The InvestiGator

May 2019

investigator

the

Vol. 28, Issue 5

THIS IS LIFE SEE PAGES 08-09

reen NV Kids &Sings Coupons

teachers use their academic badges in order to avoid breaking the bank pdentsAandStorm 2280 S Jones Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89146

discount for the Cirque du Soleil composer, Diek Sher(702)acappella 948-4999 on. show, ‘Mysteré’,” Brown said. coolbeen experience.

If“It’s you ahave waiting toYou see en NV, an acappella group, ost students do Reiki not real-Treatments meet a lot of different people. a new movie, you are also in luck. w twist on the movie ize that there are “Pitch many Chakra Balancing In choir, it is all also about perfect Local businesses offer dist.” student and teacher disvowels, but in Green NV, there’s een NV is our acappella s available here in Vibroacoustic the ValSound . We sing covers of different Therapy but are without instruhows yourany thing and .ant It’stojust pure voices.

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By Madison Cox y Gabriella Ghasserani

cash, then head on down and this Sophomore year, I’m co-stue Strip.

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OFFor people, and new group growing that bond with them.

counts to student and teachers.

Freshman Delaney Domingo MollyatMartin jumps the chance to gain a discount at the movies.

“If you show You up to thea larger ticket more free reign. have booth at the movie theaters with selection of songs that more peoID you can get 15% at a movie ple know and listen to, so it’s nice of your choice,” said. to see other peopleDomingo get excited to “You have to go to school all day hear us,” senior Anna McGovern so it’s nice to get a discount to said.

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sponsibility to ensure pitches do not fall flat.

For most, singing is not the only benefit and reason for joining these groups. Many groups 10% are tight knit and filled with the OFF same people every year, but invite new freshmen to join their groups make memories that Deals and are also offered at a lot of last after places. high school. different “I’m excited to sing with new Subway, Burger King, andaTaco group of people and growing Bell all offer students 10%that off bond withpurchases. them. Acappella so on their Urban is Outdifferent from choir,” freshman fitters, topshop, and Charlotte Molly Martin said. “If you look at Russe also offer 10% off for those the two side-by-side, they are on showing a student ID. two completely different sides of Different discounts and barsinging. I’m excited to have those gains seem to when be offered everycool moments you are just where, from clothing stores to in sync with everyone.” world famous shows on the Las Green NV implements music acappella groups and are workVegas Strip. into the lives of many and brings ing to gain recognition for their Before online students paying, together.check While a lot or of talent and hard work.

The Las Vegas Disc Golf Club is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of the ask if student discounts are ofMost groups are self-taught, work is required , students con15% sport of Disc Golf. Our mission includes developing and maintaining disc golf courses, holdfered.

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Sport of Disc Golf, as put forth by participants the PDGA. Regular events include a on monthly end up saving youlearn this weekend. to their leading other Each in“BagTag” event on the first Saturday of the month, alternating between Sunset park and dividual singer has and their own reown.

Mountain Crest Park, monthly tournaments, both PDGA sanctioned and non-sanctioned,

pects of acapella is following the beat, which is the expertise of the vocal percussionist. The main help us out and it gives students priority in acapella is to replicate the chance to have fun.” noises of certain instruments and toTeachers help create thealso same effect spethat can receive instruments would cial discounts.

Mathgive. teacher Kel“This is has my had first the year in Green ly Wagner opportuniNVtobut I was in an acappella ty do so.

Wagner talked about group two teacher years in middle why shefor thinks discounts school,” freshman Ava Danko are so helpful. said.

“I’m excited “I use the very chance to get for 15% the off songs we are doing this year, beat Michaels and JOANN fabrics,” cause [Green is so different.

Wagner said. NV] “I spend so much The sound depends on you, money on my classroom that itthe is music and vowels fall on you. If nice to save 15%, which can add you mess up slightly you could up to hundreds of dollars worth ruin an entire song.” of savings for myself and my High schools around the nakids.” tion have started contemporary

9/20/16 11:23 PM

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News

5

animated

Anime club brings together enthusiatic fans

Feature

10 high standards A look at the fairness of standardized tests

11 iced coffee?

Students working at coffee chain Dutch Bros reflect

Sports

13 splashing in

A highlight of this year’s dive team

on the cover Vol. 28, Issue 5

May 2019

investigator

the

insideissue this

THIS IS LIFE SEE PAGES 08-09

A&E

18 sucker

Discussing the difficulties students who have Type-1 diabetes face in their everyday lives.

Reflecting on the come back of the Jonas Brothers

Opinion

26 woman up

Breaking gender sterotypes and stigmas in sports

Victoria Rodriguez Alexandra Estrada

Editorial

27 goodbye

Saying farewell to the school year

Brynne Hilton

Hailey Gross

pg. pg. 16 5

Editors’ Note

pg. 16 It’s a group effort, I have a lot of my student aids choreograph along with my dance team girls.

-Coach Harrison

With the year coming to a close, we are eager to present our final issue of the 2018-2019 school year. In this issue, we bring you an array of stories highlighting the students that walk these halls and there plights as we perservere through this last quarter.

In our news section, we look at what alumni have in store for donations to the school, as well as put the spotlight on a prom dress donatioon program. In our features , we take a look at a student who does MMA fighting. Our sports sections covers everything from the dance program’s recent showcase to the 2019 dive team. We feature some of the latest album drops in our entertainment section, including the impending album to come from the Jonas Brothers’ comeback. We close out this issue in the opinions section with comical takes on your weirdest food combination and a more serious look at the detriments of the anti-vax movement.

As you turn the pages through this issue, know that the Investigator staff wishes you well for the summer and cannot wait to continue writing your stories.

04 news

The news in brief.

Sweet Summer Opportunities for Students

T

By Diana Brown

owards the end of the school year plenty of high school students are on the hunt for summer jobs. In Las Vegas, it is common for high school students to train and become lifeguards at local hotels, resorts, rec centers or water parks.

Being a lifeguard for the summer requires dedication and it is a challenging job to acquire. Getting the job entails intense training that prepares its workers for any situation that may occur during their shift. Lifeguarding for the summer will teach students lifelong skills that will help them for future jobs. Summer jobs put students in tough situations that will help them develop decision making skills along with teaching them significantresponsibility.

Lifeguarding isn’t for everyone, as it requires workers to have very spunky and upbeat personalities making it easy for coworkers to make lifelong friends and enjoy their work environment.

“Last summer I worked as a lifeguard at Cowabunga Bay and this summer I will be working at the Luxor as a lifeguard,” junior Cammie Kuck said.

“Getting a summer job requires commitment and comes with rewarding factors when you show up and do your best.”

During the summer restaurants and fast food places are always looking for new people to hire. There are many different positions while working in the food industry; some of the positions are front register, drive-through, cook, server, and busser. Each individual position allow students to learn a new skill that they will benefit from. These positions will teach students how to work well in a fast-paced environment along with teaching them responsibilities and how to work with others.

Working in the food industry means making tips, if students want tips they will need to develop social skills that will make each and every customer’s experience amazing. This means adapting to a every customers needs to develop

incredible communication skills. Workers are put into stressful situations during almost every shift so learning time management and multitasking is key to being a successful worker in any position. Students will find that working in the food industry for the summer will teach them skills that will benefit them

Last summer, I worked as a lifeguard at Cowabunga Bay. Cammie Kuck in college and future jobs.

Working during the summer may be dreadful for students who have an ambition to begin work for their future career but it will be beneficial. It prepares students for future jobs and improves their academics.

Turf’s Up!

By Zachary Schauer Recently, Green Valley High School has built two new features to the school within a single school year. The football scoreboard and the new wrestling room. But, a new project is underway, the plan to put artificial grass (turf) on the football field.

“It’s an improvement to make us feel and play better,” sophomore Will Rodriguez said.

The project is estimated to be $1,070,000, but the school currently only has $214,000. The school needs $856,000 until they can start putting the turf on the field according to the school’s website.

However, most of the money is coming from the Alumni Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit and is eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

But who ever contributes money in for the project, the school will give those people the naming rights. The field won’t be just for the school it will be used for more.

The new edition to the field will be used for “hosting youth league sports and tournaments and even for outside

The InvestiGator t GVHS

entities desiring to use our facilities for profit,” according to the GVHS website.

“It makes the football field look cooler saves water, and wont dip the field,” freshman Benson Neilson said.

Also, the field will not use water. Because the main issue with this football field we have today is that we either over water it or under water it. So, this new edition will save the school some money while also keeping the field green.

Adding artificial grass to the football field will bring more attention to the school in addition to more profit as well.

The school can possibly put the sponsors behind the sideline on the turf so it’s in front of all the spectators when they watch the games. That way more sponsors can be seen by the spectators. Sponsors can purchase advertising from the school to be posted on the football field during the season.

Adding the turf will catch a lot of eyes from in and outside of the school and will bring in extra money that the district cannot give to GVHS. Overall, the addition of the turf is a win-win situation for both the teams who play on the field and for the school’s profits.

One of the best summer jobs a student can have is working in retail. Almost every job requires excellent customer service and it is the most valuable skill gained while working in retail. This will benefit students for future job opportunities because having experience in dealing with customer complaints shows that a student is well managed in their communication and problem solving skills.

Another valuable skill learned while working a summer job at a retail store is paying attention to detail. The jobs students will have while working in retail are inventory, stocking, customer service or operating a cash register.

Working in retail also gives teens a wide variety of places they can apply at such as shoe stores, clothing stores or convenience stores.

Overall, the skills learned at summer and other part-time jobs help students prepare for their future careers in any field. From working in fast food to retail, each job has important aspects that begins to shape young adults.

Snow Days Off

S

By Hailey Gross

now days in Vegas are just as rare like a four leaf clover. It is fair to say that memories can be made on these rare occasions especially when they only come around every ten years.

Unfortunately students that got the day off for, “snow,” have to make it up on a day down the road due to the school year due to the CCSD policy stating.

Senior Katelynn Roderick was one of the many seniors that were not happy about the make up snow day.

“I don't think we should have to make up a snow day because it that wasn’t really a snow day.” Rodrick said.

Besides the fact that students have to make up the day, the advantages from the snow day override the disadvantages.

Students were not the only ones at GV who were lucky enough to enjoy the day off. Support Staff Mrs. Rosie was one of the few staff members that did not have to come in.

“Seeing as how the business were still open because it wasn’t snowing outside, I was able to get a lot done in one day because I got to stay home.”

Mrs. Rosie said.

Seeing as most of administration in CCSD got the day off, it was smart to take advantage of the fact that businesses and stores being open to get any errands done that staff wouldn't normally be able to.

“I think they could have utilized a better day for the students to make up on instead of the day right after spring break. The staff that had the day off has to make it up on a different day, but that will is still being determined.

Senior Serena Robbins wasn’t the only senior who was frustrated with the snow day set back.

“My plans didn't change drastically from moving the snow day to the day after spring break,” Robbins said, “I was little disappointed when they changed the snow day because I was supposed to go out of town with some friends, but I’m glad I get to see my other friends sooner back at school.”

Seeing as most seniors were supposed to take the day off after spring break, is it not surprising that there was an overwhelming feeling of dread as students were made to come into school the day after spring break.

news 05

GV students give back through Project 150

By Gabriella Ghasserani With prom season approaching and prom dresses being so expensive Interact Club was able to help girls and guys find dresses and tuxes along with other prom accessories through a charity called Project 150. This is the first year that Interact Club is helping in this city wide event. Project 150 is an organization where members of the community can donate clothes ,food, backpacks, and other items to help out the less fortunate. Students can donate new or gently used dresses/ tuxes or accessories to Interact Club so the club can donate these items to help students who cannot afford luxuries for prom.

Project 150 took place on Mar., 16 and students could shop for free using their student ID card. This year

Green Valley helped to fundraise more then they thought they would. “ I don’t recall the numbers , but we delivered four big boxes to our Green Valley Rotaty partners,” Fabiola Gutierrez.

“We didn’t have a set goal of how many items we wanted we just wanted people to give back to the community and become involved in a school event. This is a really good way to help out the less fortunate and to hopefully next year we will be able to fundraise a lot more,” senior Amal Berhan said .

“To us it meant a lot that so many students helped to donate items to help other students to look nice atprom and help them to have a fun night. I donated some heels and dress or two

and some makeup.

Most girls brought in dresses or heels and most guys brought in tuxes and we ended up with more than we thought we were going to get it being our first year,” sophomore Savannah Vincent said.

Berham is the President of Interact Club and is very proud of everyone who helped, especially Vincent and junior Gages Curry.

Different members of Interact club are in charge of different areas. Vincent and Curry were put in charge of this event.

“Curry and I decided the days of the week of when to collect, how to promote it, what we wanted to collect, and we made all the signs. Curry and I would use our lunch to make posters and we would have to leave classes

early so we had time to get everything done,” Vincent said. “We put it on GVTV and we asked teachers to give out extra credit so I think that really encouraged students to give back.”

“The cool thing about this project is that Project 150 gives back in donations to the schools that helped to make the event possible. They will also announce a winner of which school fundraised the most stuff and I think we have a good chance of winning,” Berhan said.

“Helping fellow students with items that we can part ways with, and help them meet their basic needs in order for them to concentrate on their academics is what being kind is about. It means a lot to me that my students were eager to help other students in need,” Gutierrez said.

I challenge you, to join Anime Club

By Hannah Serquina

Anime is a style of Japanese film and television animation, that is enjoyed by all ages. It wasn’t too long ago that it was considered weird for someone to read comics or play video games. These activities were usually for the “social outcasts” of previous generations. Nowadays, anime is rising in popularity. Everyday Thursday, in room 924, a group of individuals gather to share a love for anime and talk about certain aspects of anime that they love.

Teacher, Adam Prezbindowski is the advisor of Anime Club. He bares witness to the talented artists within the club.

“There are a lot of great artists who can draw anime in the Anime club. We meet Thursdays immediately after school,” Prezbindowski said.

President of the club, junior Hunter Delaney, enjoys coming in after school on Thursdays to take part

in Anime activities. Anime Club is is a place where Delaney can discuss anime with her friends and have an enjoyable time.

“I love the club. I love just being there and being with all my friends.We play games like hangman and pictionary and relate it to anime, ” Delaney said. “We also play guess the theme song. We play theme songs like Unravel from Tokyo drool. We mainly watch animes and have fun.”

Anime has become increasingly popular because of its ability to relate to teenagers and their everyday life. Not only that, students can often relate to certain characters like The Disastrous Life of Saiki K, which follows the story of a young boy going through life

in high school. Essentially, anime is relatable to the lives of students and is demonstrated through a creative way in Japanese controversial.

“I think anime is becoming popular because of the ways they are making it.

Teenagers find it intriguing because it relates to their lives or something they want to imagine and think of. They make

some anime about high school. Just like this one anime Saiki K. It’s based on a student in high school who’s dealing with stuff,” Delaney said.

Junior, Leila Page talks about the rise in popularity of Anime due to the fact that it is accessible in places like Netflix.

“I think anime is becoming popular because it’s more available. Like in other places like Netflix,” Page said.

Junior, Leila Page enjoys coming to Anime Club and recommends that people go because of the inviting environment. Page is able to share a common interest of Anime with others and she enjoys doing so.

“My favorite part about Anime Club is being able to hang around other people who like Anime as much as I do,” Paige said. “People should come to Anime Club because it’s a nice place where you can just hang out and watch Anime with other people.”

May 2019

06 feature

Bethany Casall

R oundhouse in the H ouse The InvestiGator t GVHS

feature 07

By Bethany Casall One on one in a closed cage facing an opponent determined to gain the upperhand to disable the competition: combat sports. A technique practiced by senior Logan Hampton outside of school. The path towards this journey began with a peer into the martial arts world. Starting off in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Hampton was able to explore his true desires; all of which led to his participation in combat sports. Alongside that, Hampton has also practiced Muay Thai, a fighting technique that originated from Thailand.

“I do MMA specifically, Mixed Martial Arts, which is a mix of boxing, kickboxing, jiu jitsu, wrestling, and judo and all of these different sports that many people specialize in, I do all of it at the same time,” Hampton said, “the most prominent in combat sports other than MMA is boxing. You only use your hands. In MMA you're allowed to kick elbow, submit, and choke” Though this may only seem all fun and games, these sports come with great patience and discipline. Similarly, it is important to note that there are set places where these fighting styles are permitted to be practiced.

“It started as a way to get into shape I used to walk around 240, 250 pounds beginning of my freshman year and I was bullied a lot about my weight and how I looked in general,”

Hampton said, “I saw a UFC gym down the street from my house and I started going there just to get in shape then the MMA coach saw me and told me to take his classes and I just fell in love with it from day one.”

With an interest in a healthy lifestyle, Hampton placed emphasis on what he loved most: MMA. In this field of interest, there are many routes that are able to be taken which furthers its credibility.

“It [MMA] is a lot more dy-

In order to get into a cage half naked fighting in front of a bunch of people, you have to be a little crazy to do it.

namic in my opinion, and a lot more where things can go wrong that can happen and to me, that makes it more interesting to me than just watching boxing,” Hampton said.

Gaining first hand insight on the various fighting styles, Hampton has ensured to practice many different types not only to figure out what works best for him but to understand all others that the people around him practice.

Watching both professional and amateur fighting is one of the key ways to learn by only observations and can help one form their own style and technique. With skill comes the understanding of how to use your strengths to slowly diminish any weaknesses that one may have.

T h e

Logan Hampton

journey isn’t easy, though, for Hampton, it has paid off. It has prepared him both physically and mentally for the rest of the journey that he is about to embark upon.

Pure dedication is what is required for Hampton to successfully proceed.

“I would 100% say it is important to me because my life revolves around it now. If i am not at work or at home or school, I am watching fights and training I am always studying other fighters.” Hampton said.

Not only being involved with this heavily demanding sport, Hampton is also a lifeguard. Using the skills he has

learned from training, it has helped him in this career.

Through the understanding of how the human body interacts with elements such as air, water and the earth, Hampton not only uses his strength to his advantage but to help others.

With training, having a job and being a full time student, Hampton ensures to balance everything to the utmost extent in order to succeed in academics and passion.

“It isn’t easy to balance with school and work. Not only for me but also very strenuous on my family as well. Having to go back and forth between my mom and my dads house, I am not off until 7:15 but I am at the gym from 7:30 to 9,” Hampton said, “from there, I go to my moms house and change then I go from my moms until 1010:15 at night on school nights regularly while I am trying to do homework and things like that and trying to pass all my classes and graduate.”

MMA is a great way to help keep fitness in one’s life and especially in Hampton’s, has paid off to achieve positive goals.

“I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is willing to try it out but you really have to want to do it. In order to get into a cage half naked fighting in front of a bunch of people you have to be a little crazy to do it. It is definitely a lot of fun and personally I think it one of the best things for people to get into.” Hampton said.

08 feature

LIVING WITH

TYPE 1

DIABETES

By Victoria Rodriguez

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas can no longer produce insulin, a hormone that helps regulate the amount of glucose in the bloodstream. Glucose is vital to the body; it is an energy source that the cells and all organs of the body use to survive. Therefore, when the pancreas stops producing insulin, it then becomes fatal to the person.

The hard part about this is the symptoms seem so normal, in a sense.

Some symptoms include: excessive thirst, weight loss, weight gain, irritability and more. The problem with these symptoms is often times when children are growing these are the same symptoms. Most cases are diagnosed at the age of 14 or below. Due to this, most of these symptoms are excused with the idea that “kids are just growing.” The biggest, most abnormal symptom is excessive urination, which is when most parents catch it in their kids. Parents will recognize something is off or wrong with their child, then take them into the doctors.

“I went to the doctor; I was in the hospital because I wasn’t feeling too hot. I was having trouble breathing and I lost a little bit of weight. My doctor had diagnosed me with bronchitis, so we went home thinking I had bronchitis. A week later I could not get out of bed, I was always sleeping, I lost 20 pounds in a week, and I could not keep anything down, so my mom was like ‘okay we need to go to the hospital now.’ On the way to the hospital, my vision blurred and I went straight into a coma. I was in the coma for four days and no one knew what was wrong with me. Finally, I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes,” senior Kimberly Halliday said.

There is no cure for type 1, but there are solutions to help people live with this kind of diabetes. Often times, the solution starts with a finger poke and glucose reader - a small pen that pokes the finger to

The InvestiGator t GVHS

push out a small amount of blood.

Then the blood is inserted into a test strip that is determining the amount of glucose in the bloodstream, telling you the blood sugar levels.

“Babies don’t like needles, they don’t like poking, they don’t like feeling bad, they don’t like any of that stuff. In the beginning there was crying, there was uncomfortable, but it was, ‘well this is what you

eryday annoyance of having to poke yourself. Instead, with the monitor, it stays inside of you and is constantly monitoring the levels, giving notifications if one is too low or too high. The monitoring systems are connected to apps so people can check their levels at the touch of their fingertips.

“I prefer the monitor way more.

Not having to poke as much is abso-

People with diabetes are not alone. It does not make us normal. But becasue we are not normal it is what makes us special.

Kendall Nether have to do.’” Latoschaka Nether said.

With new technological advances, scientists are coming up with ways one can constantly have a glucose monitor in place rather than the ev-

lutely amazing. With the monitor, it makes the 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. checks so much easier. Instead of having to get everything out and do a finger poke, it is right on my phone,” se-

nior Kendall Nether said.

The typical, healthy levels for a person’s blood sugar should be between 80 and 100. The pancreas makes it so the human body stay at these levels, by pushing insulin into the bloodstream to break down the food. Anything below 80 is considered low, for a diabetic this is very dangerous. They need to eat carbs to get their numbers back up to normal.

Anything above 125 is considered high, but varies from diabetic to diabetic. This can be fixed either on its own, or with an insulin correction.

“At one time, we didn’t know what his number was. We had to notice him and look at his moods. If he was high during basketball practice, we could tell. You just learn [by observing] that is a sign of a high. If he gets lethargic and not really listen, or a personality change, that is a symptom of a low.” Curtis Nether said.

A major thing for diabetics is their

feature 09 kit. A typical diabetic kit will contain a glucose testing kit, emergency glucagon pen, needles, alcoholic wipes, snacks, and juices. One of the most important thing in the kit is the snacks and juice. When a diabetic’s blood sugar levels drop, they need to give themselves carbohydrates for them to get back into normal levels. This is when the snacks and juice from the kit come in handy.

“Depending on what we were doing [it would change]. There is always the emergency kit, which contains something for a high blood sugar and something for a low blood sugar that was fast acting. We would have a small juice and we would carry a ton of other stuff, we used to call

30.3 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE DIABETES

break down the food, so their blood sugar is through the roof. This happens because they keep eating the foods, not realizing their pancreas is not breaking it down for them.

“When I went into the coma, they figured out that my blood sugar level was at 1,650. [Which is why I fell into the coma], because my levels were so insanely high,” Halliday said.

Due to the fluctuating levels, it takes a very long time for a person to adjust to diabetes medicine- the insulin, the shots, etc. Because of this situation, a diabetic’s levels are going crazy trying to adjust which often calls for midnight monitoring or checks. A popular one is the 2 a.m. check. Diabetics will set alarms

193,000 KIDS ARE DIAGNOSED EACH YEAR

22-26 KIDS AT GREEN VALLEY HAVE TYPE 1

1.6 MILLION DEATHS ARE LINKED TO DIABETES A YEAR it the refrigerator because it would be a backpack that would carry extras of everything.” Latoschaka said.

Being low is highly dangerous, but being high can be just as dangerous. For the most part when people are diagnosed, it is because they are too high. This happens because their body is not producing the insulin to

1.25 MILLION AMERICANS HAVE DIABETES

on their phones to check what their blood sugar is at at two in the morning. Depending on what it says, they can go right back to bed or they have to stay up to monitor the levels or get them back under control.

“At the beginning, a parent of a T1D doesn’t get any sleep at all.

We have a saying, that when you

are parent of a T1D, sleep is overrated. When you are up at two in the morning and cannot go back to sleep, call another T1D parent, they will probably be up as well. We used to take turns, every two hours going up to check [on Kendall]. Today, I sleep like a baby.” Curtis said.

With diabetes, not many people know how to handle it or how to administer a shot. This makes it difficult for diabetics to do things nondiabetics can. Most kids go to their first sleepover in elementary schools; it is what is considered “normal.” Due to the fear and risk of the something going wrong, most parents will not let their diabetic child sleepover at a friend’s house because their parents most likely do not fully understand what to do or what could happen to their child if something goes wrong.

“My parents let me go to my first sleepover when I was 15 years old.” Nether said.

The fear of letting a diabetic child go somewhere is endless.

“There are many fears we have.

One is making sure Kendall is properly caring for himself. We worry about whether or not he is monitoring his blood sugar on a regular basis, making sure he is getting enough insulin. Our biggest concern is that as he gets older and eventually become a total independent personmedical insurance.” Latoschaka said.

A few major misconceptions of having type 1 diabetes is what diabetics can or should eat. People think they can get the disease to go away by fixing their diet and eating healthier. A change in diet will not suddenly make your pancreas produce the insulin it needs for the body to function. With type 1, the pancreas gave out and stopped working- there is no way to fix it.

Another major false conspiracy is the fact that diabetics cannot do everything a “normal” person can do. Eating out, hanging out with friends, spending the night somewhere, playing sports, and more.

Just because an individual has diabetes, does not mean they cannot do everything a nondiabetic can.

“Our goal has always been to not let him be different. When he wanted to play to sports, he played sports. When he wanted to do things with other kids, he did things with other kids. We travel. We do everything. There is nothing really different about his life.” Latoschaka said.

Growing up, those with type 1 diabetes have had their parents to rely on and to help them get through all the things life throws at them.

This includes covering the costs of items like insulin, the monitor, pump, needles for the insulin shots, and the list goes on. A major flaw

in the society of medicine is insurance not covering the medicine these kids need to survive and live.

“Health insurance is a huge fear of mine, I’m obviously on my mom’s health insurance plan, but as I get older and have to figure that out for myself. The cost of insulin is constantly rising and having to figure that out on my own. It’s scary,” Halliday said.

There are many programs across

I was elected to go to D.C. I met Harry Reid, Joe Heck, and Dean Heller and got to ask them to continue to raise funding to help find a cure.

Kendall Nether the country to help those affected.

It makes them feel like they have someone to talk to who fully understands their situation: the carb counting, daily shots and the stress of simply obtaining the medicine.

One of these groups, JDRF, helps these kids’ meets with Congress every other year when a small group of kids will fly to the white house to meet with major people in the senate.

“I’ve had so much fun getting to meet people, getting to go to Washington, D.C., talking to Congress and be on the news. There are ups and downs to having this disease.

The group is called ‘Children’s Congress’ and they pick two people from every state to represent. In 2012, I was elected to go [to D.C.]. When I went, I met Harry Reid, Joe Heck and Dean Heller and got to ask them all to continue to raise funding and help find a cure.” Nether said.

These meetings make it feel like those affected by type 1 diabetes matter and they know someone is fighting for them. It also gives them someone to look up to. Struggling with an autoimmune disease is often a struggle and victims may feel like they are alone or different because no one understands them or what they have to deal with.

“People with diabetes are not alone, other people have it. Because of diabetes, it does not make us normal. Our everyday routine is lengthened and it creates longer struggles.

But because we are not normal it is what makes us special,” Nether said.

May 2019

feature 10 10 feature

Not up to standard

By Erinn Veach Standardized tests. The bane of every student’s existence. Their approach foreshadows leagues of sleepless nights studying, fretting over scores and hair-pulling anxiety. Why do these three hour tests have such a nightmarish connotation though?

Their hefty weight upon students futures combined with the often inaccurate measure of a student’s intelligence are just a few explanations, among other flaws in the system altogether.

“Standardized tests are basically a test given so the district can see where students’ knowledge is regarding english, math, science and writing. They like to see where a student’s and a school’s capabilities are,” College and Career Center counselor Nicole Abernathy said. “They are meant to evaluate a student’s learning.”

Standardized tests do hold a purpose, despite how students are generally clueless as to it when they are handed the yearly sets of test booklets. They compare students and schools on both the national and state level.

“We have these tests to prove that Green Valley High School is doing just as good a job as a school in Massachusetts or just as good as a school in Washington D.C.,” International Baccalaureate (IB) coordinator Angelique Callicoat said. “It is basically to help schools stay honest and keep schools focused on, ‘okay here is the curriculum we should be teaching and here are the skills the student have to learn.’”

It makes sense as to why national, state and district-based departments of education would want to track the progress of the pupils within their jurisdiction. Information gathered from these tests help to balance budgets, curriculum and generally how a student’s education is run. Is it really fair to base this off an arbitrary test though? Schools are in a constant tugof-war with finances and students are battling a testing system that hurts

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self esteem due to unrealistic results.

Looking at the ACT and SAT specifically, these are standardized tests meant to test college readiness. They also play a large role in the college admissions process. “[Standardized tests] help the college determine if they admit you or not. They are heavily important in the college admissions process,” Abernathy said.

The meaning of these tests are often skewed in the minds of students, though. They see the number as a definition of their academic worth, when in reality they are quite arbitrary. “[Standardized tests] help students understand where they are aca-

Another problem with the educational system is that we only put value on test scores and going to post-secondary education.

Angelique Callicoat demically, however I don’t think that a student should look at the results as absolute. If they aren’t particularly happy with the score they get back, a student shouldn’t look at that as some type of deficiency in their education because standardized testing isn’t always accurate. There are a lot of factors that play into that final score that you get and I hope students don’t look at it and think that they are less than because the score comes back and it is not what they were hoping for. It shouldn't be a make it or break it self-evaluation for a student,” Abernathy said.

Apart from being not often accu-

rate, they are also in no way measure of intellect. ‘[Standardized tests] are not intelligence tests. All of these tests are skill-based tests, they test your ability to take a test, they test your ability to accomplish and meet a skill,” Callicoat said. “I do not think a single educator would tell you that the ACT/ SAT are intelligence tests. There is emotional intelligence, social intelligence, book intelligence, academic intelligence, and so on. No, they do not gauge every type of intelligence.

I think students believe that the ACT tells you whether you are intelligent or not and it doesn’t.”

These tests also fail to take into consideration the state a student may be in while taking the test. Educational progress should be measures in the classroom, not in a one-time test.

“Not all students are good test takers, a student could be having an off day, it could be testing the student on something they have learned before so they just wouldn’t know the material,” Abernathy said.

Our current educational system also only tries to point students in one path: college. This is not necessarily the correct path for all students though. The testing industry attempts to push kids in the direction of which they will eventually be able to employ them, there are other viable, respectable, and crucial job paths for high school graduates.

“Another problem with the educational system is that we only put value on test scores and going to post-secondary education,” Callicoat said. “We never show other options, we don’t do a good job of showing students other possible paths, which is working with your hands, being out in the world. I mean we have buildings and electricity and cars and the majority of us don’t know how to work on those things, and maybe some students would be interested in that. You cannot test a student’s ability to use their hands on a multiple choice test.”

Apart from being inadequate at

measuring intelligence, the tests are also made to be tricky. Students have to spend so much time discerning how they are supposed to answer that they can’t truly focus on what's being tested.

“On one hand, it's obviously important to have some manner of standard, but the problem is that the ACT is kind of sneaky about how it does things,” junior valedictorian candidate Joaquin Diaz Rosignoli said.

“It's not really trying to gauge your knowledge, it's trying to see whether it can trick you or not, for example on the science test, most of it is a thing of treachery, they purposely make it so that you are supposed to confuse the graphs and tables by giving them similar names and titles.”

These tests are also disadvantages to students who can’t work as quickly as the amount of time the test provides. How long it takes a student to do something is not reflective of their abilities.

“You only have a very limited amount of time to do each question which is kind of ridiculous when you think about it. I do pretty well but a lot of kids don't. The amount of time they give you is unfair, especially on the math test because that is when you really need a lot of time to work out the problems, its unreasonable to expect students to solve the problems in that little amount of time,” Rosignoli said.

Universities are beginning to account for this unfairness and allowing students to submit proof of their academic abilities in different ways.

“Universities are starting to allow kids to check this box and basically say, ‘i'm not going to send my standardized test scores, but I will be turning in a four year portfolio of who i am and what I’ve learned.’ I love how they are giving kids the option to give test scores or not. I think and hope this is the route big universities are moving toward,” Calicoat said.

While the road is long, creating and administering fair standardized tests is a possible future.

feature 11

Hailey Gross

Jenna Ricciardi

Behind The Scenes of a Brorista

By Maycee Labo

D

utch Bros, an eccentric and unique coffee shop that was founded by an 28-year old college dropout and based in Oregon and is a trendy coffee shop where teens from Green Valley go to get their daily caffeine fix. Not only does Dutch Bros make good coffee, it also offers many students jobs, as it is an upbeat place to work.

“I like everyone that works there, all my friends are there, the franchisers who own it are like my mom and dad, they’re just so sweet,” senior Sarah Stewart said.

The Dutch Bros attitude is to be positive and uplifting not only towards their customers, but in their work environment. Going through the Dutch Bros drive-thru is always a happy and cheerful experience, as the workers are required to be outgoing and optimistic towards everyone they serve.

“My favorite part of working there is walking in and them being like ‘oh my god Sarah’s here’,” Stewart said.

“It’s nice because you are wanted somewhere you know?”

The fun and quirky coffee shop has the reputation of being a joyful place to work in because of how happy the workers are when you go to get a latte. The baristas tend to be always dancing and singing to the trendy music they are blasting in

the kitchen while preparing customers’ coffee. All of the good vibes that the coffee shop serves makes Dutch Bros a trendy place to work in. What teenager would not want to work in a coffee shop that blasts “Foster the People” for their entire shift?

“Being on machine [working on the coffee machine] with certain girls is just super fun because you just get to have fun and listen to music and the people that come by are just so sweet,” Stewart said.

Green Valley students are known for loving Dutch Bros and some would say that it is a part of the school’s culture. The coffee shop became very trendy over the past year especially at our school, so it would make sense why many Gators would desire to work there. However, Dutch Bros looks for a very specific attitude: being positive, uplifting, and outgoing. They search for these qualities in everyone that applies, making it hard for just anyone to get a job at Dutch Bros.

“I wouldn’t say working there is trendy, because if it was trendy everyone would be able to get a job there, but Dutch Bros looks for good, honest people that want to make other peoples day a little bit better,” Stewart said.

Even though not everyone may have the outgoing and practical personality traits desired for working at Dutch Bros, the application process

caters to everyone. A resume is not required to apply and applicants can even go to open interviews, a type of meeting where multiple applicants are judged to see who will end up with a job interview for Dutch Bros.

“I would say that if you’re going to apply you should go to the open interviews. You’ll have a better chance at landing an interview if you show up and talk to everyone, plus it makes you less nervous,” Sarah Stewart Dutch Bros deems their loyal customers as part of the “Dutch Mafia”.

The Dutch Mafia values working together, and the 27-year old coffee shop pushes their staff to act on these values in order to spread the message of togetherness to their clientele. In addition to this, Dutch Bros donates $2 million to a multitude of non profit organizations such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

“Dutch Mafia is mostly for employees, and also for our regular customers. We always get excited to see our regulars especially if they have dogs,” senior Alexis Nelson said.

Considering Dutch Bros is a drive thru, the workers have to move fast in order to get their orders through.

Often times, Dutch Bros has a line going out onto the street, giving the employees a rushed feeling, as speed is vital to the drive-thru.

“Sometimes I feel rushed when I

look up from machine and I see the monitor and I see that where I’m supposed to be in order to be on track, “ Nelson said. “It’s stressful because you can see all the orders on the screen, so if you have a lot of orders it can get really stressful.”

In addition to speed, the quality of Dutch Bros coffee is also important to the workers. Dutch Bros has a large variety of drinks to choose from, ranging from coffee, to energy drinks, to smoothies. Having such a large menu can also make it difficult for the workers to make their drinks correctly, and fast.

“I have a lot of favorite drinks but if I had to pick one it would be a medium iced flapjack mocha with white coffee, it slaps,” Nelson said “Our quality is always pretty good, because we always try to tend to the customers and whatever they want.”

Lastly, the service towards the customers (arguably the most important part for Dutch Bros), is expected to be top notch. Since Dutch Bros advocates for positivity, love, and unity they expect their employees to be on their best behavior towards their customers.

“Ever since I went to Dutch Bros for the first time, I noticed how happy the employees were and how they uplifted the customers. From then on, I wanted to be the person inside the coffee shop, and help make people’s days a bit better,” Stewart said.

May 2019

12 photo essay

Farmers Market

They got the juice- (Left to right) Freshmen Caleb, Adriana Clark , and McKenna Rowland sell Jamba Juice on Mar. 21.

Can I get a refill- Sophomore Sabrina Tucker serves drinks on Mar. 21.

Lemonade, crunchy ice- Students buy lemonade from the Journalism 2 class on Mar. 21.

Mellow Yellow- Junior Alli Nicolaides walks down the stairs in the quad on Mar. 21.

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Laugh it out- Junior Dakota Trujillo and sophomore Nikayla Howard mess around at the farmers market on Mar. 21.

Splashing Dive into

Brynne Hilton

Planking - Junior Roman Rozbitskyy performs a lay out at a dive meet.

By Alexis Ladd

Splashing into dive season with freshman Kara Lynn Moden, juniors Jackie Mason, Roman Rozbitskyy, Gages Curry and senior Matthew Myers, the team is very different this year. Previously breaking records, Myers will be the only senior on the team. While Mason will be the only returning girl this year. Rozbitskyy and Curry are diving for their first time with the team along with Kara Lynn Moden. Dive is typically not one of the popular sports at the school, but for these strong team members, it is all they have been looking forward to this school year.

With time for improvement from Mason, she has been pointing her focus towards winning state and regionals by having her dives prepared before every meet. She practiced with club teams before the season started and acquiring further determination

Dive has been a blast for me so far, the thrill of jumping off the board and learning new dives gets me going.

Roman Rozbitskyy

Up! - Junior Roman Rozbitskyy jumps for momentum at a dive meet.

for success have both contributed towards improvement.

“My approaches on the board have improved as I take my hurdles slower to get the most out of each dive. I have been practicing my twisting dives the most considering they are my strong suit and I can score the highest on them during meets.

It’s also important that I work on mechanics of my dives and what needs improvement,” Mason said.

While Mason knows exactly how she will manage to improve this season, Rozbitskyy is still getting the hang of dive.

“Dive has been a blast for me so far, the thrill of jumping off the board and learning new dives gets me going.

However my biggest challenge has been trying to live up to everyones expectations this year,” Rosbitskyy said.

“I’m expected to do really good because I used to be a competitive gymnast and both of my parents were divers, when in reality I’m just as good as any other diver that has just started. These expectations put a lot

sports 13

of pressure on me at meets but I still try my best to meet the level of potential everyone sees in me by the end of the season,” Rozbitskyy said.

Rozbitskyy is hoping his experience with gymnastics will really contribute to success in diving, as Myers was also previously a level ten gymnast before diving and has made great accomplishments on the team.

“Although I haven’t done gymnastics in over a year now, it still gives me an advantage over others because I am obtaining good form. This really comes in handy when the judges are scoring the quality of the dive,” Rozbitskyy said.

Many are impressed with Rozbitskyy’s progress so far and the skill correlation between gymnastics and dive has made this sport a breeze for him.

“Romans experience with somersaulting and twisting is definite advantage because the executions are very similar in gymnastics. The courage required to execute the tricks is a paramount to both sports,” Coach Tad, club dive team instructor said.

Curry is also on the same page as Roman, working hard to catch up with the other divers to have dives ready for their weekly meets on Fridays. Curry had been part of the swim team in past years and decided to try something new by joining dive.

“Dive has been fun and interesting because I haven’t done anything like it yet. I work mostly on my form during practice because after I jump off of the board I look a little crazy in the air - I don’t have much control,” Curry said.

On the other hand, with more experience, Myers has been showing off his hard work from the past years of practice with dive. He is hoping to make his last year memorable by accomplishing his final goals and most importantly, having fun.

“In previous years, I was focused on getting new dives and using them in competition, but this year, I’ve been more focused on making my dives more competitive with better form and technique. I’m expecting to make it to states and give the best competition I can trying to reach for the first place,” Myers said.

The team is eager to showcase their skills by contributing as much effort and time as they can. Each of the members are trying their best to make it to each practice and prepare for regionals coming later this month.

Coaches are extremely excited for this season considering there are new additions to the team and hard work that will be presented from the more experienced members.

May 2019

14 sports

UNLV BOUND

The InvestiGator t GVHS

courtesy of Gavin Amelburu

2007

By Brynne Hilton

F

rom tee-ball to making varsity as an underclassmen, and now the recipient of a division one scholarship, senior Gavin Amelburu has now seen it all in his baseball career. He will be attending the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) on a baseball scholarship.

“The fact that I get to say I am going to be a division one athlete excites me,” Amelburu said. “It just shows that all of my hard work has finally paid off.”

Amelburu signed with the Rebels on National Signing Day on Nov. 17.

He and along with eleven other student athletes signed to continue their education and play baseball at UNLV. Through his high school and club ball coaches, the UNLV coaches saw Amelburu play and showed interest and reached out to him to go on an unofficial visit. Shortly after the visit, he accepted the offer and verballed to the school.

“My recruiting process was finished in two weeks, from my first visit to verbally declaring to the school,” Amelburu said.

UNLV is apart of the Mountain West Conference in the NCAA. During their season they compete against the following schools: University of Utah, UC Santa Barbara, University of Seattle, Stanford, Fresno State, California State University Northridge, and University of Nevada Reno (UNR). In the 2018 season, UNLV went 35-24.

“I am excited that I get to stay local for school. I was able to get a lot of scholarship money and my family

2012 will be able to see my games,” Amelburu said.

There wasn’t a particular school that Amelburu wanted to go to. He just wanted to go somewhere that would give him a scholarship to countinue to play baseball. He recieved an athletic scholarship and the Millenium Scholarship “I think its a pretty good fit, I don’t mind staying in town for school,” Amelburu said.

At four years old Amelburu was hitting off of the tee in a tee ball league. As he got older he played for a little league and eventually started club ball. Last summer and this past fall he played for California Baseball Academy. Amelburu has always had a love for baseball and he never thought about quitting.

“I’ve loved the game since the beginning,” Almeburu said. “I’ve enjoy every aspect of baseball and want to play it for as long as I can.”

Amelburu plays as a catcher and usually hits in the third or fourth slot of the line up. In his junior season, his batting average was .420 (Maxpreps) with eight home runs and forty-three RBI’s. Two of his eight home runs were back to back when they played Las Vegas High School. He also had the game winning hit against Rancho and Coronado High School.

“We have a lot of memories together on the field, but one of my favorite memories was probably Gavin’s walk-off hit against Coronado,” Senior Christian Dugger said.

Amelburu has hit 20 homeruns in his high school career. From all of his years in travel ball he has hit over forty homeruns.

“He’s a great overall athlete and

2016 person on the field,” Dugger said.

After his junior season Amelburu earned First Team All- Region, First Team All-State, and First Team Sothern Nevada. He also recieved First Team All Region and Second Team All Southern Nevada after his sophomore season.

I’ve loved the game since the beginning.

I’ve enjoyed every aspect of it and want to play for as long as possible.

Gavin Amelburu “He totally deserves this,” Dugger said. “He’s worked so hard and I’m excited to see what he will do in college.”

Amelburu work out routine includes heavy workouts with weights four days a week with a personal trainer and doing some form of hitting everyday. The hitting could be either a batting lesson or simply just hitting off of a tee.

“I got to McGovern Sport Fitness and always try to do some form of hitting whenever possible,” Amelburu said.

Starting off his senior season Amelburu has a batting average of .333, four RBI, and three home runs.

Unfortunately, Amelburu tore his

ACL during one of the games in the beginning of the season, and is out for the rest of the season. He got surgery on Mar. 18 and will be recovering for six months.

“My goal for this season is to just go to physical therapy and be ready for college,” Amelburu said.

Even though Amelburu won’t be playing for the rest of the season, he continues to go to the teams practices and games. He usually sits at the end of the dugout cheering on his teammates. He is currently going to physical therapy and will be ready to play college ball by the time the fall practices and games come around.

“He really cares about this team, he’s always cheering us on and lifts us when we are feeling down,” Dugger said. “It’s why we made him team captain.”

Amelburu will be majoring in business at UNLV and dreams to be a firefighter. As a division one athlete, the players have early morning weights, practices, have to miss classes to travel, and up to five games a week. If these student athletes fall behind in their classes they could become ineligible. Students must take at least fifteen credits a semester to be NCAA eligible.

“It was never really that hard for me to balance the two,” Amelbur said.

“They are both important to me so I make time for both.”

After a six month recovery that will include physical therapy Amelbur will be ready to start his college baseball career at UNLV. “I hope to be just another hard working kid for UNLV , that’s what being an athlete is all about,” Amelburu said.

May 2019

16 sports

spin A and a spring

By Vivien Liebhardt

Just like any sport or club, dedication and teamwork of students is what makes the group excel. The same is shown with the dance team all school year.

The annual end of march show is the second major showcase for Green Valley’s esteemed dance team. The work placed for the performance is started as early as November in order to be ready for the show in the start of April.

Mrs Harrison works hard every year to create new unique dances and songs for the dance show.

“It’s a group effort, I have a lot of my student aids choreograph along with my dance team girls.” Mrs.Harrison said.

Dance truly is a team sport, yet independence is shown between the

The choreography comes from what I feel ,expresses the story of the dance, according to the song.

Angelina Lapitan teacher and students since you don’t have one coach coaching you and telling you what to do but instead more experienced students coaching and helping others. Dance two members tend to audition, and by Mrs.Harrison’s choice some will lead the class in a certain choreography. Even when coming to costume design, mostly members will make their own if they aren’t ordered.

The majority of dancers, specifically dance one members do either one or two dances within the show-

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case, of which are usually group dances. Dance two members do have more of an advantage with having duets, solos, and of course group dances. But with advantage comes great responsibility. Most of the dance two members have to choreograph their own dances when it comes to solos or duets and even choose their own music.

“I found the song on the radio one day when I was driving. it had meaning, but it wasn’t overplayed.

The choreography really comes from what I feel expresses the story of the dance, according to the song. It is also less stressful to choreograph a solo since it is just for you. It is harder to consider moves for others, and it can be more fun learning other choreographs,” senior Angelina Lapitan said.

Dance team members Julia Galvez and Sarah Stewart’s duet on California Dreaming was my personal favorite. The costumes were simple yet elegant and the lighting perfectly followed them to make them seem angelic which flawlessly matched the mood of the song.

The dance that really caught the audience’s eye was perfromed by freshman Sicily LaLicata to ‘See You Again.’ Her solo was a beautiful dance dedicated to her late brother Brandon. Brandon sadly passed away in his early 20’s due to a drunk driver.

LaLicata wanted to performance for her family and herself in his honor to remember his life. She chose the song ‘See You Again’ by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth because Fast and Furious was his favorite movie and thus seemed to be the best song to perform to.

The showcase was a beautiful show with vibrant colors and fun dances simply perfect to start of the beginning of spring. Songs included popular hits such as Wow by Post Malone, Bust Down by BlueFace, See Me In A Crown by Billie Eilish and even classics such as Its Raining Men by the Weather Girls which was choreographed and performed by the dance team underclassmen.

Reach! - Senior Angelina Lapitan holds a leg hold while reaching upwards during the dance show.

Hold it - Sophomore Rachel Ostler performs a scorpion during the dance show.

Brynne Hilton

a&e 17

By Maycee Labo

O

ver the course of February and March, Solange, Hozier, and Homeshake all dropped new albums. Solange released, “When I get home” on March 1st, and on the same day “Wasteland, baby!” was released by Hozier. Two weeks prior to this, Homeshake dropped “Helium” on February 15th. All three of these trendy artists have a chilled out tone to them, and are relaxing to listen to, as they put the listener at ease.

Solange has a lot to live up to being Beyoncé’s sister, but this album didn’t live up to its hype.

Although Solange has a film already added on to her 19 track album, it seemed like it was lacking something. The album creates a nice blend of static R&B, funk, Zydeco and blues. This wacky combination may seem like it would create a few crazy sounding songs, but in actuality the album seems to sound like calming background music. Calming background music is not a bad thing, if that was what Solange was going for, but I think she was going for something more bold. In other words, I expected a more flashy album and instead got a more calming feel from “When I Get Home.”

“Solange’s music in her new album is very soothing and relaxing, you can just get lost in her music so fast,” senior Alexandra Vargas said. “In her new album she has these sort of transitions to the next song which I find really good, it makes the people listening think about the song.”

H

ozier’s indie album, “Wasteland, baby!” is a cheery sounding album with a depressing undertone that plays throughout the album. He also manages to keep that same church choir feel that his most popular song “Take Me to Church” has. That being said, some of his songs seem to blend together and sound the same. My favorite song “Movement” stands out from the rest as it seems to show a more raw side of Hozier and his emotions.

“Hozier’s album is great because he sings about really harsh topics like death, and the literal end of mankind, and he sings it with such a pretty voice,” senior Hailey Thomas said.

Much of Hozier’s album sounds like he’s having an existential crisis. However, Hozier’s effortlessly gentle tone of voice makes it hard to notice the dark topics he is singing about, unless you pay attention closely to the lyrics.

“Hozier always seems to cover some pretty controversial and risky topics in his songs, ‘Take Me to Church’ is a good example of this,” Thomas said.

“Take Me to Church” could arguably be considered Hozier’s break through song. The hit song made its mark as it was first on the Billboard charts in 12 different countries, including the US. That being said, it’s safe to say why Hozier scored a no.1 on The Billboard 200.

L

ast but definitely not least is Homeshakes album “Helium”. This album has a soothing feel and is something that I could fall asleep to. In comparison to Solange’s album, I think this album is better because I was expecting to hear a tranquil album, where as with “when I get home” I expected something more groundbreaking and bold. One of the downsides of this low-fi album is that some of the songs, like “Heartburn” have an eerie feel. The sounds produced from this song are dissonant and have an outer space vibe. Although this is not bad if that’s what you’re looking for, it’s hard to feel relaxed with music that is scary or bizarre. For further explanation, I would describe some of the songs on this album as comparable to Pink Floyd’s, “Dark Side of the Moon”. In particular the song, “Speak to me” sounds like some of the creepy songs in this album.

“I like Helium because each songs flows into the next and it reminds me of taking summer trips to California with friends,” junior Marissa Cuccia said.

Homeshake is known for their relaxed beachy vibes their music sends to the listener. Peter Sagar is the man behind the solo musical project. Sagar also worked with Mac Demarco, another popular indie pop artist, which is where Sagar got some of his experience from.

“His songs are super chill and relaxing and they always radiate positive energy,” Cuccia said.

“My favorite song would have to be ‘Nothing Could Be Better’ because it has a very dulcet sound.”

These Albums Couldn’t Be Better May 2019

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By Jenna Ricciardi

Pinball Hall of Fame Spring break is near and those who will be staying close to home for the highly anticipated break will be able to enjoy all the unique and exciting hotspots Vegas has to offer. The Pinball Hall of Fame, located on Tropicana, is a great place to escape the Vegas heat and see displays of games that everyone will enjoy. Penny-pinching students can enjoy the wide variety of games to play. Older pinball machines cost 25 cents to play, while newer models cost 50 cents per game.

“Me and my friends love going to the Pinball Hall of Fame. It is cheap, and a perfect place to kill some time. You’ll be there for hours wondering where the time went. It’s also the perfect place for cool photos,” senior Katelynn Roderick said.

May 2019

a&e 19 Jenna Ricciardi

Jenna Ricciardi

Gabi Coffee & Bakery Visit Gabi Coffee and Bakery for a unique coffee shop experience.

Choose a crafted coffee and artisan bite and enjoy the exotic decor.

Gabi Coffee and Bakery blends the Korean culture with a western twist.

They want to provide an exotic multicultural space for the Las Vegas community. Enjoy iconic pastries and delicious beverages while sitting in an exotic cafe, that does not feel like Vegas. Gabi Coffee is located on Spring mountain, although its a long drive, its worth it.

Container Park

Gold Strike Hot Springs

Bellagio Conservatory

If one is looking to do some shopping around in unique stores and dine at interesting restaurants, Container Park is a perfect spot to leisure around. People of all ages can enjoy the amenities that the open-air park has to offer.

“I love spending time downtown.

Seeing all the artwork is cool and the Container Park has so many things to do with friends and family,” senior Hailey McNally said.

From gourmet dining at Downtown Terrace to the local creations at Art Box and free concerts and more, Container Park is truly the place to be on a beautiful Spring day.

“Everything about it is so creative, The cool industrial buildings, the stores and their catchy names are so neat,” McNally said.

If you take just a few steps outside of the Container Park and you enter the captivating Fremont Street. Vegas culture thrives in this area showcasing street art, food, live music, and impersonators.

Thrill seekers can take a trip down the The SlotZilla Zip Line. At night time, the canopy morphs into a beautiful light show open for all people to see.

For one who is craving an outdoor adventure, Gold Strike Hot Spring Trail is the perfect hike that averages to about 6 miles and is located near Boulder City. This Hot Spring hike is rated as a more difficult hike, due to a few rock obstacles. That being said, people that choose to go on this hike should be ready for an adventure. Make sure to stay hydrated and bring tons of friends and enjoy the beautiful scenery and relax in the luxurious spring at the end of the Trail.

“My friends and I went into this hike knowing it wasn’t going to easy, and we were right. For about a mile, it was rocky but not insanely hard so I was happy. At one point there was a rope and we were a little nervous,” senior Aislin Farmer said.

If you’re looking for an easier option for a hike, with a scenery just as beautiful, Calico Tank Trails is the place to go. Located in Red Rock, the trail is 2.5 miles round trip accompanied by an alluring canyon view. This hike is a combination of the great elements Red Rock has to offer, and at the end of the trail, a picture perfect plateau awaits. Both trails showcase the other side of Vegas.

There are many things one can do on The Strip, but common tourist activities can tend to break the bank. If you look hard enough, The Strip has many activities that have little to no cost. Be a tourist for a day and enjoy a beautiful walk through the garden at the Bellagio Conservatory and Botanical Garden, for free. The Conservatory is located on the lower level of the Bellagio hotel. Spring in Vegas is in full bloom, and the sky-lit atrium features vibrant theme of seasonal plants on an amazing display.

Market in the Alley Market in the Alley is a curated market by Ferguson's Downtown hosted the third Sunday of each month. Each month they collaborate with local creators and innovators to teach workshops and inspire community impact.They are rooted in supporting local makers, curators, artists, musicians and culinary innovators. They believe in bringing the community together and showcase a variety of local creations from art pieces to home decor. This monthly market gathering is held in Downtown Las Vegas between 10th and 11th street on Fremont.

May 2019

a&e a&e 21

IN THE YEAR 2019...

By Nora-Jo Paramo On Feb. 28, the Jonas Brothers announced the groundbreaking news that they are reuniting their band as they released their new single “Sucker” to prove that they still got it. The band broke up six years ago, devastating many of their fans who are now rejoicing that the band is back together again. It is evident due to the band’s new song “Sucker” being a huge success that their fan base is as loyal as the band’s Disney Channel days.

The night they announced their planned comeback, the boys released the music video for the new song “Sucker”. The video highlights the three brothers and their real-life significant others: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sophie Turner and Danielle Jonas. Danielle and Kevin Jonas got married in 2009, Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas announced their engagement in 2017 and Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas were married in December.

Each brother brought something different to the trio. With their musical training, Kevin is a skilled guitarist that can play lead guitar and bass guitar. He also is a skilled mandolin player and adds to the band with his backup vocals. Joe and Nick take

turns as lead singer or as contributing to backup vocals. Nick also plays lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and drums.

The Jonas Brothers had great success together, but creative differences that tore them apart. Back in 2013, the band broke up. It was Nick who addressed the situation that they

they came back

Now the band is back and closer than ever.

Fans believe it was needed for them to break up in order for them to come back even stronger. should break up.

“I think it was time, and for us it took some time getting there, but we feel like it’s time that the Jonas Brothers come to an end,” Kevin said.

Joe said they had disagreements over everything, from music videos to individual opportunities. They all thought it was best to pursue their

own careers at the time.

Their new style is more mature and their freedom to create is far more liberated than when they were controlled by the Disney Channel.

The brothers attribute their music becoming stale due to Disney Channel often telling them to change the lyrics to fit the Disney image. Now they say they write what they want. Also, they have healed from some of their family turmoil.

The stress from performing as a young group was so bad that Nick Jonas said he had to go to therapy to recover. Nick Jonas believes that they just were put together as a group at too young of an age while having family issues that needed to be addressed. All three brothers agree their music was lacking the original sound that made them one of Disney Channel’s most popular acts.

Now the band is back and closer than ever. Fans believe it was needed for them to break up in order for them to come back even stronger. Now that 6 years has passed, each brother has embarked on his personal journey.

They all had a lot happen in their personal and musical lives. Now that they have had their time to do their

own thing, they can now come together to save the music industry.

“Saying I am happy about their comeback is an understatement.

Their return was needed to make this world a better place so therefore I support it 100%,” said senior Kimberly Gonzalez.

On Monday, April 22, it was announced that the Jonas Brothers are set to release their fifth studio album, Happiness Begins. “#HappinessBegins June 7th. After 7 years of not working together & finding ourselves we’re back to give you our journey in album form,” Kevin wrote on Twitter. “Out of all the albums we’ve done I’m most proud of this one. Wish you could have it now, but you’ll just have to wait a little bit longer.”

“In addition to being excited about their new album, I am excited about getting to see them perform live in the future,” sophomore Emma Cvetnich said.

The band’s albums have sold millions of copies worldwide back during their “Camp Rock” days, so they are bound to be successful during this era with the continued support from their fans.

May 2019

22 opinion

Less than appetizing snacks

By Max Ghasserani

Pickles. Peanut Butter. Cheetos.

Cheese Cream. Milk. Coke. Ranch.

Mayo. Choose one of these foods and mix it with another one and then we have a “weird food combination.”

Weird food combinations have been made since the start of time, throughout all different cultures. Some new combinations will either make you hungry or vomit. News outlets have covered this topic with new foods like Milky Coke (milk mixed with Coke), Peanut Butter and Pickle Sandwich (peanut butter spread on white bread with sliced pickles on it) Oreos and oranges (Oreos dipped in orange juice) and many more. Aswell as these students favorite combinations , they were also asked about which combinations they would try. They were asked between a refreshing Milky Coke and a sweet and salty peanut butter sandwhich.

Pickles & Peanut Butter

Senior, Fatima Garcia talked about her favorite food combinations. “Pickles and Peanut Butter.” stated Garcia “I don’t really like pickles and I don’t really like peanut butter but together I don’t know why I like it? I think because it’s sweet and tart and it tastes good to me.” Now pickles and peanut butter may sound wierd but how about hot cheetos and cream cheese?

“I also like hot cheetos and cream cheese. I like that better than pickles and peanut butter” She explained that her step sister ate some of these foods and once she tried them, she was hooked. The question arose of would she rather have a pickle and peanut butter sandwhich or a glass of milky coke. “Milky Coke because in my family we do floats like coke and vanilla ice cream so I think milk and coke would taste similar to that” Garcia said.

Bread, Butter, Chocolate

Everyone has enjoyed bread and butter in their days, from butter rolls to slices of french bred to basic everyday toasted slices. But no one thought to pair a hershey’s bar with those. Sophmore Sydney Corro told us about one of her choices of snacks. “I take a piece of sliced french bread and spread butter on it and then put pieces from a chocolate bar on top. I don’t know why I like it but it just tastes good to me” satated Corro.

She told us about the family history behind the snack as well, “My mom showed it to me when i was young because she used to have it as a child”. Corro uses sliced french bread but recipes online also display making it an almost grilled cheese. Just instead of cheese, replace it with chocolate bars.

Bread and Pudding

That is right, pudding and bread.

Preferably vanilla flavored pudding cups spread out on white bread, junior Sean Stiff told us. “It kinda adds a little sweetness, like butter. Vanilla is my favorite flavor but I’ve tried other flavors too” Stiff stated. As weird as it might sound we tried this crazy combo and suprisingly it was not half bad. It almost tastes like a dessert with the sweet pudding and almost cake like quality of the bread. So how did this creation come to Stiff, “I got really hungry one day and there was nothing else to eat so i tried it anad now its a favorite of mine.”

Not-so-Perfect Promposals By: Abby Culpepper

Promposals are the epitome of high school. Students put way too much effort into signs that will probably end up being moved from shelf to shelf in the back of a closet until it seems acceptable to inevitably trash it. The typical “ask” consists of the absolute greatest pun or soomething to do with a sport that your date plays, an activity they like, or the best of them all, a combination of all three.

Although it can not be precisely determined, it is estimated that people started the elaborate asks around 2001, and they have steadily gotten worse. Today’s generation seems to think the best prom proposals are the bigger, the more eye catching and unfortunately for everyone else, the more public ones.

It was not until 2012 that kids started bothering celebrities with their pathetically desperate pleas for a date, because when everyone seemed too mediocre to attend the dance with, highschoolers wanted to go with celebrities. Of course an A-list celebrity who probably has quite literally hundreds of other, at least above average, adults fawning over them

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would just love to take a night off to take a highschooler to prom. Whether it be through Tweets, Instagram posts or hoards of emails, teens of all sorts send their most heartfelt and desperate notes. Many attempts include if they can get enough retweets or enough likes.

If they had not already been ruined by the over-the-top signs, promposals were officially ruined this proposing season. A viral video surfaced smack in the middle of the peak of promposals. The video featured a boy from the brightest city in the country, our home, Las Vegas. He did omething no one thought they had to specify in the tips and tricks of asking girls, apparently it needs to be said. Rule #1: Make sure you have the words spelled correctly on the sign. Rule #2: Do not just show up to the house with only a sign. Rule #3: Go to the right house! #3 was not followed in the viral video featuring a confused girl, a confused boy and an even more confused camera man. The video, like most pormposals was awkward.

Overall, if someone is getting asked to prom, way too much thought was put into something that will have down falls no matter what.

Shoot your Shot

opinion 23

Opting out of Vaccinations is harmful to everybody Furthermore, Autism Spectrum disorder is present at birth, so vaccines would have no way to influence its presence.

Many parents who refuse to vaccinate their children might center their core beliefs around this rumor, however. This stems from a prejudice that many parents have against raising an autistic child - they would rather have a child susceptible to hundreds of nearly extinct diseases than have a child with autism.

The ability to receive vaccinations at all is a privilege, and the denial of such is selfish and unjust. There are hundreds of thousands of people

when the child returned.

As of March 28, there were roughly 387 outbreaks of Measles across 15 different U.S. States in 2019 (according to CDC data). Despite the elimination of Measles in 2000, outbreaks such as these occur daily, with as many as six ongoing at a given time. According to these reports, the disease usually originates in a country with low vaccination rates, and spreads to those in the U.S. who are not vaccinated themselves.

Other cases have occured where an unvaccinated child spreading a disease to citizens of third-world

Anti-Vaxxers are becoming far more dangerous than they realize - starting outbreaks out of spite for “sinister government intentions,” as they put it.

By Tyler Bonnette Humans as a species have come incredibly far in the last few centuries, with thousands of technological advancements surfacing from every decade. Some of the most commonplace of these advances have been in the medical field, giving the basic right of health and safety to most of the modern world. This means diseases that were once major problems are now practically eradicated due to vaccines. Vaccines should be unquestionably necessary for as many individuals as possible.

As with most advancements in the modern world, there will always be the select groups that refuse to partake in them. Some will even go as far to actively deny or oppose their use in society. This has been especially true for vaccinations against many diseases. Denial of vaccines ranges from one’s disbelief in their usefulness to conspiracies of their potentially sinister motives. No matter the stance that these groups

have, they are a danger to the health of themselves and everyone around them.

These denial groups, deeming themselves “Anti-Vaxxers,” often start from social media pages that actively deny hundreds of scientific studies simply due to conspiracy.

Studies done by universities, medical professionals, and even the Center for Disease Control (CDC) have all proven that most side effects warned by these social media groups are false. However, they will refuse to accept these claims, as they are not in line with their personal beliefs.

One of the most common rumors and conspiracies of these side effects is that vaccines will lead to Autism Spectrum Disorder. What started as a minor fear ran rampant into the minds of hundreds, inevitably leading to the spread of these ideals. This rumor, of course, is false in so many ways. Every study on the subject has confirmed that there is no correlation between vaccines and autism.

suffering in undeveloped countries, lacking access to basic necessities like vaccinations and other medicinal resources. And yet, the privileged groups in developed nations refuse vaccines simply due to rumors and falsehoods.

To prevent such groups from thriving, there should be guidelines in place where vaccines are available. Third world nations may not be able to partake in such guidelines due to reduced access to health care.

Developed nations, however, could put plenty of these in place due to the already widespread use of vaccines.

Certain laws could prevent these beliefs, including mandatory vaccinations, or barring access from certain public areas without immunization records.

If certain rules like these were put in place, significantly less outbreaks might occur around the world. Those in developed countries will be less susceptible to diseases brought over from other countries. Tourism will be significantly safer, as there will be less of a chance to come into contact with those who have been affected by these preventable diseases.

Laws like these may prevent outbreaks from occurring in the future. So far, several outbreaks have occured because of this movement, including one in Minnesota in 2011. There was a massive measles outbreak occurred due to a single unvaccinated child who contracted the disease during a visit to Kenya.

It then spread to those in Minnesota

countries that lacked the resources or funds to give nationwide vaccinations. Despite the privilege of access to vaccines that those in third-world countries might lack, these deniers continue to refuse them for prejudicial and unjust reasons.

Outbreaks like these will persist as long as people continue to deny vaccinations. The World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations placed anti-vaxxers in their list of 10 threats to global health. Among that list was climate change, influenza, ebola, and several other severely dangerous threats to worldwide health. Anti-vaxxers are becoming far more dangerous than they realize - starting outbreaks out of spite for “sinister government intentions,” as they put it.

Fortunately, several nations have made great progress toward stopping these anti-vaxx movements. Italy, for example, banned unvaccinated children from attending school to protect other students. Furthermore, Iceland, a small country with incredible healthcare and a very high vaccination rate, has barred unvaccinated tourists from entering the country whatsoever.

The more countries that put this laws into place, the more likely that anti-vaxxers will cease to be a problem. In the near future, outbreaks could occur far less simply by vaccinations being made commonplace.

These steps forward to prevent outbreaks may finally help to stop the spread of the anti-vaxx movement.

May 2019

pro/con nvesTiG24 aTOr

O piniOn Students

Pro/Con March 2010

on the Block

eepAstudents protected with condom

By Kaeli Britt

teachers would be able to spend more time on things like catching up on putting grades in the gradebook and creating or altering their lesson plans

each week.

Another advantage of block schedule benefits both students and teachers: smaller class sizes. Overall, class

cross the nation, about one in three high schools go through their year onreceive a block condoms at school. It gress is trying to pass bills that Rajchel schedule - a class schedule would that closely resembles that be a relief for students would make doctors give out to know re is nothing morestudent. of a college The there would be an easy birth control without a prea block schedule way for them to receive pro- scription; it is the last resort barrassingpoint of than is to elongate class periods, lking into so Walgreens, instruction timetection is lon- from school. Students that many students have, and know p a box of ger,condoms, but students only have the reasons why using it should be available.” a few week.

Unlike contraceptives, conbirth control is important. ng to wait to ingo line totimes be per Because of this, having a doms are not prescribed; they “I really do think students out. block schedule is more efwould than dofective this,andstubeneficial than use it, I know I would can be purchased at just about traditional classes said senior Kelsey any pharmacy or grocery store cide to gothewith plan sixhave,” day for both students Pinkul. “If there was more without having to have proof tected andper dangerous and teachers. information about it [sex], I of a certain age. There are 21 ssible solution toare this There multiple benwould be efits for ofschools maintainingthink a blockstudents would take it states with schools that make schedule for to high schoolers more seriously because it is a them available to their stude contraceptives according to the National dents. big responsibility.”

Education Association.

“Condoms in schools eventhat teens er, the district has moreAdvocating Students have time to review and comprehend should have sex is not the same tually could happen if it rewed the distribution content they learnas in class saying that they should be ceived enough support from orms of birth control since they have less inforsafe if they choose that route. parents,” said Ebert. “It has it is has mation to betopreprocess by cutStudents who are in support not been okayed by the district y a doctor.ting down the amount of classes perthe school of day.school On distribution do not and would only be if it was ouldn’t give out of this, students would think that it promotes sex, but something that parents came use it is top a prescripbe able to have more of an instead that contraceptives out in favor of, and right now d school nurse Robyn intimate instruction time teachers towould canhave prevent what is unavoid- I don’t think that they would We are notasallowed more time time appreciate it.” able. any medication thattois spend with each of their students Students would be more d by a physician.” throughout the week. “It is sad but necessary,” saidstujunior Jordy Barry. “Con- likely to use a school provided ts need the In ability toto this, addition dents would have more time to do homework for each class since they would be attending every other day. Students often times feel overwhelmed by the piles of homework from all their classes that end up accumulating throughout the school day. By lengthening class periods and spreading out the frequency of class times, students have more Rebecca Orozco opportunities to fully understand the content that is being thrown at them on a day to day basis. Not to mention, since one would only have about four classes a day, the content being introduced is actually less than what is on a six period schedule.

Block scheduling also helps teachers. With longer class periods, teachers would have a matching “prep period”two that different is the samemethods duration as Students learn forthe protecting themselves in a sexually active world. classes they teach. This means that

sizes are a problem in both the local and national school districts. According to the National Education Association, NV class sizes have increased students situation, a condom than face the about embar-sevenin that every year since 2015. always thinking rassment of buying them at not Additionally, the average graduating class size also sequences.” the store. since the now, schoo “Students would not increased have to 0.1% Right 2016-17 school year. authority go buy themselves condoms These statistics show to advise go see and be embarrassed bythat them.

NV highto schools area doctor o need of of a schedule agency and giv Students would use inthem,” change to effectively acthe student.

This is said Barry. commodate the increase I give the abstinence in train of because students they haveonce the each tell year during enroll- or receive pregnant thought a lot of credit. Just mentthat time. there Continuing is very little kids over and over again to ignore large class sizes done to reverse it. sex is bad. That has worked only adds to the issue of “Mostly all I can really well for abstinence-only students not thoroughly students to an a supporters, just look atunderstanding Sarah ferconcepts that they learn in class. can help them, so t Palin’s grandson. Hence, we Classes with more treatment,” said E are stuck with teens that than are 25 students are moreand likely towith be less in- plannin family taught not to have sex, becausecomes the in and then they act withoutdividualized being dent teacher does not have the pregnant, prepared. time to check on every I have to tell her parents.”

“I think students have un-from to student each period protected sex becauseon aitdaily is basis.Face it, student say that the will convenient. It is hard traditional toSome pre-may sixand periods percontinue t bestisoption is t pare for, there are a lotday of horschoolingThe method best because is antools “inef- that will mones,” said Ebert. “There are itthe fective way tosafe each.”and This have the a lot of feelings going on at the is not the case. Although prevent time they would be in some a relastudents might not mistakes life-long tionship with someonebeor ablebeto pay attentionconsequen for an entire 90-minute period, teachers can find ways around this in order to ensure they have their students’ attention.

For example, taking little breaks throughout the period to allow students to get up, walk around and use the restroom.

These breaks should last for only about ten minutes that way students’ minds do not stray too far from the task at hand.

In order to have a more productive school system that is responsible for sending students into the world, the block schedule should be implemented. This allows schools to feel confident knowing their students have a better grip on the content they learned during their four periods a illustrations

by Jen day compared having six periods per day.

By lengthening class periods and spreading out the frequency of class times, students have more opportunities to fully understand the content that is being thrown at them on a day to day basis.

rth control is not appropriate at scho The InvestiGator t GVHS

OpiniOn Not My Pro/Con Block

sTiGaTOr

March 2010

pro/con 25

2

ep students protected with condom

By Bethany Casall

learning skills that can be lost within would be set up, they would miss more are not obliged to go to class every day, hours of disassociation. When in orinstructional time that is already lost. do their homework everyday and pracchestra or band, students can also get Schools, parents and the future of tice everyday, bad habits can form to For 180 days out of the 365 in a tired very easily leading to worse perthe generation, advocate for a positive become very negative in the end. year, students are mandated to attend el in thatroutes situation, an gress is trying to pass bills that condom than the embarreceive condoms at school. formance It if classes are longer than an influence on students.

Wanting the face There are many different school, this, merely making up 50% always rassment of buying at not outpresent be a torelief students would make doctors best give is always in the methods schools them and students can take how-thinking o of the year, would it is important imple-for hour.

Most high schools students of teaching howeverthe when attempting ever the method that has proven itself as much the year as be an sequences.” store. birth allow control without a preto content know in there would easy nothing ment more who wish to enroll in more classes do the best for students lead to stato work with complicapossible. eachreceive Right now, school “Students would not well, have tothe least scription; it istothetolast resort way 51 forminutes themin to prossing than Spending take early bird classes and/or late bird tistically lower scores on exams, it ends tions, for the majority of individuals, classroom for five out of seven days a authority go buy themselves condoms that many students have, and tection from school.

Students into Walgreens, classes. These provide students ability up not being beneficial. is the traditional period by period day.to advise week, students are already limited on to go seeand a doctor or beProcrastiembarrassed by them. should be available.” ox of condoms, know reasons using to acquire moreit credits and can overStudents are notand perfect.

The majority of students, faculty the instructional timethe provided.

With why all, if the goal is toUnlike graduate contraceptives, early, to nation is heavily in high schools benfiting from this dailyand give alreadycontrol established, the of agency Students wouldparents, use are them,” con- seen is important. wait in linethetomethod be birth so. Online classes are are also available around the nation and when students consumption of all classes. six period layout, workeddo for years the student. This is said Barry. doms not prescribed; they “Ihas really think do students where the student can either take those and will continue to work for schools I give the abstinence train of because once the s can be purchased at just about would use it, I know I would do this,thatstuat school or at home. have a steady plan that is worked any pharmacy or grocery store thought a lot of credit. Just tell pregnant or received Kelsey everywhere o go witharound planit. have,” said senior Students have different positions on thiswithout situation and though to have proof Block schedule more was kids over and over again that there is very little th having Pinkul.requires “If there more and dangerous valid, schools canaonly accomodate require more money, certain age. There are 21 sex is bad. That has worked done to reverse it. information about itall[sex], I of solution teachers, to this which to a certain extent. The motto is always and thus, more funding. All of which, “Mostly all I can states withforschools that make really well for abstinence-only think students wouldthetake it amount d be for schools greatest of good the many schools are not able to acquire supporters, just look at Sarah fer students to an ag because it isamount a them ntraceptives greatest of people.available to their stubased to off of more the way seriously the district runs.

The traditional method has always All teachers big needresponsibility.” a prep period and Palin’s grandson. Hence, we can help them, so th dents. and with certain classes such a lunch. leads to the need for “Condoms in schools even- are stuck with teens that are treatment,” said Eb that worked teens he district hasThis allAdvocating as AP and IB on the rise, it would more teachers. could happen if it re- taught not to have sex, and with family plannin should have sex is not be thebeneficial same totually he distribution have longer periods Alongside the necessary funding, then they act without being dent comes in and s enough asis saying that they should be doceived of birth control though many not take these classes. support from physical space needed. Most schools If they do, AP, was designed tosaid be tak-Ebert. “It has already established in an area near that pregnant, I have to prepared. parents,” safe if they choose route. has to beareprefor a couple classes rather okayed than all. by the district residentials. Students It is difficult to find more “I think students have un- to tell her parents.” not been who are inensupport ctor.

Considering the multitude of alspace especially in Southern Nevada Face it, students and would only be if it was protected sex because it is do not t give out the of school distributionternate routes to a school schedule, where the cities are populated in a set think that it promotes sex, but something that parents came convenient. It is hard to pre- and will continue to is a prescriparea.

Many schools opt for portables but out in favor of, and right now pare for, there are a lot of hor- The best option is to instead that contraceptives ool nurse Robyn with this, additional cost is unavoidI don’t think that they would mones,” said Ebert. “There are the tools that will m can the prevent what e not allowed to comes of buying them and the heating or air a lot of feelings going on at the safe and have the appreciate it.” edication conditioning that is able. to be used. This then can time they would be in a rela- prevent mistakes Students would be more “It is sad but necessary,” a physician.” lead to less parking spaces for students,to faculty, and parents park at. Barry. “Conlikely to use a school provided tionship with someone or be life-long consequenc said juniortoJordy ed the ability Students need breaks. A full 90 or more minutes in a classroom can lend students to stress more in and outside of class. With a block schedule, a student would be required to have 8 classes. This load can lend itself to an overworked student to due the fact that it still requires the same amount of hard work and energy as it would be if it were in a single day. This takes a significant effect when these classes are AP and/or IB where a standardized exam is taken at the end of the year. the best of both world can also be A classic six period day consists of achieved. Schools nationwide are trya well structured plan that works for ing out both the traditional method students who have completed the reand a block schedule, sometimes even quired amount of course load. Many in the same week. seniors take four classes a day though In the situations that suprisingly with a block schedule, it would be aloccur for most students, they are not tered to work with the block schedule always able to attend school. Regardwhich can mean attending and leaving less of the reason, catching up for stuschool at different times each day. dents is already difficult --especially illustrations by Jenn Another benefit to the traditional when they miss more than one day. nts learn two different methods for protecting themselves in a sexually active world. school schedule would be towards With a block schedule, not only will programs such as the musical arts and students miss an extensive amount languages. Daily practice is essential to of content but due to the way block Bethany Casall

Students everywhere have different positions on this situation and though all valid, schools can only accomodate to a certain extent.

h control is not appropriate at scho

glioli

May 2019

tice the abstinence they teach you in health classes.”

Now you have a pregnancy or have contracted an STD,” said

physical consequences that can come from having sex at a

The average cost of three condoms is

26 opinion

ream

T

By Hannah Serquina

he role of women in sports has been limited. These limitations can be seen through the stereotypes and standards that women have in regards to their emotions. Serena Williams recently did a voice over for a Nike commercial that addresses the double standard that female athletes constantly face as they attempt to achieve greatness.

“If we show emotion, we’re called dramatic. If we want to play against men, we’re nuts. And if we dream of equal opportunity, delusional,” Williams said in the voiceover to the new Nike ad, “Dream Crazier.”’

Williams is the perfect narrator for this commercial due to the fact that she has faced more personal limitations such as racism and gender criticism in her own sport, tennis. Williams faced a double standard during a match where she was punished for snapping at an umpire, despite the fact that male tennis players have gotten away with similar behavior in the past.

For instance, Williams has been called out for being too agressive and is described as acting unprofessional or out of character. In other word’s William’s and a variety of female athletes face more pessure to keep their composure despite the fact that male athletes express outrage and are rarely penalized.

Not only that, but the French Tennis Federation banned catsuits from the court after Williams wore

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one during a match, saying her attire ‘went too far’ and implied that she disrespected “the game and the place.”

“Dream Crazier ” features clips of Olympic champs, including gymnast Simone Biles, snowboarder Chloe Kim, hijab-wearing fencer Ibtihaj

So if they want to call you crazy? Fine.

Show them what crazy can do.

Serena Williams Muhammad and San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon.

The message of the commercial is to Dream Crazier which is represented through these individual women as they represent resilience within the sports industry in a variety of ways.

Simone Biles demonstrates the message of ‘Dream Crazier,’ inspiring young African American girls to chase their dreams just as Biles did when she broke the world record by taking the gold medal. Chloe Kim is a representation of why a young girl should, ‘Dream Crazier.’ The commercial

razy

highlights when she performed three spins on the left side and became the first female to land consecutive 1080s in the halfpipe at the Olympics. Kim’ Ibtihaj Muhammad’s fencing moves are also displayed in the commercial as she proudly wears her hijab, which entails equality for all women, specifically representation for Muslim women not only within the Middle East, but also for Muslims in America. Morover, Myhammad advocates for women’s rights not only in the Middle East but the United States.

Becky Hammon is one of the only females in her line of work to coach in a league such as the National Basketball League (NBA). This demonstates William’s message to, “Dream Crazy,” because society assumes that girls lack the capability coach. Specifcially, coaching is a man’s job.

Hammon is proof that a sport is beginning to recognize the importance of hiring the most qualified coach for the job, regardless of gender.

These individuals have proven that women everywhere are capable of achieving the impossible. If one looked at sports in past decades, sports were mainly dominated by men. Not only that, but society believed that males are the only ones capable of excelling in athletics or have the capability to break records.

This misconception is proved false by these individual women in, “Dream Crazier” and is the overall purpose of what Serena Williams is trying to accomplish in the advertisement.

Williams uses clips of these individuals to explain that the opportunity to prove women resilience in sports is far from easy. Rather, women are often criticized harder by society. Additionally, Williams points out that sexism is highly prevalent within the athletic world and that women must continue to have and achieve their crazy aspirations despite the limitation society simultaneously enforces on them.

“If we show emotion, we’re called dramatic,” Williams, said in the ad.

“If we want to play against men, we’re nuts. And if we dream of equal opportunity, we’re delusional. When we stand for something, we’re unhinged.

When we’re too good, there’s something wrong with us. And if we get angry, we’re hysterical, irrational, or just being crazy.”

Williams and all women with crazy dreams, whether it be sports related or not, want the world to know that their dreams will be achieved. Ultimately, nothing will stand in the way of their accomplishments despite how society deems women as dramatic or incapable of achieving big things compared to men. Williams takes the double standard as well as the discrimination women face and turns it into motivation. Rather than letting the term “crazy” takeaway women’s value, Williams gives the term purpose and challenges all women to fight for what they believe in.

“So, if they want to call you crazy?

Fine. Show them what crazy can do,” Williams said.

editorial 27

CON-GRAD-ULATIONS

By The InvestiGator Staff

Finally, another school year is coming to an end and the long-awaited summer is now closer than ever. This does not mean we will easily forget all the countless memories, both good and bad, as well as the events that took place here on campus over the three month break, though.

For some, the ending of this school year means a couple more years before they leave high school. While for others, this spring is a time for new beginnings and growing up, in other words, a graduation.

Freshmen, as you move up into sophomores, do not forget how it felt to be a first year on campus. Make the incoming freshmen feel welcome, you were in their shoes not too long ago. This is also the time to start taking school seriously if you have yet to do so. Move past this year’s drama, learn to forgive, but never forget.

Sophomores, welcome to the world of being upperclassmen.

Really embrace it over the summer before the following school year. Begin thinking about if college is the route for you or what your plans are going to be in the years immediately following graduation. If you’re going down the college route, this is the year to buckle down academically which is a challenge all on its own, mentally prepare yourself for it.

Future senior class, push through the year, do not let senioritis get the best of you. Try not to procrastinate. Most importantly, pay attention to all the fine details that come with graduation, it comes faster than you will realize. Remember to take time to fully enjoy the year and moments with friends both inside and outside of class.

But, to this year’s graduating class: congrats (almost) grads!

Everyone is going down different paths, whether that means going to college or taking a year off, you will all enter a new season that comes with graduating and becoming more of an adult and your own person.

Editors-in-Chief: Kaeli Britt Erinn Veach

The InvestiGator is a studentrun and operated news magazine. All opinions and views expressed within are those of the author and not of the student body or staff of Green Valley High School.

Letter to the editors or staff may be delivered to room 825 to Mr. Johnston or emailed to him at johnsem1@nv.ccsd.net.

Editors: News: Bethany Casall Features: Hannah Serquina Sports: Gabriella Ghasserani A&E: Abigail Culpepper Opinions: Victoria Rodriguez Reporters: Tyler Bonnette Diana Brown Max Ghasserani Alexis Ladd Zachary Schauer Advisor: Eric Johnston

Student speak

What are some of your favorite memories when looking back on this past school year?

“My favorite part was making older friends, they make me feel more confident.”

Destiny Parker, freshman

“My favorite memories are all the First Fridays because i get to hang out with my friends, just playing around and having fun.”

Mariel Filamor, sophomore

“The best is the time I have spent in my elective classes. All of the stuff I have been learning in my psychology and civil liberties classes have been super interesting.”

Design Editor: Maycee Labo Photo Editors: Hailey Gross Brynne Hilton

Cameron Lair, junior

Business Manager: Vivien Liebhardt

“My favorite memory of senior year was going to Prom. Its the only high school dance I’ve ever been to, so it was really memorable for me.”

Staff Managers: Nora-Jo Paramo Jenna Ricciardi

Conner Au, senior

May 2019

28 gallery

ICE COLD, HOT DAY

The IB class sells cultural drinks at Green Valley’s annual Farmers Market on April 5, 2019.

BRYNNE HILTON | PHOTO