The Northwest Passage: Volume 55, Issue 4

NW PASSAGE ISSUE 4

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

VOLUME 55

COVER YOUR EYES STAFF EDITORIAL p. 3

WAR FOR HOME A war against Hamas has been officially declared p. 13

BREATHE

AGAIN

p. 10-11 Senior Courtney Allison’s journey with cancer has made her who she is today

NW PASSAGE Issue 4 November 2nd, 2023 Vol. 55

TABLE OF CONTENTS 03 COVER YOUR EYES 04 COLUMNS 07 COACH SPIDEY 08 FNAF REVIEW 09 NO BAD DAYS 10 BREATH AGAIN 13 WAR FOR A HOME 14 MONTH IN PHOTOS

OUR PASSAGE

The purpose of the Northwest Passage is to relay important and interesting information to the community, administration and students of the Shawnee Mission Northwest High School.

As a news magazine, the Northwest Passage will cater to the interests and concerns of the student body. Outside concerns and activities will only be covered if they somehow affect the school or students.

The Northwest Passage is a news magazine. The paper will be distributed monthly. Subscriptions will be available to the community for $25.

The Northwest Passage firmly supports the First Amendment and opposes censorship. The

content of the newspaper will be determined and created by the entire staff. When questions concerning word choice, legal problems or ethics arise, the editorial board and adviser will discuss the problem to find the solution. In these cases, the editor-in-chief and editorial board will have the power to make the final decision.

Letters to the editor will be accepted and encouraged. The staff reserves the right to edit for grammatical mistakes, length and good taste.

Letters may attack policy but not people. In no way will ideas or viewpoints be changed. The editor-inchief and editorial board reserve the right to refuse any letter.

PUBLICATION OVERSIGHT Editor-In-Chief

Izak Zeller

CONTENT MANAGEMENT Copy Editor Design Editor Photo Editor Photo Editor co-Social Media manager co-Social Media manager

Sofia Ball Greta Grist Ashley Broils Kara Simpson Ashley Broils Bella Alvarado

WRITERS

DESIGNERS

Grace Rau Zia Carter Emma Wycoff Jesus Lara Rivera

Bella Alvarado Kennedy Woolf Stella Miyares Will Fandel

ADVISER

Chris Heady

Photo by Kara Simpson

@smnwdotcom

COVER YOUR EYES NW Passage

opinion | 03

Horror movies shouldn’t be shown to young children because it can have lasting consequences.

Picture this: you’re a child sitting on your couch and you see your favorite character from the book your mom reads to you before bed on the TV screen. Winnie the Pooh, but bloodied and deranged. You’re not sure what you’re seeing, you’re not sure if it’s real or fake, you don’t know what to believe. All you can do is run up to your room and hide under your covers.

Films rooted in childhood nostalgia with a dark twist have become more and more common as years go by. “The Shining” is a classic example of using nostalgia and innocence to amplify the scare factor, but it might have done the opposite, making it more appealing to kids.

“The Shining” showcases iconic shots several of which feature children, two twin girls who are eerily identical, and a young boy riding a tricycle in a hallway. Although wooden blocks and creepy dolls may be unsettling to adults, kids don’t know the difference between their playroom toys and “Annabelle,” until they watch more of the trailer than they should.

Kids have trouble differentiating between reality and fantasy, and the earlier you show them horror movies with violence or gore the more blurry the lines get between the two, confusing the adolescent more and more.

Pulse TMS, an organization who invented their titular treatment that can reduce symptoms of mental illness, argues that “young children may need to avoid these films altogether until they develop the cognitive capacity to recognize them as being make-believe.” This further proves that children shouldn’t be shown graphic media until they understand that it can’t physically hurt them.

If the child is exposed to violence and horror films too young it can set them up for anxiety later in life. A study performed

by Joanne Cantor, who was a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, discovered that there is long lasting trauma and effects of being exposed

to horror too young, “ninety percent of the study’s participants (more than 150 college students at Michigan and Wisconsin) reported a media fright reaction from childhood or adolescence. Moreover, about 26 percent still experience ‘residual anxiety’ today.” The genre can also cause children to be affected by aggressive behaviors and poor sleeping habits.

In a study done by Dr. Dyhan Singh, an assistant professor at the Govt. PG College Dharamshala, data shows that of children who have witnessed a graphic scene in a horror movie, 89% of the time it has resulted in a fear of the dark. Changes in behavior happens in 21% of kids who have watched said movies, behaviors such as self endangering and aggressive habits. Out of the children who were surveyed, 35% said that they don’t sleep well for several nights.

In some cases horror movies can be beneficial to a child’s emotions. It can

make them tougher or if a child has developed a specific phobia, it’s easier to face that aversion through a horror film and behind the safety of a screen.

According to Dr.Margee Kerr, a sociologist and author who conducts research on fear, “The popularity of these experiences reflects the public’s desire to be thrilled — but only as long as these thrills are safely framed as entertainment.” Small doses of fear in youth can build a tolerance for it, but only if they are given the time to manage and process the distress.

Very few horror movies

THE VOTE

9/3/0 agree

disagree

abstain

are short enough to allow for that processing period, or tame enough to keep their panic manageable, which is why it’s ideal to avoid the possibility of that turmoil in the first place.

However some aspects of the brutal genre are unavoidable.

Halloween just passed, but advertisements of the newest scares still take to the screen, even on children’s channels. The age ratings of movies are sometimes understated, and most parents don’t have time to watch it by themselves to make sure it’s appropriate. “Where The Wild Things Are”, a movie based on a children’s book, is rated PG to target the original audience. So children are left to reap the

consequences, while big corporations splatter gorey images wherever they can, no matter who watches.

If production companies exaggerate instead of downplay what is portrayed on screen, parents could safely assume that the entertainment is safe for their child, and they will remain unaffected by graphic imagery.

Films such as Jaws, the gorey cult classic that even adults get squeamish about, is rated PG. The trailer paints a graphic picture of a boy being eaten, all that’s left is a yellow raft with blood dying the surrounding water. Unskippable trailers presenting gorey images leaves kids covering their eyes in hopes that they forget about the scene before their next trip to the beach.

While it might be hard to protect young kids from the relentless brutality in the media individually, it’s worth it to take measures to prevent any disturbance to a child.

design by Greta Grist A staff editorial is an opinion piece crafted by a single writer and voted on by the entire staff of the NW Passage. It is not an unbiased news article, but an opinion piece tackling a major issue. Here is how the NW Passage voted on this editorial.

BUTTERFLY 04 | opinion

Nov 02, 2023

by Grace Rau design by Will Fandel

To bloom, first you must break

I stare at the math test in front of me, my eyes brimming with tears.

The equations printed on the page look like nonsense.

I don’t know the answers — and that’s never supposed to happen.

But it’s happening.

It’s real, too real, as every tick of the clock pushes me closer and closer to crying.

I naively pray my test will turn into something simpler if I stare at it long enough. Disappointingly — yet as anticipated — God does not turn my Honors Algebra 2 test into my sister’s kindergarten math worksheets. It’s too late for a miracle. If karma’s real, it’s finally come for me for all those years I never so much as glanced at my study guide.

I’m slipping, sliding, no longer at the very tip-top of my classes. I’m not satisfied. My test grades turn from A’s to B’s, and B’s mean I’m not good enough.

For the first time in my life I’m stressing about school work.

I’m sixteen and learning to study.

And I feel a little like I’m falling apart.

But I try to pick up the pieces and hold in the emotions that run through my veins like molten gold. I’m still a good student, good daughter, good sister, good friend.

At least, that’s what I tell myself as I smile and hope I mean it.

I fiddle with the eraser of my pink mechanical pencil. I can’t focus, can’t look at the unanswerable questions any longer.

Something’s going to break, I think. Deep inside I have a terrible, sinking feeling that it’s true. I could brush it off, but I know that wouldn’t be right.

Something’s going to break. And it’s going to be me.

But I don’t want to break. I want to bloom.

I want to race and twirl through fields of wildflowers.

I want to crash into piles of crisp autumn leaves and toss helicopter seeds high in the air, letting them flutter down around me. I want to turn my soul into sunlight, and to paint the world golden.

But I’m trapped here with this test in front of me instead, tears threatening to overflow. My heart aches.

Something’s going to break. And it’s going to be me.

I’m growing up, whether I like it or not. And growing up means learning.

Learning that, to bloom, first you must break.

I got 52% on that math test — the lowest test grade

I’ve ever received. I cried, but my parents told me that it wasn’t the end of the world.

Yet I kind of felt like it was.

But it wasn’t.

The next day, the sun still came up. I still went to school, and my future wasn’t shattered. I might not have felt okay, but I was. And I grew from it. I went to my teacher after class and asked for help. We talked through the assignment, and little by little I began to understand it better.

So yes, I’ll break.

But I’ll also bloom, growing from my trials and failures, coming into the person I was meant to be. I’ll break free and step out of this school in a cap and gown with my diploma in hand, four years older, wiser, and kinder than when I first stepped in.

I’ll bloom, emerging from the pressure.

Like a butterfly.

Illustrated by Grace Rau

the

NW Passage

opinion | 05

Three years ago my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer

BATTLE

In the fall of 2019, my mom constantly came home exhausted from work. Tired from the kids, as a school social worker, all she wanted to do was lie down in bed.

She denied my dad’s attempts at long conversations and retreated to her room. She attempted to sleep more through the constant interruptions from my brothers or me. She’s normally tired after work, but this was different.

She knew something was wrong.

Three years ago, my mom was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer.

Life had, for the most part, remained the same. My mom continued to go to work every day up until the surgery. She shared the news about her cancer with my school and her coworkers, so we had a lot more casserole options to choose from. Tons of parents from school offered to give my brothers and I rides home from school.

I remember walking on the track at the Lenexa Rec Center with my dad. He told me how scared he was for my mom because her surgery was soon.

He had this somber look on his face as he told me he was worried for his sweetheart. I kept walking and zoned out for a time, grasping only a few things he said. I didn’t really know what to say.

I knew that the surgery was serious, that it was deadly.

But the thought of her dying literally didn’t even cross

Smiling, freshman Emma Wyckoff and her mom, Dene’t, hold a breast cancer ribbon Oct 23 in Room 151.

Photo by Claire Reed

by Emma Wyckoff design by Will Fandel

my mind once. I wasn’t that worried about her.

It made me feel guilty.

My dad’s worried sick for her, and here I was barely paying attention.

Was I a bad person for that? A bad daughter?

As the only girl in my family, my mom and I have always done everything together. I’d run straight to her when my brothers were tickling me. We’d go to McDonald’s and drive around, talking while drinking our Dr. Peppers. Still do. She’s the only one who will listen to me go on for hours about my troubles in friendships and boy drama. I love my mom. She’s my best friend. I don’t know what I’d do without her. *** On the day of her surgery, everything became real.

I still had to go to my school and act like everything was fine. I was a fifth grader, so I played with my friends during recess like normal, probably swinging on the swing set or playing tag. My parents didn’t tell me when the surgery was, so I pushed the whole thing out of my brain so I didn’t panic. I didn’t think about it at all. I couldn’t. I’m pretty sure I prayed the whole day.

God would take care of her.

I got to see her in the hospital that evening. It was really dark there. The room was cold. One of my mom’s friends who already beat breast cancer gave her a “battle bag” for her stay in the hospital.

And that’s all that cancer was for her. Just a battle to overcome.

My mom goes back to the doctor every six months for five years to get checked to see if the cancer has come back. It hasn’t. I don’t think it ever will. But if it ever did, I know she’d just beat it again. She’s a fighter, like me.

My mom getting breast cancer was a wake up call. Before, cancer was something that I had heard about. It was like one of the scary monsters lurking under my bed. Now, it’s like I’ve seen that monster face-to-face and sent it running back to wherever it came from. And I don’t think it has the balls to come back for round two.

06 | profile

Nov 2, 2023

story by Zia Carter design by Stella Miyares

The Man, the Myth, the Legend Senior Elijah Locke doesn’t get a lot of “stage fright”. But sometimes, the hair on his arms will rise. He wonders if anyone looks at him funny, if he should just quit.

Then the words of a former coach ring in the back of his head, a reminder.

“Never give up.” he said, so Locke breathes in.

“Persevere,” he said, so Locke breathes out.

“Keep going until you can’t anymore, until you’re on the verge of collapse.”

Locke picks up his flag and adjusts his jersey.

“If you fall and never rise, you will never succeed.”

Once Coach Anthony Ybarra’s voice fades away, it is replaced with the sound of the crowd shouting the nickname everyone knows him by.

Everyone knows Coach Spidey–but do they know Elijah Locke? *** He didn’t become Spidey until his sophomore year, when he always wore a Spiderman shirt to school.

“Just four boys at a lunch table started calling me Spidey,” Locke said.

Those four boys then told their friends, who joined in on the nickname. Word spreads, until all of a sudden, everyone’s calling him Spidey.

Including everyone during football conditioning the summer before his junior year. He planned to be a wide receiver, until Coach Bo Black asked him to take the manager position for his safety. Locke has Autism, a developmental disorder that has affected him his whole life. And over the course of the summer, the team becomes like family to him.

Locke meets Coach Ybarra through a program called ‘The Move’.

Where volunteers helped high-functioning special needs kids stay active, held during the first semester of Locke’s freshman year.

Ybarra just so happens to be one of the teachers helping out with the program.

Every day Ybara helped Locke practice something new. He learned how to pitch a baseball, throw a spiral, and shoot a basketball.

During these practices, Ybarra became more than a coach to Locke, he became a mentor.

Locke can’t help but thank Coach Ybarra for that summer. For helping him out during his freshman year, every day practicing a new technique. He encouraged Locke to step out of his comfort zone, and pushed him to accomplish what he thought he couldn’t.

“He is a legend in my life, I tell stories of him,” Locke said.

Like the one time he crawled into the nurse’s office, exhausted from running and feeling the most hopeless he had ever felt, started barfing in the trash can. Breathless and drowning in the sour stench of his leftovers, he started telling Coach Ybarra: “I don’t know if I can do this, if I have what it takes.”

Coach Ybarra, holding ice to Locke’s neck, responds with a question.

“You wanna be an athlete, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

Ybarra thought for a moment, and began to encourage him with words that Locke has never forgotten. The first speech that was ever given to him.

“Never give up, keep going until you’re on the verge of collapse,” Ybarra said. “Keep going till your feet are on fire. Keep going till you can’t anymore. For when you fall, you must rise. Because if you fall and never rise, you will never succeed.”

Locke admits that he used to not believe he could do many things.

He used to constantly doubt himself and his abilities, especially because of his Autism. He was quickly ready to give up, quickly ready to lose his dedication.

Until the 2023 Prom Assembly.

Locke was expected to stand up in front of the entire school, representing Special Olympics. When he got up there, all eyes were on him. All ears were listening. Under usual circumstances, Locke would be shaking. He might stutter. He might try to back down.

Locke stood near the center of the gymnasium, holding the microphone.

“I went out there and I spoke in front of everybody,” Locke said.

“Without a twitch, without a tear, without anything. I went out there because, for the first time in my life, I felt no judgment on myself.”

Senior Elijah Locke signs senior Eli Rice’s arm Sept. 15 at SM North District Stadium. Locke is known by the nickname “Coach Spidey” at the varsity football games because he’s a student coach for the team.

“I was already nicknamed ‘Spidey’ but then I jokingly called myself ‘Coach Spidey’ to someone and it just spread everywhere,” Locke said.

“Now it’s on the back of my t-shirt.” Photo by Kara Simpson

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08| review

nov 2, 2023

FNAF REVIEW 2/5

My thoughts on the new horror film, Five Night at Freddy’s

by Emma Wyckoff design by Bella Alvarado

Are you seeing the FNAF Movie?

55%

NO

45%

YES

Five Nights at Freddy’s was a lame excuse for a horror film. This new movie was originally created as a game for elementary school kids in 2014 by Scott Cawthon, and it should’ve stayed that way.

The film stars Josh Hutcherson, who plays Mike Schmidt. He’s a security guard who provides for him and his little sister, Abby.

Mike is desperate for a job in order to keep custody of his sister, and a nightly security gig at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza lands right in his lap.

He’s originally hesitant, but he knows that he needs this job so his sister won’t fall into his greedy Aunt’s hands.

Mike has flashbacks in his dreams of his little brother, Garrett, who was taken as a young child and never seen again. But his memories become more vivid while on the job. Every night, Mike grasps onto the hope of remembering his killer’s face.

Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza stars four seemingly harmless animatronics, Freddy Fazbear, Chica, Foxy and Bonnie, but little does Mike know, they come alive after midnight. When Mike is forced to bring Abby with him, the animatronics show their likeness of the young girl. With the help of a suspicious police officer who favors the closed down restaurant, Mike must save his sister from the animatronics and who appears to be the same man who took his brother.

This movie had no suspense whatsoever. I didn’t get to enjoy the surprise of finding out the villain’s real identity. It was so obvious when someone was hiding something because they acted so painfully suspicious. It left nothing to the imagination. Other than a couple mild jumpscares, this movie wasn’t all that scary. If you want to see an actual horror film, go watch The Exorcist.

NW Passage

NO BAD

profile | 09

Addy Baker uses songwriting to express herself

DAYS

When some people have a bad day, they write about it in their journal, gossip on social media, or vent to their best friend.

But not Addy Baker. Instead, she turns her bad days into songs.

She twists negative emotions into melodies, channeling her passion and hurt into every line, every word, every chord she writes. Music is an outlet for Baker, a junior at Northwest — her voice and guitar are familiar forms of expressing herself.

Music is something comfortable for her. It always has been. When Baker was young, her dad would sing “My Girl”

by The Temptations to her as she fell asleep. The words seemed like they were written for her.

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May I guess you’d say What can make me feel this way?

My girl, my girl, my girl Talkin’ ‘bout my girl, my girl When she was three, Baker had a musical birthday card that sang “My Girl” each time she opened it. Little Baker would run about the house, opening her birthday card and listening to “My Girl” on repeat — that was, until her little sister tore it up.

“And that was also the first time I’d ever felt hatred towards somebody,” Baker said while laughing.

“My Girl” made Baker fall in love with music, and started the journey that eventually led her to write her first song in eighth grade after a friendship of her’s ended.

“I didn’t want to gossip about it, and I didn’t want to show everybody,” Baker said. “But I wanted to find an outlet for me to express that, ‘Hey, I’m hurting.’”

At the time, Baker was just starting to learn ukulele. So she poured her heart out, found ukulele chords to match, and started to write. She built her song around a chorus, and the verses told the story of her friendship falling apart.

One song led to another, and soon enough songwriting had become her passion.

“I’m proud of what I’ve written,” Baker said. “But sometimes it’s very vulnerable, very emotionally deep. And that’s hard to share with everybody because they’re seeing a part of me that I’ve kept hidden and that I only put into my music.”

When writing songs, Baker leans towards a sadder, more emotional folksy feel. Writing upbeat songs is more of a struggle.

“I’ve tried it before, but with guitar, it’s really hard to write a happy song,” she said. “Regardless, it’s very delicate.

Story by Grace Rau

Finding inspiration, junior Addy Baker writes down lyrics Oct. 25 in her room. Baker writes in her room for privacy. “My room is a safe place for me,” Baker said. “It’s where I can be vulnerable and I feel like the environment helps me be a more creative writer.” Photo by Annamarie Torres

I’ve written songs that had more happy tones or happier topics, but it’s just really hard.”

Baker usually shares her music with her family and friends. When she started making music, her younger sister Micah was the first to sing her songs. Hearing it filled Baker with pride.

“My younger sister, she’s probably my biggest supporter,” Baker said. “She’s so proud of me and I’m so proud of her. I want to be the best version of myself so she can look up to me, and she can have a good role model.”

Baker also sang original songs during the fall choir concert. Singer songwriters have been featured in choir concerts before, but it doesn’t happen every year, according to choir teacher Cassie Banion.

“It takes a rare kiddo who’s prepared enough and determined enough to do it,” Banion said. “I can tell that Addy is a really passionate person because she’s always coming with questions and ideas and energy, and she’s a really expressive singer and performer. And clearly, making music is something that gives her joy and something that brings her happiness.”

Right now, Baker isn’t sure what her future with songwriting looks like.

“It’s hard to know where I want to go at the moment, just because I can’t imagine my future,” Baker says. “Although I’m hoping I can stay consistent in writing and releasing music that helps people get through their troubles.”

So while some people journal, gossip, or vent to their friends when they have a bad day, that’s not Addy Baker.

Instead, she turns her bad days into songs.

AGAIN

Nov 2, 2023

10| profile

BREATHE

Senior Courtney Allison’s journey with cancer has made her who she is today

by Sofia Ball design by Kennedy Wolfe

Smiling, senior Courtney Allison watches her students Oct. 25 at Nieman Elementary. Allison has been coaching cheer for 2 years and teaches grades 6-8th. “[Moments I live for] are when I make a correction and I can see the students that are taking a correction and using it to get better and not immediately shutting down,” Allison said. “I feel like I’m more of a peer role model because I’m somebody closer to their age who maybe they could relate to a little more.”

October 28, 2022.

Courtney Allison woke up at 6:00 a.m., which was oddly early considering that for the first time in ages she had time to make breakfast. A Pinterest worthy piece of toast, lathered with peanut butter and honey. She had time to pin her hair just the way she liked it, and time to do her makeup, all without bothering to glance at the clock. Until she made the mistake of realizing an hour already passed.

They were supposed to leave in two minutes and the upstairs usually bustling with the commotion of zippers, bookbags and electric toothbrushes was silent. Allison anxiously texted her 14-yearold brother Tyler.

You up?

You up?

You up?

She rapped on his door, urged him out of bed and groaned as she heard the shower running minutes later.

She pulled in the student lot at precisely 7:39 a.m..

Allison had a doctor’s appointment, she was supposed to leave 10 minutes early at the end of the day. But to her surprise, she was handed a slip with the time to leave circled now, signed by the secretary.

Confused, she called her mom, who sounded off and was coming to get her now.

Her first thought was that somebody died, which was ruled out because otherwise Tyler would be there too. Stepping into her mom’s red RAV 4, the first words she heard was “you’re being admitted”. Did she mean the mental hospital? Allison was painfully confused as to what was happening.

She was confused when she stepped into the ER. She was confused when she needed a chest X-ray.

She was confused when the doctors said she couldn’t eat.

She was confused when her mom explained that had cancer.

Soon after something inside her snapped, and Allison was forced to pick up the pieces in a hospital gown, drowning in care bears, casseroles and cards sent by teachers, grandparents and kids she hadn’t talked to since the 4th grade.

That day after the E.R. appointment her mother, Andrea Allison, couldn’t face her without tearing up as she clutched the same snotty Kleenex. Slowly she got better at putting on a brave face, at making the “I’m fine’s” more realistic.

It took a while for her siblings to visit. And even then Tyler would look anywhere in the room but Allison. Piper, her 12-year-old sister, gave her a letter about how she felt was losing her sister to cancer.

And Jake, the youngest, couldn’t keep himself from making bald jokes. His favorite was about the beige beanie she often wore, asking “where’s your shell peanut?” anytime she’d take it off.

“The hardest part was when you’re hurting like that you wanna blame somebody,” Allison said. “My body was trying its best and I had to come to peace with the fact that I could be dying and I didn’t need to think about it anymore.”

Allison had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, type B. That is when Lymph Node Cells start to multiply in an abnormal way and begin to collect in certain lymph nodes. The affected lymphocytes, by causing them to lose their infection-fighting properties, make you more vulnerable to infection.

The doctors found four masses (infected lymph nodes) in Allison’s chest and upon diagnosis rushed her into surgery.

“I do remember that I was starving,” Allison said. “All I had was [breakfast] and they needed me to fast for the labs. I had to ask if I could eat and they said no, because I had a biopsy later. I was so thankful for the toast.”

The only symptoms Allison presented prior to treatment was back pain and trouble breathing. It was the chemo that made her sick.

NW Passage 11 | profile What most people don’t realize is that chemo isn’t some cure or cancer and often said things like “You are brave.” or “You can do this,” cold medicine you swallow fast to get better. Chemotherapy is so instead of “It’s gonna get better,” because she realized it was a choice. toxic that if you were to pour it on your skin you’d suffer rashes, Each day Allison attempted to pull herself out of the steep hole that burns, vomiting, dizziness, the list goes on. To Allison it felt like the was her depression. Whether this was by going to physical therapy worst flu. As if she was a juice box and some five-year-old with sticky every weekday from March to June, spending more time with Jake, hands had sucked all the fruit punch out of her. She was crabby. She “I’m not afraid to admit that he’s my favorite sibling,” or forgiving her couldn’t eat. When she wasn’t huddled over the toilet, she was curled father. in a ball watching “The Proposal.”

May 10, 2023, the doctors informed Courtney Allison that she’s in And in March 2023, Allison went into heart failure due to doxoruremission. bicin, a form of chemotherapy, also known as “the red devil”. Due to She still worries for inevitable fever to spike. its toxicity, a cardio protective medication was given just before the She still worries for her mom and her younger siblings. treatment.

She still worries that it will come back.

Soon after Allison experienced side effects. Her hands and feet “I always had to remind myself that it’s something that happens, turned purple, her resting heart rate was 130/140, her blood pressure was through the roof and she couldn’t walk 10 feet without getting out of breath. A walk down the hall was a marathon for Allison.

Within the first two months, you could see her ribs. Allison could feel the little independence she’d gained as a high school girl slipping through her finger tips.

“The second night I had to deal with my first shower,” Allison said.

“I had a pick in my arm, it was sore so I couldn’t bathe myself and I had to learn to be vulnerable with my mom. She saw me naked. She hadn’t seen me like that since I was born. You have to be comfortable with it because it’s either your mom or a nurse. So obviously I’m gonna pick my mom. I had to hit the call button to go to the bathroom. I had people making sure that I took my medicine and if I was eating. I felt like a baby.”

Andrea graduated from JCCC with her RN in 2010, she’d left her nursing job at the hospital job over four years ago. Now she works in hospice. She’d grown accustomed to the suffering, to the anxious tapping of fathers and silent tears of mothers, each asking the same questions. She found a purpose in granting patients comfort in their final moments.

But no amount of schooling, testing or case studies would prepare her for what was to come.

“I felt a lot of guilt because Courtney had all sorts of symptoms for a while and we explained them all away,” Andrea said. “That day in the doctor’s office I knew what we were looking at. Twenty five pounds of weight loss, she had no energy, she felt full even when she didn’t May 10th, photo provided by Courtney Allison. eat, she had swollen lymph glands all over her throat. Before it was tummy trouble and anxiety. I felt like I failed as a nurse mom for not not something that somebody did to me,” Allison said. coming to her sooner. She was at stage four cancer when we found Her last round of chemo was over five months ago. her.”

Now, Allison is a Spirit Club rep, assistant coaches cheer, picks up Andrea dropped everything. She was there to watch “The Princess trash after football games and lab aids for Athletic Director Angelo and the Pauper” and read Allison the Amelia Bedelia books.

Giacolone, one of her biggest supporters.

She left her job, her own mother practically moved in the day she Allison has hopes of becoming a teacher, because maybe then one got the call. She witnessed Allison’s room convert to a junkyard and less kid will cry over fractions, maybe then one less kid will drop out, sat with the fear of her daughter losing the spark she once carried. maybe then one less kid will feel alone in their struggles.

Never before had she missed a game of Tyler’s or one of the million “I don’t wish it never happened,” Allison said, “I’ve gone through sports Piper played, now she missed many. a rough experience I almost came out of it with more empathy than “One of my good friends from high school, her daughter, had the going in. At PT I saw kids who couldn’t walk there, kids in the waiting same cancer two years prior in 2020,” Andrea said. “She recovered. room that were way younger than me. A kid came in from the system Ainsley had it her senior year as well. It was nice to see someone make with foster parents.” it to the other side. I knew that the cure rate after the first six months May 10, 2023, Allison walks the halls of Children’s Mercy hospital, of treatment was 90 percent.” a row of nurses greet her with applause. She rings the cancer bell, It gave her hope. reverberating against the linoleum flooring.

Meanwhile, Allison began to live through her siblings, wishing the “I feel like I can breathe again.” annoyance of every other person she stumbled across say “I’ll pray for you.” or “everything’s gonna be alright.” would fizz out.

She’d listen to her brother and his girlfriend giggle in the kitchen as they made funnel cakes or listen intently to Piper’s 6th grade drama.

She craved normalcy.

She tried going back to school, which didn’t work out initially and started making her bed, and floor somewhat visible.

Allison became closest with her Aunt who recovered from breast

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story by Jesus Lara Rivera design by Stella Miyares

FOR A HOME A war against Hamas has been officially declared On Oct. 7, 2023, Israel declared war on Hamas, a terrorist group, after Hamas bombed and stormed the walls that were built around the Gaza Strip. Hamas raided villages, homes, and even a music festival in Israel. During their attack, Hamas took more than 100 hostages, at least ten of them are Americans, and the numbers have risen to more than 200 in the last couple weeks.

On Oct. 20, two American hostages were released, their names are Judith and Natalie Raanan. In retaliation for these attacks, Israel responded with airstrikes over the last couple weeks throughout the Gaza Strip where Hamas is said to be operating.

Israel’s airstrikes have brought down entire residential areas.

According to a poll done by NPR, PBS, Newshour and Marist National, 48% of American Millennials and Gen Z support Israel, 40% are neutral and 12% criticize Israel. Older generations have been more openly supporting Israel, about 83% of Baby Boomers support them, 14% are neutral and 3% criticize Israel.

“War is just indiscriminate,” Daniah Hammouda, English teacher and Palestinian, said. “A lot of the people who have died in this specific war right now, are children.”

The Israeli government — in order to get the hostages that were taken during the attack — shut off Gaza’s supply of water and electricity after declaring war, in hopes that Hamas would give back the hostages.

Israel’s acts have been condemned by much of the international community, countries like Jordan and Egypt. While countries like France, Germany, and the U.S. have condemned the acts of Hamas.

“Hamas and Palestine are separate entities,” Tad Lambert, a member of BBYO (A Jewish Teen Organization), said. “Hamas is a terrorist group, Palestine is a group of people.”

President Joe Biden on Oct. 18, 2023, made a wartime trip to Israel where he would talk with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urged Israel and Egypt to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, he also made a promise to provide $100 Million in

aid to the Palestinian people. Congress has still not provided funding for this. The next day after his visit President Biden would make a 15 minute long broadcast inside of the Oval office.

“History has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror.” President Biden said. “When dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going, and the cost and the threats to America and the world keep rising.”

This war is one of many in the last 80 years between Israel and Palestine. Israel was made into a Jewish state by the United

“In a world full of hate, don’t be the person that makes the issue worse. Be the person that brings the peace,” - Tad Lambert

Kingdom, who shortly after WWII gave the land to the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. That state that had already been promised to the Palistinians for their support against the Ottoman Empire during WWI. Ever since then, there have been dozens of wars to gain that land back.

“Both Jews and Palestinians have had claims to that land at different times,” Lambert said. “They both believe that they should get it.”

Many Palestinian’s have spoken out against the extreme measures Hamas has taken. Many Israelis have spoken out as well, criticizing their government for the way they are treating the Palestinian people.

“A lot of people keep referring to it as a conflict. We have never seen it as a conflict.” Hammouda said. “We see it as an

occupation. We see it as settler colonialism, I see it as a humanitarian conflict.”

This war overseas has been particularly traumatic for those with close ties to the area like Lambert and Hammouda.

“I saw a video of this man holding his dead baby. The buildings all around him are exploding and people are screaming. But nobody cares if it’s not their baby. Nobody cares if it’s not their baby,” Hammouda said. “But why are we like that? As human nature, why do we only care when it’s our baby? Why don’t we care when the injustice is happening to other people?

Because injustice is a bouncing ball. Today it’s me, tomorrow it can be you. Your freedom is wrapped up in my freedom, so collectively we need to care about this.

But unfortunately, we as Americans are conditioned to think that only we matter.

And only our life matters. But when people are dying overseas, it’s okay, it’s fine, they deserve it. It’s their fault for living there.

According to CNBC, more than 4,300 people have died in Gaza and 13,500 people have been injured since the war began on Oct. 7.

“I’ve seen a lot of stuff online,” Lambert said. “I’ve had to take a few breaks from social media, because one, it’s so hard to go and watch these innocent Palestinian and Jewish lives brutally killed. But it’s also hard to watch the general public’s reaction to it. To see Jewish organizations make posts about the innocent lives and atrocities of both the Palestinian and Jewish people.

Hamas is killing innocent Palestinians too, and then having people just flood the comments being like, they’re getting what they deserve, free Palestine, Israel had it coming. It’s just hard.”

The war has caused death and destruction to rain over Gaza and Israel, innocent men, women, and children are being killed everyday as the clash between Hamas and Israel goes on.

“In a world full of hate, don’t be the person that makes the issue worse. Be the person that brings the peace,” Lambert said.

14 | month in photos

MONTH IN

1. Junior Alex Navarro kicks the ball Oct. 5 at CBAC. The cougars lost to the hawks 1-3. Photo by Addison Griswold 1.

2. Sticks in the air, junior Easton Volk performs at the Light Show performance Oct. 13 at SM North District Stadium. Each person in drumline wears matching mask/face covering according to their section. “[We] thought the Mohawks were the best option because our show is Metallica themed, and we knew they would stick out,” Volk said. “I’d say it was a major success.”

Photo by Ashley Broils 2.

Freshman Beatrix Sears draws with chalk Oct. 5 by the Northwest entrance. Sears was drawing Koromaru, a character from the game, Persona 3. “[Koromaru is] very close to my heart and has helped me with my depression and anxiety,” Sears said. “So I thought it’d be fitting in the sense that you were supposed to write nice messages.”

Photo by Haylee Bell 3.

3. Running a 5k, senior Kenold Dexantus finishes his race Oct. 14 at Rim Rock Farm. His time was 19:54. “It has to be my teammates [that keep me motivated,]” Dexantus said. “It can feel lonely at times when you hear others being cheered on.”

Photo by Andie Berg 4. Senior Adam Vogel sings at the Fall Choir Concert Oct. 3 in the Greg Parker Auditorium. Vogel sang “Nobody Likes the Opening Band,” by Dallon Weeks. “I chose [this song] because it’s similar to how I feel doing music,” Vogel said.

“Music is like a sport that you have to put so much time into it, but it’s not recognized schoolwide.” Photo by Ashley Broils

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6. On cheer senior night, Senior Natalia Ramirez receives her first initial decorated Oct. 13 at the SM North District Stadium. It is a tradition for the juniors on cheer to secretly choose a senior to decorate their first intinal and on senior night it is revealed. “In the moment I was so excited to see that [Junior] Nina [Hussaini] decorated my letter because her and I are so similar and she made my letter beautiful,” Ramirez said.

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5. Sophomore Traimyre Woodruff passes the ball to sophomore Cyrus Jackson Oct. 6 at ODAC. The cougars lost to the falcons 0-51. Photo by Addison Griswold

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I felt very proud of the whole group for such a great season. - sophomore Collier Rule

Playing the snare drum, sophomore Collier Rule performs for the crowd Oct. 13 at SM North District Stadium. Rule is performing at the Anual Light Show. Photo by Ashley Broils

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