The Focus

Mr. Midland High

Senior John Marinan solves a calculus problem for the talent portion of the Mr. Midland High Pageant on March 6. Senior John White was the winner of the pageant. Photo: Katie Gibbs

FOCUS The

Midland High School | March 15, 2019 | Volume 41, Issue 6

Eye Candy Screen time and social media usage has increased exponentially among teens. The excessive exposure can come with many consequences, physically and psychologically.

Photo Illustration: Mady Sherman

Social Media

Andrew Wylie

Scene Partners

May Family

Left Hand - Even number page

in this issue volume 41 | issue 6

4 Rebekah Stanley

Junior Rebekah Stanley’s family has inspired her passion for music.

5 Solo and Ensemble

A preview of musicians who will perform at the state solo and ensemble festival.

6 Scene Partners

Drama Club hosted an event at Central Park to promote inclusion in the community.

Package: Screen time among teens

news

inclusion 17 Editorial - Promoting throughout school.

Data about screen time usage in teens from both MHS and around the nation.

18-19 What’s new around Midland

10 Screen time statistics

11 Video games

A look into the social and mental effects on teens.

14-15 Screen time health effects

sports

Does too much screen time have an adverse effect on vision, posture, and the brain?

A look into Kansas City Chief guard Andrew Wylie’s time with the NFL and at MHS.

12-13 Social Media

7 Andrew Wylie

8 Lacrosse injuries

Seniors Elliot Moore and Ryan Sisitki share their experiences of injuries they suffered while playing lacrosse.

9 Sportszone - Nathan Streitmatter Senior Nathan Streitmatter has been preparing for the upcoming track season over the winter.

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opinion

features

An in-depth look into the many benefits and downfalls that come with social media usage.

16 The May family

After losing their home in a fire, the May family recived help from around the school and community.

6

The Focus discusses the school’s response to the racist video posted earlier this month.

The Focus reviews establishments that have opened or have been upgraded recently.

20 Pro/Con - social media Two columnists compare the positive and negative aspects of social media.

Editor-in-Chief |Bitsy Mammel Managing | Hailey Surbrook News | Mady Sherman Features | Jenna Spencer Sports | Katie Gibbs Arts/Entertainment | Hannah Woehrle Opinion | Kelly Craig Web | Adrienne Gray Photo | Spencer Isberg Design | Noah Jacobson Copy | Aubrey Chambers Ads | Jacob May Exchange | Maureen Aloff Adviser | Jim Woehrle Printer | The Argus - Press

editors

arts & entertainment

p ub licat ion policy

Focus, established in 1977, previously the Vic Tribune established in 1936, is the official school sponsored newspaper of Midland High School. Focus is published monthly by the journalism classes at Midland High School and is distributed free of charge.

It is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA), the Michigan Interscholastic Pres Association (MIPA) and Quill and Scroll. Adviser membership also includes the Journalism Education Association (JEA).

Focus is designed as a forum for student expression and as a realistic lab experience.

Court cases like Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988) have restricted this right to free expression. As a result of the Hazelwood case, Focus may be subject to prior review

by Midland High School administrators, who legally reserve the right to pull or censor articles and/or graphic elements (artwork, graphs, photos) planned for publication.

Focus and its adviser(s), editors and staff writers, however, reserve the right to contest the challenge of an administrator who attempts to censor and/or remove an article or graphic element.

Administrators who attempt to pull and/or censor must provide reason on the basis of obscenity, if the article infringes upon the right of freedom of speech or rights to privacy, and if it and/or graphic elements are irresponsibly or inappropriately presented.

Letters of the editor are welcomed and encouraged. Letters are required to be a maximum of 250 words in length and must be signed to insure that the writer’s intent is serious. Any letter that is unsigned or uses a pseudonym will be refused. Focus reserves the right to edit letters as long as the writer’s opinion is unchanged and the facts presented in the letter are kept intact. Focus also reserves the right to remove from the letter the name of the individual toward whom it is directed or oriented.

March 15, 2019

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Right Hand - Odd number page

the

bulletin

letter from the editor:

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ut of all my time at Midland High, I’ve luckily only experienced a handful of events that have offended, disappointed, and hurt me. Looking back, I’ve realized that each situation has been against inclusion, the most recent being the studentmade racist video that was directed at two fellow students.

I believe I speak for The Focus as a whole when I say that the racist video was horrific and unsettling, but also has finally sparked conversation for diversity and change. In the middle of February, when

news briefs Robotics

we chose the package for this month, social media, we were thinking of solely the physical and psychological effects the user inflicts on themselves.

However, the hateful video and the following reactions and opinions were widely spread via social media apps, so we felt compelled to bring up the question of inclusion in our paper. We felt that it was important to talk about the video, especially with our package being social media this month. The Focus condemns the video and any acts of disrespect and hate, and so to formally

articulate our views and ideas for moving forward, we have decided to write an editorial with the question of what the school community has done to prevent acts like the most recent one, and has yet to do to promote inclusion. The Focus does not wish to speak for the entire school, or silence other opinions.

We merely want to use our platform to express the staff’s feelings and suggestions. Thank you, and please enjoy the issue.

Sincerely,

instagram of the month

tweet of the month

On March 22-23 the Midland High Robotics team, 5509 Like a Boss, will be competing at Dow High School for Districts. This competition is titled “Destination: Deep Space”.

Extended School Year After 12 days off of school due to inclement weather six days were forgiven and three were applied to the State Supt. for approval; however, Midland Public Schools will be required to make up three days on June 10, 11, and 12.

These days will be regular school days.

@mhs_focus | web: mhsfocus.com

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March 15, 2019

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MASTER MUSICIAN Junior Rebekah Stanley first started playing music when she was four. She has been influenced by both of her brothers, who have also been playing music since they were younger, and their relationship continues to grow through thier shared love of music. Web Editor Adrienne Gray | Staff Writer Annie Laforet | Staff Writer Dan O’Callaghan

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rom an early age, junior Rebekah Stanley has been inspired by her brothers’ passion for music. She has been playing the violin since fifth grade, in addition to the viola and the piano.

She has utilized this passion to become first chair violin in Symphony Orchestra.

“It is an outlet, and when I’m playing I can forget about other things and just focus on what I’m playing,” Stanley said. “If I am really stressed , I can just play.”

Stanley was first inspired by her older brothers, Lukas and Joseph, because they are both musically talented. At the age of four, she began playing the piano, which is one of the instruments her brothers also play. After learning to play the piano, she learned to play the viola in third grade and then violin. To this day, her brothers are still huge role models for her. She has many memories growing up with her brothers playing music, including going to lessons together and listening to each other play.

“When my brothers were in middle school and high school, we would go to their concerts together,” Stanley said. “We would just always go to everything together.”

Lukas first started playing piano when he was seven years old, then when he was ten years old he began to play the viola, which started him down the path of playing string instruments. Rebekah and Lukas spent a lot of time when they were younger teaching each other new songs.

“I spent a lot of time writing music when I was growing up, and I remember specific instances of teaching Rebekah how to write music, or giving her small lessons on the viola or piano to help her prepare for lessons and recitals,” Lukas said.

Today, Lukas is still pursuing music in his everyday life. After graduating from Midland High, he attended Western Michigan University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education

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arts/entertainment

Rebekah Stanley is symphonic orchestra’s concertmaster this year. She has been playing the violin since she was in fifth grade after being inspired by her brothers. Currently, her favorite song to play on the violin is “Finlandia” by Sibelius Photo: Spencer Isberg.

and Music Composition. He spends his days teaching private music lessons, writing music and performing music. When he comes home for holidays, he looks forward to hearing what Rebekah is playing and how far she has come since the last time he heard her play.

“I heard the recording recently of her viola performance from Solo and Ensemble this year, and I was really impressed with how much her sound and her technique has matured since I saw her play viola last,” Lukas said. “The piece she played is one that I learned when I was a senior at MHS, and was also the first piece that I studied in college, which just shows you what a high level she is playing at for a junior in high school.”

Since first starting to play, Stanley has won 11 medals at solo and ensemble and also three trophies for achievement testing. This year, as concertmaster, every day in class she has to tune her violin as well as everyone else’s.

As well as tuning the violins, she also leads sectionals for first violins. She is one of the first juniors to be a concertmaster, normally held by a senior. Her mother, Julie Stanley, has always been supportive of Rebekah and

her brothers’ music interests.

“We always hoped that our kids would just learn to love and appreciate all kinds of music,” Julie said. “When they expressed a desire to take piano lessons, and then lessons for other instruments too, we found a way to make it happen because we know how beneficial music is for children.”

Currently, Rebekah has one lesson a week during the school year with her instructor, Melissa Everett, as well as summer lessons.

She has been going to lessons from her since June of 2010.

“Mrs. Everett has really influenced me because I’ve been taking lessons from her for so long,” Rebekah said. “She’s the reason I am where I am because she has taught me everything I know.”

As well as taking lessons, Rebekah is also playing in her worship team at church. Everett has seen her skills continue to grow throughout her years of teaching her, but in the past two years she has seen significant differences.

“Her tone and technique have suddenly taken off,” Everett said. “She has developed an amazing tone, very sweet sound, in addition

to her technique advancing.”

Although Rebekah would love to go on and play in an orchestra in college, she does not see herself majoring in music like Lukas.

Even though Rebekah cannot play in concert orchestra next year due to it not fitting into her already seven hour schedule, she would like to continue expand her music talents on different instruments, such as the cello.

On March 16, Rebekah will be returning to the state solo and ensemble music competition for the fifth year in a row. This year she will be playing “Concerto in C-Minor” by Bach on the viola. Preparing for this, she has to see her accompanist, who will help her in preparing scales and practicing sight reading, because that is another part of going to state solo and ensemble.

No matter what musical direction Rebekah will choose to pursue, Lukas said, her family will always be proud of how far she has come.

“She really strives for excellence in everything she does, and music is no exception,” Lukas said. “I’m very proud to be her brother and to see how much she has accomplished.”

March 15, 2019

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SOLO & ENSEMBLE

On March 16, band and orchestra students will attend the Solo and Ensemble State Festival, an event in which a panel of judges will assess their musical talents. This year, more than 20 different performances will aim to earn the highest rating.

Staff Writer Caitlin Quinn |Staff Writer Dave Draves

CLARINET ENSEMBLE

Senior Hadley Samarco has been involved with Solo and Ensemble since her freshman year. She has been involved in various duets and quartets, but has remained a part of the clarinet choir for all four years.

This year she conducted for districts and will be playing bass clarinet for states In preparation for the state-level performance, Samarco practices quite frequently, but really focuses on fitting it into her daily life.

“It’s pretty laid back,” Samarco said. “We want it to be different from band, which is a bit stricter. We practice twice a week for whoever can make it, because working with that many schedules can be really difficult.”

During these practices Samarco focuses on a variety of different things, including critique from district judges she received after their district performance.

“I’ve been going through and deciding if we need to make adjustments on the instrumentation,” Samarco said.

Through practicing and correcting weaker areas, Samarco feels that the clarinet choir is ready for the upcoming performance at States, March 16 in Lapeer.

Left: Clarinet choir often rehearses in the morning in order to accomadate for as many people as possible.

Photo: Hailey Surbrook Middle: Freshman Jacky Cheng plays a variety of instruments including the bassoon, clarinet and saxophone. Photo: Spencer Isberg Right: Senior Morgan Hallberg and junior Ashley Welsch have been a duet for the past two years and are close friends outside of Solo and Ensemble. Photo: Spencer Isberg

BASSOON SOLO

Freshman Jacky Cheng first became interested in joining Solo and Ensemble when he was in seventh grade. Having not performed a solo until this year, Cheng is excited to better understand the process and to receive feedback on his performance.

“I think it’s easier to do solos because you don’t have to worry about everyone else and you can just focus on your own part,” Cheng said.

“But I also like being in a group because it is easier to help each other get better at your part.”

Cheng has different rehearsals nearly every day of the week with his different ensembles in order to improve on each one of their performances.

“I remember last year my clarinet quartet got a one and the saxophone quartet, sadly, got a two,” Cheng said. “The judge made us stop halfway through and made us count. It was interesting because we were all at different tempos, and it was just a good way to improve.”

Cheng said his favorite part about Solo and Ensemble is the bond it has allowed him to make with his friends all while doing the thing he loves.

“I just like hanging out with my friends,” Cheng said “We all enjoy music and just love doing what we like to do.”

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March 15, 2019

FLUTE DUET

Senior Morgan Hallberg and junior Ashley Welsch have been a flute duet for Solo and Ensemble for the past two years. After receiving a one, the highest score possible, at their regional performance, Welsch and Hallberg have been putting forth a full effort in order to finalize their performance for States.

“We practice hard all the time,” Welsch said. “We even practice during commercial breaks of the Bachelor.”

The only thing that both Welsch and Hallberg are nervous about is the tuning of their instruments in the practice room. The temperature in the performance room and the temperature in the warm up rooms are often different, which causes the tuning of an instrument to be difficult before a performance.

“You will be tuned in one room and then in the performance room it is completely off,” Welsch said.

With much practice and their combined Solo and Ensemble experiences, Welsch and Hallberg said they expect to perform well at states and hope to receive a one for their final performance.

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A PLACE FOR ALL

On March 1, the Drama Club invited ESA students to join them at Central Auditorium for a night of inclusion and fun. Special needs students from all grade levels played video and board games, drew with a plethora of coloring utensils, and sang karaoke with Midland High Students. Exchange Editor Maureen Aloff | Staff Writer Olivia Ortiz

Above: Freshman Erin Quinn and MHS student Zach Swan sit across from each other in the quiet room working on their coloring pages.

This room provided a place for students to mellow out if the activities became overwhelming. Markers, colored pencils, oil pastels, and crayons were provided so everyone could express themselves through art. Photo: Maureen Aloff

Above: Senior Tim Hackbarth helps Jacob Mead, a student at Central Park Elementary, name his avatar in Super Smash Bros. Mead chose the name Axolotl because that is his favorite animal. Playing video games at Central Park was different from at home because students got to sit on stage and play their games on the big screen. Photo: Maureen Aloff Left and below: The karaoke room was by far the most popular of the night.

From start to finish, the room was filled with people encouraging others to sing their favorite songs. Leo Stack (below) sang “You’re Welcome” from the Disney movie Moana at least half a dozen times. He was also joined by a group of MHS students to sing Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me.” Leo’s mother expressed appreciation for the event, saying she was extremely happy that Leo had the chance to get out of his shell and be included in a group event. Another student, Jared Walter (left) a student at MHS, also got the chance to show off his singing skills. However, he went a route a little different from Disney music, hip-hop. The crowd loved watching as Jared danced along with a Backstreet Boys music video. Photos: Olivia Ortiz

Above: Battleship, Sorry!, and UNO were just some of the games offered in the board games room. Michael Stark, a student at St. John Lutheran, and Sophomore Emma Massey played an intense game of Battleship. Although shy, Michael enjoyed the one on one interaction with an understanding and friendly peer. They played many games in that room and they were accompanied by about 3 other groups. The board game room also served as a less stimulating environment for the students at the event, a middle ground between the quiet drawing room and the karaoke room. Photo: Maureen Aloff

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arts/entertainment

March 15, 2019

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Midland High alumnus Andrew Wylie has been in the NFL for nearly two years. He had his best season with the Kansas City Chiefs last season, making it as far as the AFC Championship. Ads Coordinator Jacob W. May | Staff Writer Mary Kent | Staff Writer Megan Shaffer

HITTING THE MARK W

hile playing at Midland High, Andrew Wylie had one goal in mind when he stepped onto the field in the Midland Community Stadium on Friday nights: to play in the National Football League. In fact, he transferred from Hemlock to Midland halfway through his freshman year in order to have a greater chance to be recognized for his skill level. As an offensive lineman and class of 2012 graduate, Wylie helped the football team earn a 9-2 record his senior year.

But his days of football didn’t stop at Midland High. As he continued to chase his is goal of being in the NFL, Wylie went to Eastern Michigan University as a two star recruit. There he continued to have success playing as both an offensive tackle and an offensive guard. Then on May 15, 2017, his dream became a reality.

He got a call from the Indianapolis Colts, in which they informed him of an offer to sign to the team as an undrafted free agent. While he took the offer, he was later released from the team’s practice squad on Sept. 27 of the same year. After being released, Wylie ending up being traded to three different teams in the 2017-2018 season, before he finally ended up landing with the Kansas City

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March 15, 2019

Chiefs on Dec. 20, 2017.

“My rookie year it was hard not knowing if I had a job or not, it kind of weighs on you a little bit,” said Wylie.

In the 2018-2019 season, Wylie played in all 16 regular season games, and was a starter in 10 of them. He was given this opportunity after a season-ending injury to Chiefs’ starting guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.

“It felt great,” Wylie said. “I was playing against the best athletes in the world.”

But Wylie wasn’t just a replacement for Duvernay-Tardif. He soon found himself as a key member on the Chiefs’ offensive line, guarding quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who won the Most Valuable Player award for the 2018 season.

Wylie was also well accepted in Kansas City. To conclude the 2018 season, his teammates voted for him as the best first year player, winning the Mack Lee Hill award.

“To have my teammates vote for me to win that award was a great feeling,” Wylie said. “To know you have your teammates and coaches think that highly of you is really special.”

Playing with the Chiefs, Wylie also spent his first year as a starter in the playoffs, making it as far as the AFC Championship. In that game, Wylie and

Left: Wylie makes a grand entrance onto the field with his team before a home game at Arrowhead Stadium. Right: Wylie defends quarterback Patrick Mahomes in a game against the Bengals on October 21, 2018. The Chiefs went on to win with a score of 45-10, Wylie and the offensive line allowed only two sacks. Photo Courtesy: Steve Sanders of the Kansas City Chiefs

the Chiefs suffered a 31-37 overtime loss to the New England Patriots.

“It was a hard game, I remember going in and it was the coldest game of the season too,” Wylie said. “We were playing at home in Kansas City and the crowd was absolutely ecstatic and going crazy, which added onto the feeling of playing for a spot in the Super Bowl.

There was a lot on the line that game and we were going against Tom Brady and a great New England Patriots team.”

Wylie attributed his time playing at Midland as a foundation for his current success in the NFL, laying the foundation for his career. ”It was a great time. Some of the best memories of my life come from playing football at Midland High,” Wylie said. “It was truly an honor, we had a really great group of guys.”

Varsity football coach Eric Methner had the chance to work with Wylie for three years.

“He was a tremendous worker, we were very fortunate he moved here his freshman year and played right away on varsity with us,” Methner said.

As a football coach, Methner is very impressed by Wylie and the skill set he has that the helped him to go from playing as a backup to working his way to becoming a starter.

“The amount of work and perseverance and resilience he showed has been awesome,” Methner said. “People can’t imagine the work ethic and commitment it takes to get on an NFL roster and then to work his way into the starting position.”

Wylie’s parents, Deb and Scott Wylie have supported Andrew throughout his football journey. They remember signing him up for youth football, his transfer to Midland High, and the steps he took to play football after high school.

“Coach Methner said he should play D1,” Scott said. “They worked together to create opportunities for exposure, and we went to different camps. The coaches at the camps showed a lot of interest and it just blossomed from there.”

This led to Andrew being recruited to play at Eastern Michigan. But it was four years later when he had first been signed onto the Indianapolis Colts when they realized that Andrew was making it big. Deb described that she felt elation and excitement on the day when she first found out that Andrew had become a pro.

“As parents we want our kids to live their dreams, and we were blessed and happy to be a part of that,” Deb said. “His growth, maturity, and ability to relate to other people increased exponentially.”

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POST INJURY Seniors Elliot Moore and Ryan Sisitki faced knee injuries during last years’ season. After months of recovery, which included physical therapy, both captains are prepared for the upcoming season.

Staff Writer Amiya Zissler | Staff Writer Brady Woods

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uring the last playoff game of the previous lacrosse season, senior Elliot Moore came into contact with another player, causing him to fall to the ground. After seeing the athletic trainer, Moore thought he would potentially be able to get back into the game. He soon after discovered that his injury was worse than expected.

“I felt my knee come out of place and I just collapsed, and from that point I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go back into that game,” Moore said.

Moore later discovered that he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), medial collateral ligament (MCL), and his meniscus in his right leg, requiring surgery a week later.

Moore was required to attend physical therapy two to three times a week at Active Orthopedics. Originally, Moore was unable to put weight on his leg, but after eight weeks, Moore was able to put weight on his knee.

“I think going to Active Orthopedic is one of the main reasons that I have the ability to play lacrosse again just based off of how high the quality was that I received.” Moore said.

Physically, recovery had been easier for Moore. He believes that the quality

of physical therapy at Active Orthopedics greatly contributed to the easy physical recovery.

When it comes to skills, Moore believes that he will be ready for the upcoming season. It wasn’t until after five months when Moore was finally able to run.

Because of this, he has not been able to condition, which is his main concern when it comes to playing again.

The hardest part of recovery for Moore has been regaining confidence in his leg.

It has been a struggle for him mentally to trust his strength in his knee.

“After I was physically able to run, the harder step would be emotionally regaining confidence in my ability, which I feel like I haven’t done a bad job doing.”

Moore said.

Head Coach of the Midland Lacrosse team, Joe Stadelmaier, is looking forward to having Moore back in the game.

Stadelmaier has worked with Moore since he started playing at the middle school level, and says his work ethic is what makes him a key player.

“Elliot makes the game fun, he has that work ethic you like to see in kids,” Stadelmaier said. “He knows he needs to put his work into overdrive in order for him to come back healthy.”

ELLIOT MOORE

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RYAN SISITKI

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even years ago, when senior Ryan Sisitki picked up a lacrosse stick for the first time, he never guessed that he would spend his junior year of high school as a spectator on the sidelines. On March 17, 2018, Sisitki was playing in Midland’s first lacrosse scrimmage of the year against Northville High School. He sprinted towards the opposing net in hopes to score until he felt something unusual.

“I felt my knee pop and it hurt pretty bad for about three seconds and then adrenaline kicked in, but I knew it was torn,” Sisitki said.

Sisitki tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), which required surgery shortly after. This prevented him from finishing the Midland season, playing travel lacrosse, and playing football the following year.

“I wasn’t able to start running again until summer came around, then I started being able to make cuts around November.” Sisitki said.

Head coach of the Midland lacrosse team, Joe Stadelmaier, has big expectations for this upcoming season, having both captains healthy. Sisitki getting injured during the first game of the season had a very strong effect on the team last season.

“You typically have one to two players that in the back of your mind you’re saying, ‘if this player doesn’t play or I lose him, we’re a different team,’ and that was Ryan Sisitki last year.” Stadelmaier said.

Sisitki’s physical therapist Kate Kusowski, said he stayed focused and motivated throughout therapy. She also believes that his work ethic contributed to his recovery.

“Ryan remained positive throughout his PT sessions,” Kusowski said. “He would ask questions to help him understand what he could and shouldn’t do at each stage of the healing process.”

Over the course of the last year, Sisitki has shown a large amount of improvement. He said recovery was difficult, but with time, the rebuilding of his ACL was noticeable.

“At first, things were very hard, my knee would get really sore really fast so I was icing a lot, but after that, things just started to get easier.” Sisitki said.

In regards to the upcoming season, Sisitki is excited to be back playing with the team, “The recovery time was really long but it was what I expected,” Sisitki said. “I’m not nervous for the upcoming season now that I can play sports again.”

Left: Senior Elliot Moore poses in helmet before heading back to practice with the team.

Above: Senior Ryan Sisitki poses in his lacrosse gear before getting back into practice.

Photo: Spencer Isberg

March 15, 2019

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Bleed Green

M

Julian Longlet

ichigan State football games are a big part of my family. During the season my grandpa, my uncles Marty and Bruce, and I go to all of the home football games. Going to these games has brought us closer and has given memories that I will never forget.

On mornings of the MSU football games, my family has a big breakfast at my grandparents. One time the fire alarm went off. I was instantly awake; I sprang Staff Writer Ethan Ohlrich

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out of the bed, threw open the door and bolted out of the room. I was greeted with laughs from everyone and then it was just Bruce making french toast.

After breakfast we load up the car with our supplies; my job is making sure we bring the seat cushions so the four of us don’t have to sit on the cold, hard bleachers. We pack our drinks: a few beers for my uncles and grandpa, and a couple root beers for me. My grandma gives us a basket full of candy, brownies, cookies, and other snacks. Once the car is packed and we are all dressed in our warmest, green clothing we begin on the trip down to East Lansing.

When I get out of the car, I get a sudden rush of excitement. All of the tailgaters, big green and white striped tent, and the marching band blaring the fight song gets me pumped and ready for the game. All of us finish a party sized bag of chips and the container of chip dip before we leave to head into the game.

Once we leave the safety of the vehicle and get out to venture in the freezing temps for three hours, we divy up the candy and stuffed in our pockets so we can smuggle them inside the stadium.

On our way to the game we always stop and watch the marching band march to the stadium and play the fight song. The drums, when they pass by send vibrations that pound my chest.

If the fire alarm doesn’t wake me up, the marching band certainly does. Once inside the stadium, we make it up to our seats. We sit in the same order every game,from left to right it goes; Bruce, my grandpa, me, and then Marty. It is one of our superstitions. Then we wait until the marching band takes the field, which gets us fired up and excited for the game.

Sometimes we tailgate after the game.

Bruce makes a really good bratwurst.

One time when he was making the bratwurst the tinfoil on the it caught fire and my grandpa, laughing said, “you are on fire bruce” and Bruce still looking at the brats and smiling said “I know” in the most nonchalant way.

Sports are a great way to bond with friends and family, you create so many great memories and they will last a lifetime. I have been really fortunate to be able to go to the games and have been able to get closer with my family. I will always remember going to the games.

7 Sam Hine placed 7th in the Division 1 wrestling state individual tournament, held at Ford Field in Detroit.

52-68 The Boys' Varsity Basketball team lost in the regional championship to Saginaw High on March 7.

AT H L E T E O F T H E M O N T H : N a t h a n S t r e i t m a t t e r

enior Nathan Streitmatter never thought he would be a runner, but joining the track and cross country team freshman year changed his mind. Now Streitmatter has been running varsity track for 3 years, and plans on running at the collegiate level at Taylor University.

“If I would’ve told myself in sixth grade that I would be running track and be one of the best runners on the team,” Streitmatter said, “I would have not believed it.”

Streitmatter said he wasn’t a naturally gifted runner. He was one of the slowest kids on his sixth grade football team, so he had to work hard to achieve where he is now. Once one of his friends invited him to join the track team, he was completely absorbed by the atmosphere.

“I liked the culture a lot more,” Streitmatter said. “All of the coaches really cared about you being there, and were actually invested in you, which was huge for me. Track was something I could put effort into and see results.”

Streitmatter said he always had a drive to be the best athlete he could, and that he embodies what a lot of people need to accomplish as runners because of his discipline.

“I am so determined and I’m ready to put in the work and that’s a very important aspect that you have to have to be an effective runner and improve over the years,” Streitmatter said.

Andrew Plude, the track and cross country coach, has known Streitmatter for three years and has been coaching him for a year and a half. He puts together weekly mileage for him, lifting programs, and is his indoor track coach in the off-season.

Plude said that every athlete has different challenges, and is fun to coach because he is so hungry to succeed.

“It’s a lot of fun to coach someone like that who is willing to put the time in,” Plude said.

Adding that spending so much time invested in a sport has its challenges.

“Sometimes he overthinks things and in anything you try to do, if you spend too much time in the moment thinking about what you are doing, then you struggle at times,” Plude said. “But he has come a long way with that.”

Streitmatter has run six races in the winter and has learned something different from each. He has already hit a personal record in the mile this winter, and his hope is that he will score at conferences this year.

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sports

Photo: Ethan Ohlrich March 15, 2019

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2 billion +

53%

of students said they are very dependent on their cell phones and social media

likes on Instagram each day

age that 55.3% of students surveyed got their first social media account

via sproutsocial.com

326 million monthly users on Twitter via pewinternet.org

1 billion + hours of content watched each day on YouTube via businessofapps.com

1.5 billion + daily active users on Facebook via gadgets.ndtv.com

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PLUGGED IN Part 1 Statistics

High school students are more connected now than ever thanks to the widespread use of social media and cell phones. The Focus wants to highlight both the benefits and risks that this entails. This package begins with statistics, analyzes the effects of video games, examines the positives and negatives of social media use, and takes a look at the health effects caused by excessive use. Opinion Editor Kelly Craig| Staff Writer Aleah Ward

87% use social media as their main form of communication

30% have been cyberbullied

A survey was sent out to 100 Midland High students inquiring about their social media and cell phone use.

The percentages shown above are representations of the answers that they gave.

March 15, 2019

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Part 2 VIDEO GAMES

n about any given day, you can find senior Nathan Streich sitting in his basement with a headset on, or a guitar strap around his back, with the over head lights and stairwell lights on, playing either Guitar Hero on his Playstation 2 or Fortnite with friends on his Xbox 1.

There’ll be music playing, either by him or in the background. Streich said that on the weekends he usually is in this position for about five to six hours a day, and on weeknights that aren’t busy he plays for three to four hours. He said that his competitiveness is what drives him to keep playing, and that the satisfaction of winning is what makes the frustration worth it.

“I’m a little vocal, I get a little intense,” Streich said. “That’s because I’m so competitive. If I lose in Fortnite, it’s never good. That’s why I invested in a punching bag.”

Even though he plays several hours a day, Streich negated the fact that video games have hurt his academic or social life. Although during his sophomore year, he said that his frustration with playing sports games, like FIFA, grew so intense that sometimes he would stay up at night thinking about the games.

He said that as an effect, his mental health took a hard toll and that he wasn’t doing as well in school. Now that he has stopped playing sports games, he said that video games has enhanced his social life by being able to connect with the other people that he plays with, even if they aren’t together physically.

“I’m not really the most social person, and playing Fortnite with my friends is something I’m always at ease with and I always know that I’m in a safe place,” Streich said.

Although Streich says video games help his social life, Dipesh Navsaria, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said that screen time can have negative effects.

He said that though long-term effects of screen time are currently unclear, some effects are certain, notably people’s ability to interact.

“We know that there are significant decreases in some measures of social well-being,” Navsaria said.

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Streich said that even though his father doesn’t like the amount of time he spends playing video games, his mother, Beth Streich, seems okay with it. Beth said that at first she thought that video games would be something fun for Nathan and his younger brother to play together, but has now realized the calming effects it has on him. Overall she thinks they’re positive for him.

“He is very involved in sports and does a great job in school, so between all the homework, practices, and going to school, by the time he gets home I know he needs something to relieve his stress.

For him and his brother, it is Xbox or PlayStation 2,” Beth said.

Although she is not as worried about the mental or social effects of video games, she does try to keep up to date about the possible physical effects, especially carpal tunnel from holding the controller. She said that she reminds Nathan and his brother to take breaks and move around while they play for long periods of time. Nathan said that he has thought about physical effects but has only noticed a change in his eyesight.

“I feel like my vision has gone a little bit,” Nathan said. “I’m not sure if that’s because I’m getting older, or because I’m constantly playing video games.”

If Beth wasn’t as supportive of Nathan, video games may have hurt him more than helped him. Navsaria said that a teen’s family life could change how screen time could affect them in the long-run.

“A teen who spends a lot of time on screen media who also reads a lot and has strong, supportive family relationships will do much better than one who doesn’t read or isn’t well-supported socially,” Navsaria said.

Beth said that she’s not like other parents in that she doesn’t put a time restriction on video games. She said that she understands the importance of video games to her sons, even though she may not like the violence in them or the time being taken away from face-to-face interaction.

“Maybe it is the video games that are preventing people from talking to each other, but I also think it’s Facebook, it’s Twitter, it’s the phones. It’s just part of what 2019 is,” Beth said.

Senior Nathan Streich has loved video games for years, and only in the past few years has he noticed any negative effects of playing for hours a day. Editorin-Chief Bitsy Mammel| Staff Writer Isaiah Bridges

Streich plays Apex after school. He thinks everyone should have a relaxing activity accessible even if it’s not video games. Photo: Spencer Isberg

FORTNITE FACTS

Source: www.businessofapps.com

200 Million registered accounts on Fortnite

72.4% players are male

6-10 Hours median weekly playing time Photo Illustration: Bitsy Mammel

March 15, 2019

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hen senior Haley Samborn first got social media in the eighth grade, she would post regularly. She considered it to be a way to see what was going on in other people’s lives.

However, it turned into something she would use to measure her social status against other people’s and today, she proudly does not use social media.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I did care a lot about my social status on social media,” Samborn said. “I remember when they came out with Snapchat Map. I can’t believe looking back, how much I cared about that. I almost got out of the house sometimes just because I knew if I didn’t people would always just see that I was home.”

Although she deactivated her accounts, Samborn said she believes that social media isn’t bad when it’s done right. She said that she liked seeing accounts for various clubs and teams and she thinks that it is a useful tool for information and a way for people to see what is going on around them.

“I think that social media is a good thing, I like social media, I just know that when I used it, I abused myself because of it,” Samborn said.

During her sophomore year, Samborn challenged herself to delete Instagram for a year, a goal she accomplished. What she found was that her life did not change much during that year, but she recognizes that she was just replacing one source of media with another.

“I was trying to improve my outlook on my social life,” Samborn said. “I’ve always been a big advocate of not caring how many likes you get or how many followers you have. I want say I’ve never cared about that but I have, and that’s what I was trying to get rid of.”

Samborn re-downloaded her Instagram account during her junior year, but the summer before her senior year, she decided to not just delete Instagram, but all forms of social media.

“This past summer, I went on a mission trip with my church and we didn’t have our phones for the entire week,” Samborn said. “It was nice to be out of town for a week with no technology. I enjoyed the things around me a lot more, and when I came back home, I decided to get rid of all social media.”

Phantom Vibration Syndrome, the perception that one’s mobile phone is vibrating or ringing when it is not, is a common complex that most teens have in a result of dependency of social media.

Part 3 SOCIAL MEDIA Social media is constantly changing the way generations connect, share information, and socialize. However, it is questionable whether it has had a positive or negative impact on students. Arts & Entertainment Editor Hannah Woehrle | News editor Editor Mady Sherman | Staff Writer Abbey Brooks These are photos taken from various Midland High students’ social media accounts. Social media is a big part of many student’ lives and it is a way for them to express their opinions and stay connected with each other. Photo Cour tesy: Midland High Students and The Loch

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Clinical Social Worker Kelly Passalacqua has seen the effects of social media on teen mental health and believes that social media is addictive.

“It’s that constant feedback, it literally increases the feel good chemicals in your brain,” Passalacqua said. “As teenagers, you tend to be more susceptible to that feel good portion of the brain, so you’re going to be more susceptible to being addicted. That portion of the brain is just trying to find some good excitement.”

Additionally, Passalacqua said that social media can sometimes cause anxiety and depression. It is more often, however, that it worsens symptoms that are already affecting teens.

“It’s a part of everyone’s life, we know we can’t stop it, so more than anything we need to look at the balance of social media,” Passalacqua said. “Social media tends to increase the feelings of isolation and actual loneliness, even though it’s supposed to do the opposite.”

Passalacqua believes that it is important for teens to put limitations on social

some of the cool things I was doing and people I was meeting, and it was a way to communicate with my friends.”

Stearns said that she posts about everyday on either Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, or VSCO, and spends on average of five hours a day on her phone. She said that aside from connecting with people, she thinks social media is a way for anyone to express how they are feeling, their morals, and advocate for different things like school events.

“Social media brings people together; it is a way of advertising your life,” Stearns said. “Everyone is constantly seeing everything happening around us, especially the happy things, and if there is something that is bad that happens there are literally billions of people online that can back you up and give support.”

Stearns also believes social media comes with limits and requires a good state of mind to use social media. She said that it is a way for people to express their opinions and share what is going on in their lives.

Social media brings people together; it is a way of advertising your life.

media in order to have a positive outlook on oneself and for their mental health.

Passalacqua said that often when young adults transition into college, they are overwhelmed to the point where they need counseling because of the lack of self-management skills.

“Particularly with social media, if you see yourself picking up that phone and checking it all the time, you might have to make a conscience effort, even if that means setting alarms, or having apps that shut off your phones for you,” Passalacqua said. “Right now you might have parents that take your phones at night, but soon you won’t have that.”

Senior Payton Stearns, like Samborn, has been using social media since eighth grade when it first became popular among her peers; however, Stearns believes that social media is a positive tool that can be used in several different ways.

“I got [social media] because all of my friends were getting it,” Stearns said. “It was a way for me to express myself. It was a way to show people

Payton Stearns

“Social media is a positive impact on my life because I have learned the respective boundaries I can go and stay in between for me to feel happy,” Stearns. “It is a positive light in which I can express myself without bragging or diminishing other people and it is a mindset in how you go about it.”

Jim Adame, owner and founder of The Loch, also believes that social media has a big impact and that it can be beneficial.

Adame uses the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram to promote his business and help it grow. He said that social media is the ultimate advertising platform because it reaches such a large audience and it is inexpensive.

“Exposure to social media has helped the evolution of The Loch, a local coffee shop, figuring out how we want to be perceived by the public,” Adame said.

“I started with this very simple goal of introducing our coffee to the area, and as time went on, I was exposed to more shops around the world.”

Adame said that social media has

helped him model his business after others and that because of its global stage, he has been able to shape his perception of not only the coffee realm, but the business realm in general. Social media has also helped The Loch earn national recognition in coffee magazines.

“There is no way the magazines would have known about us but they heard about us through social media, loved what we stood for, loved the vibe, and decided to do an article on us,” Adame said.

Even though Stearns agrees that social media can be beneficial, she said that she knows that not everything put out on the internet is positive and that social media can be a way to avoid face-to-face contact.

“Social media, and what you do with it, is a mindset,” Stearns said. “How you portray yourself, your morals, and your hopes and dreams. Based off of this elegant, yet extremely complicated skill, one can be a social media user who encourages others around them to be the best they can be; however, one could use it to diminish others, and even themselves, to get a rise out of the surrounding community.”

School Resource Officer Eddie Hinson said that before coming to Midland High, he didn’t think social media was that of much significance, but since he has been as MHS, he has realized that social media is in fact a big deal and that he believes it does more harm than good; however, he said that he knows he only sees a few students out of the entire population at Midland High, and that it is only a select few who make it bad.

“I don’t think the high school in general has a problem with social media, I think it is the people who use social media, abuse it, and make poor choices when they’re using it,” Hinson said. “I don’t think it is a problem to use social media on your phone in high school, you just have to be responsible and make good choices.”

Even though Passalacqua said that social media can have some very negative effects, she believes that it has to potential to have a positive impact. She said that individuals have to be aware of what they are putting online and how it will affect others.

“You need to be self aware of what you put out there,” Passalacqua said. “Not only how others are going to perceive you, but what are you doing to help lift others up. What is your contribution in this, are you just spewing negativity cutting others down or are you lifting others up.”

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Screens are becoming more and more prevalent in teens’ lives. However, screens can have negative effects on the body, including posture, vision, along with psychological effects. Research in the field is new due to the recency of the technology, but studies show the effects are rapid when exposed to too much screen time. However, there are ways to help prevent these issues. Sports Editor Katie Gibbs | Features Editor Jenna Spencer | Staff Writer Carter Hazen

Part 4 Health Effects

T

eenagers spend an average of nine hours a day looking at screens, more than the number of hours they spend in school. While not a traditional drug, spending time looking at phones, televisions, and computers has become a new addiction seen in students throughout the U.S. Phone users receive instant notifications about social media accounts, emails, and more, all of which have led Americans to check their phones an average of 80 times during a day. In a Pew Research study conducted in 2018, more than half the teen participants admitted to spending too much time on screens, and agree that it is a major problem facing their generation. However, most don’t understand the actual health deficits that come from overexposure to screens.

Apple devices have recently added a new feature that tracks the amount of time spent on the device, and displays graphs

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to show how the time is being used to users. The company said that this, along with other features added prior to it, were designed to allow people be aware of what is happening on their phones and to see how much time they spend on their phone, as well as how that time is being used. If chosen, apple device user’s can opt to see a weekly report about the average amount of time they spend on the device for the week. This new feature has grabbed the attention of Americans, revealing just how much time is dedicated to their screens.

Junior Misa Halphen is familiar with the feature and uses it on her phone. She said that she uses her phone less than most people her age, spending an average of two hours a day on her phone, but stills find the statistics to be eye-opening.

“On Apple phones you can see screen time, and at the end of the week they give you the notification and I think ‘Wow, I spend a lot of time on my phone,’” Halphen said. “But then I think about how some people have twice that amount.

There’s only 24 hours in a day so if you spend four on your phone, that’s crazy.”

One aspect of health that is being

largely impacted by the use of screen time is vision. Junior Evynn Rhode says she spends an average of six hours on her phone each day and has experienced problems with her eyes, and agrees that it is a growing issue.

“I’ve had to turn the font size up on my phone because it gets harder to see, so I feel like it’s making my vision worse,” Rhode said.

MD ophthalmologist Greg Hazen agrees that screen time affects vision negatively. He said that some signs of these effects are dry eyes from a lack of blinking due to staring at the screen’s content. The blue light emitted off of it also affects sleep cycles by messing with the body’s natural circadian rhythm, in tricking us to think it isn’t time to sleep.

Blurry vision is another side effect caused from looking at screens for too long.

“Since 1971 the incidence of nearsightedness has doubled, up to 42% in present time,” Hazen said. “[Scientists] think that this may be related to focusing on more near work like phones and computer screens, although it is not proven.”

Vision isn’t the only part of the body

affected by screen time. Screens like cell phones and computers can have an impact on posture, too. Physical Therapist Sheila Isles-Truax has been a physical therapist for ever 30 years. She said she has noticed an increase of younger people coming in for issues involving the back and wrist.

“It is terrible, the amount of screen time people are doing and the effects on posture,” Isles-Truax said. “I have seen younger and younger people coming in for physical therapy due to postural problems, and I think a lot of it is they spend way too much time on their screens. When I first started out, people would be in their early forties, late thirties, before they started having problems in their back and in their wrists and now those problems in their back, wrist, and upper back are coming along much earlier in life.”

Halphen also thinks that the usage of screen has an impact on posture.

“If I’m on my chromebook or computer, there’s a posture you’re supposed to sit in with feet flat on the floor and back straight, but I don’t do that ever so it probably does affect my posture in a bad

Illustration: Aleah Ward

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way,” Halphen said.

After Midland High students were issued a chromebook in 2016, teachers began to use them for posting assignments, emailing, saving paper, and sharing links with students. The large variety of uses means that students are using them frequently, which contributes to the number of hours they are looking at screens.

“School is encouraging that fact because they are giving out chromebooks and want people to do everything online,” Halphen said. “Which I [think] there’s pros and cons to that because having too much screen time is unhealthy but also not wasting paper is good too.”

The introduction of new, high-speed technology that’s used frequently has brought about changes in the mentalities of the people who use them. Dipesh Navsaria, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health performs research about the effects of screens on people and presents them to parents and other inquiring adults around the nation. While some of the long term effects of screens aren’t known, some of the short term effects are.

“There’s some data that in the shortterm, we see that people experience shorter attention spans and seem to ‘need’ more stimulation,” Navsaria said. “This is probably because a lot of screen media is quick, fast-paced, and overstimulating.”

Research on the effects of screen time is new due to recency of the inventions of these devices. Navsaria said that it is a complex topic to understand and study because of the difficulty in defining what screen time is, and other variances within the topic.

“What’s important is that not all screen media is the same,” Navsaria said.

“There’s a big difference between reading a long article on a screen and watching a fast-paced animated show on a screen.

So lumping everything together under ‘screen time’ isn’t useful. It’s kind of like doing research on ‘paper time’, which no one talks about.”

Navsaria said that the deficits that come from being exposed to screens needs to be researched more in order to make people more informed about them, but like other debates that arise perspective is needed to handle it best.

“I think the pace of change is faster than it’s been in human history,” Navsaria said. “Keep in mind that just about every big advance in technology has been accompanied by doubt and panic about what it would ‘do to young people’.”

Screen Time Effects:

Illustration: Katie Gibbs, Aleah Ward, Carter Hazen, and Jenna Spencer

*Source: Pew Research Center

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MOVING FORWARD

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he May family gained a new perspective on life on Jan. 29.

It started out just like any other night; their family had dinner at 6 p.m. and the kids enjoyed their snow day. Because they live farther away, the family went into town all together at the same time, leaving the house empty.

What they found when they returned home was something they would have never expected.

The father, Joseph May, decided to come back earlier than the rest of the family. He had been gone for about three hours and arrived home to the sound of the smoke alarm going off and the faint smell of smoke. He immediately knew that something was wrong.

“Our reaction was immediately to rescue our dogs,” May said. “One was waiting at the door and the others were nowhere to be found. We ran back in to find them, several times, but to no avail.”

He quickly called 911 and contacted the rest of his family, including his daughter, sophomore Eva May. Eva said that the house fire took her by surprise and that her family didn’t know how to respond to the situation.

“We all just were in shock and we really didn’t know what to think,” Eva said. “Everything happened so fast.”

At 4 a.m. the next morning, the fire was finally extinguished. With emergency services leaving, the damage to their home had been done.

The family, however, was still intact.

Everyone was safe, but they had lost two dogs. Joseph said that he and his family would like to give thanks to all of the rescue personnel that came and helped them that night.

“It was a very tough, cold, and challenging ordeal for all of them,” Joseph said.

Although at first they were taken aback by the situation, Joseph said that the family is trying to have an optimistic view.

“We have made a pact to stay positive and to move forward and not dwell on it,” Joseph said. “Our family has been consistent through this and we know we have each other for support.”

Through all the events that have occured, Joseph and Eva have stated that this situation has helped them grow closer as a family and has helped them get a better grasp of what’s truly important in life.

“It forces you to realize what truly matters,” Joseph said. “We have our health, our family and still have one dog. Everything else can be replaced. It could have been much worse.” Joseph

On January 29, the May family lost their home in a fire. Now, the community is coming together to support them. Managing Editor Hailey Surbrook | Photo Editor Spencer Isberg | Staff Writer Toria Montgomery

said that they plan to rebuild their new house on the same property lot.

The family is currently staying with Joseph’s nephew. “Many adjustments have been made, our morning routine for one. A strange house means strange beds, new clothes, new everything, in which we haven’t purchased yet,” Joseph said.

Reece Nye, a friend of Eva’s older brother, Garrett May, set up a GoFundMe for the family, which Eva said has helped improve their family’s situation significantly. She said that as of Feb. 22, their family has received about $38,000 from the community. “[Reece] started a GoFundMe and shared it around Facebook and we have had so many people donate to the GoFundMe and it’s just helped us out so much,” Eva said.

Not only has the May family been receiving help from their friends and family, but the school as well. Eva is a member of the swim team and the team arranged a can drive in order to help raise money for the May family.

Junior Tegan Kareus is a member of the team as well, and she said that the team wanted to do everything they can to help the family.

“We knew it was the right thing to do to help out their family the best we

could, so we wanted to do as much as possible to help support a fellow teammate,” Kareus said.

The main collection period for the can drive occurred in early February. The team also hosted a collection event at Trinity Lutheran church the weekend of Feb. 10 There are baskets placed around the school for collecting cans, and the swim team will still be returning cans and giving the money to the Mays for as long as people are willing to donate.

Kareus said that as of Feb. 22, the drive has made $400-500, and the team will be replacing Eva’s swim gear that was lost in the fire.

“We’re just raising as much as possible to help them out in the best way we can,” Kareus said, “Every little bit counts.”

Among all of this, Joseph said that himself and the rest of the family have been delighted by the amount of support that people have given them through the many fundraisers as well as the thoughts and prayers of many.

“The community has stepped up in ways that we couldn’t have imagined, it’s been absolutely wonderful to see the support, the care, and the donations that came in as well as the GoFundMe account,” Joseph said. “It’s all been a blessing for our family.”

Above: The May family discusses how thier lives have changed since the fire in late January. For the last few weeks, they have been renting a house in the countryside. Photo: Spencer Isberg

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The Focus addresses:

RACISM AT MHS

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Midland High has started to have a discussion about racism after a racist video, that was created by a MHS student, was spread on social media. Administration has already taken some steps, but it’s still questionable: is the school community doing enough to prevent further incidents of racism? Illustration: Sasha Clemons

wo weeks ago, a racist video targeting students at Midland High circulated around social media. This video caused an uproar throughout students, staff, and the community of Midland. It has brought forward a conversation about racism, as well as a discussion on how to approach this topic and how to help prevent further incidents like the video.

The MHS administration has started brainstorming ideas on how to start conversations about this. One of their ideas, which was to have discussions in the classroom about the video and students’ feelings and thoughts towards it, has already been implemented. They also want teachers to tell the administration about the conversations they had.

They administration also plans on creating a small group of students of different ethnicities, staff, parents, and community members. The group would discuss actions that could be taken to improve the culture of MHS. The school has also contacted professionals in topics like this. Staff has started to get advice on how to approach these conversations to help them feel more prepared, and the school recognizes that people have different comfort levels and viewpoints on the topic. The goal is to keep this conversation going year after year; the goal is to have a theme of overall acceptance and inclusion, though the current focus is on

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March 15, 2019

racism.

The Focus thinks that the conversation should have started a while ago. For one, we think that the conversation about racism and acceptance should start at a younger age.

The schools should teach not only general morals, but also about racism and prejudice, as early as elementary school. The video isn’t an isolated incident but rather one example of many. A notable example of racism at MPS occurred a few years ago when an Instagram post targeted an African-American girl who was a kicker on the Dow High football team.

The school should have already had a policy or discussion going on before this year about racism. There should be a policy change in the handbook that directly references and talks about racism and other prejudices. In order to do this in an effective way, administration should contact schools that already have a policy about racism in place. While the school has already talked with professionals, they can talk to schools that have a policy towards racism or reference their handbooks or code of conduct to create their own here in MPS. Lastly, we believe that while it’s up to the administration to adjust policy, it’s ultimately up to the students themselves to discuss and prevent racism. The students are the ones who will see more racism towards other students, whether it’s in person or online.

The students can have a bigger impact on

stopping racism and creating a conversation than the administration can, whether it’s creating school activities or simply reporting it. The Focus believes that there should be an event to the scale of One Billion Rising focused on racism and diversity. Since it’s Student Leadership and Student Council who put together OBR week, it would be up to the students to create something similar on racism and diversity rather than the administration.

An event to the magnitude of OBR week could help bring this topic into conversation and ensure that it’s not ignored and that it’s talked about year after year. Similar to how OBR presents facts on domestic violence, this event could present startling facts about racism and diversity. An example of this could be presenting an act that’s racist when others think it’s not.

The Focus believes that the administration is doing a good job handling this issue, like by having discussions in the classroom and training staff. However, The Focus believes that this is a conversation that should have already been taking place in the school, and schools should build an inclusive environment at all ages. The Focus also believes that students need to step up and take charge of this issue. Racism isn’t a problem that’s going to go away overnight, and these conversation might be uncomfortable and difficult, but they are necessary.

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NCG CINEMA NCG has been a Midland staple since most of us can remember. We were all used to the worn-out seats and 90s-era decor.

Fortunately, the powers that be decided it was time for an upgrade. The new NCG Cinema is sleek. You’ll now want to go to the theater for the environment and comfort, not just the big-screen experience. The theater now offers many new amenities such as separate ticket purchasing to control overflow crowds, freestyle soda machines and premium recliner seating. Despite what one may expect, pricing has not drastically increased since the building’s renovation. Movie night has shifted into a grand outing. You can wait for your movie to start in the new comfortable seats in the lobby, and admire the modern decor. Not everything has changed, of course. The cinema still offers all of its timeless concessions: slushies, candy, popcorn, and pretzels are still available for your movietime snacking.

You even get to add your own butter--as

much as you’d like. Also, moviegoers 21 and older can now enjoy an alcoholic beverage with their film. Overall, the new and improved NCG provides a place to watch the latest blockbuster while feeling like you’re treating yourself with a luxurious experience.

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OLD CHICAGO

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Newly renovated and in place of the late Bennigan’s, Old Chicago brings the modern, clean cut restaurant atmosphere Midland has long been needing, but at a price more of us can afford. Despite being advertised as a pizza joint, the restaurant offers a wide variety of choices, accommodating to whatever occasion it might be. Whether you want an easygoing sandwich for lunch or some greasy bar food on a Friday night, they have it all. One could describe their menu as Applebee’s on steroids; a few extra options at a step up in quality, in addition to pizza. Pizza still reigns as their obvious specialty however, with choices of hand tossed, deep dish and thin crust as well as gluten free alternatives.

Offering a soft opening before their official one, owners clearly communicated that adequate service was one of their top priorities and wanted to give their staffan opportunity for experience. The service certainly matched their intentions. The entire staff was welcoming and kind, constantly checking to make sure our time there was as good as it could be. Our server was very helpful and timely. Altogether, Old Chicago has put themselves on the map as the place to return to regardless of the occasion.

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WHAT’S NEW, MIDLAND?

In hopes of combating cabin fever, the Focus visited and reviewed a variety of new cafes and restaurants to give you some new options to get out of the house. Design Editor Noah Jacobson | Copy Editor Aubrey Chambers

1. The resturant offers more diverse options such as fish and chips with a side of coleslaw. 2.

Old Chicago serves a bacon barbeque burger during their soft opening,. 3. The joint offers a newly renovated space with lots of different seating options. 4. The NCG theatre is now stocked with four freestyle coke machines and self serve condiment stations. 5. The renovation included thje installation of more spacious and padded, reclining seating choices.

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TIKI PINEAPPLE Tiki Pineapple offers a consistently wide variety of dole whip soft serve flavors conveniently located along South Saginaw Road. In addition to the many choices, it offers a good handful of toppings, addons, and sauces. They also offer dairy-free chocolate and vanilla soft-serve for those on a lactose-free diet.

If you’d rather pass on the frozen dessert, the menu also includes different meal options such as wraps,

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salads and chili. Unfortunately, the toppings for those savory snacks are scattered about in the same cooler as the sweeter toppings, so make sure you’re putting a cherry on your dole whip, not a cherry tomato. Walking in for the first time, one can appreciate the cleanliness of the building; it’s apparent that the staff takes pride in their store and works hard to keep it up to par. Furthermore, they were very kind and accommodating upon our arrival, offering us a seat in the exclusive, unopened party room. The shop will soon be open to host birthday parties and events for all ages, adding a new space for Midland party planners.

While acknowledging the difficulty of decorating such a large space without a multi-million dollar budget, the space (formerly Yogurt Yeti) lacks any sense of homey atmosphere and feels artificial and oddly spread out.

However, this would not be difficult to overlook if stopping to pick up some soft serve. Overall, Tiki Pineapple offers a good place for a quick, unique bite.

GROVE TEA LOUNGE Midland has seen a recent increase in popularity in locally-owned cafes and coffee houses. Following the addition of The Loch and Live Oak, add Grove Tea Lounge to that list. It differs with its focus on tea rather than coffee, but you can still get your classic espresso drinks here. They offer a wide variety of tea, and the prices are manageable enough that it doesn’t feel like a splurge in the same way a $7 coffee drink does. Teas are offered hot and iced, and you can even add some boba or lemonade for a customizable drink. A favorite of ours is the iced Blue Jasmine green tea. Grove also offers a wide variety of food options, ranging from sandwiches to cinnamon rolls. This makes it a good option for a light meal or a quick snack. Housed in a former Chemical Bank branch, the environment has a modern feeling.

That makes it an interesting place to stop in for a drink, but it lacks some of the homey feeling that makes you want to curl up with a book and a warm drink. Overall, Grove Tea Lounge is a nice, bright stop for a hot drink and a unique bite, but is missing a little bit of the ‘lounge’ feel.

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6. Grove Tea Lounge offers a wide variety of snacks and drinks. 7. You can chill out while enjoying a blue jasmin and hibiscus iced tea. 8.

Grove employees individually brew each tea ordered. 9. Tiki Pineapple provides a wide variety of toppings to go on a wide variety of dole whip flavors. 10. As with most frozen dessert places, at Tiki Pineapple you pay for your food based on its weight. Tiki Pineapple offers many different toppings, including a variety of fruits and fruit-flavored popping bubbles.

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plugged in Does social media do more harm or good? Two editors from The Focus share their views on the most popularly used apps of our generation.

Bitsy Mammel

Maureen Aloff

T

o me, social media is like candy.

Everyone puts the sweetest parts of their lives on social media, which is why I think everyone likes it so much; it is just the good stuff about them. Like candy, social media can provide a small pick me up as part of your day. Having a piece of chocolate or a couple of Starbursts can satisfy a sweet craving, but eating a whole box of chocolates or a couple packs of Starbursts makes my stomach turn, much like spending too much time on social media makes me feel lethargic and gross. Like candy, social media is great in moderation.

I think social media is an easy way to stay connected to your friends and acquaintances, even after you go your separate ways. Getting to see what my older friends are up to at college and following some people I met on a cruise in 2014 makes me smile because I can still see what’s going on in their lives without talking to them directly. That might sound silly, but I don’t want to intrude on their lives, especially if I haven’t spoken to them in a while. Social media enables my socially awkward tendencies, but in a positive way. Social media, Instagram mostly, also allows me to reach out to these people when I want to without it seeming random by commenting on their posts or direct messaging them.

I mainly use Instagram to follow my friends, people who I have met in real life, but I don’t think there is shame in following “influencers” or public figures, however I would just suggest refraining from obsessing over these celebrities. After all, I don’t really care that Kim Kardashian posted a new booty pic, but it still got two million likes, so obviously someone does. I may not follow many influencers, but I do enjoy

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going on the Instagram explore page.

I use the explore page to find outfit inspiration and comedy. It is a diverse and helpful feature that I think is another positive part of Instagram.

I consider Instagram to be the most rosy and happy of the social media apps, and Twitter to be the more satirical and news filled. I use Twitter to follow more political figures than friends, so it is the place that delivers the majority of the news that I consume. I believe that we live in the age of information, meaning that we live in a time where there is more information available to us than ever before, and social media is the mainstream gate to it.

This is a major benefit to people my age because social media allows us to change our apathy into action.

It was just over a year ago when the survivors of the shooting at Stoneman-Douglas High School used social media to express their outrage and to organize a nationwide student walk out. Those students were able to cause mass action, and it was all through social media. More recently, Congresswoman Alexandria OcasioCortez has used her social media accounts to keep in touch with her constituents and explain her proposed bills, which I think is a revolutionary use of social media. Social media can be used to spread awareness; it can be used for good.

Social media can help us stay connected, but it cannot replace face to face interactions. As much as I enjoy posting pictures from winning football games and retweeting the latest Trump screw up, I understand that social media can never replace real world conversations. For as much as I like ice cream sundaes, I know I can’t have them for every meal. Just like candy, social media can be good, in moderation.

I

first downloaded social media when I was in sixth grade, when during Christmas break my younger cousin insisted that I needed to get this app called “Instagram” as soon as possible. I didn’t really think about it much as I complied and started my first social media account, and soon after I posted my first picture of my cousin and I with a caption about Christmas and some historic emojis.

What was interesting about that day is that even though I didn’t think much about downloading the app, which was soon followed

by Snapchat and Twitter, after the download I thought a lot about what I should post and what others were posting. When I saw that other girls were posting pictures with their friends at the Northeast football games and selfies of themselves standing in front of a mirror, I thought I had to do the same thing.

I thought I had to send my friends each picture with three different caption options to have it proofread and accepted before I could post it on my account. I thought I had to have the same amount of followers as everyone else. And for likes?

I’d see girls’ selfies easily garner hundreds of likes in an hour or two, so I thought my selfies should get the same amount. I thought I had to look like-no, be everyone else. Right from my clothes, to my accessories, down to even my body shape and size.

My entire confidence was a roller coaster. It went up with each validating comment or like, and went down when I saw another post of a girl who would always be skinnier, prettier, and better than me.

Social media hurt me in middle school, when there was a lot of other things that were hurting me too. I couldn’t depend on myself to be

happy, and whenever I thought I felt happy, I was just happy to have someone else think I was. When people post online, many times that post is, really, just a posed snapshot of someone’s life. It would be cool if my entire existence consisted of laughing with my friends or outlooking a sunrise over the ocean, but, sadly and realistically, it’s not. It took me until freshman year to realize that.

After a particularly rough day of wishing I could be other people, I decided to be done with hating myself for things I couldn’t change (yes it really was that sudden). I went through my following list, and unfollowed every single account that made me sad or self conscious. I started to post less on my accounts, and didn’t put pressure on myself to always try to get the perfect picture. I started to just live, while still enjoying life as I scrolled through my timelines.

I don’t think social media as itself is a bad thing; I’ve been able to keep in touch with my long-distance family and friends much easier. Although, I do think that if we have social media without recognizing the potential negative effects, there’s going to be a lot more people who were like me before freshman year. I wouldn’t want anyone to feel the same way that I did then.

Now, my social media accounts are only pictures and videos that represent me the best: a person who doesn’t take much seriously, and who surrounds themselves with people that make them a better person. Before I post, I ask myself, who am I posting this for? Myself? My friends? My followers who I wouldn’t recognize in real life? If the answer isn’t “myself” I don’t post. Life is short, and the only opinion of yourself that matters is really your own. Why waste it with social media that isn’t social?

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indecisive Jenna Spencer

I

’m a generally indecisive person--just ask my family. When given a list of different places to go out to eat and told to choose one, I’ll do the exact opposite. I’ll either eliminate one or give an option between two or three. I can spend way too much time analyzing a decision which could be as simple as deciding which t-shirt to get. This indecisiveness makes planning my future a little hard.

I’m over halfway through my junior year, and I a) still have no idea what I want to major in and b) have no idea where I want to apply to for college other than Michigan State University, University of Michigan, and Loyola University Chicago (though tuition there is a lot, so whether or not I’ll go there is up in the air right now), but I want to apply to more than just three colleges.

I’ve googled “colleges in Michigan,” scrolled through lists, read their reviews, looked at the stats of accepted SAT scores and GPAs, and I still only have two colleges on my list. It’s not that these colleges don’t look nice, it’s just that I’ll think “maybe I should apply there” or “I should visit their campus” and then I don’t do anything about it. I’m pretty sure that one of the reasons I’m even applying to MSU and U of M is because I’ve heard people talk about these colleges since I was young. They’re the only three campuses I’ve toured.

But I feel like if I’m going to apply to a college, I should make sure I have at least an idea of what I want to major in to make sure they even offer that major, nevermind the fact that some schools have good programs for one major but a bad one for another. Hence, my second problem, which may come down to the root cause of my indecisiveness: I don’t know what I want to major in.

I know everybody says that it’s ok that I don’t know what I want to study, and that I still have time. In my mind, I don’t, and I have so many options. Right now I’m thinking about majoring in biology or chemistry and doing something with DNA and genes that involve working in a

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lab in a hospital. I’m also really interested in psychology, and why people act the way they do and why they do certain things, and maybe I’ll move to Chicago and become a forensic psychologist. On the other hand, I love to read and write, so maybe I’ll be an English major and go to work for a publishing company.

There’s a lot of things that interest me and that I can see myself doing as a career, which stresses me out. There’s so many things that I can do, but if I choose something and I end up not liking it, I’m going to be stuck doing it for the rest of my life. All I know is that I want a job that doesn’t have me doing the exact same thing day after day, or that has me stuck behind a desk crouched over a computer all day.

I’m also taking the SAT in April, and I don’t feel ready for it. Not to even mention the test itself, and how the score helps determine what college I get into, but there’s a place on the SAT to mark what colleges you want them to send your scores to. To be able to do this, I need to know what colleges I’m planning on applying to. As I’ve previously established, I don’t. I feel like there’s this deadline that’s creeping closer and closer and I’m no more prepared for it than I was a year ago.

My junior year is coming to a close, and I’m going to have to apply to colleges soon. On the other hand, after touring three colleges, I know that U of M is my top choice. I also want to try and get an internship in a lab to help me narrow down my options for a career. I’m trying to take classes about things I’m interested in to help me decide what I want to do, and I can always apply to college as undecided, or even change my major later in college.

My sister told me that my major doesn’t define my career. My parents are proof of that. And if worst comes to worst, I can always go back to college and get a new major. Being indecisive is a part of my personality, no matter how annoyed I get by it, but by now I’ve learned to just make the decision.

1409 S Saginaw Rd | (989) 835-2882

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H U M A N S

o f

MIDLAND HIGH

wedding gift Aleah Ward

E

De’Quavion Davis Senior

My favorite experience at Midland High would have to be playing football and joining the National Guard. When I was a kid I always dreamed about being on the front lines so I joined an infantry unit and I go to drills every month in Grayling. The National Guard motivated me to get through school and it built a lot of character so far in my journey. Mr. Methner has had the most impact on me because he gave me the idea to play football and he gave me an experience that I never thought I would have. My favorite memory would have to be going further in our football season than anyone in or out of Midland High would have ever thought. The thing that I like most about at Midland High is the love and support of the people here.

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arly in August of 2017, I would have never believed that I would’ve taken something home from a family friend’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle wedding. It’s not like I caught the bride’s bouquet or anything. But instead I find two scrawny, flea-bag kittens in the crumbling town-hall parking lot.

They were little brown tabbies with green eyes, darting out from underneath the station wagons and GMC trucks in faded parking spots. It was obvious that the babies had lost their mom, and were no older than four weeks because they were as tiny as could be.

They were both noisy little girls, and had instantly attracted the attention of me and my family when we had arrived.

No one knew where they had come from, or how they had gotten here, but one thing that my family knew for sure is that we wanted to do what was best for them.

Minutes before the ceremony, my sister and I each grabbed a cat. Mine was easy to swaddle up, while my sister had to chase the other out from underneath a Chevy Malibu in a handicapped spot.

Despite the excessive noise and squirming of the kittens, the affair went smoothly, and following the conclusion of the ceremony, we had a young couple and two young girls watch over the felines.

My mother, sister, and I then heard rumors going around the reception hall that multiple people would be willing to take them home, or people thought that they were too raggedy, or thought to just set them back on the side of the road.

After improperly feeding the kittens baked beans and a saucer of milk, the mother of the bride gave us permission to take them to the humane society where they would find forever homes.

Prior to the car ride home, I had named them both. The one with the darker fur on her head was Olive, and the more cuddly kitten, Autumn.

They stretched their little paws, and kneaded our legs on the way home, until each of them fell asleep, and as they did this, I had a feeling that this was not the last time that I would see them, it was almost like a sign that my family needed to have one of these kittens, although we already had other pets at home.

During the reception, I decided to tell one of my friends about the adorable new friends we had made because she had been looking for a new pet at the time.

She arrived later that night with her younger sister, both beaming about their new family members, and thanked my family for letting them take care of the kittens.

As it turned out, we had not found a forever home for both of the kittens.

Autumn had not been adjusting well to the house as well as Olive had initially. It was surprising to find that such a cuddly and timid kitten could cause so much trouble in just under twenty-four hours.

She was taken back to my house where we planned to move her, yet again, to find another home.

During the last few days we planned to have Autumn, my mom thought that her name no longer suited her. She had become rambunctious and full of energy, not hesitating to bite my fingers and toes.

I suggested ‘Harley’, because of the wedding, but then silenced myself, I thought I could find a better name.

“No, it’s perfect!“I love it” were some of the responses I had gotten when I had doubted my ability to name a kitten and we’ve had her ever since. Maybe her home was with us, maybe she belonged right where she was.

We had not expected to come home with a new pet from that wedding, we were glad that we did. She has brought so much joy to our lives, and Olive continues to bring joy to my friend’s family. and sometimes what you need isn’t always what you expect.

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after dinosaurs

LEAVE IT

Fox News host Jeanine Pirro criticized Representative Ilhan Omar for wearing a hijab, questioning her allegiance to the U.S.

Kelly Craig

I

n third grade, I decided that I wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up.

I stacked my room with thick, heavy books about dinosaurs, delightfully spilling my knowledge on which creature belonged to which period to whoever would entertain me. The adults in my life, while surprised that I had shown disinterest in Disney princesses and Barbies, continued to put up with my dinosaur fixation, letting me return home with my clothes muddied from “digs” and allowing me to watch a very heavily cut rendition of Jurassic Park. For a brief moment in time, I felt like the smartest kid on the planet, mainly because I knew that Allosauruses and T-Rexes were not the same thing.

But, just as kids learn to let go of dreams of being princesses or superheroes, cracks started to form in my perfect paleontologist future I had created in my head. After excitedly showing one of my parents’ coworkers my own artistic rendition of an Ankylosaurus, I was met with a half-hearted smile and a pat on the shoulder.

Gently, they questioned me if I had any other interests; dinosaurs were a boy’s thing, after all. I protested angrily, confused as to how liking a group of dead reptiles was exclusive for just one gender. But as I started to grow up, I realized eventually that, in my weird fixation with dinosaurs, I was not what people wanted me to be - cool, feminine, proper, and favorable with boys, everything that my dirty cargo shorts and uncombed hair was not.

Of course, I only speak for myself and my situation. Girls are allowed to like dinosaurs.

But the sting of having a purpose being yanked away from me continued to creep back into my thoughts occasionally. I realized that, if I wanted to be what people wanted me to be, I was not allowed room to grow into my own person.

After dinosaurs, everything I did was filtered based on if it made others happy. I pretended to like certain bands to relate to my friends when I felt nothing hearing their

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songs. I wore skirts to look more feminine when they just made me uncomfortable. I watched BBC Sherlock and didn’t understand a single thing about it (I still don’t, really).

Everything about me was made of patchwork, and I had no idea who I was or what I wanted in the future.

Then, deciding to take a chance, I wrote a column for this paper about my struggle with an eating disorder. Writing was something I could do decently, but I had never taken it seriously in the past. Essays written in English classes were always rushed and never given any real thought or depth, and I had never bothered to put any effort into it before that year.

The day the column was released, I got a multitude of support. It was the most vulnerable and honest I had ever been with anybody up until that point, really. My baggage was finally emptied - everyone knew this terrible secret that I had kept down for so long in order to make myself likable to others.

What really stood out to me, though, is that by being vulnerable, I had inadvertently helped others become more vulnerable themselves. In the weeks that followed the column’s release, handfuls of people messaged me or stopped me to tell me how much reading it had helped them with their own eating problems or negative self image.

I was, in all honesty, shocked at how something I had written for my own gain had left that big of an impact on others.

The irony in all of this was that I was still appealing to others by nature, but this time I was doing something with a new purpose. My vulnerability in writing not only helped others, but most importantly, it helped myself.

If what I wrote for my own peace of mind was able to resonate or make an impact with anybody as an added bonus, then I realized that I had found what I needed all along. I had found something that had made not just other people proud, but myself proud.

It might not have been dinosaurs, but after a period of digging through dirt and dust, I had finally found something important.

TAKE IT Fox News condemned host Jeanine Pirro for denouncing Representative Ilhan Omar’s use of a hijab, after she claimed that its use is “antithetical” to the Constitution.

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