Three Black entrepreneurs: Mercedes Yarbrough, Destiny Roberts, and Ebony Yarbrough, were invited to talk about their life, successes, and passions for an MLK Assembly Jan. 17. Each guest promoted positive messages about chasing their dreams and reflected on how they got to where they are today.
What was thought to be a well-precautioned and harmless choice in the name of education instead led to an unexpected turn of events that cost one professor her job.
Dr. Erika López Prater of Hamline University decided that as a part of her Global Arts History class curriculum, she was to show the painting “Compendium of Chronicles” to further teach her class about the history of Islam. She felt that showing the painting was essential to her class and according to the New York Times, she stated that without displaying the painting to the class, it would be the equivalent of “[...] not teaching Michaelangelo’s David.”
However, the painting contained imagery of the Prophet Muhammad, meaning that it went against the beliefs of many Muslims, as the Quran prohibits them from viewing any form of imagery of him. Knowing ahead of time that showing the painting would go against the religion of many of her students, Dr. López Prater attempted to make efforts to prepare any students whose
religious beliefs it would go against. According to her, the class syllabus made students aware of the showing of the painting and as the semester progressed, no students reached out to her with concerns regarding the painting.
dents and most notably, pinned the Muslim community against each other, as according to the Vimal Patel of the New York Times, “Some Muslims distinguish between respectful depictions and mocking caricatures, while others do not subscribe to the restriction at all.”
that all members of our community hold in trust. I hope this changes,” she stated.
Mercedes Yarbrough is an educator and author of two comic books, the most famous being “Black to the Future”, whose goal is to inspire and enlighten youth through graphic novels and exposure to historical and modern Black inventors. She has experience working in Special Education and has served as a Freedom School Servant Leader Intern. Currently, Yarbrough is working in the St. Paul Public School District.
And so, Dr. López Prater exhibited the image, giving a warning to the class a few minutes before doing so. After the class, a senior student in the class took action against the professor with the support of other students, saying that Prater’s actions were Islamophobic. Serious actions were then taken and Dr. López Prater was informed that she had been dismissed. However, Prater’s dismissal sparked controversy among stu-
Editorial - Bring current events into the classrooms and hallways to expand worldview.
On Jan. 13, Hamline released an official statement by President Fayneese S. Miller, stating “To suggest that the university does not respect academic freedom is absurd on its face. Hamline is a liberal arts institution, the oldest in Minnesota, the first to admit women, and now led by a woman of color. To deny the precepts upon which academic freedom is based would be to undermine our foundational principles.” Later on in the statement, she expressed that “It is far easier to criticize, from the security of our computer screens, than it is to have to make the hard decisions that serve the interests of the entire campus community,” in response to several disputes about the matter. “What disappoints me the most is that little has been said regarding the needs and concerns of our students
Due to the wide range of beliefs, it is hard to reach a consensus on the situation, “Degree of belief can vary greatly, which poses the question: how do you address an issue those affected are divided on?” sophomore Aarushi Bahadur said. “From what I understand, everything comes down to one pivotal moment, one that I remain questioning: why did the Muslim student choose to remain silent when asked beforehand whether anyone preferred not to see the image?” Bahadur concluded. “I do not believe the student was completely to blame, nor do I believe the teacher was; rather, for the academics, this calls for a reckoning,” and that, “Instead of a college firing to save face, the gates of academia need to be opened up to discussion of how to better support those who feel victimized by the status quo, and to let them know that they have options. This event should have led to greater inclusivity. Instead, it got a teacher fired.”
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In Depth - Are trends a fear of missing out, a mental short cut, or simply a way to recycle clothing?
Destiny Roberts is the owner of the brand DezzyRaww and is a driven hip-hop/soul musical artist. Roberts showcases her bright personality through her passionate music making. Roberts earned a 2019 Netflix placement for ‘The Jungle,’ and a Spotify placement in the ‘What’s Good’ playlist.
Ebony Yarbrough is an fashion entrepreneur who opened three clothing stores across the Twin Cities. With the initial goal of discovering each woman’s uniqueness through beauty and fashion, Yarbrough’s business of selling women’s club attire eventually grew into her clothing company Bougies Boutique.
As a behavior specialist, Mercedes Yarbrough interacts with students that often struggle the most at school. “I take pride in my job, and I’m going to make [learning] fun for these kids. And I love art — being creative, goofy, and fun,” Mercedes Yarbrough said.
As a part of her work with younger students and working to educate them on black history, Mercedes Yarbrough created Black to the Future, a comic book that presents both past and present Black entrepreneurs and inventors as well as black-owned businesses in Minnesota.
Senior Leona Barocas enjoyed the overall focus on Black power and voices during the assembly and the way that Black to the Future brings attention to joy and success in Black history.
“I think a big focus of Black to the Future was rewriting the narrative and saying, like, it’s not just slavery and the civil rights movement, look at all these other things that have brought people of color to where they are now. And I felt like we didn’t get to learn that material. We were just told that it existed,” Barocas said.
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THIS EVENT SHOULD HAVE LED TO GREATER INCLUSIVITY. INSTEAD, IT GOT A TEACHER FIRED.
Aarushi Bahadur
“RITA LI THE RUBICON HANDS UP. Destiny Roberts performed an original rap. RUBICONLINE PHOTO: Rita Li
Although the spring semester has just begun, the search for a new US principal is well underway. The selection process, led by Head of School Luis Ottley, began with the posting of the employment listing which occurred before Winter Break.
The US Principal Search Committee, comprised mostly of US faculty and a few administrators, is responsible for interviewing the candidates. From the initial pool of applicants, a handful of finalists will be selected to undergo further interviews. The committee has not yet begun interviews, but has already met in preparation.
US Academic Dean Tom Anderson, though not a part of the Principal Search Committee, is familiar with the process and will have the opportunity to talk with some of the candidates. Anderson has worked closely with three different principals over the past three years.
“Continuity in these sorts of positions is good for everyone,” he said.
“But it’s also a reality that people often take these roles with ambitions to move on. So it’s not a surprise that there’s been some turnover. I’ve really enjoyed all three people that I’ve worked with, and they’ve all brought important things to the school.”
Anderson believes that a strong candidate would be someone with a specific vision. “I think that the experience of the pandemic has made us ask a lot of questions about school and education and what a high school should be,” he said.
“We’ve been thinking a lot about the relationship between academics, extracurriculars, and students’ mental health.
Diversity, equity, and inclusivity issues have also risen to the forefront over the last few years. I think that someone who has done some thinking around that and has some ideas about how to bring those disparate strands together would be a strong candidate.”
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Muslim Student Alliance leader Humza Murad has a varying take on the ordeal: “Content warnings; if you don’t like it, leave. That’s good that we have that, that’s good that the teacher did that. The students who then complained, that’s their fault. They should be in trouble for that, not her.” Murad also considers the faults of the professor in this situation, “The fact that she should know that [not every Muslim wants to see the painting] a little bit better to not show that in gen-
Anderson views the role of the principal as intertwined with the future of the school. “Ultimately, the principal is kind of the face of the Upper School. They’re the most obvious person to reach out to when there’s a bigger question, when you’re thinking about the big picture,” he said. “The principal was the one who is the chief vision articulate, the person who has to be able to help everyone stretch toward that more idealistic vision while not undercutting who we are right now.”
Senior Soren Miller has seen three different principals in his four years at SPA. Although he will graduate soon, Miller expressed interest in the search process. “I think that the connection between the principal
INFOGRAPHIC: Hazel Waltenbaughand the student body is an important aspect of school culture,” he said. “The last few principals have done a really good job at being involved and I hope to see the same from the new principal.”
Junior Halle Cowgill
had a similar opinion. “I feel like a really big aspect of what makes a good principal and what makes them memorable is looking to connect with the community.”
Neither Cowgill nor Miller believed that the
rate of replacement had a large impact on their student experience.
“It would be great if the next principal would stay, but I can’t say the turnovers have significantly affected me,” Miller said.
“[The turnovers] keep things exciting. [I’m] always looking to meet new people, so that’s fun,” Cowgill said. “But I can see how it could be chaotic within the administration.”
Anderson suggested that the students can do a lot to help with the transition process. “It’s important for us to assume goodwill and know that someone could have ideas that might not be familiar or comfortable,” he said. “I would hope that the students can see whoever comes in as someone who can be an ally for positive change.”
Data collected from 54 responses to a survey sent to the 9-12 student body and faculty.
eral because you don’t have to, right?” he said. “Then again, it’s fine to be like, ‘Look, I have this painting. If you want to see it, please come ask me and I’ll show it to you. But I’m not going to show it out of a sign of respect for all the Muslim students in this class.”
World religions teacher Ben Bollinger-Danielson shares from an educator’s perspective: “I heard an interview where it was the first time she’d ever seen [the painting] and she felt really blindsided. You can also see all these really real issues around academic freedom and how do you approach these complicated issues around depicting religious figures. And from what I’ve read, this professor was trying to do
this in a respectful way and show the rich history of our history within Islam and trying to provide some warnings about that in some cautions [...].” Focusing more on the teaching perspective, he provides insight to what should be considered when covering a sensitive topic in any class, “[...] there should always be rich alternatives to do things. [...] How does one do this in the most appropriate, respectful way? Should one do these? What are the ethical underpinnings?” he said.
In the end, a petition garnering over 2,800 signatures was started, demanding that the university’s board investigate the matter. The week of Jan. 25, the faculty called for Hamline’s president to resign.
Nationals: the highest level of competition for high school debate teams. Debate is a semester-long class, but a far longer extracurricular. Students have the option to continue debate throughout the spring and summer, potentially advancing to State and to Nationals.
Director of Debate Marit Warren said, “The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) qualifies three teams from each district to compete at the National tournament. Teams qualify by competing at the Districts
Qualifier tournament in December and finishing in the top three spots. Our SPA teams took the top two spots.”
The debate students have yet to begin preparing in-depth for the tournament, including senior Henry Hilton: “I will probably prepare during finals week, which will undoubtedly be a struggle, and possibly do a preparation tournament beforehand. Hopefully, we can get our cases done as soon as possible so we can get some practice rounds in as well,” he said.
However, as senior Maya Sachs said while explaining the process
to get to Nationals, “I’ve been really proud of my teammates for committing to postseason debate last spring and practicing over the summer because everyone has improved so much the past year, and I think that growth has allowed us to succeed.”
Nationals is an important event for debaters. “Debaters work really hard all fall/year to compete against really competitive teams. They prepare for several different topics and have to work on adapting to each round. They should be really proud of the work they put in and earning their spot in the National
tournament representing the Central District of Minnesota and SPA,” Warren said.
Sachs explained her excitement to proceed to nationals, saying “I’m really excited and grateful for the opportunity to attend nationals. In a sense, it feels like a right of passage to qualify for nationals… I hope that I can leave a lasting impression on younger students on the team.”
SPA has two teams [four students] progressing to Nationals this year, which will be hosted in Phoenix, AZ on June 1116
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The identity of the next principal is an important factor in the search process ...
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SUBMITTED PHOTO: Kate Lockwood QUIZZICAL. Emma Goodman, Cassie Zirps and Colin Will compete in a Quizbowl tournament held at the University of Minnesota Dec. 10. “A highlight is just watching the team play and working really well together,” coach Kate Lockwood said.
According to coach Kate Lockwood, there is “a core group of four or five that come to most of the tournaments.”
The members study packets from past tournaments of questions spanning an array of topics.
“There’s history, literature, there’s popular culture, sports, math, and there’s science,” Lockwood said.
This practice helps them prepare to answer questions, strategize for buzzing in and helps familiarize them with the rules of the game.
On Dec. 10 at the “RAT RACE” Quiz Bowl Tournament, SPA finished in third place out of 39 teams, qualifying them for nationals.
“Normally we don’t qualify this early in the season. I’m super excited,” junior Bridget Keel said.
“We sort of know who has authority on certain topics. Like for history questions, everyone is going to look towards Colin,” Keel said.
Senior Colin Will is the second highest scoring individual in the division.
Keel enjoys the team’s “obscure sense of humor.” However on a lower note, the Quiz Bowl team is senior dominant, worrying members about the stability of the team going forward.
“Making sure that [...] there’ll be people to continue on the team [...] is something that’s on my mind,” Lockwood said.
The lower stakes but high pressure Student vs. Teacher quiz bowl tournament took place Jan. 26 during X-block. When asked how she plans to prepare, senior Cassandra Zirps, an SPA Quiz Bowl member since ninth grade, said, “I think we’re so good, we don’t need to prepare.”
GEORGIA ROSS
Question: What exactly is SPA Quiz Bowl? Answer: A team that meets after school and competes at monthly tournaments. A club. A community.
Because tournaments are never on campus, the Quiz Bowl team action is less accessible to watch than many other extracurriculars.
Because of the small number of participants, the team qualified for the small school nationals tournament as well. The team is excited to travel to Chicago in April for the smaller tournament and Atlanta in May for the bigger tournament.
“A highlight is just watching the team play and working really well together,” Lockwood said.
The team has a shared understanding of who has expertise in topics. On bonus questions where they are allowed to collaborate, they work together smartly.
Similarly for Keel, she felt confident that there’s no need for studying; her memory is good enough. “I am feeling psyched. If everything goes well. Students will come out on top. But teachers are tricky like that…”
Quiz Bowl finished division competition Jan. 20 with an 11-1 record. They advance to league playoffs on Feb. 9.
The legality of medical and recreational cannabis has been a pressing issue for Minnesotan citizens long before to the Minnesota midterm election on Nov. 8.
According to a State Fair poll from the summer, 61.4% of participating Minnesotans want there to be complete legalization of recreational cannabis.
Freshman Ella England thinks that legalization for medical use but not recreational use is the way to stay. “It’s one more thing for people to get addicted to,” England said.
Senior Rio Cox believes that “people should not be criminalized for marijuana usage in general… A lot less people would be dying from cannabis being laced, which would outweigh all possible downsides.”
MN LEGISLATIVE SESSION 2023
the amount of recreational marijuana an individual could legally carry. 2 oz
number of plants a person could grow in their home or on their property. 8
would carry a retail tax of 8% in addition to sales tax, with medical cannabis exempted.
A number of candidates ran with a position on marijuana on their platform and HF-100 was one first bills that hit the House of Representatives when the session started Jan. 3. The bill headed to the House committees Jan. 11.
Since 2014, under Minnesota state law, people aged 18 and up can receive a prescription for cannabis for a number of reasons, including ALS, chronic pain, PTSD, and OCD.
As far as recreational cannabis usage, citizens aged 21 and older can purchase and consume cannabis with restrictions, such as only hemp-derived THC being allowed, only five milligrams of THC allowed in edibles, only being allowed to have two fully grown plants and only being allowed to possess two ounces or less of flower in public spaces. This use was approved in July 2022 and caused a great deal of controversy,
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After Mercedes Yarbrough shared her comic and passion for teaching, Roberts discussed what led her to become an artist and musician, tracing back to her high school athletic career.
Roberts was a driven basketball player and had been scouted by many colleges beginning in eighth and ninth grade. Unfortunately, Roberts tore her ACL during high school, putting her basketball career on pause. However, she took this as an opportunity to try something new and after going to a cable access center, she discovered her passion for video and photography and began to experiment with her creativity.
After recovering from her ACL injury, Roberts had to make a life-changing decision. “Am I going to play basketball, or am I going to stick to photography? Surprisingly, I decided to stick with video photography,” she said.
Ebony Yarbrough then introduced herself using a childhood story about finding her confidence in her sense of fashion. Ebony Yarbrough had a shy personality as a child. After discovering her unique talent and fashion interest, she gained confidence in school. Her creativity inspired her peers, and that’s when she started making clothes for people.
“It is necessary to legalize [cannabis] because probation has never worked,” Minnesota State House Majority Leader Jamie Long said in an interview with The Rubicon
Long mentioned that legalizing cannabis would fix many racial issues attached to the current cannabis legislation.
“Despite different racial groups using it at the same rate, Black Minnesotans are seven times as likely to be arrested for use,” he said, implying that with a lack of equal enforcement, “it has been legal for White people for a while.”
Long said in a new bill that he is co-authoring, there are programs that would make reparations to the people who were mistreat-ed by this legislation in the past by getting rid of any minor marijuana-related criminal records, helping to level the playing field.
Opposing arguments have historically made the legalization of cannabis difficult. Many states that have legalized marijuana have much higher rates of accidental child consumption of edibles.
Legislators are also considering how increased rates of driving under the influence will be managed, as states that have legalized use have seen. There is also currently no field sobriety test for cannabis.
As far as addiction, though, Long mentioned that if full legalization similar to that of California was to be put into place, the tax dollars from cannabis purchasing would go directly to expanding access to high-quality treatment plans.
A third Minnesota House Committee approved the bill, with amendments, Jan. 24. It moves on to the next of 13 committees before a floor vote.
“I expected that I would open this business and everybody will want to come and take a [look]. But that wasn’t the outcome. I got so discouraged. I gave up. Then one day, I was just sitting there and thinking, ‘I can’t believe I gave up. But now I’m going to try again.’ I learned to put my personal meanings into play. I had to tell myself, ‘You get what you get and what you put into it,” Ebony Yarbrough said.
Each speaker’s adventurous entrepreneurial story emphasized the idea of never giving up. This message resonated with many students and caused them to reflect on their own dreams and notions of success.
“I think success can come in many different ways and be defined differently. A lot of the time, it’s about finding your own passion. It’s not necessarily becoming a big STEM entrepreneur in Silicon Valley or becoming like Taylor Swift as a singer. But if you’re able to get your message, and you share your values with other people, I count that as successful,” sophomore Deling Chen said.
This year, the Intercultural Club leaders aimed to celebrate Black successes during the annual assembly. The group aims to uplift local voices and bring engaging speakers into future events.
“Intercultural Club is trying to bring in speakers that are more youth-oriented and have a strong emphasis on working with younger generations and changing the future. We wanted to find something both educational and entertaining that everyone would enjoy,” IC co-President Clea Gaïtas Sur said.
While the Q&A section was cut short due to time constraints, the assembly was lively and engaging, including a live performance from Roberts and a “Pringles challenge,” using chips named after famous Black rappers. This assembly marked a new way of celebrating This assembly marked a new way of celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy.
Read more in News about the MLK Day of Service and the SDLC assembly at:
We strive to capture the spirit of the community through
EDITORIAL THE RUBICON STAFF
of the staff agree 100%
It’s easy to treat school as a world on its own, separate from everything that goes on outside campus—but is that really alright? Although teachers occasionally contextualize certain lessons with references to current events, the talk inside the classroom rarely brings in anything from outside the curriculum. But school is part of the larger world, and it’s the responsibility of students and teachers to bring current events into the classes, hallways, and social spaces of campus.
Teens need to be aware of what’s going on in the world. They’re aging into a political scene that’s set amidst the backdrop of worsening climate change and widespread social movements. However, according to Statista, when teens do read the news, they overwhelmingly pick social media as their platform of choice. In order for teens to effectively participate in politics and the world, they need a more thorough understanding of current events than can be obtained through Instagram news infographics.
In fact, Instagram has a longstanding problem with misinformation, with over 620 thousand users following anti-vaccine accounts between July and August 2020—the largest increase of any other major social media platform. Instagram’s user base also skews heavily towards the younger side, with the vast majority of their users between the ages of 18 and 34. Both of these facts together point to the worrying conclusion that teens are at a high risk of consuming dangerous misinformation. However, discussing news in school gives students the opportunity to share, and subsequently debunk, any false information they might receive from social media.
Bringing news into the classroom helps class content feel more relevant, too. How often have students complained about never using what they learn in the “real world?” By integrating time for conversation based on current events, especially when those events also connect to the class, teachers and students alike can alleviate feelings of academic detachment. Plus, most people have major news on their minds, so discussing them and connecting them to class can help people stay more engaged. And students who see themselves in the stories can feel more seen by their community.
As a school, discussions can come from all sources. Clubs and groups, especially ones that advocate for social or environmental justice, can bring and discuss news articles in their meetings. The Opinion Board, as well, is a forum specifically for sharing opinions to the whole school. If students posted articles they found interesting, or their thoughts on a current election, conversations would naturally begin to flow.
On an individual level, schedule 10-15 minutes every day to read a news source. How to begin? The answer might be as simple as opening up the computer. All students have a free subscription to the New York Times and the Star Tribune that they can redeem through their school Gmail accounts. If they haven’t already started using it, now’s the time to ask a librarian to help them begin. And once these accounts are up and running, use them. Stay informed—sign up for a newsletter if checking the website every day isn’t your style. And bring this newfound consciousness to class, where it certainly won’t go unnoticed.
IT’S THE RESPONSIBILITY OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS TO BRING CURRENT EVENTS INTO ... CAMPUS.
Some people have business goals and others have goals for fitness, but almost every person has a goal to be happy throughout the course of their lifetime. Whether it be the people surrounding someone or stress coming from a bad environment, the natural human response is to look at how we can improve our lives in an attempt to become happy, which is exactly what we shouldn’t do.
It’s not negative to have goals or keep note of things that could be improved in someone’s life because that’s what keeps humans motivated. However, it is harmful to wait for happiness to come from these changes. If someone is waiting for happiness to come from situational change, they are bound to be disappointed because happiness doesn’t come from circumstances; it is a mental state.
This does not mean that certain situations have no impact on one’s mental health. They do. Humans are reactive, and if something good or bad happens, the brain will have an emotional response. But long-term contentment with one’s life does not come from others; it comes from a state of acceptance.
The Backwards Law by Alan Watts states that desiring a positive experience is a negative experience, and accepting a negative experience is a positive experience. He believed that the constant pursuit of happiness only creates dissatisfaction because it reaffirms that we lack it in the first place.
Always chasing happiness is a guaranteed way to feel like one will never obtain it. When people focus so intensely on what they don’t have, happiness starts to feel abstract. Even if someone is hitting all their goals, there will always be something that isn’t going perfectly: that’s life. If people learn to accept their life as it is, that doesn’t necessarily mean they lack motivation. Acceptance for what is going on in someone’s life in the current moment creates a headspace for gratefulness but also growth.
Pressure from social media and competitive social structures makes many people think that feeling anything other than pure joy is wrong. Humans don’t have a wide variety of emotions just to avoid them and it is crucial to allow oneself to be comfortable with emotions other than happiness. Giving the mind and body the space to feel what they need to feel, being present in the moment and not worrying about feeling the “wrong” emotions may make someone feel like they aren’t meeting their goal of happiness, but in the long term, an accepting mental state will benefit one’s happiness more than a solution.
60 seconds. That is how long it takes on average for an app or website to generate a work of AI art. While it takes artists years to develop their own unique styles of painting, drawing or sculpting,a machine learning algorithm can replicate any style within seconds. Websites like Fotor, DALL-E, Midjourney, and NightCafe create artwork for as low as $10 a month by using the priceless work of real artists.
Through technological advancements, AI algorithms are capable of generating “original” artworks with just a few keywords and prompts. When AI is presented with an image to create, it processes information using two neural networks mimicking the human brain. One creates something new while the other compares the result to known images to guarantee similarity. The other method, Creative Adversarial Network (CAN), requires the AI to create its own technique. The neural network attempts to generate something entirely different from existing styles. But can they truly be considered art?
Annie Bai
A recent controversy regarding the ethics of AI art took place at Colorado State Fair’s annual art competition. Prizes were awarded to all of the usual categories: painting, quilting, sculpture. But contestant Jason Allen submitted an artwork generated by Midjourney, a website that turns text prompts into hyper-realistic artworks. His piece, “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial”, won the first place blue ribbon along with a $300 cash prize. The New York Times stated that “Mr. Allen, the blue-ribbon winner, said he empathized with artists who were scared that A.I. tools would put them out of work.” But Allen urged artists to direct their anger not at individuals who use DALL-E 2 or Midjourney to create art, but the companies that replace human artists with A.I. algorithms.
These AI algorithms simply analyze the components of an existing image and program them into a new picture. Although CAN creates its own style, the AI is still dependent on completed artwork and can’t create something entirely unique from scratch. Because all AI art is based on artwork made by humans, the algorithms need reference images, and websites that generate artworks through prompts mimic elements from existing images associated with those words.
AI machines can replicate, but they lack the creativity of the human mind to create something truly unique and instead feed off the work of actual artists. Genuine artists who spend immeasurable amounts of time and effort should be the first priority to support and value over AI art. Encouraging generated art is unethical as it exploits the work true artists dedicate to their art. Instead, ways to support the livelihoods of artists include commissioning them for a certain piece or engaging with local art businesses.
STEM degrees awarded in 2008-2009
SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics
BRANCHING OUT. The number of awarded STEM degrees and certificates, from below associate’s degrees to doctor’s degrees, has increased steadily in the United States. However, that doesn’t mean STEM paths are the only ones to take in life; consider what impact one’s surroundings have on the choices that matter most.
Humanities majors have continuously been discouraged by the phrase: “you’re never going to make a living if you major in humanities.” However, is this really true?
Students often feel pressured to pursue a major that might lead to more success rather than doing what interests them the most. After all, “STEM occupations saw an annual mean wage of $100,900, compared with $55,260 for non-STEM occupations,” according to a report by the OEWS.
However, these numbers aren’t as indicative of
monetary success as they seem. A new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research encourages students to think long-term about their career path. “The return of an applied STEM major — like computer science or engineering — starts out high relative to other majors, but drops by more than 50 percent in the first decade of working life.” they said. While humanities majors may face job uncertainty at first, they can catch up.
Additionally, wages aren’t the only way to define success. Humanities majors can live fulfilling lives even if they don’t make a high salary. According to a survey published by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 90 percent of humanities graduates are satisfied with their career. Success isn’t limited to the amount of money students make, but includes many other undervalued factors, such as happiness or fulfillment. The same study found that humanities and STEM graduates wind up equally satisfied with their careers.
As well as the fear of an unsuccessful employment path, students also feel immense societal and familial
pressures when choosing their major. According to a study by the Michigan State University, only four percent of STEM majors felt no external pressure when choosing their major. In general, family members should take a step back and let the student decide their own future.
In order to push students away from an unhealthy concept of success, parents and educators should encourage students to immerse themselves in a wide variety of subjects throughout high school. When a student finds a particular interest in a subject, whether it be humanities or STEM, they should feel encouraged and supported by their surroundings.
It’s time that students take a moment to think deeply about what drives their interests. Are they truly passionate about the subject they want to major in, or are they letting their surroundings decide for them? Ultimately, students should be aware that there are multiple ways of defining success. They should work to develop their own interests instead of conforming to what society tells them.
I was in kindergarten the first time I experienced a lockdown drill. I remember having absolutely no idea what was going on, and as I huddled with my classmates in a dark corner, it felt like the whole school was playing some largescale version of hide and seek. As a five-year-old, I had yet to be enlightened on the horrors of school shootings. After all, how do you explain something so inconceivably awful to a small child?
However, children in America don’t have the luxury of not knowing anymore. According to a report from the US Department of Education, 95% of schools had drilled their students on a lockdown procedure pri-
or to the COVID-19 pandemic, implanting the grim possibility in their minds from an early age. In fact, according to Jillian Peterson, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at Hamline University, Minnesota students routinely experience 4-5 lockdown drills a year, adding up to roughly 70 by the time they graduate.
The approach to lockdowns can vary between states and school districts, and range from formal and calm to hyper-realistic. The latter is mandated in Missouri schools, as active shooter simulations use fake blood, role-playing actors, and volunteer students to capture the feelings of an
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active shooter situation to the most authentic degree. After one such drill at Tory Buchanan High School, a sobbing student left on the ground perfectly encapsulated the science-backed consensus on lockdown drills: According to a study published on American Psychological Association PsychNet, they help students feel prepared. But in some cases, they leave them traumatized, increasing feelings of anxiety and worry in children as young as five.
Even as a young child, that first lockdown drill implanted the possibility of a school shooter in my mind. While the news headlines are tragic, I don’t feel nearly as scared
on. In the case of a student, the use of grade level as a name designation (i.e. Sophomore Student) will be the preferred method of anonymity.
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reading them as I do when I’m unaware if I’m in a drill or real danger.
Lockdown drills are a fine line. Not informing students that they are merely practicing for the worst-case scenario makes for an undoubtedly terrifying experience.
However, at a certain point, the regularity of lockdown drills and
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standard safety protocols distills their importance, as they become somewhat of a muscle memory. Perhaps even more difficult than executing these drills is reminding students why they are necessary in the first place. Though it is a difficult conversation, and one that should be treated with care, especially around younger children, it undeniably needs to take place if students are expected to trust their educators with their safety should the unthinkable happen. In an unsafe situation, students need to be able to trust the adults in charge and know the specific reasoning behind the lockdown protocols in order to execute them without hesitation.
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Like any experience, education varies worldwide. Combinations of factors contribute to the success of students worldwide, such as population, poverty rates, teaching styles and curriculums, price of education, and so on. Below are windows into the education systems of a few countries across the world, with input from students who have experienced them firsthand.
Education in Spain tends to follow a slightly different schedule than in the U.S. Many students typically go to school from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a two-hour lunch break in the middle. Rather than GPA scales, Spain uses a 10-point scale to average student’s grades. The majority of schools in Spain are public, but there are also private schools, as well as semi-private schools which tend to be funded by either the state or the Catholic Church. Mario Nordstrom, a first-year college student who grew up in Alicante, Spain, was immersed in a semi-private high school system. His school ran from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. every day, and the students were required to take around 10 classes per year. At his school, similar to a lot of semi-private schools in Spain, priests lived on campus and often taught some of the classes. In addition, students were
required to go to church a few times throughout the year. “In Spain, you pick either science, which is physics, chemistry, or biology, or you take economy. There is no in-between. Other classes we are required to take are math, English, español, and Valenciano,” Nordstrom said.
Another large difference is the college entrance exam, which determines the fields students will be able to enter after the required education. “The test is called ‘selectividad,’ where you take 7 tests. Added to that there’s your ‘bachillerato,’ which is the test you take in the last two years of college. The grades of both of those tests add up to a 14-point scale and determine what you are allowed to study. So, many people don’t get to study what they want because they don’t get the right grades,” Nordstrom said.
Schooling in the United Kingdom is often similar to private education in the U.S. Students often wear uniforms, teacher-to-student relationships aren’t rigid, and they value a learning style that encourages conversation, student participation, and creativity. During middle school, senior Cooper Bollinger-Danielson spent a year in the U.K., where he was immersed in their public education system. “When I was there, [students] were preparing for their GCSEs, which is a fundamentally different system of education. It’s sort of like a major but in high school,” Bollinger-Danielson said. GCSEs stand for General Certificate of Secondary Education, which is a framework for how 15 and 16-year-old students are assessed. Alongside core curricular classes, students make decisions on the
areas they want to study and be assessed on. The GCSEs are essentially checkpoint exams to make sure students have met the qualifications of their classes before furthering their education. On top of the core curricular classes that are common in the US, Bollinger-Danielson was also required to attend a religion and ethics class. With larger class sizes, he also mentioned more diversity in his classrooms than he was used to at SPA. Another clear difference he noticed was the rewards system.
“They have a weird system of merits and demerits, the demerits build up to detentions and the merits are awards. …if you do a good thing, then you get an award, and if you do bad things then you get punished,” Bollinger-Danielson said.
Many systems in Taiwan tend to be more conservative; students wear uniforms and there are often little to no student-teacher relationships. The curriculums rely heavily on memorization of material rather than the independent exploration and creativity that is common in the U.S., although new reforms are working toward improving those factors. The majority of schools are taught in Mandarin Chinese, and students are often required to learn English as well. Senior Andrea Gist lived in Taiwan and was immersed in Taiwanese education until fifth grade.
“We only stayed in one classroom, you don’t go into different classrooms. There are a bunch of different teachers but it isn’t like SPA where we get to move from different places … There also isn’t really a teacher relationship, there is no tutorial time or anything like that. You
Children, adolescents and youth worldwide are out of school.
don’t build a relationship with your teachers,” Gist said. After primary education, junior high students go on to pursue either an academic track or a vocational track. The academic track includes literature, English, science and math courses, economics, arts and crafts, and physical education. Before transitioning to high school, students in the academic track will then take a nationwide two-day exam that determines where and what they will continue studying in high school. The vocational track is aimed at preparing students for labor-intensive jobs. Students begin with typical academic classes, but transition to technical training in the last few years. Taiwanese students have some of the highest test scores in the world, as well as a large percentage (over 80%) of students that continue their education after high school.
Of teachers find their workload unmanageable.
How much youth literacy rates have improved over the past two decades.
Whether it be a surge in retro clothing, a new TikTok dance, or crushing fitness plan, trends are omnipresent in today’s world. So what exactly are trends?
The basis of trends is related to imitation. Humans naturally mimic the people around them, often unintentionally. An article in NU Sci Magazine writer Basma Gomaa suggests that people follow trends because it’s the easy way out. “It works as a mental shortcut. By following what others are doing, it shortens and eases the thought process for someone.”
Another article from Greater Good Magazine goes as far as to say that humans are more imitative than innovative. Connor Wood wrote that “Instead of Homo sapiens, or ‘man the knower,’ we’re really Homo imitans: ‘man the imitator’.”
Imitation can start small, like subconsciously mimicking body language, but can also have larger impacts, trends, especially in a world full of rapid social networking.
New trends arise every week. According to junior Aurelia Meza, people follow trends more nowadays because of a fear of missing out: “People don’t want to be seen as the odd one out; they feel like they will be ‘in’ if they follow the trend,” she said.
This can encourage a herd mentality where people quickly discard logical thinking and follow what everyone else is doing.
Senior Shobin Ansite thinks trends can be beneficial, but people should be selective about which trends they follow.
“People shouldn’t follow trends just because they’re popular; they should follow them because they like the trend,” he said.
However, following social trends can do deeper than what an individual likes or doesn’t.
Sophomore Mas Kouakou said, “The Ukraine trend was helpful because people started paying more attention to it because of social media, and they received more donations for the war,” he said.
Other trends like thrifting can have a positive influence on the world. Not only does thrifting bring people together through a shared love of retro clothing, but it is better for the environment and more ethical than conventional shopping. According to the Goodwill website, “By shopping for things second hand, you are voting with your dollar as a consumer to not support the industries that cause pollution and tons of waste.”
Among all the benefits of following trends, there are still drawbacks.
Kouakou believes that trends can “make [people] seem unoriginal, and at some point they become annoying.”
This can create a space where adolescents are too comfortable fitting in with the herd, and too afraid to follow a different path.
“
It’s everywhere the psychology behind trends
In ways not obvious to the average consumer, fast fashion’s constantly evolving micro-trends are on the rise. While trends were traditionally developed and appreciated over years, micro-trends rise to popularity within the blink of an eye and fade just as quickly.
What shouts 80’s? scrunchies, loud neons, and pronounced shoulder pads. And 90’s? boxy jeans, funky flannels, and plastic butterfly hair clips. But think recently and it’s difficult to pinpoint a single trend. There are too many styles pointing in vastly different directions: leggings, dad sneakers, street wear, skinny jeans, mom jeans... the list goes on.
For junior Lucy Shaffer it’s the colorful handbags, low rise jeans, and chain belt look that draws her back into 2000’s style. The various jeans styles can be experimented on with different outfits, “high-rise versus low rise, cropped and uncropped, baggy,” she said, and seeing how different cuts can alter your look Shaffer explained. Pairing longer tops, low rise baggy jeans, and her favorite green mini handbag is a common favorite outfit. Shaffer likes to shop with her grandma, who works in fashion, putting pieces together and modeling, often influencing her own style.
“She’ll point things out and be like, you should try that,” advice that led to Shaffer’s first purchase of lowrise jeans.
rapidly developing and expiring trends that appear today, Higgins hopes that a trend of “personality and self-identity” will permanently come back into style.
Senior Autumn Spaulding appreciates the glam rock music of the decade and minimalist look which often brings her back to 80’s fashion. Sometimes she can even be spotted in the hallway rocking (it’s true) shoulder pads.
But she does not limit herself there.
“I’m doing a lot of indie-sleaze [...] it’s coming back into style- that 2014 Tumblr situation,” Spaulding said.
Junior Jane Higgins likes to express her personality through fashion and prefers to be comfortable in her clothing while feeling dressed up.
Veering away from the baguette hand bags and velour tracksuits, junior Jane Higgins finds herself falling back on 90’s fashion trends. Ultimately, she “really aspire[s] to be a 90’s man,” Higgins said, but she also occasionally chooses a baby tee or oversized crew neck, and “vest for some extra flair.” Higgins disagrees with anyone who says jeans cannot be comfortable: “they literally feel like sweatpants… they make me feel dressed up though.”
Chandler Bing, a key character in the 1994 sitcom Friends, influences her 90’s interest. Replacing the
Wearing sturdy black buckled boots that reach mid-calf, a black leather mini skirt with sharp white stitching and a cropped green, intentionally worn out, soft wool sweater, Spaulding compared her outfit to the typical indie-sleaze look. She said it is the music, 80’s glam rock era and the British band The 1975 popular during the 2000s, that inspires her to dress in the different decades.
“I’m in my 2014 outfit and listening to The 1975 and it’s so weird—such a time capsule—because it’s like ‘What year is it?’” Spaulding said.
Micro trends are not easy, especially after consumers have conceded and are buying more than they want, more often than they want, and their closets (and dressers and chairs) have developed a constant state of clutter.
But micro trends also offer an opportunity to see a list of weak foundational norms so broad that there is minimal pressure to conform.
I’M IN MY 2014 OUTFIT AND LISTENING TO THE 1975 AND IT’S SO WEIRD BECAUSE IT’S LIKE WHAT YEAR IS IT?
When looking for an opportunity to expand the scope of people you meet and the things you learn in your high school years, you consider semester away programs. I am going to be sharing my experience from the SEGL program in South Africa at the African Leadership Academy (ALA).
The first and one of the most important questions for many is what it is like being away from home for a whole semester. For me and almost all others in the program, homesickness was a challenge in the beginning. However, many others felt the same way as me, giving me people to lean on. In my semester away program I also had an advisor, similar to SPA, that was able to help me navigate this and other struggles. This ties into the unique community aspects of SEGL at ALA.
For my cohort from the US, there were 18 students, 10 of which were white. However, ALA is a completely different story. During my session there were over 70 ethnic groups and 35+ countries represented, coming from all over Africa. This was the core aspect of the experience that I personally benefited from most. Getting to hear stories from many different people with so many different experiences is eye opening to say the least. I constantly found myself having philosophical discussions with friends and wanting to learn more about their lives back home. This gave
me a new perspective of the world with a new method of tackling thought-provoking questions. This unique culture was corroborated by the mentally challenging classes.
At ALA I took all the core classes I needed and was not behind on any of them when I returned to SPA. Along with those, I took Ethics and Leadership, a SEGL required class, and one elective, African Politics: Global Perspectives and Research. In my Ethics and Leadership class I learned how to conquer ethical dilemmas and then created a class policy document to provide solutions on the gender gap in education in Tanzania, which we presented to two members of the Tanzanian Parliament.
In African Politics: Global Perspectives and Research, I discussed why Africa has more coups than the rest of the world, and also learned about the processes that allow authoritarian governments to stay in power. For me, I felt as though the classes were harder compared to SPA, however there was less busy work and more mentally challenging work.
Overall my semester away at SEGL at ALA was one of the most unique experiences I will ever have the opportunity for. From one of the most diverse places in the world, to one of the most mentally challenging and critically thinking places. If you are interested in different cultures, global perspectives, entrepreneurship, or leadership, SEGL at ALA might be the program for you.
From sweeping bad luck away in houses to watching festive dragon dances, the traditions of Lunar New Year are widely celebrated across Northeast and Southeast Asia as one of their most important holidays.
Based on the lunar calendar, the period starts on the first new moon and ends on the first full moon; this year, the lunar year began Jan. 22.
For many cultures, Lunar New Year goes beyond simply a time of celebration to an opportunity to show appreciation for family and to share blessings of good fortune.
Within families, senior Zoe Cheng Pinto emphasized the importance of respecting elders in Asian cultures. One tradition in the Chinese New Year is receiving red envelopes from older family members and friends, which are given to bestow happiness and blessings for special occasions.
“I save time for my
family and having a big meal and part of the tradition of getting money is … sort of like, ‘Thank you for everything that you guys do’ and then in return, you get money,” they said.
Year. My dad is a converted Buddhist although he doesn’t go too hard.”
As another example, the first thing one might think of when talking about the Chinese celebration of the Lunar New Year are the color red, lanterns, and fireworks, all of which are prominent symbols for a reason.
While traditions differ between countries, many focus on family, such as through the honoring of ancestral graves in Vietnam and family meals in Korea and Singapore.
But a major part of Lunar New Year is the festive atmosphere.
Junior Maik Nguyen said, “My family always burns incense to get in the vibe of Lunar New
The Chinese New Year is based on a legend where the dangerous beast Nian was scared off by loud noises, fire, and red, and these methods of protection made their way into decorations featured in the Lantern Festival, which marks the end of the traditional Chinese New Year.
Lunar New Year celebrations often culminate in big performances. Freshman Zimo Xie celebrated Lunar New Year both when she attended a Chinese immersion school and as she performs currently for the Twin Cities Chinese Dance Center.
“At my previous school, because most of
the teachers were Chinese and it was an immersion school, everyone would perform for Lunar New Year and they would also have a lion dance,” she said.
Now, she is most involved in traditional Chinese dance performances that happen several times a year. “[The Lunar New Year performance Jan.
20-22] is like a big celebration that we prepare maybe six months for,” Xie said.
As connecting with family and friends is a major part of celebrations, the period often serves as a time to meet others within one’s community. Cheng Pinto described attending a Taiwanese-American con-
vention at the University of Minnesota as one of their favorite memories.
For people living in Asian countries and people who are part of Asian diasporas, Lunar New Year holds meaning as an opportunity to honor family, enjoy local festivities and usher in good luck for this year of the Rabbit (or Cat, Vietnam).
GETTING TO HEAR STORIES FROM MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE [...] IS EYE OPENING TO SAY THE LEAST.McKinley Garner
“CLAIRE KIM THE RUBICON
[...] EVERYONE WOULD PERFORM FOR LUNAR NEW YEAR AND THEY WOULD ALSO HAVE A LION DANCE.
Zimo Xie
“CLARA ANN BAGNOLI THE RUBICON
It never hurts to get your hands a little dirty, fingers a little calloused. A number of lessons come through hard work.
While many girls played with toy ponies when they were younger, junior Clare Kimmel got the real thing.
For her, the lure of horses wasn’t participating in posh equestrian shows, or exclusive polo games; she appreciated being with the horses, caring for them, and participating in stable work.
“Every once in a while during the summer I
would do a pony show,” she said. “Nothing fancy though, normally [I] would play around and do chores.”
Starting in first grade, she spent any free time she had with the horses. Kimmel didn’t know exactly how she got her start at the stables; she just knew that she was “a horse girl from day one,” she said.
While she didn’t have any other humans with her in the stables, she did have a very special teammate, who was 800 pounds and 14 hands high. He was a feisty chestnut horse by the name of Starbucks, who
Kimmel became the owner of when she was nine years old.
“We kind of grew up together, you know,” she said.
For Kimmel, growing up with Starbucks involved hours of training, including daily walks around the property and within the ring.
There was also physical labor, like bailing his hay, shoveling his waste, and keeping him and his stall clean.
Training also included Kimmel riding Starbucks to teach him commands.
Once they had established their working relationship, Starbucks start-
ed accepting Kimmel, and they formed a team.
“He kept me humble by throwing me off [his back] a lot. It hurt, but always made me laugh,” Kimmel said.
This humbleness followed Kimmel, as she had to say goodbye to Starbucks when she was fourteen, when Starbucks ended up being adopted by an older woman who could spend more time with him.
After saying goodbye to Starbucks, Kimmel didn’t stay out of athletic pastimes for very long. In her freshman Spanish class, she was convinced by a classmate (who turned into her later teammate) to join the Minneapolis Rowing Club.
After joining the club, she adjusted from being with her middle-aged riding instructor and Starbucks all day at the stables to being in a boat surrounded by people in the middle of the Mississippi River.
“It’s much better [being with a team], having to rely on someone and really trust them,” Kimmel said.
“ Clare KimmelShe was now involved in working with multiple people with their own personalities, opinions, and judgments when it came to race day and practice. She quickly had to adjust to not just being a partner, but being part of a larger community of trust.
“We’re all like parts in a machine, and everyone needs to be super strong and work well together so it works,” she said.
But that didn’t mean Kimmel was done with duos: Kimmel’s trust in her teammates was especially tested during a race over the summer in Canada where she and a teammate rowed in a pair, which they had only practiced twice beforehand.
“Each kid has one oar, but there are only two people, and it’s a really hard boat to row… because you need to be exactly the same strength and exactly in sync,” she said.
Kimmel and her teammate trusted each other and ended up doing well in the race. Despite fears of flipping the boat, they stayed mostly dry.
Kimmel demonstrated a growth as an athlete since she stepped into her first stable at eight years old, or her first boat at 14. Because of her relationships in the water and on the back of a horse, she became a better, more trusting, and hardworking person.
Kaylee Jackley is the Marketing and Digital Manager for Twin Cities Performance Ferrari. She works under the Carousel Motor Group, a partnership of dealerships that allows her to oversee Ferrari, Audi, and Porsche dealerships.
Jackley’s role is in charge of managing the marketing for each store, which means coming up with marketing strategies, managing websites and social media pages, as well as planning various promotional events for the dealerships.
“All three of our brands are very different. Audi is more of a very traditional car dealership, with mass marketing and a strategic plan, whereas my Ferrari dealership is really curated on specialized high-end events for our clients. It’s always something new and different. So it doesn’t feel like I’m working on the same thing all the time, which is exciting for me.” Jackley said.
In “Esperienza,” one of her most recent projects for Ferrari, Jackley and her team worked with a real estate brand to rent a house on Lake Minnetonka in order to showcase cars to potential buyers.
“We flew in a Michelin star chef from New York to make food samples for people, we brought in an artist and a personalized leather goods tailor to create leather goods, and so we had this true experience for guests to come in and have these experiences all while test driving the cars,” Jackley said.
These events focus heavily on the Ferrari
brand by not only showcasing the cars, but by showcasing the lifestyle that comes with owning such a high-end vehicle.
Another project Jackley worked on was creating a cohesive digital footprint for all of their social media platforms.
“I talked to the IT people, and with all of our reps with Facebook and Instagram and Google, and I synchronized everything so everything all across the board was
mainstream and all under one umbrella,” she said.
This project required a lot of planning, as well as collaboration as she contacted and worked with photographers, videographers, information technology, and the rest of her team to make sure the brand had accurate representation.
Jackley’s career today, however, got its beginnings when she was still a student. In college, Jack-
ley majored in communications and journalism, minoring in business management.
“I always knew I was creative. I like to see my ideas come to life, so that is why I was drawn to advertising. I have an idea of how something should look and what it should feel like … I have this vision, and when that vision comes to life, I get so happy,” Jackley said.
After college, she went to work for a marketing agency, but it wasn’t what she had pictured. At the agency, she often felt boxed in and couldn’t always be as creative as she wanted to be, so she decided to make a switch.
Her desires for more creativity and flexibility as well as her interest in being involved in the planning and execution processes lead her to find the position at Ferrari.
“I have a lot of creative freedom, and my VPs completely trust me and respect me to do what I need to do. I get to do process planning, [create] budgets, [and] strategy. But then I also get to
do creative work, photo shoots, [and] social media campaigns.”
From high school, Jackley had a general idea of what she wanted to study in college but learned more specifically what she enjoyed and what she excelled at along the way.
“It just all fell into place,” she said.
One of the most important things in her career path was being able to talk to her teachers and those around her about what she was passionate about. By utilizing the resources around her, she was able to create connections and opportunities for herself.
“If there is a company you think is really interesting, [message] people on LinkedIn, [get] coffee, and just [talk] about their careers. I would never be where I am without the mentors that I had,” Jackley said.
Work Life is a monthly feature that spotlights careers students might be interested in after high school. Read archives at RubicOnline.
[MY HORSE STARBUCKS AND I] KIND OF GREW UP TOGETHER.HEAVE HO. Clare Kimmel and her teammates row along the Mississippi River. Kimmel has been a member of the Minneapolis Rowing Club since freshman year, when she was convinced to join by a classmate in her Spanish class. SUBMITTED PHOTO: Clare Kimmel
I LIKE TO SEE MY IDEAS COME TO LIFE, SO THAT’S WHY I WAS DRAWN TO ADVERTISING.Kaylee Jackley
With a record of 7-9-0 and tough competitors in both the South Suburban conference and [3AA] section, Metro-South hockey is preparing for their upcoming postseason sectional games in their inaugural season playing together. The co-op team is combined with Burnsville, Faribault, Faribault Bethlehem Academy, DeLaSalle, and St. Agnes.
“Our conference and section all have teams in them that we compete very well with, which keeps things very interesting and fun,” freshman Ella Bond said.
During the team’s training, a challenging learning curve of working with new players from six different schools came to light. However, competing at such a high level requires players to overcome these oppositions.
“I think our biggest challenge was mixing all the schools to create a new co-op [...],” junior Charlotte Goings said.
To bond, the girls tried a few different strategies: teaching all of the new members a Burnsville player’s tradition and learning to enjoy one another’s presence before games and practices.
“To get to know each other, we have been doing stuff off [the] ice like team dinners at the rink,” senior Greta Magnuson said.
During the holiday break, the team mixed typical dry-land conditioning with seasonal fun like sledding and secret Santa.
As postseason sectional games approach, the team is putting in extra work to prepare for their opponents. According to Bond, an average practice starts “[...] at 4 pm, so the SPA girls usually get to the rink around 3:30. [The] coach always has a “practice plan” that says what we are doing in practice that day.”
Generally, “most days have things like some shooting drill to warm up, 3-0 weave, 3-2 weave, neutral zone, power play and penalty kill,” she said.
AFTER THE PUCK.
conference
Twenty three players on the team but only six play at a time. With nearly three-quarters of the team on the bench at any time, hockey players have the opportunity to observe various styles, develop a sense of teamwork, and get to know new teammates and reconnect with long-time hockey friends.
“We have a decent amount of 9th graders playing for SPA instead of doing another year of youth hockey,” sophomore Liam Huddleston said. “This is nice to see because they can start building team chemistry with other players early on in their high school careers.”
To encourage team bonding, the Spartan Boys Hockey spends time doing numerous activities off the ice.
“We have volunteered together, done team dinners and get-togethers, and go out to eat after practice some weekends,” junior Isak Bildtsen said.
In addition, the team makes sure to maintain older traditions while also introducing new ones for the years to come.
“Before the game, this year’s new tradition is we do the ‘We Will Rock You’ theme song and have someone yell out the starters’ names for the game,” sophomore Ethan Peltier said.
As an older tradition, Bildtsen, who’s returning this year for a third season explained: “We have a Spartan helmet that we give out to the player of the game after every win that we get. It’s a fun way to recognize a player who had a solid game.”
As the Spartans Boys Hockey season progresses with a record of 5-6-1 at press time, the team has high hopes for upcoming games: “Our record so far is okay. However, we have been winning quite a few games recently, so I think we are on an upward trend which is a good sign,” Bildtsen said.
ANNIE ZHANG THE RUBICON
Winter ski trips together up north, carpool karaoke to practice, skiing long distances together in the blistering cold winter. It is no wonder the Spartan Nordic team has forged strong bonds with one another.
As a side effect of the supportive and encouraging team environment, players feel at ease in high tension situations and know they are not alone.
“Being around each other takes away...nerves and allows each of us to focus on our race knowing that we are supporting each other every step of the way,” freshman Maren Overgaard said. “The energy that we have is so infectious.”
To create this team chemistry, the team headed to Bearskin Lodge for a early season ski trip.
“Our team went on a team trip where we
bonded through playing board games and going on long skis,” freshman Lily Currie said.
On the trip, long skis and team dinners were an everyday occurrence.
“We spent most of the time doing two long skis each day in small groups and large groups, team meals, playing lots of games, and sleeping a lot,” captain Sila Liljedahl said. “Even though we had to leave a day early because of the snowstorms in the Midwest, we had a really amazing time as a team and I hope that this tradition continues for many years to come.”
Although the team’s trip was cut short, the memories and connections made carry on: “I love how no matter what my teammates are always going to be there for me. They are always there cheering me on at every race and practice,” Overgaard said.
BOUNDLESS.
In an individually-focused sport like skiing, it might not be typical to have a strong team culture—but that’s exactly what the alpine team has this year. In addition to strong performances in their meets, they’ve also been notably close with each other, forming a tightknit community that undoubtedly helps them compete at their best.
Sophomore Harper Glass has felt the power of the team’s good synergy. “Everyone’s really sweet, and we all get along pretty well,” she said. “[There’s] a very good
sense of team community and camaraderie.”
As for an explanation for the team’s closeness, Glass chalks it up to the efforts of the captains: seniors Soren Mishra, Wyatt Tait, Linnea Cooley, and Maya Sachs.
“The captains… are all really trying to get everyone on the buses, and get everyone to talk to each other in the hallways and classrooms,” Glass said. “That’s a huge change, because last year I didn’t notice it too much.” She noted that last year was difficult for team bonding activities because of COVID restrictions.
-
However, it’s not only on the bonding front that the team’s performing well. In their meet on Jan. 11 at Buck Hill, varsity skier Henry Giles and JV skier Mia Collins were both noted to have strong performances.
“[Giles] won the entire race for the boys… and then JV, Mia Collins… won the entire thing,” Glass said.
Coming up, the team has a meet at Buck Hill on Feb. 1 at 4:00 p.m. Attendees can expect to see a strong performance from a team that’s putting its best ski forward.
Sometimes a fresh approach is
just what is needed to shake things up. Or, in the case of girls varsity basketball, new players. The team has welcomed a multitude of new members this year, many of them young and less experienced.
“I think it’s great that we’re able to accommodate all levels [of skill],” junior Julia Taylor said. “It’s something unique that other teams aren’t able to apply to their teams that we are.”
Taylor starts as a point guard. Basketball is a sport that requires players to be in sync with each other and to form a community on and off the court. In the Jan. 13
game against Mounds Park Academy, the support between players was evident as they shouted to each other on the court and talked on the bench. Having such a strong sense of inter-grade connectedness is one thing Taylor appreciates..
“It’s just very mixed together. …I have friends in freshman year all the way to senior,” Taylor said.
Captain Naomi Kempcke, who has played on the varsity team since eighth grade, recalled a shift in the team mentality with the hiring of a new head coach, Willie Taylor, last year.
“He’s very supportive. He believes in everyone. And he does a really good job saying [things] like, ‘This might be tough, but you can
do it. I’ve seen you improve even if you haven’t felt like you’ve improved,’” Kempcke said.
But beyond skills and strategy lies two arguably more important components: confidence and encouragement. As a captain, Kempcke acknowledges the importance of being there for others, no matter what the scoreboard reads.
“We’re not going to be mad at anyone. We’re not going to blame each other,” she said. “We can be frustrated, but we’re not going to put that down other people.”
For the rest of the season, GVB is focusing on building their confidence and enjoying the game.
NOTHING BUT
JOHANNA PIERACH THE RUBICONBoys Varsity Basketball has stormed into the season with a strong record, winning five out of their first six games in December and triumphing over conference rivals such as Mounds Park Academy. This 75-41 victory was a season highlight for player Ezra Cunningham.
“...We as a team played very well together, and it was very fun,” he said.
Such a strong start to the season led to captain Ethan Carter being named December IMAC Athlete of the Month.
“All of the work put in during the off-season feels like it paid off. Our conference also has a lot of great athletes and to be recognized for that month out of the male athletes feels great,” Carter said.
Averaging 21.5 points per game during the month of December, Carter has helped lead his team to numerous wins, as well as encouraging the team’s discipline in practice.
An average practice for BVB begins with full-court layups as a warmup. Afterward, the team moves into conditioning and then runs 17s, a drill that requires them to run from sideline to sideline 17 times in just over a minute.
Whether that conditioning brings a win or loss come game time, the team celebreates.
“After every game, we go out to get food as a team, and win or lose we just make sure to continue to build our chemistry off the court because that heavily impacts chemistry on the court,” Carter said. “We all really enjoy being around each other.”
To an outsider, it may seem
that fencing had nothing left to prove going into the ‘22-23 season. The group carried a strong record from the Minnesota State High School Fencing Championships, where the women’s and men’s teams finished second and third overall in addition to several individual accomplishments.
“I had no idea what I was doing the first day. I had to have the saber coach, Ryan, explain to me the stance, how to advance, and how to go backward and stuff,” they said.
But for a team boasting an impressive record and roster, fencing is one of the teams that tend to fly under the radar in terms of recognition.
PHOTO: SPA SmugMug ILLUSTRATION: Orion KimPLANT
But the group isn’t done just yet. Mobilized from these earlier wins and armed with two Olympic coaches, the team returned with a combination of veterans, novices and hopes of another terrific season.
Moore eventually ended up taking first in women’s foil at the Blake Novice Tournament, an unexpected victory for them: “The girl I faced in the semifinals was the hardest person I went against there. I didn’t think I was going to make it to the finals,” Moore said.
And as a novice, Moore has taken note of the high skill level possessed by the team’s top fencers.
“I don’t think we’re crazy underrepresented... but I think it would be cool to get some more recognition… the fencers at SPA are definitely the best in the Minnesota division,” captain Milan Mishra said. “I think our team is very, very skilled and I would love to see some recognition for our hard work.”
Moore said.
Freshman Rowan Moore is brandnew to the team and joined after being encouraged by a teammate.
“I think it’s been a good number of the people on the team who’ve been there for years. I can definitely… see how good they are,” they said.
As the Spartan fencers look forward to the rest of the season, including the Minnesota High School State Meet at the end of February, expectations loom high for this talented group.
The Trojans co-op swim and dive team have been working on building community and honing their competition. With a myriad of changes to the team from last year, the Trojans are tasked with maintaining a team culture that can support them all the way to the top of their competitive game. The last several years have brought turnaround in coaching and management, but this year seems like a return to form.
Junior Rishi Bhargava appreciates the increased management over last year.
“There are five managers of the team this year… a significant upgrade from last year,” he said. “It helps out [our] coach, because he can focus on giving advice to swimmers during meets and not timing [the races].”
Another change is the team dynamic. Captain Gabriel Bangoura noticed that the team this year is
younger and more balanced between schools than before. “We had a lot of seniors graduate last year,” he said. The team has “been growing is on the younger side,” he said.
One of the younger members, freshman William Hanna, feels like it’s been easy to fall in with the team’s rhythm despite being new. “It didn’t take a lot for me to feel part of the team,” they said.
“[Central is] one of our pretty big rivals,” Bangoura said. The team also has some clear goals for the end of the season. “Last year, we were point-five [seconds] away from getting a relay to state,” Bhargava said.
The swimmers on that relay team—Bhargava, Bangoura, junior Connor Overgaard, and a senior swimmer from Highland Park—are all on the swim team again this year, so there’s hope that they can surpass their previous performance and secure a spot to the state tournament in March.
STEADY START. Christian Worral hovers above the water before a race. “Last year, we were point-five [seconds] away from getting a relay to state,” Bhargava said.
PHOTO: SPA SmugMug ILLUSTRATION: Orion KimSenior Maggie Fried never thought she would direct one of the annual upper school One Acts.
“I’ve been super into acting since middle school and throughout all of high school, so directing as something I could do just wasn’t on my radar,” she said. “Even as I acted in senior-directed acts as an underclassman, I never thought that [director] could be me.”
Then, in the fall of senior year, she took an advanced theater class that focused on directing.
“I definitely was not expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. It came a lot more naturally to me than I thought it would,” she said.
Fried found that she “...loved the process of blocking something in my head and then seeing what the actors could bring to it, and creating something really cool and meaningful together. After that, directing a one-act play just seemed like an opportunity too incredible to pass up.”
The One Acts have traditionally included student-directed pieces, a
practice that began in the fall of 2003.
This year’s playbill on Jan. 27 contained three productions, two of them student-directed and each running for approximately 30 minutes.
Fried directed a shortened version of the French absurdist classic by Eugene Enesco, “The Bald Soprano,” which focuses on the interactions between two families.
“I was really drawn to it because it’s an anti-play; there’s no cohesive plot. The characters are very stereotypical,” she said. “That kind of drove my vision and how I approached the play.”
Fried was initially nervous about shouldering the responsibility that comes with directing.
“I was worried about a lot of things. Directing one scene with two people in class is very different from directing an entire play,” she said.
The limited rehearsal time also created some stress. Auditions took place before Winter Break, but rehearsals didn’t start until after; the entire production process took place over three weeks.
In spite of these worries, Fried found that aspects of the job were much easier than she initially expected.
strictly dictated by societal norms. However, when the members of the household are left to their own devices, they find ways to express themselves, rebelling against the roles that dictate their family life.
The competition one act chosen this year and that debuted at the One Acts is “Dogg’s Hamlet” by Tom Stoppard and is directed by US Theater Director Eric Severson.
ticularly challenging due to the unusual language.
“None of it really makes sense on its own,” she said. “It was really difficult to memorize the lines because there was nothing to attach them to. You’re saying ‘cauliflower’ over and over and you have no clue what it means.”
unique energy present in the One Acts.
“I think people who do the One Acts do it because they really enjoy theater and enjoy the process of making theater,” Wick said.
“There’s always this level of joy in the One Acts,” Severson added.
Before the show, Fried said, “Everyone in the cast is super focused and committed. They’re doing a really great job learning all the blocking, reviewing lines outside of school, and coming in ready to go, which is making it really fun and easy for me.”
The other student-directed show performed was “WASP,” a satirical take on 1950s suburbia written by Steve Martin, and directed by senior Quenby Wilson. The act centers around a family whose behavior is
The first half of the production is performed entirely in a language called Dogg, which uses ordinary English words but assigns them different definitions. The second half is a drastically shortened version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet
The play seeks to demystify Shakespearean language by forcing the audience to become accustomed to a gibberish language.
Senior Valerie Wick has been part of the One Acts since her freshman year. This year is her first time being in the competition act—she plays Baker in the first half and Hamlet in the second half of the production. Wick found this play to be par-
“Dogg’s Hamlet” is SPA’s entry into the MSHSL One Act Play Competition. The top two teams from each subsection advance to the section competition. SPA will host both competitions. The former took place Jan. 28 and the latter will occur Feb. 9.
Severson appreciates the community and perspective that the competition brings.
“For me, one of the greatest things that it does is it allows our students as well as other students to see what other schools are doing,” he said. “We try really hard to build it as a supportive space where the students are encouraging and supporting each other, as opposed to trying to make it competitive.”
Both Severson and Wick mentioned the
“Not because the musical and the play don’t have that, but because the One Acts have student-directed pieces and people trying theater for the first time. To me, that is the exciting piece because you get different audience members showing up and the different students participating.”
Severson also appreciated the dedication of this year’s seniors.
“The thoughtfulness and the leadership that I have seen in this group of seniors is one that has won my heart,” he said. “They have taken it upon themselves to be supportive of everyone, they want to be inclusive, and they want to support students that are in the younger grades.”
ee more production
While the traditional corn mazes of fall always attract large numbers of visitors, the Minnesota Ice Maze proves that they don’t just have to be limited to one season and one material. Open during the first two months of the year, the Viking Lakes in Eagan features the largest ice maze in Minnesota history, made of over one million pounds of ice. Additionally, the Winter SKOLstice event, which is free and open to the public, offers activities like hockey, ice skating, and curling in the same area.
The space surrounding the maze offers great photo spots and other attractions like ice sculptures and fire pits; visiting at night ensures that the colorful lights placed virtually everywhere will make photo subjects look their best. After weaving through the maze to the end, cookies and hot chocolate are avail-
able to purchase near the entrance, as well as access to bathrooms. The whole area is organized clearly, and times are convenient for visitors as the attraction is open from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends.
Although the maze is almost half a mile long in total it took less than 10 minutes to finish. For tickets that are $24.99 for ages 14 and up, the attraction felt a little overpriced for being so short. It would most likely be more engaging for families with younger kids and people planning to participate in the Winter SKOLstice event as well. Overall, the event is fantastic for visual purposes, but the maze itself is a little underwhelming to simply walk through, especially given how expensive the tickets are.
Be sure to reserve tickets at minnesotaicemaze.com ahead of time. The Minnesota Ice Maze is open until Feb. 19.
Each year since 2011, Ice Castles brings a winter wonderland dream to life for families in five cities across North America. Ice Castles features ice slides, caverns, crawl tunnels, lantern passage, and their Polar Pub with one of the five locations being in Brighton, MN.
The founder Brent Christensen originally built an ice cave in his front yard to entertain his six children, but as word spread around town kids from all over the neighborhood began to gather at the winter playground, calling it an “ice castle.” What started as a simple icy creation in Christensen’s front yard became a nationwide winter attraction.
General admission from Friday to Sunday Is $22 for ages 12 and up and $15 for ages 4 to 11. Week-
day pricing is $15 and $11 respectively. Operating hours depend on the location, day and weather but the attraction is typically open after noon and into the evening. It is recommended to visit the castles after sunset when the sky gets dark as the colorful lights will be more visible.
The entrance to the castles featured a large archway that led to a winding path opening up to a landscape covered in icy castles illuminated by color changing lights. There were three slides of various sizes each made out of ice; eager visitors lined up for a turn while their families waited with cameras at the bottom.
The ice castles themselves looked more like ice mountains and upon closer inspection, the structures appeared to be formed out of tens of thousands of indi vidual icicles. In between ice tun
ly made by event staff with the safety of visitors and artists in mind.
Wind reddens the faces of locals as all eyes focus on the cleared patch of icy stage for the American Ice Theater skaters. The cold doesn’t stop the creativity of the performance: vibrant leg warmers adorn the skaters’ high kicks and layers of gloves protect their hands as they synchronously twirl, and glide as one.
This year the dancers unlace their skates and move ashore to the beaches of Lake Harriet as recent weather changes have led to the deterioration of the ice on shanty’s usual home Bde Maka Ska. The transition to land was disappointing but a necessary precaution easi-
“The clear ice has been reduced to 6 inches at the site where our village should be. While 4 inches of ice is needed for walking on the lake, we need 10 inches to operate safely with crowds and structures,” Operations Director Kerri Jamison said in a news release.
Rain, shine or beach, the show must go on. Artists’ installments are open to the public every weekend 10 am to4 pm from January 21 until February 21. The entirety of the festival spreads across the shore into Lake Harriet Bandshell Park,and the picnic grounds. There will be different performances every day, a schedule is available on their website. schedule of perfor-
mances. The event is free and en couraged for all but a donation of $10 to $20 is suggested, all proceeds go to the artists and event staff.
The Shanty Project is truly wel coming for everyone, accessibility accommodations are available for each preformance and work, such as headphones for particu larly loud events, warnings be fore flashes of light and sudden sounds and ramps and kicksleds for mobility challenged visitors.
The project strives to have something for everyone as it is a month long festival. Though its focus is quirky whimsical and all things art, performers and artist have a wide diversity of things to offer.
nels were elaborate ice sculptures of astronauts and animals which were popular photo spots. There was even a bean bag tossing game where the target boards were made out of ice. Campfires were strategically placed around the area for visitors to warm up after playing in the snow.
It took about an hour to get through all of the main attractions while taking photos but once the ticket is paid for, visitors can stay as long as they want which makes the price reasonable. A majority of the visitors were families as the activities were catered more towards children, but the slides and tunnels appeared to be equally as fun for older visitors. It is definitely a unique and visually pleasing experience especially for those that have
X MARKS THE SPOT. YMCA Camp Widjiwagan is located in Ely, Minnesota on the edge of Burntside Lake.
ILLUSTRATION: Maddy Fisher
5 HUNGRY LIKE A WOLF. On the way to Camp Widjiwagan, students stop at the International Wolf Center, a conservation and educational facility located in Ely.
SUBMITTED PHOTOS: Bobak Razavi
THE RUBICON Camp Widjiwagan: a yearly venture up north to Ely, Minnesota. A week-long memory for nearly all 7th graders. How did Widji become an integral part of the SPA experience?
The tradition began in 1973. According to MS French teacher Kris Flom, who attended (as a 7th grader) the second trip up to Camp Widjiwagan, students used to sleep outdoors.
Of course, Widji has changed over the past 50 years. Students definitely sleep in cabins (some heated, some not), but the purpose of Widji Week remains the same: “We want them to notice each other and have new relationships and friendships,” MS Social Studies teacher Bobak Razavi said.
Its not uncommon to come away with friendships that last for the rest of middle school and even into high school.
“They’ll be like, so-and-so is my best friend, and I’d never even talked to them before we played cards in [the main cabin],” Razavi said.
Similarly, Junior Katharine Hanf said, “Because we spent a lot of time in mixed-up groups, I got closer to people that I normally didn’t hang out with, in addition to making quality memories with my friends.”
Widji is an opportunity for students to get out of the city and spend time outdoors with friends, hiking, skiing, and simply exploring.
Senior Solvej Eversoll said, “I really liked being removed from a school setting while still having time to hang out with my friends and make memories with the grade.”
Instead of learning math, science, or history, students spend their time learning about environmental sustainability and why it’s important to protect the planet, all while immersed in the snowy woods. “We
care about showing kids that appreciating nature and using it in a sustainable way matters so we can protect it for future generations,” Razavi said.
He thinks that it’s important for students to recognize the climate crisis happening and learn ways to help deal with it.
Still, Widji is not without fun and games. Every year the grade plays Predator and Prey, an elaborate game of tag where students are assigned into three groups: bottom / middle / and top of the food chain. Students indulge in ski trips and an activity known as Dip Sauna Dip, which was Eversoll’s favorite part of the trip: an activity in which students take a plunge into the icy lake and go sit in a sauna for 30 minutes before jumping back in the lake.
Widji was canceled in 2021 due to COVID-19. The return of Widji trips in spring of 2022 revived 50 years of tradition.
