Spotlight - March 2022 Print Issue

2

March 2022

THE SPOTLIGHT Southern Lehigh High School 5800 Main Street Center Valley, PA 18034

SENIOR PRIVILEGES

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NEW BASKETBALL STAFF

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Volume 65 Issue 2

BRAIN BREAKS

Curtains open for spring musical ‘Bye Bye Birdie’

by Elizabeth Monroe

The cast of “Bye Bye Birdie” practices the ending of Act 1 at a rehearsal. Photo Credit: Alexander Kane

Southern Lehigh theater students are excited to be back onstage preparing their production of the 1960 musical “Bye Bye Birdie.”

Rehearsing after school nearly every weekday in preparation, their expectations for a live in-person performance of the musical this spring are anything but low.

“I’m just excited for the process because we haven’t had one in a while,” senior cast member Rocco Corradini said. “It’s all just like a rollercoaster.”

Since last year, COVID-19 restrictions have affected how rehearsals are run. Unlike last year, students are no longer required to be six feet apart while rehearsing. For the fall play, they used face shields, but since the district moved to optional masking on January 24, students may choose whether or not to wear a face covering during practice.

The student actors, actresses, and crew have been working hard along with theater director Mr. Matthew Wehr to bring the old musical back to the present. The time spent on rehearsals and behind-the-scenes preparations from students is not simple work, but they are

dedicated to the show.

“There is a lot of behind the scenes prep work by both myself and ultimately by the cast,” Mr. Wehr said. “We then have a give and take where I present ideas, and they present ideas, and we ultimately end up in the middle.”

While there are likely many students who have never heard of “Bye Bye Birdie,” they should not let that stop them from seeing the show in the spring. According to theater students and Mr. Wehr, it’s a dramatic musical with lively characters.

“It’s basically about this rockstar that gets drafted into the war, and his agent is freaking out,” senior cast member Isaac Pellegrino said.

“And his secretary that has a little thing for him has this wonderful idea where he can kiss his biggest fan before he goes to war, and they capitalize on this idea and write a new song.”

“Bye Bye Birdie” is sure to meet the audience’s expectations with a talented cast of Southern Lehigh students. Tickets are available for the spring musical which will run from March 16-20.

The musical run includes evening performances and a matinee. Official poster provided by Southern Lehigh Theater.

Visit the Spotlight online at https://slspotlight.com/ to view all of our current and archived content.

Page 2

News

The Spotlight

SLHS seniors get new cafeteria privileges

by Alex Kane

Southern Lehigh High School 5800 Main Street Center Valley, PA 18034 (610) 282-1421 x7122 slsdspotlight@gmail.com Twitter: @SLSDspotlight Instagram: @slsdspotlight Facebook: Southern Lehigh Spotlight Faculty Adviser Mrs. Marlo Spritzer Editor-in-Chief and News Editor Alex Kane Features and Opinion Editor and Assistant to EIC Evelyn Blower Our World and Entertainment Editor Kishore Annambhotla Sports, Web, and Social Media Editor Arden Glad Staff Reporters Alexis Behrens Gianna Cusumano Morgan Downing Isabelle Johnson Christiana Lycette Sophia Lycette Elizabeth Monroe Mack Morgan Alaina Patel Zain Shamasseen Elizabeth Vezenov Emma Vorhis Kelcie Wagner Abigail Wilson Pennsylvania School Press Association 2020 Silver Rating 2019 Silver Rating 2018 Gold Rating 2017 Gold Rating 2016 Gold Rating 2015 Gold Rating 2014 Gold Rating 2013 Silver Rating National School Press Association 2019 First Class Rating 2018 All-American Rating Four Marks of Distinction 2017 First Class Rating 2016 First Class Rating 2015 First Class Rating

out restrictions and responsibilities.

Seating at each table is limited to six people due to COVID restrictions.

Furthermore, said assistant principal Mr. Chad Kinslow, if a mess is discovered, the senior cafe will be shut down.

Given the loss of Food Truck Friday, some seniors are interested in adding new senior privileges.

“Something I think would be cool would be to have lower computer restrictions [for seniors], ” senior class vice president Bryson Davis said.

While this proposed privilege might be appealing to some seniors, this would not be possible at SouthSeniors Jonathan Zbyszinski, Megan Hummel, and Brylee Trinkle take advantage of the new ern Lehigh, or any school for that senior cafe tables to enjoy their lunch together Photo credit: Alex Kane matter, due to federal regulations.

“We can’t do that because of be discontinued because the school is Starting with the class of 2020, CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection not allowed to serve food that doesn’t senior students have been allowed Act),” Mrs. Guarriello said, “we have follow federal nutrition guidelines, to apply for the privilege of being to make sure we are CIPA compliaccording to Mrs. Guarriello, who allowed to arrive late or leave early. ant.” also cited potential district liability This year, the class of ‘22 seniors CIPA states that schools must issues. have been given a new privilege by place restrictions on what students Despite this setback, the seniors the administration: the” Senior Cafe,” can and cannot see on the internet. a set of eleven senior-only tables out- seem to appreciate the new privilege, The law also states that schools side the cafeteria and near the nurses and the response to the implemenmust monitor the internet activity of tation of the senior cafe has been office. students. This is the reason school-ispositive, particularly among the Class “I was trying to reward the sued computers have so many filters of ‘22 leadership . seniors for good behavior, and want and restrictions.

“I’m definitely grateful for the underclassmen to look forward to Given the loss of Food Truck [being seniors],” principal Mrs. Beth [senior] cafe since the cafeteria was Fridays, Mrs. Guarriello told the getting a bit crowded,” senior class Guarriello said.

Spotlight staff that she is now open treasurer Andrea Keiper said.

Originally, the new senior privto considering new ideas for senior However, the senior cafe is a ileges also included Food Truck Friprivileges. days; however, the food truck had to privilege, and does not come with-

The beloved wrap returns to the SLHS cafeteria

by Emma Vorhis

The wrap has returned to the cafeteria after a brief hiatus. Photo Credit: Emma Vorhis

Last fall, Southern Lehigh High School students returning to school felt that the cafeteria lunches had decreased in quality. In particular, students pointed out that the cafeteria no longer served a Southern Lehigh favorite, the wraps. Within weeks of returning to school, senior Angelina Dougherty even started a petition on change.org in hopes of reviving the beloved cafeteria hit.

“I remember, sophomore year, those wraps were the best thing to have ever happened to the school,” Dougherty said. “They were so good, there were so many customization options, there was something for everyone. Honestly, if they just served that, for the rest of the year and nothing else, [I feel] nobody would complain.”

There were a couple factors that led to what is called the “Deli-Bar” being closed during the fall semester. The main reason, according to head cafeteria worker Mrs. Christina Grube, was the lack of staffing.

“The main reason they [weren’t] being sold [in the fall] is because of the manpower in the cafeteria,” Mrs. Grube said. “We usually have twelve girls working and we only [had] ten. The wraps take at least four girls to do it, and we need somebody to cook.”

For the wraps to be made daily, around 275 Tyson chicken patties are cut into slices, along with 60-70 tomatoes, and even more lettuce and onions. Putting this all together in between waves of students at lunch seems near impossible, considering the cafeteria stays open longer to simply get the wraps customized towards each student ordering, but the employees make do to please the student body.

The second reason for the disappearance of the wraps was a supply chain issue. Because of the lack of drivers, the provider had to drop Southern Lehigh, leaving the district food service workers in a panic to find a

new provider before the school year began.

“There weren’t enough drivers from our normal food provider, so they dropped us on a whim,” Mrs. Grube said. “So we had to pick somewhere else, the stock was really limited.”

The wraps were set to come back at the beginning of February, after new staff members in the cafeteria were hired. And when they did, students rushed to get in line. The original options were there, and they included even more.

“I have never had a wrap until this year, but they’re definitely my new favorite thing to get,” senior Robert Blanchard said.

New additions to the menu have also been added. The cafeteria workers have added things such as bagels, yogurt, funnel cakes, churros to the menu, and will continue to have the salad bar open.

March 2022

News

Page 3

Students and teachers weigh in on cell phone use in class

by Kelcie Wagner

Cell phone use is a contentious issue at Southern Lehigh Photo Credit: Alex Kane

With every new school year, Southern Lehigh Students come into the building with cell phones. But cell phones have never been as much of a problem as they are now, so say a handful of staff members.

“I think they are addictive devices,” English teacher Mrs. Kelly Howsare said. “I’m actually not sure if many people could deny this statement if they just look around.”

An email was sent out by administration to parents about the use of cell phones, reminding them that, “the use of cell phones could result in a detention.” Students are upset about this as they feel they don’t use their cell phones a lot.

“Taking them away just puts everyone in a bad mood,” said freshman Marsia LaPadula.

Many teachers, however, have different feelings on the matter, and believe cell phones do more harm than good in the classroom.

“I believe that phones are distracting and actually hinder students’ learning,” Mrs. Howsare said. “Although students can use their phones to find academic information, I believe that that is extremely rare.”

Some teachers collect students’ cell phones right when they walk into class, because they feel phones are a distraction to their lesson.

“It removes distractions and temptation,” biology teacher Mrs. Jesse Winslow said. “[There’s] a lot to cover for the Keystones [in May], and I do this to keep you focused better.”

Students, however, say this makes them feel that the punishment is coming before the crime.

“I don’t think it’s fair at all,” freshman Marisa LaPadula said. “They’re taking away the privilege when we didn’t even do anything.”

Although cell phones can be distracting during class, they can also be an asset by teaching students responsibility and preparing them for their future jobs, while also giving them the assurance that they are safe.

“Adults and students alike need to learn the proper etiquette when using phones,” physics teacher Mr. David Doughtery said. “I have no problem with giving them guidance on when and how long to use them.”

Some teachers believe that cell phones are a “crutch” and students use their phones instead of using their minds to find answers.

According to a 2012 study by Deborah Tindell and Robert Bohlander, “95 percent of students bring their phones to class every day, 92 percent use their phones to text message during class time, and 10 percent admit that they have texted during an exam on at least one occasion.”

“I often have students use the calculators

on their phones in my class. I believe that to be an appropriate usage of this technology tool,” Mr.Dougherty said. ‘’Unfortunately, I cannot let them use their phones on assessments due to the temptation of academic dishonesty.”

The 2021-22 Southern Lehigh High School Handbook states that academic dishonesty “occurs when students obtain or assist others in obtaining credit for work which is not their own.” This includes when a student plagiarizes or collaborates without permission amongst other offenses.

Both academic dishonesty and classroom distraction due to cell phone use are concerns for Southern Lehigh administrators.

“Ninety percent of the discipline issues come from cell phone use,” high school principal Mrs. Beth Guarriello said.

Many students say that they use their cell phones during class, but it’s sparingly, and not for prolonged periods of time.

“Personally I will admit I will sometimes look at my phone briefly if I am listening to a long lecture,” freshman Ella Kimmel said. “If a teacher asks me to put away my phone, I will, and so will a lot of other students. They don’t need to take it away in the first place.”

Some students also stated that they would pay attention less worrying about whether or not they will still have their phone by the time class is over. Some teachers agree that students should be allowed to have their cellphones in class, as long as they are being used appropriately.

“I think phones are wonderful instruments of technology that are still new to us,” Mr. Doughtery said. “We also need to be aware that the appropriate usage of a phone changes from situation to situation.”

What does the school board mean for the student body? by: Isabelle Johnson

The Southern Lehigh School Board listens to speakers at the January 24th meeting. Photo Credit: Southern Lehigh School District YouTube channel.

Despite the importance of the school board in the lives of Southern Lehigh students, many are unsure of exactly what the board does and who it operates under. So, what exactly is the school board? As defined by Pennsylvania School Board Association, the school board is “a legislative body of citizens called school directors who are elected locally by their fellow citizens and who serve as agents of the state legislature.”

School directors work vigorously to make sure issues impacting not only the schools, but also the surrounding community are dealt with in ways that will most benefit the members of Southern Lehigh School District (SLSD).

“Our job is to do what is in the best interests of our students and community even when it is the unpopular decision and that can be a really hard thing to do,” Southern Lehigh school director Mrs. Kyle Gangewere said. “We sometimes have to put our personal feelings aside to do what is best for the whole.”

In November 2021, four new school board members were elected to the Southern Lehigh school board: Ms. Mary Joy Reinhartz, Dr. Christopher Wayock, Mrs. Nicole King, and Mr. Stephen Maund. At the December board reorganization meeting, Ms. Reinhartz was appointed board president, and Mrs. King was appointed board secretary.

These four new board members join incumbents Mr. William Lycett, Mrs. Kyle Gangewere, Mr. Jeffrey Dimmig, Dr. Priya Sareen, and Mrs. Emily Gehman. Mr. Lycett is the board vice president, Mrs. Gangwere is the board treasurer, and Mrs. Gehman is the SLSD representative to the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit Board.

Some of the board’s newest members ran for office because they felt as though they could use their personal, volunteer, and professional work experience to help them make decisions on issues facing the school district.

“I ran for school director in order to help bring back a student-first mentality to

the board,” Dr. Wayock said. “I felt that the student’s voices and their parent’s voices were not being heard as much as they should have, especially during the pandemic.”

The members keep in mind that they represent all of SLSD and that what may seem to be the popular view on an issue, may not always be the best decision for the school.

“Each school director contributes by bringing their own unique perspective and life experience to the board,” Mr. Dimmig said.

“You want to listen to members of the community that choose to communicate with the board.”

Although school board members have many roles and responsibilities, they are all working to ensure students at Southern Lehigh have the best possible environment to learn in.

“My overarching responsibility is to put the best interest of students first,” Mrs. Gehman said, “and to ask myself with every decision ‘How does this help young people in our community?”

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The Spotlight

Features

Robotics gears up for return to competition

by Gianna Cusumano

The Robotics team is excited to get back to work after the pandemic’s interruption. Photo Credit: SLHS Robotics

Once school buses are long gone, teachers’ desks are packed up, and the janitorial staff is ready to begin cleanup, it seems the day is over for everyone at Southern Lehigh High School.

However, if you wander the dim and vacant hallways, you will find “The Shop”: A room still filled with lively sound: the sounds of fingers clicking away code on computer screens, the scratching of plans being drawn out, and the laughter of teammates. In this room is where the Southern Lehigh Robotics Team works on their bot.

The Robotics Team’s dedication is crucial, with the first competition of their season, the FRC kickoff event, approaching. Their schedule includes practices everyday after school, during Spartan Period, and even on the weekends.

The Robotics team’s schedule is fueled by their passion for Robotics and the good times they have together, especially because they are such a tight-knit team.

“The kids are super close and you spend a lot of time with them, so you learn to joke

around and have fun. There are late nights and long days, but once it comes competition time and you see what these kids are capable of making, it is totally worth it.” Robotics advisor and math teacher Mr. Jonathan Piperato said.

This particular tournament is momentous for the team as they priorly faced the disappointing cancellation of their 2020 and 2021 seasons. The team adapted to a virtual alternative and missed out on the excitement and satisfaction of in-person competition. The seniors are especially ecstatic about this opportunity because their past high school seasons have been substantially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. They were unable to compete in -person during their sophomore and junior years and now have one last season of Robotics in high school.

“We lost two years worth of time because of the pandemic, and now it’s time to get back into it,” said senior and lead programmer Christian Piper, “We got a lot of new functionality, so we’re putting in a lot of extra time we wouldn’t normally.”

The team is hyper-focused on performing their best at the FRC kickoff event and the time spent perfecting their design and collaborating with their team members.

For the preparation of each Robotics competition, a game is given out to each team and a robot must be designed to compete in the set of challenges it entails. The game is presented to the teams on the first Saturday of January. The whole Robotics Team along with their alumni gather to hear it announced and celebrate the start of the season on Kickoff Day. “We essentially get the game that we have to play later in the season, and so what we start doing is we start coming up with ideas for

the design of our robot,” said vice president and sophomore Eleanor Corvino, “A lot of the discussion during Kickoff was ‘how far do we want to climb and is climbing more important?

How are we going to play the game? What’s our game strategy?’”

The “game” given out during Kickoff is unique to that particular tournament and provides new challenges each year.

“This year’s competition is a game called Rapid React, where we have to shoot ten inch tennis balls into a big hoop in the middle of the field. At the end of the match, we need to traverse our robot across some monkey bars in order to earn more points,” said president and senior Mohammad Durrani.

Some intriguing elements of this event’s game are its free-throw shots and climbing challenge.

“There’s the aspect this year of a human player… In the Autonomous period which is the first part of the game, it’s all programmed by the robot, but you are allowed a shot by a player. I personally have not seen that before, so I thought that was pretty cool, and the climbing this year was definitely a cooler challenge that I have not seen,” Corvino says.

The Robotics team continues to prepare for the upcoming competition with both the devastation of past cancellations and ambition to exceed their past success.

“Our goal is always to make it to the World Tournament. We did it in 2016, 2017, and 2019, but last year the season got canceled. So we have been there three years out of the last possible four. We have had pretty good success so that is our continued mission each year.”

Piperato said.

cal) related to those themes.”

This overview goes on to say that teachers choose said themes, thus adapting the course to their students. “[The course is designed for] students who are willing to have their own thinking challenged; students who want to be stretched in terms of exposure to content and who really enjoy engaging in dialogue with people who have diverse points of view,” Dr. Quartuch said. “It allows for student choice. Students can actually follow and investigate something that they’re excited or passionate about.”

And these points of view will be diverse, as there are no grade restrictions on the class. That is, AP Seminar is about to become the only AP course offered to students in grades 9-12. As an elective without prerequisites, it’s a chance for incoming freshmen to experience the AP program and benefit from a weighted GPA. Yet it will be challenging, according to Dr. Quartuch.

For one, there is its end-of-year AP exam. Something like a typical final exam, it assesses material learned throughout the course. However, it costs about $100 to register for and is graded on a fivepoint scale, wherein scores of three, four, or five can translate into college credit- saving time and money in the long run.

The structure of AP Seminar’s assessment is unique among other AP tests though. The exam accounts for only 45% of a student’s final score. The remainder will be determined by student performance in a team project and presentation (20%) and an individual research-based essay and presentation (35%). These will be graded from a rubric provided to the teacher by College Board.

Beyond what the curriculum entails, students may wonder about class dynamic. With much of the course revolving around class discussion, will it work among participants of every grade?

“I know [administration] is not going to try to do anything about grade division,” Dr. Quartuch

said. “The way that we schedule wouldn’t even allow that.”

Grades may be divided naturally anyway due to certain required courses (i.e. Health for freshmen, Drivers Ed and CTA for sophomores) narrowing down the time periods available for each student to take the class.

Dr. Quartuch believes that participation in this course is to the benefit of students in all grade levels.

Students’ ability to “synthesize and analyze are skill sets that a lot of college courses require, and I’m excited that they’ll get the opportunity to do that before they leave high school,” she said. “I can’t think of anything more important than teaching students how to think critically about what they consume and what their resulting thoughts are. I think this class will give that opportunity.”

There are other concrete benefits: 463 U.S. colleges offer credit or placement for students who score well on the AP Seminar exam. Furthermore, College Board’s most recent research has shown that “AP Seminar students have stronger AP exam performance on later AP Exams than their peers who didn’t take AP Seminar” for the subject groups of English, history, and politics.

According to College Board, students who score a three or higher on this exam and that of its follow-up program, AP Research, can enter into the AP Capstone Program. With scores of three or higher on four additional AP course exams, students receive the distinctive AP Capstone Diploma, proving that they have undertaken a demanding course load and performed well. In fact, College Board says those who earn this distinction better manage the transition from high school to college and are more likely to persist through the first two years of college.

At this time, Southern Lehigh High School does not offer an AP Research course; however, if there is enough student interest among those who take AP Seminar, the high school administration may consider adding the course in the future.

New Advanced Placement course offered next year

by Alexis Behrens

AP Seminar is a course offering to all SLHS students next year. Photo Credit: College Board

This coming school year, Southern Lehigh High School is offering a new Advanced Placement course: AP Seminar. It will certainly be a unique addition to the program of studies, with no prerequisites and the first AP class available to all grades including freshmen. Social studies teacher Dr. Katie Quartuch, who will be teaching AP Seminar, expects the course to benefit any student engaged. “[AP Seminar] is about using a more critical lens to view things that [students] otherwise may have consumed without much thought,” Dr. Quartuch said, “to ask questions about what they’re consuming and to be more self aware about their own opinions.”

In her words, class time will consist of, “analyzing resources, discussing- a lot of class discussionand group work on presenting findings from analysis of the sources. The course is good because it really does present a lot of sources: podcasts, documentaries, artwork; it won’t just be second-hand texts.”

According to College Board, the organization which develops AP curriculum, students will achieve this by analyzing “one or more themes by making connections within, between, and/or among multiple cross-curricular areas and by exploring multiple perspectives and lenses (e.g., cultural and social, artistic and philosophical, political and historical, environmental, economic, scientific, futuristic, ethi-

March 2022

Features

Habitat for Humanity Returns to SL

by Alaina Patel

Page 5

What’s brewing?

FBLA coffee shop

by Morgan Downing

Southern Lehigh’s Habitat for Humanity meets to plan fundraisers. Photo Credit: Catherine Yazdanyar

Southern Lehigh’s Habitat for Humanity members have learned how good it feels to help provide people in their community with a safe place to call home. After missing a year of activity due to Covid-19, the high school’s Habitat for Humanity club launched the 2021-22 school year with the pursuit of many goals.

“We are looking forward to actually doing a job site,” senior club president Zoe Hess said.

“In years past we haven’t been able to take a big group of people to help on a real site, and instead we have just done small fundraisers.

Fundraising is good, but I think it will be really beneficial to see what Habitat for Humanity truly does for the community.”

Habitat for Humanity itself has a mission that “brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope.” The organization focuses on building and providing affordable homes for families in need.

In December, the club organized a Gingerbread House decorating competition for the student body to raise money to fund Habitat for Humanity’s building projects. With around 2-4

people on each of the 16 teams that participated, the fundraiser was a major success.

“I enjoy seeing young adults excited about helping others,” club advisor and social studies teacher Mr. Matthew Cooper said. “I hope that the students continue to build on what they have done.”

Perhaps the most important part of any club looking to support a cause is the environment it cultivates. It seems that Habitat for Humanity has no problem fostering an atmosphere of positivity and the desire to help others.

“The atmosphere is very energetic,” junior Byron Adoyo said. “It seems like everyone wants to be a part of the club.”

Hess and other club members hope to expand on this energy and their recent success to get more students involved, especially those in younger grades.

“I love the people and I love our cause,” junior Catherine Yazdanyar. “I think students should know that anyone can participate and all they need is to be determined about the cause and achieve goals.”

Check out slspotlight.com for more articles!

The coffee shop helps FBLA members practice good business and leadership. Photo Credit: FBLA

In the 2020-2021 school year, Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) took over the reins of the school coffee shop, which was previously run by the Baking a Difference club.

Located in the cafeteria, FBLA members can be found serving an array of goods such as hot coffee and pastries every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. Additionally, the shop is now open during Spartan period on days five and six. It’s a great hands-on learning opportunity for all FBLA volunteers, as well as a perfect way to start the day for Southern Lehigh’s hungry staff and students.

“I think it’s great for the kids to learn about running a business, whether it’s inventory, serving, making products, shelving, or counting money,” said Business teacher and FBLA co-advisor Mrs. Joann Peralta.

The club’s mission is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership development programs. The coffee shop is accomplishing this through instilling necessary skills in the future leaders of our society.

“I learned how to interact with people while working in a professional environment,” said freshman FBLA member Luke Rizzo. “I learned important skills that I will use throughout the rest of my life.”

While some of the money earned from their profits are used to support FBLA and its upcoming plans, including statewide competitions held in Hershey, one-third of their profit is donated to the SLHS food bank for local families in need.

“It feels good to know that I’m helping my club, school, and community by volunteering at the FBLA Spartan coffee shop,” said Rizzo.

Overall, the shop has created a positive atmosphere for staff and students alike, and FBLA looks forward to serving their community for numerous happy customers to come.

“It’s off the charts and it just keeps growing and growing,” said Mrs. Peralta, “Kids rely on it and look forward to it in the morning.”

Although the shop offers a wide variety of treats to choose from, iced coffee has proven to be the most popular item among students by far.

“I like to get their caramel iced coffee,” said sophomore Alexa Yatsko, “I definitely recommend trying it; it’s very good.”

Page 6

The Spotlight

Opinion

Food for thought: waste in the cafeteria

by Alexis Behrens

The amount of waste after a few students throw their food away. Photo Credit: Alexis Behrens

I remember the first time I witnessed it. The tray lay braced on a pile of others, all of them laden with plastic plates, forks, knives, spoons, and bowls. Among these utensils sat the food they were meant to help students eat, most picked at, some untouched. This tray in particular was the worst of them: an entire slice of pizza laying there whole. And then, simple as that, into the trash it all went.

This amount of waste is a problem.

“It’s a huge concern to our department as well as other Food Service Departments across the country, especially because it adds unnecessary additional cost to the Food Service Program,” said Mr. Gregory Martin, Coordinator of Food Services for Southern Lehigh School District. “Why should we make students take something they aren’t going to eat, just to have it thrown in the trash?”

To elaborate on those costs, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics measures that within the onset of

the COVID-19 pandemic, from 2019 to 2020, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all food items in America increased by 3.9%. They then find that the CPI for food products increased a further 6.1% throughout 2021, in what they call “the largest 12-month increases in at least 13 years.” To put this in context, students could purchase the main entree, a vegetable, fruit, and milk for $3.05 during the 2018-2019 school year. By the 2021-2022 school year, this same meal would sell for $3.36 if scaled to CPI inflation.

While a 31 cent increase may not seem like a lot to students, consider that from last school year to date, they have not been the ones paying that increase. In cafeteria checkout lines, that baseline lunch remains free, meaning that the tab is picked up by governmental subsidies to the school. It is pertinent to note that, while free lunch is a lifesaver to some families during the pandemic, it can also contribute to students undervaluing the food, resulting in the amount of waste we now see. Yet all these meals now landing in the trash are paid for by someone, so just how much does that total out to?

Estimating that about a fifth of Southern Lehigh High School’s student population accepts the free lunch option, that would result in $672 worth of food per day. Certainly not all of that is being disposed of, but, when asked how much truly was, cafeteria worker Ms. Karen Himmelsbach’s answer was unambiguous.

“Oh my gosh,” she said. “A lot. I really wish we didn’t have to throw so much out.”

Furthermore, that $672 value rises yet more in order to account for a whole other category of careless discard.

“Condiments as well as unused plastic utensils & napkins get tossed in the trash as well,” Mr. Martin said. “This adds undue additional cost to the Food Service Department’s budget and is also adding single use plastic to the landfill unnecessarily.”

So, while all that is clearly an issue, it now comes time to look at solutions.

The first comes down to a more personal level

– an effort anyone can make, and which I’d encourage everyone to try. By simply bringing along their lunch bag with an empty container or two, students would be able to store their leftovers to eat after school. Fruits such as bananas and apples save well, are offered frequently, and are required for a lunch to be free, so I urge students to preserve rather than discard them.

Secondly, the High School’s Ecology Club has been considering establishing a compost bin in the cafeteria. This would allow students to dispose of leftovers such as fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, and even some types of paper napkins in an ecologically responsible way.

“The compost bins are in the courtyard area and they’ve been there for a while. [Now] we want to make bins next to the garbage bins,” said freshman Ecology Club member Amanda Smith. “We’re a little worried, though, that students will put trash in them.”

Among other ideas, Smith said the club plans to put the bins in the teachers lounge first as a test run.

This is an enormous step in the right direction, especially when one delves deeper into the environmental effects of food waste. According to Move For Hunger, a non-profit organization centered around providing proper nutrition to all, decomposing food accounts for 6.7% of global greenhouse emissions.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization said that “the carbon footprint of food produced and not eaten is estimated to 3.3 Gtonnes [3.3 billion tons] of CO2 equivalent: as such, food wastage ranks as the third top emitter after the USA and China.”

Clearly, this is a worldwide problem; however, all considered, one of the best solutions for students is to simply be aware of the price, both economic and ecologic, of thoughtless waste.

“I honestly do believe students should be cognizant of the food waste situation and help to control as much as they can,” Mr. Martin said. “I don’t believe it’s possible to completely change everything, but it could certainly help with a portion of the waste.”

Sexual discrimination still persists in sports

by Alaina Patel

Senior Autumn Garges passes baton in girls 4x800 meter relay. Photo Credit: Alaina Patel

Since the early 1960s, the fight for gender equality in sports has seen many ground-breaking changes. Even while there is ever-growing emphasis on leveling the playing field, there is still much work to be done in the perception of men’s and women’s sports themselves. Typically, successes in men’s sports are more celebrated by the media and spectators than women’s sports.

“I think just across the board of professional sports there is always an expectation for men to outperform women regardless of the sport,” senior Autumn Garges said. “Women are not seen [as being] as powerful and strong as men are.”

According to UNESCO, women only receive about 4% of sports media coverage, leaving the other 96% for men’s sports. With less media coverage, events are bound to be less

advertised, resulting in lower income from the matches. This can influence the gender pay gap within sports.

Even in a non-professional environment, gender inequality is still an issue. Many high school athletes participate in club sports, which have disparities in coaching. For some of these club sports, coaching and recruiting priorities are given to the men’s teams.

“In terms of coaching, our coaches [have] just grown into their coaching position and a lot of times the guys have a staff that [is experienced],” junior lacrosse player Jessica Mantz said.

High school sports provide opportunities for teenagers to participate in sports, whether it’s for fun, or attempting to play in college.

Although these sports are more regulated to provide the most equal experiences, some sports still witness biases.

“I remember specifically doing a track workout that was supposed to be 8-10 repetitions depending on how we were feeling. After 8, I still felt good. I saw the boys were going up to 10 so I asked an assistant coach if I could go up to 10 and I was told to cut the attitude, only the boys were doing 10,” Garges said. “To me it felt like we were seen as incapable.”

However, there is a bright side to the issue.

Since the passing of Title IX in 1972, the percentage of female high school athletes jumped from 7% to about 43% according to the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education (NCWGE). Students continue to raise awareness and share ways to raise these numbers even higher.

“I think we can achieve [equality] just by

treating everyone equally, whether they’re of the same sex or not,” freshman Ryan Schaller said.

The fight for equality cannot end now; there are still instances of inequity that remain in the sports environment. Within Southern Lehigh, many of the boys basketball games have a drastically large number of student spectators compared to the girls’ games. The student section averages 32 students for girls games, and around 109 students for boys games.

“I think it has to do a lot with supporting female athletes,” Mantz said. “I think that when a boys team makes it to districts, you see more people going to the games. For female teams they could go just as far or farther, and there aren’t as many people supporting them.”

Students can address these disparities by attending more female sports games, as well as helping to support female athletes more equally for their accomplishments. Students should support their teams, regardless of gender, which can start within the team itself.

“I think the [track] team is very close and supportive of each other,” assistant track and field sprints coach Michelle Schumaker said. “If somebody is having a down day, athletes reach out to each other to help bolster their spirits, and everybody is there to applaud them.”

It must be acknowledged that women’s sports have come a long way since their beginning, with increased participation, increased awareness, and more people standing up for their rights.

“I have seen a lot of women standing up for themselves and proving how strong and capable they are – which I love to see,” Garges said.

March 2022

Opinion

Page 7

High schoolers need to have brain breaks

by Elizabeth Vezenov

Students toss a ball to each other in Srta. Swartz’ class during one of their regular brain breaks. Photo Credit: Elizabeth Vezenov

With 45 minutes still left in the block, your eyes begin to feel heavy, you lose concentration, and you become increasingly confused as the class drags on.

Your attention drifts as you become more lost, and count down the minutes until you can finally walk out the door and escape the overwhelming overload of information.

As sleep-deprived students aimlessly drift away from class engagement, their focus and motivation decrease. Our brains aren’t retaining the information properly, and many students tend to feel burnt out by the time the bell rings. As such, having small breaks throughout a class period can influence the academic performance of many high school students.

Incorporating “brain breaks” in a block can ease the rollercoaster of emotions that most students have to endure throughout the school day, such as stress, anxiety, and frustration. In addition, optimal productivity, attention, and memory can be achieved after just a few minutes away from attentive listening or tedious note-taking.

“Sometimes in class, when I’m taking a lot of notes, I get really tired, and I can’t focus anymore, and I feel really unmotivated,” said sophomore Alex

Lea. “I feel like just giving students five-minute breaks periodically would be helpful and help them retain more information and become more engaged in the classroom.”

Running on only a few hours of sleep due to being pulled in a million different directions throughout the day, rarely taking any mental breaks poses a detriment to students’ academic potential as their brains lack ideal stimulation.

High school Spanish teacher Ms. Jessica Swartz does brain breaks regularly with her students, and she has seen positive results.

“I definitely would recommend it,” she said. “I think you lose a little bit of instructional time, but you gain so much in the students’ focus and motivation.”

Some teachers may feel that breaks dispersed throughout a class period could potentially disrupt the teaching of material and conflict with lesson plans. Although the issue could be a problem depending on a class’s structure, in the long run, the brain breaks would boost students’ involvement and revive their attention and memory, leading to noticeable results such as greater participation and improved performance on tests. “[The] majority of the teachers could support it if they can work it in as they see fit,” science teacher Mr. Rick Dreves said. “It can’t be like ‘every 20 minutes we have to stop,’ because maybe the assignment needs to be 30 minutes, and then stop.”

Simply stretching, moving around the classroom, listening to music, taking a nap, or interacting with peers can reinvigorate our brains to restore concentration and have an ideal emotional and mental state. Sitting through heavy informational or instructional material and class discussion for up to an hour spirals students into disengagement from the class. Quick breaks can be critical for the betterment of students’ ability to retain the material.

“On my quarter reflections…the number one thing that students say helps them focus in class is knowing that they are going to have a brain break,” Ms. Swartz said.

With each class block being almost an hour and a half, there should be enough time for at least one or two five-minute breaks for the benefit of the students and possibly even the teachers, who may appreciate the time to prepare for what comes next.

Students’ mental health is an essential factor that plays a crucial role in their academic performance, so teachers should take it into account.

The human brain is the most complex organ in the body and requires mobilizing its various networks after undergoing high-intensity work.

Research has shown that the attention span of teenagers and adults has dropped to 20, 10, or even 5 minutes. According to a 2012 Pew Research study, 87% of teachers say that internet and digital search tools are creating an “easily distracted generation with short attention spans.”

“Attention has gotten shorter over the years,” Mr. Dreves said, “so chunks with breaks in the middle would alleviate some of the stress of losing focus.”

Staring at a computer screen for a long period of time while doing lengthy assignments in class is unhealthy for both the eyes and the brain. Instilling brain breaks can facilitate more productivity in the presence of a screen.

Neurotransmitters, brain chemicals that carry messages from one nerve cell to the next, are necessary to maintain a calm mood, focused attention, and good memory. However, if continuing the same learning activity for an extended period, neurotransmitters can deplete after only 10 minutes.

“I just notice when students’ focus and energy starts to drain, I get up and do a brain break and we are back to normal,” Ms. Swartz said.

Whether the breaks involve physical movement or mindfulness exercises, the downtime has numerous benefits for students, including a flow of greater creativity, making fewer errors, and feeling more motivated to get assignments done. It’s important to recognize that a minor change could significantly transform student success.

SLHS should build a swimming pool for all

by Isabella Johnson

A swimming pool would be an asset to the award-winning swim team and the community. Photo credit: Isabelle Johnson.

With the lack of a pool at Southern Lehigh, getting the maximum possible time to train in the water can be difficult for the swim team.

Practicing six times a week requires swimmers to drive or take a bus to Cedar Crest or Muhlenberg College to use their pools. On a regular basis finding space at one of the two pools is fairly easy, but when there is a schedule change, it is more difficult to do so. Therefore, Southern Lehigh should consider building a pool for the best interest of the swimmers.

“I think having a pool would help us a lot, especially with transportation, ‘’ said sophomore Grace Robinson, a member of the swim team. “We wouldn’t have to pay for buses, but could instead do other things with the money the swim team has.”

During the 2020-2021 school year, swimmers were bused to practice but were required to have a ride home from the pool. This season,

many parents said in a swim team Zoom meeting that they felt it was a safety concern and was dangerous for their inexperienced drivers to travel on a major highway during the winter season. Swimmers are now provided with buses for the ongoing season to and from practice, but it was challenging to find the funds needed to pay for them. If Southern Lehigh were to have a pool, paying for the buses to transport the team would not be necessary and the money could be used for other expenses such as pool maintenance or equipment for the swim team.

Southern Lehigh’s swim team has historically been very successful and is one of the top teams in the Colonial League. Despite the team’s notable performances, the group is greatly impacted by a lack of members who participate in the sport. Schools like Emmaus, who have a pool available to them, placed higher than Southern Lehigh at PIAA Districts last year. Although there are more members on their swim team than on Southern Lehigh’s, there may be a better turnout in participation, resulting in greater success at Districts and other high-level meets.

Swimmers have also yearned for a larger student section, but it is much harder for students to always travel to another school to watch a meet, rather than going to their home pool. This leaves many swimmers feeling disconnected from the school spirit that other sports like basketball or football receive.

“Having a pool at Southern Lehigh would

make the swim team much more involved with the school and its students,” said sophomore Genevieve Fry. “It would make it much easier for families, students, and swimmers to come together for meets and other events, overall making it a better atmosphere for the team.”

Other than supporting the swim team, a pool would change the way students at Southern Lehigh know gym class. Although some students may not like the sound of jumping into a chilly pool as a class during the school day, those who do not know how to swim can learn, which promotes general water safety.

“There are a lot of great things that can come from having a pool; it makes it easier for the swim team, gym classes could use it, it can be used for the community for lifeguard training and other activities that would benefit our students,” said assistant principal Mr. Chad Kinslow.“The big con, however, is the cost not only for building the pool, but also to keep up with it and maintain it.”

Although building a pool is a major expense that is not foreseen in the plans of Southern Lehigh as of now, it would be a major asset to the swim team and community as a whole.

Other than simply supplying the swim team with more opportunities, it could be used by locals over the summer and could be kept up by volunteers, overall adding a positive resource for the Southern Lehigh community.

The Spotlight

Page 8 Center Spread

The Spotlight gives a shout out to the old...

by Alexis Behrens

As we begin 2022 and look to the future, let’s look back to Southern Lehigh’s history in the pages of the Spotlight from years past.

All considered, these past Southern Lehigh Spotlight articles -- despite being published years ago -- are still closely linked to the present.

2016-2017: New Year, New Options: Southern Lehigh High School Offers Its First Online Course Options

A copy of the “New Year, New Options” article in its 2016 Spotlight edition sits on

Let’s rewind a mere five years to the 2016-2017 school year. To put this in perspective, every current high school class but that of the seniors would have been attending Joseph P. Liberati Intermediate School.

There’s a strong parallel between then and now; that is, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen many unprecedented changes to the way school is run. One of the most tangible changes experienced during the last two school years, online classes, was first introduced to the high school in 2016.

In her article, “New Year, New Options: Southern Lehigh High School Offers Its First Online Course Options,” former student Nichole Shroy said, “English teacher Mrs. Marlo Spritzer and health and physical education teacher Ms. Megan Dellegrotti have both been piloting their online environment this year…via the Canvas learning management system.”

Sound familiar? It certainly is for those of Southern Lehigh Schoo District, whose virtual education in the past two years was not necessarily voluntary. We can look to students then and now for their perceptions. “[An online environment] is easier to work with because everything is in one place,” according to former student Sam Tankred, a 2017 Honors English 12 student who experienced Mrs. Spritzers “blended” learning environment: in-person classes with materials and assignments posted online.

Current junior Nithin Bommareddy said “[there were no benefits,] really,” to last year’s fully virtual learning environment. “There were more distractions than there were if we were in person.”

Shroy’s article concludes with a quote from student Victor Aung who said, “I’m glad that the school is taking this step. I think it will definitely be something bigger in the future.”

He couldn’t have known how right he was!

a student’s desk. Photo Credit: Alexis Behrens

2011-2012: What’s All the Buzz about the 1:1 Laptops?

A student types away on the laptop they recieved from the ongoing 1:1 laptop

iniative, introduced to Southern Lehigh in 2012. Photo Credit: Alexis Behrens

Let’s flip the record back a few years to the 2011-2012 school year, now a decade ago, to an article written by Ashley Zamichieli and Sara Zook, titled: “What’s All the Buzz about the 1:1 Laptops?”

“Rumours have been flying throughout the halls, with teachers hinting towards the idea of one-on-one laptops; could these rumours possibly be true?” they wrote. “In the fall of 2012, every student in grades 9-12 will be handed their own laptop to use during school.”

What was in the works then is a reality now, and one that students and teachers alike find to be an crucial part of their work.

“I think that ever since we started using computers, we’ve had a lot more access to information that we didn’t have before,” current freshman Morgan Downing said. “[With] websites like Google Classroom … we can get a lot more done.”

Students and teachers alike agree.

“Actually, I don’t even know how I would go back to not having laptops,” math teacher Mrs. Beth Dottery said. “Your access to things like Desmos and Delta Math and those types of programs are much more useful than the old school method of just using a text book. … [Y]ou can get instant feedback instead of just waiting for the next class period.”

Zamichieli and Zook’s article concluded, “The one-to-one laptop initiative is something the high school has never had before, and it will be interesting to see how this works it out.”

Considering the role said devices played as tools during the last two years’ online schooling, this is one example of how the past has deeply affected our present.

March 2022

Center Spread Page 9

...as Solehi ushers in the new for 2022.

From school-provided computers to respecting teachers, events and opinions in the past very much relate to those in our present, and, as we enter this new year, our present could very well relate to our future.

2006-2007: R-E-S-P-E-C-T In 2006, Jeremy Haas and Jeff Pinto co-wrote an opinion article titled R-E-S-P-E-C-T. This piece explored the relationship between students and teachers, specifically diving into the way each regarded the other.

“For the students of Southern Lehigh High School, many feel that the teachers automatically assume we will give them respect, while they don’t have to work for ours at all,” they wrote. “We, the students, will and want to give respect to teachers and substitutes. In return we must have the same respect.”

Their article ties into the reality of high school today: many competing factors have caused something of an educator shortage. This means that one instructor’s absence either calls in a substitute -- of which there are an “unprecedented lack” according to the January 1, 2022 district community update -- or, more commonly, shuffles their class onto another teacher who has their own courses to run.

In such an environment, stress can lead to the lack of respect Haas and Pinto referenced in their article, particularly since, as they said, “there are those students who do not give teachers the respect they deserve.”

This consideration could worsen the situation stated above, creating a cycle in which no one is satisfied.

“This year, substitutes had to be flexible… we had to be willing to redefine our position,” said current substitute Mrs. Summer Fastenberg, who works at Southern Lehigh and other surrounding districts. “[Today,] I’ve overseen three different classes. It’s definitely more stressful. The only time I get a break is at lunch [and] it limits my ability to get some things done.”

Many full-time teachers at the high school say that covering for other instructor’s classes this year has become the standard when fellow teachers are absent.

“For the most part, the students do as expected; they understand it’s a temporary situation,” business teacher Mrs. Bonnie Organski said. “It’s a short period of time, and they just do what they’ve got to do. [However,] it’s hard when you’re covering a class because what’s been set up in the class previously really does affect what you’re working with.”

A student plays online games and scrolls through social media during class. Photo Credit: Alexis Behrens

2001-2002: Update on Changes for 2001-2002 School Year Two decades ago, in 2001, former Spotlight reporter Jessica Yalch wrote an article updating students on changes that their school year would bring.

One of the most significant was that, “a new bus circle and parking lot has been completed. The spaces were limited and to help control the traffic flow and make sure that enough spaces were available for those driving, the spaces were numbered and pre-assigned. Negativity was the initial reaction of most students towards the idea, but as students saw the plan go into action many of them changed their minds.”

In some ways, this corresponds with parking privilege changes enacted this year, as outlined in the “New Parking Application Requirements 21-22” link on the Southern Lehigh High School website.

“Students must meet the requirements listed below, complete and submit an application, all required documentation, and the $50 fee to obtain a parking spot,” the district website says. “Due to limited availability, parking spots will be provided for students based on several requirements including academic, behavioral, attendance, curricular assignments, and extra-curricular involvement.”

These changes, like those that Yalch referred to, place restrictions on who can access a parking spot. In response to the complication it may seem to be, some current students -- like those in Yalch’s article -- have reacted negatively to the changes.

“Getting a parking spot is hard for students that get their license during the school year,” one student said. “All the spots get filled without taking into account who really needs them the most, like with work, extracurriculars, or senior privileges.”

Yet others, like the students of the past, have been more supportive of the plan as they saw it go into action.

An image from Yalch’s 2001 article, as construction begins on the new parking lot.

“How was my experience getting one? Easy. I just signed up,” curPhoto Credit: Alexis Behrens rent senior Madelyn Atkinson said.

Page 10

Sports

The Spotlight

Eager wrestlers fight internal battles to win: but at what cost?

by Sophia Lycette

A Spartan wrestler takes on an opponent in a recent match. Photo credit: Solehian yearbook

Sweat. Combat. Power. Takedown.

Southern Lehigh’s wrestlers have been fighting their way through meets all winter, while acknowledging the recognizable challenges wrestlers face to pull off a successful season. It’s no secret that eating habits are a struggle for those who participate in this grueling sport.

“One of the most challenging aspects of wrestling is maintaining your weight group,” sophomore Chris Venezia said. “It’s a constant battle between eating to fuel your body and eating just enough to be able to match.”

Each wrestler is assigned a weight class and must remain within its range to compete. As a result, many wrestlers must lose weight to remain eligible for competition.

According to a 2021 article posted by Trine University’s Center for Sports Studies, the number of competitors in wrestling has significantly grown over the years, resulting in a much higher quantity and frequency of matches during each season.

Their research showed that high school wrestlers commonly engage in harmful weight-loss methods which have negative repercussions for the sport and have led to the deaths of some wrestlers. A lack of water and malnutrition causes these severe situations due to unhealthy weight loss.

“I feel the weight class issue of wrestling is very pointless,” sophomore Alex Lea said, “although, I do understand that without it, it may cause many unfair advantages for the athletes.”

The study goes on to say that coaches seem to be tightening in protocols, and do not permit their athletes to compete if they are not within their given weight class.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has called attention to the dangerous actions of these wrestlers and has made numerous changes to the weight classes and weight loss programs. They have installed nutritious eating plans for the wrestlers corresponding to their weight goal, and lessons on how to maintain it. The NCAA has argues that weight class guidelines have allowed many athletes to be aware of their weights, staying safer and in better shape for their matches.

“I feel that proper weight loss or gain is a fundamental part of the sport, but in doing so, it places your body in tough and weary conditions,” senior Deacon Dickenson said. “I love wrestling, though, because winning a match is one of the best feelings, and it keeps me in great shape.”

Many wrestlers are aware of the physical and mental costs of participating in this demanding sport, but their passion for it outweighs the chal-

lenges. The bonds among the teammates provide a safety net for these athletes.

“I love the sport. That is why I do it,” sophomore Josh Sirard said. “We all look out for each other, making sure we are all healthy and alert.”

The Spartans’ team record has significantly improved over last season’s 2-8 record, due to the stronger bonds the team has developed. Each team member is growing from one another, calling attention and awareness to their health.

“Our team this year is way closer than last season,” sophomore Ryan King said. “During the early morning practices we all play handball before weightlifting and hype one another up before matches, screaming each other’s name.”

Southern Lehigh students like junior Brandon Verna recognize the wrestlers’ dedication to their sport and try to support them through the winter season.

“I know Southern Lehigh’s school spirit is low for wrestling, but I can see our Spartans wrestling team is determined and passionate,” Verna said.

“Southern Lehigh is six and six right now, and I think that is awesome; I hope we can make it to districts this year.”

Spartan rifle team places second at state championships

by Elizabeth Vezenov

Senior Megan Hummel and other memebers of the rifle team take their best shot at every practice and match.

Photo Credit: Solehian yearbook

Coming off of winning the state championship last year, the Southern Lehigh rifle team aimed this season for a repeat of their triumphant victory. The team’s motivation and preparation pushed them towards success as they dominated their matches earning them a spot at states.

A Southern Lehigh graduate, head coach Mr. Robert Gaugler was once a member of

the team before going on to Millersville University. He is now a technology education teacher at Southern Lehigh High School.

One of the most successful sports teams in our school, rifle is also one of the most under-recognized. The sport’s difficulty is strongly underestimated. It is both mentally and physically demanding and requires immense mental focus and precision to achieve winning results.

“It’s not a truly physical sport,” Mr. Gaugler said. “It’s more of a mental game than it is a physical game.”

He stresses the importance of teaching the optimal form for shooting a firearm as well as the mentality aspect of the sport.

During the season, the team practices day in and day out to achieve the proper technique and skills essential for competing to the best of their ability. The sport’s challenging techniques have some of the most complicated dynamics and mental approaches necessary compared to any other sport.

“We are dealing with firearms, and most students joining the team have nev-

er touched a firearm or shot any type of firearm in their life,” Mr. Gaugler said, “so I need to do a lot of teaching on how to do the techniques.”

Although rifle is somewhat of an individualistic sport, the team is a close-knit group that spends a significant amount of time bonding, including going bowling, seeing movies, fundraising, and simply talking during some downtime at practices and matches. Much of their success is credited to the relationships that they have forged and developed with their teammates.

“My favorite part would probably be the people,” senior Dino Daddona said.

“They are really good people, and I’m actually very glad I joined the team because I wouldn’t have met them otherwise.”

Although being an underrecognized team at Southern Lehigh, the rifle team has proven their talent and ability, and they recently finished another highly successful season with a second-place finish at states.

March 2022

Sports

Page 11

High School Basketball Teams Get New Coaches

by Christiana Lycette

For the first time, both Southern Lehigh’s boys and girls basketball teams have entirely new coaching staffs. The players recognize they will have to adjust to new coaching styles, especially after unusual seasons the past two years due to the pandemic. This winter these student athletes are ready and excited for a more “normal” season with their new coaches.

Girls’ Basketball

Head Coach - Sydney Cyr Assistant Coach - Tracy Cyr Co-junior varsity coaches Jenna Lynch, Matt Capeheart Head girls varsity coach Sydney Cyr is a 2015 graduate of Southern Lehigh. She played college basketball at Arcadia University, becoming the captain of the women’s team her senior year. Last year, she was assistant coach for the Southern Lehigh Middle School girls basketball team.

Coach Cyr is joined by assistant varsity coach Tracy Cyr, and the co-junior varsity coaches Jenna Lynch and Matt Capeheart. All of the girls’ coaches have high school or college playing experience, and bring their knowledge, drive, and constant positive energy to lead Southern Lehigh’s athletes.

“All of our coaches are very friendly and helpful,” senior Katie Wierer said. “I feel that they have a positive impact on the girls’ basketball program.”

“So far they have been really friendly, and they bring a lot of experience to our team,” senior Sarah Wierer said.

Motivation can be an essential factor in performance during games. The girls say the coaches have brought an encouraging atmosphere to the team both during the games and behind the scenes.

“All of the new coaches have really pushed

The athletes on the girls basketball team are all happy with the new coaches. Photo Credit: Solehian Yearbook

our team and expect us to give 100% when we are on the court,” said Katie Wierer. “I appreciate how much time and effort they spend scouting other teams and analyzing what we need to improve as a group.”

While the girls basketball players miss their previous coaches and their techniques, they have benefited from the coaching style of the new staff.

“I don’t think that you can compare our new coaches to our old ones because their coaching styles are different. One isn’t better than the other,” Sarah Wierer said. “I feel that it is beneficial for our team to get a new coach, so we gain a new perspective and a new viewpoint on how to play the game.”

Boys’ Basketball

Head Coach - Ryan Wehr Assistant Coaches - Andrew Nicholas, Michael Ouley, Brian Busolts, Bob Bogwist The 2022 boys basketball team is led by head varsity coach Ryan Wehr, who has plenty of past coaching experience. He is a former assistant basketball coach at Parkland High School and Emmaus High School, and most recently the head coach at Brandywine Heights High School in Berks County. Wehr is joined by four assistant varsity coaches: Andrew Nicholas, Michael Ouly, Brian Busolts, and Bob Bogwist.

The players on the team have only positive opinions about their new coaching staff.

Similar to the girls’ experience, the boys say the coaching style is certainly different from previous years, but in a good way.

“Obviously, our system of basketball is different compared to previous years,” junior Christian Gordon said, “but I think their system is very helpful on our team.”

Several players say the coaches provide them with a support system and uplifting atmosphere. This encouragement and mentoring boosts the boys’ morale and makes them work harder in practices and games.

“Whether I need personal or coach advice, I feel comfortable coming with an issue to any of my coaches, which is really important,” senior Dominik Lisicky said.

The amount of pressure these players feel during a game can easily become overwhelming, and they worry about making mistakes. Every player wants to make the coaches

The boys basketball team made it to league championship finals with the new staff. Photo Credit: Alexander Kane

proud.

“You can’t make too many mistakes or they will sub you out in the game,” said one player, who asked to remain anonymous.

“Sometimes I’m scared to do too much during the game because if I mess up, then I will get the coaches upset.”

Constructive criticism is something these boys appreciate from their coaches. When the players are doing something wrong, their coaches take the time to talk to them about it

suggesting ways to improve . These pointers benefit the team tremendously, showing the players how much these coaches care for their success.

“They motivate me whenever I am having a bad practice or game,” junior Quincy Brunner said. “They take the time to go over plays and watch films with the team. The coaches let me know what I’m doing wrong, how to fix it, and tell me to keep going.”

Page 12

Our World

The Spotlight

What’s the drive behind the bus decline?

by Zain Shamasseen

Since their popularization in the 1920s, school buses have been an integral part of the school system, with over half of all American students taking a school bus every day. At Southern Lehigh, buses are a vital part of the district’s infrastructure, providing near-daily transportation for several of our sports teams and our student body of over a thousand children. Despite the need for daily student transportation, the district is short by more than ten buses due to a lack of drivers.

“We usually have 50 drivers that drive for Southern Lehigh, but this year we are short 13 drivers,” Mrs. Susan Knoll, Coordinator of Support Services for Southern Lehigh School District said. “It’s really hard right now because people might call out with COVID-19, or they’re in quarantine.”

What’s more, students used to be able to sit three to a seat if needed to boost carrying capacity. As a result of COVID-19 restrictions,only two students can sit in a seat. As a result, the number of students a bus can carry has shrunk from 72 students to just 48.

The average hourly pay for a part-time job is $12.74, according to ZipRecruiter, while the pay for the drivers is higher, at $20.00 an hour. However, this may not be enough of an incentive, as many of the older drivers are worried about exposure to COVID-19.

Another problem could be students, since their antics can overwhelm bus drivers.

Because students spent so much time at home in the height of the pandemic, students began to develop worsened social filters, because of a lack of communication with those outside of their family and friends.

“Honestly, I’ve noticed a lot of students seem to have no social filters,” freshman

Bus drivers have been in a steep decline since COVID-19, which proves difficult for students and current drivers alike.

Photo credit: Zain Shamasseen

Kasey Snyder said, “so they just say or do bad things in front of authority figures.”

This suggests another possible answer to the question of why the number of bus drivers is declining. Since having to repeatedly correct a student’s behavior can be tiring, many drivers see quitting as a way out.

“They’re very tired of the cursing, and students are not listening to their instructions,” high school principal Mrs. Beth Guarriello said. “They’re tired of having to monitor behavior.”

With the booming job market, it’s hard for workers to not be tempted by offers from other jobs. According to Indeed, there are more than 13,000 part-time jobs available in the Coopersburg area, and of those, over 2,000

have a salary 1.4 times higher than that of a bus driver employed by Brandywine Transportation, contracted by Southern Lehigh School District. So yes, there are several parttime jobs in the local area that an unhappy driver can attain. What’s more, there are jobs with higher pay.

“This is probably another thing that’s impactful too,” Mrs. Guarriello said. “There are so many jobs right now.”

So, what is the real drive behind the bus decline? Is it the pandemic, the job market, or students? Though the cause for decline among drivers can be attributed to all three reasons, the biggest component is COVID-19.

Trucks on Saucon Valley Road Hinder Drivers

by Evelyn Blower

Trucks in the early mornings and late nights park alongside Saucon Valley Road. Photo Credit: Evelyn Blower

The number of warehouses in the Lehigh Valley has grown rapidly in the past few years: FedEx, Amazon, Aldi, and other e-commerce retailers have set up shop in and around the Lehigh Valley. With this, an onslaught of trucks has filled our roads - and even parked on them.

At the intersection of Camp Meeting Road and Saucon Valley Road, Aldi’s truck drivers have often parked alongside the roads at night, creating distractions and impeding a driver’s line of sight when turning around the bend or making a turn onto Camp Meeting Road.

“They don’t belong there, and they’re too massive for the roads,” said senior Alyssa Adams, “For being around our quiet suburban streets, it’s really stressful [to drive].”

Many times, students are on these roads

late at night or early in the morning, for reasons such as school or extracurricular events.

It is already stressful for newer drivers to brave the darkness, but this worsens when the shoulder is crowded with trucks and visibility is low.

“We address this constantly. Residents call [often], and we’ve been assigned patrols to go out and monitor that periodically throughout our shifts. Our ultimate responsibility is to try to gain compliance [from the truck drivers],” said School Resource Officer Mr. Brian McLaughlin.

Landscaping is also being done across from The Promenade Shops, where the old Center Valley Club used to be. Off of Route 309 and extending into that same area are 3 proposed warehouses, totaling 1.77 million square feet. This proposed project is pre-

dicted to cause an increase in the number of truck traffic and other routine problems that come from more warehouses being built in the area.

If you are heading to The Promenade Shops and want an alternative route, you can take Saucon Creek Road onto Center Valley Parkway or PA-378. Unfortunately, for drivers who must take Saucon Valley road, it is difficult to navigate the narrow road, especially if trucks are parked on both sides of the road.

You can also make a few changes when driving in the area at night. If there is not much oncoming traffic, you can use your high beams to navigate the road, as well as considerably slowing down around the bend to watch for oncoming traffic that may be hard to see.

“Always be careful, and be cautious, Even if something is parked illegally in front of you, you wanna be careful,” McLaughlin said. “You wanna make sure if you’re passing them, you do it safely, especially if you’re crossing out of your lane. If you see that and it’s an issue, feel free to give us a phone call.

That’s what we’re here for.”

While we may not see these trucks decline in volume, but possibly increase. Remind yourself and those around you to stay safe on the roads and always be conscious of your surroundings when driving.

Our World

March 2022

Page 13

Where are they now? Jacob Boyer

by Kishore Annambhotla

SLHS alumus Jacob Boyer is an Emmy-winning producer at WLVT PBS 39 in Bethlehem. Photo Credit: Jacob Boyer Media

As a senior at Southern Lehigh High School, Jacob Boyer had big plans for his future. His goal? Make a theatrical film and establish himself in the movie-making industry. Over seven years have passed, and this 2014 graduate has instead gone in a slightly different direction: television.

Boyer has been directing, shooting, and writing productions for nearly a decade.

He served as Video Editor for the Southern Lehigh Spotlight, directed plays for the Sunshine Players Theatre Group, and shot episodes for “Overexposed,” Kutztown University’s campus show. According to Boyer, this portfolio diversification showed him the importance of networking in video production.

“In media production, meeting and becoming friends is an essential part of the job.

Being open to new people and new experiences is just a natural type of progression in media production,” Boyer said, “You won’t grow in your bubble.”

To graduate from Kutztown in 2018, Boyer had to complete an internship totaling 400 hours. He selected an internship at the PBS39 station in Bethlehem. The choice was simple, but turned out to be critical in shaping his path.

“I picked PBS because it was close, and I thought it paid well. It didn’t.” Boyer said,

“Getting the job at PBS was part of the graduation requirement, but then during the course of that, one of their editors quit and they promoted me after giving me some piecemeal assignments to test me.”

Boyer was promoted to Freelance Production Assistant, a position in which he served for one year. Then, in September 2019, his boss approached him with the opportunity of a lifetime: to direct a TV show.

That show was “Counter Culture,” a talk show hosted by Grover Silcox in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. Throughout each half-hour episode, Silcox talks with various fascinating locals in the cozy environment of Daddypops Diner. “[‘Counter Culture’] was mostly born out of Grover Silcox’s interesting friends. He wanted a venue to interview them and reach out to other local interesting people,” Boyer said. “I joined because our full-time director was stretched and didn’t have time to focus.

They said, ‘Jacob has experience, let’s give him shows to do.’ I kind of lucked into it.”

In August 2021, after the fifth season of “Counter Culture” concluded, the show was nominated for Interview/Discussion (Single Program) at the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards. Boyer was understandably thrilled, but knew to temper his expectations after falling short of the prize in 2019. Fortunately for him, the good news came just a month later: “Counter Culture” had won a regional Emmy award.

Boyer won a 2021 regional emmy for his work on WLVT program “Counter Culture.” Photo Credit: Jacob Boyer Media Instagram.

Boyer attended Southern Lehigh High School from 2010 to 2014. He worked in the tv studio and was a reporter and editor for the Spotlight. Photo Credit: Spotlight Staff

“When they announced that ‘Counter Culture’ had won the award for ‘Best Interview/ Discussion (Single Program)’, I was filled with excitement and joy,” Boyer said. “Everyone was overjoyed when I went back into work the following day, and all I could do was think of how thankful I was to work with such wonderful people.”

Boyer has come far since graduating from Southern Lehigh, but it hasn’t always been easy. Reflecting on his path, he explained how his reserved nature clashed with the hypersocial video production industry.

“I consider myself to be a very introverted person, so it’s difficult for me to be that person that’s very outgoing, and it’s difficult for me to be that person who is friendly and ready to reach out,” Boyer said, “But the people skills are very important, and honing them is probably my biggest challenge.”

Now an esteemed SLHS alum, Boyer understands what it takes to excel in school, work, and life. In his eyes, expanding your circle and growing as a person are vital to success.

“Speaking from my own experience, people admire the person who can do everything,” he said, “Being in a bubble only gets you so far. You have to reach out, you have to get help from more knowledgeable people, and you have to find like-minded people.”

Check out Jacob’s work for the Spotlight:

Interested in becoming part of the Spotlight staff?

Consider joining the Newspaper Journalism class for next year!

For more information contact the Spotlight advisor, Mrs. Spritzer, via email at spritzerm@slsd.org, or email your guidance counselor to enroll.

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Page 14

The Spotlight

Entertainment

‘King Richard’ serves up an ace at the box office

by Kishore Annambhotla

The movie has been nominated for six Academy Awards.

Photo Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

As far as biopics go, “King Richard” has quickly established itself as one of the best films in the genre. Between its powerful performances and thrilling tennis scenes, it’s hard to find flaws in this feel-good film.

“King Richard” is the fifth film by director Reinaldo Marcus Green, best known for his 2018 drama “Monsters and Men.” This is his third full-length film and second biopic.

“King Richard” premiered worldwide at the 48th Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2021, and was released theatrically on November 19, 2021. The film stars Will Smith as Richard Williams, the father and coach of tennis greats Venus Williams (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena Williams (Demi Singleton).

“King Richard” follows Richard Williams’

path in raising and coaching his daughters to be the best tennis players in the world.

Throughout the film, he clashes with his daughters’ coaches, juggles work and family, and dodges danger in the streets of Compton, California.

The entire film is well made, but its highlight is Will Smith’s outstanding performance as Richard Williams. Smith perfectly captures Williams’ determined personality and fatherly behavior. After recent underwhelming performances, his latest role may put him in contention for Best Actor at the Academy Awards in March. According to Smith, his connection to Williams inspired the award-worthy performance.

“I felt like I knew him immediately,” Smith said in an interview with USA Today.

“He’s very similar to my father in some ways.

I understood what it meant to feel brutalized by the world and to have a dream that nobody believes in but you, and you’re not going to let that deter you. I got the heart of him.”

It certainly helps Smith that Williams is such an inspiring figure, especially in his support for his children. At one point, several young men begin harassing Williams’ stepdaughter, Yetunde Price. When Williams tells them to apologize, they beat him mercilessly. Yet, despite his humiliation, Williams reinforces his commitment to protecting his daughters: “This world ain’t never had no respect for Richard Williams. But they going to respect y’all. They going to respect y’all.”

Smith is not the only actor to shine in their role. Child actresses Sidney and Single-

ton are similarly captivating, with their best moments showing up on the court. A climactic match at the end of the film showcases this; they move and play with genuine skill, and every ball strike feels real.

Despite the standout acting, “King Richard” falls short in a few areas. The lack of attention given to Serena Williams’ story may disappoint viewers, especially considering that she established herself as the dominant sister in tennis. However, Venus was successful during their junior careers, explaining Green’s decision to focus on her.

A larger issue is the director’s lack of consideration for Williams’ negative traits. At the beginning of the film, I thought that Williams was stubborn and controlling of those around him. By the end of the film, I felt that Williams never really experienced character growth. Sabrina Williams, a half-sister to Venus and Serena, slammed the film’s portrayal of her father, calling it “outrageous” and only “half the story.”

“He’s not the king of the world,” Sabrina said in an interview with The Sun. “If you look at him psychologically, it’s something he’s never achieved apart from in his head, he’s lived only through two of his daughters forsaking all his other children.”

Despite these flaws, the film still shines in almost every way. “King Richard” has been, tellingly, nominated for five Academy Awards - including the coveted Best Picture. Even if you aren’t interested in biopics, I highly recommend watching this winner of a film.

‘Spencer’ dives into the character of Princess Diana

by Gianna Cusumano

Stewart’s performance earned her a nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2022 Academy Awards.

Behind the façade of Princess Diana’s public life is where the biopic “Spencer” begins its story. “Spencer” delivers a raw and authentic portrayal of Diana, brilliantly crafted script, and insightful use of visual symbolism. The film tells the tabloid tragedy audiences know, but fearlessly dives deep into the grim details of the beloved princess’ life.

The film spans the course of three days as the British royal family gathers for Christmas at the Sandringham Estate, leaving Diana on the verge of a nervous breakdown as she deals with her pernicious marriage, struggle with mental health, and fight to break free from the chains of her duties as a member of the royal family. Pablo Larraín’s top-notch

directing and Steven Knight’s screenwriting work together harmoniously to bring their interpretation of Princess Diana to life.

In addition to Larraín’s directing skill, “Spencer” features leading woman Kristen Stewart as the late Princess Diana Spencer.

Stewart’s performance in the film earned her a first-ever Oscar nomination for Best Actress, and many critics regard it as the best performance of her career. The praise is rightfully deserved, as Stewart nails Diana’s speech patterns and mannerisms to a T. Knight’s focused writing throughout the film also helps to accentuate Stewart’s character. One strong suit of the film’s script is the way it builds upon its story. The script is rich with metaphors that are continuously woven into the film with messages coming full circle.

One metaphor that greatly drives Diana’s character development forward is the comparison of how Diana is perceived by others as a pheasant. During the Christmas holiday, it is tradition for the royals to hunt pheasants for fun which upsets Diana. She describes how pheasants are thought to be “beautiful but not bright” which is why they are chosen to be shot. Diana ponders how she is also meant to look pretty to the public. This metaphor is referenced in the film’s second climax, which features a pheasant hunt while Diana makes a choice about the role the royals want her to play, and whether she will stay loyal to her duty.

Beautiful storytelling is achieved not only

by the writing in the film, but also in the cinematography and visual elements. One instance is in the snooker table scene between Diana and Prince Charles. In this scene, Charles and Diana get into an argument and the snooker balls are used to illustrate their different emotions as they stand on either side of the table. When Charles opens up more to Diana, the camera pans out past the perfect arrangement of red balls on the snooker table, and when he becomes more closed off, it pans back out, visually showing him letting his guard down and regaining it again.

Watching the movie, it was the thoughtful storytelling in scenes like these that made me want to see more interactions between Diana and Charles, and take a closer look into their relationship. His affair and the pressure from his family on their marriage were important plot points of the film, and I think it would have benefitted the storyline to see more scenes between them. Additionally, the film’s focus on small, intimate conversations often results in slow pacing.

With few flaws, “Spencer’’ is an impactful biopic that dissects the emotional complexities of a fascinating woman. Not only is “Spencer’’ an incredible film, but it also positively impacts Hollywood with LGBTQ+ representation and discussion of mental health. If you enjoy uncanny skill in performance, thoughtful character development, and an exploration of British royal history, I highly recommend you check out this movie.

March 2022

Entertainment

Page 15

Kanye West’s 10th album brings baggage

by Arden Glad

Kanye West brings the controversy in his latest album “Donda.” Photo Credit: Kanye West

Whether it’s in a car, at home, or before an afternoon run, Kanye West’s latest release “Donda” has been streamed over one billion times since it’s release on August 29, 2021.

Named after his late mother Dr. Donda C, West has outdone himself yet again with this album, his fastest growing to date.

The first song on the album was a chant

Ye’s late mothers name sung by Syleena Johnson. West’s mother had unfortunately passed away due to heart failure on November 5, 2007. People who did not fully understand the backstory behind the song made jokes about it, thinking that because Kanye is such a spontaneous writer, it was a song with no meaning. This couldn’t be any further from the truth.

The album itself came to life as West stayed in the Mercedes Benz Stadium in a windowless room to write his ideas and create his music. His dedication to this album is something to think about. Would you stay in a small box room for weeks to finish a final project for school? One thing for sure is that Kanye West is a marketing genius by sending out minimum clues for when this album was going to be released.

Kanye held three listening events in two of the biggest arenas in the country, then showed up late to his own listening party. He charged 50 dollars for chicken tenders and then frolicked about and did push-ups across the stage. Many people were upset about this because of the misleading information Kanye put out while promoting “Donda.” When the album finally dropped, however, it did not

disappoint.

Of the 32 songs on the deluxe album, six are top hits, including “Hurricane,’’ “Moon,” “Off The Grid.’’ The deep and engaging album gives listeners a chance to sit down and hear what Kanye West has to say about topics such as divorce, family, and faith.

“When I first listened to the album, I thought it was awful, ‘’ senior Madison Trout said, “[but] as I sat down and listened to some of the lyrics, I knew I had to add this to my playlist.”

Many other students at Southern Lehigh had similar feelings.

“The way Kanye was so chaotically organized in this album said a lot about who he is as a writer,” senior Christian Pickell said.

I couldn’t agree more.

A personal favorite from the album would be “Pure Souls,” a song with a softer, uplifting tone. In this particular song, being spiritually aware, West states “Jesus saved my soul.”

My overall rating for this album would be a 9/10 with no major flaws. I think Kanye did a great job delivering the message of love being used as a force that moves everything forward and into a new phase. Who knows what he will do next?

Taylor Swift’s Re-release of her iconic 2012 album ‘Red’ takes Swifties back in time

by Elizabeth Monroe

“Red” is the second album Swift has re-recorded. Photo Credit: Republic

Taylor Swift’s 2012 album, “Red,” was groundbreaking for the music industry, consisting of country pop as well as indie rock and folk music. The diversity in her fourth album provided something for just about everyone to enjoy.

In November 2021, Swift took her fans back to the 2010s with a re-release of the album, along with nine previously unreleased songs titled “From the Vault.” The atmospheric re-release brought listeners back to memories of almost a decade ago.

The music is full of passion, voice, and emotion, an album not only full of amazing music but clever lyrics as well. Swift’s intelligent

writing skills are very apparent even if you’re just listening to her songs without paying attention to the lyrics. This album is perfect for those who’ve gone through some sort of loss or heartbreak, or those who haven’t but still enjoy the genre.

“I’ve always said that the world is a different place for the heartbroken,” Swift said in a post on Instagram. “Musically and lyrically, ‘Red’ resembled a heartbroken person. It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together in the end.”

But why re-record the album if the story she wanted to tell was already told nine years ago?

According to a CNN interview with Taylor Swift and Frank Pallota, having full ownership of her work was very important to her. Her original release of “Red” was under legal and contractual accordance. In short, she doesn’t legally own the music from the original album, which is why the re-release legally belonging to her is so significant.

“Artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really knows that body of work,” Swift said in the interview.

Along with the republished album came a short film for her new song, “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version).” The film stars Sadie Sink, to represent Taylor’s younger self, along with Dylan O’Brien as the significant other. A perfect song playing behind amazing acting presents a very realistic idea of an unhappy relationship. Although Swift hasn’t

officially confirmed it, many fans believe the film was based on her brief relationship with actor Jake Gyllenhaal in 2010.

According to Billboard, “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” is her highest charting song in the vault with an outstanding 54.4 million streams. The ten-minute version of the song is also the longest song to ever reach the Hot 100.

Spotify stated that the re-release is the moststreamed album in a day by a female on their platform reaching over 90.8 million streams just on the first day of release — incredibly impressive.

Even with a lengthy song such as “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version),” the lyrical content provides such depth and meaning that it doesn’t get boring. Lyrics such as “And you call me up again just to break me like a promise / So casually cruel in the name of bein’ honest,” and, “You kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath’’ are both memorable and clever.

A plethora of Swift’s old music being reworked is a gift not only to herself, but to her listeners. Being able to bring back what she wrote a decade ago and modernizing it for a new generation is a great work of dedication.

In her speech at the “All Too Well: The Short Film” premiere, Swift said: “It’s a real celebration between [the fans and I] because we’ve been like this (crosses her fingers) for a long time, and I love honoring that, and I’m so happy they’re having fun.”

Are you interested in contributing an entertainment review to the Spotlight?

Talk to an editor or contact Mrs. Spritzer in Room 122 for more information!

The Spotlight

Page 16

March 2022

Humans of Southern Lehigh “Younger me would be so proud [of me now]. She has been through so much, and it’s crazy to think I got where I’m not all by myself. Younger me would be looking at me with a smile because she did everything she said she would.”

- Arden Glad, Senior

“I think younger me would be proud of myself now because I have really great friends who support me with everything I do and I have accomplished the goal I have had since I was 10 years old of being a D1 athlete. Just growing up and learning new things excites me about life”

“I am most proud of getting a couple scholerahips for violin and winning the spelling bee both years in middle school... my goal is to get first chair in orchestra.”

- Shriya Chitta, Freshman

“Making a good rep for yourself is how you can survive in school.”

- Luke Fisher, sophomore

- Riley Macintosh, Senior

“Even in the a really difficult, challenging time, that’s often where there’s opportunity for the most personal growth to happen. I also think knowing who you are and being comfortable with who you are is important.”

- Mrs, Kristen Stepanczuk, School Counselor

“In life I want to wake up every day knowing that there is going to be a new challenge and a new opportunity. I don’t just want to go to work, come home, and do it all over again. I want to wake up and know something unexpected is going to happen and be excited for it, because life is more than just survival.”

- Janvi Patel, Freshman