The Flash | Volume 30 | Issue 1 | October 2022

STAFF

Front row: Milana Kozlo va, Lexi Booras, Daniela Stuhlert, Cassie Le. Middle Row: Maddie Papia, Kaylee Madeline, Sofia Keefe, Radian Hong, Julia McLean, Taylor Aub ry, Andrea Guzman. Top Row: Shane Byron, Mr. Rubinstein, Macken zie Wright, Trey Spencer.

UPCOMING EVENTS

By Cassiopeia Le, Editor in Training

“Acceptance... you have to realizethe person is truly gone,”RHS senior, Jenna DeBoard

During the pandemic, teachers and students alike at RHS have experienced grief for reasons such as death and loss of family. Grief is, according to the dictionary, deep sorrow that is caused by loss such as a person’s death - but there’s more to its meaning. It is a complex inner battle within the mind. There is no one way to recover from the feeling of loss, and if someone should recover, they learn to live and accept that loss.

“The five stages of grief is basically a theory by a psychologist named Elisabeth Kübler-Ross,” explained RHS Psychology teacher Mark Hardy, “based on observations of how people deal with grief when they face a major, dramatic, and sad occurrence in their life.”

The five stages are a cycle of emotions that happen during the aftermath of a traumatic shock. The feelings of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance consume a person’s wellbeing. Often they come in no particular order; like a tsunami of emotions that comes crashing down with no warning. Sometimes, there are no five emotions that happen. According to Mr. Hardy, “it’s not always a linear path… people move through the stages differently so that, for example, some people go straight from denial to depression ... so you don’t necessarily move literally through the five stages, and the time that anyone spends on any particular stage is quite variable.”

This begs the question: how exactly do you DESCRIBE that feeling of grief that comes with a side dish of mourning?

“It [the feeling of anguish] kind of just tethered me from where I was … we could talk about things, but at the same time, I wasn’t really talking to you,” shared a student that wished to remain anonymous, “it was more that wasn’t what I was focusing on.” That feeling subconsciously made their mind wander into places that weren’t the present. This resulted in difficulty paying attention to small things like listening fully when engaging in conversation. Grief makes the mind try to distract itself from the trauma, but it only ends up replaying the trauma over again and thinking more of why they’re trying to distract themselves. “It catches you off guard, you just can’t go back to focusing normally like you always do… because it [any activity] seems insignificant ‘cause your mood is so bad you can’t focus on anything.”

There is no specific way to feel when one is grieving as it can be a different experience for everyone. Grief doesn’t necessarily have to be about death, it is just

Experiencing Grief & Seeking Help?

School Psychologist: Leanne Sublett (lsublett@rocklinusd.org) School Counselors: Lauri Hodge (lhodge@rocklinusd.org)

Sydney King (saking@rocklinusd.org)

Lissa Morgan (lamorgan@rocklinusd.org) Timothy Wirth (twirth@rocklinusd.org)

loss in general. Pilar Padilla, aside from being a RHS language arts teacher, is also a family counselor who has handled her fair share of experiencing grief while helping others cope. She explains, “I think everybody experiences it differently, I also think people have grief at times [and] they don’t know it. Like, it’s not just loss, it can be the loss of normal school. A lot of people grieved that the last few years. It’s like a depression; there’s more sadness involved.”

There is no one way to undergo dealing with loss, it is an occurrence that will always take place in life. How someone chooses to act on it will always be different and will depend on their perspective. “It really is personal, we all do grief very differently.”

loss

NEW FIELD: PROS & WOES

Opinion: The new field is a great update. However, it is missing vital elements for some Rocklin High sports.

The football field is getting a makeover! After 10 years, the school decided it was time to replace the turf and track. However, there’s a lot more that goes into changing the field than one may think.

The last field Rocklin High School had was installed in 2012. For a turf field 10 years is quite a long time, most usually lasting 7-9 years. But, because of good maintenance and patch work, the Thunder made use out of it for a whole decade. The design elements were decided upon by a handful of people. Many of them being Rocklin coaches and staff.

A new field includes all new turf and a resurfaced track as stated earlier, and this comes at a price, a big one. The new turf install cost the district a grand total of about $2,350,000. Where is all of this money coming from?

According to Craig Rouse, Rocklin Unified School District’s Facilities Director, the money came from a Routine Restricted Maintenance account. Abide Builder, Inc. was the company chosen to tackle this project. Established in 2007,

the commercial construction company has, according to their website, worked many jobs for schools over the past fourteen summers. Demolition of the old field began on June sixth of this year, and the field was finished just before the school’s first home football game, on August 19th.

As beautiful as this new field is, it has a few fatal flaws. Number one being that there are no permanent lacrosse lines. Rocklin High School has had a lacrosse team since 2020, making this upcoming spring season its fourth year on our campus. For the past three years, the lacrosse lines have had to be painted on. Usually after being played on for one or two games, they are hardly visible. Multiple times last season the refs apologized to the visiting team for the faded lines.

When talk of the new field arose, many lacrosse players believed that permanent lines meant the team was going to truly become part of the school, and be taken seriously. However, this was not the case. Permanent lacrosse lines were not installed, only football

and soccer. Why? It’s hard to say.

According to Craig Rouse, lacrosse lines were not included in the bid, meaning it did not even pass the approval process. Mr.Stewart, Rocklin High’s principal, claimed that there was a worry about how many seams were going to be added to the field. This is interesting considering how many neighboring highschools have installed lacrosse lines. To name a few; Woodcreek, Vista Del Lago, Oakridge, Granite Bay, Davis Senior, and Rio Americano. JT Mortara, head Boys Varsity Lacrosse coach, said that it is difficult to be on the same level as other schools, when our fields are not equal. It doesn’t mean that the lacrosse program can’t excel, but missing lines make it more difficult for both teams to practice.

Varsity Boys Lacrosse player Josh Cooke said, “I’m actually pretty angry that we don’t have lines because you know, it just makes me feel like we aren’t being seen as an actual program.” Instead of permanent lines,

the lacrosse teams will have to resort to painting the lines on for the next 8-10 years. Whitney High School’s head Girls Varsity Lacrosse coach Jeremy Veldstra explained how Whitney’s lacrosse lines are painted on using a TurfTank, rented out from a local youth soccer program. If Rocklin High School wanted to purchase a TurfTank to use over the next 10 years, it would cost $45,000. A subscription would cost $10,000 a year, along with $2,000 worth of paint. In the end, the decision to not add permanent lacrosse lines is going to cost the school and/or district thousands of dollars.

Another issue with having no lacrosse line is that the youth lacrosse programs cannot rent out our field for club league games. Unlike how football and soccer programs can, because there are lines laid for their sport.

So ultimately, the school district could be making money off the lacrosse lines, just by them being there. The second issue about the new field is how it has caused many track and field events to be moved or removed. Mr. Eckman, Rocklin’s Head Track and Field coach said that the discus pit, high jump, and pole vault have all been rearranged, or even removed. After being invited to one meeting, Eckman never heard anything else about the changes being made regarding the field and track.

The removal of one of the shot put pits and now having only one pole vault track will increase the length of meets. Eckman said it also,”creates all sorts of logistical issues,” that he hasn’t been able to tackle yet. This increased time will negatively affect the athletes, coaches, and parents of the students participating.

Many track and field athletes are frustrated with the changes, especially the fact that these changes were not broadcasted to the students. No one knew what was happening besides the admin and a few coaches. Ten years ago, Eckman felt that there was more communication overall when it came to the process of creating a new field, from design to final laying of the turf. This past year, there was little to none.

The new field does not serve 50 percent of the sports that use it; Track and Field, and Lacrosse. This is an issue for Rocklin High, as its athletic program may struggle due to a decline in athletes, as a result of a field that does not accommodate for its players. What happens next, is anyone’s guess.

By: Julia McLean, Podcast Editor

Julia Mclean

BEYOND FIGURES

FORMULAS

Mathematics doesn’t come easily, even for an underclassman in AP Calculus

For Sophomore Rishabh Bhutani, there is a lot more to math than the classes one takes and grades one gets on the tests; for him, math is a way of thinking.

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“Math is kind of a creative subject,” said Bhutani. “It comes down to logical thinking and being able to think on the spot and being able to come up with ideas.” The skills developed in math can be applied to other subjects too, and not just those that involve numbers. Bhuta ni said he felt he improved as an English student once he began to apply problem solving and reason ing skills to his writing. Grasping those concepts can prove difficult for those who have not been ex posed to them, he said, blaming the way lower level math is taught in schools.

“You kind of just keep doing stuff you’re told to do and you’re not really told to come up with stuff yourself or trying to think of some thing in a way you haven’t thought of before,” he said. It was only when he reached calculus that he began to genuinely enjoy math. “Prior to that, it was kind of just, oh, I’m kind of good at this so I

guess I’ll keep doing it.” Now, he thinks of math as his personal hob by.

Bhutani encourages even those who don’t yet like math to take a semester of calculus at some point in their education. “It doesn’t mat ter if you take it sophomore, junior or senior year, or if you take it in your fifth year of college. It’s ac quired knowledge over time,” he said. “It shouldn’t just be like, oh, I took this class and I got an A in it, it should really just be what you get from the class.” Different people learn math at different paces; Bhu tani doesn’t even consider what he is doing to be fundamentally different from taking Integrated Math II in Freshman year.

Bhutani doesn’t believe acceler ating in math should be forced. He disagrees with parents putting pressure on their students to skip to higher levels of math for the sake of it. “It wasn’t like a thing like, oh, I want to take calculus freshman year. That wasn’t my motive.” He said he personally chose to accel erate because he wanted to get ex posed to higher math concepts at a faster pace.

Beyond the linear track of highschool math, there are several branches of higher math. “If you look at research in math, for example, your entire research field is one very, very, very specific top ic in math that only one or two people in the whole world could understand what you’re doing.”

He has already begun to take college courses online to get an introduction into some of those branches, one of which is abstract algebra. “It’s not algebra you learn in school. It’s called abstract alge bra and it’s called that for a rea son. It’s like a logical foundational aspect of the algebra you learn in school.”

For Bhutani, all of this started in fifth grade, when his grandfather began to teach him math at a faster pace. “He would go on walks with

me and he would ex plain concepts to me,” he said.

“I was quite lucky to have him because he taught me a lot of what I know.”

By: Radian Hong, Editor-in- Training

Photo by Joshua Rubinstein

For me, this was a summer of hard change. In many areas, I have learned that life will always have moments that seem to change the course of everything. It hasn’t been easy. I was devas tated when my closest friend Liz Ilyuts told me she was moving to Texas at the end of the summer. For the first time that I have lived in Rocklin, I would not be walking into the school year with her by my side. This hit me like a train.

For Liz, change like this isn’t new. It’s been a part of her life since the age of 4, when she and her family moved from her birthplace of Moscow, Russia to Istanbul, Turkey.

“I left Russia when I was 4. From what I remember, it was very cold, gloomy, and depressing. Russia is a very sad country. I don’t miss it at all,” Liz said. From Russia, the Ilyuts family moved to Istanbul, Turkey for job oppor tunities. “My parents fell in love with Turkey, and that’s where we stayed for a while. I went to an international school in Turkey, because my parents wanted me to know multiple languages. I re ally miss Turkey, with the people, the landscape, and especially the food. Turkish cuisine will always be special to me.”

When Liz was 12, she and her family moved once again. This time, they relocated to Rocklin, California. “We left Turkey due to some personal reasons and religious reasons,” said Liz. “Tur key is a heavily Islam-populated country, and the leaders of Turkey are not very fond of Christians. Christians like my family and I were being persecuted. Although, my parents didn’t tell me that because I was 12. They just told me that we were going on a va cation to California, but we never went back. We left in such a rush, and it’s surreal to look back and realize that’s what our situation was. I do remember sitting on the plane and having the feeling that I wasn’t ever going back to Turkey.”

“It was very hard to move here in the summer of middle school because I didn’t know anyone,” Liz said. At around this time, I met Liz in 7th grade, and she became my best friend. Over the summer as incoming seniors, we had re flected on how our friendship had only just begun.

As they always do, things change. “My parents went on a trip to Texas at the end of my junior year, and they fell in love with it,” said Liz.” They felt like God was calling our family there. Soon, we were putting in offers. At first, I was so angry. My life here in Rocklin is so good. Now, I have a feeling that this move will be a very good

thing in the future for me, even if I don’t see it right now. I realized that I am going to be okay no matter what.”

Liz is the strongest person I know. She credits her many moving experiences with shaping her as a person. “Moving around so much has made my charac ter stronger. I have the tools to face challenges now. It would be harder for me to handle obstacles if I had a very stable life and never moved or gone through difficul ties. My mindset is set on that.”

By: Taylor Aubry, Editor-in-Chief

“Remove yourself from the story.” - every journalism teacher ever But ... I can’t. Not with this story.

my friend I was on a double date and I let my friend big trouble from my parents for that. I let them drive

“Our rival high school and I would do a lot of pranks with each other. So the pranks started to escalate, and probably the best one was what they did to us as they had a helicopter fly over our school during lunch and open up the side door and dump out a bunch of ping pong balls that all said beat on our school name. So it said Beanston Valley. So we just came up with something not as good, but we decided in the middle of the night. Toilet paper the school. The cops showed, and so we all had to run”

“I swore in class once like, loudly, like the teacher heard, yes I got in trouble for it.”

“One lunchtime, we were driving over this arched bridge, thinking that our friends were coming in the opposite direction. And sure enough, they were. So I was driving the car. My brother leaned out the passenger side and shocked this water balloon at our friend’s Jeep. Anyway, it shattered his front window, which that in itself was bad enough, but the car behind him, driving behind our friend, who we shattered his window and made him kind of crash. Was the principal of the high school. He saw this happen this was the week before graduation my brother was the valedictorian and was all set to give the valedictorian speech at graduation. They strong ly considered not allowing him to do that we both got into some pretty big trouble.”

“We took yellow streamers and kind of teepee’d the used to have, like, these big benches and we just cut car, and there was another one that said you moved

Do you like Krispy Kreme?

Be the first student to correctly match the teachers with their stories and email us! We will hand deliver a donut of your choice to you during your 3rd block class!

Win a prize by matching all the stories with the teachers.

Email at: taylor.aubry@rocklinusd.org with the correct teacher letter paired with the correct number of their corresponding story. for example: Z-5, F-10, R-90

Story & Original Design by Daniela Stuhlert, Staff Reporter

It’s the first year of the new schedule, how has it affected Rocklin High?

For over 25 years, Rocklin High School (RHS) has started at 7:45 and ended at 2:40. However, this year is different. The change comes from Senate Bill 328, which requires “the schoolday for middle schools and high schools, including those operated as charter schools, to begin no earlier than 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.” There are numerous studies done to provide reasons as to why starting later benefits teenagers. Terry Cralle, a registered nurse, provided evidence stating that, “one study showed a modest delay in school start time was associated with significant improvements in alertness, mood, and health.” Due to that bill, Rocklin High now starts an hour later at 8:45 and ends at 3:40. This is the first time something like this has happened and there are mixed feelings about this schedule between both the students and staff.

Dale Eckenburg, a teacher and tennis coach at RHS, said that he definitely prefers the early start schedule because the early start, “works well with athletics and for extracurricular activities and just students in general.” Personally for Eckenberg, the late start has affected the time he gets home and the amount of time he spends with his family causing it to, “definitely affect family time and dinner.”

Of course, Mr. Eckenburg does believe there are some positives about the schedule such as, “students might be more awake during the early part of the day.” Since this schedule is relatively new, he still thinks it’s too early to decide saying, “you know I have been getting to school at 7 o’clock. I’ve got a good hour and 40 minutes in the morning so it’s actually not as bad as I expected.”

On the other hand, Mateo Lopez, a sophomore at Rhs said that he actually prefers the late start schedule because he, “has more time to do more things in the morning and the evenings aren’t so valuable.” Since the schedule is an hour later everything including lunch is pushed back and Mateo says that due to that, “It feels weird because I gets hungry earlier and before I’d be hungry at third block but now I’m hungry by second block.”

Poll results from a September 19th Instagram poll with 41 responses out of approximately 2000 followers. We acknowledge that this poll is unscientific and for the

hich Schedule Do You Prefer?

Although many students get more sleep in the morning thanks to the new schedule, Mateo, who participates in extracurricular activities, said that the late start hasn’t affected his after school schedule saying that, “nothing I did before is really influenced by time much so rearranging the order doesn’t do much.”

Richard Lee, a freshman at RHS said that he prefers the late start schedule as well and said that, “I think it’s better that we start later because you are able to wake up later and have a more focused mindset and you’re not as tired throughout the day anymore.” He also talked about how it helped him improve his mental health saying that, “it’s given me a bit more time to reflect on myself the day before and what I will do from now on.” Richard does extracurricular activities such as cross country and soccer and he still has to do homework. The new schedule has given him some time to do some extra work in the morning stating,“I am able to wake up later and if I have work from last night I get to finish it up in the morning.”

Overall, the late start schedule is relatively new and there are positives and negatives to it, regardless there will always be people who love it and some who don’t like it as much. Some students and staff have benefited from it and others not so much but as of right now there is still room for opinions to change.

By: Milana Kozlova, Editor-in-Training

From growing enormous zucchinies to presenting lovely flowers, the RHS garden has a lot to offer.

Over time Rocklin High teachers have found multiple uses for the garden. The garden first started off as a resource for the culinary club. Providing vegetables that they would dice and chop into beautiful dishes.

Mr. Kimmel has found gardening, “...a calming thing to do and an enjoyable activity.” Ironically he says, “I am not the greatest gardener, I do kill plants.”

Though he might not be the best gardener, Mr. Kimmel has noticed that gardening is a calming outlet that can be enjoyed by everyone.

Gardening can also give one an appreciation for life. When you’ve placed the seed in its bed, you’ve carefully dug, and tucked it in with the soil you’ve placed on top - the seed begins to grow. “When you see something go from a seed to a vegetable, watching it grow... it’s awesome,” Mr. Kimmel says.

given Kimmel a desire to see more of the world’s natural beauty he has yet to observe. Kimmel says, “I’d love to get to Patagonia [Chile} and South America, Australia, ... New Zealand sounds super fascinating to me.” Snowcapped mountains mirrored by still waters is exactly what Kimmel is on the look out for.

As a school we are enlightened by the small things that pull one another together as a community, “Now that everybody is back on campus and excited, I mean look around this room, people are happy to be back,” says Kimmel.

Whether students are sitting together in M5, gathering in the garden for the garden club, or gathering around the amphitheater for a performance, these are the small but important things that bring us together as a school.

“Seeing everything grow is so fastening, I love seeing everyone work on something so creative with out knowing what the final product might look like.”, said one of the Garden Club’s strongest advocates,Izzy

By: Trey Spencer, Staff Reporter

SHOTS

NOPE? MORE LIKE YES!

NOPE REVIEW (SPOILERS)

By: Shane Byron, Staff Reporter

UFO sightings? Alien encounters? Alien UFO sightings? NOPE directed by Jordan Peele is a movie that takes a deep dive into UFO discovery. Peele does this by showing us the life of Otis Haywood Junior (OJ) and his sister Emerald Haywood after their father was killed by a “cargo plane incident” which was really a UFO encounter.

The movie released in theaters July 22, 2022 and was an anticipated thriller/horror film that was another project developed and directed by award winning director Jordan Peele. Peele has directed movies such as Us and Get Out which were both award winning and critically acclaimed thriller/horror movies. The excitement that surrounded this movie was very high based on the fact that it would be another

Jordan Peele thriller but in a sci-fi direction.

Rocklin High School [RHS] sophomore Drew Clifford saw the movie in theaters, “... my expectations going into the theater - I thought the whole idea of aliens and UFO sightings is kind of stupid…”

This same thought was shared by audiences and critics alike. However, Clifford explains that, “Jordan Peele’s Nope exceeded my expectations a lot because they had a really interesting and creative twist in the movie which was really cool to me.” One of the twists included a chimpanzee attack from “Gordy.”

In a similar way, Nick Coleman, a sophomore at RHS had low expectations for the movie but it ended up being his favorite of

the summer. Coleman even went on saying, “I’m just gonna say that popcorn might have been thrown…”

This reviewer agrees. The movie keeps you on edge for a majority of the time and when it lacks suspense, it brings you in with humor and incredible performances by Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer. How Coleman and Clifford explain NOPE also matches up with what the critics have said. The movie has an 82% on ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ as of the writing of this review. In total, Jordan Peele delivers once again with ‘Nope’ and is a great watch especially with the season of Halloween horror and thriller movies around the corner I give Nope an enthusiastic 4 out of 5 stars.

ENLIGHTEN

THE FLASH’S INSPIRATIONAL LIVING COLUMN

By: Maddie Papia, Staff Reporter

Something that I’ve learned is that change is scary, hard, and all of the other bad things. I moved from Wisconsin to California in 8th grade and at the time, it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. The key words

Now? Now I can’t imagine where I’d be if it never happened. So much changed so quick ly and adjusting wasn’t easy, but the changes were for the better. Inevitably, I changed and made both bad and good decisions that all led me to sit here at my computer and write about

Yes, if I had a time machine I wouldn’t change a thing. Things change and we can hate it in the moment, but in the end everything turns out to be okay or even better. And you know it to be true too. How many times have you sur vived change? Obviously every time, because here you are reading this.

I wholeheartedly believe you can make a change or withstand any change in your life. It sounds corny and sappy and all that mushy but I will stand by my opinion that change is the only way to move forward. We can’t become better people or a better version of ourselves without enduring change. We may look back at some of our decisions and cringe, but in the end those bad decisions led us to where we are right now and where we will be

Our decisions are a catalyst for change. Change is a train station, but only you decide which train to board. However you don’t get to decide when the train leaves. Staying on the same train is safe because you recognize your surroundings, but aren’t you curious about where the other trains will take you? Choose your train wisely and enjoy the ride.

“Change is a train station, but only you decide which train to board...”

I have loved boba since before I can remember. I grew up in the Bay Area where it’s extremely popular and there’s a boba place on every other block. It’s a big part of the culture in the Bay and often consumed everyday by many middle and high school students. Moving to Rocklin a few years ago made me realize most boba places are different here, but the question is, are they better?

I decided to put it to the ultimate test and try a few different boba places nearby. While Sacramento undoubtedly has many amazing boba shops, it’s not convenient for everyone, so finding a good boba shop in Rocklin was my ultimate goal.

Three different boba shops later, I examined every detail down to staff, cleanliness and taste. My order was a strawberry matcha with tapioca boba. I had the same order at every shop in order to get a fair comparison. The first boba shop close to Rocklin High School was Bubble University. Previously, opinions I’ve heard about this boba shop claimed they “are always out of boba” and I was luckily the last customer able to purchase boba before they ran out. The claim was spot on and as somebody who typically gets extra tapioca, it was pretty disappointing since I barely received a normal portion size.

The staff was extremely kind and the shop was super simplistic and clean. The drink came out relatively quick as well. The drink was pretty good, but nothing special. I might give this shop a try again with a different drink, but I was not impressed.

A few miles from Rocklin High, near Spring View park is a small boba shop called Teable. I was not too familiar with Teable, but after walking in, it had cute decor and the staff was very welcoming. After ordering drinks, I went over to the small section with a bunch of games to play in the shop. I really enjoyed this part of the shop and thought it was a brilliant addition. It’s unique and fun to come and enjoy with friends or family. Unfortunately, I did spill some of my drink on myself, but the drink was amazing. It was perfect, sweet but not too overpowering. It was creamy and the boba was very good. I could definitly see myself coming back.

The last boba shop I tried was Kultura Cafe, which is close to Rocklin High School across from California Family Fitness Gym. It was very close which made it convenient and they also specialize in Filipino food. My drink was not on the menu but the amazing staff accommodated to make it for me. Most people there were ordering boba as well and they had a variety of different drinks. My drink was not very sweet and I was pretty disappointed. I have tried many different strawberry matcha teas and the texture and flavor was not worthy of me returning to this shop.

Rocklin has numerous spots for boba with a shop opening right by Savemart soon and if you have never tried boba, I would highly recommend it. The possibilities are endless whether you want a sweet tea, fruity flavor, green tea, etc. I strongly believe that Rocklin doesn’t have the best boba places, but it can differ based on what drink you get.

Overall, if I had to rank them, I would say Teable is number one, Bubble University is second and Kultura Cafe is number third. Going into other areas of Rocklin, Roseville or Lincoln will also have many amazing options for local delicious boba.

Story and Original Design by Design Editor: Sofia Keefe

Previously, opinions I’ve heardabout this boba shop claimedthey “are always out of boba”and I was luckily the lastcustomer able to purchase bobabefore they ran out.

Have you ever wanted a place to get together with people and talk about books, maybe even to write a story yourself? If that’s the case, the Creative Writing and Book Club members will tell you that their club is your place to go.

“I’m not as much of a writer as most people in the club,” says Shubhika Grover (RHS 23), “So my favorite part is like the book club aspect, because I’ve discovered a few books that I really liked from ... my sophomore year, which was 2020-2021. We read the Song

of Achilles [by Madeline Miller], which was a book that I really liked.”

Shubhika Grover is the current club president of Creative Writing and Book Club. Grover sat down to answer questions about the club to bring more attention to what it has to offer and explain how the club works.

To some, the idea of a combination club can be a novel concept, but the way the club is structured works exactly as its members need it to. Every other week the club meets on

blue Tuesdays, with the meetings alternating between writing and reading.

This configuration leaves a space of four weeks between every type of meeting, giving everyone ample time to write as well as finish reading the books that are chosen.

Members take the time to vote on the books they want to read, having fun with all the suggestions everyone makes.

In addition to reading the books that they’ve chosen, they also

By: Andrea Paz Sepúlveda Guzmán, Staff Reporter

“The envionment is definitely not that serious ... the atmosphere is a lot of fun and a lot of people don’t know each other yet.”

work on their own writing to discuss during the creative writing meetings.

This combination makes for a unique club environment, which club members have fun with no matter their preference for reading or writing.

“We just alternate between meetings to like, have an equal mix of both of those kinds of meetings,” says Grover.

Members are encouraged to share writing that they’ve done recently, and share ideas for possible stories. Everyone builds on what the last person said, cultivating a sense of community and trust among members.

“And then if we have, like, extra time on a book club meeting, because … the discussion ended early, and we chose another book really early, then we will

called “Circle Time” where each player takes turns saying a sentence, in a group attempt to create a story.

“Circle time … usually ends up being really chaotic, but it’s a lot of fun,” says Grover, “This year, I’m also planning on trying to do more, just like, days to write and maybe share so people can just like have a space to write with a

possible for people to join and that they want to encourage more students to join.

“You’ll be perfectly fine if you’re new,” says Grover, “All you have to do is come to a meeting really, and it doesn’t matter if you go to every meeting … a lot of freshmen mostly get really stressed when they miss it … but like it doesn’t really make a

“I think this schedule ignores half of the student population...”

“It doesn’t feel like were gettinggood quality practice in.”

“I have way less time to study...” the negative

NEW SCHEDULE NEW STRUGGLE

impact of later school start times on fall sports ///

KatePhelan, a junior at Rocklin High School is one of many athletes who is affected by the new change in school start times. As a varsity golf team athlete, she states, “I don’t have as much time to practice because I have to get home and do my school work. It’s also affecting my personal life because I have to do all my homework and everything is more chaotic.” Because of Rocklin’s new bell schedule, the girls’ golf practices are pushed back an hour later than what they used to be. Kate says, “I have way less time to study and I am staying up extremely late to get my assignments done. I don’t have any time to enjoy myself.”

Kate says the new schedule is affecting all athlete’s school and free time, as well as their quality of performance.

“Well, now because we get out of school so late, our practices have become much shorter. It doesn’t feel like we’re getting good quality practice in. It feels very rushed and everyone is scrambling around. In addition to that, some girls are

even leaving early from practice for their jobs or due to their extensive school workload.”

Most of the teams at Rocklin High School have opted to do an early morning practice due to the late start time. Kate added that, “ I don’t really think early morning practice would be beneficial to the team. It doesn’t make sense because we don’t have an on campus practice facility like the other teams at our school. We practice at Whitney Oaks Golf Course and although it is relatively close to Rocklin, it doesn’t even get light out until 6:45 [in the morning.]”

The overall practice time in the morning would be an hour because we would have to get changed and get ready and drive from the golf course to school.”

Being a student athlete is especially hard at this particuar time. Kate says, “I have difficulty balancing these out.

I have a small amount of time to do my homework because I go straight from school to golf practice or a match. By the time I get home, it’s about 8 o’clock. Then, I have to try and fit in my school assignments when it’s late and I am exhausted.”

It is clear that Kate’s experience is not unique to her, “I think this schedule ignores half of the student population including student athletes who don’t want this schedule because it’s so much harder to get your work done.”

By: Lexi Booras, Staff Reporter

Lexi Booras

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