Vol. 12 Issue 2
MILL CREEK
CHRONICLE Spring 2020
In This Issue Mill Creek Trivia Best Of The Decade Student Spotlights
Meera Chaudhari, 11, offering crepes at the France Booth during International Night
The Mill Creek Chronicle Volume 12 Issue 2
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Photo by: Evan Ferrell Megan Andrews, 7, competing on Tank in her first Walk/Trot class.
Cover Photo by: Jillian McMahon Back Cover Photo by: Cassidy Hettesheimer
Editors Evan Ferrell Isabelle Harrel
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Staff Writers
Photo by: Jillian McMahon Alfonzo Hilliard, 11, warming up before a game
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Photo by: Amiyah Garner
Amiyah Garner Madeline Goodheart Madi Lineberry Joelin Linonge Taylor Maurer Abby McCoy Jillian McMahon Emma Kate Mountjoy Stiles Ramsey Leena Sheikh Natalie Ursetta Whitney West Madison Whitehead
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Varsity wrestler Joey Bambinelli, 10, in a match against a Discovery High School opponent in Region Duals at Discovery High School on January 11.
Table Of Contents
Photo by: Cassidy Hettesheimer
New Clubs...
9
Lainey Lioi Spotlight...
12
MCHS Trivia...
13
Volunteer Opportunities...
15
Changes To The MCHS Media Center...
16
Photo Collage...
18
Katielyn Nyguen Spotlight...
20
Best Of The Decade...
22
Sidney Silver Spotlight...
26
Chancellor Lee Parker,12, running the ball in the Mill Creek vs. East Coweta Corky Kell game in the Mercedes Benz Stadium.
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Photo by: Alan Stewart Front Cover Caroline Knight,11 about to complete a jump.
Back cover Kayla Hanklen, 12, and Jacob Agustin, 12, in the theatre production, “Anne of Green Gables.�
MCHS Chronicle 3
Varsity Wrestling Season Team and season details
By: Stiles Ramsey As we go to press, only a few matches remain in the varsity wrestling season. Wrestler Cameron Sorel, 12, explained how the rest of the season will play out. “We’ve continued to build the program, getting talented new wrestlers to commit to the team and sharpening the skills of our existing varsity and junior varsity wrestlers,” Sorel said. “As for the rest of the season, this Saturday [February 1], we have Area at North Gwinnett, and wrestlers that place there will go on to sectionals. Wrestlers that place at sectionals will progress on to the state tournament, and we have a handful of varsity wrestlers that can get there and be successful. I have full confidence in them.” Sorel said that area on February 1 went well, and several wrestlers placed. “I think it went just fine. There were good matches, and we put 12 guys to sectionals,” Sorel said. The 12 wrestlers that placed at Area were Banks Bitterman, 9, Grant Turner, 10, Peyton Goehring, 12, Nic Bachmann, 11, Alex Zervas, 12, Joey Bambinelli, 10, John Boratyn, 9, Seth Haynes, 10, Gavin Guerra, 10, Alan Sanchez, 10, Ryan Stokes, 12, and Nick Allen, 11.
Varsity wrestler, Grant Turner, 10, in a match against North Gwinnett High School wrestler in Region Duals at Discovery High School on January 11. Photo: Cassidy Hettesheimer
Throughout his senior year, Sorel has bettered himself as an athlete and now is eager to see how he and his teammates will perform in the remainder of the season in the upcoming events. “I have greatly enjoyed my senior year of wrestling, wrestling tough matches, and spending a lot of time [with] and supporting my teammates. Becoming closer friends with them and sharpening my skills as a wrestler and an overall athlete has definitely been my highlight of the year. I am looking forward to seeing how many of us can get to state, and where we can place there. I have a good feeling we’re going to have more wrestlers there than ever before,” Sorel said. Sorel appreciates the work put into making the team successful by his friend and captain of the varsity wrestling team, Peyton Goehring, 12. “Our team captain is Peyton Goehring, a fellow senior and a close friend of mine coming on five years. Peyton is a hard worker. He loves the sport, and it has helped him develop into a great athlete and sharpened his existing leadership qualities. Peyton definitely prefers a tough love leadership style, but his intensity is backed by a genuine care for the betterment of our athletes. I’ve learned a lot from him, and
he pushes me personally to be the best I can be.” Another wrestler on the team, Grant Turner, 10, is grateful for the hard work Goehring puts into the betterment of the team. “Our team captain, Peyton, is the hardest worker in the room day in and day out,” Turner said. “He has a passion for the sport like no other and knows how to lead the team. His hard work has paid off in the last two years as he is the fastest learning and growing wrestler I have ever seen in my eight years of wrestling.” Team captain Goehring is happy with the accomplishments and improvements he has seen in himself so far in the season. “This season has been good. I’ve accomplished a lot this season and still have a solid three weeks to go. I’ve beaten my record from last year and have seen a lot of positive growth and change in myself as a person,” Goehring said.
Varsity wrestler, Ryan Stokes, 12, in a match against North Gwinnett High School wrestler in Region Duals at Discovery High School on January 11 Photo By : Cassidy Hettesheimer
Region, or area, duals were on January 11 at Discovery High School. “The biggest event we went to was area duals. We really wanted to be the first team to go to state in Mill Creek history, but we didn’t perform as well as we could have and ended up dropping a tough loss against North Gwinnett,” Geohring said. Although the team lost against North Gwinnett in the region duals, they have had several other wins. “The team has been solid overall, though. We have had a lot more success at tournaments than we did last year, like the Grayson duals and a few out of state tournaments,” Geohring said. “I think we will see a handful of individual state placers this season.”
Varsity wrestler, Joey Bambinelli, 10, in a match against North Gwinnett High School wrestler in Region Duals at Discovery High School on January 11. Photo By : Cassidy Hettesheimer
MCHS Chronicle 5
EXPLAINING By: Jillian McMahon And Abby McCoy
The Mill Creek Equestrian Team is a Hunter Jumper team. How Hunter Jumper works, is when the riders take their horses over a series of jumps in a speific order. The order of their jumps is their course. The riders will receive their course at the beginning of the day and must learn it before their ride. Otherwise, they run the risk of going off the course. In addition, the team competes with the International Equine Association (IEA). This means that the team brings horses, and the riders will ride random horses that are in their class. There are three ways a rider can be disqualified. One way to get disqualified is if a rider goes off course. In this case, the rider will jump the wrong fence and the announcer will call over the intercom for the rider to exit the arena. The second way is if the rider were to fall off. Normally, in IEA, the rider will get a re-ride on a different horse; however, the judge must agree that it was the horse’s fault and not the rider’s. This is because many people will try and blame a fault or injury on the horse when the majority of the time, it is the rider’s fault. The third way to be disqualified is if the rider has three refusals to a jump. A refusal is when a horse approaches the correct jump, but withholds from going over it on the first attempt.
Caroline Knight, 11, on Jerry
The difference between a normal hunter show, like HJ fox, and an IEA show are the horses. At an IEA event, a team will bring a certain number of horses, depending on how Lola Suplita, 8, on Captain
many riders they have competing. In a coaches’ meeting, the trainers will draw a horse for each of their riders. Riders will have a different horse drawn for each class, so riders that compete on the flat and over fences will get two different horses. Riders may have to compete on horses that they have never seen before or ones that they have been training on for months at the team’s personal barn. In addition to riders’ experience with horses, the training, athleticism, and experience of a horse will also matter. Riders could get an old horse that is difficult to ride or an athletic and highly trained horse; it’s all the luck of the draw. Though, with hunter shows, riders brings their own personal horses that they know well and fits with their riding style. Due to this, riders compete at higher levels in a hunter setting than an IEA setting, and there is a higher quality competition at hunter shows than IEA shows.
Walk, Trot and Canter are the different types of movements a horse can perform, walk being the slowest gait and canter the fastest.
EQUESTRIAN Photo credit: @Alexiscarter_photo
The team that hosts the event must hire a certified judge for the event. The judging is mainly based off of the judge’s personal opinion and who they focus their attention on. Every trainer, judge, and rider has a different style and opinion on riding. Due to this, there can be disagreements over placings and controversy about hunter riding as a sport. Such as, riders being judged on their equitation, ability to control the movement of the horse with invisible aids, and to properly execute a course. Judges are trained to pick up on invisible cues that an untrained eye would not notice. However, although a lot of the judging is opinion-based, there are still things that a judge has to deduct a certain number of points for, such as (Elaina Nicolini, 12, on Vega) a break This would occur if the rider Lola Suplita, 8, on Captain
in every class. The point riders points will contribute to the team points. A team also needs 21 points to move forward in the post season. The points that qualify a rider or team to move on are their accumulated points from their entire season of Ceci Risley, 9, on Zak placings. Each class has placings first through sixth, unless there are under six people in the class. Each place gets a certain number of points, so sixth place earns one point, fifth gets two points, fourth gets three points, third get four points, second gets five points, and first gets seven points. The Mill Creek High School walk, trot, and canter rider, Caroline Knight, 11, will be moving forward to regionals as an individual rider, because she earned enough points individually, but the team as a whole did not. “I’m really excited to head to regionals in a couple [of] weeks,” Knight said, “I’m really focusing on riding the highest quality ride and seeing where it goes from there.”
is supposed to be trotting and the rider gets a walk step or the rider gets a trot step at the canter. If this were to happen, the judge will mark the rider down to an automatic 55 out of 100. Scoring ranges from 10 to 100. An average score is in the 6O’s and a higher score is considered to be in the 80s. In IEA, riders can advance to regionals, then zones, and then nationals. The Mill Creek riders that compete have Chenneen Carver, 10, on Captain (left), to get 18 points in their regular season to Clara Connelly, 9, on Peaches (middle), move to regionals. From there, they have to Abby McCoy, 9, on Peanut (right) place first or second, depending on the size of their class, to move on to zones and then nationals. The trainer chooses a point rider
MCHS Chronicle 7
SPOTLIGHT : ALFONZO HILLIARD BY : AMIYAH GARNER
Alfonzo Hilliard warming up before the North Gwinnett game gets started. Photo By : Amiyah Garner
Alfonzo Hilliard, 12, tore his ACL two years ago and was not cleared to play basketball again until December. According to the website, Mayo Clinic, a torn ACL is a tear or sprain of the anterior cruciate ligament- one of the major ligaments in the knee.
Despite tearing his ACL twice, he stays positive and continues to push himself. Hilliard said, “Getting inside the games, I feel nervous, excited, and then at peace because it’s something I love to do. The emotions I have are determination, gratitude, and happiness because of everything I have been through.”
Hilliard said, “The process of healing was a two year process for me since I tore my ACL twice. It Schools still show interest in him due to his was a life changing process that opened my eyes academic accomplishments. to many simple things in life that people take for granted. It changed me for the better and made Hilliard said, “I’m considering [attending] me mentally and physically stronger.” Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Hampton, East Carolina University (ECU), [or] Florida Being out for two years, his ability to play is A&M University (FAMU), which I have all been different than what it was before he tore his accepted into...grade wise…They have expressed ACL. interest in me for basketball before I was hurt, and they still have interest in me.” Hilliard said, “I feel as if I play differently. I play as if it might be my last game every time I hit the floor and don’t take it for granted after not being able to play for two years.” When it is game time and time to hit the floor, he goes through a lot of emotions from not playing to playing. He not only wishes for a good game and health on himself but on all the other players, too. Hilliard said, “I get ready for games by thinking about the times [and how] I felt when I couldn’t play and how I have to prove something to myself. I pray to myself before every game for safety and good health for all players. Then, when it is almost time to go on, I blast music in my headphones to get me hyped.”
Alfonzo Hilliard after the region game. Photo By: Amiyah Garner
new clubs BY: AMIYAH GARNER
Mill Creek offers students different types of clubs TMZ which breaks down the biggest stories and electives, but students could also create a club about celebrities and gets the exclusive details on what’s going on in the daily life that no one all decide upon together to bring them closer. else knows, for Mill Creek is like an “shade If students are interested in creating a club, they room” (where you can offer trendy news), with can go see Ms. Dunnigan in G108 to get a form to the shade room, the kids will have complete access over the page and post things such as: fill out on whether it will be a school sponsored recent music that just came out, fashion trends, club or a student initiated club. jobs that are hiring, etc. Ms. Dunnigan, the Athletic Secretary, said, “I hand out these forms to students in February to The relaxation club is something to get away see what type of club they would like to have, but from the daily issues you go through everyday. if we have one [club that is] similar to [their own], You can come to the club and not have to worry then I explain that to them, so we won’t have two about anything and just relax. [types] of similar clubs.” After figuring out what type of club they would like to start, students can go see Ms. Dunnigan Whether the club is curriculum or noncurriculum, there are guidelines that have to be to get the form. followed when filling out the form. According to the form, a non-curriculum club will have access to school facilities. Though, school officials retain the authority to prohibit meetings that would interfere with the orderly conduct of educational activities at school. For curriculum clubs, the subject has to directly relate to subject matter which is actually taught or will be taught in a regularly offered course. Creating a Google form with clubs that are not inside Mill Creek, the data shows the students that they are interested in or what would interest them. Looking at the data, some students would prefer to have a relaxation club. Inside the form, what was listed was a step team, TMZ for Mill Creek, or a relaxation club. The step team can be for any and everyone who believes that they can take the time out and learn the choreography. With the step team, students can perform at basketball games or even for the fine arts program and have a show.
Here is a graphic of what clubs students would be interested in having. Photo By: Amiyah Garner
MCHS Chronicle 9
Photo Courtesy of Daniel Knox American volunteer firefighter in New South Wales.
AUSTRALIAN BUSH FIRES:
AUSTRALIA HASN’T BEEN THIS HOT SINCE THE HEMSWORTH BROTHERS BY NATALIE URSETTA
As of the end of February, over 25.5 million acres of land have been destroyed by fires set in Australia, which is about 80 times larger than the Californian fires and over two times larger than the fires in the Amazon based on statistics done by CNN. At first, people believed that these fires were due to natural causes, but recently Australia’s arrested over 200 people for arson. According to Vox.com, “A false claim that a big wave of arson is driving Australia’s raging brushfires has gone viral this week on social media, particularly among climate skeptics grasping for a counter-narrative about the wildfire disaster” Many celebrities and billionaires are donating money and supporting fire relief. One actress, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, posted a charity bid on eBay for the outfit she wore to the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards. According to Space.com, the smoke from the fires is now clearly visible to astronauts from space. Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano has sent a series of various tweets showing images of the smoke. “An immense ash cloud covers Australia as we fly toward the sunset,” Parmitano tweeted on January 13th. Attached to the tweet was a picture of a thick cloud of smoke and dust that covered the desert completely.
In addition, WSJ.com said, “SYDNEY—Forecasters expect heavy rain in parts of Australia’s fire-ravaged southeast in the coming days, offering relief to firefighters, but raising worries that harmful ash could be washed into rivers and contaminate the country’s water supply.” The city’s biggest concern is that it could affect the city’s drinking water. A dam that provides most of Sydney’s drinking water has had borders placed up to catch the debris in hopes of the water not becoming polluted. Students have been standing up for this issue like freshman Ashley Posey, she stated, “It is hurting the environment and is a big problem that isn’t getting enough attention. This issue needs to be brought up more to not only save the animals and ecosystem but also for the people who live there, these people are losing their homes and some are even losing their lives.” This natural disaster has also left students heartbroken. When asked his opinion on the topic, Garrett McKeon,12, said, “It’s sad to see all the wildlife suffer. I think that this could be a lesson to the world about wildfire prevention.”
MCHS Chronicle 11
Mill Creek Trivia By: Abby McCoy
Q1: What is Mill Creek’s Ranking in USA News and World Report from the 2018-1019 school year? A) 11 B) 1,012 C) 931 Q2: How many students are enrolled at Mill Creek? A) 4,017 B) 3,894 C) 3,759 Q3: Wich one of these clubs is a student-initiated club? A) International Club B) Film Club C) STEM Gems Q4) Which one of these faculty members is a science teacher? A) Ms. Muthler B) Ms. Connolly C) Mr. Skelly Q5) How many football coaches are there across all the Mill Creek High School teams? A) 11 B) 20 C) 8 Q6) What percent of Mill Creek students are distinguished learners in math? A) 21% B) 40% C) 36% Q7) What is the Mill Creek student to teacher ratio? A) 20:1 B) 16:1 C) 19:1 Q8) What is the graduation rate at Mill Creek (2019)? A) 98% B) 96% C) 94% Q9) How many full time teachers are at Mill Creek this year? A)194 B) 201 C) 189 Q10) Which club below is a real MIll Creek club? A) Wildlife Club B) Around the World Club C) Table Top Games Club
A1: C; A2: C; A3: A; A4: A; A5: B; A6: A; A7: C A8: C; A9: A; A10: C
Spotlight: Lainey Lioi The Swimmer With a Bright Future By: Joelin Linonge
Lainey Lioi, 12, started swimming when she was 9 years old, and has been doing it for nine years. Lioi is motivated in many ways.
Photos courtesy: Lioi family
She said, “I think I just like the aspect of setting goals and challenging yourself to reach your goals.” Lioi recently made the decision to go to The University of Alaska Fairbanks and join the college’s swim team.
Lioi has been adamant about her decision. She had an infatuation with the state of Alaska for a while, so she easily became intrigued by the idea of going to The University of Alaska Fairbanks. Lioi said, “I really fell in love with Alaska at the end of [my] sophomore year, and when I realized there’s a university that had been there, and that they had a swim team, I was very intrigued by it. Also, when I went there to visit, the coaches and the team were just so welcoming, and the academic departments were very good.”
Her decision has been questioned by many, but she just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to follow her passion. Lioi said, “Swimming is very important to me. It’s been in most of my life, and it just allows me the opportunity to really release stress in a physical way.”
However, Lioi has many reasons as to why she decided on this arrangment.
Lioi is really looking forward to her future, and for what’s to come in Lainey Lioi, who recently got accepted to University Alaska. Alaska Fairbanks, when she got her University of Alaska shirt
Alaska hits very low temperatures and usually isn’t people’s first choice when choosing a college, especially for someone who loves swimming.
She said, “I think I’m just excited for the different opportunities that I have. I’ll be in a different state, with different people, and get to explore new ways of life. All in all, I’m just excited to have new experiences.”
MCHS Chronicle 13
Chancellor Lee Parker Spotlight Records broken: Highest average per game in a season Highest average per rush in a season Highest average per rush in a career Highest average per rush in a playoff game Highest average per rush in a playoff season Most 100 yard games in a career Most 200 yard games in a career Most 1000 yard games in a career
By: Whitney West
Photo by: Alan Stewart
Chancellor Lee Parker, 12, recently broke eight records for Mill Creek Football. Parker only recently joined the football team his junior year. The records he broke were a combination of his junior and senior year on the team. Although he broke the records as an individual he believes his team made a big impact on how well he was able to perform on the field. The records Parker broke were: highest average per game in a season, highest average per rush in a season, highest average per rush in a career, highest average per rush in a playoff game, highest average per rush in a playoff season, most 100 yard games in a career, most 200 yard games in a career, and most 1000 yard seasons in a career. “The team as a whole helps me play better. Because when you’re playing you’re playing for the guy next to you, behind you, and in front of you. So I definitely would not have been able to perform at the level I did without such an incredible team behind me pushing me to be great. ”
Parker also gives credit to his coaches for his success on the team. “I have only been on the team for two years. I experienced Coach Jarvis and Coach Lovelady as head coaches. I want to thank both of them for believing in me when I first got here. I want to thank all the coaches for helping me become the man I am today and preparing me for life. Not just for football but life with family and your friends in general. So I want to thank them and I will never forget that.” Looking back on his two season with Mill Creek Football Parker recalls one of his most memorable moments with the team. “My most memorable moment of my entire high school football career would be our win in the Corky Kell game in the Mercedes Benz stadium. The entire experience was memorable, in the locker room after we won, on the field after we won. Just everybody was having fun. That was a fun game.” Parker plans on continuing his education and football career at Mars Hill University in North Carolina.
Lets Get Involved In Our Community! Written by Taylor Maurer Trying to get involved with your community can be intimidating and you can be unmotivated to start, or maybe you do not know how to get involved. Although the process can get confusing, it is important to help our community. Kennedi Corbin,9, said, “ I would like to get involved in more communal things, but I just don’t know how to.” This is a common thought, but once you put yourself out there it can be easy to find opportunities. There are a variety of options for volunteering for something you would enjoy. For example, Amy Lee,9, says,”I would like to go to a medical college”. She could volunteer to help hospitals, or in assisted living homes. This can not only get you involved, but it also opens you to being able to get an internship. This can open your college opportunities. Sometimes we do not realize how blessed we are. Macie Pennebaker says, “Seeing other kids who are less fortunate made me realize how much more we should appreciate what we have”. Mill Creek has a club called Beta Club which is an organization that requires a minimum of 15 hours of community service. Lane McAfee is a member and she says, “The community service has
impacted how I think. Helping others really made me realize how refreshing it is to get out and better the world”. Community involvement benefits the people, community, and the person volunteering. She says, “ I believe everyone should be required to volunteer”. Getting involved can boost your social skills and help relieve stress. You can meet other people who are interested in the same thing you are. Elizabeth Vick says, “ I met one of my close friends through volunteer work”. Whether or not it is as simple as helping at an elderly living or helping build homes for families, getting yourself involved can help others around you and help to better yourself.
Photo by: Cassidy Hettesheimer
Ellie McIntyre, 11, unloading canned foods for the Student Council’s annual Friday Night Food Fight.
Photo by: Cassidy Hettesheimer
Alexander Kahiga,9, sorting through cans for the Food Fight.
MCHS Chronicle 15
The Media Center Is Being Renamed
By: Emma Kate Mountjoy
The media center is being renamed to fit in with some new changes the county is making about renaming media centers and what media centers will be used for in schools across Georgia. Most things will stay the same in the media center, but some things will change. “The name is going to change; some of the decor on the outside is going to change, and we hope to make it a more inviting place and hold more events for students in here,” Evelynn Garcia, one of the media specialists, said. Students had the opportunity to choose what the media center will be called via QR Code. Their choices were Mill Creek Library, the Library Learning Commons, and Library Commons.
The books and furniture are going to stay the same, and the media specialists are very excited for these new changes and hope that students will like them. “The name is going to change; some of the decor on the outside is going to change, and we hope to make it a more inviting place and hold more events for students in here,” Evelynn Garcia, one of the media specialists, said. “We want to have more events held in the media center, so for example, we moved Book Club to the second Wednesday of every month during the hour-long lunch period,” Garcia said. “I hope [Mill Creek Students] are especially excited about the events that we hope to have here,”
The name Mill Creek Library won by a 75% vote, and that is what the media center will now be called, with a new decorated sign to go along with it. The reason for this change is because many media centers are now being called libraries. “We want the new name to have ‘library’ in it because public libraries are called libraries, and in the universities, they are also called libraries,” Garcia said.
Photographer: Natalie Ursetta The outside of the new media center doors.
Winter In Review By: Madeline Goodheart
It’s only one month into the new year, and a lot has already occurred.
your Queens. You are deeply missed beloved Kobe.”
With the start of a new year, Australia became a trending subject. Australia reached new high temperatures in late 2019, which eventually caused the fires in early 2020. Half a billion animals died since these fires took place in their habitats.
An outbreak of a virus called Coronavirus began in Wuhan, China this past month and has now traveled to 23 other countries.
According to BBC News Australia, “...The fires don’t only kill animals directly, they also destroy the habitat, leaving the survivors vulnerable even once the fires have gone.” These powerful fires ruined a lot of the environment of Australia, which is going to affect the ecosystem greatly. Another occurrence in early January was the Iran-US conflict. Major General Qassem Soleimani was killed on January 3 by a U.S. drone strike near the Baghdad International Airport. America admitted to the killing, which then led the Iranian people to say things about America that implied a possible war. Iranian lawmakers chanted “death to America” in Iranian parliament, according to CNN.
According to Aljazeera, a news website, “In China, at least 213 people have died and more than 9,809 cases [of the Coronavirus have been] reported around the country, according to the government on Friday.” This disease’s origin may be from bats. According to livescience.org, “...[The] most closely related viruses were two coronaviruses that originated in bats; both of those coronaviruses shared 88% of their genetic sequence with that of 2019-nCoV.” This is evidence that the coronavirus could possibly be from bats. However, it is still unknown how this disease transferred from bats to humans. “It would not make sense if the disease hopped from bats to humans. It would make more sense some other way,” an anonymous student said about the coronavirus.
“It was very scary because when all of this was going on because it felt like Iran could strike and fight back any second now,” an anonymous student stated about the possible war. However, no further attacks or killings have been made. On January 26, NBA player Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven others died in a helicopter crash. A lot of people are reflecting on their lives, including Beyonce, who posted a trio of Instagram posts. According to Instagram, on one of her posts, her caption stated, “I will continue to diligently pray for
Kobe Bryant, whom passed away on January 26. Photo Credit: beast120815 on Creative Commons
MCHS Chronicle 17
Emma Kate Schroll, 10, and Brooklynn Fugel, 11, at the girls varsity soccer game against Brookwood on February 4 Photo By: Afrida Raidah
Emily Miller, 9, at the girls varsity tennis match against South Forsyth on February 13 Photo By: Cassidy Hettesheimer
Kayla Hanken, 12, in “Anne of Green Gables� Photo By: Cassidy Hettesheimer
Tyler Knowles, 10, in Playbill Playback Photo By: Sidney Chansamone
Thurman Harris, 10, at the JV baseball game against Brookwood on February 22 PHOTO COURTESY OF: Magic Moment Photography
Around the Creek Olivia Norman, 12, and Raul Avila-Huijon, 9, at their Valentine’s Day party Photo By: Avery Arnold
Hailey Merriweather, 9, making a smoothie in her Food Nutrition and Wellness class Photo By: Isabelle Harrel
MCHS Chronicle 19
Ka it ly n N g uy en
Spotlight on written by Madilyn Lineberry Kaitlyn Nguyen, 9, balances all A's in honor classes along with sports. Nguyen does Track, and did Cross-Country last semester.
“I didn’t letter freshman year,'' Nguyen explained. "I want to letter sophomore year in cross-country, though.”
“I did cross-country, and now, I’m doing track and field,” Nguyen said. “I’ve made a lot of upperclassmen friends and freshman [friends].”
On February 25th there was a track meet, Nquyen got second place.
“There are a lot of events on track, so there’s sprinting, distances, and others. I do hurdling. There’s different kinds of hurdling. So the girls usually do a hundred meters, but as they’re running, they have to jump over hurdles.” With hanging out with friends and just keeping up with her school work Photo by: Madilyn Lineberry it's hard to keep track on Nquyen plans on doing CrossCountry and Track all years of high everything.
Nguyen wants to continue doing track and cross-country for the rest of her time in high school. “I’m going to try and do both track and cross-country for all four years, but because of the money it takes to participate in those sports, I might have to stop doing them for a year,” Nguyen said. Nguyen also said that at the beginning of the year, coming into high school she was excited. “I was really excited to go to high school because I just didn’t really enjoy middle school,” Nguyen said.
school.
Nguyen said that, “Doing extracurricular stuff like Track and Cross-Country and being more athletic is really helpful with the stress of everyday things. You have all this work you have to do, but when you're running, the stress kinda disappears. I really enjoy it.” “Usually, practice ends around four, and that’s when the middle schoolers get out of school. So they correlate with each other, but the traffic is terrible,” Nguyen said, “Because middle school ends at 4 p.m., there are buses and cars trying to leave the middle school, and high schoolers trying to go home since their practice has ended. They are also adding a neighborhood, so it’s going to get worse.” Nguyen has a plan of trying to letter next year.
Nguyen explained, “I felt like my expectations of high school was that there’d be a lot more people and that you’d get more friends and more freedom.” Nguyen said that she doesn't have too many expectations for the upcoming years of high school. “I don’t really have any expectations for the upcoming years of high school, like I did coming from middle school except for maintaining my grades,” Nguyen said. “I had all A’s last semester and I hope to keep it the same all throughout my high school years.”
Taylor Swift: M iss Americana A review written by Leena Sheikh
On January 31, Taylor Swift released a documentary, directed by Lana Wilson, called “Miss Americana,” which is about how she lives as a pop star. In the trailer, she talked about how she had a deconstructed belief system. Her producers and publicists would tell her that a good girl doesn’t talk about politics and says “please” and “thank you.” In the documentary, it can be seen that she’s working with men, but they aren’t overpowering. Overall, there’s a sense of Swift being a powerful woman in her workplace. When she first shared her politics with the public, all of the men in her life -including her own father- were telling her not to, but they failed to stop her.
She said, “We do exist in this society where women in entertainment are discarded in an elephant graveyard by the time they’re 35.” Swift can also be seen in tears throughout the film, like when she spoke about body image issues. It’s not uncommon for female celebrities to have body issues. Her whole life, she has been put with her model friends and been called “too skinny.” While she never spoke about how it made her feel at the time, Swift’s case was intense enough to lead to an eating disorder. After she took enough hate and bullying, Swift went offline for a year, trying to reinvent herself and help her mother who had cancer. She also talked about how she was groped in 2017 by radio host David Mueller. When she won in court, she said, “You don’t feel any sense of victory when you win because the process is so dehumanizing.”
The most shocking part to me was Swift’s politics. Most country stars turned pop princesses "Taylor Swift" by GabbyT by license through Creative Commons that I have heard of Taylor Swift performing during her '1989' tour support politicians like President Trump and Mike Taylor Swift has always been Pence. When Swift revealed that she is strictly a an incredibly talented girl. She was always there. Democratic, pro-choice, #MeToo feminist, it took Her name would pop up in conversation every me by surprise. now and then. You don’t forget people like Taylor Swift, so it’s hard to ignore a documentary about Also, her reasoning for going from country star how anti-pop princess she really is. to pop princess to alternative rockstar to indie lover was because she was a woman in the music MCHS industry. Chronicle 21
The 2010s are officially over. Our generation’s time of listening to Taylor Swift’s ‘Red’ and watching ‘Iron Man’ movies in theaters are finished. These were the noteworthy movies, songs, and artists of the decade. In 2019, The American Music Awards named Taylor Swift the Artist of the Decade. Even though Swift has gone from country to alternative, the demand for her music hasn’t fallen. According to Insider, her best album of her career, though, was “Red,” which was released on October 22, 2012. Insider reports, “The way that there is no ‘signature sound’ to ‘Red’ lends to its masterpiece status. With every addition of an acoustic guitar or dubstep wobble, Swift gives each inflection of her pain a different sound. She brilliantly laid out this album to showcase all the ways that love and loss can be messy, while simultaneously pointing out the different types of beauty within that mess. Billboard made a list of 100 songs every year, each titled “Year-End Charts.” These were the number one songs for each year. Some noteworthy songs are “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons, “All About that Bass” by Meghan Trainor, “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift, and “That’s What I Like” by Bruno Mars.
Best of t he Decade Written by Leena Sheikh
“Music of the 2010’s” created by Leena Sheikh, via Canva Information from Billboard’s “Year-End Charts”
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At Mill Creek, we’ve broken dozens of our personal Last year, Jake Magahey, 12, broke the national records. In 2013, the JV football team broke a record for record amongst high schools for the 500 meter most wins in a season. free swim To recall from the 2013 yearbook, “The JV team ended their season with six wins and one loss. Coach Rondeau said, ‘We had a great group of players who worked extremely hard and never quit fighting. Every week, they focused on improving individually, as well as improving as a unit.”’ Our football team has won three regional championships while our boys track and girls golf teams have won eight area/region championships. The girls lacrosse, boys golf, and boys cross country teams have won five area/region championships each. Boys golf also won two state championships. Not to mention, our Co-Ed competitive cheer team are two-time state champions.
One of last year’s articles in the Mill Creek Chronicle wrote, “At the state swim meet on Feb. 9, Jake Magahey broke the longest held high school national record, for the 500 free. Magahey broke Jeff Kostoff’s record with a time of 4:15.63. For comparison, Kostoff, who set the previous record in 1983, represented the United States in two Summer Olympic Games, starting in 1984.” Through the decade, our fine arts students have won many championships, The Mill Creek open guard won the 2019 regional championship, and the chorus also won first place as the 2012 Festival. In the end, Mill Creek has done many things in the last ten years and will continue to try to break new records.
“Mill Creek’s Favorite Movies of the 2010’s” created by Leena Sheikh via Canva Information retained from student survey
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Mill Creek International Night Story and photos by: Evan Ferrell Jo h
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“One of my friends is from Guatemala and I know a lot about the region so we decided to do international night. My favorite part was talking to an older man all about the region and some interesting things that I knew about, we talked about all the politics and exchanged ideas ans it was really cool because he was genuinely interested in what I had to say,” Kayla Hanken, 12.
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Mill Creek hosted an International Night on Feburary 20. This was an opporotunity for students to showcase a country of their choice. The displays had to have information about their country visible in someway, mostly poster boards. Many students brought food that they eat normally in their countries of choice.
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ho, 11. dy c n A ith “I thought international night was pretty great! I’ve always heard of GSMST having theirs and I’ve always thought it would be cool if we could do something similar. I chose to do Korea because I’m Korean and it was a good way tro express my pride and heritage. It was an honor to perform the national anthem and a very popular folk song,” Cory Shin, 12.
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. “I chose Korea because I’m Korean and was raised in a Korean household. I also speak Korean at home, so I thought International Night was a good was to share my culture to others. Overall I think International Night went amazingly. I’m also on Student Council, and we worked really hard to make everything happen so I’m proud of all of us. My favorite booth was Korean because of all the food.” Daniel Jung, 10.
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“We were inspired by German Club, which was in all honesty not very active before this year. Maggie Mosley, 11, and I took initiative to make it something people could enjoy and it’s just grown from there. We were excited to be involved in international night representing the club. The balloon game however, was just a way to get people to come over to our booth, which turned out to be a success,” Maggie Swartzlander, 11.
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Sydney Silver By:: Madison Whitehead
Sydney Silver, 12, became a part of Mill Creek’s dance team when she was a sophomore. She was also accepted into the dance program when she was a freshman.
Silver started dancing when she was 3 years old, and then, she joined the “Buford School of Ballet” company when she turned 7.
Silver said, “They gave me a chance to compete Silver has taught a class within the dance with dance and get really involved in the program and had some of her own pieces and sisterhood aspect of being in a tight, close knit choreography in a previous dance show. She also group of people.” has choreographed for dance day in Gwinnett County. The piece won best choreography at the Aspiring to be like her father, Silver desires to be dance department banquet. strong and push through difficulty. Her father went through cancer when she was in eighth grade, Silver said, “[Making my own choreography] was and he has since been clear of cancer for three really awesome to me because I put a lot of work years. Even still, she aims to be like her father and into it.” push through difficulty. For the past two years, Silver performed in a fine Silver said, “He’s doing a really good job of not arts showcase in a trio with Diana Kim and Audrey letting [cancer] bring him down and pushing Douches (both now graduated). However, this through. That kind of helps me because I have an year, she performed as a soloist. issue with my hip in dance.”
Courtesy of Steve Herndon Sydney Silver dancing at the North Georgia Dance and Music Factory studio she attends for classes after school. Courtesy of Taylor Ecker
Sydney Silver is a dancer for the Mill Creek dance team and dance program.
Silver has a hip problem called Snapping Hip Syndrome. She said it affects her by making some movements difficult as well as being irritating. During her sophomore year, she took a six month break due to her Snapping Hip Syndrome. Even still,
A close friend of Silver’s, Matthew Parks, 12, said, “I’m really proud of what she’s been able to accomplish as both a dancer and a person. She’s a phenomenal dancer, but her ability to persevere always impresses me. She’s a great shoulder to lean on. A characteristic to describe her would have to be caring. She’s always available to talk if one of her friends is upset.”
Kaitlyn Guy (left), Sydney Silver (middle), and Alex Kopczynski (right) from Georgia state dance competition.
she continued dancing in the dance team and in the dance program. Silver said, “A lot of times if I can’t do something [because of my hip] it bugs me because I know I should be able to do it, but… I can’t.” Silver described her relationship with dance as a love-hate relationship. She feels like she wants to quit, but she has come so far. Planning for college, Silver said that she will not be majoring in dance. Silver said, “I’ve been dancing for 15 years, and I still want to dance because it’s what I know. It’s familiar, but I don’t want to just dance [for] the rest of my life.” She still faces complications with her hip, but she does not let it limit her dancing ability. Silver meets up with the dance team two to three times a week for practices that last for two hours. She also practices four days a week for three hours at her dance company, and she is currently the highest level of dance at her dance studio, Dance and Music Factory.
Mill Creek High School’s Dance Team at the Dance Invitational. images courtesy Sydney Silver clip art courtesy Canva
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