sift
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EIGHT STUDENTS TELL THEIR STORIES OF THE MARSHALL FIRE IN THEIR OWN WORDS. WE HOPE THEY HELP US ALL...
The Student Voice of Monarch High School
Mix
the
The Mix The Student Voice of Monarch High School
OUR VISION: MoHi Media’s vision is to be the source of information for the Monarch community. Our school can count on us to tell the stories that need to be told and to voice the opinions and ideas that need to be heard in an honest, truthful way.
OUR POLICIES: Opinions or expressions made by students in this publication are not expressions of Boulder Valley School District Board policy. The district and its employees are immune from any civil action based on any expression made for or published by students. The Mix is an open forum for and by the students, faculty, and community of Monarch High School. The Mix is willing to accept and publish any appropriate articles. We will not print letters sent to us without a name and signature.
OUR SITES: Instagram: @mohimix 2
The Mix
Website: mohimix.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Kate Muldoon EDITORS
Maeby Aleo Layla East Minh Anh Le STAFF
Arianna Bergman Zack Frieder Josie Furst David Maxwell Zoey Perrine Brenna Severson ADVISER
Ben Reed
Contents The Mix
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Vol. 24, Issue 3
4 The Mix-Up MIX & MATCHES
8 Scrumming together FEATURES
10 TEC & trade 14 Sift through the ashes MIXED OPINIONS
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20 Flipped upside down 21 Foodies’ local faves 22 Flat is still fat 23 Hitting too close to home March 2022
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MIX-UP DRESSED FOR SUCCESS Teacher Tony Tolbert discusses wearing dashiki
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“A dashiki is basically a business suit, the Caucasian version is a suit and tie...I wear that every day because it’s the business and the professional look that you wear in Africa...It looks nice but it’s very comfortable, it’s very movable...They’re actually more comfortable because they breathe better. So if I’m moving around and doing all the crazy stuff with Student Council kids or in science, I’m moving around a lot and I’m sweating less because my clothes are designed to move.” — Tony Tolbert
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Miseria: a mystery The final chapter of our ongoing short story By Layla East and Josie Furst
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ast issue, Aries fainted when she realized she was framed for passing out the mysterious notes. Here’s where the story continues: I wake up in the nurse’s office. “Hey, crazy,” beams Eris. I lay my eyes on his smiling face. “Why are you here, Eris? Do you have a purpose?” “Besides making sure you’re not dead and checking out the new school nurse, not really.” I absentmindedly look at his feet, noticing his backpack with lined paper sticking out. Paranoia clouds my mind. Did he frame me? I reach for his bag and his hand promptly slaps it away. “What are you doing, Aries?” He says. He never uses my real name. “What’s in your bag, Eris?” I say back, mimicking his question. “Maybe it’s my homework, did you think of that?” Condescension was clear in his voice. “You don’t do your homework,” I argue, taking this moment to snatch his bag. He reaches for the bag, too, but I’m quicker. Hundreds of pieces of paper spill out and I stare at him in disbelief. “Why?” Is all I can think to say. I thought I knew him.
SENIORITIS AND STUDY SESSIONS Spring semester’s challenges depend on grade level
“Please. Don’t act like I kicked a puppy.” His demeanor turns from snarky to aggressive. His jaw clenches and his fists ball up. “I played a joke, which you clearly didn’t get.” Still, in shock, I mutter, “What is wrong with you?” “The same thing that’s wrong with you.” He answered coldly. “And what would that be?” I questioned, venom lining my voice. “Arrogance.” “Wow,” I say, in shock. “I truly find this amusing. It’s one of my best ones yet. You would be all paranoid, wandering around being like, ‘who wrote these notes?’, ‘I’m so scared’ and I would be sitting back watching the whole thing.” He chuckles. “You’re insane,” I growl. “Oh, really?” He says. “I think the word you’re looking for is clever.” His grin widens only to be tucked away when the nurse comes in. His demeanor changed so quickly, it was unnerving. As he backs up and saunters away, my mind races. As soon as he rounds the corner, my instincts take action. I turn to the nurse. “M-miss? I have to tell you something.” Her face lights up with confusion as the words start tumbling out of me.
CoyoTEA What’s your type?
Gwyn Christensen ‘25 “Someone who’s more chill, laid back, friendly, but with a sense of humor, and can read the room.”
Pablo Rodriquez ‘23 “Athletic, honest, outgoing, and a sense of humor. I also notice lighter or really dark eyes.”
Caroline Lavens ‘24 “Being in the second semester of senior year is definitely a relief, but I definitely think senioritis has started to affect me because I understand how much time I really have left in the year. It’s kind of surreal.” — Mackenzie Gathright ‘22 “Junior year snuck up on me and I still feel like a freshman. I’m not too worried about the SAT. I got an alright grade on the PSAT and as long as I study I should be fine.” — AJ Roswell ‘23
“Tall, funny, outgoing, and flirty.”
Cole Citarella ‘22 “Being a good person, if you look confident, and probably a similar sense of humor.”
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Sweating & Shivering The following weather forecasts are subject to change due to Monarch’s constantly shifting climate By Josie Furst and David Maxwell
A-Hall
You’ll want to shed those layers when you walk into any part of A-Hall. Don’t be afraid to carry around your coat! Preventing yourself from overheating has never gone out of style.
Student Center
The student center has a nice balance of climates. If you sit near the windows, you can get some cool air while you annoyingly wave to your friends who are late. Want some warmer weather? Hang out on the other side of the room by MoHi Perk. When measuring the temperature, it came out to 70 degrees!
C-Hall
As the snow continues to fall outside, C-Hall grows colder on the inside. Prepare for cooler temperatures in upper C and Music Hall. These places are averaging at around 60 degrees, so find yourself a Carhartt beanie and some Docs to keep yourself toasty.
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THE YELP Student reviews of Spiderman: No Way Home “I enjoyed the inclusion of multiple SpiderMen and bad guys that were able to be turned good. It made it more interesting than other Marvel movies.” — Brooke Stolt ‘23 “It’s one of the most, if not the most ambitious, boldest, and emotional superhero films ever made. Spider-Man: No Way Home is a cinematic masterpiece that we will never forget.” — Daniel Lacoste ‘22 “I loved the film because it had so many parallels to the other Spider-Man movies and you gotta love that Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield were in it.” — Tessa Awald ‘23 “Marvel took all the things they’re best at and combined them into a movie that allowed the audience to relate to and empathize with the characters and their struggles, while also creating a great superhero action film.” — Jaya Barry ‘24
Dreaming in detail Psych teacher James Kelpy shares dream science “Neurocognitive theory thinks that dreaming is really our way of processing what goes on in our waking hours. We’re processing that while we’re asleep.” “Based on tests that psychologists have done, you're much more likely to remember a dream if it's so dramatic that it wakes you. If you sleep soundly throughout the night, you're less likely to remember dreams.” “When we have a dream that's so dramatic that we need to share it, that’s when it becomes part of what will affect our day.”
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Kierra Kernan ‘24 dozes off in a comfy chair after a hard day at school. Her dreams help process everything that has happened.
HOLA SEÑORITA A Q&A with Monarch’s newest Spanish teacher, Madison Elson
Madison Elson points out a section of her newly decorated room.
Q: What is your favorite part of teaching Spanish? A: When people piece everything together. It gets really confusing, so part of the learning process is just being a little bit confused for a while. But then at the end when it finally pieces together, and you’re able to say “that makes so much sense, I finally understand how to do this,” that’s always my favorite part. Q: What advice do you have for learning a language? A: The biggest advice that I have for language learners is to just not be afraid to make mistakes. Be willing to practice and be willing to make mistakes. It’s not a big deal if you do.
COPY-KATE Teachers Lunz, Klotz have a lot in common By Maeby Aleo and Arianna Bergman
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n an early Monday morning, language arts teacher Kate Lunz leaves her house to walk her blue standard poodle, Blue. Around the same time, choir teacher Kate Klotz leaves her house to walk her blue standard poodle, Beau. The two Kates have noticed a few more peculiar similarities between their lives. “We both have last names that end in ‘Z’,” Klotz said. “We wear similar clothes,” Lunz said. “I think she is a little fancier than I am, though.” The parallels go on and on. “I was in choir and theater all through grade school and into college,” Lunz said. “I actually looked into teaching the arts.” But after a few bad experiences substituting for art classes, Lunz decided to go down a different path in teaching. “I like order,” Lunz said. “I need things to be in their place. Teaching choir seems a little chaotic to me.” On the flip side, Klotz feels the opposite about the subject. “I like it here in choir land,” Klotz said. “I love teaching, so if I had to teach something else, I would consider anything, even language arts, but I would probably be a pretty bad LA teacher.”
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Maya Raulf ‘23 and Natalie Hunt ‘22 (top left) celebrate with their team at the 2021 State Finals at Air Force Academy.
Scrumming together Girls rugby coach helps players devasted by Marshall Fire By Zack Frieder and Kate Muldoon
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uring the Marshall Fire, the Monarch girls rugby group chat was blowing up. The 14 players texted updates back and forth, anxiously awaiting any news. Unfortunately, not much of it was good. “We were all in an uproar and were all texting each other and freaking out about it,” Natalie Hunt ‘22 said. While their home field didn’t burn down, three of the five players who attend Monarch lost their homes. Chad Mann, one of their coaches, started a GoFundMe to raise money for the affected players and their families. “It just seemed like something that needed to be done,” Mann said. In total, over $16,000 was raised, thanks to support from Monarch Rugby and the surrounding rugby community. “We had friends, family, referees, coaches and players from all over the country that donated, so it’s been really impressive,” Mann said.
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From Colorado, people in Summit County, Regis Jesuit, Denver East, and Fort Collins all donated, just to name a few. “Summit’s rugby team also made us little bags with some shorts, jerseys, a sweatshirt, and a bow,” Maya Raulf ‘23 said. “It’s really nice to get that stuff back.” In addition to setting up the GoFundMe, Mann was able to provide more rugby gear to the girls. “He reached out to USA Rugby, and they sent us a bag with a sweatshirt, shorts, and a T-shirt,” Raulf said. While Raulf started playing rugby in the fall of 2021, Mann and the rest of the team have made sure she feels like a part of the family. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve played rugby for one phase, one play, one game, or your whole life, you’re part of a community,” Mann said. “I always tell people, rugby is a different community.”
Maya Raulf ‘23 and Natalie Hunt ‘22 received rugby gear and clothing from USA Rugby.
mix &
MATCHES A look at Monarch’s teams, athletes, and everything sports
AP RUNS THE A-TEAM Thoughts from new head football coach
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“The bigger goal is to create this lifelong fraternity within the program, where people will always come back and say, ‘Man, I loved my time being a Monarch football player. Yeah, we won games. Yeah, I scored touchdowns, I made tackles, all that. But, Ilove the guys I played with.’ Making sure that is the bedrock of what we stand for, that’s my number one goal.” — Aaron Paddock
DRIBBLING TO VICTORY Girls basketball stands out this season By Zack Frieder
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edication plays a massive role in the success of any sports team, and this year, girls basketball has some of the most passionate players yet. “I like working with kids that really want to be somewhere,” Coach Mike Blakely said. “It’s fun to coach kids in a place that they want to be.” Not only are the players committed, but they have developed bonds on and off the court. “We spend a lot of time together, like after practices, we’ll go get lunch or breakfast or whatever, and I think we’ve gotten really close,” Natalie Guanella ‘23 said. “We work well together and we have each other’s backs.” The team hasn’t won a playoff game in the past two seasons that Blakely has
coached, but this year, he is confident in the team’s post season opportunities. “We’ll definitely make the playoffs, and have a home game.” Blakely said. “I really want to win one, two, or three of those games, and I think we’re good enough to do that.” Playoffs are a big deal for any team, especially at Monarch. Girls basketball is one of the school’s only sports that is among the top five in the state. With this ranking, Natalie Guanella ‘23 has high hopes for the rest of the season. “I think it’d be really cool because Monarch is one of the schools that hasn’t been up there in a while. So, I think for us to even get to the final four would be insane, and everyone on our team knows we can do it.” Guanella said.
Natalie Guanella 23’ dribbles down the court during a home game against Legacy High School.
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TEC trade
By Maeby Aleo and Brenna Severson
MONARCH STUDENTS EXPLORE DIFFERENT CAREER PATHS THROUGH BOULDER TEC From cosmetology to construction and criminology to collision repairs, the Boulder Technical Education Center (TEC) provides ten vastly different programs for BVSD students. The classes, which are largely made up of hands-on work, provide a different perspective on education than a typical school environment. Many of Monarch High School’s own students participate in these classes, all with varying plans and goals for the future. These students have begun to find their passions with the help of Boulder TEC’s valuable programs.
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Andrew Brogdon ‘22 cuts a plank of wood in the construction class at Boulder TEC.
assembling
TOMORROW
Construction program prepares students for future career in trade
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he hammering of nails, the buzzing whir of a drill, and the creaking of wood bounce off the walls of the woodshop at Boulder TEC and through the ears of the Construction Technology students. Drew Brogdon ‘22 focuses intently on finishing the construction of a shed the class has been working on. With each clack of a hammer, Brogdon thinks about how his hard work will get him from being a bored high school student to a valued member of the workforce. “Boulder TEC is definitely better than academic classes if you’re like me and have a hard time sitting still for a long time,” Brogdon said. At Boulder TEC, Brogdon and the other construction students do more than just hands-on work. “We spend a lot of time using online programs like AutoCAD and SketchUp,” Brogdon said. “I’m not a huge fan of it, but we still have to do it because it’s the future of construction.” The students use these programs to prepare for the evolving industry.
“We also do soil reports,” Brogdon said. “We read over the report and then we have to figure out what kind of soil it is and what kind of foundation we have to use in order for the build to function.” After a couple of days on the computers, the class transitions to physical work. They use tools like buzzsaws, drills, and hammers to better understand the ins and outs of the field. “I love working in the shop,” Brogdon said. “Getting hands-on experience is my favorite part of the class.” As much as Brogdon loves the action, there are difficulties that come with construction, one of them being its complexity. “It’s all new to me, and there’s a lot of work to do,” Brogdon said. “It’s all stuff we haven’t done before, but it’s all part of learning.” Brogdon and his classmates have the chance to volunteer in Boulder to help build new houses and give back to the community, all while practicing their construction skills. “Five Saturdays a semester we go to this
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place called Palo Parkway,” Brogdon said. The houses at the development provide an opportunity for construction students to gain real-world experience. They assist the professional construction team at Palo Parkway in building houses for people to eventually live in. For Brogdon, it’s exactly what he looks for in education. “I like to be interested in the thing I’m learning about,” he said. “I like building things and doing hands-on work, and it’s why my plan after high school is just to work.” Brogdon has a clear path in what he wants to do in the future. Other construction
Ellie Limb ‘23 works with a piece of wood in the construction workshop.
“Getting hands-on experience is my favorite part of the class.” - Andrew Brodgon ‘22 students, like Ellie Limb ‘23, encounter the opposite situation: unsure of what the future holds, but unafraid to figure it out. “I feel lost in what I want to do after high school almost all the time,” Limb said. “I took the construction class to see if it’s what I’d be interested in.” Boulder TEC has helped Limb get closer to figuring out what she wants to do in the future. “There are so many different things you can do in a trade,” Limb said. “It’s definitely something I want to look into, but I’m not positive it’s what I would do.” The feeling of uncertainty can be daunting, but it’s not always a bad thing. “I try to go along with everything coming my way,” Limb said. “Hopefully, whatever happens, it makes me happy in the end.” Brogdon also hopes to follow life wherever it takes him, working construction jobs here and there and playing music in his free time. College and post-secondary education don’t appeal to him as they might to others. “I try not to think about my future career too much,” Brogdon said. “If you know you can do something, and you work hard enough for it, you can do it.”
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Boulder TEC
classes
Automotive Collision Repair Automotive Service Technology
Sports Medicine Emergency Medical Responder
Biomedical Science
Forensics Investigation & Criminology
Construction Technology
Video Production
Cosmetology
Welding
In the automotive class at Boulder TEC, Isaac Epp ‘23 repairs a car engine.
gettin’ GREASY F Isaac Epp ‘23 uses automotive program to fuel his passion for cars
or Isaac Epp ‘23, there has always been something special about a stick shift. Always something exciting about an engine. Always something appealing about the automotive industry. It all started with his dad and a 1970 Volkswagen bus. Epp’s dad bought the classic vehicle as a solo project, but working on it soon became an activity for both of them. “Ever since I was a little kid, my dad has taught me how to work on cars,” Epp said. “Being able to turn a wrench and work on the bus with my dad as a father-son project really just became something special.” Epp appreciates the time he gets to spend working on cars with his dad. Sometimes, there just aren’t enough hours in the day for them to be together doing the thing they love. “For a while, he was always busy at work,” Epp said. “We had to leave the bus to sit unused for two years. One of the best things ever was being able to get it back out and drive it with him.” With his dad guiding him through the world of motors and engines, Epp has slowly figured out he wants cars to be in his future. “I’ve always had an interest in fixing them up, and I think it would be awesome to be
able to pursue it as a career,” Epp said. After exploring possible career options and taking the Automotive Service class at Boulder TEC, Epp found more options and opportunities to pursue. “I want to go to a trade school,” Epp said. “It’s my ideal school environment. I get to learn what I want in a way I want.” Epp hadn’t planned on going to a trade school until he started at Boulder TEC. “At first I didn’t really know much about trade schools,” he said. “When I started going to Boulder TEC, I learned more about them and I began to get into the idea of going to one.” The trade industry lacks workers and often gets little attention, meaning there is always a demand for workers and no shortage of jobs. According to Staffing Industry Analysis, in September 2021, 35% of all trades are understaffed globally. “The area of the trade industry that I’m going into will always need someone,” Epp said. “People will never stop looking for a mechanic.” Epp’s goal is to get his certifications and go to trade school, and for him, it’s a straightforward feat.
how to JOIN 1) Go to the Boulder TEC website: tec.bvsd.org 2) Click “About” and go to “Application” 3) Apply for a course and contact your school counselor March 2022
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ON DECEMBER 30, 2021, THE MARSHALL FIRE RAGED THROUGH LOUISVILLE AND SUPERIOR, SHOCKING THE COMMUNITY AND DESTROYING OVER 1,000 HOMES. THE MIX STAFF INTERVIEWED EIGHT STUDENTS WHO TELL THEIR STORIES IN THEIR OWN WORDS. WE HOPE THEY HELP US ALL TO...
By Arianna Bergman, Josie Furst, Minh Anh Le, David Maxwell, Kate Muldoon, and Zoey Perrine
through sift
the ashes
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Seven minutes SURVIVOR’S GUILT IS A CONSTANT REALITY FOR MIA MORDECAI ‘23 AND SOPHIA MORDECAI ‘23
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Mia and Sophia Mordecai ‘23 stand among the ashes near their stand-alone house. Even though their house didn’t burn down, they must get rid of 95% of their belongings.
s we opened the door to the garage, the floor was already covered in ash, and the wind was blowing like crazy. We loaded the pets in the car and I felt the sting of debris as the wind whipped my legs. We still have cuts and bruises, and we were wearing pants. We were out of the house in seven minutes flat. We got to the shelter and my friend Lily was there. I just hugged her and cried my eyes out. I remember sitting with my friends in front of the TV, watching in horror as the places we knew were engulfed by flames. We held hands and just cried for an hour because we couldn’t look away. After finding a place in Erie to stay, we drove back to our houses. We have…I mean had one on Vista. That was my grandma’s house. Going in, it was quite a sight. There were some houses still burning. Ash was scattered everywhere. The neighborhood we grew up in was still smoking. Then, our neighbors pulled up and we watched them cry over their leveled home as we stood in our house, the last one on the street. We found out we had to throw away 95% of our things. If it couldn’t be washed or scrubbed it had to go. We have to get new everything now. Not just clothes. Beds. Stuffed animals. Pillows. Then Sophia got exposed to COVID. I had to go back into my house full of ash to quarantine and wear a mask 24/7. I was the
only one exposed, so our house was the only place I could really separate myself. It was horrible, though. I had to sleep on a blanket on the floor because my bed was wrecked from the smoke. I was there for five days, completely alone. The survivor’s guilt keeps you up at night. Because you feel sad because you’re grieving. And guilty that you have a house. And then you feel bad for feeling bad in the first place. To be honest, I didn’t let myself grieve for a full nine days until I was having dinner one night and just broke down at the table. I thought I didn’t deserve to grieve. I didn’t lose my house. There are so many other people who have lost more than me. We were actually told by some friends that feeling grief and having survivor’s guilt was stupid. Signals were being sent from everywhere that we couldn’t grieve. But the truth is, we still lost everything. We may have a house, but it’s a shell. We can’t keep anything we had before. And we haven’t been able to talk about it with anyone because everyone else is going through it, too. To anyone who’s reading this, just know that it’s okay to grieve. It’s okay to be sad. Don’t let people tell you how you should feel. Express yourself. Grieve the way you need to. Everyone’s feelings are valid.
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“W Those
little things
JOSHUA HUYG ‘23 GRAPPLES WITH AFTERMATH OF LOSING HOME
Joshua Huyg ‘23 uses his music to disconnect himself from the chaos around him. The fire didn’t seem real, even after he found out his house burned down.
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e’re evacuating now,” my brother said. I walked upstairs, super calm. My dad told me to grab anything I could, so I got a basket, thinking, “I’m gonna be back home later today.” I started listening to music and I heard sirens in the background. It was like the scene in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 when Groot starts dancing to Mr. Blue Sky. That was me. We shoved everything into two cars, and I thought, “Okay, this is overreacting. We’re gonna be fine.” But when I looked up, my thoughts shifted. To my left, was black, smoke, gloom. And to my right, was a beautiful blue day. When we got to my brother’s family’s house in Thornton, we thought we would stay for a night and go back in the morning. Then we saw the TV. Old Town Superior was gone. The neighborhood by the Rec Center. Gone. We saw helicopter footage of everything burning. I wanted to know what would happen next. If my house was gone. That night, I couldn’t sleep until 4:00 a.m. because I was thinking about what my parents left behind. My dad kept saying, “It’s just stuff, don’t worry.”
Yes, it’s stuff. But you can’t replace my parents’ yearbooks. Or the pictures I made in fifth grade that I hate looking at. My parents encouraged us to stay hopeful. But over the past two years, thanks to COVID, I’ve adopted the mindset of, “Assume the worst and be surprised when the best comes out.” Yet when I was leaving, I assumed the best and the worst came out. Two days afterward, my parents broke the news. “Everything is gone.” I don’t know how to explain how I felt when I heard that. Immediately, I remembered moving to that house in 2009 from California. My mom told me, “This is the house you’re gonna grow up in.” I didn’t even know what it meant to grow up in a house. And now it’s all gone. They let people see the remains of their houses when it was 20 degrees outside. As we evacuated, we didn’t think to bring jackets, so I wore a sweatshirt, jeans, and my normal shoes to go see my house. And then we couldn’t even see it because it was covered in snow, and we didn’t get emotional because we were just too cold. Once it was warm enough to go, I barely recognized some of the things I had: a bathtub, some storage shelves, the truck my dad got before I was born. The only thing I recognized from my room was my AC vent, which was already broken before the fire. I’m not emotional about it. I’ve accepted it. If I were to tell people anything, it would be to appreciate the little things. Sounds cliche, but I have no artifacts of my childhood. My mom can never get her letterman jacket back. I can never get back my… What did I have? ...Those little things you have that you never think you’d miss. Like when you were little and you could walk through every room in your house with your eyes closed because you knew it so well. I can’t do that anymore.
Scared and
unprepared AMIDST CHAOS, MOLLY BENTON ‘22 HELPS EVACUATE SENIOR LIVING FACILITY
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’d been sitting in my bed all day when I lane blocked, so I slipped past them into the got a phone call. parking lot. It was an old friend of mine who I All of the residents were accounted for, hadn’t talked to in two years, and she so we went across the street to the building sounded concerned. She asked me if I was with more residents. The facility seemed okay. I had no idea what she was talking stressed and disorganized because of how about. sudden and scary the situation I didn’t even know there was. was a fire going on. The residents didn’t know THERE WAS A LADY In the background, I heard what was going on. They were IN A WHEELCHAIR her dad come in and tell her confused why they had to be out WHO WASN’T ABLE of their rooms in such a hustle, to pack a bag because they TO PACK THINGS were evacuating. and a lot of them were scattered FOR HERSELF, SO I all over the place. I hung up with her, and my dad came and said the While we sat around waiting HELPED HER same thing that her dad for further instructions, my boss GATHER HER did, so I packed a bag and said, “You know what, screw THINGS INTO A left for my shift at Balfour this. Go check every room. If SUITCASE AND [Senior Living]. The drive you see a person, start doing WHEELED HER OUT what you need to get them out.” that normally takes me 12 INTO THE HALLWAY. minutes took me about two There was a lady in a and a half hours. wheelchair who wasn’t able to Eventually, I snuck through a pack things for herself, so I helped her gather neighborhood that wasn’t barricaded and her things into a suitcase and wheeled her managed to make it to the road in front of out into the hallway. where I work. There were rooms that had two residents There were police officers in front of the split by a curtain, and it looked like the stoplight at the entrance telling people to people in the first half of the rooms had turn around, but they didn’t have the right been evacuated while the people in the back
Molly Benton ‘22 stands in front of Balfour’s Lavender Farms location. On the day of the fire, she rushed over to make sure the building’s residents could be evacuated safely. of the rooms hadn’t. It seemed like they evacuated the front part of the room first and would come back for the people who were left.If they weren’t checking the rooms thoroughly, they could have been leaving people. Through the chaos, we focused on getting the people in the back of the rooms out. We ended up getting four or five people who had been left in their rooms ready to leave. Later, my dad managed to meet me at Balfour and he drove some of the residents to the hotel in Longmont where we all stayed. As the adrenaline wore off, the fire became more and more real. My coworkers and I watched the news in one hotel room, and they thought our facility was gone due to how the map showed the fire. It wasn’t very accurate. Thankfully, the residents were able to go back to the facility the next morning.
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Rip
in the fabric of her reality WORLDS COLLIDED AS LUKE QUINCY ‘22 MOVED IN WITH BOTH HER DIVORCED PARENTS AS HER DAD’S HOUSE BURNT TO THE GROUND Luke Quincy ‘22 holds the ham radio she and her dad used to listen to first responders during the fire. Without the device, her family may not have evacuated in time.
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y name is Luke Quincy, and my house burned down. My parents are divorced, so I split my time between my mom’s house in Lafayette and my dad’s house, which was in Louisville, south of Harper Lake. It’s weird having divorced parents and then losing one of those homes permanently. When I tell people that, there’s a tendency to belittle the experience I’ve had. People seem to assume I’m not affected because I still have half of my stuff. They’re not wrong, but my dad’s house was the house that I grew up in. It was my home for as long as I can remember. The neighborhood I spent my childhood in is now gone. That day, I was at my dad’s house. As I rolled up my blinds on my window, I could see the smoke in the air, but I wasn’t worried because there’s always fires in Colorado. My dad has a license to operate a ham radio, which is a radio you can tune into police and fire scanners, so he was super proud of himself and excited to use it.
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That thing probably saved our lives. As we listened to the radio, it announced there was a fire by Target and Costco. When they said it was by the Walgreens on McCaslin, we realized we needed to leave immediately. There was no signifier other than the smoke in the air and the radio we were listening to. But we knew we needed to get out before everyone else had the same idea. When we left, I still thought that I was going to be able to go home. I think that’s what makes me the most sad. My dad’s girlfriend, her parents, and her son were all in town with nowhere to go, so all of us, plus my grandma, went to my mom’s house, which was really weird. It was like a rip in the fabric of reality, like worlds were colliding. We all crashed there for a bit, and when they showed the fire behind the sign for Harper Lake on the news, they said the neighborhoods on the south side of the lake were probably obliterated. By morning, we still didn’t know if our house was okay because the fires were still
burning all through the night. Now, when I go to school, being able to function, even just to the level of showing up, takes a lot. Every five seconds, I’ll remember something else that was in the house. The whole time I was going through my mom’s stuff, I thought, “if it’s not here, it’s gone.” Going back to my house was so strange. I felt so detached from it because it’s just burnt. It’s just…crispy. It’s twisted beams of metal and ash, and it smells terrible. I’m supposed to leave for college in a couple of months. When I come back, I’m not going to be able to come back to something that’s familiar. Now I’ve got to come back to an entirely new household where I don’t even know where the spoons are. This is the one and only time I’ll ever say this in my life, but I’m lucky that my parents are divorced. And that I do have some of my stuff.
JJ
the the
fire& flood
SIBLINGS THOMAS KNOLL ‘25 AND JULIANNA KNOLL ‘22 LOST THEIR HOME TWICE THIS YEAR, ONCE TO A BURST PIPE AND THEN TO THE FLAMES
Standing
together
Anthony D’Amario ‘22 pets his dog Tiamo after recounting the events of escaping the fires. He ran to safety with Tiamo after realizing his house was on fire.
ulianna: At the beginning of the school year, our house flooded from the top floor to the basement. We had to remodel our entire house, redo carpet, redo walls, redo all of our furniture. We had a brand spanking new house, and then it burned down. Thomas: After I heard that our house was gone, I just didn’t really feel like anything. Even when my mom and my sister came back from seeing what was left of our house and neighborhood, I didn’t cry at all. I would just sit there because I didn’t know what to do. I felt empty. I didn’t feel happy, but I didn’t feel sad. I didn’t even believe it at first. Julianna: When my mom and I went back, we found some pieces of ceramic things that I made in elementary school. They were cracked and broken and burned, but they were still there. We have our mailbox, too. And we found the carabiners that attached my dog’s leash to the tree in the front yard. The rope part was burned, but the little carabiners that kept it
tied were still there. Finding those was really nice. Going back there is kind of peaceful. The first couple times were really rough, and it’s always emotional going back there. But in a weird way, it’s peaceful. That’s all I’ve known for the past 17 years of my life. The energy of the neighborhood and the feeling of being somewhere familiar, even if it’s not how you left it, is weird. It’s emotional, sad, awful, devastating—but I kind of feel like I’m protected and safe there. It’s comfortable when everything else in my life is now uncomfortable. It’s calm. Thomas: I’ve gone once, and I was, like.. happy. I don’t know why. It was a really strange feeling. I just kind of sat there, looking at it, and thought, “it’s good to be back, I guess.”
ANTHONY D’AMARIO ‘22 AND DOG NARROWLY ESCAPE BURNING HOME
was so sad. It was surreal to see what the fire had caused, to see other people crying, and to know that I was feeling the exact same pain. We all lost things, and we were experiencing it together. The only thing that made it bearable was knowing that they all made it out alive. The second day was the hardest, but it wasn’t until the third day that I really settled down and thought about what had happened. I was born in Boulder. I grew up in Louisville. This is my hometown. I spent 18 years of my life in that house. Now, so much is gone, and it’s hard to let that sink in. Moving forward, I’m trying to focus on the positives. We’re going to get a new home. We get to fill it with new things that we didn’t have before. We all get to look at the next step of getting our homes rebuilt, and when that happens, we’ll move back in as a community. We’re all mourning as one, and we’ll all get to see the future together.
M
y story is a bit different from others because my house caught on fire while I was still in it. First, it was my front yard, then my basement. My basement windows blew out, and my dog ran down there. That’s when I realized what was going on and my flight or fight kicked in. When I came back upstairs from the basement, my front door was engulfed in flames. In that moment, minutes turned to seconds. I had to get my dog out. That was my priority. Nothing else mattered. No piece of clothing, no jacket, no school supplies. All I thought about was getting myself and my dog out. I grabbed my dog, flung him in the car, and took off. I didn’t have time to feel emotions. The next day, however, was nothing but emotions. I went back to visit where my home was. My family and neighbors just stared at where our neighborhood used to be. Our entire street had burned to the ground. There was crying and so many emotions. It
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Flipped upside down New drivers must be more careful due to inexperience
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o one speaks of the feeling before you die. That’s probably because everyone who’s felt it is dead. Except for me. If I had to describe it, it feels like everything goes quiet. Everything goes dark, and all you hear are your own thoughts. But I’m getting ahead of myself. It’s dark outside, and soft snow covers the ground; the day following Christmas. As a new driver, I find myself enjoying my favorite present—a new car. As I drift through countless neighborhoods, my focus drifts from the road beneath me. I think of the boy who broke my heart the night before, the new sweater from my aunt in the trunk, the extraordinary sunset I had seen moments before, and the amazing dinner that grows cold, waiting for me at home. My cell phone rests in my car’s cup holder, nowhere near to distract me. As my thoughts spiral, I don’t notice the stop sign that looms ahead. I pass by the sign without stopping, and all of a sudden, I’m in the middle of Rock Creek Parkway, a main road with two connecting neighborhood streets. I see bright headlights coming towards me, and I know I need to make a split second decision. I slam on the gas. But I’m too late. I’m hit from the passenger side. My entire life shatters. Every single airbag blows up, and my car flips. My piercing scream ripples through Superior, then everything goes dark. Time stops. I had to be dead. I couldn’t see or hear anything, except the voice in my head
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By Arianna Bergman saying, “No. No, no, no, no, no. Not my new car. My mom’s going to kill me. This can’t be happening. This is a dream.” But it wasn’t a dream. The car that hit me was going 45 miles per hour. On impact, my car flipped on its side, hit a curb, and landed upright, just barely missing a tree. “Get out,” the voice in my head said. As I opened my door, glass from the broken window fell at my feet. A bright red car— completely destroyed—rested on the road. A woman sat on the curb clutching her stomach. The sound of sirens was deafening. Tears began to stream down my cheeks. Only one thing was on my mind. “This was all my fault.” Panic began to consume me. My whole body shook. I borrowed a kind man’s phone and called my family, embarrassment clutching my throat. When they arrived, my mother and sister ran towards me, locking me in a warm embrace. The hours that followed were miserable. I rode in an ambulance unable to move my neck. Police questioned me and shoved documents at me to sign. Thankfully, everyone was okay. Somehow, only my pride was damaged most. Besides that, only bruises covered my body. For days, the only thing I did was stare at a blank wall. I was beyond mortified. Soon, months passed, and then a year. A wound festered where my pride had once been. A year later, it was healed, as much as it could be. But a scar still remains. What I felt that night will never leave me. It still finds me in my dreams.
After my accident, people believed I was a bad driver. Any trust my family and friends once had for me on the roads was lost. I had to constantly justify that I wasn’t a bad driver, I was just inexperienced. I decided to share my story. Not to gain attention or to look for sympathy, but to encourage safety among all drivers. No one prepares you for going to court. No one prepares you to take post-accident, hour-long driving classes. No one prepares you to pay thousands of dollars. No one prepares you for the trauma and PTSD. No one prepares you for the constant tears and therapy sessions. And worst of all, no one prepares you for the immense guilt you will feel. But if there’s anything to gain from my story, it’s to follow the law. To refrain from driving anyone immediately after you receive your license. To only allow one passenger six months later. Because if I had been driving my best friend at the time that night, there’s a good chance she could have died, and that guilt would have devoured me. Rules are written for a reason. All drivers in high school are inexperienced. You don’t have to go through what I did. You don’t have to deal with the pain. You still have a choice. You still have the chance to live. Take that chance. And most importantly, drive safe.
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OPINIONS Foodies’ local faves PJ’s pancakes Bittersweet’s chai lattes Chai tea lattes. My search for the perfect blend of spice, sweet, and milk has been a long journey. But at Bittersweet, I found it. After an admittedly overpriced cup of their chai tea, I have a feeling of bliss unlike anything I’ve felt. The chai is never too bitter but never overly sweet—just like the name. Everytime I’m in the downtown Louisville area, I make a stop at Bittersweet to enjoy their always stocked oat milk, beautifully calm interior, and perfect chai. No matter how overpriced their drinks are, Bittersweet will always be my go-to place for an amazing cup of tea. — Layla East
My ideal Thursday morning breakfast: pancakes from PJ’s Diner with homemade jam and warm syrup. It really can’t get better than that. The pancakes (or hotcakes, according to their menu) are fluffy and filling, but the key to unlocking the best breakfast experience is the jam. It’s just not the same without it. The freshness of whichever flavor they have that day compliments the pancakes and adds another layer of sweetness to make your mouth water. If you really want to get specific, you have to switch off between syrup and jam every few bites, but maybe it’s just me. And if you’re more of a savory breakfast person, you can’t go wrong with a to-go burrito and drink for only $6! — Kate Muldoon
Giovannitti Coffee Roasters We all search for the perfect latte or mocha. Starbucks has fun, elaborate drinks, but it’s not the best. Ziggi’s has even more elaborate drinks and for a better price, but they use too much milk… And of course, there’s Bittersweet. Everyone’s “favorite” coffee shop in Louisville. I get the “vibe” is “really cool,” but in reality, the coffee is overpriced and unsatisfying. It’s all bitter and no sweet. Halfway down the block, in the old State Mercantile building, sits a quiet, undervalued coffee shop named Giovannitti Coffee Roasters. Now, this place has the best coffee in Louisville. A 24 oz. mocha costs a mere five dollars, whereas a 12 oz. mocha at Bittersweet is the same price. Double the amount of the coffee for the same price sounds pretty good to me. — Maeby Aleo
Organic Sandwich Boulder Dushanbe Company’s chicken pesto Teahouse sandwich Nothing’s better than a sandwich that tastes incredible, but also makes you feel good. The chicken pesto sandwich from the Organic Sandwich Company is so tasty, I have to eat it at least twice a week. It’s just the right size where you’re satisfied, but you don’t feel gross. The best part is the community. I go there so often that all of the workers remember my order. Lunch is much more enjoyable when it’s made by someone who’s friendly and cares. The sandwich has the perfect balance in every bite, and the fluffy bread is the best part. I always go with my best friend, making it practically a tradition. Some may say it’s too expensive, but a meal made with such healthy ingredients is definitely worth it. — Arianna Bergman
Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse is my favorite local restaurant. With Persian art decoration, a rose surrounded patio, and trickling fountains, Boulder Teahouse is the perfect place to start my weekend. Beside its unique and relaxing atmosphere, the teahouse is known for its value of global friendship through serving an internationally influenced menu. My favorite food from the menu is the hummus plate. It’s more than an appetizer, it’s a versatile plate that can be served at all meals. And if you are trying to avoid caffeine on the weekend, they have the best ever Italian soda. — Minh Anh Le
Pica’s chicken tacos The best meal in downtown Louisville is easily chicken tacos from Pica’s. Perfectly cooked chicken and fresh salsa on a delicious tortilla creates a tasty dish. Its simplicity only adds to its flawlessness. Its perfect combination of flavors can’t be beat. But it’s not just the delicious food that makes Pica’s my favorite spot downtown. The well decorated, adorable interior and perfect location make it even more amazing. Anytime I’m downtown and searching for food, Pica’s is my goto spot, and I can guarantee that I’m ordering the chicken tacos. No matter the day, time, or weather, it’s always the ideal meal. — Zoey Perrine
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DOES DIET CULTURE PROMOTE DISORDERED EATING? OWEN LEWIS ‘23
“Diet culture casts a very strict stigma on how teenagers view themselves and helps to lower their self esteem. I think it’s popularized in teenage culture and that’s why so many teens are developing eating disorders.”
LAUREN HALL ‘24
“I do think diet culture could promote eating disorders. I mean you look at unreasonable expectations for bodies and how everyone is expected to meet them. Some people are insecure and do anything they can to fit that.”
RUSHI ADAPA ‘22
“Diet culture can’t be defined as one specific idea. It has positive sides that promote a healthy way to live and be comfortable with one’s image, and it has negative sides which promote toxic and unhealthy habits.”
JANE TUCKER ‘25
“In some ways yes, but I feel like most eating disorders come from body image and things like that. But, people sometimes go on a diet that’s not healthy that will later lead to an eating disorder.”
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Flat is still fat
Diet culture supports unhealthy eating habits
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By Layla East
hen I was 10, I was relatively happy with my body. I didn’t pay much attention to it. Then my family adopted a diet. The diet revolved around “clean eating.” No meat, no dairy, only greens. That in itself isn’t damaging, but the messages the diet sent were. It told me “these foods are good and these ones are bad,” and “you won’t be happy if you’re slightly overweight.” Along with the diets putting negative ideas in my mind, so did the adults in my life. Any time they ate carbs or some sort of treat they would say, “Oh, I’m being so bad.” All the while, I dug into whatever treat was offered. I would hear them shaming their bodies, commenting on how “fat and ugly” they were. The messages these diets were sending impacted the adults around me, so I started to pick up their habits. I started to pay attention to my body, examining it. And I didn’t like what I saw. This led to me pushing my shirt up one day to reveal my stomach with a pair of safety scissors resting on it. I stared at myself in my bedroom mirror. I wanted to cut it off, I needed it to be flat. I spent my recesses in 5th grade working out. Not running around and playing, but following an exercise routine I created with my best friend. The way I viewed food was distorted. Food was no longer fuel, but currency. I associated food with guilt. That all stems from diet culture. Diet culture’s goal isn’t to help you get healthy. Its goal is to sell diet plans and pills to insecure people. They prey on insecurities, promising to rid you of what you’re most self conscious about. Because of their outrageous promises, they give unhealthy diet tips.
They promote dangerous eating habits, the most egregious one being fasting, essentially starving in disguise. They promote counting every calorie, stating you should use them wisely because you only have so many each day. They promote ignoring hunger urges, urging you to just chug water instead. Everything is about control. It isn’t shocking that diet culture can lead to disordered eating. Restrictive eating disorders are all about control. The line between restrictive dieting and eating disorders is almost non-existent. According to The National Eating Disorders Association, 35% of “normal dieters” progress to pathological dieting and 20-25% of those people develop eating disorders. In the past couple of years, our social culture has shifted to body positivity and diet culture has decided to join in. Now their messages are filled with mantras on self confidence but still encourage you to not be satisfied by how you look. Listen to your body, starve yourself, love your body the way it is, don’t eat breakfast, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, food is fuel, food is guilt. The whirlwind of thoughts is disorientating. Diet culture’s grotesque fascination with being perfect has ruined the way I, and many others, view food. I never knew I would get to a point in my life where doing something as simple as eating would be laced with guilt. Diet culture not only promotes awful tips, but they are actively harmful. You don’t have to experience it first hand to be affected by it.
Staff Editorial Hitting too close to home
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Marshall Fire, direct result of worsening climate change
oastal cities stand on the brink of flooding at all times. Devastating fires pile up on the shoulders of Mother Nature. The urgency of climate change inevitably comes across natural disaster reports, mainly due to global warming, at every waking hour. Climate change accelerates at full speed and echoes through extreme weather events. Yet, the momentum of preserving our environment wears out despite increasing threats. People seem to have grown a shielding tolerance toward climate change. They read the news, see a fire report, share their compassion, donate, at best, then occupy their minds with other ongoing events in a matter of seconds. Out of sight, out of mind. As destructive as these catastrophes are, they are thousands of miles away. Until they aren’t anymore. The Marshall Fire, a product of global warming, came and knocked on every single door in Boulder County and demanded our attention on December 30. At barely a moment’s notice, the Marshall Fire quickly swept across the suburban neighborhoods of Louisville, Superior, and Boulder County with the aid of a hurricaneforce wind. Everyone in the affected cities and surrounding areas evacuated with fear and terror, worrying if their families and friends would be safe while driving through active fire zones teeming with smog and traffic. Some stayed away for a few days. Many had no choice but to say goodbye to their homes while watching the flames from hotel TVs, Twitter feeds, and drone footage. There were tears, exhaustion, frustration, and so much more. However, to those outside of our area, it’s just another fire.
By Minh Anh Le Perhaps how many of us felt about the Dixie Fire in California, a vicious blaze that tore apart nearly a million acres of land in the summer of 2021. The Dixie Fire burned land equivalent to the size of New York City, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles combined. Both fires demonstrate how climate change aggravates a slight flame into an extremely destructive wildfire in a split second, leveling all structures and imprinting an irreversible kind of change. The Marshall Fire stained our lives forever. Houses will take years to rebuild. People need time to heal their losses. And even now,
“The Marshall Fire...knocked on every single door in Boulder County.” with the fire faded away, global warming won’t. At least not during our lifetimes. It’s undeniable that the Marshall Fire is the visible consequence of the rising temperature. Let’s face it, Colorado’s 2021 Christmas was far from a white one. In fact, there had been no snow on the ground for 232 consecutive days until December 10, 2021. CPR news reports that during the second half of 2021, the state underwent one of the driest and warmest seasons, according to national weather data. It’s no coincidence that the abnormal rise
in temperature and lack of precipitation is followed up by the most destructive wildfire in the history of Colorado. If it wasn’t for these factors, the fire wouldn’t have spread as quickly or widely. Each rise in temperature further pushes our world further into the climate crisis—a state of turbocharged fires, droughts, floods, and other natural disasters taking over our environment. Despite substantial recognition of climate change, the actions and progress of preventing it are inconsistent. People return to using plastic straws after a few months of advocating for the reduction of marine pollution. They continue to support corporations that maintain weak remediation of waste and perpetuate the burden of greenhouse gas emissions. Goals go unmet and projects go unaccomplished. In 2020, Manhattan’s Union Square reset its digital clock as a countdown to the earth’s doomsday. At the time of writing this article, the world has five years, 326 days, one hour, 10 minutes and 30 seconds to reduce greenhouse gasses emission to zero before climate change becomes irreversible. We are in the midst of a climate emergency. The Marshall Fire serves as a glimpse into the bleak future we have created. An alarm to remind us to take consistent and immediate action to combat climate change before tipping points of unsustainable human activities shatter the earth. It’s no longer a problem miles away when a fire’s orange glow reaches our own doormats. Let’s not hit snooze on the alarm of climate change.
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