The InvestiGator

investigator

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Vol. 31, Issue 2 November 2021

UP A LL

NIGHT see pages 14-16

Green Valley High School 460 Arroyo Grande Henderson, NV 89014

Editor’s Note Fall has finally arrived and the first quarter has come to an end. While everyone is eagerly enjoying “No School November,” us here at the InvestiGator are busy working on the latest edition of the magazine.

In this issue we highlighted the positive and negative effects sleep has on student life; more precisely the pros, the cons and all of the misconceptions surrounding it.

Our news section covers everything from program fundraisers to the simulated traffic collision that left everyone on the edge of their seats.

With the start of fall comes the highly anticipated arrival of pumpkin spice, fall scents, scary movies and most importantly Halloween. That being said, we made sure to cover anything and everything surrounding those topics.

In addition, we share the stories of those who compete in pageants, debates, drive some of the hottest rides seen around campus and even those who practically live at the gym or on the ice.

In the opinion section we discussed lighter topics like the phrase ‘act your age’ and whether or not shopping should be done in person or online, along with more serious topics like the effect that social media has on crime cases or the importance of financal literacy for students.

Our staff has been working hard to print and produce the most strenuous issue thus far, from learning new ways to use a camera to testing the waters with unique page design, so we hope it was well worth the effort.

On the cover Vol. 31, Issue 2 November 2021

investigator

the

By The InvestiGator Staff

Green Valley High School 460 Arroyo Grande Henderson, NV 89014

Co Editors-In-Chief: Brenna Knight Tyler Bonnette Violet LaMela

Managing Editors: Kristel Alfaro Borbon Cherie Franklin

Section Editors: News: Stormy Byrne Emma Trifonova

Features:

Shaelyn Gamiao

Sports:

Jeremy Anderson Dilara King

A & E:

Lily Burke Adrian Sifuentes

Opinion:

Neyta Flores Esquer McKenzie Shelton-Lott

UP A LL

Reporters:

see pages 14-16

NIGHT

Take a deeper look into the positive and negative effects sleep has on student life.

Tyler Bonnette

Brandon Anderson Joe Byington Kayla DeMenezes Malia Deramus Simona Grigonis Evan Halfhill Ameya Naduvalath Nathan Paet Kinsley Priebe Brysan Wilson Harrell

GET SOME AIR

Staff Manager:

Senior Damon Bischoff flips on the red carpet during the assembly on Oct. 22. The court was introduced to the school mid-way through the assembly.

Business Manager:

Tyler Bonnette | PHOTO | PAGE 3

Jasmine Gomolka

Brook Gray-Vanderbur

Social Media Manager: Laycie Taylor

Copy Editors: Taylor Hunt Sowmya Kumar

Tyler Bonnette ON TOP OF THE WORLD - Junior Christopher Aguayo sits on his teammate’s shoulders, cheering to represent the football team on Oct. 22. Later in the evening, the team defeated Faith Lutheran 31-27.

Adviser: Eric Johnston

The InvestiGator is a student-run 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.

Letters to the editor or staff may be delivered to room 825 to Mr. Johnston or emailed to him at johnsem1@nv.ccsd.net Green Valley High School 460 Arroyo Grande Henderson, NV 89014

The InvestiGator

INSIDE this

ISSUE

Tyler Bonnette

6 13 20 24 28 33

NEWS Every 15 Minutes program stages car crash scene

FEATURE Building life skills with Speech and Debate

SPORTS

Freshman figure skater shows off on the ice

PHOTO ESSAY Highlights of the school’s homecoming week

A&E

The classics vs. the contemporary horror movies

OPINION

Exploring the long term benefits of business classes

Shaelyn Gamiao

News

in brief Tyler Bonnette, Aferdita Vinca, Kristel Alfaro Borbon

First Friday

New art

Free lunch

First Friday took place on Nov. 5 and was Day of the Dead themed. Student Council made an altar in front of the cafeteria to honor teachers and pets that have passed.

The school was decorated in Day of the Dead themed decorations. Furthermore, there were several treats for sale including churros, stickers, and Chick-fil-A.

The Las Vegas Raiders have unveiled a new mural in Allegiant Stadium to honor 96 high school football teams, including GVHS. The mural contains helmets from every football team as well as the name of each school mascot, with the words ‘Battle Born’ featured on top. The mural is located in the 100 concourse of the stadium and is 50 feet tall.

Lunch has been made free for all students until 2025. Superintendent Dr. Jesus F. Jara has stated that he believes all students should know where their next meal will come from in order to focus on their education. 75% of students qualified for free lunch as of June 2021, but now any student can obtain a meal in their school cafeteria.

The InvestiGator

Under the lights

“

news 5

Performing arts band together in quad for fundraiser

By Taylor Hunt

C

hoir, Orchestra and Band, in preparation for competitions and performances, and have organized massive fundraisers for each of their programs. Coming together to host a huge competition in the quad on Wednesday, Sept. 29, these groups of hard working students performed their complete shows, demonstrating what each group had to offer.

“We performed our whole show, which is about eight minutes long, and we are fundraising for the program and our field trip in March,” junior Chelsea Quiroz said. “I definitely say come out and watch us and support us at our competitions. Our first competition was Saturday, Sept. 26, and we received a superior rating.”

The award winning band had a lot to show off, as each student, having chosen their instrument based on what they wanted to play, was integral to the performance.

“We are a really hyped up part of this school and if the band wasn’t there, it would be pretty dull,” Quiroz said.

family. Mrs. Ritzer knows how to take care of students, and she loves what she does, which makes it a lot more fun,” junior Kevin Shin said.

Choir is basically like a giant family. Mrs. Ritzer knows how to take care of students.

Kevin Shin

Choir accompanied the band for its own performances, showing off all that they had been preparing for, working hard together to polish their work as much as possible.

“Choir is basically like a giant

Instructed by choir teacher Kimberly Ritzer, the choir either works as a whole class or splits into “sectionals,” where the section leaders, including Shin, go around and teach different parts of songs.

“We have a lot of fun and we have a lot of goofy times, but at the end of the day it’s mostly serious,” Shin said.

The Orchestra also had their own songs to perform. After being stuck online for an entire year, the group finally had their chance to perform altogether again.

“I don’t think many people can say they are a part of an environment with people who are interested in the same thing as you,” junior Amador Guerrero said. “It’s nice to have something that you enjoy and that you’re good at and know that it will always be there.”

Last year, participation in the fine arts was difficult, considering how hands on the activity is. Each group has pushed through and is back to performing as a whole group in person.

“Just stick to something that you enjoy,” Guerrero said. “We are like a team and we practice. We are learning, and that’s what really makes us good.”

Smoothing out the edges

Students meet for ceramics club to create out of clay

By Evan Halfhill

“E

verywhere you look, ceramics and glass are hard at work—even though they may be unseen,” described The American Ceramic Society. Electronics, turbine engines, lighting fixtures, furniture and pots are all made of ceramic. Learning how to work with ceramics could be a very important skill. Ceramics club is a new club that has been initiated on campus in October. It has been around before this year, but in many ways it is a very new club.

“It’s a new club because we really haven’t had it before,” Ceramics Club advisor Melinda Stender said.

This is Stender’s second year advising the club, and her first was the year before distance learning. She did not have it last year, as getting students to do projects online presented logistical challenges. Before Stender started advising Ceramics Club, there were a couple of art clubs but this was the first club of its kind to focus purely on Ceramics instead of a little bit of everything.

“We have a couple events coming up in the springtime,” Stender said. “I think a lot of kids really enjoy doing ceramics because you get to relax and kind of make anything that you want to make.”

Students in ceramics can engage

attention to detail, which is a filter for all other distractions and worries.

“It helps with stress relief. You could put your anger into that place sometimes, but it’s really calming, especially if you’re molding something,” senior Alexandria Slaveck

KILN’ IT - Junior Svetlana Serapian carves and creates a sculpture during a Ceramics Club meeting on Oct. 14. Once it was done, it was hardened and dried in a kiln so it could be painted.

in the social aspects of the class like partaking in group activities and projects with others. Others enjoy the silent benefits of the class. Ceramics is very messy, but very engaging. It makes people in the class pay great

said.

Some appreciate utilizing the fine motor skills needed for the class. It is becoming more apparent that there is an abundance of students that learn better through physical activi-

ties and prefer to interact and make crafts with their hands in order to do this. However, make sure to take precaution with ceramics.

“You can’t just put a ball of clay into the kiln, otherwise it’ll also explode. If there’s air bubbles in your clay, it will explode,” Slaveck said.

Students are putting their ceramic skills to good use this holiday season.

After not being able to be as handson as some may have hoped in the past year, they are seizing every opportunity to expand their skills, and will continue to make plenty of other creations with clay this year.

“We’ll make cartoon characters,” Stender said. “They do a lot of nature inspired stuff like frogs, snails, mushrooms, and then other kids make bowls, things they can eat out of, things they can drink out of.”

The door to the Ceramics Club is open Mondays and Thursdays after school, from 2:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. If anyone is interested, they might want to wear some older clothes.

“We welcome everyone,” Stender said. “Just come try it out and have fun.”

November 2021

6 news

Under the influence Simulated D.U.I. traffic collision raises awareness

By Brenna Knight

N

o one expected it. It was only a 10 minute drive.

Every 15 Minutes is a program that occurs every two years to raise awareness of the dangers of driving under the influence. The chosen students that are involved are immersed in a seemingly real car crash scene to spread the impactful message to the rest of the school. Statistically in the United States, every 15 minutes someone is killed or seriously injured in an alcohol related incident. This program is working around the U.S. to lower this statistic and save the lives of many.

On Oct. 14, 2021, a simulated D.U.I. (Driving under the influence) traffic collision was assembled in the school’s parking lot. Upperclassmen, along with the parents of the ‘deceased’ and the walking dead gathered to watch the tragic incident.

Involved were four students: senior McKenna Rowland who

AFTERMATH - Senior McKenna Rowland feigns death during the mock crash scene.

Rowland was one of numerous students who participated in the mock collision on Oct. 14.

was thrown through the windshield and passed away on impact; senior Preston Williams who was the unconscious driver, later pronounced dead; junior Bradley Geiger, the passenger in the impaired driver’s vehicle who was paralyzed from the neck down and senior Jeffrey Welsh, who was the impaired driver and sentenced to 60 years minimum in prison.

Those who were immersed in the crash all experienced different perspectives of what could happen in this situation. The mock scene was set up to give off a real life effect and help everyone understand the reality of such a situation.

“Well [reality] kind of hit when I was in the car and they started taking the car roof off. I had a whole bunch of thoughts going through my mind like, what if this actually happened and thinking about people who went through this for real,” Williams said.

“It also really hit me when I got to the hospital, it’s something I wasn’t expecting at all. They started doing CPR on me and hooked up breathing devices to me. They also cut all my clothes off, I was in shock w i t h

“

everything going on. All the people frantically moving and talking trying to save my life, it was a lot.”

dents involved, but the parents who lost their child to the reckless actions of someone else. Families who have

Most students don’t believe it could happen to them, or maybe they don’t think of how devastating a fatal crash could be.

Damon Seevers

The Every 15 Minutes program emphasized that most collisions could be easily prevented. Victims of the accidents could be anyone, regardless of race, sexuality, age, etc. Lives can be ruined in an instant with one decision; getting behind the wheel impaired.

The hardest part for many people to grasp is how this affects the lives of the victims’ family. The program shows the perspective of not just the stu-

experienced these tragedies often struggle to express their thoughts about the matter, and the program helps show their perspective and demonstrate to young adults why driving impaired affects more than just the driver.

“I think most students don’t believe it could happen to them, or maybe they don’t think of how devastating a fatal crash could be. Seeing the mock crash scene up close and the details behind every crash, will leave a lasting effect,” Henderson Police Officer Damon Seevers said. “Hearing from parents that actually have lost their sons or daughters first hand, places them in their position and makes them think of their families if they were to be gone.”

The next day on Oct. 15, 2021, a virtual assembly was held for the school to learn the after-

Cherie Franklin

math of the scene they witnessed beforehand. Officer Seevers had started off the assembly with a video of the collision and what happened to the four students along with their loved ones. He then gave a summary about the moral of the program, and everything that went into the production of it in order to produce the best effect for the students. Showing the behind the scene footage of what happens in the ICU, court and the morgue showed how scary and intense being in a crash can be.

“It was hard for me to sit there and listen to my parents crying, I never really have seen my dad cry before.

I wanted to jump out of the bed and reach up for them, give them a huge hug and say, ‘it’s alright, I am right here.’ But I couldn’t,” Williams said.

“Later when I came home, they told me that my brother was crying when he saw my obituary and that made me feel really sad. I will never forget hearing my parents cry and my mom kissing my forehead. It’s something I never want to see or hear again.”

Having been put in the position of being ‘deceased’ was an eye-opener.

Multiple outlooks can be taken from this program and used by students to acknowledge their personal safety - specifically, the responsibility and choices they have. Those decisions have a much larger effect, which is what this program is trying to highlight.

“I learned to thank all the things I have and what has been done for me.

This program almost felt like it really gave me a second chance in life, to really be thankful for what has been given to me,” Williams said.

This year’s program differed from previous years. Rather than attending the traditional assembly in the gym on the second day, students sat in their fourth period class and watched a live stream on GVTV. Issues as a result of the pandemic also affected the program behind the scenes. Prep time for this year’s event was more rushed compared to previous ones.

“This was our first E15M in 2 years, due to being shut down because of COVID. Also, where we usually have four to five months of planning, we only had one and a half months to get this ready. So it was a real push to

get everything done in time. But everyone came together and everything turned out very nicely,” Seevers said.

Being in that situation - having to possibly prevent someone from making a dangerous choice behind the wheel - can be a lot of pressure.

However, it is incredibly important, as these situations are life altering to a multitude of people.

“It’s kind of hard to convince someone when they’re super drunk,” Geiger said. “So I feel like the best scenario is to just hide their keys or maybe even give them a ride.”

A huge problem that the program tackled was complacency - people who see the issues arise and do nothing to prevent it are, in a way, partially responsible for any consequences.

“We hope that the students will take what they have experienced from the Every 15 Minutes back to their friends and share what they have learned,” Officer Seevers said.

“We hope that next time they are at a party, and they see someone about to drink and drive, they will step up and get that person a ride home and not get behind the wheel drunk.”

news 7

One aspect that viewers were not able to see was those that participated in this program writing a letter to their parents; The prompt for the letter was ‘Today I died and I never had the chance to tell you...’ Most found it difficult to put themselves in the position of being dead, and having to write their final words out on a sheet of paper instead of speaking to them.

“This was very hard for me to write. Everything that I have done and everything I have not done was going through my mind. There was so much I wanted to say and what all I wish I could have done. All the times where I could have been doing something but I was just sitting down doing nothing,” Williams said. “I really wanted to just call my parents saying I love them so much and that they mean the world to me. I would go to the moon and back for them. I eventually got to tell them all about it and all the crazy things that happened. But I can’t get the thought out of my head that some people don’t get to come back, they don’t get to hug their family and tell them that they love them.”

WHAT IS YOUR EMERGENCY - Members of the Henderson Fire Department help carry out protocol. They took the injured to the ICU.

Cherie Franklin

Personal experience changes morality

A

By Brenna Knight

fter this program and being away from society for two days, my heart now sinks with an uncomfortable aura every time my friends, family or myself need to get behind the wheel. Knowing now that my morals will not let myself or others drive impaired, I only am cautious of other drivers.

As someone who had prior knowledge on the Every 15 Minutes program, I it was a lot more impactful than what I had originally thought.

I had already known not to drive impaired, but after the entirety of this program, the message became more clear to me: Alcohol and drugs have more effect on just driving incidents.

At the hotel we were staying at, the group did bonding activities and talking exercises; one of the exercises gave those who were willing to open up, an opportunity to share about

Being able to listen to my classmates and public speakers reminded me of how grateful I am for everything that I have and that it can be taken away from me at any given moment. how alcohol and drugs have changed their lives. After listening to those who shared, and even choosing to speak myself, I realized all of us had different experiences but we shared similar pain; there are more layers to those even though it may not be

shown outwardly.

Being able to listen to my classmates and public speakers reminded me of how grateful I am for everything that I have and that it can be taken away from me at any given moment; To live in the moment and not

take anything for granted.

I also had the opportunity in the assembly to share a letter I wrote to my parents about what I never had the chance to tell them before I had “passed.” Pushing through all the nerves and having the courage to tell this to not only to Green Valley, but to my parents as well was worth the anxiety. As I went home and looked at the messages I have received, I was informed that I had impacted so many people. It made me incredibly thankful for this opportunity to spread the dangers of distracted driving and hopefully prevent incidents in the future.

Speaking for the participants of this program, I know we want to give thanks to the City of Henderson Police and Fire Department, first responders, the public speakers and many more for giving their time, effort to make a difference in all lives and serve to those who have been affected by D.U.I. traffic collisions.

November 2021

news 9

Reward for merit

Rigorous program offers scholarship opportunities

By Kinsley Priebe

T

he National Merit Scholarship is an ambitious academic competition for students with an extremely high academic standing. 1.5 million students apply annually for this competitive scholarship opportunity, and only 50,000 students are recognized. Ultimately, 7,500 students are selected as winners.

“I completed the finalist application by the deadline,” senior Robert Burton said. “The only thing I can do now is patiently wait and behave until NMSC announces the finalists.”

In order to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship students must take their PSAT or the NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) at the appropriate time in their high school career. This time is usually early junior year or late into their sophomore year. It is strongly suggested by the counselors and teachers of students interested in eligibility to take the test as soon as they can. It is also a requirement that these students are citizens of, or live in the United States for their four years of high school while actively seeking citizenship.

“When I took the PSAT they give you a lot of information about National Merit,” senior Sohini Mandal said.

Recognition includes commended students, semi-finalists, finalists and winners. There are three students from Green Valley who have been named semi-finalists. These students are Robert Burton, Jacob Drum and

This was a title I was not expecting to have, and it is an impressive recognition to have on a resume.

Robert Burton

Sohini Mandal.

“Being locked up it’s not easy to go see friends, not easy to see people,” senior Jacob Drum said. “I had friends over the break but it was definitely harder to have a community.”

In late September, students are sent letters of commendation for their superb academic commitment but do not move any further in the competition. Commended students make up about roughly more than two-thirds of the 50,000 recognized students. Semi-finalists are acknowledged in early September of their status. There are 16,000 semi-finalists, approximately one-third of those commended.

To become a finalist, students are required to send in an application to the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). In this application, students are to provide their high school transcript, teacher recommendations, list of extracurricular activities, and their SAT and ACT scores to assure that they have withheld their high level of academic performance.

“The scholarship corporation likes to see that you are well rounded,” Mandal said.

Some time in February, 16,000 semi-finalists are notified that they have become finalists as well as their principals who will be sent a certificate to give to the student. In the end, winners are chosen from this pool of exceptional students.

“The pandemic created a plethora of new obstacles, and their achievement is that much more exceptional, considering the context,” counselor Kimberly Mahan said.

These students had to complete the greater part of their junior year at home due to schools going virtual.

This provided both some disadvantages and advantages.

Although work loads seemed to be lightened for

“ The scholarship corporation likes to see that you are well rounded.

Sohini Mandal

some otherwise rigorous courses, students also had more time to complete their work as they did not have to drive to and from school, nor were they able to spend time with their friends regularly.

There are three types of Scholarships students can be awarded. These scholarships are all around $2,500.

First is the main one, the Nation Merit which is a single payment for the first year of study. Second is the Corporate-Sponsored Merit scholarship.

These winners are designated by a company to children of employees or members of the community in which the company operates. Another way a corporation could choose a student is if they have career plans the company wishes to support.

Third is the College-Sponsored Merit scholarship. There are approximately 180 colleges and universities that sponsor the NMSC. Officials from these colleges select finalists who have by then, been accepted for admission. Students are to notify the corporation by the deadline that it is their first choice. The two latter scholarships are both renewable for four years of undergraduate study.

As you are applying for college this scholarship can set you apart from other applicants. Having this scholarship can open doors for other organizations or corporations seeking exceptional students to award through money for study.

“Being a semifinalist means a lot to me,” Burton said. “This was a title I was not expecting to have, and it is an impressive recognition to have on a resume.”

“ I had friends over the break but it was definitely harder to have a community.

Jacob Drum

photos by Angelina Santos

November 2021

10 feature

In Schools

Ever-expanding industry gets more focus from teachers

By Kayla DeMenezes

S

TEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

It is a type of education that more schools day by day are trying to encourage students to look into. Some jobs in these fields are zoology, biology, computer science and any job that involves NASA. STEM can prove to be very beneficial to people, and statistics show that these occupations have grown by 79% ever since 1990.

A lot of teachers believe that STEM education is an important thing to learn about. But depending on the career path somebody is looking for depends on how much they should really learn about these subjects. Although if people go into a job that involves these topics they could be making about $10,000 to $20,000 more a year than somebody doing a job that does not. Depending on what kind of jobs people are looking for, if people choose a STEM-involved career, they could make more money.

“STEM is the meat and potatoes of how people make money in this country,” science teacher Audrey Yurtinus said.

If STEM is the source of how most people make money in this country, some might wonder if those subjects are too difficult. It is not just about being smart people might need to practice more and

it is about the mentality of it too.

Something that can help people with interest in this education as well is going to a school that focuses on these topics, there are many high schools and colleges located all around the world. There are some schools even located in Nevada and more schools are trying to add more STEM education into their learning system.

“Whether it’s a female, or anybody, you got to do it,” Yurtinus said. “If you just aren’t good enough yet, we have to practice so it’s a different mentality.”

More teachers and schools in general are trying to get girls interested in science related education.

There is not any specific reason that these jobs are dominated by men but schools are as a whole trying to get all different kinds of people to look into STEM. STEM is an education where people are able to learn so many new things and from those new things they might be able to figure something out that other people did not. Having more people get involved can expand what we are able to figure out. Many people are curious and intrigued by the variety of things that this field of sciences affects, allowing for growth of the program.

“Sometimes math and science are difficult for folks and sometimes that ends up being more you try, and then it ends up being the

thing you like,” Yurtinus said.

In November there will be a STEM conference with different experts from the field that allow the students to discuss and experience what those experts in their field do in their daily work lives.

At these conferences there is an opportunity for students to experience a little of what it might be like to have a job in these fields and determine if they are interested or not.

“STEM class basically takes everything that you learn in a book, and puts it into a practical real life situation,” robotics teacher Andy Agan said.

Another reason education of these applied sciences is important is because it teaches students how to connect what they are learning

in their classes to the real world.

That factor is important because students sometimes get in the mindset that the STEM classes are useless for the career they want.

However, STEM education can help people figure out when they might need to use what they have learned. Each part of this program plays such an important role for example engineering adds the component of critical thinking and problem solving.

STEM can teach students so many different things and if they are interested it might even end up being the base of what they do in the future.

“The greatest benefit of STEM education is it makes connections to content that you’re learning in your classes,” Agan said.

Lily Burke

IN FREE FALL- Junior Sarah Chemplavil watches as her project parachutes to the ground. The IB physics class had an egg drop project on Nov. 1 to gain extra credit.

The InvestiGator

Violet Lamela

feature 11

Reaching for the S.TA.R.S. Special programs teachers help students reach their brightest potential

S

By Stormy Byrne

pecial programs teachers are a crucial foundation for a school’s success. They help their students to grow and plan their futures throughout their high school years.

Teachers like Tiffany Cerrone, work endlessly to make their students’ high school careers as normal and easy as possible. Cerrone says she does this by recognizing and accepting each student’s differences and barriers, to make her goal of helping each student have an easy high school experience achievable.

“They have barriers,” Cerrone said. “So instead of focusing on what’s negative about it we just try to focus on the positive.”

Though special education can seem like a stressful job for those who have been working for years, the job is more enjoyable than not.

While the teachers work tirelessly with their students, stress can sometimes take over, leading the teachers to find their own ways to relax.

“I read a lot, that’s my escape,” Pauline Blovsky, a special education teacher who specializes in behavioral and emotional issues, said.

Becoming a special education teacher is not as hard as one may think, it’s quite similar to becoming a general education teacher too.

Special education educators must get their bachelors degree, a student teaching job in a special education classroom, state tests, and a teaching certification. But despite the similarities to regular education, not many teachers choose this path. Whether it be because of the stress, workload, or lack of passion for the special education department, there is a substantial shortage of these teachers in Nevada.

Many teachers in the special ed department say the real stress of their job is in the paperwork.

Special education paperwork consists of forms called IEPs or Individualized Education Programs are a legal document that outlines the personalized learning plan for

each individual student. The constant change based on each students needs also proves difficult for some.

“And if it doesn’t work, then we’re changing things all the time,”

relationships and growing socially. According to the Center for Autism, STAR is a research program that the students are assessed for beforehand, and tracked through their years of school on their prog-

CRUNCH TIME - Senior Quinton Intano reviews flashcards for an upcoming test. The special programs department makes sure all students are aided in their areas of study.

“

Cherie Franklin

I realized that I really like it and I like working with the kids. I feel that as a teacher, I can really make a big difference.

Matthew Harrison

special programs teacher Kristina Carmona said.

When special education is mentioned, negativity comes about, especially in the direction towards the students. According to StopBullying.Gov, research shows that students with disabilities have an increased risk of facing bullying. The teachers take an initiative to aid the students fight off the stigma of disabilities. Blovksy helps her students by having daily discussions and running a program called, “the Strategies for Teaching based on Autism Research” or STAR, focuses on children with behavioral issues and helps them focus on building

ress.

STAR uses six content areas in their curriculum: functional routines, spontaneous language, receptive language, expressive language, pre-academic concepts as well as social skills. Through these areas and exercises, students are taught critical life skills such as how to reassess a stressful or aggravating situation, or to calm down when something upsets them.

“We do meditations and breathing exercises,” Blovsky said. “We do a lot of discussion and try to find a different reaction to the situation.”

STAR is one of many key elements that outlines the difference

between a general education and a special education. In regular education teachers are able to have overall lesson plans or a plan for a whole class rather than an individual like is required in special education. Special education requires extra care as these teachers are responsible for the development and growth of their young students minds. Modification and change is something often occurring in a special education classroom, and like the students the teachers must adapt too. Some teachers also struggled with disabilities in high school, leading to a more empathetic approach of teaching.

Blovksy herself struggled with learning disabilities in high school, which influenced her decision to become a special education teacher. Experiencing the difficulties and problems has given her support in further understanding her students to be able to assist them further.

A key role of the school’s special education program is the relationships that are formed between the students and teachers. Some have lasted far beyond high school, and do not just end after the student’s graduation.

“I just went with one of my seniors from last year to the Van Gogh exhibit for her eighteenth birthday,” Blovsky said.

Matthew Harrison is another special education teacher who started out on a different path but began to love the job special education came to offer him. He had originally planned to become a coach.

Harrison pointed out that even just working with teenagers can be especially fun. Like Blovsky, he stresses that the relationships formed between students and teachers, and even between the teachers, is one of the most important parts of being a special education teacher.

“Everyone who is here that I work with I consider friends. I would also say that ever since I’ve been a special education teacher, I realized that I really like it and I like working with the kids,” Harrison said. “I feel that as a teacher, I can really make a big difference.”

November 2021

12 sports

Shifting gears

Models, modifications driven on campus

By Brook Gray-Vanderbur

S

ixteen is the great age that as a legal citizen of Nevada you can get your license and drive off into the sunset… or drive to school in the morning. Many students at Green Valley High have a license and have the privilege of driving their own car. Some students drive the cars, others do a double take. Take junior Jack Raspopovich as an example.

Raspopovich drives a 1975 Pontiac Firebird.

“I bought it off one of our friends, he’s a private seller. He buys cars all around the country, he just had that one in his garage and I asked him if he was selling it. He said, ‘Yeah, I’m selling it. If you want it,’” Raspopovich said.

The classic Pontiac brand unfortunately went out of business in April of 2009 after 83 years of making their name brand.

“I really like Pontiac as a company,” Raspopovich said. “They made good cars before they went bankrupt.

Really good cars like the newer ones in the 2000’s. I think they’re pretty good.”

The Pontiac Company is now known as a “classic,” but when they were coming out many car individuals would pay good money to get their hands on them.

“My dad has a 1978 Firebird. And he’s had it since he was 19,” Raspopovich said. “My sister has a Pontiac as well. It’s called the Aztec I believe.”

Having a classic car has its perks when it comes to car shows. Every year Water St. puts on a car show called the “Henderson Hot Rods” showcasing the classic cars of Henderson.

“I’ve been to those car shows on Water St., they have them every year.

It’s a pretty big car show. Then the week after that, I went to the IPF, Injured Police Officer Funds car show, and they have a bunch of cool cars there as well. I just wanted to bring my car to show off,” Raspopovich said.

With car shows there are other ways to show off your car. The Midnight Mayhem is out at the Las Vegas speedway.

“There’s an event called Midnight Mayhem. And it starts around 8 p.m. and happens, I think, three times a

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year. It’s just a direct trip out on the Las Vegas Speedway,” Raspopovich said. “You get to send your car all the way down.”

Old to new. Classing street cars to modern, junior Daniel Brady drives a 2020 Nissan Maxima.

“It has a CVT transmission so it’s really smooth. It’s got 300 horsepower, so it’s really fast, and I love it. I love the way it handles,” Brady said.

Many car owners like to add mod-

“ It’s got 300 horsepower, so it’s really fast.

Daniel Brady

ifications such as a custom paint job, a spoiler on the back, or anything of that nature.

“I have just a muffler delete right now to make my exhaust louder,”

Brady said.

Putting a muffler delete on makes the sound of take-off much louder. A 2020 car is fresh off the market with only being a year old. High school kids would be lucky to get their hands on a new car.

“So basically, my grandparents bought it at first, they were going to buy me another car but then they said that they’d give me that one brand new I can do whatever I want to it,” Brady said.

Taking care of cars is not the hardest thing, most people just run it through the local car wash and have it done, but going the extra mile for that sparkly shine is exactly what Brady does and it shows in the shiniest way.

“Yeah, I clean my car, at least every other day with custom detailing and the inside and car washes and everything. I buy a lot of cleaning supplies, like a foam wash and like detailing spray and interior detail or window cleaner tire spray. I just do it all the time. I hate having my car dirty,” Brady said.

Some others might not clean their car as often for reasons as pricing, consistent weather, or muddy areas it might be driven.

“Yeah, I went mudding with a bunch of my friends out in the dry lake bed. That was really fun...I usually just take it up to my farm, and use

it as a ranch vehicle, tools and stuff.

And you cannot go off-roading when there’s stuff to do,” Harrison Nielson, who owns a 2017 Jeep Wrangler, said.

“I get a wash probably every month.

I’d say I only get a wash more frequently when I go off-roading and stuff like that.”

What is being driven and what is actually wanting to be driven can be two completely different cars. Most of the time that is the case. Having a used rundown car but wanting a GTR in Brady’s case is the dream.

“I think my dream car would be a GTR 35, it’s always been a car since I’ve wanted since I was a kid. It’s one of the fastest cars in the world. And also, I loved it in every Fast and Furious movie,” Raspopovich said.

Besides dream cars, there are dream modifications. Making your car yours in every possible way that money can buy.

“I said I have a muffler delete and so the Resonator Delete is just another thing on the underneath of your car, that’ll make it louder. So, the muffler delete gets a little louder but then the resonator makes it way louder,” Brady said. “I’d get rain guards, those are things that you put on your windows. I’d lower my car, I blacked out every chrome piece on my car so it would be fully blacked out with new wheels, and short RAM intake.”

Brenna Knight

feature 13

Not up for debate

Forensigators continue streak of success

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By Nathan Paet

ur Green Valley High School speech and debate team has seen great success since its establishment in 1991, which also marks the 30th year of consistent accomplishments. Along with the many awards won throughout the group’s tenure, the team is widely recognized, and considered one of the best programs in the nation.

Speech and debate is a competition-based program that enables students to use a wide range of skills and cater to their strengths while also working towards proficiency in other areas. It combines the use of public speaking, acting and arguing to compete in tournaments, which include a wide variety of speech and debate orientated topics.

“Speech and debate is an activity here at Green Valley High School, where we go and compete against a variety of other high schools with a variety of different topics. Topics usually change very often depending on your event, but it’s about politics and world events in debate. Speech events tend to be more expressive towards the individual, so it’s students going and competing in speeches that they write and memorize themselves.

Ultimately, it’s a very fun event,” senior Co-President Jordan Ranck said.

Tournaments are held monthly, and consist of teams from all across the county, state and at times, even the nation. In a prototypical tournament, the team would leave school early to perform their final speech at where the tournament is being held.

The following day would then be entirely dedicated to debates succeeded by an award ceremony.

Given the current situation surrounding COVID-19, tournaments have drastically been affected. These restrictions resulted in some being held online rather than in person.

The major difference between the two is in the preparation and how they perform their speech.

Normally, the team would prepare for competitions by getting together in groups to discuss their topic given for the event at the end of the month. This would give them time to brainstorm ideas, and figure out how they are going to approach the topic.

Online tournaments changed this vastly, and to maneuver around

the pandemic restrictions, they had to pre-record their speeches. These adjustments give them less time and force them to finish their speech earlier than when they typically would.

“In person we would physically go to other schools to compete against each other teams with physical postings where you’d go to a specific room in the school to compete against like five other people in your speech events. Then when it came to debate, you would go to the school and compete against other people whereas now we’re kind of moved online so we debate on tabroom.com which is a software similar to Zoom,” Ranck said.

In the competition itself, there are plenty of topics that are specifically catered towards the speech and debate aspects of the program. As for the notable debate topics, there is the Congressional Debate, where students debate other students’ resolutions and bills to replicate a real legislative body of government. Then there is also the Policy debate, which involves two students researching governmental policy and presenting a plan for it.

On the other hand, some notable speech topics are Dramatic Interpretation, “Interps” for short, is a ten minute, single person, memorized speech in which the student performs the work for the audience. Then Humorous, which is also a ten minute speech, where the student performs a humorous work. Lastly, Duo Interps, a two person speech event, which can be a mixture of both humorous and dramatic.

“I do Congress (Congressional debate), and Congress is an event where you talk about legislation, bills, and resolutions. You debate them on why they should or shouldn’t be passed. I also do OO (Oratory), which is a ten minute persuasive speech,” junior Secretary Kaci Rohrer said.

Throughout the 30 years that the team has been around, they have had a track record of being one of the most successful teams in the district.

Oftentimes, they find themselves ranking in the top five and have won the CCSD championship every year since 1995.

Winning the county championship 27 years in a row, and holding a state record of 18 state championships, the winning culture is something that is not new to the program.

The team also boasts an outstanding 200+ individual county champions, 80+ individual state championships, and 250+ students who have qualified for the national tournament.

While speech and debate in itself is able to improve the more academically associated skills, it also teaches students more practical and social-related prowess. It develops oral and written communication skills, creates efficient strategies for problem solving, and helps those overcome the dreadful challenges of public speaking.

“I definitely think it has made me work a lot harder because I saw that once I started working harder, I got better results from my tournaments, and also it made me work better with people. I think in a way my leadership skills have changed. Like I said, I got better with group work and learning about what’s going on,” Rohrer said.

With the rich history of the program since their beginnings in 1991, the team has seen a number of traditions that each and every member of the team participates in. Traditions play a big role, as it brings everyone together and serves as a medium for everyone to get involved in.

“We have a ‘wall of distinction’, where every time that you are a regional, state, or a county champion, you get your name on the wall.

That’s been our most long lasting

tradition I think, and it’s a pretty full wall; there’s no room on it anymore.

Another one is at tournaments, we have this plaque that Mr. Ginger (first debate coach) brought with him to their first tournament. Ever since then, we still bring it to tournaments.

I think it’s been a favorite [tradition] ever since,” senior Co-President Cayla Thames said.

Among the old, the team is always welcoming when it comes to new traditions. The introduction of such is what Thames hopes to achieve during their tenure as Co-President.

“I think that younger classes will probably start new traditions, like right now we’re seeing an era of new things that are happening. I think that as more people join the team, it is inevitable for new people and new classes to run the team differently and do different things that everybody likes to do or that everybody tends to bond over better than older traditions. I’m excited to see what happens this year,” Thames said.

As for now, the team is preparing for tournaments and getting back on track after what seemed like a year hiatus from normalcy.

“I’m really just hoping that we get back into normal competition.

Hopefully we take the county championship, and I can watch my JV and novice competitors grow and thrive in debate,” Ranck said.

Brenna Knight Brenna Knight

November 2021

14 feature

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the

STRUGGLE FOR

SLEEP

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Students fall behind due to late nights, early mornings

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By Tyler Bonnette

fter a long night of studying, or a stressful day at school, or a rambunctious house party, nothing is more appealing to most than a long and comfortable night of sleep. Turning out the lights, bundling up under the covers, and letting your body power down can be the best part of the day.

There are very few people that wholeheartedly dislike sleep - as people grow up and gain an assortment of extra responsibilities to keep in mind throughout the day, sleep becomes more and more appealing as an escape from whatever exhausting activity that preoccupied the day.

There are lots of misconceptions and preconceived notions about sleep. Some people think that it has to be within a certain, strict amount of time, or that caffeine can completely negate one’s need for a normal bedtime. Some people think that sleeping in will make them feel less tired throughout the day, or that a nap will energize them afterward. Some people think that consistent sleep is not important as long as a certain number of hours of sleep are reached in a night.

Obviously, there is no denying that sleep is completely necessary to survival. It is the body’s w a y

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of recharging and relaxing, especially after days of hard work and high stress. Muscles relax and destress after prolonged use, while the brain settles down and transfers short-term memories into long-term memories, which is especially important after a long day of school, or a day just before a big test. All of these processes happen completely behind the scenes - nobody controls the way that their brain decides to process and store information at night. It is all entirely involuntary, and it repeats every time the body goes to sleep.

Many people associate sleeping with dreams, and experts suggest that dreams are incredibly important to the process. The presence of dreams has long been thought to signify that the day’s memories are successfully being moved to longterm memory. These kinds of benefits typically only come from long, healthy nights of sleep. Everyone’s body is different, of course, but most experts will agree that a safe amount of sleep every night is around seven to eight hours, depending on the individual’s age. Young children and teenagers, whose bodies and processes are still developing, need slightly longer - around eight to ten hours. No matter what, however, early working hours and underlying stressors can make this difficult to attain.

“I personally stay up late because of homework, so I might even run into the next

Z

day doing my work,” said senior Spencer Ploeger.

“But I do try to wake up at the exact same time to keep that schedule.”

Without a sufficient amount of sleep, a lot of things can happen depending on the person. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has attributed many developmental issues to a lack of sleep. Students who get poor sleep are at a higher risk of being overweight, performing poorly in school, and even suffer from symptoms of depression. In the long-term, teenagers who fail to get enough sleep on the average night are more susceptible to mental disorders and even immunodeficiency.

“Sometimes, the stress and anxiety of trying to turn things in to get that grade makes us stay up longer,” junior Kennedy Maddox said.

School starts rather early in the day depending on the district and individual school schedules, but most high schools in the United States start their school days between the hours of 7 and 8 a.m. This usually means that students will be waking up around 6 to 7 a.m. to get ready for school, and some will wake up even earlier for earlybird classes or practices for band and sports. This, coupled with students having a decent sized workload to worry about and whatever stressors they might be facing at home, leads to a majority of high school students getting around six hours of sleep, depending on the person.

“I have eight classes, or nine, since I’m in Marching Band,” said senior Spencer Ploeger. “I’m normally up at about 5:45 or 6 a.m. and we have to be there at 7 a.m.”

Most students are involved in at least one extracurricular activity, which usually takes up a lot of time, whether it is marching band, another performing art, or a sport. Sports have practice and meets during the mid afternoon, and performing arts have rehearsals. To put it simply, there is a significant number of students who are worrying about school for upwards of seven to eight hours a day, or even more depending on the sports season, upcoming performances, or school

sleepfoundation.org Tyler Bonnette

projects. As a whole, it leaves less time at home for students to rest, even while most students hope for enough time to wake up feeling energized and ready for the day.

“Coming from an IB student, the work that we’re given is a decent chunk of our time,” Maddox said. “It takes up so much of our time, and the teachers say that we shouldn’t be taking this long on our homework, but we get so much of it and sometimes it’s due the next day - or even a couple hours later that same day - and we don’t have enough time to complete it. I think that’s a big thing that’s causing us to stay up late.”

All of this unfortunately correlates with the detrimental amounts of sleep that teenagers have been getting, according to the CDC, which states that most high school students need around eight to ten hours of sleep. Through middle and high school, there is the highest amount of development in teenagers, and this extra development requires a few extra hours of sleep. Eight to ten hours is usually enough to ensure that a teenager wakes up feeling refreshed and energized for the day.

“It’s just a whole bunch of stuff that I do, like IB being the main thing,” Maddox said. “With sports on top of that, along with a whole bunch of other extracurricular activities, it just starts piling up until I’m not able to get enough sleep from it. But I’ve been doing those activities for so long and for so many years, I don’t want to give it up.”

According to a study done by the American Academy of Pediatrics, schools need to start later than 8:30 a.m. in order to give students plenty of time to get a good night’s sleep and wake up energized in the morning. Students - especially teenagers - have wildly fluctuating sleep schedules during puberty, resulting in most students going to bed around 11 p.m. regardless of when school starts.

“I think, overall, if the school day was pushed back to 8:30 or 9, it would make everybody else get

more sleep, including myself, and since I usually get to bed later than 10:30 it might give me more time to sleep every night,” Ploeger said. “But as the school day shifts, time for doing homework might shift too, so it might not help much.”

Most schools in America do not adhere to such a schedule, instead starting between 7 and 8 a.m. for school days. In a somewhat ironic manner, the misbehavior of certain students during school can potentially be traced back to their sleep schedules

“ Sometimes, the stress and anxiety of trying to turn things in to get that grade makes us stay up longer.

Kennedy Maddox

that have been brought on by school. Students who are more irritable and impatient with both teachers and their fellow students may act the way they do because of a lack of sleep.

“I feel like it would add a good hour or two of sleep which, honestly, I would need,” Maddox said. “I think it would really help. Even then, I still don’t think I would get enough sleep to get the full eight hours.”

Misbehavior is not the only issue, of course -

students dozing off during their classes has been a problem for as long as school has existed. Lots of teachers take it as a concern, and rightfully so - it is one of the biggest telltale signs of a poor sleep schedule, let alone the fact that they are struggling to concentrate in class. When a student falls asleep in class, it probably has nothing to do with being bored or not caring about what is being taught. It likely has more to do with however much sleep they got the night before.

Worst of all, people of all ages who get less sleep than what is healthy are far more likely to experience mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Not only that, but those who already suffer from such issues experience even worse problems when lacking sleep. Chronic sleep deprivation can often be traced back to a lot of these issues. A common symptom of both depression and anxiety is insomnia - a struggle to fall asleep at all during the night. Feelings of restlessness and stress can make it hard for the mind to settle down and for the body to fall asleep.

And, in addition to the mental health problems that can be influenced by sleep, many people turn to alternative methods like caffeine in order to alleviate the tired feeling that they get when they wake up in the morning. Teenagers especially swear by coffee and energy drinks, but there are plenty of other issues that arise from the repeated use of caffeinated beverages. The reason so many people warn of the “jitters” when someone drinks too much coffee is because it is a very real problem - chronic insomnia, anxiety, high blood pressure, and a myriad of other issues can be experienced, even disregarding the fact that addiction to caffeine is a major problem among adolescents and teenagers.

“I do drink energy drinks a little bit,” Ploeger said. “I try not to drink them on a regular basis, but there are some days where I really need them to just get me that extra boost. But I don’t drink them every day to keep me going.”

November 2021

16 feature

No school district is soon to change - the habit of giving a large amount of homework and making students wake up early is going to be an issue for plenty of years to come. Education has gone through many changes throughout the years, but perhaps the most consistently unflinching aspects of the school system is the start time and the giving of homework. And as long as students continue to get passing grades and graduate, there will be no real reason to change. Once it really begins to affect student behavior and performance on an institutional level, then schools may take it as a wake-up call to change.

“With school starting as early as it does, my brain doesn’t have as much time to wake up and function as much as it would if I could wake up later in the day. Plus, teachers say we should spend around two to three hours on homework, but I think it’s usually more,” junior Aaron Severo said.

“Even three to four hours straight of doing homework most nights.”

In the meantime, there are plenty of strategies for better sleep that students can take advantage of. Even with strict schedules and deadlines, there are more than enough ways to ensure a long and healthy night of sleep. Many experts will recom-

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mend doing a quiet, relaxing activity in the hour leading up to sleep. Reading a book or drawing can help the body relax after a long day, and avoiding screens will allow the brain to produce the necessary hormones for sleep, since exposure

“

If the school day was pushed back to 8:30 or 9, it would make everybody get more sleep.

Spencer Ploeger

to blue light can inhibit the body’s production of melatonin. And, while napping can be appealling, it is not always beneficial.

“I know a lot of people my age take naps, but I feel like it’s such a waste of time. I could be doing

so much more in that span of time, so I don’t really like to take naps,” Severo said.

And, while napping earlier in the day can be tempting, it is healthiest to nap in increments of 20 minutes at a time, as a lengthier nap will disrupt the body’s internal clock and could mess up an already solidified sleep schedule.

“If you take a nap at 5 p.m. then you’re going to wake up and stay up longer than you already do,” Severo said. “At that point you might as well stay up and get a good enough sleep at like 9 or 10 p.m.”

There are plenty of issues that deal with the amount of sleep that a person gets at night. While it can be influenced by school, it can also be influenced by a number of different factors, like light levels and previous nights of sleep.Everyone is different, of course, but everyone needs sleep.

Regardless, most experts will agree that getting a sufficient amount of sleep at night should be prioritized to promote positive growth and development, especially for teenagers.

“There are some days when I’ll go only an hour of sleep for that entire night,” Ploeger said. “But I always try to avoid caffeine, because I think that just continuing and looking toward the future is one of the biggest things to keep me going.”

sleepfoundation.org Tyler Bonnette

feature 17

Taking Center Stage

Student competes in beauty pageants, wins vocal award

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By Brandon Anderson

hen thinking of someone who exemplifies a competitive spirit at Green Valley High School, it is common to picture a star athlete or the leader of an after school club. Therefore, it takes a driven student to rise above the rest and truly display excellence in their craft.

Enter senior Alyssa Delzer, winner of the 2021 Nevada Cinderella Scholarship Program’s best vocalist award. Delzer won the distinction over four hundred other competitors in August. The Cinderella Scholarship Program offers youth leadership and scholarship opportunities to local contenders. Delzer’s grandmother founded the pageant’s Nevada chapter, and it has ex-

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Don’t worry about what others think, because in the end it only matters what you think.

Alyssa Delzer

isted for 45 years. Likewise, her mother and aunt have also played roles in the organization.

“My grandmother was reached out to by the local pageant and asked to be the director for Nevada,” Delzer said. “She was super excited and she ran it [the pageant] for twenty years.”

There are several components of the Nevada Cinderella Pageant. Contestants take part in interviews with judges, followed by modeling and a talent portion.

This segment can range from dancing to playing piano. For Delzer, this means working on her singing ability prior to events.

Nevertheless, this process has become familiar for her as she has been entering into pageant competitions since the age of three.

“It personally feels like one giant family and not like I’m competing,” Delzer said.

“Everyone is super close, there is no drama or nastiness, and that is what I love about it.”

Pageants begin with preliminary rounds that take place in venues across the state.

Delzer has competed as far as Reno and Fallon, and locally in Las Vegas. Contestants who move beyond preliminary rounds compete in the next stage of competition at Santa Fe Hotel in Las Vegas, and the winners of the state level

are given the opportunity to compete against the best of the best on a national stage in Dallas, Texas.

“During my career I’ve had a couple of hurdles, but it showed me the importance of believing in myself and trusting the path that I’m on,” Delzer said.

Her career hasn’t always been a smooth ride; Delzer recalls facing adversity with self-confidence and rumors of unfair competition throughout her career. After a decisive win that saw both Alyssa and her sister Allison take the top placement, many claimed that the tournament was rigged in their favor. Despite naysayers’ claims, Delzer has used it as motivation to surpass expectations and to prove that her awards are a product of her talents.

“I went through a phase a while ago where I struggled with self-esteem, and the only thing that got me through that year were pageants,” Delzer said.

Competitions offer a source of confidence for contenders like Delzer.

The ability to meet people from all walks of life and be placed in a position where one can display their talents has had enormous benefits for people like Delzer.

“There certainly are moments of doubt from myself and other competitors,” Delzer said. “However, knowing that there is a reason why the judges put the crown on my head gets me through it.”

A cornerstone of competitions is sportsmanship and building strong, working relationships with others.

Local pageants usually see contestants grow up competing against and alongside one another, therefore empha-

sizing good relationships.

Competitors dedicate their time and energy to being successful at pageants which can result in strong work ethics outside of competition as well.

“I feel like when I first started out I wasn’t confident, and then as I progressed I became more confident in myself and didn’t even worry about competing after a while,” Delzer said.

Outside of competing locally, Delzer has competed in other pageants such as Miss America’s Outstanding Teen and America’s National Miss. Both venues provided different lessons for her such as community service opportunities and different types of competitions.

Using this knowledge, Delzer has applied her experiences to competing in the Cinderella Scholarship Program as a better-rounded participant.

“My grandmother and mom are my biggest advocates who are telling me to stay on top of my work,” Delzer said. “They’ve always been my rock and helping me up when I have a bad day.”

Delzer’s family has played a big role in preparing her for tournaments. With the help of family and her entourage, Delzer gets ready.

Delzer also has a tradition of going down to the stage early to be alongside her sister Alexis.

“I hope pageants continue to help me grow into a young woman who can handle herself in the real world,” Delzer said.

Delzer credits her success largely to the family atmosphere of competitions. In fact, pageants have become a family passion, as her younger sister, Alexis, also competes in the Cinderella Scholarship Program which shows their family’s interest in the activity.

“To anyone considering pageants, just stay true to yourself,” Delzer said. “Don’t worry about what others think, because in the end it only matters what you think.”

courtesy Alyssa Delzer

November 2021

news 07

Gator Joe brews it up

Club begins morning drink delivery service

By Cherie Franklin

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offee is an essential aspect of many teachers’ lives. It provides energy for the coming day, as well as creating a routine in their hectic and, most often, very stressful environment.

This was the driving force behind Gator Joe, a service put on by the Special Programs department.

First, an email is ent out who are ordering coffee for that day. After responfing with their order, teachers get coffee delivered to them by Best Buddies as frequently as once a week to every day. The service, spearheaded by teachers Judy Rossetti and Brandi McElhaney, gives students a chance to learn life skills and learn business aspects they will use later in life.

“A lot of times when they graduate, they don’t have job skills. So they graduate and then they’re just sitting at home. Mrs. Rossetti and I were thinking, “We have to give the

skills that they can take into the real world.” Even if they’re not going to work at Starbucks or Dutch Brothers. So that when they finally leave Green Valley High School they are going to do something and not just sit around,” McElhaney said.

Inside the Gator Joe program itself, its manager senior Chad Maldonado organizes tasks for students to do from delivering to making the coffee itself. Maldonado became the manager a few weeks into the service’s infancy after taking a leardership role and showing qualities that later landed him the position.

“We decided about a month into it that one of our students was doing really well. [He] was doing such a good job, and was taking a leadership role. So now, he coordinates what jobs students need to do, and sends out the email that reminds teachers to put in their order through the Google form. So he does the main part, and other students are given roles around him,”

McElhaney said.

Getting exposure to help provide a service to others is especially important for some Special Programs students who may have trouble interacting with others in an everyday setting.

“Just interacting with the kids is really great. They may be shy at first, starting their freshman year

off here at GV. If I help them, they’ll be more active and able to interact with more people rather than be quiet and stay behind closed shutters,” Maldonado said.

As the school year continues, Gator Joe hopes to continue to deliver a variety of coffees every day to teachers and staff around the GVHS campus.

Sebastian Villamil

Good morning - Sophomore Rylee Lucas delivers English teacher Michael Lamb his morning coffee.

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October 2019

Behind the bow

sports 19

Students take aim at new way to be active

By Brysan Wilson Harrell

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cool breeze is one of many things taken into consideration when preparing to shoot the bow.

This year the archery club is returning from a prolonged absence to take another shot at various competitions.

The 11 stages in archery, if executed properly, are what lead to the best possible shot. It allows people to hit their target and improve as long as they stick with the club.

Archery, though, can be an extremely dangerous sport. If any of those stages are not performed correctly with the right amount of draw weight then someone’s life can be put in jeopardy.

“We are training at the moment in safety protocols and signals to alert them when to grab their bow and when to stay on the safety line, when to fire, and when to get the arrows,” senior Nathan Simmons said. “But it requires a great deal of focus and coordination.”

For this upcoming season, some of their competitions include an early February friendly at South Point Casino against other Nevada schools. It is ranked amongst divisions of age and the bow that is being used.

Green Valley’s Archery team is working incredibly hard to get first rank this year. They are accepting anyone and everyone who wants to join and learn a thing or two about the sport.

“Oct. 7 [was] actually our first

team meeting where we’re going to start shooting and talking about the 11 stages of archery,” sophomore Noah Kocinski said. “Stance, nock, set draw hand, set bow hand, pre-draw, draw, anchor, aim, set-up, release, follow through and reflect.”

Archery is not just about the bow or the way it is being gripped, it is also having the knowledge of proper stance and the placement someone has on the bowstring. Such skill comes down to inches, to which even moving an inch or two could affect the shot entirely.

“It can be for everyone, it’s something that helps calm everyone’s nerves, even if you don’t have nerves and it’s just something you want to do,” freshman Izabel Pareses-Tuck said. “It’s a good sport.”

New team comes together Lacrosse prepares to return strong for spring season

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By Malia Deramus

s winter sports get started, one particular spring sport has gotten off to a early start. The Las Vegas Reapers Lacrosse team started

“

Lacrosse is a sport played outside of school that has gained popularity in Las Vegas over the years.

There are three schools in the Henderson area that make up the Reapers. Last year, the team’s record ON THE DOORSTEP - Junior Bo Black cradles the ball against Wellsville. The Reapers went 4-1 in their games on Jun. 4.

last year, students from Green Valley competed for the local team, Horizon.

However, that club was shut down due to COVID-19.

There has been a dramatic decrease in players since the outbreaks last courtesy of Bo Black

We’ve never been a championship team before, but I think we have a chance.

Adam Nagamine

practice on Oct. 4 at Heritage Park.

An estimate of about 12 players are on the team. As the team is run as a club, students must fund-raise and provide their own equipment during the season.

was 8-1. Teams which provided the toughest competition included Centennial, Faith Lutheran and Coronado lacrosse.

The Reapers are relatively new in the men’s lacrosse game. Prior to

year. Some returners have been going to the practices such as Junior Bo Black, who has been playing lacrosse since he was seven years old.

“Practices are usually about two hours or so, we usually just start by

stretching and warming up,” Black said.

Senior Pablo Jasso is another member of the Las Vegas Reapers Lacrosse team this year. In his previous years dating back to middle school, Jasso always played for his school teams.

Like every other hobby, the best way to get better is through trial and error. Practice is important for lacrosse players since it allows them to train for the next game and allows new players to learn from more experienced players, as well as Varsity Coach Sebastian Frago.

“My first three years were the worst years ever,” Jasso said. “Then as soon as I hit high school, I’ve grown so much that I think I’ve improved a lot to the point where I didn’t believe I should stop playing, there’s always room for improvement.”

Coach Frago started training the Reapers this year. His training techniques have made for a potential strong season.

“We’ve never been a championship team before, but I think we have a chance,” junior Adam Nagamine said.

November 2021

Murphy masters the ice

Student finds passion in figure skating

T

By Sowmya Kumar

he sound of the sharp skates gliding into the ice echoes around the rink. For what is a fun, seasonal outing for most, ice skating is a lifestyle for freshman Logan Murphy.

“I was probably interested in skating around seven years old, but I didn’t start skating until I was about 10,” Murphy said.

Even though for much of the general population 10 years old is quite young, in the world of skating it is drastically different. Ice skating is similar to other sports in the sense that to become skilled, many start early on.

“10 is actually really late for skating, and we usually start around the time that we’re three. I felt a little bit behind compared to the other kids, but I made up for it with skating a lot, so I caught up pretty quickly,” Murphy said.

Similar to other sports, figure skating requires agility and flexibility. The ability to perform complicated In Murphy’s case, being involved in various sports helped her keep up with the other kids who had been skating for longer.

“I’ve always been very athletic, and I’ve been in a lot of different sports. “I did volleyball, played tennis for a little bit, was on the swim team, track, and I did a little gymnastics. So it was easier I’d say because a lot of things require leg muscle and flexibility, and that came with a couple of the other sports I played,” Murphy said.

By doing these things, not only did it add to her impressive list of athletic experiences, but it also gave her vital skills that guided her on

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ice such as flexibility. It plays an important role in determining a player’s ability and skill level. Practices are five times a week, emphasizing that consistency is key.

“You could be on similar jumping levels with someone, but if you’re not there footwork or spin-wise, then they’re always going to have a one up on you. And if someone is more flexible than you, they’re going to have an easier time,” Murphy said.

During these practices, there are different areas of focus in developing a skater’s skills, including jump, spin, footwork, and private lessons.

By developing each skill, ice skaters can begin developing proper techniques. Additionally, a critical aspect to becoming a top performer is not just mastering these skills but being productive and making use of the time during practice.

“I have four different private coaches that work on each of these skills, which makes it quite the pricey sport. On top of that, we don’t have much ice available to us, and so we have to make our ice time work. We compete a lot with hockey, and they kind of override our ice time, so our time gets short. If you don’t have good time management, you’re not going to advance very far,” Murphy said.

Figure skating has movements similar to those in ballet, requiring balance, agility and gracefulness as vital components to mastering the sport. It is also famously known to have complicated moves, such as the quad and triple axel jump.

Though when these moves are not executed correctly, it can lead to dire consequences.

“I can usually land the double flip, which is a difficult move. But the hardest move I’ve attempted is a triple socket which did not end well, and I broke my wrist,” Murphy said.

An injury like this would knock out players for a good couple of days, but in ice skating pushing through is critical. It also speaks to the strong mental skills skaters have to develop to be on the ice. With sitting out, there is a risk of missing essential practice time, skill development, or inability to participate in the programs.

“It was a two-week injury, but I still skated through it,” Murphy said.

By putting together all of the skills, skaters are able to construct routines that can be performed alone, in pairs, groups, or freestyle.

There can be several types of skills that can be demonstrated in one program. A program can be short or long, with long performances lasting up to four minutes and 30 seconds.

“We usually have two competitive programs that we make every year: our short program and our long free skate. We usually take those to nationals and we compete with those all the time. We also have a Christmas show that we’re doing in December,” Murphy said.

One of the key parts of skating competitively is not just the moves, but the attire as well. Similar to characters in a play, ice skating routines can be used to convey a story through both their movements and costumes. Skaters can either order from companies or make their costumes by hand. Even something as

simple as embellishing a piece can be an arduous process.

“I luckily have never had to make them from scratch, but to get all parts of the costume if it isn’t a dress can take up to a month. If I’m just rhinestoning them or adding different crystals, it takes about 1726 hours,” Murphy said.

These costumes can be used in modern figure skating routines and traditional ones as well. Classic ballet performances, such as ‘Swan Lake’, have been revamped to fit the ice, and the routines can be a way to showcase a skater’s skills and break their own records. And to make the performances unique, props are also used to emulate the story’s mood onto the ice.

“I have performed two dramatic performances, and the most difficult was the freestyle because it had my two highest jumps. With the props, they can either be handmade or ordered, and we leave it up to our coach on what to do with them.

Sometimes with the props, there’s a worry about tripping or falling but thankfully I’ve never done that,” Murphy said.

With routines and programs, competition comes naturally but at the rink, it is a motivating way to bring everyone together. Seeing familiar faces in moments of adrenaline and excitement can be both comforting and encouraging.

“We have a really tight family, so when we’re competing we’re always there to support each other.

That’s the best part to me about being in ice theatre, it’s like our own little family,” Murphy states

“

sports 21

That’s the best part to me about being in ice theatre, it’s like our own little family.

Logan Murphy

CLOUD 9 - Freshman Logan Murphy skates during practice on Nov. 4. Murphy has practice after school five times a week.

Cherie Franklin

November 2021

22 sports

All-American Team Gator cheer members recognized during camp

By Cherie Franklin

T

he thud of well-used cheer shoes on mats.

Running drills over and over, athletes fly in the air or plant themselves into the ground. Endless combinations and tumbles leave the athletes in the world of competitive cheerleading drenched in sweat and ready to crack. The moment practice is over, they go home, recover, and prepare to do it all again tomorrow.

This September, the cheer team participated in a camp hosted by USA cheer. The camp was a bonding experience for the group, giving new members a chance to get acquainted, old members of the team a chance to dust off their skills, and for each to aid the other in improving their skills as athletes.

“At cheer camp we all learn the basic things that we need to do for competition. We learn a few routines and get to perform them,” junior Malena Speichinger said.

During the camp itself, the leaders of the team’s instruction saw a few team members stand out.

“Getting the All-American Award basically means, ‘You’ve done really well and we’re recognizing you for it,’” Speichinger said.

The All-American Award, only given to a select few students, celebrates the dedication and hard work of the Tyler Bonnette

SMILE AND WAVE - Members of the cheer team wrap up their routine on Oct. 22 at the assembly. They continued to cheer on the sidelines for the duration of the event.

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athletes who rise above the rest as leaders and examples for the rest of the team. Six members including McKenna Rowland, Lia Whitman, Maria Silva, Malena Speichinger, Danyella Rios, and Taylor Hunt were chosen for the award.

After being selected, the cheerleaders are given the opportunity to meet with other cheerleaders across the nation and perform in other countries. However, receiving this award does not come without hard work. Despite their reputation, high school cheerleaders go through copious amounts of training in order to achieve desired results.

“I wake up, get to school and do my work, and then after that I basically have practice for the rest of the day. After school, I go to practice from three to six, and then I go to All-star cheer from seven to nine. Most days I don’t get home till ten at night,” freshman Danyella Rios said.

Training comes in the form of practice for hours at a time, team bonding activities, and participating in a range of school activities from football games to assemblies. However, it is hard for new and old members alike to balance their school and cheerleading. This can come in the form of having difficulties balancing work and school, and for others it manifests in combating fatigue from the stresses of high school.

The transition from middle to high

school cheer is a difficult one, to say the least. There are few similarities between them, save for boosting school spirit. Complex routines and stunts with higher chances of failure separate the complex worlds of higher level cheerleading.

“The first year I did cheer was in the seventh grade, and it was a really big learning experience, realizing the difference between middle and high school cheer. It was such a big step from doing basketball games and spirit to everything else,” Speichinger said.

Let alone separately participating in a competitive team, the risks of serious cheerleading are pervasive.

“It is nerve-racking. I don’t want them to fall. And it’s worse because it’s on all of us if they fall, but we have to set our nerves aside,” Rios said.

These injuries can be minor sprains to shattered bones or worse, can seriously injure the career of a cheerleader. The enormous amount of physical stress the sport puts on the athlete’s body makes fatigue a common problem many cheerleaders experience.

Despite this, team members keep each other accountable. Injuries made while fatigued can be career-ending, so it is imperative that one is on the lookout for any factors that could cause failure across the board. Because of this as well as other factors not related to safety, a

cheer team becomes an incredibly close-knit environment of athletes.

This characteristic, in fact, is what many state as their favorite part of the sport.

Having a supportive community as an athlete is incredibly important. Reaching out for support, many times quite literally, creates an environment where each individual feels

“ Getting the

All-American Award basically means,

‘You’ve done really well and we’re

recognizing you for it.’

Malena

Speichinger

safe in their ability to succeed, or at the very least, continue to improve.

“The best thing is that it pushes you to be better,” Speichinger said.

“You always want to keep improving to help your team do bigger and better things.”

sports 23

Working up a sweat

Self-proclaimed gym rats give insight from underground

A

By Joe Byington

s we have all started to transition from life during COVID-19, gyms have become a community to some. There has been a large uptick in the number of people who have started going to the gym and many have started to see the benefits. This trend is not just limited to adults, there are a lot of teenagers working out as well.

Some people have been working out for a long time, but some people just started.

During quarantine, people found ways to keep busy by doing puzzles, adopting a dog and especially diving into their health, which includes dieting and working out.

“Home workouts” were very popular. As gyms reopened, there was a great increase in the popularity of things like bodybuilding and powerlifting.

Senior Damon Bischoff is someone who actively works out and has been working out for six years.

“To me it is a big community now that everyone works out, and they are all very supportive so it’s just a cool thing to see,” Bischoff said.

With more people prioritizing their physical health, more have gone further into the health and lifting world and have started diving into powerlifting. But one of the most beneficial things about all of this is the dieting and positive eating habits, but more specifically the mental benefits they all have to offer.

During a time where people were struggling with mental health, finding something to free themselves was a necessity. Some students started working out during the first several months of the pandemic.

“If I’m angry or sad and I go to the gym, after I’m fine,” junior Gracyn Brown said. “I think it benefits everything because it gives me like a schedule to where even I can get my schoolwork done more, it just puts me on track.”

With the benefits of having something to be involved in as well as something stable, it is provided a safe space for a lot of people who are in need of those things.

People were either not able to eat as much or as healthy, or they were

unable to exercise. Many times they also lost weight that they had been putting on or gained weight that they

pre-workout.

Certain supplements like creatine and pre-workout have gotten very popular as well. These supplements offer a lot of benefits like boosted energy and enhanced muscle growth.

However, there are a lot of harmful

of a lot of caffeine,” Bischoff said.

“Some pre-workout has BCAAs in it, which is an amino acid that helps you be able to recover quicker, and helps you not feel sick after.”

The idea is that those rumors are only true if you use them wrong.

The community acts as one of the greatest advantages of working out. When a group is as inclusive and as diverse as is, it offers a lot of benefits to everyone.

The inclusion of these people leads to an inclusion of people in many other groups as well.

This not only makes that community grow, but it allows for people to take advantage of such a tight-knit group; to be apart of something such as a family.

The number of people who have gotten gym memberships or started doing sports has been surging. Even teachers have gotten more and more involved in working out. Conversations Alani Shirley between students and teachers about how much they lift or things that are caused by these suphow much they weigh and about how plements like over stimulation, skin they work out is refreshing. It has conditions, headaches, addiction, debrought people together.

Others have taken it to points where it has become less of a positive impact and has become something that has taken control of their lives.

“I try to find a good balance between my life and the gym,” Brown said. “If I miss a day I don’t freak out, it’s just like balance, and I think that’s what people forget.”

Finding a balance is necessary when doing anything, even if it involves working out.

With the still growing group that does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon, we see people giving overwhelming support to people who have gotten involved. This welcomes so many newcomers who might have never worked out before or have tried before and are getting back into hydration and increased blood presit. It is a better time than ever to be sure. A lot of people have also started involved in a group that is so incluto use things such as supplements to sive and welcoming and having the boost their workouts. benefits that they have, there are “It’s a supplement that helps you countless positives. kind of wake yourself up, it consists

To me it is a big community now that everyone works out, and they are all very supportive.

Damon Bischoff

were previously keeping off. This led people to venture into diets like keto, workouts at home like CrossFit, and even started using more and more things to boost their workouts. These things include creatine, protein, and

November 2021

HOMECOMING in the

SWAMP

WHO WANTS ONE? - Senior Jaxon Sufana throws Gator Gear shirts into the crowd. The crowd’s excitement led to the sophomores winning the spirit stick.

OVER HERE! - Studen gather and shout. Shir crowd by homecomin

JAIL TIME - The juniors smile and wave at spectators from their float. Gators of the Caribbean was chosen as this year’s Homecoming theme.

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IN THE DUST - Senior Jaylen McKnight carr the ball vs. Faith Lutheran. McKnight scored on the play, leading the team to a 31-27 win.

nts in the senior section rts were tossed into the ng court electees.

ries d .

MAKE SOME NOISE - Seniors Michelle Mondino (right) and Emma Rojas (left) smile at the crowd during their dance routine. The team performed on the football field during the assembly.

Shaelyn Gamiao

November 2021

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New kind of sound

Podcasts gain popularity among teens as alternative to radio

By Neyta Flores Esquer

P

odcasts, in the eyes of Gen Z, were thought out to be pretty mediocre; this specific form of entertainment was underestimated simply because it was similar to the radio, meaning it had no visuals to go along with it. However, more celebrities and influencers continue to produce podcasts, thus leading their [young] fans to dip their toes in the podcast world.

“Music is really important to me, but podcasts are a very different thing. Podcasts make you feel like you’re talking to someone, or someone else is telling you a story. It’s a different way to look at entertainment, and I love it,” senior Cara Sigala said.

A podcast is, by definition, a program that is digitally downloaded to be listened to on its own, compared to TV. Through podcasts, people can become more informed on whatever they would like to become more informed in; it is truly up to them.

There are therapy podcasts, parenting podcasts, news podcasts, puberty podcasts, love podcasts, all kinds of podcasts to feel understood and heard. And one of the most interesting parts is: these people often create these podcasts from their own homes, especially in light of the pandemic.

A widely-known podcast called “Teenager Therapy” that has been airing for three years, is based on five teenagers in the process of adulting who are incredibly stressed about simply being teenagers; they talk about high school, emotional rollercoasters, love and relationships, friendships, mental health, college,

er who blew up on Youtube about four years ago, came out with a podcast called “Anything Goes.” In this podcast, she speaks about things that are simply on her mind. She tells her audience stories, gives them advice, goes on tangents, and people feel comforted by it.

This is what the podcast world is

“ Podcasts make you feel like you’re talking to someone, or someone else is telling you a story.

Cara Sigala

social media and its toxicity, etc.

As stated before, more influencers and celebrities are coming out with podcasts, motivating their followers to become interested in podcasts; however, the fans starting to become interested in podcast-listening can turn into a domino-effect where they start to look for podcasts about anything that interests them.

Emma Chamberlain, an influenc-

all about- feeling heard and facing feelings together.

“When I went on a road trip last week, I was running out of song ideas, so I played one of my old favorite podcasts and remembered how amazing podcasts are. They made the time go by so fast, and I was just giggling in the car listening to these people as if they were talking to me,” Sigala said.

Something completely outside of

facing feelings together is that podcasts are also about learning and expanding. These podcasts are not only created by celebrities or influencers; they can be created by people who speak on their education. feelings, careers and what they know in order to help teach others, through the use of their experiences.

There are podcasts about almost anything: true crime, sports, businesses, religion, health, fitness, history, science, parenthood, adulthood, adolescence, economics, etc. There are professionals who continue their line of work through podcasts to reach more people and educate.

Along with “Teenager Therapy” and “Anything Goes,” and other podcasts like “Growing with the Flow,” and “Emergency Sitcom,” which are comedic and on the entertainment and personal side of podcasts, there are educational ones such as “Bad Bets,” “How We Survive,” and “American Scandal,” etc. These podcasts, though still entertaining, take more of a stern and serious perspective.

No matter what type of interests people have, there is a podcast for them. And in comparison to listening to music or listening to the radio, podcasts inform while continuing to entertain, which is one of the most admirable and interesting parts of the podcast world.

Neyta Flores

November 2021

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SCREAM

TIME

Culture trends surround Halloween films

By Simona Grigonis

F

all is a season like no other; when the days start becoming shorter and the adrenaline of fear is invited into our lives, the sudden transition into the gloomy months is something many look forward to. For those who enjoy this feeling, horror movies are a must to fully embrace the time. However, the films of the season immensely vary considering they are in the same genre.

When thinking of horror movies everyone always expects the typical jump-scares and evil spirits causing horrid chaos. There is so much more to the genre than quick bursts of fear.

A physical discomfort is what gets most people on the edge of their seats; waiting to see what happens, motivated by the unsuspected rush of distress.

“If the horror movie leaves a lingering feeling on me, like a feeling of dread, I think that it’s a pretty good horror movie,” senior Elijah Douville said. “One of the instances I saw recently was the new Candyman movie which wasn’t very good, however, what I will say is that every time I looked in a mirror I got spooked because I was like, ‘what if he’s there.’”

With the question of how impeccable a horror movie may be comes the comparison between classic horror films and recently made ones.

The movie ‘Candyman’ was originally a 90’s staple. With the combination of moody urban folklore loaded with an

eerie yet ingenious plot, ‘Candyman’ was bound to be remade to draw in the younger generations.

The original story is a glorified version of the Bloody Mary tale, instead with the titular “Candyman” character, who appears when his name is said five times in front of a mirror. In the 2021 sequel, the story builds onto a survivor of one of the tragedies caused by Candyman. The contrast between the two films show the visual differences between the styles and effects of 1990’s and recent film-making while also showing the endless possibilities of continuations to notable movies.

When it comes to the trend of remaking classic movies, they mainly differ in the area of cinematography.

Essentially making the films look newer with special effects and CGI (digital effects), bringing interest to the ever changing trends in entertainment to make everything as action-packed and visually astonishing as possible. Not to say special effects were not prominent in classic cinema.

They did however rely more on creativity relating to art, camera effects, and makeup. Nowadays, computer-generated imagery, also known as CGI, accounts for the shocking effects added to typical horror movie plots.

“Back in the day whenever they couldn’t use CGI or any other type of digital effect, you got a lot of practical effects which at least you’d be like, okay well that looks kind of cool,”

Douville said. “But nowadays it’s getting quite boring. I think there’s still a lot of original stuff coming out; it just sucks that a lot of our tastes in horror movies have been downgraded.”

As horror movies are ever changing, so is the culture surrounding them as it defines the growth of film through the decades. Many do not realize that each decade of the last hundred years has had a defining theme in horror.

Horror culture has gone through the trends of sci-fi horror in the 1950s, gory slashers of the 1980s and the theme of unusual deaths in 2000s horror.

The movie ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ directed by Wes Craven was a defining film of the 80’s slasher genre with unrealistic and dramatic deaths.

Even those who may not have seen it yet still recognize the grim killer that is Freddy Krueger. The story follows the ghastly, murderous spirit of Krueger as he invades the dreams of the teenage children whose parents caused Krueger’s dramatic death.

In contrast to the 80s, the perfect film series for those who seek an intense, limit-pushing type of horror and one that represents early 2000’s horror style is the ‘Saw’ film series.

The long lasting ‘Saw’ series has nine total movies that center around a torturous serial killer that goes by the name “Jigsaw.” Jigsaw has his victims solve puzzles while burdening them with deadly traps accurately representing the circumstance of unusual deaths.

“Saw is the best during this time of year because it’s gory so it adds to the Halloween feel; the whole point of Halloween,” sophomore Brianna Meadows said. “I love the Saw franchise because there’s just so much to it and the story is never ending.

There’s just always a copycat of the main killer and the traps are well thought out.”

Many do not like the idea of being frightened while seeking to enjoy a movie. Whether it is the subconscious feeling that this may happen to them or phobias of common horror movie themes, they will not allow it to ruin their Halloween experience. Childhood or comedic Halloween movies are the perfect solution that may even radiate more Halloween spirit than a gruesome horror film.

The notorious aesthetic of filmmaker Tim Burton’s work has been a staple in most teenagers’ childhood.

His notable claymation movies propose a fascination to a whole new media of film-making. The nostalgic nature of animated films combined with the eerie, dark look of claymation make films such as ‘Corpse Bride’ and ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ perfect for those who long for less frightening yet not tacky Halloween movies. “[Halloween movies] add an aspect of extra scare because obviously the season it’s cold, it’s eerie,” Meadows said. “Obviously you can watch movies all-year-round but they’re better during the season, they amplify the fright.”

Brenna Knight

The InvestiGator

2017 2016

2018 Lily Burke Survey of 9-12 graders taken on Oct. 25

30 a&e

Burnout from required reading Many teens lose interest in reading during high school

By Emma Trifonova

C

hildhood books from well-known authors such as Dr. Seuss and E.B. White are popular amongst kids, but as they get into mandatory reading for school, these kids no longer read simply out of enjoyment like they used to.

Even though kids and students alike love reading for personal pleasure, being forced to read books for school may suck the joy out of it. For many, reading can be an escape for students who face difficulties in dayto-day life. This ranges from strug-

“ I don’t have the time to focus on just reading... but books do benefit you in a lot of ways.

Nataly Garcia

gling in school to having a hard time with navigating their relationships, and personal home situations.

“I like Dr. Seuss and Curious George,” junior Kate Gjonola said.

“My mom read them to me, so she would read them in a funny voice.”

The way one reads or is read a book affects the amount of joy that reading elicits. The funny voices

www.pngwing.com

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Gjonola’s mom made had the ability to bring each character to life. With each unique voice, the characters could be given the depth that they otherwise would have lacked if the book was read in a mundane voice.

“It is almost like a TV show except you can make the characters kind of sound however you want them to and have freedom to visualize them to look like you want them to,” Gjonola said.

With well-loved books from Dr. Seuss such as ‘The Cat in the Hat’, ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ and ‘The Lorax,’ the characters and setting are already described in between the pages but the reader can add their own visuals to all the elements within the book and make it their own whimsical world. With other books such as ‘Charlotte’s Web’ by E. B. White, one might connect with the pig, Wilbur, gaining confidence as he learns and grows into his own skin.

Reading is not only an escape but also a place where readers can bond with fictional characters.

“We had mandatory reading in elementary school,” Gjonola said. “I did like the books, but I did not like reading all the time.”

This is where the love-hate relationship with reading starts for youth. Although some books can be fun to read, there are also others that suck the joy out of the activity.

With books, it can be a hit and miss with aspects such as authors, books, genres and different writing styles.

For example books that require an over-analysis to understand underlying themes may overwhelm some readers but also be exactly what others look for in books.

“For the books that I read in school, I liked ‘Fahrenheit 451’ the most because of its plot, and the book

I liked the least was ‘How to Steal a Dog’ because of what it taught readers and its important life lessons,” Gjonola said.

‘Fahrenheit 451’ is a dystopian novel that, ironically, forbids people from reading. Dystopia within schools and the general public seems to be a recurrent genre, probably due to the fact that it conveys an extreme reality of what modern society currently is.

‘How to Steal a Dog’ is about a struggling girl with a younger brother and a single mom who thinks the solution to all her problems is to find a missing dog and win reward money. The catch is, the missing dog is the one she stole. Both books teach valuable lessons and themes that can be universally applied to readers, yet some may love them or hate them.

“I would rather be doing other things, to be honest,” junior Nataly Garcia said. “Reading requires a lot of attention and I don’t have the time to focus on just reading.”

While reading may be one’s escape, it can be another’s prison. Not everyone takes joy in reading an abundance of words on a page and doing nothing else. While reading is stimulating, it may be boring to some.

At the end of the day, reading can be a very subjective activity and many can either absolutely love it, feel indifferent about it, or take no joy in the activity, for a multitude of reasons.

“Even though I do not enjoy reading because of how much I have to

do it in school, I’ll always remember liking ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ series,” Garcia said.

Even those who do not like reading still find the good in the perceivable bad. ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ follows Gregg Heffley through his younger years as he navigates friends, family and friendship, all while figuring out who he is who he wants to be. Many kids and teens can relate to the series because they are also going through the same experiences, making it easier to enjoy the series as it feels like a parallel to their own life.

“But books do benefit you in a lot of ways,” Garcia said. “They help with things like giving you a bigger vocabulary.”

Although personal reading offers relief from real life, school reading can pull students and teens away from that gratifying aspect of reading. As students have to read more and more for school, it no longer seems like a fun activity but rather a forced one. However, there is still hope for reading for current and future generations -- as long as they continue to recognize all the benefits of reading. Brain connectivity, broad vocabulary and comprehension, cognitive decline prevention and reduction of stress are privileges that come with reading.

“I am definitely going to apply what I learn in reading to my real life,” Garcia said. “You have a broader knowledge that will, in general, make you smarter.”

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Brenna Knight

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Netflix entices bored audiences with instant classics

By Adrian Sifuentes

F

or quite some time now, Netflix has been considered to have been surpassed by other streaming services such as Hulu, HBO Max, and even Peacock now that it is offering shows that people love like ‘Modern Family’ and ‘The Office.’ Some people have even called Netflix “dead,” only having a select few amount of shows to enjoy. Just as everyone was about to cancel their Netflix subscription for good, the arrival of a new show known as ‘Squid Game’ captivated the minds of people all around the world, so much so that it became number one in ninety different countries.

“It was all over the internet and very popular,” said senior Blaise Martin. As someone who has watched and enjoyed ‘Squid Game,’ he was happy to tell us how he found out about the show. “I usually look to see what’s on the top ten page on Netflix, but other than ‘Squid Game,’ there hasn’t really been much for me.”

The popular Korean drama was placed in a dystopian society where the rich would watch and bet on citizens who were in a deep financial struggle and were willing to put their lives on the line in order to gain a large sum of cash. The show tested the strengths and weaknesses of humanity and just how far they were willing to go in order to turn their lives around, even if it meant it ended in their death.

The concept was mind boggling enough, but the characters played a major role in the show’s success. Each one had something so unique and special about them that they quickly became fan favorites. Among the most favorable are the main characters Seong Gi-hun, Kang Sae-Byeok, Abdul Ali, Cho Sang-woo, and Ji-Yeong.

“I really liked Ali. I just think he was the nicest and most caring character on the show,” said Martin.

The protagonists were quickly separated from the antagonists making room for great character dynamics and each episode had viewers on the edge of their seats. Not knowing what was gonna happen next was the fun part, and when it comes to ‘Squid Game,’ it is important to always expect the unexpected.

The music was another part of

‘Squid Game’ that made it so memorable. The sound track has been used across countless social media platforms that it has become nearly impossible not to recognize. By the end of the series, people were hungry for more content. The end of the show left everyone on a bit of a cliffhanger and people are still hoping for a second season.

Like many other shows on Netflix, new seasons remain highly anticipated. The last week of September and the first week of October have given us new information on shows that everyone loves. ‘On My Block’s’ final season aired on Oct. 4th, bringing the end to a franchise that has been around since 2018.

“

I really liked Ali. I just think he was the nicest and most caring character on the show.

Blaise Martin

The show was known for its angsty take on life in a rough neighborhood and the adventures that four teenagers got themselves into on a daily basis, following their mishaps and the solutions they would come up with in order to get themselves out of it.

“I believe this was the last season, but it would be cool to see a reboot in the future,” said junior Gabriel Ward.

Watching the show gives you a strong attachment and personal connection to the characters, each of them having a distinct personality that you either love or hate.

“Oscar was an amazing character who started off as a hard thug but then turned into a husband and father and overall nice guy who cared about his brother and did everything he could to help him,” said Ward.

With a heavy heart, fans say goodbye to the show. However, it may not be the end for people who still want to look into the fictional neighborhood of ‘Freeridge.’ “‘On My Block’ was the first drama show I’ve watched and it was a good

show to start that genre...they are making a spin-off which should be interesting,” said Ward.

On the other hand, ‘You’ has its third season set to release on Oct. 15th, giving fans of the show something to look forward to as the week approaches.

The show about an obsessive serial killer, who stalks a woman he likes and will go at any length to be with her, has more than 43 million Netflix viewers who have watched season one alone. Once season two released, fans of the show were overjoyed to take a look at what the season had to offer. With the introduction of a new love interest, and someone just as crazy as the main character Joe, the show appears to be leading to a promising future.

Another popular show ‘The Umbrella Academy,’ has been confirmed to have finished shooting its third season as well. No release date has been confirmed yet but fans are already getting excited about its return.

“I like the characters a lot, like the plot is nice, the whole superpower type thing is usually something I like, but the characters were like what made it for me, especially Klaus and five because they’re my favorite characters and I just wanted to see more of them,” said senior Clara Corat Vale.

The characters are what really made ‘The Umbrella Academy’ such an enjoyable show, each one completely unique to their role.

“Klaus is so chaotic and Five is just this guy that’s like the complete opposite of Klaus, like he’s just trying to keep everything in order while also being a 50-year-old in the body of a 15-year-old which is amazing,” said Vale. “It makes the characters so much better because they are both really funny in their own way, Klaus by being an idiot and Five by being rude.”

The last season ended on a cliffhanger and the new knowledge that we have learned about the super-powered siblings is more than enough of a reason for people to return to the show.

“I mean, I’m kind of getting sick and tired of the same ‘the world is ending’ plot, you know? But still, I want to know how they’re gonna fix it because they went to this entirely new place and I don’t even know how they’re gonna move on with that, so I’m excited,” said Vale.

Adrian Sifuentes

November 2021

32 opinion

BEST IN TOWN Review on local pizzerias in Henderson

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www.creativecommons.com

The InvestiGator

By Jeremy Anderson

aples is home of the original slice of pizza, which is now eaten at a rate of 350 slices per second in the United States, according to the Washington Post.

The crust, the sauce, the cheese and the toppings- all the aspects of a pizza slice must come together to create the perfect bite.

Las Vegas has a wealth of options, including nearby stores Napoli Pizzeria and Amore Taste of Chicago. There is also Pizza Rock, out at Green Valley Ranch casino resort.

If convenience is what a person desires, then Napoli Pizzeria, just a five minute drive from school, is the place to be. Napoli has the greatest amount of options, both with toppings and sizes.

Their most famous pizza is the “Giant,” dubbed such because it is an astounding 36,” the largest pizza at any of the locations. Napoli has at least a dozen different types of pizza available, not including the Build-Your-Own option.

Some of these include Greek Pizza, Mexican Style pizza, Ranch Pizza, consisting of a very unique ranch base and a vegetarian pizza. Having had the classic cheese and pepperoni pizza, what makes this slice so special is the sweet, savory, rich flavor of the sauce that lies between the cheese and crust. It adds a new dimension to the pizza not present in any of the others.

The size of the pizza slices is also remarkable, as it looks like double the size of a “normal” slice, which makes Napoli more unique, as well. Although, the cheese and crust are a bit more underwhelming, especially considering that much of the cheese is drowned in grease, making it harder to enjoy. The crust is chewy and doesn’t have much of a flavor. Yet, it still belongs in the upper tier of local pizzas.

In addition to Napoli, there is Pizza Rock. Pizza Rock has two locations, in downtown Las Vegas and at Green Valley Ranch. Compared to the chewy crust of Napoli’s pizza, this is where Pizza Rock shines. The crust was thinner, but also crisper in its nature, while also having much greater flavor which added to the finish of the slice. The pizza did not have the same chewy texture as Napoli and the cheese has a more ooey-gooey texture.

Pizza Rock also has a massive selection of pizzas, from Detroit-style, akin to deep dish pizza and California-style, which provides a lighter option. These

“styles” have many more options and toppings under them, including prosciutto and goat cheese. The pies are cooked at various temperatures in both brick and electric ovens, granting even more variety.

However, the size of the pizza was much smaller compared to Napoli and is a little more expensive at around $20 for a 14” pie. This makes it less valuable in the small slices a customer is receiving, and limits how many people are able to afford it. Pizza Rock has its good qualities, but falls short in its overpricing of an ultimately average slice of pizza. The same quality could be bought anywhere else for a cheaper price.

Lastly is Amore: Taste of Chicago, which has been in the Las Vegas valley for over a decade now. The second location on Sunset opened just a couple of years ago, replacing TGI Fridays and becoming a much more convenient location.

As implied, they are best known for their deep dish, Chicago-style options.

But, they also have thin-crust pizza.

The pizzeria offers over 20 toppings, from Canadian bacon to hot giardiniera, which is a mix of marinated vegetables and hot peppers, originating in Chicago.

Their “large,” at 14” is $17, a bit more expensive than Napoli’s regular cheese option, yet falls between that and Pizza Rock. Their deep dish options are much more expensive, but that is understandable in how much more is stuffed into a slice. Having tried just the thin crust option, Amore has considerably the worst slice compared to Napoli and Pizza Rock.

The pizza had very little sauce, making it dry and giving the crust a chewy texture. It was also very small, similar to Pizza Rock. It felt as though the crust was a cracker dipped temporarily into soup. There also wasn’t much flavor or spice. The one positive was the cheese, which was well-cooked/melted, to where it didn’t make it feel as stale. But, it is the least desirable Pizzeria among these three options.

Ultimately, the crown goes to Napoli Pizzeria. The range of sizes, toppings and fair prices combined with the most appealing flavor is what separates it from the rest. The full “rankings” are, from first to last, Napoli, Pizza Rock and Amore Taste of Chicago. No slice was perfect, but Napoli had the most complete and tasteful bite.

opinion 33

Business beginnings

Wealth management classes encourage students to plan and manage their money

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By Laycie Taylor

he high school of Business Wealth Management class brings extremely helpful information from things like financial management to how to do your taxes for students before they graduate.

Wealth management is crucial for students to take and should be a required class. It allows students to learn about the outside world and prepare for what students will be focusing on after graduation.

“One of the biggest objectives is for students to learn how credit works, why their credit score is important, how to make smart financial decisions early on, even before they’re 18. Another objective is to try and teach how insurance works and what it’s going to cost to live, and what the average rent looks like in different places. We also cater to things like how the banking system works and how to make sure you’re using credit cards to your advantage,” Andrea Miller, one of the High School of Business teachers said. “We also teach how to pay for post- secondary education like trade school, college and university.

HSB teaches more complete financial planning than managing money.

It includes comprehensive guidance on a student’s financial situation, including investment management, estate and tax planning, accounting, retirement planning and even legal guidance in some cases. One of their specialties is insurance and how to find the best one for different kinds of people in their living situations. It is more than just planning, it is finding out

what truly fits in the future. Financial planning can be one of the most challenging objectives for anyone of any age. Learning these skills and advancements at a young age can really put you ahead of your peers especially when it comes to getting jobs and your first paycheck.

“Teaching students how to avoid and get out of debt or at least make sure they’re not in a ton of it is a very important part of our class,” Miller said. “I do think it should be a required class, I wish it had been offered when I was in high school. I can’t tell you how many parents and other students say they wish they could have taken a class like that. I think it’s a wonderful opportunity, they’re really going to get to learn about how professional money matters and they won’t learn the hard way.”

Making this a requirement may allow students to plan ahead in their future and reach their goals faster.

This class teaches real things that we will be guaranteed to use in the future. High school students in 21 states must now take a personal finance course in order to graduate. Building these habits from an earlier age creates more success in the future with financial habits. Any student could benefit from this program especially lower income students to learn how to get out of the cycle.

According to an interview in The New York Times, recent research suggests that financial literacy is lacking among students. More must be done to improve access to financial education for lower-income students. The research found that in states without a state-level mandate for personal finance instruction, poor students had far less access to financial education, compared to wealthier students.

Students who are in the program have expressed how much it has helped them and they will apply the teachings to their lives later on.

They show how the information that is being used will better themselves and is applied even now at a young age.

“Honestly, there’s a lot of financial problems out there and I decided to take this class because I

Neyta Flores

wanted to take responsibility for my own money and know exactly where it’s going and what I’m doing with it. There’s a lot of things I thought I knew like how to pay bills and tipping waiters. This class has taught me so much more than the standard things,” sophomore Shyla Maderazo said. “I don’t think this class should be required but I think it should be highly encouraged to others.”

Financial management and preparedness should be crucial in the learning process for students due to the fact that money is such a detri-

mental thing to manage as an adult, thus meaning it should be important to inform and teach teenagers to improve their adult lives.

“I have seen success from students that I have taught. A lot of them will come back to me with stories of buying a car or an educational decision on topics they have learned from me.

Many juniors and seniors especially when it comes to financial aid. I am constantly seeing the wheels turning in my students and I see the positive effects all the time and I’m really proud of that,” said Miller.

November 2021

34 opinion

Age Has No Meaning

Teens struggle with constant confusion on how to act

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By Dilara King

tarting during childhood, the environment is surrounded by comments about maturing and societal standards as to what can be enjoyable at certain ages. Growing up, people begin to outgrow their favorite toys, their favorite games and eventually there comes a day when they played with their childhood toy for the last time. Preteens, as they grow older, begin to hear comments about how they are too immature and they need to start being independent; however, those statements are contradicated when they get told to act their age.

“ Society says it is okay to be who you are until it is not what society accepts as normal.

There has always been several prevailing ideas that certain activities, hobbies, and interests are only designated to a specific group of people, whether it would be age, group, gender, etc. Having this confusion can lead to confusion with one’s identity and feeling out of place simply for enjoying something. Having to make constant choices on whether something is too childish or mature can create feelings of doubt within one’s mind.

Parents often remind their kids about how “old” they are getting or how quick they are growing up especially during adolescence. As they grow older they hear quite the opposite as now they are maturing too fast for their age and becoming

The InvestiGator

far too headstrong for their parents to handle which creates an unrealistic expectation for teenagers to live out. Teens either get told they need to grow up to take care of themselves or dumb themselves down so they do not act older then they are. From the ages of 12-17 everything told almost always has a double meaning.

As teenagers approach adulthood they are constantly told to “act their age” and that they need to mature themselves to be able to take care of themselves in the real world. What does this exactly mean? Do they need to give up their favorite “childish” hobbies? The answer is no; no one should ever have to give up their love for something just because it is not socially acceptable. Wanting to play with building blocks or other toys should be seen as just as acceptable as wanting to read books or newspapers or other typically “adult” hobbies. Everyone has their own hobbies that they enjoy and they should not be criticized simply for doing what they love to do.

As high school students come close to the end of the best four years of their life they get told that falling behind in school work will not fly in or be acceptable in college and that there will be much stricter guidelines. Meanwhile, college professors can come to class in informal attire and say class is canceled because they do not feel like teaching that day. Having unrealistic expectations for higher education results in students flunking their courses because they realize they do not have to try as hard to succeed in their classes. Even though it is still more challenging than high school, the expectations are lowered socially, not academically.

Socially speaking there are many things that are not normal or acceptable because it is out of your age range. Yet society often contradicts itself - society says it is okay to be who you are until it is not what society accepts as normal. Normal is a bubble, normal is a white picket fence with a wraparound porch. Normal expectations are not necessarily ideal to everyone since everyone views normal as different. Normal should be what everyone does, but not everyone does the same things, so how could this be measured in everyday life?

The older generation often tells the younger to start “acting their age” and to become mature then criticize them when they become too headstrong. The same people saying these are also the ones that are actively trying to make themselves look and feel younger. Botox, dyed hair, younger looking clothes and social media all to present themselves as a younger version of themselves while not allowing the younger generations to be who they are.

If the older generation was able to let the younger generation live their lives and take an interest in what

they wanted rather than criticizing them, then there would be a lot less confusion on what is okay and not okay. There is no shame in getting older, having hair turn white or wrinkles beginning to form, just like there is no shame in taking an interest in more childish or mature activities.

In the end, getting told to “act your age” is something unavoidable - older generations will always feel superior to the younger generation as they are “older and wiser.” Even now teenagers are making fun of the younger generation for the activities they enjoy doing.

Elyse Gamiao

opinion 35

Fall is in the air

Students address misplaced hype over seasonal trends

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By Violet LaMela

n most places around the world people are sure to recognize one season shifting into another after noticing a change in weather or the leaves fading from a bright green into a soft red and orange.

However, in America people know autumn has finally arrived after the spicy-sweet aroma begins to fill the air throughout coffee shops and bakeries across the country.

The flavor in question? None other than pumpkin spice. The fall favor-

That being said, it is completely overrated.

“Although pumpkin spice is definitely the best thing that’s happened to the fall season, I do think it’s overrated,” Sophomore Ashley Kazaryan said. “Once fall hits, it’s the only thing stores talk about and sell.”

The second that September comes to an end all that companies do is try and find different ways they can incorporate the popular flavor into anything and everything they can in order to gain a profit. While it is a very strong and incredibly effective marketing strategy, it has been taken

“

Why do we even need pumpkin flavored Oreos?

Kennedy Davenport

ite was first made in early America in 1621. They would combine milk, honey and spices inside of a hollowed out pumpkin shell. Since then, the flavor has made its way into so much more than just pie.

From cold foam to spice lattes, the popular flavor has taken the world by storm for the nineteenth October in a row. The drink itself originally became popular in 2003 when Starbucks first released their take on the pumpkin spiced latte.

Starbucks made their signature fall latte by combining coffee, steamed milk, espresso and the pumpkin flavor, topped with whipped cream and cinnamon; It was an instant hit.

As a matter of fact, after only a decade of the release Starbucks experienced record breaking sales with about 200 million of them sold. While that does not seem like much at first, it will begin to feel like plenty after realizing the drink is only sold for roughly two months out of the entire year.

way too far.

The fall flavor is usually a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and allspice. This blend is then incorporated into a variety of several different baked goods, for example, scones, muffins and cookies. Pumpkin flavoring has even been incorporated into things that no one really asked for, things like Oreos, yogurt pretzels, cereal and even protein powder.

“Once this time of year hits it’s always pumpkin spice this and pumpkin spice that, like do we really need pumpkin flavored Oreos?” Junior Kennedy Davenport said. “Pumpkin already doesn’t taste that good, so I don’t even get why it’s such a big deal.”

The flavor in itself has a very unique and distinct taste, however, when it is combined with different foods it becomes overwhelming.

When mixed with things like hot chocolate, cereal or cake, it can tend to become very strong and cause the original foods to lose their taste.

“There are some good things that have come from it, but nothing like really good, it’s all too much of one flavor to even have a good taste you know?” Davenport said. “I would be more okay with it if it wasn’t so hyped up for the whole year.”

The time limit for the fall flavor has definitely increased overtime. In recent years pumpkin spice was only available for the month of October, but this year Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and even more local places like Coffee Bean began selling the flavor as early as August.

“I get that people like to have things to look forward to, but if it’s so good why do they only have it for a month or so? Just sell it year round,” Davenport said. “All it has to do with is money, limit the time where people can buy it in order to get more and more sales.”

While the time frame is slowly becoming more large, it would make more sense to just sell the drink every time of year.

If that were the case, people

would be able to have a break from all the pumpkin that they attempt to cram during the season and it would eventually help the hype die down over time. Many people can admit to buying into the craze due to the time limit placed on different products in stores.

“They make a few seasonal drinks and that’s mostly all people get in the set amount of time that they can,” Kazaryan said. “I’m guilty too, I’ve had about four pumpkin spice lattes just this week.”

Despite how much of a scam the overall idea of pumpkin spice is, it is always nice to have something to look forward to; being able to associate something as simple as a scent and/ or flavor with a well favored season can help people appreciate the season more.

Even then, a drink should not be the reason people find love for the best season of the year. There are several other alternatives that can be celebrated in place of the over-hyped pumpkin spice latte.

Violet LaMela

November 2021

36 pro/con

Holiday season renews

eCommerce eliminates long lines, out of stock items and more

By Ameya Naduvalath

I

magine a scenario: you are shopping for clothes to wear to Homecoming.

You set aside two hours to visit the mall but countless other teens had the same idea; now all the stores are crowded and you are stuck at the mall for the next four hours.

Traditionally, shopping done in stores can take hours, due in part to needing to wait in lines, get through crowds or pressure from shopkeepers to make unrelated purchases. Shopping online versus in-store reduces the number of interactions and can in turn decrease the amount of time spent shopping, contributing to its further convenience. Those who are not fond of social interaction may also find comfort in digital retail, as many people get anxious talking to strangers and find shopkeepers intimidating.

Online shopping has boomed in the past two to three years, and for good reason.

The phenomenon of buying products from home and having them shipped has been relevant through the past decade. However, due to the pandemic, the shift towards digital purchases accelerated drastically. As non-essential businesses were closed in Nevada, people began turning towards websites of their favorite stores. Online clothes stores such as ‘Shein,’ ‘Pretty Little Thing’ and ‘ASOS’ gained popularity as well.

Even after quarantine has ended, eCommerce has risen to be a more prominent shopping method because of its convenience.

“I don’t have to leave my house. I can just pull out my phone and find clothes that I want and it’s also easier because there’s a wider selection on websites,” junior Sarah Chemplavil said. “I’m not limited to whatever’s at the store, like in-person, so it’s easier to find things that I actually want.”

A significant issue people encounter when shopping at the mall is finding a specific item. One may have to visit many stores before they find the exact item that they want, and sometimes they will not find what they are looking for at all. When shopping online, people realize that they can quickly find an exact item sold at a variety of websites for different prices. Price comparison is more convenient through these platforms because a browser can handle tabs of different shops’ websites, which can all be compared easily.

In general, visiting a company’s website through your computer is much easier than physically visiting their store. One’s ability to shop at a store depends on the store’s opening hours. This varies by the store but often, stores in Henderson close before 8p.m. In 2020, due to the pandemic, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak implemented a statewide curfew which forced stores to have earlier closing times. This would make shopping dif-

ficult for students or adults working full time. Many who prefer online shopping count their ability to shop on the spot, whether that is at 12 p.m.

“ I don’t have to leave my house. I can just pull out my phone and find clothes I want.

Sarah Chemplavil

or 12 a.m., as a major benefit.

Opposition to eCommerce views the act of returning items as a disadvantage, but is it not the same amount of trouble as returning an item to a store? People with packed schedules often find it difficult to plan times to return and exchange items to a store.

For many people, the act of shipping the item back may be simpler than finding time to make another visit to the store.

“It’s kind of convenient because Brenna Knight

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when you’re returning to the store, you actually have to go back if you weren’t planning on going there otherwise. So, it’s more time wasted. And I guess like to return you have to pay for packaging and stuff, but it’s not that expensive. So I say overall it’s still more convenient to return online [products],” Chemplavil said.

Critics of online shopping may also claim that clothes shopping through the internet leads to more unsatisfied customers and returns.

This is simply not true, as most sites have sizing charts included on the page they are selling a clothes item and enable customer reviews and ratings. Buyers often take an extra few minutes to look through the reviews and item information before making the transaction.

“If I see mainly bad reviews at the top of then I’m probably not going to get it. I pay attention to if it runs small or runs big, things like that. So I think that helps the fact that you don’t exactly know what you’re getting,” said Chemplavil. “Of course, you can’t fully avoid getting something you don’t want, but you can always return it, so I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

People who are new online shoppers may have a few bad experiences, but overall these will reduce with experience. With it, you learn as you go.

“If you’re looking for something specific, be specific in what you search for and you shouldn’t limit yourself to a store because you might not find what you want; which is why Google in general helps,” said Chemplavil.

“But also, it’s nice to scroll through things on the websites themselves.

You can buy something that you may not have wanted originally, that you do like. I don’t really have advice but online is so flexible that you can use it however you want.”

All in all, online shopping is rapidly gaining popularity among consumers of all ages. The world shifting to the digital platform enables customers to purchase items from around the globe and have them shipped to their homes. This ability is slowly linking us and spreading a popular culture among people all around the planet. Embracing this change can lead to large-scale connectivity and introduce people to different ideas furthering the variety of products available to customers on a scale that in-person shopping could never achieve.

pro/con 37

annual shopping debate In-store shopping provides peace of mind

By Jasmine Gomolka

S

ince businesses have been opening up a little more, shopping in-person should be taken advantage of again. During this pandemic most shops had their dressing rooms shut down and now they are slowly opening back up. Everyone has gotten used to shopping online - waiting days, sometimes weeks or months to get one little package. That is why in-person shopping should be taken advantage of again.

With Amazon and every other big company getting used frequently to ship products all over the world it has been affecting small, local businesses and steadily putting them out of business for years. Small businesses usually do not have large groups of customers that support them espe-

or even Shein both being online, being bad for the environment and using unethical practices such as child labor, sweatshops, creating excessive amounts of pollution, working with fast fashion, amazon specifically having a fifteen percent increase in its carbon footprint in 2020, the shipping of these products effect pollution, water pollution and oil pollution; the ships used to ship items over seas are responsible for over eighteen percent of air pollutants alone.

There are so many benefits of shopping in person, such as trying on the clothes before buying them and not having to wait forever for it to get delivered and forget what you have ordered. Online shopping does not give you the options to physically touch or see the materials of the clothing or item that you are buying so you never know what it will feel

“ When you look at the product you know what you are getting and that you are not going to get scammed.

Ethan Moore

cially within the past few years with everything that has been happening, so they are already struggling unlike bigger companies that ship products, have more customers, products and getting paid more due to having more sales.

All big companies, especially online, take over from the production of smaller businesses. The smaller companies’ sales have either plummeted or they have gotten shut down in general because of them having no sales since the bigger companies took over the sales from smaller businesses in-person and online by putting themselves out there to people all over the world, but small companies cannot do that since they have such a small amount of supporters which makes very little profit for them.

Bigger companies such as Amazon

like or how the materials would affect the way the clothing looks on.

In-person shopping holds more excitement to it. There are so many different products in every store you would never see if you were shopping online because you would have to scroll thousands of times just to find a product that you could see in person easily without wasting your time or your device’s battery.

Thrifting is another good thing about shopping in-person, since a majority of thrift stores do not have online ordering. There are many benefits of thrifting including helping out the community, reducing wasted resources, giving used clothes a new life and meaning, it is better than directing your money towards fast fashion companies, decreasing the size of landfills and air pollution, it

cleans up our oceans, etc.

While shopping in person, you get the item right then and there- shipping fees do not need to be worried about. The experience of shopping in person does not compare to online shopping; in person usually gives you time to relax and have a good evening plus it usually ends with getting food from the mall you are at or a place on the way home. Online shopping is nothing like that.

“Well, to me personally, I believe in-person shopping is extremely better. It is better for a couple reasons, you can feel the product and see its dimensions, also when you look at the product you know what you are getting and that you are not going to get scammed over the internet or any other number of things, you can see exactly what you’re getting or you can at least see the exterior of what you are getting.

And then you can sort of decide from there,” junior Ethan Moore said.

Online shopping may be convenient for some people that do not like to actually shop in person or never have the time for it, but it is not convenient for many people.

Some teenagers do not have access to online shopping due to them not having cards yet. As well as older individuals, who do not know how to work their electronics or the internet in general, especially when

it comes to checking out, most of the time they think it is a scam to put their card information into websites.

Most students would rather have the memories of their friends or families and themselves hanging out together in the malls and catching up with each other or spending valuable time together making memories and enjoying each other’s presence instead of ordering online repeatedly in an isolated manner and still not having the excitement right away because of shipping.

Elyse Gamiao

November 2021

38 opinion

Social media sleuthing

Opportunity for justice through amateur crime investigation

By McKenzie Shelton-Lott

I

n this era, sharing via social media and online forums is ordinary, to say the least. We post the majority of our lives on social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. We even post when someone commits a crime.

As the popularity of social media has grown, it has become a vital part of any crime investigation. Detectives use it to find information about robberies, drug deals and even murders.

The discussion of the correlation between online forums and crime investigations began fairly recently, but social media is not new when it comes to its involvement in crimes.

Many platforms, such as Reddit, allow people to create “rooms” specifically designed for discussion about crimes. The people involved in these spaces often discuss information about evidence that has been released to the public, clues that may have been missed by police and posts made by the victim or suspected perpetrator.

There are many cases in which social media was used to help further an investigation and gather evidence such as the Gabby Petito case. Petito was a 22-year-old woman who went missing after a prolonged van trip

with her fiance, Brian Laundrie. Petito was very active on social media, specifically YouTube and Instagram.

Petito’s family became worried after losing contact with her in August and her case became big after a woman posted on TikTok, saying that she picked up Laundrie without Petito. Many began speculating that Laundrie harmed Petito after analyzing her social media. People noticed that her captions, normally long and heartfelt, became short and unusual.

Social media was used to locate places that Petito had visited and eventually found her body. Many people believe that Petito was only discovered because of the way she documented her life on Instagram and YouTube.

Social media even helps in more controversial cases such as the case of Conrad Roy and Michelle Carter.

Roy and Carter were friends who met while vacationing in Florida in 2012. They bonded over their shared experiences dealing with mental illness and Carter had encouraged Roy to stay alive after multiple episodes in which he attempted suicide.

In July 2014, Roy expressed to Carter that he wanted to end his life. Roy decided to go through with his plan and Carter encouraged him. Multiple messages between the two were used in court where Carter was eventually

charged with manslaughter.

While social media made it possible for Carter to encourage Roy to take his own life, it also made it possible to dissect what Carter said and to get closure for Roy’s family.

These forums have also allowed many to discuss cases that have already been closed and may have caused concern over the amount of evidence that police truly had.

This is the case with Julius Jones; A man on death row for a crime committed when he was 19 years-old and many people question if he really deserves to be there. There is even an Instagram page called @justiceforjulius where they discuss evidence that goes against Julius being the perpetrator.

This is also very similar to Brandon Bernard’s case who was executed in 2020. His execution was delayed for a couple of hours after a social media uprising calling for his case to be appealed but it was ultimately ruled that Bernard’s execution would stay.

In cases like Rodney King and George Floyd, people recorded and helped show evidence of excessive force and bring awareness to these situations. In some cases like this there may not have been any convictions, but the evidence alone has allowed people to be able to share their

stories.

While social media is a big part in how many cases get solved many believe it can hinder cases. This was the case when 22 year-old Sunil Tripathi went missing in 2013.

When Tripathi went missing in March 2013, his family called on the media for help in looking for him.

Unfortunately, it took a turn for the worse when people all over America began thinking he was a suspect in the Boston Marathon Bombings.

Many people began attacking Tripathi and his family. Soon, Tripathi’s body was discovered and his death was ruled a suicide. It was also found that he had been missing for a month prior to the bombing. This case made it apparent to many that social media can seriously hinder investigations and the healing process of families who are affected.

Social media has its flaws, as many things do. But it provides a new way to find evidence, solve crimes and get new perspectives on cases that are not moving. Investigations have been made easier by using social media, it allows people to voice their concerns with closed cases and even allows people to show their side of story that they may be a part of. Overall social media is really helpful when it comes to crime cases and their investigations.

Shaelyn Gamiao

The InvestiGator

Day after day

By The InvestiGator Staff

T

hese past few months have been painted by a lethargic filter. Everyone has already mentally checked out for the holidays with the semester coming to a close, wrapping up yet another year with the coronavirus placing our leisure activities on hold.

In retrospect, the pandemic has brought clarity to a lot of people and it provided the perfect opportunity for growth -- a chance to reorient our lives and broaden perspectives, perhaps even learn to appreciate the impermanent things. This new atmosphere bred introspection, stimulating self-reflection amongst students and teachers-alike.

From the tear-jerking ‘Every 15 Minutes,’ to the nostalgia that fills the

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that are in need of change. That being said, we can also acknowledge how difficult it can be to act on those realizations when you lack any real motivation to do so, leaving you in an endless cycle of slowing down to recuperate and having to pick up the pace for fear of falling behind. At the end of the day, balance is necessary and understanding what keeps you centered is key.

For many, the gym has made itself a home and a safe space for individuals, as well as a source of fuel to get them through each day -- especially for those who use it as a means to instill a sense of urgency to wake up everyday because they owe it to themselves to do so. There are so many ways to stay motivated and give yourself a reason to keep pushing. People tend to find solace in music -- or even podcasts -- and if that happens to be

“ This year has been a huge adjustment from last, but change is necessary for improvement.

air, contemplation has been a consistent theme as of late. Getting closer and closer to adulthood, childhood memories are stirred and we revisit simpler times.

Though, being in this “between” stage makes room for harsh realities to set in. Witnessing a staged tragedy may not be scarring to some, but it does solidify the idea that it could happen to anyone, at any time. The consequences of one’s actions can have a ripple effect on everyone and the heart-to-heart conversations these situations trigger are natural.

In a world that is constantly moving, it can be a challenge to step back and reflect on the areas of our lives

your cup of tea, make full use of it.

You can find anything from melodies to soothe intrusive thoughts, white noise to reduce distractions, or witty banter between podcast hosts to boost your endorphins. There is such a vast array of pastimes, hobbies, and other forms of entertainment that can create stability in your life.

We have all come a long way, and that is an accomplishment in itself.

This year has not been the easiest for a good portion of us, but it is almost over. The end of some things lead to the beginning of better ones, and while setbacks happen every now and then, it is okay to take it day by day.

November 2021

TYLER BONNETTE | PHOTO

Freshman Neala Kellner performs alongside members of Color Guard during the Homecoming Assembly on Oct. 22. The assembly was the first of the year and was held outside on the football field.

FLYING COLORS

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