired of being stuck in high school and want to escape to a world of music and midnight drives? Play this song.

2. “Santa Monica” by The Front Bottoms

Emotional: In need of a bop that’s upbeat and allows for sitting in emotions? Need to de-stress and have an easy listen? Play this song.

3. “Lust for Life” by Lana Del Rey

Hopeful: Are you living the perfect teenage experience and require a backdrop bop to motivate you to take full advantage? Play this (explicit) song.

4. “Drive” by Halsey

Melancholy: For when you’re just not feeling right and a melody to sway to is essential, play this song.

5. “18” by Anarbor

Rebellious: Feeling like you just want to grow up already? Like tattoos, piercings, and shaggy hair are the perfect outlet? Play this upbeat tune.

6. “Lovely” by Twenty-One Pilots

Hopeless: Self-doubt setting in and your thoughts are a jumbled, tangled, racing mess?

Clear your head with this song.

7. “Body Like A Back Road” by Sam Hunt

Romantic: Your romantic affairs are going well and need a country-pop anthem to bathe in that warm feeling? Bask in the feeling with this song.

8. “Bored to Death” by Blink-182 Angsty: A nice head banging tune for when the teenage, high school experience gets a little boring or disappointing and you need some inspiration, play this song.

9. “Castle on the Hill” by Ed Sheeran

Nostalgic: Need a slow song to reminisce and feel sentimental about your high school memories and experiences? Play this song.

10. “Somebody to Love” by Kings of Leon Lonely: When romantic endeavors aren’t doing going so hot and wallowing doesn’t sound great but expressing your feelings does, play this song.

CREATIVE AIDE: Though the class is based off individual work, Ms. Switzer helps students like Ashley Burgess tweak their projects to better convey their vision. “If she sees you struggling, or you can’t find what’s wrong with your piece, she sits down and talk you through it,” Burgess said. PHOTO

BY ZACH JONES

Art’s influence AP Art Studio’s atmosphere shapes its artists

By Caroline Schroeder

class, AP Studio Art, lead its students to dig deeper into Staff reporter their creativity and push themselves further mentally Whether it be a connection with a teacher whose than some could handle. The rigorous process of understanding may reach past that of a typical rubriccreating this portfolio not only aids in preparation based relationship, or an overall love for self-expression for college, but also becomes an expressive outlet for that sparks the drive for creating something from students like senior Alex Collins. nothing, the necessity for a mental and tactical “Art allows me to be more creative and innovative challenge is that of remarkable importance in the when it comes to designing things that are already in development of finding one’s my everyday life,” Collins said. self; this challenge can be Along with the personal found in art. There is more to benefits art suffices, it also poses learning than being taught as an opportune way to build a specific process in order to new relationships. In AP Studio, reach an absolute solution, the demanding deadlines of there is more to teaching than creating approximately one a director telling the correct way project per week can be a to resolve a problem, and there taxing process for students and is more to education than a list teachers alike, but the benefits of academic requirements that of completing this school yearmust be reached. long project include more than The importance of core classes just a portfolio to send to future -Alex Collins, senior such as mathematics and colleges; they also include the English have been emphasized formation of an understanding since elementary school, but support system within the AP throughout the years, art has had little recognition Studio class, for both students and teachers, according in its many benefits, psychologically and socially. to AP Studio teacher Ms. Judy Switzer.

According to senior and AP Studio Art student Ashley “It’s a very family-like [environment]. It’s so rigorous, Burgess, the benefits that come along with these art that we all suffer together and come out in the classes is evident, and hard to miss. end,” Switzer said. “We really bond over the whole “Art really, really has helped me be more outgoing. experience. It’s like climbing that mountain. You get to It has also helped me make connections with people places where you think you just can’t make it, and then through my art,” Burgess said. you have a breakthrough, and you get your second Art is more to its creator than just an object, and wind, and you’re off running again. It’s just an amazing the challenges of the 24-piece portfolio project-based opportunity.”

“Art allows me to be more creative and innovative when it comes to designing things that are already in my everyday life.”

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ARTISTIC ATMOSPHERE: Senior Tyler Dumas work tirelessly to finish their pieces for the class creating a unique atmosphere. “[The atmosphere is] very creative, you can take it in any direction you want.

It’s very chill and relax I would say,” Dumas said.

Although the environment remains relatively laid back, that does not cause the students to refrain from working hard on their pieces. PHOTO BY ZACH JONES

“We really bond over the whole experience. It’s like climbing that mountain. You get to places where you think you just can’t make it, and then you have a breakthrough, and you get your second win, and you’re off running again. It’s just an amazing opportunity.”

-Ms. Judy Switzer, AP Studio Art teacher

EFFICIENCY: Alex Collins, a senior, works diligently on the visual aspects of his artwork. Though Mrs. Switzer helps with many aspects of guiding the students through their projects, the class efficiency remains mostly on the basis of personal productivity, yet remains enjoyable. “[We] inspire each other and push ourselves to the best of our abilities, even though some people may think art is a waste of time and not a good choice,” Collins said. PHOTO BY ZACH JONES

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L

iving

with

Leukemia

By Skylar Laird

Editor in Chief

I

t was the night before the school year started - a night fraught with anxiety for students and teachers alike as students went over their schedules one last time and teachers finished readying their lesson plans, preparing for the year of fresh faces and new classes. Math teacher Roxanne Fetsch, especially, was anticipating a great year.

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“I just remember repeating, ‘I have leukemia?’ over and over and over.

It was really hard to hear, ‘cause that’s not what you expect - that’s not what I was expecting the night before school starting.”

-Roxanne Fetsch

She had a new prep, Algebra 3, and was excited for another season with the Sensations dance team, for whom she was the head coach. Nothing in her could have anticipated how her year would actually turn out, spending the first day of school in the emergency room, the first week switching hospitals, the first semester undergoing chemotherapy when she should have been in room 213, teaching math and coaching dance, like she had done every year.

Everything began with a lower back pain, one Mrs. Fetsch had been plagued with a week before school started, but became so excruciating the night before that she ended up in the ER, taking the worst ride of her life to Barnes St. Peters Hospital, unable to get comfortable the entire way there as her agony persisted regardless of what she did to attempt to minimize the pain.

“It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life,” she said “That’s part of the ‘acute’, it came on so fast. I couldn’t lay on my back, couldn’t lay on my side, couldn’t lay on my stomach, and that’s how it was the entire time I was in the emergency room. There was no position that I could relieve myself of this pain, so it

Tuesday Aug. 8

Mrs. Fetsch checks into the ER at Barnes St. Peters Hospital with excrutiating back pain.

was pretty awful for my husband, it was awful for me, it was almost 24 hours of excruciating pain.”

As her husband drove her to the hospital, Mrs. Fetsch’s mind raced, evaluating every possible outcome of what could be happening inside her body to be causing this.

She considered kidney stones, injury, anything she could think of. Cancer, though, was never even an option that crossed her mind — especially not acute lymphoblastic leukemia, or ALL, a type of cancer that usually occurs in younger and older people. This made her diagnosis even more of a shock as the doctor at Barnes St. Peters told her and she repeated it over and over in her head — she, a normal, healthy 27-year-old, the last person to expect it — had been diagnosed with cancer.

“I just remember repeating, ‘I have leukemia?’ over and over and over,” she said. “It was really hard to hear, because that’s not what you expect — that’s not what I was expecting the night before school starting, me being diagnosed with leukemia. To this day, it hasn’t really hit me that I have cancer. I keep telling myself I have leukemia, which is cancer, but it’s just … it’s really hard to hear that.”

Wedneday Aug. 9

Mrs. Fetsch remains in the hospital during the first day of school.

This led to a series of procedures, beginning with a bone marrow biopsy, in which surgeons at Barnes St. Louis Hospital where Mrs. Fetsch was transferred put her under and cut out a piece of her spine in order to determine exactly what type of leukemia she had and how best to treat it. Mrs. Fetsch began chemotherapy to combat B-cell ALL on Aug. 15, a week after she had been rushed to the ER — a week after her entire life had been turned upside down.

“It was scary, yeah. I’m awake during all of it, the chemo, all of that. Some of the chemo is upright red shot, and they just put it into my line, directly into my bloodstream, and it’s bright red, makes me pee bright red,” she said, laughing. “Another one is a drip that they hook up to my line and it just drips in slowly, and then the other one is called an IT and I actually go down for a procedure and they go into my spine. I have had that procedure three times.”

While there are more general chemotherapy treatments, the specifics of Mrs. Fetsch’s are extremely unique; since ALL is so rare in young adults such as herself, her treatment is tailored for her specifically, mimicking the treatment usually given to

Thursday Aug. 10

Mrs. Fetsch takes an ambulance ride to Barnes St. Louis Hospital

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focus “I have been just a glass case of emotions, to put it lightly. I mean, I cry almost everyday, I thank my lucky stars everyday too that I’m here and I have people to support me ... ” -Roxanne Fetsch

adolescents, but altered to suit her particular needs, a sort of specialization she hadn’t even considered before she was first diagnosed.

“No two people’s treatments are exactly the same, and I thought that was pretty interesting,” she said. “[This treatment is] specialized to me, and I’m the only one who will do this until someone else with B-cell ALL who’s 27 comes along.”

Although she is now on a regimen that seems to be wellsuited for her, this was not an easy process; it involved a team of four doctors, including one specializing in ALL, to come up with the treatment best for her.

For a while, the team thought they had found it, as Mrs. Fetsch appeared to be recovering quickly, but her condition soon took a turn for the worse with a bout of seizures.

“I was doing really well,” she said, “I was walking, up and around, and then I had the seizures and it kinda set me back.

It sucked. It really sucked. I had a blood clot in my sinus cavity, and that’s what caused it. Good thing is I don’t remember any of it, like literally four days are completely gone from my memory. My aunt was here telling me, ‘Oh yeah, you had spaghetti and you were

Friday Aug. 11

Mrs. Fetsch goes in for a bone marrow biopsy to determine her diagnosis and donates to research.

eating this and you were doing this,’ and I don’t remember any of it.”

Despite the graveness of this situation, Mrs. Fetsch laughs good-naturedly while recounting this story. Even as nurses enter the room to give her an insulin shot for her steroidinduced diabetes, and even as she talks about it and the other complications associated with her disease, all the other complications and craziness that came with her disease, she continues laughing and joking, refusing to lose the liveliness that makes her such a beloved teacher. It helps, too, that today has been a good day for her, as she sits in a chair instead of a bed, eating a cheeseburger and fries. These good days are a step in the right direction, as each one takes her one step closer to being able to go home.

“I’m awake, I am alert, I can move around, so it’s just overall a better day, and this is what I need to be doing, I need to be getting up,” she said. “I had physical therapy and occupational therapy come and they were like, ‘You need to be sitting up for three hours, you need to be doing this,’ so if I’m doing these things it means I’m getting better and able to hopefully go

Tuesday Aug. 15

Mrs. Fetsch is diagnosed with B-cell ALL and works with a team of doctors to come up with a chemotherapy regimen that she will undergo every Tues.

home sooner. I won’t be able to leave the hospital for another two weeks, but if I continue on having good days, then the two weeks will be quicker.”

These remaining two weeks, however, will not be the end of this battle for Mrs. Fetsch; once she returns home, she will continue an outpatient chemo regimen, meaning she will get to return home but has to continue her treatments every week at the hospital. Besides the maintenance chemo, however, her life will have other drastic changes mainly due to her weakened immune system.

“Oh gosh, [this experience] turned [my life] upside down.

I mean, my house is getting super super clean — somebody is having to clean my house because I can’t have bacteria around,” Mrs. Fetsch said. “I have to wear a mask whenever I leave my room. I can’t see my dog, he is living with my in-laws right now, ‘cause Sean, my husband, and I are not home, and dogs are gross creatures, so I’m not gonna be able to kiss him and love on him, so my lifestyle has to change. I’m gonna have to wear masks when I go places for a couple months, and that’s gonna be weird, but it’s to protect myself, I have to.

I mean, it’s just… it’s completely

Saturday Aug. 26

Mrs. Fetsch has a bout of seizures caused by a blood clot in her sinus.

SEPTEMBER 2017

focus “It’s changed my perspective... I mean, I am gonna take things a little less heartedly, like, don’t get upset, don’t sweat the small stuff, because there are bigger things in life… ya know, you could have cancer and you could be fighting a battle every day and what somebody says isn’t that important, you know.”

-Roxanne Fetsch

changed [my life].”

Even just being in the hospital has meant a lot of changes for Mrs. Fetsch. Her schedule is very set, based around medications and treatments, and being confined to the hospital has meant the loss of many freedoms she was used to and the loss of control over what she can and can’t do for herself.

“I have to rely on people, which is hard for me,” she said. “Being independent, you can get up and walk out of the classroom, you can drive your car, you can go to the bathroom without having someone be right there. I can’t. Like right now, no one is in my room, I can’t leave my chair.

I have to stay in my chair until my husband gets back up here or I call a nurse in. So it’s just… it’s a whole change of pace. It’s hard for me because I’m such an independent person and I pride myself on being able to do things and right now, I can’t, and I have to ask people for everything.”

This loss of control extends to school, too; since she is still undergoing treatment, Mrs. Fetsch has been unable to teach, and due to the untimeliness of her diagnosis, as it was the night before school started, she hasn’t even had the opportunity yet to meet this year’s students. She’s

not anticipating being able to return to school until second semester, although the exact timeline remains uncertain, and her passion for teaching and coaching has made this especially difficult.

“It’s so hard to give [teaching] up ‘cause I was so pumped for this year,” she said. “I mean, my classes are great, I have awesome kids, it was just gonna be a great year, and to give it all up is really hard. I mean, not being with the dance team, not being at work, just not even going to school and having that community, that sense of pride, FHC pride, I’m missing that hard.”

The school has been feeling her absence as well, and have been rallying around her, selling orange ribbons and T-shirts in order to fundraise to help pay for her expenses. Wearing orange “Fetsch” jerseys, the soccer team showed their support at a recent home game, and other teams, including football, volleyball, and her own Sensations team have incorporated orange ribbons into their uniforms for the beloved teacher and coach.

“It’s so great. I am overwhelmed with the love and support,” she said. “Like, the dance community is huge and they’re all buying the T-shirts and they’re all

Sunday Aug. 27

Monday Sept. 4

Mrs. Fetsch’s seizures persist.

Mrs. Fetsch shaves her head.

supporting me, and it’s very heartwarming and humbling to know that so many people care about you, you know? I have a whole school behind me, I have my dance team plus the dance community behind me, and it kinda helps lessen that struggle, just knowing that there are people out there that support you and love you and are gonna be behind you 110 percent.”

Although she does have this support behind her, and although she keeps her positive demeanor on, life is definitely not completely happy for Mrs. Fetsch. This entire experience has been difficult on her not just physically but also emotionally. “[This experience has been] up and down. I have been just a glass case of emotions, to put it lightly. I mean, I cry almost everyday, I thank my lucky stars everyday too that I’m here and I have people to support me,” she said. “I have a fantastic family, I have a fantastic community.

It really shows - I’m trying to think of what’s the best way to say this - it shows people’s true colors, you know? Like, who’s willing to support and help, and everyone is willing to support and help, which is so amazing, but emotionally, it’s just … it’s hard.

Tuesday Sept. 12

Mrs. Fetsch rings the bell signifying her release from the hospital and gets to return home.

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“I think I’m just gonna love life a little more, hang onto life a little harder, love my husband a little more,. I think … I think it just changes your whole perspective on life, really.

I mean, you really step back and think ‘there are bigger things in this world than the day-to-day small stuff’.”

-Roxanne Fetsch

HEADED HOME: Sean and Roxanne Fetsch stand near the bell at at Barnes St. Louis Hospital, shortly after ringing the bell to signify she was headed home after her chemo treatment was finished. PHOTO SUBMITTED BY ROXANNE FETSCH

It’s taxing on my husband and I, but we look for the good days, we look for the positives, we try not to dwell on any negatives, we thank the nurses and we thank God that we’re here, down in this place, and that we have somewhere close.”

Although this experience has been an enormous struggle for

Mrs. Fetsch, it has provided a valuable new perspective on life for her, teaching her to stop sweating the small stuff because there are such worse things that could be happening than messing up on a test or having a bad hair day or not wearing the right outfit - like being diagnosed with cancer.

“I think I’m just gonna love life a little more, hang onto life a little harder, love my husband a little more,” she said. “I think… I think it just changes your whole perspective on life, really. I mean, you really step back and think ‘there are bigger things in this world than the day-to-day small stuff’.”

SEPTEMBER 2017

focus

B-cell AL L

(uh-KYOOT LIM-foh-BLAS-tik loo-KEE-mee-uh)

cute ymphoblastic eukemia

Source: http://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/leukemia-acute-lymphocytic-all/statistics

19

:

An aggressive (fast-growing) type of leukemia (blood cancer) in which too many B-cell lymphoblasts (immature white blood cells) are found in the bone marrow and blood. It is the most common type of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Also called B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia and precursor B-lymphoblastic leukemia.

20yr> 75% 4/10 95%

ALL is most common before age 20 75% of Leukemia is diagnosed in ages below 20 4/10 adults are diagnosed with leukemia 95% success rate when caught early enough

“It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life,” Fetsch said “That’s part of the ‘acute’, it came on so fast. I couldn’t lay on my back, couldn’t lay on my side, couldn’t lay on my stomach, and that’s how it was the entire time I was in the emergency room. It was pretty awful for my husband, it was awful for me, it was almost 24 hours of excruciating pain.”

Doctors went in through the base of Mrs. Fetsch’s spine for her bone marrow biopsy and she has had IT chemo done in her spine three times.

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SENSATIONAL: Senior Sensations gather for a photo sporting their orange ribbons in honor of their head coach Roxanne Fetsch.They have made ribbons, anklets, t-shirts in order to raise funds for Fetsch PHOTO SUBMITTED BY GRACE DAVIS

Dance for Roxanne Sensations fight with Fetsch and come together to continue their season

By Emily Mann Editor in Chief

A

night full of laughs, excitement, dancing, spirit, and fun had just come to a close as the sensations finished their performance at the annual fall festival. Earlier, the team had been told they would have a team meeting around six, which at first did not raise too much suspicion.

Knowing their head coach Roxanne Henry had been in the hospital with pain, some had guessed the meeting would be an update about her and how she was doing. Others, like senior Karson Rivers, thought it could just be a quick meeting to recap about the night’s performance. Regardless of what their expectations were prior to walking into the library’s doors, no one could have expected the news they were about to hear.

“Arnel had told us to meet in the library, and the team was all sitting down around each other, and Arnel had told us a little more about Fetsch and her condition, and then said he would let her sister talk,” Rivers said.

focus

In this moment, the Sensations were anticipating an update on their coach’s condition, and the room became more tense and silent, anticipating whatever news that would come their way.

“So her sister stood in front of us and I just remember her saying ‘Roxanne … has cancer’ and she started sobbing,” Rivers said.

Mrs. Fetsch, math teacher and the head Sensations coach, was diagnosed with B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Aug. 8, which kept her from starting the school year as planned.

Because Mrs. Fetsch is so young, healthy, and vibrant, the words ‘cancer’ took the team by storm.

Senior Aly Janis in particular was distraught from the news, as the word ‘cancer’ hit home.

“I felt like my chest had collapsed because almost two years ago my grandpa passed away from terminal cancer, so when I hear ‘cancer’ it is hard to picture any good outcome coming out of it and it completely wrecked me,” Janis said. “I was so excited to be with her all year, I was her TA, she was my teacher and my coach, and she is just such an amazing person, it was just so heartbreaking that I wasn’t going to have her to start and end my day and that she was going to be going through the same pain that my grandpa had … it’s just going to be sad seeing her come back and being all ‘broken.’”

Rivers, on the other hand, who was still taken aback, had never experienced someone in her life suffer from cancer, she was still just as heartbroken by the news.

In fact, it almost seemed unreal to imagine her goofy, lively, and spontaneous coach, soon to be altered due to her recent diagnosis.

“Honestly, at first I couldn’t even wrap my brain around it because it was nothing that I have ever had to experience before and I haven’t had anyone in my life go through cancer ... and I kind of was just taken back and I didn’t really have any thoughts at all.

I didn’t start crying right away, I just was kind of sitting there in disbelief and then the more it set in, like Arnel had explained there was a 95 percent rate of success for the treatments and whatnot,” Rivers said. “Whenever I think of her, honestly, I just picture her smiling and laughing because she has a very distinct laugh, I can just hear it whenever I think of her. I

just couldn’t picture my coach being sick and pale and missing all of her hair because she is just always happy and dressed up and cute and I’m just not prepared to see her that way … It was weird to hear the words cancer come out of her mouth.”

Junior Reagan Miller concurs with her teammates, in that Fetsch has a personality like no other, one that she has been impacted by in all aspects of life, one that she is missing due to her temporary absence.

“She is so goofy; we can all mess around with her and it will lighten the mood if we are sad, or it will give us a little break, so when we go really hard we are ready to go hard again and then she is always there for us for anything, whether it is school, outside of school, life at home… it’s like she is a second mom to us,” Miller said.

Senior captain Hannah Strauss has noticed without Fetsch at school, the team has been lacking not only her jovial nature, but additionally, without her presence, the atmosphere within the halls and classroom has changed drastically as well.

“It has been different and hard ‘cause we didn’t see her a lot over summer so we already haven’t seen her for almost a month now,” Strauss said. “So it has been hard because we are so used to having her here like even as a teacher going to her classroom if you have a question like before or after class so it has been really different.”

According to Mrs. Fetsch’s sister, Stephanie Henry, Mrs. Fetsch has had such an impact on those in her life, that not only have the Sensations missed her personality, emotional and academic guidance, but they have missed their biggest motivator, they are used to seeing six out of seven days of the week.

“Really, all it is is different, but the girls have been so great.

They’ve all come together as a team; they have come up with so many ideas to help Roxanne and they really have just been a support system for each other and for me and Amanda, the other assistant coach, and we appreciate everything they have done,” Stephanie said.

Miller has seen the dance team specifically affected as their initial goals and anticipations for the year have slightly shifted and taken on new shapes without

SEPTEMBER 2017

Fetsch here to guide them. “[We had hopes of] meeting the new freshmen and create a united team, [we] wanted to work really hard this year to condition more and do technique more, and work on our dances a lot more so we could be the best that we can at competitions and we can leave [the competition] without regrets. Now we still have the same goals and it’s just a bit different because usually Roxanne is always there pumping us up and she is the one that helps us get to those goals, but I think we can still do it [while she is out],” Miller said. “I think we are kind of keeping up a good spirit and it isn’t because we feel like we have to; we have united and gotten a lot closer already, and it’s just like now we are working for each other and Roxanne, it’s not just to win.”

Rivers knows that the hardest part of this experience will be not having Fetsch by her side throughout her senior year and seeing the effects it will have on not only herself, but Fetsch as well.

“I just think the hardest part is going to be going through all of my lasts without her...it is going to be hard trying to finish off my senior year, my fourth year on Sensations without the person who impacted me most,” Rivers said. “I know she is probably going to struggle through depression, I know she isn’t going to the look the same, she isn’t going to feel the same about herself, so I think the hardest part is just knowing how hard it is on her and just knowing that this is my last opportunity with her and it is not a good one.”

Naturally, the team has struggled throughout the setback but despite the difficulties, sadness, and surprise the unfortunate situation has brought on, overall, the Sensations have found a way to look at it in a positive light and use it to better themselves and keep pushing forward.

“At first we were very upset and devastated and surprised, but I think we have kind of come to our senses and are looking at it in more of a positive way,” Strauss said.”I think it has made us stronger, like we always say, or at least I always say, dance for Roxanne and do it for her, because she wants us to dance as hard as we can.”

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Bouncing back from injury All too often, Spartan athletes have to rehab from ailments

By Bryce Lee

Staff reporter This season, there have been many games that have involved many players to get hurt. A handful of players discussed their injuries, the process of being hurt and recovering from the injury and going back to their sport.

Senior football player Dominic Puni sustained a right thumb fracture while participating in football practice 1 month ago. The fracture only caused Puni to miss three practices and no games.

Puni wasn’t too happy about the situation, but kept in mind only positive thoughts.

“I didn’t even realize that I had broken it until the I went to the doctor and they told me. I was upset for a bit, but then I thought about how it could’ve been worse,” Puni said.

Puni was forced to sit out of practice due to the coach’s decision to get healthy and be ready for the next upcoming game. This also ended up hurting Puni due to the fact that you must have at least 12 practices before being allowed to participate in the football game.

Junior varsity football receiver Adam Lewis was recently hit and injured in the game against Troy High.

“It happened so fast, I felt like I instantly felt pain shoot through my body,” Lewis said.

When Lewis was helped off the field, he was later notified that he suffered a hairline fracture on his left ankle as well as a strained MCL on his left knee. Lewis was stunned to hear that he had such a significant injury and that he would have to miss the rest of the season.

“I honestly thought I had just sprained my ankle and bruised my knee but when the doctor said it was fractured by my growth plate, I knew my season was over,” Lewis said.

Lewis plans to recover as quickly as possible but is also taking precautions and making sure he’s healthy for not just football next year, but also for baseball and basketball.

Varsity boys volleyball setter senior Spencer Ratermann suffered a broken right hand which caused Ratterman to miss the entire season. The injury had a tremendous impact on the team’s level SLOW RECOVERY: Varsity football player Adam Lewis, is currently sitting out of practices and games due to his foot of play because in order to play well, it must have a setter who is injury. The team has managed to pull off three wins so far without Lewis playing with them.

PHOTO BY MILLENNIA SIMMONS able to contribute to the team.

“I felt so bad that I had be separated from my team. I really wanted to play and help them win and I know they miss having me too,” Raterman said.

Ratermann has been going through physical therapy to get back onto the court as soon as possible, and has been improving on his ability to do the everyday things. He is still recovering but is now able to participate in volleyball and any other physical - Spencer Ratermann, volleyball player activities.

Lewis is making progress and will soon will be able to return back to all three of his sports once he gets his boot removed.

And finally, Puni has returned to football and will be healthy for track this spring. Puni will be coming back to hopefully make a huge impact for his last season as a Spartan athlete.

“I felt so bad that I had to be separated from my team.

I really wanted to play and help them win and I know they miss having me, too.”

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BACK ON TRACK WORK IT. This is the UFC gym where trainer Craig Chiles works at. His wife also works out at the gym after he introduced it to her. PHOTO BY GILLIAN LEE

Back on track CLIMB. Seniors Kat Vetter and Chasity Koeneman, both members of Mrs. Jennifer Denny’s PE class, does a routine of running, walking, and climbing the bleachers for an intense workout. PHOTO BY GILLIAN LEE

STRETCH. The class works on stretching their arms before starting the moves on the mat. PHOTO BY GILLIAN LEE

Three fitness gurus give advice on workouts during school year

By Jessica Fults

time, so working out takes four percent of your day. The hardest part of it is starting, just like your homework. You might get an assignment When you walk into a physical education class, on Monday that’s due Friday, and not do it there are students doing anything and everything until Thursday night or Friday morning,” Chiles active, whether they are in a sports class or in said. “Everyone wants to procrastinate. It’s the the weight room. These classes are essential for same thing with your health, you might want to student’s well being, health, and mood throughout postpone it.” the day. But what happens when you don’t have Although you might not know where to start, room in your schedule for one? There are other Chiles goes into detail on how to get prepared ways to stay active and stay sane outside of school. before class starts.

In high school, schedules can be hectic. It’s “Before a class starts, we will help you. A lot of hard sometimes to fit in a workout, but it’s not people don’t like going to the gym because of impossible. Even a small workout can be effective, intimidation and they just don’t know what to do according to PE teacher exactly. They might walk Jennifer Denny. in and go, ‘Wow look at “Your body is just like a car, if you “On the average you all this cool equipment, should workout three to don’t do any maintenance along the what do I do now?,’ So five times a week, even here we have someone way it will break down ... In life you if it’s just walking 15 who will walk you only get one [body] and you have minutes a day, anything through it,” Chiles said. is better than nothing,” to take care of it.”

If classes aren’t your Mrs. Denny said. thing, lead fitness There are classes - Craig Chiles, UFG Gym trainer instructor and head at the UFC gym, of the employee convenient due to the wellness program close proximity to the at the Rec-Plex and school, for those looking to do anything from Doctor of Chiropractic at TROSS Spine and Sports boxing to yoga. Fitness instructor Craig Chiles Performance, Benjamin Hendrix, shares some of shares his perspective for high school students his quick and effective at home workouts. want to become more active.

“Some of my favorite home workouts are the “I would say it’s not a time issue, everybody has plank, glute bridge, curl ups, squats, and squat Staff reporter

jumps,” Dr. Hendrix said.

Mental health and well being are valid reasons to fit in daily exercise. If you’re feeling tired, it might be because you aren’t moving your body enough.

Of course there are also many physical benefits as a result of working out.

“There are so many benefits to staying active, things such as increased strength, maintaining a healthy weight, increased body image, confidence boost, stress relief, immunity boost, increased neurological health and many more [benefits],” Dr. Hendrix said.

It is important to get a head start in improving your physical health, because farther down the road it becomes more crucial to stay in shape.

Chiles recalls a scenario that has played out many times at the gym.

“Since working here, I can’t tell you how many times I have someone is in their mid 40’s who comes in here and says, ‘My doctor put me on high blood pressure medicine, I want to start working out,” Chiles said.

Chiles knows our bodies need a healthy amount of movement to stay healthy, and he gets his point across by making a powerful analogy.

“Your body is just like a car, if you don’t do any maintenance along the way it will break down.

Hopefully, not on the highway, going high speed.

If people start and stay in maintenance, just by doing some stuff along the way, their car or vehicle will last a lot longer. In life you only get one [body] and you have to take care of it,” Chiles said.

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Chasing perfection How some of the school’s best athletes found success

By Justin Hedrick Staff Reporter

Senior

Sam Davis

Senior

Connor Riebel

Senior

Keon Waters

Sam is a middle linebacker and he has one of the highest numbers of tackles in the state. He has been playing since he was in the third grade. He is a captain and a strong leader for the team.

Connor is a wide receiver for football.

He has been very successful in his position. He is a team captain, and is a key member of the team. He has been playing since third grade, when he still lived in Troy.

Keon is a running back and defensive back on the football team. His performance in the opening game against Fort Zumwalt East got him featured as KSDK News 5’s athlete of the week. He is a captain as well.

Q: What has made you successful?

A: Hard work and a good coaching staff.

Q: What has made you successful?

A: I practice every single day, I show up to every practice, and I’m lifting all the time.

Q: What has made you successful?

A: Summer. All the camps we had throughout the summer. Going to camps like Western Illinois helped me to be a better person. To work on my craft.

Q: Would you say all of this work has been worth it?

A: Yes. Because I wouldn’t be here without it. Without work, you don’t get the reward.

Q: Would you say all of this work has been worth it?

A: Yeah I’d say it’s worth it cause not only is it going to help me on the field, but it’s going to help me with real life problems - perseverance and everything like that.

Q: What are your best achievements?

A: Second team all-conference, being a captain, and being defensive player Q: What are your best achievements? of the year.

A: Probably scoring three touchdowns in a game, allconference, and being athlete of the month.

T

Q: How long have you played football?

A: I started football my freshman year.

Q: Would you say all of this work has been worth it?

A: Yes it has. It made me become the man I am today and helped me become a better person and a better teammate and it helped me have a better personality.

Senior

Joey Mueller

Joey plays soccer and is a senior. He has been very successful so far this season, and in past seasons. This year he and the team are looking to make a run deep into the playoffs.

Q: What has made you successful?

A: Playing my whole life, trying my best, putting forth all the effort so I can achieve my higher goals.

Q: How long have you played soccer?

A: Pretty much my whole life, since I was a baby, waddling around, kicking the ball, the little foam ball.

Q: Would you say all of this work has been worth it?

A: Hopefully, the goal is to go to college and play further on, so we will figure that one out, but for now, yes.

Q: What are your best achievements?

A: Being on varsity the past three years, captain the last two years, and for my club team, winning state, and just being successful.

he common themes among everyone interviewed is hard work and dedication. Hard work can substitute natural talent and physical abilities. It can transform a person into the athlete that he or she dreams of being. Kaitlyn, for example, only started catching two years ago, which is very different from any other position in softball. However, due to her hard work she actually was able to do something that many girls who have played the

SEPTEMBER 2017

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“It’s worth it … not only is it going to help me on the field, but it’s going to help me with real life problems.”

- Connor Riebel, senior

Senior

Corey Moats

Senior

Kaitlyn Chadwick

Corey is a hockey player. He has played for most of his life. He is very successful on both his select and school teams and truly knows what it takes to be successful and to be a leader.

Kaitlyn is a catcher for varsity softball.

She has played for over a decade, but only recently switched to playing catcher. Despite this, she has had lots of success and shown how hard work pays off.

Q: What has made you successful?

A: The things that have made me successful are my hard work and determination that I put into hockey every single day of my life.

Q: What has made you successful?

A: The passion and drive I have for this sport

Q: Would you say all of this work has been worth it?

A: Definitely worth it cause I mean it doesn’t seem like work to me. It just seems like fun. I love playing hockey and every minute is worth it.

Q: Would you say all of this work has been worth it?

A: Definitely. I wouldn’t be in the place I am, with a scholarship, without it

Senior

Cameron Zalmanhoff

For over a decade, Cameron has been swimming, and it has paid off, as he has been very successful on his highschool team.

Q: What has made you successful?

A: I think because I’ve been swimming since I was five years old, I’ve always been on a swimming team, I have a great team attitude and I have great sportsmanship. I think that is important when you’re doing a sport.

Q: Would you say all of this work has been worth it?

A: Yes even though I have to go to the Rec-Plex late at night, it’s a lot Q: What are your best of fun and the guys on the team are achievements?

A: Last year, I made second team all- great, we always have fun in and Q: What are your best region first team district, and I’ve only out of the water; it’s always a great achievements? been catching for two years, so that’s workout.

A: I won state a couple times with my quite an achievement.

Q: What are your best select team, that was pretty fun. I’m achievements? the captain of the hockey team so I’m A: This year I made captain so I get pretty proud of that. That’s me. to help be a leader on the team, I’ve made it to GAC’s every year of high school so far.

Junior

Cameron Schwab

Cameron Schwab does cross country and has been extremely successful.

He has been able to build up his endurance for years, but without doing just one sport. He has had lots of success, and even went to state as a freshman, a nearly impossible feat.

Q: What has made you successful?

A: Playing soccer. I got my endurance from that.

Q: How long have you played?

A: Six years, since middle school.

Q: Would you say all of this work has been worth it?

A: Some of it, not all of it.

Q: What are your best achievements?

A: Went to state my freshman year, my personal records just keep going down.

position their whole lives will never achieve; she was named as second team all-region.

Another example is Keon Waters, he only began playing football his freshman year, but with dedication he has been able to surpass athletes who have been playing for over a decade.

This group of hardworking and extremely successful student athletes represent a large number of athletes at Central.

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SEPTEMBER 2017

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SEPTEMBER 2017

27

A MEANINGFUL CONVERSATION: Chemistry teacher John Kozlowski talks with Max Venker and Quinn Barbee in class during a lab. Mr. Koz is fondly known for working with students and using his catch phrase “squiggly- line data table” to help students understand how to do complex chemistry problems. PHOTO BY ZACH JONES

A lack of understanding Teachers have responsibility to learn about world their students live in

A

Jennifer Ferry

lmost every high schooler in the country can tell you that high school is one of the most challenging times in their life; however, what makes high school challenging isn’t just tests, quizzes, and homework, it’s also the difficulties students face with their personal lives that makes focusing on schoolwork difficult.

Some students have to deal with relationship problems, some have parents going through a divorce, and others have friends or family members going through a medical crisis. Every student has some sort of crises; mine was when my grandma was got sick during my sophomore year.

I found out the night before a big tennis tournament that my grandma had an extremely aggressive form of leukemia and that without treatment, she only had months to live. I was still in shock the next day at the tennis tournament. I felt fragile as I walked into my first singles tournament of the day.

About halfway through the match, I

glanced up and realized that, for the first time, I had no family there to support me.

I kept looking around and waiting for my grandma to show up before realizing she wasn’t coming. I realized she might never come to see me play ever again. My match wasn’t going well.

The coach pulled me aside to talk to me. I burst into tears and told him the entire story, about my grandma, about the leukemia, about the fear that I might lose her. My coach looked at me for a second and then said the best thing for me to do was put it all out of my head and simply focus on the match. I was appalled. Didn’t he realize what I was going through?

Didn’t he realize that concentrating on tennis and winning this match was the absolute furthest thing from my mind?

Teachers and administrators get so caught up in their role as educators that they forget that most students in this school are struggling outside of school, and that it can affect the way we learn.

Teachers remember to penalize students

for forgetting their homework, but never ask them why they didn’t do it.

When I forgot homework last year, it wasn’t because I was lazy or irresponsible; it was because one weekend while my mother was out of town, my dog got sick and grandma started coughing up blood.

Teachers are unable to really develop a love of learning within their students if they can’t understand what is happening within student’s lives. Almost all students have experienced a trying period in their lives and felt as if their teachers didn’t care.

This makes students feel numb toward their schoolwork and reinforces the belief that there are two different castes within the school: the teachers and the students.

Students shouldn’t have to cry in class for the teacher to realize something’s wrong, all teachers need to do is talk to their students and try to get a feel for what their life is like outside of school. Teachers greatest responsibility is to teach, and in order to do so, they need a greater understanding of the world their students live in.

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HOME

F O C A L

POINTS Each issue, the editorial staff picks three issues focused on the school and gives you insight and impact in a couple quick sentences.

Liz Baker: Disrespectful kids

. When someone devotes their entire life to coming into school and teaching and , they deserve at bare minimum silent respect. They don’t deserve snarky, under-the-breath comments that belittle their hard work. If enthusiasm isn’t your cup of tea, then buck up and don’t make the teacher feel bad because you don’t want to be here.

News flash: enthusiastic teachers are better teachers than the ones who don’t want to be here as much as you do.

Juliet Fuhrmann: Screamo

Many of my favorite bands fall into the screamo category and people are always assuming that since I listen to this type of music, I am depressed, which I obviously am not. I am for the most part a very happy person and just enjoy lots of different music. It makes me so mad that when people hear what kind of music I listen to, they get this look and some ask, “What are you, depressed since you listen to that?”

Um, no? Don’t assume a book by it’s cover, that includes the type of music a person listens to.

Whitney Klein: Expensive Makeup What is so wrong about wearing makeup every day? I can’t wear a full face of makeup without someone questioning me about it. If I want to wear a full face of makeup and look fancy as all heck at school, then I’m gonna wear all my makeup and everyone can shut their faces. Do you go up and ask anyone with a piercing why they’re wearing jewelry in their nose or eyebrow? It’s my face, I can wear whatever I want.

The long-time debate over whether Reese McLaughlin Staff reporter

H

omecoming is a colossal waste of time and money. The hype of Homecoming as something special and a part of the “high school experience” is so overrated. You will like (or dislike) school the same as you did before homecoming. It’s a night freshman go into with such enthusiasm and hope, only to be let down by the dullness of it all. People go back year after year because they are put under pressure to not miss out on the “high school experience”. It’s like we are all in a competition to look like we’re having the most fun, but in reality, no one is actually truly enjoying themselves.

There are many aspects about homecoming that make the experience grossly unappealing.

First, the cost of it all is simply absurd. Boys rent their suits for about $80-$200 dollars, and girls typically buy their dresses which can range in price from anywhere between $60-$200 dollars. And if the dresses weren’t expensive enough, then you add in the cost of hair, nails, corsage, ticket, and shoes, and suddenly, you’ve spent more money on one party than any teenager should. Although 15 dollars per ticket isn’t much, it doesn’t seem worth it to stand around in a gym listening to terrible music for a couple hours.

Most people normally go for something to eat, either before or after homecoming, because no one is going to be satisfied by the snow cone and fruit juice. Now you have to add in the cost of the dinner to the grand total of your “magical” night and ask yourself if it was worth it, which it won’t be.

There is one aspect of homecoming that we can all agree is completely terrible: homecoming pictures. Homecoming pictures are hands down the most needlessly stressful, painstakingly boring, and honestly dumb part of homecoming.

Everyone stresses over where to take the picture, for the location is vital to the stereotypical homecoming picture. It needs to be scenic and not too far from where everyone lives, but also close to school. Which results in everyone going to the same handful of places, waiting for one group to finish their pictures so the next group can go, then there’s another group, and another after that. Then there is always that one person who will never be there on time, causing the ringleader of the whole homecoming group to stress out and call that person nonstop trying to get their ETA. Then, finally, once you’ve gotten everyone together and got the location you can finally take the pictures and be on your way.

But just kidding cause it’s never that simple.

Because there will ALWAYS be something wrong with a picture. Jessica won’t like the way her hair looks, Sara will love the picture but Brad won’t because she’s taller than him in heels, the lighting won’t be right for Katie, Samantha forgot to put her hand on her hip, and John won’t stop blinking in every picture.

Then after the group pictures everyone has to take a picture with every other individual person, because that makes complete sense and everyone will totally need all 5000 of these pictures. Then after you’ve spent half your life taking pictures and making a group chat

to send them in, you might be lucky to find one that you like of yourself. And what was really all that for?

All homecoming pictures look identical; different people at different locations somehow manage to take the same picture: girls with their arms around each other or their hands on their hip, boys on one side and girls on the other, holding hands with backs facing camera, and the dreaded one where all the girls put one foot out into a circle (I admit that I have been party to all of these horrendous group poses and wholeheartedly apologize for my actions). These pictures will be all over social media for months to come, and there will be no escaping from them.

Now, my friends, we need to address the grinding.

There must be something in the water because apparently the entirety of the student body forgets the idea of personal space as soon as the lights go off in the gym. It gets really hot and sweaty, and boys come up from behind to grind on girls who don’t want them to, which makes it extremely uncomfortable for a lot of girls. And some people like to grind, and good for them, to each their own. But there needs to be a level of decorum that is not currently in place, a person shouldn’t go up to anyone and put their hands on them without their consent. So grind if you want to, but please, for everyone involved, make sure the other person wants to as well.

Honestly you shouldn’t be afraid not to go, and you really shouldn’t go because your friends or someone is making you or you don’t want to be the only one who isn’t going, because then you’re really not going to have any fun. But if you want to then you should, go wild and have a wonderful t i m e .

Because at the end of the day as long as we are happy and being true to ourselves then that’s all that really matters.

voice

SEPTEMBER 2017

COMING:

it is worth it to go or better to stay home Skylar Laird

Editor in chief

M

y love of Homecoming began freshman year when a boy asked me to a dance. Immediately, I relished in the idea of getting dressed up and dancing with all my friends for a night, having no idea what was in store. I bought the dress, the shoes, the ticket, the meal before, and made the plans for pictures and to go out after, and I became caught up in the contagious excitement surrounding Homecoming. I only went to the dance itself for probably an hour before my group left to watch a movie and play board games (wild, I know). But that hour — and the rest of the night — was everything I wanted and more: the bright lights, the music, the friends. It was a very surreal night, and I remember thinking, “this is what high school is supposed to be like.”

In all those cheesy comingof-age movies, this was the moment where everything was okay, and for me, this has held true every year. No matter what’s going on in my life, no matter which friends are fighting or how stressful school is or how much my personal life is falling apart, Homecoming offers one night of relief from all that.

Under the guise of those flashing lights and blaring music, nothing else really matters.

From the moment the dress goes on that afternoon to the drive home that night, the entire experience possesses a certain elusive surrealism that seems only to surround dances.

Sure, it costs money, and sure, sometimes it feels like more stress than it’s worth, but nothing tops going with good friends - or even temporary friends, a group of people out of whom the majority you won’t talk to after that night or that semester or that year.

Because that’s the beauty of Homecoming: we’re all eventually going to leave high school and each other, but no matter what happens, you will always have that one night.

That night, of course, is commemorated every year in the typical Homecoming photos. It’s the same experience year after year: everyone congregating at the same locations, taking the same photos over and over.

As repetitive and tedious as they are, it’s worth it in the end because this becomes one of few group photos

most groups of friends will ever get together in their high school career - especially for anyone who wants one in which everyone looks decent. They become the pictures people look back on in 50 years, reminiscing about their high school days through that guise of nostalgia that erases all the stress and bad times that accompany high school now. And honestly? The process isn’t even that painful if you go with the right people; as long as you’re with a group of friends you enjoy being around, it can be a great time.

The pictures will turn out even better, too, because they’ll all be organic and contain great memories, even if not everyone looks the best in all of them. The problem with pictures arises when people take them too seriously; it’s when everyone has to look perfect and get the perfect pictures that it gets irritating. As long as everyone remembers to not take them too seriously and simply relax and have fun, pictures start to feel less like pulling teeth and more like just hanging out as parents happen to be snapping pictures.

In fact, this logic is applicable to the entire dance: as long as you’re with a good group of people and they all know how to relax and have a good time, Homecoming becomes exponentially more fun. The point of Homecoming is to have fun, which can get lost through people who are more focused on looking good and being around the “right people” than just having a great night with their best friends.The people who have the most fun at Homecoming are the ones who make it fun; it’s all about letting yourself and your friends have a great time, just going with the flow and accepting the potential lame-ness instead of worrying about not seeming cool or letting drama ruin the night.

It’s true that Homecoming can seem played out, and it doesn’t hold the same maturity as prom, as it tends to be a lot of underclassmen, but there’s a certain casualness surrounding it that differentiates it from prom; prom is seen as the high school event that everyone has to go to. It’s the one in all the movies, the last event before everyone leaves, the whole Big Moment.

Homecoming, on the other hand, is overlooked, marked as prom’s lame younger sibling - trying its best to be prom but not really there. But that just contributes to the beauty of Homecoming itself - it’s lame, it’s cliche, and there’s so much less to worry about. So what if your hair doesn’t look good? So what if you’re avoiding one of your friends all night? So what if it’s not the perfect evening? It’s not supposed to be. There’s no pressure to have the best time which just makes it that much easier to relax and have a good one. It’s dancing and laughing and joking with your friends with no thought nagging at the back of your mind that you’re not making the most of your high school experience or you’re not having the Perfect Night that prom is supposed to be.

Homecoming is cliche and overplayed, sure, but that’s the beauty of it. Life is more fun when you play into the cliches instead of avoiding them; going to Homecoming and dancing is more fun than sitting at home alone and easier than trying to organize your group of friends going out and doing something else instead. The whole point is to relax for one night and just have a good time, to stop worrying about all the usual stressors of high school. Homecoming is about forgetting everything else on your mind as your biggest issues become what your hair is going to look like and where you’re going to take pictures. There are bigger, more important issues that should be demanding your attention, sure, but you have every other day to worry about them. There is nothing quite like that moment you step into the gym on Homecoming night with all your friends, sweaty and shoeless, unable to hear anything except the blaring pop music, your world lit with the flashing neon lights around you.

Nothing can beat the feeling of adrenaline, of pure happiness, you get dancing and running around with your favorite people all night.

Nothing can replace those memories you make that night as you forget about everything else and just have a great time.

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SIMPLE science experiments

Fun and wacky science experiments for the whole family

By PJ Sheehan Staff reporter

You can have fun with some easy-to-do science experiments using ingredients from around your home. Read on to find out how to have fun with science.

Rubber eggs To make a rubber egg you will need an egg (duh!), a jar or glass, and vinegar.

The steps for making a rubber egg are very simple :just put the egg into the jar, pour some vinegar until it covers the egg completely, wait for 2-3 days and you’ve got a rubber egg!

You can use this as a clever cheat for an egg drop, egg race, or just to entertain little brothers or sisters.

Easy slime

Fireworks in a jar

To make this beautiful experiment you will need a jar, food coloring, 3 tbsp of vegetable oil and warm water.

Pour warm water into the jar, but leave some space for the oil.

Pour 3 tbsp into a mixing bowl and a couple of drops of food coloring then mix them together Pour the food coloring and oil mixture into the jar and watch the fireworks!

This is a great project to just place in front of your window to see the colors really pop out.

Making slime is always fun and easy to make, if you're ready for a little mess, that is! All you need to make some awesome slime is a bottle of school glue, Borax, food coloring, water, and two bowls.

STEP 1: In one bowl mix 1 oz. glue (about ¼ of the glue bottle) and ¼ cup water. If you want colored slime, add a few drops of food coloring to the glue and water mixture.

STEP 2: Add ¼ cup of Sodium Tetraborate (Borax) solution to the glue and water mixture and stir slowly.

STEP 3: The slime will begin to form immediately.

STEP 4: Stir as much as you can, then dig in and knead it with your hands until it gets less sticky. This will make a big mess but it'll be worth it in the end.

STEP 5: If you want to use the slime later put it in a plastic bag to stop it from growing mold.

Some fun things you can do with this fun mixture are molding them on your hands and chasing some of your siblings or parents, or put them into jars to give your parents a little surprise!

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Perfect proposals Cute ideas for asking someone to Homecoming

By Kira Zerbolio Staff reporter

PHOTOS BY MILLENNIA SIMMONS

“Now you’re speakin’ my language”

What better way to ask your foreign friend to Hoco than in one of the languages they know best?

Show your date you are interested in their culture by doing some research and making a poster in a different language. It will mean so much to them and you’re likely to come across some fascinating facts while creating your proposal.

4 ur BFF

Hey, Homecoming isn’t just for couples. You can still have a good time without having a romantic partner with you, so ask one of your friends. Use a cheesy phrase such as “You don’t need a mister when you’ve got a sister” or something along those lines. Your friend will be so happy, and you will have scored yourself a date.

PUPPY LOVE

Who could say no to their best friend? If you’re too nervous to ask someone to Homecoming yourself, just make your soon-to-be date’s favorite pup ask them for you. It’s simple. Just make your sign, hang it around the dog’s neck, and let the puppy-dog eyes do the rest. You’re sure to have a guaranteed date.

BOMB-DIGGITY

No one can resist the bright colors and sweet scents of bath bombs. Spoil your partner by buying them a beautiful, fragrant gift they will be able to use before they begin to ready themselves for Homecoming. This will also ensure that your date will smell nice during the dance.

PURR-FECT PROPOSAL

If your signifiCAT other happens to be a feline lover, what would catch their interest better than some fun puns involving their favorite cuddly friend? With a poster as cute and creative as this one, it would be nearly impossible to get rejected.

YOU + ME = HOCO

If your better half is too focused on school to think about Homecoming, make some classic chemistry references to get his/her attention like, for example, using the symbols for Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Cobalt to spell out “HOCO”. You could also attempt to spell out “HOCO” on a graphing calculator.

Y’know, if you’re good with that kind of stuff.

SWEETS FOR YOUR SWEETHEART With warm weather quickly escaping, almost anyone would appreciate one final frozen treat before winter, especially if that treat comes along with a Homecoming date. Go and grab a DQ Blizzard to show your SWEETheart how much they mean to you.

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FEATURED ON THE SITE

Total solar eclipse

August 21 was a historic day in Cottleville, as 56 seconds of totality from the eclipse passed over Don Muench Memorial Stadium. Listen to Mr. McCoy explain the science behind an eclipse, check out a time lapse of the event and check out what students had to say about the day’s events.

Howell band preview

All 3 Francis Howell high schools came together on the Don Muench memorial stadium field to preview this year’s shows for friends, family, and fans.

SPARTAN SPORTS

Our reporters and photographers get to as many games as possible. Follow our sports teams as they make their winning way through the fall sports season and look for updates on the following schedule.

Mondays: Boys swimming and diving, girls golf and cross country Tuesdays: Softball, girls tennis and boys soccer Wednesdays: Football and girls volleyball

CONNECT

Live coverage of events around the FHC community.

See page 26 for the upcoming schedule of events.

Social media is a vibrant part of FHC Publications publishing endeavors. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat by following us at @FHCToday. Instagram will focus on photography and videos and update daily, while Twitter is your go-to for places to get breaking news and links to all content on FHCtoday.com. Snapchat will let you see the fun side of what it’s like to be a member of FHC Publications, while our Spotify (@FHCPublications) will house all of the playlists you see in the Feature section of the paper.