The Focus

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Welcoming His Imperfections

Midland High School | November 21, 2018 | Volume 41, Issue 3

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Senior Jared Gonder has struggled with extreme perfectionism, which led to severe anorexia, depression, and anxiety. He claims band literally saved his life.

Pizza Reviews Juvenile Care Center Election Results Matt Babinski

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in this issue volume 41 | issue 3

features

4-5 Rhapsody

11 PATHS Students

Rhapsody is more than its acts, take a look backstage the show.

6 Jared Gonder

Gonder has struggled with severe mental health, but has found a solace in band.

news

7 Election Follow-Up The results of the state vote that took place Nov. 6.

8-9 WE Are Innovators

Students and teachers work with Dow Chemical to help the problems of the world.

Package: Helping The At-Risk

10 Central Park School The elementary school works to help its majority at-risk population.

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opinion and At17 Editorial - MPS Risk Students

This independent online school helps students with credit recovery.

12 - 13 Juvenile Care Center The JCC’s goal is to rehabilitate and educated troubled teens.

sports 14 Sportszone - Hannah Jozwiak Jozwiak has been on the varsity pom team for the past four years.

15 Matt Babinski

Having transferred to an elite hockey team, Babinski hopes to have a future in hockey.

16 Bow Hunters

Sophomore Connor Gibbs and senior Luke Bischer are avid hunters of deer and squirrels.

The Focus reviews the efforts of the school system to help those at risk of dropping out.

18 What MHS Is Thankful For

Students responded to a poll asking what they are grateful for.

19 Pizza Reviews

Tonight is the busiest day for pizza places, so we rated the best and worst ones.

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

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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.

November 21, 2018

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bulletin

instagram of the month

MHS Spotlight :

news briefs

Veteran’s Day

Learn-to-Paint

National Art Honors Society (NAHS) will be hosting a LearnTo-Paint fundraiser on Dec.7.

For an entry fee of $15 anyone can come complete their own painting on a canvas that they can take home with instruction from a NAHS member. The profits of this fundraiser will go to the NAHS spring field trip to an art gallery. They will provide snacks, pizza, and drinks.

Programming Competition Junior Aiden Wilber-Gauthier and senior Hannah Jozwiak competed in a programming competition on Nov. 3.

Sponsored by the Computer Science Department at Michigan State University, the team won the novice competition, meaning they have never competed before. Also competing from MHS were Makayla Nehrt, Brylee Pavlik, Tejaswini Srinivas Reddy, Morgan Hallberg, Katherine Perry, Olivia Johnson, Edie Haase, Ashley Siegmund, and Caryn Wenban.

Poetry Slam

On Nov. 26, the MHS Drama Department will be hosting a poetry slam at Creative 360 from 6-8 p.m. This event will be an open microphone to anyone who wishes to share their poetry , not just members of the department.

Photo Courtesy: Hadley Morden

On Nov. 11 Midland High honored veterans from around Midland County where more than 75 veterans were invited to come to MHS to share their stories. Students through out the day were able to attend these session, learn, and ask questions.

The veterans were welcomed by the Business Professionals of America with flags in front of the school. These presentations reminded students to be thankful for the men and women who have served in the military to protect our country.

“It was a fabulous day to honor our local veterans, to make history come alive for our students, and to connect historical events with real people who served and sacrificed so much so we can enjoy all of our freedoms that we have today,” Learning Coach Connie Beson-Steger said.

tweet of the month

@mhs_focus | web: mhsfocus.com

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November 21, 2018

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Junior, singing “Somewhere that ’s Green” from Little Shop of Horrors.

Justin Taylor

Many people know Rhapsody, but few know what it takes to put the show on. Here’s some of the people who help the show go on. Staff Writer Olivia Ortiz | Staff Writer Isaiah Bridges| Features Editor Jenna Spencer

Senior, part of the Trombone Suislides, where they partake in a choreographed dance while holding the trombones.

Illustration: Olivia Ortiz

Co-Chairs

Kelli Jolly

What is your favorite part about Rhapsody?

“My favorite thing is to watch the show from backstage. It’s a very different feel than being out in the audience. “ Do you have any experience in the arts?

“I am president of Teenage Musicals Incorporated. I am also a choreographer at the Center for the Arts.”

What is the hardest thing about running Rhapsody?

“Pulling everything together at the end. It’s fun, and just making sure that everything runs smoothly is a lot of hard work.”

Judges Daniel Farison

William Monroe

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arts/entertainment

Quinn Zastrow

How long have you been singing?

“My mom says I’ve been singing since age three, but I’ve been officially singing in choirs since fifth grade.”

What is the hardest thing about performing?

“The pressure that’s put on you, because it’s basically the biggest event of the year and you have to depend on yourself to do it. You can’t rely on anyone else to help you when you are up on stage.”

What did you have to do to prepare?

“I first thought of what song I was going to sing and I picked ‘Somewhere that’s Green.’

Sometimes I will just be listening to my favorite music playlist on Youtube and I’ll be like ‘oh that song could work’ as an audition or performance piece and I go off of that and then I find sheet music for it.”

How long have you been doing Rhapsody?

“I’m a senior, and this will be my fourth year.”

What emotions do you feel when thinking about performing?

“The stress of it all sets in before going on, but when you’re on the stage you forget everything. When you look out in the audience you can’t even see anything because the lights are so bright. It’s just a lot of fun, you put all the work into it to finally see it be performed for an audience.”

What did you have to do to prepare?

“Well for safety reasons, just to start out, we use wrapping paper tubes so that way if someone got hit with that, it wouldn’t hurt them. Eventually we switched over to trombones so it took quite a while to get it all down.”

Marelle Herman What is your favorite thing about Rhapsody?

“I love working with all the talented students at Midland High School and I love being a part of such a great Chemic tradition.”

Do you have any experience in the arts? “[I have been a] piano teacher for 15 years, a singer in various vocal ensembles, adjudicator school music contests, and the director of Carpenter Elementary Talent Show for five years.”

What is the hardest thing about running Rhapsody?

“The hardest thing about Rhapsody is when it’s over.”

Emcees Payton Stearns

What do you look for in acts?

“We look for preparedness, uniqueness, and something that’s interesting. We always get a lot of singers, but we can only fit in so many singers. It’s supposed to be a variety show, so that’s always difficult.”

What’s the hardest thing about judging?

“The fact that not everybody can be in. We have a limit of how many acts we can put in, and Rhapsody is a really long show anyway. Even though we limit it, it’s just not possible to include everyone.”

Any advice for people who want to audition?

“Be really well prepared. Walk in with your act as close to complete as you can have it be; don’t walk in being extra nervous and saying, ‘Well when I actually perform it, it will be like this.’ We need to see what it will be like at the audition.”

Have you been in Rhapsody before? If so what? , for “I’ve been in Rh apsody twice in the previous year for varsity pom, s. Once when we did a H arry Potter routin then once for JV e, and pom, when we di d a candy shop ro utine.”

What made yo u want to be Emcee?

“When I was six years old I wen t to my very fir Rhapsody Rendez st vous with my m om and I was wat the Emcees. It w ching as probably halfw ay through the and I thought, ‘T show hey’re really funn y and I want to people laugh too.’ make So I told my mom ‘Mom, when I gr up I want to do th ow at.’”

What do you look for in acts?

“I look for quality, but we also combine that with how well they fit into the variety of acts, so we look for a variety.”

What’s the hardest thing about judging?

“Sometimes there’s acts that are very very similar and in our job we never want to throw cold water on kids who are on fire and ready to go and willing to try. Unfortunately, because of timing restrictions, you have to say no to some students.”

Any advice for people who want to audition?

“You got to make sure it’s really good quality, and try to think of doing something different. A lot of people come in and want to sing, and that’s fine, but then that means there’s more competition for a few slots of singing, because you don’t want a Rhapsody where everybody’s singing all the time. So those acts that are unique usually get in, and we give them a lot of credit. It’s always great to see new and different acts, and there’s a ton of talent out there, so it’s very neat.”

November 21 , 2018

What were au ditions like?

“Auditioning was a little bit nervewracking. Since wanted to do it fo I have r a very very long time, I wrote my at least a month script ahead. I went in there and the judg a poem for me es had to read, and then I read my indivi script and I felt dual really good abou t it. I had a smile whole time.” on the

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November 21 , 2018

LeVale Walker

? If so, for Rhapsody before Have you been in what? rs.” and Meisters for two yea “Yes, I was in Chorus nt to be an Emcee?

What made you wa an year. I apsody was my freshm Rh ’s were “My first time going to cee Em the ht ug nce and I tho was sitting in the audie int e po in their all done drama at som so funny and they had ld do it.” cou I criteria then I knew life, and if that was the s like?

What were audition lked out my s fine, but when I wa wa I in, d lke wa I “When ” us. d I was so nervo mouth was just dry an Note: Rebecca are Emma Brown, The other emcees Lange Henning, and Zion

arts/entertainment

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PERFECTLY IMPERFECT

Senior Jared Gonder has overcome many personal obstacles with the help of the relationships he has made through band. Opinion Editor Kelly Craig | Staff Writer Caitlin Quinn | Staff Writer Amiya Zissler

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Photo: Kelly Craig, Caitlin Quinn

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arts/entertainment

n his first day of band camp his freshman year, senior Jared Gonder was terrified.

He thought about how many ways he could make a mistake: a wrong turn during marching, a tempo followed incorrectly, or a note played off-key. While these might seem like trivial things to worry about for some, the thought of making any mistake brought in immediate thoughts of anxiety to Gonder.

“It was this background thought that I couldn’t get rid of,” Gonder said. “I thought that if I wasn’t perfect, then I was a burden to others.”

Prior to joining band, Gonder struggled heavily with perfectionism.

He was diagnosed with chronic depression and anxiety his eighth grade year.

This lead to suicidal thoughts, and eventually severe anorexia and self harm.

Gonder saw these as ways to punish himself for his imperfections.

“I lost over 140 pounds during that time,” Gonder said.

Gonder spent 25 days in a mental hospital in Grand Rapids after repeated self harm and suicidal behavior.

This experience was jarring for Gonder, and seeing other patients’ struggles in the hospital made him realize the importance of making a recovery. After leaving, Gonder joined band, which he said literally saved his life.

“They became like a family to me almost immediately,” Gonder said. “The mental illnesses and the suicidality were no longer a problem for me because I knew there was a 200 member strong group behind me that I loved and that loved me.”

Lauren Gullo, a former Midland High drum major, was one of Gonder’s close friends during his time in the band, something that Gonder said helped him immensely in his recovery. Gullo believes that Gonder has experienced a lot of growth since his freshman year.

“I could tell he was the type of person who didn’t speak much, but when he did you listened because you knew it was important,” Gullo said. “He’s grown so much, and I especially saw his leadership potential grow. He has found a way to share the love and warmth of his friendship with so many.”

Carrie Gonder, Jared’s mother, saw his involvement in band as an opportunity for him to break his need for perfectionism. She believes that the positive atmosphere and the friendliness of the students in band was extremely influential in Jared’s recovery, for which she is grateful.

“From the moment he stepped into us first band camp, he had a sense of belonging to something really special,” Carrie said. “He made very strong, lasting, and encouraging friendships almost immediately. I believe this organization was his savior.”

Jared admits that at first, he felt pressure to be perfect, but quickly realized that the small imperfections didn’t matter.

“I noticed that all these people that I cared about made the same mistakes that I did, and that the mistakes

weren’t anything to feel bad about,” Jared said. “I realized that I was the same as everyone else, and that I was unnecessarily punishing myself for things every person does.”

Carrie is grateful with how much Jared has grown during his time in band and how it has influenced him as a leader and a person.

“With his experiences, he is able to really listen to people and encourage his peers when they have doubts about themselves,” Carrie said. “I’m so proud of Jared for all he has accomplished. But I think my most proud moment was when I looked at him and I knew that he was a fighter and he was going to survive this and that he smiled and he was going to go on.”

Now as a drum major, he tells his story in hopes of letting other people know that they are not alone, and that there is always someone there for them.

“A sense of belonging is needed for everyone,” Jared said. “I think being involved and giving back and especially having that community of people that you can claim yourself to helps immensely.”

He once thought his imperfections were bad. Now, he lives his life according to one fact -- everyone is perfectly imperfect.

“I think it’s very important to realize that imperfections make us who we are, and that they should be valued,” Gonder said.

Above: Gonder performs during the band showcase with fellow drum majors Kyle Burks and Irene Cline. He notes showcase as one of the most defining moments of his time in band. Photo: Spencer Isberg Left: Gonder poses in uniform with his mace.

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Michigan Governor Election Winner: Gretchen Whitmer (Democrat)

Schuette 44%

Whitmer 53%

38,974 10.2%

Midland residents voted in the 2018 election

Midland High seniors are registered to vote (Out of a survey of 72 seniors)

ELECTION FOLLOW-UP School Board Members’ First Moves PHILLIP RAUSCH “Helping to work with administrators and teachers to increase our student achievement scores for all students. I especially want to take the beginning of my tenure to build collaborative relationships across the district so that I may learn from as many viewpoints as possible. I strongly feel that when good working relationships are developed, we can all come together to achieve more in the end because it is easier to insure all voices are heard and valued.”

JON LAUDERBACH “My first priority is to learn as much about the district, and its strengths and weaknesses, as I can. Only after I gather that information can I make informed decisions.”

Results from the recent Michigan election at a glance. The election took place on Nov. 6, 2018. Web Editor Adrienne Gray| Staff Writer Toria Montgomery

P R O P O S A L 1: Legalization of recreational marijuana Passed by 56%

P R O P O S A L 2:

Create a committee to unbiasedly redistrict Michigan Passed by 61%

PA M E L A S I N G E R “The first thing I plan on working at is improve student achievement and wellbeing for ALL students. Research shows this is an investment that will pay large dividends for not only the students but for all those they impact along the way throughout their entire life. My priorities to achieve this include direct resources to evidence informed practices, invest in educator supports and high quality curriculum, connect efforts within the school and across the community, maintain vigilance and focus on school safety and continue to invest in capitol improvements.”

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November 21, 2018

P R O P O S A L 3: Same-day voter registration Passed by 67%

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Over the summer, senior Bronwyn McCoy and teacher Angela McMath traveled to Ecuador with the WE program. The program’s goal is to encourage students to use STEM to come up with solutions for global issues. Managing Editor Hailey Surbrook | Staff Writer Carter Hazen | Staff Writer Brendan O’Callaghan

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McCoy embraces a child from the community that she assissted on the ME to WE trip to Ecuador. McCoy was able to learn about their ways of life. Photo Courtesy: Bronwyn McCoy

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irty water has tormented the small Ecuadorian village of Bellavista for years. Senior Bronwyn McCoy, sophomore Robert Perry, and science teacher Angela McMath endured over 2,900 miles of international travel, including a seven and a half hour flight, a six hour bus ride and a half hour canoe ride through the Andes Mountains and Andes Basin to reach the small community.

“We got to talk to different town officials there and their preceding mayor and their elders and learned what they had been doing for water before that, and then we talked to different individuals in the town about their personal testimonies about what they had gone through,” McCoy said.

“It was a lot of hands-on work and talking to people and learning about water conservation and what effect it can have.”

Their trip to Ecuador was through the WE Are Innovators program, developed through the WE Schools program.

Carrie Patterson, Chief Development Officer of the WE charity, said that the program challenges students to use STEM to spark innovation among their communities.

“WE Are Innovators was created to help students unlock the power of science and technology to innovate to solve a challenge in their own community or overseas,” Patterson said.

The WE Schools program is the charity’s free service-learning program.

Patterson said that it provides educators with curriculum designed to spark new social initiatives in a school, community, or enhance ones that they already have.

“It gives participants curriculum, educational resources and action campaigns that encourage students to further their curricular learning and develop life skills beyond the

classroom,” Patterson said. “What WE Schools does is help students gain an understanding of the root causes of pressing issues like hunger, poverty and access to education, as they explore how they can make positive impacts.”

The WE Are Innovators program was developed in partnership with Dow Chemical Company. Molly Ekkens, lead communications for Dow’s Global Citizenship space, said that Dow’s goal is to inspire students to connect creativity and science through the WE Are Innovators program.

“This program is a reflection of Dow’s dedication and commitment to build resilient and sustainable communities,” Ekkens said. “[We want to] enhance and build a future workforce of creative, innovative, diverse, and inclusive minds to tackle some of the world’s greatest challenges.”

The program offers resources to help create an innovative solution project for the WE Are Innovators challenge, where participating students have the potential to win a grant.

For the grant application, students pick something from a list of modules, identify an issue in their community aligned with a theme they picked, and they work with a teacher to create a solution. The students then submit their solutions to win the grant or win a ME to WE volunteer trip. McCoy and senior Teju Srinivas-Reddy won a grant last year. This year, the ME to WE volunteer trip is to Kenya, and the campaign for this year’s program closes in February 2019.

“They asked what real world problem we wanted to try and solve and then we had to go through and describe different applications and how we wanted to solve it and what field of STEM it addressed,” McCoy said.

McCoy and Srinivas-Reddy’s project

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build a relationship with people her age from a different region of the world. She also said the trip to Ecuador helped her realize that she wants to do international relief work as a career.

“They were skittish and nervous about us being newcomers,” McCoy said. “We were dressed in hardhats and weird yellow boots and we probably looked really bizarre to them.

But, by the end of the trip we were playing soccer together and laughing and talking.”

Along with the WE Are Innovators grant, McCoy and Reddy are also applying for the A.H. Nickless Scholarship to help their project.

“You get a lot of scholarship money if you win,” SrinivasReddy said. “It's a team of 4 or 5 people, and there's a bunch of prompts like engineering and or programming software that you’ll apply, and then they pick the top 20 teams and they get 1,000 dollars.”

The WE Are Innovators program’s goal is to promote innovation in schools. McMath said that the organization is very unique because everything is dictated by the students rather than the teachers.

“It’s driven by students creating solutions to problems and students doing the work to solve the problems,” McMath said. “The WE organization is going after the youth because it is the belief that the youth are going to be the ones that change the world.”

Where they went:

Bellavista Quito

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ARE THE FUTURE

is a water collection system that would filter rainwater. It will be used to help maintain the land and gardens on campus, which would cut down the cost of maintenance. On a larger scale, the gathering and filtration of rainwater could be a possible solution to the shortage of freshwater that other countries have.

McCoy had the chance to travel to Ecuador with the WE are innovators program, along with Perry and McMath. They traveled from Quito to the community of Bellavista. They learned about water conservation and participated in service projects such as helping with construction for a school.

“In Quito, we went to different workshops by government officials on water conservation efforts, because the Ecuadorian government is becoming a lot more involved in that now,” McCoy said. “In the Amazon we were building a kitchen for a school because WE built different school buildings in past years, but attendance wasn’t up because the kids didn’t have food.

McMath said she saw how drastically different the Ecuadorians lived compared to Americans and that it was a good learning experience for both her and the students.

“It was incredible exposure to third world conditions and how one could innovate solutions to problems that are both global and local,” McMath said. “It was amazing to see how people lived and how well we live as Americans.”

McCoy said there was a language barrier, but she enjoyed being able to

Napo

ECUADOR

The group from WE that McMath (front row, third person from left), Perry (second row, fourth person from left), and McCoy (front row, first person on the left) worked with Ecuador stand in front of the school that they helped renovate. While they were in Quito, Ecuador, they went to workshops about water conservation. Photo courtesy: Bronwyn McCoy

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November 21, 2018

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Part 1 CENTRAL PARK

munity School ogram: the Com pr w ne a g tin en sroom. The has been implem d out of the clas rk an Pa in l ts ra en nt ud Ce st s, of inment year ts. Ar ts/Enter ta y impact the lives For the past two en el tiv ud si st k po is to -r at is ate goal assistance to Model. Its ultim ary Kent s MPS provides ay w us rio f | Staff Writer M va of e Al th at en s re ok au lo M s r Focu t ge Edito on ed th at no oehrle| Exchan ir al so m en ti Fa e th Editor Hannah W fit y ne il n or fa m program be

li ai so only does the ell. m en ta l he al th e teachers as w t. If the child major lis no ia as ec w sp e n er tio udents, but th th st at en d, th rv te te id en in al sa em or he pl vi e, im l or beha y at th e cond grad na nc se io ua ot ng tr hi t om em ac fr gh ng Te fi so ts vi y en is ha in it ia ti ve to amazing journe ec en tl y, st u d en they can see P S. T hi s it has been an ursts in class, th er.” ry le ve l in M o Central tb or t ta pl t. ou t en n Ex lis e ia rk em w ec el Pa S sp an al H n M terventio a team of g a “Centr e in lk in ac or ta be pl r vi to fa ha in ith ry be w ts e ta al e pu th , model ggest go tc h th es Pa rk E le m en w o school nurses ea w as to ca said that his bi ho id e tw t , H ou ity or he ab at un “T tr ts m d is m en an in ild co adm ssible list, to its’ stud program is to bu s as early as po . 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They ir sa id . “W ak ca Fa t m ” d en students in Mid an e, rr an s m it cu ne r te ho al fi ei ga th ob navi e district de base on all ve rs it y an d gl ey need.” ha s be en 57 percent. Th th e cu lt ur al di ents ent whose getting what th ad dr es s w ha t e ud ud d ar St to st se y. k a es et or as dr ci t w so to ad en s in hat need ives with lem must be ct w at-risk stud at ob t, pe th pr rs en a e pe n ud m eate st fte co cr a O r in to hopes as an t done by team. Fo h ou se h ol d h h. to take action in members of the udent, and wha e nc st le riv lu at tip st d .” th ul ce r ld m fo du or by re w ed ne ee or be do edical ne is on e peaceful qualifies for a fr if there was a m eir main focus better and mor udents e, a st as Th pl e d. ks es am ke e th or ex , or w nc w ng ra s ki ha in su end d , w ho Statistically spea K at ie H il li ar y and fa m il y ne ed ed student can’t att n a e nc if th tio ua t e; tr en e nc bu rv ve th da te ha en in en to th att m’s family t learn, so nnection, ra n’ co y ca og d are more likely t el ai pr ic en lik e e ed th ud or M st an m a e or og ra m d e that es, and are school th t, lo ve s th e pr e out what is e team can mak lis behavioral issu ur th ia fig of ec to rs g. sp s be tin ie tr em ua y m . Bl as re grad rite part of her the team hool. Whether t at th e sc ho ol pact. Her favo to drop out befo sc ay gh im w ’ ri a om s fr its en ha em pp rk th ” ha Pa g tral with students keepin op shop or The staff at Cen eates a “one st tion is meeting lems transportation, si cr t ob e is po en pr th l ci ia id ffi nt sa al su te tr in po e it is ow th em a lit tl t at Cen they to deal with thes d ge tt in g to kn eir home life, lem solving righ district an th al e ob ci th in pr fi r s ay ne fo m w e le be th is ob ng pr asy sa id it and it is changi ide a solution. Bl o fa ce bi t be tt er . Sh e team Park. t-year attempt to prov ch il d re n w h s r ith i es f w h l l a b o r a t i ve a ce o ac c , en r ro a i ri p a pe F ve ap ex ed a l h e d pt a o an da h t c -h A t to i . st M ou ng fir hing s se en r learni has had together, reac en tr al Pa rk ha students. ng barriers to thei r nd C ki fo ra at or G r ne w in ie s, he do il s ac ry m ha h te ta em en what it d th e fa ic ra m w it fr om Si bl ey El in a tr au m at ts of th e pr og co m m un it y an ho ol fi e is Sc it ne th d il at be ty e th ni ch it u th a ed m at f “I om are every ne lieves th R ap id s, th e C eir basic needs order to meet directly. 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November 21, 2018

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FILLING THE At-risk students who have struggled in a traditional school setting have found success in the PATHS program through MPS. The online school has helped them stay on track academically and personally. Editor-in-Chief Bitsy Mammel | Design Editor Noah Jacobson | Staff Writer Ethan Ohlrich

Part 2 PATHS PROGRAM

W

hen freshman Makenna Ouderkirk was in middle school, she didn’t expect a lot for her life. She didn’t plan for a life at all.

“Back in middle school, I had this really stupid plan that as soon as I turned 21, I was going to drink a ton of alcohol and just pass out and never wake up,” Ouderkirk said.

Ouderkirk battles anxiety and selfimage issues, making it extremely difficult to focus on her homework and interact with other students in school.

Her constant struggle eventually led to some bad choices and a three month suspension during her eighth grade year. With her options being slim, she had to somehow motivate herself to make up the credits that she lost when she was out of school, and keep up with her classes when she returned.

In eighth grade she was introduced to the Personal Academics Through High School (PATHS) program, an online alternative school that is attached to Midland High. After almost a year in PATHS Ouderkirk’s grades have changed from Es and Ds to Bs, and her outlook on others and herself has improved as well.

“During the suspension, I was only motivated to work because I thought if I didn’t I was going to be expelled,” Ouderkirk said. “Now, I know that my work can do more than that. The PATHS program is a real help. I’ve made a significant improvement in my education.”

The PATHS program was created by Jeff Lauer, the principal of the program, and is now in its second year. He wanted to provide a way for students to succeed and graduate with their primary high school in a way that is best for their learning style. Students in PATHS have independent online classes that they can either work on at home or in the two

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November 21, 2018

classrooms that are off the stairs near the woodshop.

“To get them all of the way to their graduation, we set up a plan,” Lauer said. “It may be through online courses, a mixture of online and traditional, and also Career and Technical Education courses.”

Many in PATHS have come from home lives that have inhibited them from being able to succeed in a normal classroom setting.

Lauer said that he’s been able to have more personal relationships with his students because there’s only two teachers in the classroom. Lauer likes that he can get to know the students better so he can help them not only with academics, but if they have an personal problems as well.

“If something is wrong in their lives which is causing them trouble in school, most of them feel pretty comfortable coming to talk with me,” Lauer said.

Junior Nathaniel Chritz has been getting into trouble with the law since he was 11 years old. Chritz found it hard to be successful in a traditional classroom environment, causing him to act out, and subsequently be moved from school to school. Upon his arrival to his new school, he thought it was unfair that his superiors had preconceived notions of him due to the record he had accumulated, which furthered his desires to quit.

“I gave up because teachers were waiting for me to fail,” Chritz said. “They were always around me and watching me because they thought I was the one who was going to be getting into trouble and I was the one who wasn’t going to be doing what I was supposed to be doing and it made me feel anxious.”

Chritz didn’t know many options to make his situation better and receive enough credits to graduate, since with each school move he would lose credits, causing him to get further behind. The anxiety and constant pressure of his teachers always watching over him led Chritz to do anything to get out of school.

Freshman Makenna Ouderkirk and sophomore Grace Stillwagon sit together in the PATHS room while doing their online schoolwork. They’ve become friends through the program and Lauer said that they play off each other well and support each others’ work. Photo: Spencer Isberg

“I’ve always felt like I had to get kicked out of school because that was my only way out,” Chritz said. “It was the only way to get people to leave me alone.”

Now with the PATHS program, Chritz feels like he doesn’t have to act out to get time to himself. He now has a space to himself where he can work at his own pace and ask for help when needed.

Some students enroll in PATHS for a new approach to learning outside of the traditional classroom. Sophomore Grace Stillwagon has dealt with anxiety surrounding school since she was in the second grade. She said that she went from loving school and getting good grades to begging her mom to pull her out. Stillwagon was homeschooled until this past year, but with her anxiety and not having the support system that a normal classroom gives, she quickly got behind in school. She said that the PATHS program has helped her grow by being able to track her achievement through her progress bar that showed the percentage of her class she has completed.

“I’ve been able to hold myself more accountable,” Stillwagon said. “It’s also been great to see a visual representation of the progress that you’re making and exactly where you are in your classes.

When I was homeschooled it felt like I was getting absolutely nothing done.”

Stillwagon believes there’s a common misconception that PATHS students are violent or delinquents who are just trying to find an easier way to finish school. Lauer agrees and is frustrated with this stigma. He wants the general public to know that the students work hard, and are just like the students in a traditional high school. He said with the right opportunities, in the right environment, every single one of his students will thrive.

“There’s a lot of kids that have developed a reputation outside of this program. They’re ‘the bad kids’ or they’re ‘those kids’ and that phrase drives me crazy because they’re just kids,” Lauer said. “Every one one of these kids has great things going for them.”

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FILLING THE Part 3 JUVENILE CARE CENTER

T

he city of Midland is often referred to as a bubble, lacking in entertainment, diversity, and misconduct. And when misconduct does occur, it is often overlooked. Juvenile Care Center teacher Wendy Thomas said that many citizens of Midland are ignorant to the prevalence of drug use and other crimes that occur, including those that involve the students of Midland Public Schools. The Juvenile Care Center (JCC) is a maximum security detention unit that holds students aged 11-17. Thomas said that for a long time many people of Midland were oblivious to its existence.

“I don’t think that people in the community really understand that there are problems here,” Thomas said. “Drugs are an issue here, truancy is an issue here and it’s not for lack of anybody not doing their job, it’s just I don’t think the community is really aware.”

Probation officer Jenn Metzger works for the court system and is one of the probation officers at the JCC. Metzger says that students come into the JCC in several different ways. A student can be incorrigible, which means a student is uncontrollable and their parents petition the court.

Another way is if the school files a petition if a student is too truant or if a student commits a crime. When this occurs, a police report is filed and is submitted to a prosecuting attorney. The attorney decides whether or not they’re going to charge the student.

If charged, they come into court and are assigned a probation officer.

“Probation officers oversee every service that is provided or we think that is

The Juvenile Care Center acts as a security detention unit that houses students from Midland County and all over Michigan. The center provides credit recovery for students as well as many support groups and programs to rehabilitate and prepare for life after the Juvenile Care Center. News Editor Mady Sherman|Ads Coordinator Jacob W. May | Staff Writer Abbey Brooks

necessary to basically rehabilitate them,” Metzger said. “We do an assessment that focuses on quite a few things: family, involvement within the community, the type of peers the student hangs out with, the school, the attitude, and their skills. We can ask that they do groups to address their anger, to address their thinking, and we can ask that they do counseling, which is the majority of our children are in counseling. It really just depends on the kid.”

The JCC accepted its first students in the fall of 1997. The center was the first of its kind in Michigan, and is split into two different programs. The first of these programs is a detention center that holds students from all over the state, and where they serve a court-ordered sentence in a maximum security detention. In the detention program, students will usually arrive by police, court transporters, or by probation officers. Once a student is in the detention, they stay there until they are discharged or transported to another location. Juveniles will stay for any time between one day and a year depending on their sentencing. While being detained, students will receive schooling and partake in nine hours of physical activity per week in either the gym or the outdoor basketball courts.

The second part of the JCC is the Day Treatment Program that is offered only to students of Midland County.

Students that are court ordered to attend the program are picked up from their homes around seven a.m., and attend the program for about 12 hours a day, coming back home around seven p.m.

The Day Treatment Program is dedicated to continuing the education of students based on Midland Public School’s standards, and rehabilitation through graduation credit recovery. Thomas said that teachers often have to cover several

Supervisors, teachers, and probation officers of the Juvinile Care Center strive to push students to learn from their past mistakes in order to move forward. Mentors of the center often work with at risk students and students that come from bad home situations. lllustration: Aubrey Chambers

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classes at a time, so it is difficult for a teacher to be able to reach the needs of every student.

Because of the desire for each student’s individual needs to be attended to, the JCC also focuses on the use of student groups. These groups meet with students and faculty to discuss their personal needs and issues. The JCC offers a variety of these groups ranging from Aggression Replacement Training, which teaches students anger control, social skills, moral reasoning, and being able to go into real-life situations; to Victim Impact Group, which focuses on the impacts of the juvenile’s actions that had landed them there.

A n o t h e r activity that the JCC implements i s t h e S t ren gt h en i n g F a m i l y Program which incorporates the students and their families.

The families will come to the JCC, where family and students learn lessons from separate staff members and finish with a family dinner at the end of the day.

“It’s just to help teach parents how to be better parents, they parent the best way they know how to, but sometimes, just like we do, they need some help on their skills too,” Thomas said.

Ryan Crampton, a previous MHS student who attended the JCC, was on probation when he was found in possession of a razor blade and marijuana. After going through court, he was sentenced to six months in lock up at the JCC, and to the Day Treatment Program, while attending the school

and many of the groups provided.

“I remember getting handcuffed and shackled after court and having to walk past everyone,” Crampton said. “And when I got there, it really set in that I was not going home.”

Crampton would spend his days during lock up going to school, eating meals, and sometimes getting recreational time in the gym. A normal schedule for him would include getting picked up by van and when he would arrive at the JCC students would arrange in a line, take off their shoes, and prepare for a pat down.

After, he would attend school and groups.

Crampton also said that students in the Day Treatment Program would have more privileges like playing basketball

risk students.

“It is very seldom to see a family where there is a mom and a dad living together, it is usually a single parent home. They struggle financially; always working, never home, or not the best role model; and kids have been exposed to things that not all of us have,” Reed said.

Reed found her passion for working with the court system and students when she started working at the JCC. Before she worked there, she was unaware of what kind of experiences students went through that were in the JCC and how many students were actually affected by things such as drugs and violence “The hardest part is that if I think too much about what the kids have been through, it’s depressing,” Reed said. “Sometimes I avoid reading case files unless I really have to because it’s sad, it’s awful, and we can only do so much there.”

Metzger had found her true passion while working with the JCC and has always enjoyed working with teenagers. Additionally, she thinks that the stigma around youth misbehaving needs to be diminished and that the community as a whole can improve its attitude towards teenagers.

“Being a young person, there’s just that stigma of they’re up to no good, but they’re just kids,” Metzger said. “I think that people need to remember that no kid is a bad kid, people just make bad choices.”

Lori Pritchard, Supervisor of Education Services for Midland Public Schools, has worked at the JCC for 21 years, since its opening. Pritchard also believes that the

I think that people need to remember that no kid is a bad kid, people just make bad choices

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November 21, 2018

Jen Metzger

or ping-pong.

Outside of the two programs, there is a lock down period for students that misbehave. Crampton attended a 24 hour lock down in a cell alone after lying to officials. Crampton remembers this as his worst experience while at the JCC. “The worst part was knowing that you won’t be able to go home, or even look out a [expletive] window,” Crampton said.

One of the JCC Supervisors, Julie Reed, works with students like Crampton, but also oversees the staff assigning them to work directly with kids. Reed said that this job has been a very eye opening experience and believes that a majority of students that come into the JCC are at

JCC has impacted her life and that it offers great services to troubled students.

“The JCC is an important part of our community,” Pritchard said. “It provides a real, tangible place or consequence that kids can see and experience. This is helpful in providing kids reasons to make good choices.”

However, because of some students’ unfavorable home situations, Pritchard and Thomas agree that one downfall of the JCC is often students become too comfortable with the conditions there.

“As sad as it may seem, there are many kids in both programs who have come to appreciate the safety this setting provides, the assistance it gives to making difficult decisions, the support that is provided, and sometimes access to the bare necessities of life (warmth, food, clothing, etc), that they would prefer to stay or to continue to be part of the JCC’s programs,” Pritchard said.

Although he did have a desire to return home as soon as he could, Crampton said his experience at the JCC was not all bad because the credit recovery program allowed him to catch up on his classes and the groups he attended were beneficial to him in his life after the JCC. He is now painting houses without his high school diploma or GED. Pritchard believes that the JCC’s goal is to provide students like Crampton with skills and support to equip them to make appropriate and healthy decisions on their own.

“In communities that don’t have school resource officers or juvenile care centers like ours, it’s more difficult to imagine [how they manage juveniles],” Pritchard said. “The attention, services, and access to such incredible people and programs that this place offers is unexplainable. It offers the kids of our communities, who need it, a genuine opportunity to get their needs met.”

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my number one fan

Mady Sherman

“D

on’t let anyone or anything make you their victim,” my mom would say, tears rolling down my face after a rather disappointing lacrosse tryout.

“So what, you didn’t make varsity?”

Then she would say, “Try again, show them you can do better.”

Whenever she would give me these pep talks, I never felt better after, I often Staff Writer Aleah Ward

left the conversation feeling angry, thinking: What does she know? I can’t retryout, they won’t change their minds.

But I let her words run through my mind until I got over myself, and I worked continuously until districts came around hoping that my freshman self would be pulled up for playoffs. I wish I could say that they did change their minds and appreciated my efforts, but I remained on JV as they pulled up other players around me to varsity.

That sucked, but I also realized that my mom wanting me to be victimless meant she was never going to let me feel sorry for myself. She would always say the same thing: “Didn’t beat your PR in track? Train harder. You don’t get playing time? Work with the coach and fix what your weak at. Didn’t make the team? Prove them wrong.”

I often ignored these mantras; I always wanted someone or something to blame for my failures. But I would be nowhere near who I am today without her, constantly pushing and relentlessly encouraging.

While I was growing up, my uncertainties about my mother’s affections grew too. My sister was quite the athlete: fastest in the state, best in the

Valley, and is still continuing her legacy in college. So it was hard when I would looked up at my parents while I was sitting on the bench for whatever sport, and I would see my mom streaming my sister’s games on her phone. For a while, I had serious doubt that my parents even wanted to attend my sporting events, I was often mediocre and whatever I was doing was not as exciting as college volleyball.

But it was her numerous encouragements, pep talks, or even a quick smile she would flash me when I looked to the stands that helped me realize that I was wrong. I know now my mom is my number one fan. She never wanted to miss a game and was always supportive no matter what sport I was attempting at the time, my mother was always proud of me. I don’t know why I ever doubted that. It didn’t matter if my team would finish undefeated on my rec soccer league, or if I would place almost dead last at my cross country races, I was always greeted with a hug and reaffirming words.

So thank you mom, for teaching me how to be victimless and knowing when to claim my failures, and thank your for being my number one fan.

12 Junior Tyler Pritchett finished 12th in the state this cross country season.

49-28

Varsity football made it to the state semi-finals this season. This is the farthest the varsity team has gone since 2007.

AT H L E T E O F T H E M O N T H : H a n n a h J o z w i a k

A

t last Saturday’s football game, Senior Hannah Jozwiak lined up with her fellow pommers to perform the kick-line. Smiling proudly, the cheers of the crowd reminded her of how much she loves the sport.

Jozwiak has been pursuing pompon for nearly five years, and has been on varsity since her freshman year. She has been a captain for two years, and has kept a determined and hard working demeanor since the beginning of her career.

She was first introduced to the sport when her sister joined varsity pom her freshman year, which convinced Jozwiak to join her school’s team.

“I joined the Northeast pom team to see what it was all about, and I ended up really liking it,” Jozwiak said. “So I stuck with it all throughout eighth grade, and then freshman year I tried out for Midland High and made varsity” Jozwiak was not fully aware of where her pomming abilities could take her. At the time, Coach Katy Stearns said she was given a good first impression at tryouts. “ When she performed there was just a confidence about her,” Stearns said. ”You don’t typically see enough in a freshman.”

Stearns says that Jozwiak is a great leader by example, by always asking questions, clarifying information, and being a very skilled pommer. She is proud of Jozwiak, and says she and is kind to everyone, and says she is a good athlete to work with.

“She’s not just a good pommer, she’s smart, she works hard, and she has great work ethic,” Stearns said.

She believes that Jozwiak would be an asset to any pompon team, and is an asset to hers by being able to connect with each pommer, as well as staying focused.

“Hannah is quiet, but she is like is a glue who keeps the team together,” Stearns said. “She’s so centered and patient, and I can count on Hannah to just keep us centered” Jozwiak is very happy that she has been participating in pom since her eighth grade year, and thinks that being on the team was a great experience. She also says that the pom family is a close one, and made her time on the team worth while.

“Now I couldn’t really imagine my life without it,” Jozwiak said.

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Senior 0 Hannah Jozwiak performing her pom routine at the school assembly on Nov. 16. Photo Spencer Isberg

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November 21, 2018

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LIFE ON THE ICE

Junior Matt Babinski found his passion for hockey in his childhood. He dedicates hours of driving and most of his weekends to competing in games and tournaments in several states. Sports Editor Katie Gibbs |Staff Writer Theophilus Rammidi | Staff Writer Annie Laforet

P

ulling into his driveway at 11 p.m., junior Matt Babinski unloads his backpack and sweaty hockey gear from his parents’ car. After putting away his stick, helmet, and skates, he heads up to his bedroom where he continues to finish his homework. This is a typical Tuesday night for Babinski during the regular hockey season because he now travels almost two hours to get to his team’s practices.

Following in his brothers’ footsteps, Babinski picked up his first hockey stick at four years old and fell in love with the sport. Both of his older brothers played hockey throughout high school. His oldest brother, Kenny, played Division 1 hockey for Ferris State University on scholarship. “[His success] fueled my passion to be like him,” Babinski said.

After playing for the school last season and a variety of other travel teams, Babinski decided to venture out and try a new one, the Oakland Junior Grizzlies, a competitive travel team located in Troy, Michigan. Babinski joined last summer after receiving an invitation be a member of the team.

He said switching from playing high

compete. Many of the players on the team go on to play in junior leagues and at the college level. Some have already committed to a college. “[Joining this team] is a good opportunity to help me move up to the next level,” Babinski said.

Babinski said his first tournament with the team was crucial. Having never played with his new teammates before, he said there was pressure to do well and prove he deserved a spot on the team. His first point scored in hockey helped with that. “[My first point] showed my teammates that I can do it too, it helped me gain respect,” Babinski said.

The Grizzlies’ head coach Dan Riedel has been coaching hockey for seven years. He said he thinks Babinski is a good addition to the team and has benefited them in many ways.

“He contributes to our group by always pushing the pace with his skating and using his smarts to create offense,” Riedel said. “He’s really been a key piece to our team this year.”

Out of all the other players on the team, Babinski travels the farthest to practice. This fact does not go unnoticed by Riedel, who sees the

Both parents are helpful with getting Babinski to practice because they believe it is a good opportunity for him.

“I think that he’s been able to improve his skills by being surrounded by tough competition and that’s really benefited him,” Laurie said.

The near two hour drive can be daunting, but Laurie thinks it’s benefited Matt in other ways.

“He’s had to become more disciplined in keeping up with school work because when he’s traveling he uses his time wisely,” Laurie said.

Matt said hockey is more than just a sport to him. Not only does he hope to play in a junior league next year and Division 1 in college after that, it serves as a way for him to escape the chaos of

his day to day life.

“When you’re going fast, it’s cold and you feel the wind coming against your face,” Matt said, “you forget about school and everything else that’s going on.”

With almost all of his weekend spent on the road at games and tournaments, Matt said he feels like he’s missed out on the social events that other kids his age are able to enjoy, such as Friday football games and being a part of the student section. However, he also feels that joining the Grizzlies was the right choice and is putting him on a path to success.

“I had to make a tough decision. In the end I think it’s going to be worth it,” Matt said.

Junior Matt Babinski found a passion for hockey at a young age with help from his older brothers. He now travels to multiple states to compete in tournaments . Photo: Spencer Isberg

When you’re going fast, it’s cold and you feel the wind coming at your face. You forget about school and everything else that’s going on.

- Matt Babinski

school hockey to their travel team was challenging, but was made easier by the connections all of the players have with each other.

“I was nervous [about joining], but our team takes pride in making a family atmosphere,” Babinski said. “The first week we were together we went on a trip to Ferris State. It helped us bond so it was a good transition.”

The Grizzlies play in a Youth 16 division, and do a lot of traveling for tournaments.

This year they have gone as far as Boston and Pittsburgh to

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November 21, 2018

dedication Babinski has made to the Grizzlies and his future in hockey.

“His commitment to our program at Oakland has really shown his desire to take that next step in his career,” Riedel said.

Babinski is able to be a part of the team with the help of his parents Laurie and Ken, who do most of the driving. He uses the long drive to finish as much homework as he can.

sports

15

A LOADED SPORT

Senior Luke Bischer and sophomore Connor Gibbs have a common passion for hunting. They’ve been hunting for the majority of their lives and have learned a lot about the sport as well as the responsibilities that come along with it. Photo Editor Spencer Isberg | Staff Writer Brady Woods

Sophomore Connor Gibbs pulls back the drawstring of his bow, ready for a shot. Gibbs’ favorite weapon to hunt with is his Mission brand compound bow. Photo: Spencer Isberg

S

Buck Jam

Gel-like material containing fruit flavor and minerals. Deer are extremely attracted to bait like this product.

Generally put on a bait pile.

Hand Warmers

Can play a big factor on staying warm on cold mornings. Super easy to use and yet very effective.

Rangefinder

A tool to help calculate the distance of a selected target.

Also can be used for sports like golf.

16

sports

chool had just gotten out on a day in late spring of senior Luke Bischer’s fourth grade year. His father called his mother, saying that there was a turkey in the backyard behind the house. Together, Bischer and his mother raced home as quickly as they could, arriving just in time for him to throw on his hunting clothes and peer out the window to see if the turkey was still around.

“A half hour after that, I was walking back to the house with a big turkey slung over my shoulder with a smile on my face,” Bischer said.

Bischer said he remembers being excited, happy, and filled with a sense of pride at his accomplishment. That’s similar to how he now feels whenever he has the opportunity to hunt. This initial experience started Bischer’s passion as a hunter, a passion that continues to this day.

“I like hunting squirrels because it’s different from big game,” Bischer said. “You can just walk through the woods looking for them.

You don’t need to hunt out of a treestand and get all ready for a cold morning like you would for deer hunting, but I also like deer hunting because it takes hunting to a whole other level.”

For sophomore Connor Gibbs, the excitement of his first deer hunt was when he was about eight years old. Gibbs said his first hunting experience was as enjoyable and exhilarating as he hoped it would be, but harder in some aspects.

“I knew I’d like it; I was having fun with my dad,” Gibbs said. “We didn’t see deer for many years because I was still learning how to be quiet. I liked it from the start, though.”

The excitement of the first few hunts came with a large amount of responsibility for both Gibbs and Bischer. Both have devoted hours of practice to learning the significance of knowing how to properly handle a gun and bow. Bischer said that very early on, his father

taught him the importance of these skills.

“My dad always taught me that hunting was a serious sport, and using a gun or even a bow is not a toy,” Bischer said. “There is a huge responsibility that comes with handling a loaded gun.”

Hunting animals such as white-tailed deer can be difficult. This animal can be highly intelligent, and the hunter has to take that into consideration when tracking them. Gibbs said that he has had to wait out several early mornings and manipulate his scent, in order to be successful.

“You can wash your clothes with detergent; that’ll clear the scent,¨ Gibbs said. ¨The best thing to do though, is to leave your clothes out in the environment.¨ Gibbs and Bischer both said that the reason for doing this is that if clothing is left outside, it develops the smell of nature the deer are used to.

Deer also follow patterns on a daily basis; which is why Gibbs sets out trail cameras on trees to track the trips they make to his bait pile. This location is where hunters place food to lure animals into the area they plan on shooting them from. This footage collected determines how early he sets out for his hunt, and what path he needs to take to track them.

“I like to be out thirty minutes before daylight,” Gibbs said. ¨But, if I notice a deer has a pattern of being out really early, I like to go out even earlier.”

Taking on the responsibility of how to properly handle the gun and bow, masking the scent, and spending hours preparing for the hunt, are not the only difficulties both hunters face. Controversy around the ethics of hunting has always floated around the sport.

Gibbs said that whenever he is approached by someone who has opposing viewpoints about hunting, he tries to explain his reasoning behind hunting. ¨A lot of people think that hunting is just

for the kill, but most of it is for the meat and the experience,” Gibbs said. “If you do a lot of research, without hunting it would be so hard to keep the deer population in control; and that’s really what hunting is used for.¨ According to the Midland County Deer Management Unit (DMU), the two main goals that guide the deer management for Midland County are impact management and hunting opportunities. Impact management refers to reducing things like crop damage and deervehicle collisions, which are negative results of over-population. For the past four years, Midland County has seen a deer population that is stagnant to slightly increasing.

During the winter, the DMU uses a Winter Severity Index (WSI) to monitor the correlation between deer population and increasing cold weather. They have found that as temperature decreases, the deer population also has a natural tendency to decrease as well, as a result of survival. To maintain the current population of deer that they believe to be a stable amount, they plan to adjust private land antler-less license quotas during winter. Michigan also has bag limits placed on the different animals that can be hunted. This means you can only shoot a certain amount of animals.

Bischer said that with any controversy that comes along with hunting, he recommends people to find ways to learn more about the sport. Bischer said that if someone is interested in hunting, he finds it important for them to learn from family and friends, the same way he learned from his father. ¨I would say to go out and hunt with a family member or a friend who has been around the sport long enough to know the ins and outs,¨ Bischer said.¨Have them teach you how to properly handle the gun or bow you are using, and spend a couple days hunting with them to try and get a feel for what hunting is all about.¨

November 21, 2018

FOCUS

FILLING THE CRACKS

The Focus addresses:

AT-RISK PROGRAMS

F

Midland Public Schools has been working to assist the at-risk population growing throughout the district. It is not an easy task, but the latest developments are promising.

or the past few years, Midland Public Schools has been trying new things to address the at-risk population across the district. These include the PATHS program at both Midland High, The Central Park Community School Model, and The Juvenile Care Center (JCC). Each of these programs serves a different purpose in addressing the problem.

The PATHS program - the newest addition to the strategy to help at-risk students - focuses on high schoolers who need specialized attention as opposed to a traditional classroom setting. They take online classes that help them earn enough credits to graduate on time. This has benefited many students over the two years it has been at Midland.

The Community School Model has been an active part of MPS for the past seven years and originally started at Eastlawn Elementary, but transferred over to Central Park when Eastlawn closed. The purpose of this program is to help all aspects of students’ lives in order to make it easier for them to go to school. The team running the program consists of multiple positions, each specializing in a different area that might need to be address such as housing or health. This way, the team can take a more targeted approach to find the best solution to the problem in a students’ life, allowing them to focus of academics.

The JCC, which has been around longer than the previous two mentioned

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November 21, 2018

programs, is different than a traditional “juvy” system. MPS works with the kids there to provide an education that allows them to receive a high school diploma on time. Even though they have had kids not succeed in this program, they have also seen positive results.The Focus staff understands that things will never be perfect and that there is no one way to meet the needs of every at-risk student, but we believe that MPS is properly addressing the population with what they are doing right now.

We believe that the PATHS program provides good opportunities for students to learn in an environment that works for them. We understand that not all students can learn at the same pace and in a traditional classroom and this program is allowing students to succeed.

However, we would like to see this implemented more in places such as Northeast and Jefferson. By giving students ways to find how they learn best at an earlier stage in their education, they could have a better chance at graduating on time. We also think that this program is not promoted enough. While there are teachers and students who know abouts PATHS, many students even on our Focus staff were not aware of this great program.

We believe that if more students were aware of this, they could seek out its help.

Although the program has not been at Central Park for very long, we think that the Community School Model is a very

effective way of addressing the at-risk population. Since 57 percent of students at Central Park are at-risk (the highest percentage in MPS) we understand why it was chosen for this program and believe that in having it there: it helps the greatest number of students. Also, by having it at an elementary school, it allows MPS to address at an early age the problems in at-risk students’ lives. This will help them good habits, such as going to school, that will benefit them later on.

Accordingly, the program does a good job covering all of the needs of the school.

By having a team with such specialized positions as opposed to only having a few counselors that would need to cover all categories, they allow the program to do the most good possible.

Not every student at JCC winds up getting a diploma or GED, but it still gives many of its participants a better chance at graduating.

These programs are just three examples of what MPS is doing to address their at-risk population and The Focus Staff believes that they are all doing great things. While we believe that the work MPS is dong is appropriate, we would like to see more of it implemented in more schools around the district. We understand the funding is always too short, but the work that these programs such as PATHS and the Community School Model are doing are too good not to spread.

editorial

17

The energetic student body, and all the fun pep rallies/ assemblies.

There’s a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. We decided to ask some MHS students what they’re thankful for about our school. Here are some of their responses. Staff Writer Aubrey Chambers| Staff Writer Megan Shaffer ur for o e v lo nd The ol, a to o h sc ss gne e. n i l l i t w icipa t r a p

Teach e under rs who stand th stresse s of lif e e - scho o extrac l work, u jobs, f rriculars, amily etc.

All th e push great p ing y eop l invo lved ou to ge e t and mos tly e how ve you mee ryone t you to g pushes o life. furth er in

ha uc d s n to go afe a the o t s gh at is ols in u no l th ho y e hoo p sc k Luc at sc e to h gre of t e on te. sta

The way that the student body cares about each other and the community.

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opinion

A good education. I may not like coming to school everyday, but I know that at least I'll learn

rk wo ff d ar sta h e e Th t th nch a th d lu put an ies ach us lad to te ed in d fe ay. an eryd ev

of lture u c The values MHS gence. li intel

The ability to do online classes, dual enroll, or co-op. These experiences allow students to explore alternative methods of learning, and get a head start on their future.

November 21, 2018

FOCUS

SAVE A TURKEY EAT A PIZZA

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days for pizzerias in America. These four reviews go over all the criteria of what makes a good pizza, and why. We judged them on appearance, taste, cost, and how the pizza held together while eating a slice.

Staff Writer David Draves | Staff Writer Devin Alexander

B Domino’s

ased solely on appearance, the Domino’s pizza looked to be the most flavorful of the four. The crust was smothered in spices and flavors, along with the pepperoni having many speckles of pepper and salt. The pizza was much less greasy, and the crust much bigger than the other three,which limited the amount of cheese and sauce. When lifting the first slice, the cheese falls off in clumps much like Little Caesars, lacking the gooey cheese that Pizza Sams had.

The dough is extremely flavorful, but not too overpowering. The dough is also moderately soft, a perfect balance between dough and overly greasy. The pepperoni follows suit, offering a wide array of flavors when first touching your tongue. They are very consistent, all equally soft with no crunch at all. Underneath the pepperoni, the sauce provides a nice cushion. When you reach the crust, it is very flavorful, much like the rest of the pizza. It is a good size, and is a good finale to this pizza.

Domino’s is a pizza full of spices and flavors, something everyone can enjoy this Thanksgiving.

M

ancino’s presented a perfect appearance with an even spread of cheese and toppings. The cheese had a intriguing touch and worked well with the sauce. The pepperoni was perfectly cooked and it had a good consistency. When lifting the slices out of the box, the pizza did not drip grease, ultimately contributing to the appearance. The cheese stayed on the slice without sliding off which made the slice hold together very well. The dough was very soft in some parts of the pizza but it was inconsistent on the corners of the crust where there was a crunch to it. The pizza had a large array of flavors and all of the toppings and contents played together. The pepperoni sat inside the cheese, which created a burst of flavor. Overall, the pizza was very satisfying and filling. The pizza is reasonably cheap and better than most of the pizzas that we tried.

Pizza Sam’s

P

izza Sam’s was certainly the most aesthetically pleasing of the ones we tried. It contained much more vibrant colors compared to the others. It was not too greasy, but only had enough to enhance the overall flavor. The cheese was very gooey, dripping off some edges of the pie, making it more appealing to the eye. Upon pulling out the first slice, the cheese stretches while staying attached to the pizza. The first bite made it clear that the dough was soft and much too thin, but still provided some flavor. The grease had seeped through the top straight through the dough, resulting in a bit of a mess. Unlike Little Caesars, the pizza was cooked evenly, the pepperoni and every other ingredient had the same consistency throughout. There was the perfect amount of sauce, and it did a great job tying all the flavors together. However, the biggest downside to this pizza was the crust. Although it was a good, fluffy consistency, it lacked flavor. There was no butter or seasoning to accompany it.

W

hen compared to the rest, Little Caesars had the most unappetizing appearance of them all. The immense amounts of grease had seeped through the box and had formed a shallow pool atop the pizza. The cheese looked firm and rubbery, covering almost all of the pizza, while leaving little crust behind. When the first slice was pulled, the cheese stuck together in chunks, and peeled clean off the pizza, revealing the very minimal amount of sauce. The initial bite was firm, with little flavor, the dough noticeably hard to separate from itself. With this, the pepperoni were unevenly cooked, some crunchy and some soggy. Although the main ingredients of this pizza did not work well together, the crust was superb.

It offered a very buttery, and warm taste to cleanse your palette.

Little Caesars

Winner: Mancino’s

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November 21, 2018

Opinion

19

H U M A N S

o f

MIDLAND HIGH

merci Bitsy Mammel

T

John Marinan Senior

Thanksgiving is all about spending time with my family because all my sisters live outside of Midland, so as many of them come home as they can. It’s not about the traditions as it is just the quality time that we spend together. I have four older sisters and they all did drama, sang, and played various musical instruments. When I was growing up in the house there was just music everywhere so I just kinda picked up on that. My sisters are my biggest inspirations because we all went to MHS, we all came from the same place, and they are all doing well so I know that it’s possible for me.

They’re all happy and they still pursue music wherever they are whatever they’re doing.

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20

opinion

hank you for reading this. Really, thank you.

Too many times we hold open doors for people, only to receive a cold shoulder and a head bowed down to the ground refusing to look at the person helping them. Too many times we receive gifts from our friends and family, and then groan about having to write thank you letters. Too many times our teachers pour their lives into their work, trying their best to create lesson plans that are interesting and effective, as we roll our eyes and complain about having too much homework or having to do another lab.

Just think for a second; how many times have you thanked a teacher or another school administrator? I asked myself this, and the number was between about zero and ten. After almost 13 years of being in school, I’ve almost never thanked my teachers.

I don’t think it’s because I’m not grateful. MPS is an amazing district, and I know I’m lucky to be given all of the opportunities I’ve had here; I feel more than prepared to be going off to college in a few short months. I’m not ungrateful, I’m just forgetful.

When teachers are dishing out assignments left and right, with college apps as a dark figure constantly above my head, and with my mind filled with responsibilities and obligations, I seldom think about the work that the school itself does.

But as Thanksgiving approaches, I want to stop and think about those other than myself. I want to, as the holiday prompts, give thanks. Thanks to my teachers for, well, teaching. Thanks to MPS for providing the support that these amazing schools have received. Thanks to the chance that I was lucky enough to live in a place where a good education is an option for all.

When I hear people complain about projects, homework, etc., I get a little bit annoyed, even if I agree with them.

There are days that I really do not want

to read and take notes on the essays of E.B. White, but I still do them. Not just to get good grades (yet that is a big part of it), but because of the benefit that doing the work will give me. I do not think that everyone realizes how much we gain from going to a rather affluent school with teachers who really care about what they do. Yes, doing that bio group project will probably take up time that could be spent in front of a Netflix screen, but working on communication, time management, and group skills will last a lot longer than an episode of Stranger Things. Taking notes of how E.B. White utilizes personification in his essays? As much as I hate to admit it, I know I’ll be thankful for learning what literary elements mean so I can test out of English classes in the future.

Our lives after high school will all be different, of course. We’re future doctors, teachers, mechanics, trophy spouses, and political officials. But the core fundamentals of the education that we gain here will be crucial to all of our paths.

At MHS, I believe that those fundamentals are obtainable for all student, but blowing off classes and putting minimal effort into your work will give you minimal achievements. You might as well give the finger to every teacher and administrator too. They’re real people too, trying hard to help us grow in this awkward phase between childhood and adulthood. How can we become successful if we truly only think of ourselves? People in power positions aren’t the same people who look away when someone hands them the paper they just dropped. They’re the ones who do not take what was given to them for granted.

So, when you’re eating pizza tonight or gathering with family around your Thanksgiving feast, carve out some time to think about the education and the people who have provided you with the knowledge and skills you need to excel in this competitive society. Let’s not take our educators and school for granted. Instead, thank a teacher or two (or ten) today.

November 21, 2018

FOCUS

how to save a life Annie Laforet

A

fter binge-watching 14 seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, I’ve become quite familiar with words and phrases like, “subdural hematoma,” and, “get me some O-neg stat.” I don’t know my blood type, but after watching over 160 hours of love affairs and hospital lingo, I made the decision that I wanted to donate blood.

Last year I was finally old enough to be able to do so. The morning of the blood drive, I had a big breakfast to make sure I wouldn’t pass out. I got my red slip during my third hour and skipped down to the girl’s loft. I filled out the questionnaire and ate my fill of pretzels while I waited to be screened. After what seemed like hours I finally got called back. The attendant took my blood pressure and pulse, then asked me to roll up sleeves to check which arm had better veins. A few seconds of awkward silence and staring, he said, “I’ll be right back,” and left.

For approximately seven years I’ve struggled with self harm. If this subject makes you uncomfortable, stop reading.

It started with a few small scratches on my upper thighs and gradually became deep scarring cuts all over my arms and legs. The worst one was a wrist laceration in sophomore year that caused a trip to the hospital. Due to the size of the cut, I still have a pretty major scar that sticks out compared to any other scar on my body. Now, most of my scars have faded to a point where they are no longer noticeable, but a year ago they still were.

The attendant returned with a lady who I inferred to be his supervisor.

“When was the last time?” She said, glancing down at my arms. I was completely taken back, and I felt stupid and exposed.

“I don’t know,” was all I managed to spit out. But I did know. The scars on my arm were from 15 days earlier. For me, they weren’t a big deal. To me, those oncecuts-now-scars were nothing major.

“What’s the protocol for something like this?” The male attendant asked.

“I don’t know, let me make a few calls,”

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November 21, 2018

the lady said, leaving the privacy of the screen.

Tears began to prickle against the back of my eyes and I stared into the palms of my hands.

Cutting was my way of coping with sadness or punishing myself. It wasn’t something I tried super hard to hide, but it wasn’t something I talked about with anyone. It wasn’t like I was causing irreversible damage. At the time I didn’t want to get better or be happy.

“Unfortunately we can’t let you donate today,” the lady said, snatching my gaze away from my hands. She handed me some papers and told me I couldn’t donate until June 2018. They thanked me, I don’t know what for, and told me to try again next year. I left the girl’s loft feeling like a shell of who I was when I entered.

Ironically, after this I wanted to cut myself. Instead of facing my feelings or problems, I made the pain they caused me visible.

This is what made me want to change.

I really wanted to help people, but I couldn’t unless I got help for myself first. I got rid of all my blades at home and talked to my therapist about healthy coping mechanisms like journaling and exercising. Since last year, I’ve had dark days and weak moments, and I have relapsed, but the problem is not as prominent in my life.

This year at the blood drive I tried again, and I was waiting for my turn to go behind the ominous screen.

After literal hours I got called back.

When I was asked to roll up my sleeves, my heart began pounding and my palms got all sweaty. I was terrified of being useless and feeling exposed again.

“Both arms look good, do you have a preference?” the female attendant asked.

A huge wave of relief came over me as I shook my head no.

I was able to donate that day and save 1-3 lives, and now, hopefully sharing my story will be able to save the lives of other tudents who could be dealing with selfharm.

Take It or Leave It Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

TAKE IT

TAKE IT A record number of women and minorities were elected to Congress after the Nov. 6 election.

A Trumpappointed judge ruled to give back CNN reporter Jim Acosta his White House press pass.

LEAVE IT Stan Lee, comic book writer and creator of numerous Marvel superheroes, passed away at age 95 on Nov. 12.

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21

H U M A N S

o f get involved?

MIDLAND HIGH

Hannah Woehrle

O

Lauren McGuirk Fr e s h m a n

My favorite part of Thanksgiving is just eating a ton of food and playing flag football with our cousins. What we do is put socks in our pocket and then of all of my cousins, I think there are 14 of us this year, play flag football together. One time we were playing and my cousin went to run the football, but then my dad tackled him and he lay on the ground for a while, so that was pretty funny. This year we even made uprights out of PVC pipe. I’m also thankful for my family because I’m in a lot of different activities and they always support me to do what I love the most and help me balance my schedule.

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22

opinion

ne of the first things anyone will hear as soon as they enter Midland High is “Get involved!” These two words are great advice and I’ve given them to many incoming freshmen; however, the second piece of advice that should go along with them is “Don’t get too involved.”

Even though it wasn’t until high school that this wave of great advice hit me, I’ve been a pretty involved person my whole life. In elementary school I did competitive gymnastics, Girl Scouts, choir, piano lessons, band, dance, theatre, and various other clubs. When I got to middle school, I exchanged gymnastics for soccer, volleyball, and swim. Girl Scouts became Student Council; I intensified the music with saxophone and voice lessons and the drama with more plays, and still made time to join a variety of clubs.

By the time I got to high school I upped the ante. In case you are wondering, here is a full list of things I have been or am currently involved in: symphonic band, jazz band, Meistersingers, voice lessons, saxophone lessons, swim, tennis, Student Council, drama, Midland County Youth Leadership, BPA, The Focus, Chemic Ambassadors, and church youth group.

Not only that, but I have taken the highest point level possible for all of my classes.

Now, I’m not trying to brag or prove that I am Wonder Woman because I am not. In fact, if I had my way, that list would be much longer.

For the past two years, I have been able to do all of these activities and keep track of my grades. I would still get pretty stressed out every once in a while, but I could manage it.

Things changed junior year.

Classes became five times harder. I was used to having tough classes, but I wasn’t used to having to work my butt off in every single hour just to stay above an 80 percent.

Not only that, but my homework load increased by about three hours every night. As an underclassman, I would occasionally have to stay up past midnight to get everything done. Now, it is rare

for me to go to bed before midnight and I don’t always get it all done.

I thought I could continue on like this for the whole year. I was wrong. My wake-up call? A 48 percent on an AP Bio test and a 60 percent on a math test all in one week.

I added stress-crying to my list of activities.

I thought my problem was that I wasn’t smart enough to be taking such advanced classes. But after analyzing my schedule, I realized that my problem wasn’t that I couldn’t keep up with my classmates. It was that I couldn’t keep up with so many extracurriculars and focus on my grades.

As much as I hated to admit it, I needed to take a step back, for the sake of my grades and my sanity.

Looking back at freshman orientation, there are a few more bits of advice I wish I would have been told.

First, make time for yourself. If I hadn’t given myself time to focus on my own needs instead of just doing homework or staying busy, I wouldn’t have realized what it would take to survive junior year (or at least get this far).

Second, get used to the fact that 100 percent in every class is an unrealistic goal. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t strive to do well in your classes, but realize that you can’t keep getting “disappointed” by a 93 percent. News flash-a B+ is actually a good grade! Just ask anyone who is in BC Calc.

Finally, don’t overbook yourself. As smart as it is to get involved, it is even smarter to understand that we are all human and we have limits. You may think that having the longest resume will help you get into the best college, but getting four hours of sleep a night and stresscrying on a regular basis is not worth the extra two sentences on your college app.

I have learned so much from everything I have been involved in. But understanding that I can’t always do everything and keep good grades was the greatest lesson I’ve learned so far. So next time you are told to “get involved,” consider it a suggestion.

November 21, 2018

FOCUS

hate, not heritage Brendan O’Callaghan

F

lags. I love them, I collect them myself, and I know pretty much every sovereign nation’s flag by heart. Flags are everywhere and we use them everyday. Whether it’s for our country, our state, or even a sports team, we often wave them proudly. But flags can also have a negative connotation as many flags are a symbol of evil or harm. While some of these flags do represent heritage, many also represent a harmful period in history to many, and represent ideologies based off the oppression of others.

I don’t think these flags should be banned. They are a part of our history as a world. But that being said, they should only be used in a sense of historical context, not pride.

One of these flags in current debate is the Confederate or “redneck pride” flag. First off, it isn’t even the real Confederate flag; it’s the battle flag of the Confederate army. While the confederate soldiers are long dead, the flag still lives on. The flag is flown in places as far north as Michigan, a state which never even seceded from the union, at all.

When I’ve talked to those who fly it here in Michigan, they generally say the same thing,“It’s heritage, not hate,” or, “its redneck pride, if that flag offends you, you need a history lesson.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of these Michiganders and many American families arrived post-confederacy, from Europe, not the deep South.

Many of the families have lived in the North all of their lives, or originate from Europe and have no connection to the South. I on the other hand, do have family members from the South.

On my paternal grandmother’s side, some fought for the Confederacy unfortunately (granted, they were fresh off the boat from Ireland at the time). I’m even related to General

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November 21, 2018

Cleburn from the Confederate Army.

Yet the only thing I claim from the South is a love for RC Cola and Moon Pies, not a flag.

Thankfully, I had family members who came straight from Ireland and fought for the 69th infantry division for the Union and for equality, and it’s those men I’m proud of, not the men with a backwards ideology whose foundation was grown on the idea of owning someone else.

While some may say the war was just about state’s rights, you can look at the declarations of various states and see the southern declaration, was a declaration for state’s rights to own slaves.

The Mississippi Declaration of Secession stated, “Position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery- the greatest material interest of the world. It’s labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth.”

The Vice President of the Confederacy still said it himself that the foundation of the Confederacy was that of an unequal state. I invite you to look some of his quotes up,which vividly express his racist views. This shows that the ideals of the Confederate states were unjust.

Yet its flags are still flown by people across the nation.

A flag has more power than we think, and it’s important to recognize that power and understand it. To those who claim Southern heritage and want to represent it, fly a flag from your southern state (besides the Flag of Mississippi, which contains the confederate flag). And to those who simply claim redneck heritage, fly an American flag if you call yourself a patriot and a countryman, not the flag of a nation that killed American soldiers and civilians.

1601 E Wheeler St | 989 832 8770 2713 Waldo Ave | 989 631 3060

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23

Soccer Playoffs

Senior Nate Streich (right) and junior Jack Sczepanski try to defend sophomore Ben Ismail during the district game against Sophomore Zoren holds uplost a white DHS on Oct. 15. Berlanga The Chemics board at the trivia night Isberg hosted by Student 2-0.

Photo: Spencer

Trivia Night

Council on November 15 in the library. Teams answered questions on topics ranging from music to popular TV shows. Photo: Carter Hazen