Senior Issue
May 2022
2 l Senior Edition l The Pepper Box
Table of Contents
The Pepper Box Senior Special Edition May 2022
FUN STUFF
Guess the baby....................................................................................3 Senior survey results.......................................................................4 Teacher superlatives........................................................................5 Senior crossword puzzle.................................................................6 Senior pets...........................................................................................7
SENIOR REFLECTIONS
Goodbye column - Maricela Nunez...............................................8 Goodbye column - Kaylyn Riggs.....................................................9 Club experiences..............................................................................10 Sports experiences...........................................................................11 Throwback to freshman year.........................................................12
THE FUTURE
Current trends...................................................................................13 College map........................................................................................14 Senior heirlooms..............................................................................16 20 Years in the Future.......................................................................17
PEPPER BOX STAFF Visual EIC: Kaitlyn Hurst Content EIC: Kaylyn Riggs Production EIC: Maricela Nunez Online Editor: Chloe Sapp Photography Editor: Michelle Everett Social Media Manager: Chanel Foster Adviser: Ron Steinschriber
Staff Members: Leanna Duncan, Layla Fouche, Caden Gaither, Alexandria Griffin, Caroline Groceman, Danielle Haynes, Jennifer Huerta Lopez, Autumn Jacobsmeyer, Julia Lohnes, Nickolas Martin, Eaja McBroom, Ashton Miller, Jacob Nasalroad-Francis, Victoria Pratt, Janiya Scott Front Cover Art: Maricela Nunez Editorial Policy: The Pepper Box is designed and created by members of the newspaper staff of Ritenour High School. The purpose of the newspaper is to provide a forum for the students to focus on issues, give opinions, and share information with the Ritenour High School community. The opinions expressed in this paper do not reflect opinions of our faculty or administration.
By: Jennifer Huerta-Lopez 1. Azariah Estes 2. Ben Weissler 3. Chanel Foster 4. Charlie Farris 5. Dayrin Oviedo 6. Gaby Rojo 7.Jakaila Smith 8. Jimmy Pham 9. Kaylie Carraway 10. Lanz Dungo 11. Michelle Everett 12. Shirine Awad 13. Tess Ostoff 14. Yaztin Chaidez 15. Yemil Lopez Leal 16. Janiya Scott
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Guess the senior
Can you guess these 16 seniors from their baby photos? The Pepper Box l Senior Edition l 3
4 l Senior Edition l The Pepper Box
Senior survey
Either/Or Smoothie King Basketball
54%
49%
Fire Drill Instagram
Advisory Apple Pay
Pizza Hut
51%
Football
83%
29%
Prom Slides
46%
17%
27%
64%
32%
Tik Tok
71%
80%
20%
73%
36%
68%
Tornado Drill
Homecoming Crocs Husky Time Cash App
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class of 2022 School Mom
School Dad
Most Memorable
Staff Clown
Colette Love
Cole Hartfield
Christopher Perkowski
Nina Ballman
Teacher Superlatives Most Trustworthy
Best Drip
Most Chill
Most Understanding
Laura Reid
Blake Hernton
Jennifer Wilson
Paul Kennedy
Pepper Box Senior Issue
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Scan this QR code to fill out the crossword puzzle online.
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14 15 16
17 18
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Across 2. Top Drake hit from freshman year (2 words) 4. Buder Elementary’s mascot 8. Milk man’s real name 11. The name of the school newspaper 13. Most students walk to eat here after school 14. This engineering event takes place in the pool 16. Snapchat filter that dominated selfies in freshman year (2 words) 17. RHS students either work here or go here after homecoming. 18. These got painted blue during quarantine 19. 2022 prom theme (three words)
Down 1. Senior class president 3. What everyone asks to borrow in class 5. This indie/pop star released her first album during freshman year. 6. The number of lunches our freshman year 7. This musical got canceled because of COVID 9. Senior Class sponsor 10. Business teacher that is retiring 12. What the Schnucks used to be our freshman year (3 words) 13. Our principal when we started 15. He’s been our superintendent all 4 years
Senior companions
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Seniors show off the pets that helped them through high school
DOGS MAN’S BEST FRIEND “All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed. For after all, he was only human. He wasn’t a dog.” - Charles M. Schultz Luna - Caitlyn Palermo
Daisy - Robert Mitchell
By: Michelle Everett
The Golden Snitch Michelle Everett
Carlos Christyna Borders
“Animals are such agreeable friends—they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms.” George Eliot
NON TRADITIONAL PETS Astro and Cumulus - Kaitlyn Hurst
Hobbes - Olivia Spencer
Benjamin Button Franklin III - Maricela Nunez
Lieutenant Taylor Lester
CATS FURRY FELINE FRIENDS
Spooky - Yaztin Chaidez
“I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior.” – Hippolyte Taine
Jay - Zack Gordon
Wisteria, Plum, and Lilac - Kaylyn Riggs
Chuckie Ashton Miller
Mustard Jamie Sadler
Annabel - Jade Witte
Girlfriend - Justin Cassie - Kennedy Kipper Teoli and Katie Hasenjaeger
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Saying one final goodbye workforce. However, no matter where you end up, it will surely be a change. While we might not all realize it, the first 18 years of our lives are just the beginning. What comes after graduation is the start of our lives as real adults. It might not hit us right away, since we might still be relying on our parents to guide us and pay for us until we are ready to be independent, but it is definitely on the horizon. There are still little things we can enjoy as we finish off this school year. Prom, of course, was the big one, and it was a night we will all remember. We also have senior sunset, the picnic, the senior awards, our graduation, and many more planned events. As the events grow closer I hope we could enjoy them more than any event before this. I plan on appreciating the time that I’ve not only spent with the class of 2022, but also with every underclassman and upperclassman. Talking with people outside my class always surprises me. No
Maricela Nunez
I’m kind of happy that I will no longer have to wake up at 6 am and rush to get to my first hour, where I would spend most of the time actually waking up. Now I will be able to get the choice of making my own decisions, and hopefully wise ones. The only way to grow is to experience new things. High school was fun for me, but for others, we could describe it as a pure torture. Now, everyone will go their own way and discover life on their own. Some will choose to attend college, others will serve our country, and some will go straight into the
Photo courtesy Inter State Maricela Nunez at prom with her friends Selena Brown and Breanna Johnson.
matter if they are older or younger, they have a different mindset than I’m used to. It’s kind of refreshing in a sense, knowing that we have different thoughts on how we perceive high school. Though I may not have enjoyed every second of my time here, I do appreciate it. It was a learning experience that I know I won’t take for granted in the future. I would like to say my final goodbyes to the people and places that have been a part of shaping me into the person I am today. Goodbye teachers, who taught me more than their curriculum. Goodbye friends, who made me laugh with no effort. Goodbye library, where I played more Uno than I did work. Goodbye Calming Corner, even though I only went there once it was a nice experience. Goodbye long zoom meetings, you could have done better. Goodbye sisters, I enjoyed my time with you and I hope you enjoy the rest of your high school years. Goodbye high school, I had an unexpetedly fun four years here.
Photo courtesy Maricela Nunez Senior Maricela Nunez mentions that she will miss her family after she graduates from Ritenour in the next few weeks.
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Pepper Box staffers reflect on their time in the Ritenour School District
Kaylyn Riggs
Me and newspaper go way back. I would spend hours drafting and writing stories the world would never see. Third grade was the first time someone told me “you should join newspaper,” but it was far from the last. I would hear it again and again, mainly from my father, to the point of no return. I was forced to join the Pepper Box. I would like to think Stein was overjoyed with my Pepper Box application, but he probably forgot my name as soon as I left the class every day. It wasn’t until I forced my annoyingly specific design opinions onto him that I started making an impression. I would judge his choices and
Photo courtesy Ron Steinschriber Senior Kaylyn Riggs taste tests smoothes with other editors seniors Kaitlyn Hurst, Michelle Everett and Maricela Nunez.
sometimes not with the nicest tone; he chooses the ugliest colors! He has no taste! With each snarky comment or oddly specific insult, newspaper started to be more than just “reporting on the daily news,” it was a fun, entertaining, and enriching, creative environment for us all. Stein always tells us that we have to dig for more when athletes give us a quote about how their teams are “like a family,” but I am not an athlete, so I am going to say it. Newspaper was like a family for me. The talking over each other, loud opinions, moments that
made me laugh until tears, and inside jokes that I will never forget really made room 240 feel like a fluorescent lighted home away from home. Despite the consistent flow of stress and deadlines, I loved newspaper, and I don’t think I will ever find another class full of people I absolutely adore and look forward to working with consistently ever again. I don’t know if newspaper will miss me, but I will definitely miss it!
Photo by: Chloe Sapp Senior Kaylyn Riggs puts her hand in the mouth of the husky suit during a yearbook photo shoot. Senior Michelle Everett stepped inside the suit to help recreate album covers.
Photo courtesy Kaylyn Riggs Kaylyn Riggs’ senior photo.
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Senior club experience By: Autumn Jacobsmeyer and Tori Pratt Q: Why did you join the club? A: Having enjoyed PLTW in middle school and taking multiple PLTW classes my freshman year, I thought I would enjoy getting to do more in engineering. Q: What was your favorite thing about the club? A: Getting to build not just a fun robot, but building a close bond with those there. The team has been a safe place for many and we have made a small family of students who also like to build robots. Q: How did your club experience change your life?
A: It opened up many new opportunities from new skill sets in leadership or technical skills, to opening up networking opportunities in engineering.
Why did you join the club? I have always wanted to be a writer since middle school, but there was never a general club for creative writing. When I was told there was one at the high school, I felt that my dream occupation had been recognized, which made me really happy. What was your favorite thing about
A: I know I am going to miss the competitions as well as getting to have fun with the team.
Q: How did your club experience change your career path? A: It further got me into engineering and allowed me to branch out to different types of engineering. Enjoying the design and building part of robotics, I knew I would really enjoy mechanical engineering over other engineering disciplines. Q: What are you going to miss most the club?
Holly Vo Creative Writing
about the club?
My favorite thing about CWC was the casual nature. Despite us all being writers, we never held high expectations for each other. You were never required to share or read anything you wrote, and there was this general stress-free aura that made me comfortable sharing my work, even if it was unfinished. How did your club experience change your life? I find that, nowadays, novelists and writers in general are all around us, but are invisible to the naked eye. Coming to CWC made me realize that people were still interested in literature. They were just looking for the next big thing that’d mean a lot to them. How did your club experience change your career path?
Devin Sanders Robotics I wouldn’t be as confident in my writing ability as I am today. I went from writing as a part-time hobby to genuinely wanting to make it my full-time job, so you can say it changed my career path drastically. What are you going to miss most about the club? I’m going to miss all the new people that came in this year. I’m going to miss being able to walk up and read my timed-prompt writing. Most important of all, I’m going to miss the sponsor and main teacher that ran the club, Ms. Love-Hilliard. She’s been a positive influence in my school career (and just my passion in general), and she’s certainly going to be one of the teachers I’ll miss the most when I graduate (If she’s reading this, I hope she knows she’s my favorite mama duck. <3).
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Senior athletic experience Q: How has your sport affected your high school career? A: It has given me great friends and made me want to come to school and be there so I could participate. It also made me learn how to be dedicated to something. Q: How has it affected how you determine life outside of high school?
A: Being on the swim team has made me want to act right and behave so that I wouldn’t get into any trouble. Q: Have practices changed at all (or gone back to normal) from the pandemic? A: It was different last year due to the pandemic, but this season it’s back to normal.
Q: Did your sport make you more dedicated and open your eyes to anything? A: It did make me more dedicated and made me want to stay on top of my school work and life. Q: What are the pros and cons of your sport? A: The pros are that you have great coaches and teammates, and the cons are that you will be so tired afterwards. However, in the end all the hard work is worth it.
Addyson Watts Swimming Q: How has your sport affected your high school career?
dedicated and open your eyes to anything?
A: The sports I played affected my high school career by motivating me to be a better student athlete.
A: Yes, when a club coach told me I wouldn’t be good enough to play on a team because I was “playing on a team like Ritenour,” I became dedicated to the sport. This has taken a toll on me because everyone around me is already a step ahead of me, when I am just getting started. Though I worked hard, I was able to make a club team, commit to a college, and even serve as a two-year varsity captain as an outcome of all this.
Q: How has it affected how you determine life outside of high school? A: I never really thought it would determine life after high school, but I’m always around soccer and I love it so much that I committed to play soccer in college as well :) Q: Have practices changed at all (or gone back to normal) from the pandemic? A: In my opinion, practices didn’t really change for us. Not even for club soccer or high school. Q: Did your sport make you more
Q: What are the pros and cons of your sport? A: The con is all the running! The pros are the friends I’ve made, scoring, my Neymar tricks, and building confidence.
Yaztin Chaidez Cross Country, Soccer
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Back < & future Seniors reflect on their growth from freshman to senior year By: Julia Lohnes
< “I’ve gotten a lot more outgoing and a lot more confident in myself and the work that I do.” - MAGGIE COFFEY
<
“I’ve been able to mature throughout my time at Ritenour with overall life experiences. After four years, you learn a few things. - BEN WEISSLER
< “It is not just about winning and losing, it is about staying true to yourself and about the improvements you make throughout the years.” - KAILEY COVERT
<
“The biggest growth for me is starting to be organized and taking things very seriously. I used to think, if it’s a D, I passed. As I grew, I realized that it’s really important for me to get these grades up.” - YAZTIN CHAIDEZ
By: Michelle Everett
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14 l Senior Edition l The Pepper Box
2022 College Map
MISSOURI
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
SAINT LOUIS CC
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, KC
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, SL
STATE TECHNICAL COLLEGE OF MISSOURI
Columbia, MO
JEFFERSON COLLEGE
Hillsboro, MO
Kansas City, MO
LINDENWOOD UNIVERSITY
St. Louis, MO
St. Charles, MO
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI, S&T
MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY
Rolla MO
St. Louis, MO
RANKEN TECHNICAL COLLEGE
MISSOURI BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
St. Louis, MO
St. Louis, MO
Iowa
Springfield, MO
St. Charles, MO
35 Northwest Missouri
29
Lanz Dungo Truman State
Kansas City
35
souri Mis
70
Michael Madrid Mo. S&T
Kailey Covert Missouri State
80 Kilometers 80 Miles
NF
Missouri Saint Louis Area St. Louis, MO
Illinois 72
M
iss
iss Addyson Watts ip Maryville p i
Caroline Slunaker Mo. Baptist
55 70
NF
Tess Ostoff UMSL
St. Louis
St. Louis Area
Central Missouri NF
44
Caleb Deckard Lindenwood
National Forest
NF
NF
Shirine Awad Wash. U
NF
Cape Girardeau
Southeast Missouri
Springfield NF
Oklahoma
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Jefferson City
Lake of the Ozarks
Joplin
Wentzville, MO
Columbia
Kansas
Southwest Missouri
Kirksville, MO
Marilyn Dunker Mizzou
Independence
Kansas City Area Sedalia
TRUMAN STATE UNIVERSITY
Chanel Foster Fontbonne
Hannibal
70
Linn, MO
Northeast Missouri
St. Joseph
Vickie Pham UMKC
St. Louis, MO
URSHAN COLLEGE
SAINT CHARLES COMMUNITY COLLEGE
MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY
St. Louis, MO
NF
KY
Branson
Arkansas
57
By: Caroline Groceman
55
TN
ALABAMA
INDIANA
TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY
Tuskegee AL
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UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE Evansville, IN
MISSISSIPPI JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY
GEORGIA CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY Atlanta, GA
ILLINOIS
Jackson, MS
IOWA INDIAN HILLS CC
Ottumwa, IA
SOUTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA STATE U.
GREENVILLE COLLEGE Greenville, IL
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CARBONDALE Carbondale, IL
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY EDWARDSVILLE
Orangeburg, SC
KANSAS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
Atchinson, KS
TEXAS PRARIE VIEW A&M
LOUISIANA
Prarie View, TX
TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY
XAVIER UNIVERSITY
New Orleans, LA
Edwardsville, IL
Houston, TX
Yaztin Chaidez Indian Hills CC
Breanne Stock U of Evansville
Rachel Robertson SIUE Janiya Scott Benedictine
Nakai Steele-Myers S. Carolina State U.
Taniya McKinney Texas Southern
Jada Hamilton Clark Atlanta
Jordyn Williams Jackson State Gracie Gary Xavier (LA)
Tytianah Robinson Tuskegee U.
Map courtesy of Wikimedia
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To Denise Chaidez,I leave my soccer ball skills. To Angie, I leave my special pencil of pretty colors. SHIRINE AWAD To the soccer team, I leave my work ethic and passion for the sport. Also, don’t make #7 look bad. YEMIL LOPEZ LEAL I leave my charisma and bubbly personality to Charli Holmes.
To my leaders (you know who you are), I leave my wisdom and support to you to do amazing things next year. RACHEL ROBERTSON To Noah Johnson, I leave you my encouraging words to keep going even if no one believes in you! AALIYAH CHAPMAN
To my son, Kylie Morales, I leave you everything I own. Yes that includes my paper cranes. To Mrs. Melly, I leave you my sticky notes. I scattered paper cranes around the school, whoever gets the exact number of paper cranes pointed. They get 10 dollars from me. ASHLEY GARCIA
To Chloe Sapp, I leave the yearbook...good luck. MICHELLE EVERETT
CALEB DECKARD To Aprilrose Lam, I leave you my patience with this district that doesn’t love change, and I leave you my drive to continue to push for what you believe in. TESS OSTOFF To Chloe Sapp, I leave Ronald Steinschriber and all of the fun, excitement, creativity and overwhelming stress that comes with him. KAYLYN RIGGS
ALLISON DECKARD To Elijah Finch, I will leave the drum line. Take care of them and make sure they don’t cause too much trouble. To Enrique Castillo I will leave the responsibility to hold pizza parties to spread joy when everyone is down. To the percussionists, I leave my mallets and stick bag for anyone who needs them. GABY ROJO
CHANEL FOSTER To all the classes, I leave luck.
To Senor Becker’s 6th hour Spanish class, I leave you all my love and my wish for you all to always stay true to yourself.
Senior heirlooms To Micah Weissler, I leave you my success and handsomeness.
To Sage Gordon, I leave my obscure references that few understand.
BEN WEISSLER To Mr. Daniels, I leave a Rubik’s Cube for you to learn.
ZACK GORDON
DEVIN SANDERS
to James Bell, I leave my ability to grow and be strong throughout the next school year.
To my tink (yk who you are), I leave greatness and happiness to y’all.
NESHONA BELL
KYLA GREEN
To Menique, I leave a reminder that breaks are okay. To Olive, I leave a batch of cookies for when you’re sad. To everyone, I leave a bit of fatherly care.
To Isabelle JohnsonO’Loughlin; Star. I leave you all of the jackets of yours I have stolen. Except the Dream one. That one’s mine. JAMIE HOFFMAN To Judy ℛojas,I believe you can make it through the years of high school without me. Use the communication skills I gave you to help make new friends. Don’t be an introvert any more mi amor. Live life and get good grades like you already are! BREANNA JOHNSON
To Kanija Edwards, I leave you my love and support that you are going to finish off high school strong and no complications and forever and always be my mini me.
To the person who (probably) found a yellow Hello Kitty keychain in the auditorium first semester, PLEASE TAKE CARE OF IT, PLEASE, ITS FROM JAPAN. To Felix and Mika, I’m giving you absolutely nothing. I love y’all though! <3!
BRIAUNA PHILLIPS
TARYN MOORE
JJ PITTS
The next 20
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In 20 years, I will be... A mother of two dogs and have my own place. JESSICA TORRES
If I’m not playing soccer somewhere in Europe, I’ll have a very successful construction company that expands to many states. YEMIL LOPEZ LEAL Hopefully still alive, just kidding, but maybe having a decent job and a nice house. DENASIA MCKINNEY
In 20 years I will be 38 years old. Hopefully I’ll have a stable career in science with a nice husband and 1 or 2 kids. MERCEDES CENDEJAS
In 20 years I will have my own house, vacation home, and be happy. I will be a successful physical therapist. GABY ROJO
A famous streamer all of you love.
Hopefully married with kids. JENNIFER GONZALEZ
JAMIE HOFFMAN Hopefully teaching full time at a school I love.
In 20 years I will be married, living in a nice house with kids, and doing whatever God wants me to do.
CAROLINE SLUNAKER
AZARIAH ESTES
A well known actress in Hopefully, I will have a happy marriage, with 2 graduated from medical or 4 kids. school and be working as a medical examiner. I RACHETEE MANZAMBI will also have traveled the world OLIVIA SPENCER Working in UX design, happy and well off enough to travel when I have the time. Maybe even married . JJ PITTS
Working on getting my own private practice as a doctor and I’ll have my own family. JORDYN WILLIAMS Married with a good job.
In 20 years I will be 37 years old :)
KATIE HASENJAEGER
ASHLEY GARCIA
In a medical system performing outstandingly.
A cat and dog mom with a house, my dream car of a Volkswagen Beetle, and I’ll be rich because I want to. TESS OSTOFF
NAKAI STEELE-MYERS Married with kids and a licensed cosmetologist with my own beauty bar. AALIYAH CHAPMAN
Financially well off. JENNIFER VEGA
In 20 years, I will be chilling with a family of my own with a successful career being a police officer. JASMINE JOHNSON In 20 years I am going to be a business owner, I am going to own properties and my own house. NANETTA BROWN’ Hopefully have some kids. I was never looking to be rich, even though that would be nice, I would just like to have enough money to live comfortably. Or my answer could just be money. :) JANIYA SCOTT Married with three kids, a private cook and a travel cook. and be an entrepreneur. NESHONA BELL A mom of 2 with, like, 5 dogs. I will be a physical therapist. KAYLIE CARRAWAY
Congratulations, Pepper Box seniors
Michelle Everett Photography Editor
Chanel Foster Social Media Mgr.
Maricela Nunez Production EIC
Kaylyn Riggs Content EIC
Kaitlyn Hurst Visual EIC
Ashton Miller Staff Reporter
Janiya Scott Staff Reporter
