The Lariat October 2021 - Back to School Survival Guide by The Lariat

Issue I, October 2021

L O O H C S O T BACK E D I U G L A V I SURV n Pandemic Editio

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TABLE of CONTENTS LETTER from the EDITORS

NEWS

Dear reader,

4 New in the News: Breaking stories around CCHS 8 Peace Week in photos

OPINIONS

10 TikTok Trouble: New social media trend causing trouble at school

FEATURES

11 Women’s Studies: An insight into CCHS’s groundbreaking new course and the teacher behind it

ENTERTAINMENT

12 Battle of the Coffee Shops: Clutch Coffee Bar or Cali Coffee

Welcome to the first issue of the 2021-22 school year! After a year of eLearning, it is exciting and a bit nervewracking to be back in the classroom fulltime. In honor of everyone returning to CCHS’s campus this year, this issue’s theme is “Back to School Survival Guide” and we hope some of these articles provide a bit of guidance as we navigate this school year. On behalf of The Lariat, we want to wish everyone a wonderful start of the school year. We hope that this year is full of great memories and good health for everyone. Happy reading! Sincerely, Elena Ashburn, Chris Gomes, Kayla Gates and Nicole Nadler 2021-22 Editorial Board

MEET our STAFF

SPORTS

13 Cowboy Inclusion: CCHS Cheer’s ESE cheerleader Amanda Hoy

ON the COVER This issue of The Lariat is “Back to School Survival Guide: Pandemic Edition.” Inspired by a Back to School staple, this issue’s cover is modeled after a composition notebook and contains “stickers” that represent different articles in the issue.

Print Editor-in-Chief Elena Ashburn Online Editor-in-Chief Chris Gomes Managing Editor Kayla Gates Editorial Assistant Nicole Nadler Staff Writers Ashlyn Cohen Lucia Correa Olivia Gil

Photos from Orian Tzipora-Harosh, Lisa Hoy, The Lariat and Adobe Cover illustrations by Lucia Correa All graphics and images not credited to The Lariat staff comply with fair use standards.

Jenna Hedrick Ava Kuznik Malia Lahey Lily Mitchell Emily Moreno Nina Ramirez Addison Roberts Melissa Sarosi Orian Tzipora-Harosh Photographer Shira Aroshas Adviser Fallan Patterson

table of contents 3

NEW IN THE NEWS BREAKING STORIES AROUND CCHS Shooting for success: New junior Reading Class aims to benefit CCHS students

Due to virtual schooling last year, students in the 10th grade struggled to pass their reading Florida State Assessment (FSA), which is a requirement to graduate. Because of the significant downfalls in the average reading scores, this caused a decision to add an extra course for juniors who had tough encounters with the reading curriculum.

“Walking into class in person to work on improving their reading skills will help students better their test scores,” new CCHS Reading teacher Seth Nadler said. “I’m hopeful for this class, I know the students will be motivated to work hard to pass that FSA.”

BY ASHLYN COHEN

Choose Peace, Stop Violence: Celebrating Peace Week You’re so Golden: Celebrating 50 years of success at CCHS Cooper City High School has come a long way since 1971. In honor of 50 years, CCHS is holding a multitude of events on Friday, October 15 and Saturday, October 16. To start Friday night off, the CCHS football team will play against South Plantation for the homecoming game at 7 p.m. There will be food sold on site and tickets are only sold online. “It’s going

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to be packed, it’s going to be crazy and it’s going to be fun,” math teacher and football coach John Browning said. To continue the celebration, there will be guided tours on Saturday by a current CCHS faculty member for alumni. With limited seating, the tours will be happening every half hour from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

BY JENNA HEDRICK

At times, life can be exceedingly hard, and for many students, school does not make it any easier. However, teachers, staff and some club members at CCHS held their annual Peace Week for students and all staff to enjoy. “I know students will enjoy Peace Week because of all the participation I’ve seen from all the clubs and all the turnout from Chalk 4 Peace to gardening,” peer counseling teacher Helise Gailboord said. “It’s important to all the students, I can see it.” On Monday, September 20, students and staff wore their pajamas, dreaming

about a world of peace. Tuesday, September 21, was Twin for Peace day, where students and staff picked out their best matching outfits. Peace-related outfits and events continued throughout the week, including the annual Peace Pole Ceremony on Friday. Multicultural Club, CTV, The Round-Up, Chorus and many other clubs all came together for a time to enhance peace and tranquility. The color guard led the start of the ceremony and the club member went on to form a heart in the courtyard of CCHS.

BY JENNA HEDRICK

#TANKTOPTHURSDAY: CCHS students question the dress code Schools all over the US are fighting against school dress codes, including CCHS. Sophomore Meryssa Parker began the movement here at CCHS by taping up slips of paper in the halls and bathrooms. These slips consisted of statements like “#TANKTOPTHURSDAY” and “DESEXUALIZE THE FEMALE BODY” along with many others. These slips caught a lot of students’ eyes. More students started making, hanging, handing out and even wearing these slips of paper on their body. “#TANKTOPTHURSDAY” was referring to Thursday, September 2, 2021 when a group of students would wear tank tops in protest of the Broward County Public Schools’ dress code. Page 25 of the dress code, responsibility number 3 states, “Revealing clothing or clothing that exposes the torso is not allowed. Examples include, but are not limited to: tank tops or spaghetti straps without overblouses (long shirts) or jackets; see-through garments; mini-skirts or mini-

dresses; halters; backless dresses; jackets, shirts or blouses tied at the midriff; and bare midriff outfits.” Students say the reason this movement is called “Desexualixe the Female Body” is because “guys don’t really get striked as harshly as females do and it’s just not a fair policy that schools have for dress code,” junior Stephanie Blige said. There are also a number of students who disagree with the movement. “It makes sense but at the same time there’s no end goal and with no set end goal it’s kind of pointless, there is no real possible end goal,” junior Michael Paan said. “If the school already has no dress code and has small rules to follow, why not follow it unless you want all uniforms and to wear colored shirts and pants.” Tank Top Thursday has continued as the school year has progressed, but there has been no word as to whether the dress code policy will change.

BY MELISSA SAROSI

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to end Florida Standards Assessments (FSA) This school year could be the last distribution of the Florida Standards Assessments (FSA), with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis arguing that it will be a main priority to replace the standardized testing system with a refreshed solution. DeSantis and the Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran spoke Sept. 14 about ditching the FSA in favor of “progress monitoring”, and how it will affect testing in the state moving forward. DeSantis argues that FSA testing fails to provide timely information to parents, due to testing being towards the end of the year, and not during time of instruction. The governor aims to replace the FSA with a new progress monitoring system called

the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST). He says that the new system will take hours instead of days, and will allow for 75% less testing, allowing more time for instruction. “I am looking forward to the change from FSA to FAST,” CCHS Student Assessment Coordinator Melissa Megna said. “Florida will be the first state in the nation to implement state standards-based progress monitoring in lieu of end of the year standardized testing. FAST is markedly different than anything the FLDOE has done in the past. From what I’ve read it seems to be very student centered, which in my opinion is a step in the right direction.” The FSA will be

substituted with the FAST, which is an important distinction, as standardized assessments will still remain to be a focal point of students and staff educational livelihood. The FAST will be procedurally different, with tests distributed throughout instruction, rather than a sole test at the end of the year. “I think it’s nice because now we can focus on the content of the course instead of the content of the FSA,” sophomore Jocelyn Reed said. “I’m a little upset that my grade is the last to take it but it had to [end] eventually so I don’t mind that I’m [part of ] the last class who has to take it.”

BY CHRIS GOMES

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New school year, new superintendent: BCPS gets a new interim superintendent Look out Cowboys...there new superintendent in town! After being selected for the position in a 5-4 vote by the School Board of Broward County (SBBC), Vickie L. Cartwright began her job as interim superintendent of Broward County Public Schools on August 2, 2021. The position of superintendent opened following the resignation of former superintendent Robert Runcie. Runcie stepped down as superintendent after being arrested for perjury back in April. is

“I am incredibly honored to have been selected from the Broward County School Board to be serving as the interim superintendent,” Cartwright said in a recent media address. “I am really looking forward to serving this community.” Cartwright will assume the role of interim superintendent as SSBC continues the search for someone to fill the role permanently. She will serve for roughly a year, and she will not be able to apply for the permanent position.

BY ELENA ASHBURN

Quiet in “today’s hectic society:” House Bill 529 establishes moment of silence in public school What can quiet down a classroom rowdy students? State legislation. House Bill 529 (HB 529) went into effect on July 1, 2021, requiring first-period teachers in public schools to hold a one to twominute-long moment of silence every day. According to the bill’s text, neither teachers nor students should interfere with anyone else’s use of the moment of silence. Additionally, teachers cannot provide any guidance as to how students should spend this time; instead, they are instructed to encourage their students to hold conversations with their parents and family members about how best to use the moment of silence. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed the bill in June, has advocated for the time to be used for reflection and prayer. “We think it is something that’s important to be able to provide each student the ability every day to be able to reflect and to be able full

to pray as they see fit,” DeSantis said at a press conference. “The idea that you can just push God out of every institution and be successful, I’m sorry, our founding fathers did not believe that.” Some students enjoy the time to reflect every morning. “I feel that the moment of silence gives a sense of a quick moment to reprocess our thoughts and just helps get ourselves into check,” junior Asiya Bahnke said. “In a perspective, the moment of silence symbolizes that not everything is in a rush, and that it is okay to be at your own pace.” However, some students feel that, in practice, the moment of silence can be disruptive and futile. “It’s kind of unnecessary and not a lot of people follow it,” junior Zoey Deus said. “I understand what they wanted to do but they should stop expecting minimal things [like this] from students.”

BY ELENA ASHBURN

Howdy, new students! CCHS hosts Cowboy Corral in-person

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CCHS extended a warm welcome to the freshman and sophomore classes during this year’s Cowboy Corral. Cowboy Corral was hosted by the Student Government Association (SGA) on August 9 and 10, 2021. Freshmen and sophomores were able to tour the school, meet staff and administration, sample some of the school’s clubs and socialize

with their new classmates. Attendees and volunteers also received breakfast, lunch and a t-shirt during the event. This was the first Cowboy Corral since 2019, when the class of 2023 was entering CCHS. Last year, there was a virtual option that covered similar topics.

BY ELENA ASHBURN

Get Out and Get Active: The first in-person Rush Week post-pandemic Rush Week is a Student Government Association (SGA) tradition that allows each club to present itself to students and to have the opportunity to join all of the Cooper City High School clubs. This year with COVID-19 precautions taking place, Rush Week was different from the years prior. “I feel that this year’s Rush Week went very well. Last year’s virtual learning lent itself to more students wanting to get more involved in the various clubs and sports that we offer here at CCHS this current school year,” SGA advisor Natalie Flaten said. “I also feel that the clubs and sports are wanting to expand their clubs and sports to reach more people and thus become more successful.” However, since starting high school in COVID-19, sophomores have not gotten the chance to see the in-person aspect of Rush Week and this is the first chance for all of the freshmen to see all of the clubs that CCHS has to offer. “I was excited to see all of the clubs that the school has to offer since clubs are essential to college acceptance,” freshman Samantha Liberman said. It is commonplace for Rush Week to be outdoors, but due to the pandemic, many students are inclined to sit outside for safety reasons. So, using the red tables like the usual Rush Week setup was not possible to ensure the preferences of the students due to COVID. So, SGA had to get creative with their way to both have Rush Week and allow students to sit at the outdoor tables and host Rush Week outdoors. “Since COVID, students have gravitated towards sitting outside, so we wanted to keep those outdoor tables available for them,”

Rush Week chair Kennedy Lerner said. “We chose next to the 3400 building since it is covered in case of the rain and it is a perfect medium between the red awning and the cafeteria.” This Rush Week had to undergo lots of changes from previous years to accommodate for the pandemic. “Through all the challenges this pandemic has brought, this year’s Rush Week was successful since we had lots of participation,” SGA President Breckyn Mayer said. A majority of the clubs did have representation with a range as broad as Interact Club to Science Club, so many still had the chance to learn about new clubs. Since being online, many underclassmen did not get a true taste of all of the clubs that CCHS had to offer, with Rush Week being online the interaction factor was purely missing from the event. “Getting to see all of the clubs that I hadn’t gotten to see while being online was really cool,” sophomore Jane Goodman said. “This year, Rush Week was an amazing way to connect to new clubs and cultivate new friendships,” junior Soumya Joseph said. “Rush Week has always been a popular event for the beginning of the school year especially with incoming freshmen and other students that may be new to CCHS,” Flaten said. “I feel moving the location to where we did this year and keeping all the clubs and sports close together was a great decision as it allowed for easier access for students to peruse the different offerings.”

BY NICOLE NADLER

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PEACE WEEK IN PHOTOS

“The point of peace week is to fos ter general feelings of betterment an d eradicate any hate that may exist. I can say with the utmo st confidence and pride that we are well on our way to achie ving this goal.” - senior Kiara Ryan in her Peace W eek speech

S ek at CCH Peace We 2 r be 0 m Septem o fr ld e h nts was 24. Stude r e b m te p vents, to Se in daily e d te a ip ic rt a p , where alk 4 Peace h C g in d lks, lu inc the sidewa n o w re d ich clubs remony, wh e C e c a e P and the ’s events. t the week u o d e d n u ro has

hira Photos by S

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SEE MORE AT: thelariatonline.com

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New social media trend causing trouble at school

TIKTOK TROUBLE

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TikTok is a social media platform that is home to many trends, ranging from transition videos to dance videos, but the latest trend is not as harmless. The “devious lick” challenge encourages students to steal an item from their school and post it on TikTok. This trend has caused damage all over the country with large news outlets covering the aftermath. Many schools within the Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) district have seen their students participate in this trend, and on September 22, BCPS released a video of interim superintendent Dr. Vickie L. Cartwright addressing the trend. “Over the past few days, our district has seen evidence of severe vandalism in our bathrooms caused by our own students,” Cartwright said. “Multiple schools have had soap dispensers and exit signs ripped off the walls, urinals removed and ceiling tiles damaged.” Here at CCHS, the “devious lick” trend caused damage to a second-floor bathroom which led to the flooding of the 3900 building. The pressures of social media led to students causing the damage. To understand the situation there must be an understanding of the effect of social media on teenagers.

“A d o l e s c e n t s with greater reputations of digital status seeking reported more frequent social media use, desire for popularity, belief in the importance of online status indicators and use of strategies to obtain these indicators,” the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology reported. It is clear that social media largely influences teenagers’ lives, and when analyzing students’ actions it is worth noting how we have been so greatly affected by social media usage. However, the students who choose to participate in this trend cannot fully blame the social media trend, as they were the ones who chose to cause the wreckage. “[Social Media] is one of those things where you have the positive and then you have the potential for things to not be so positive,” English teacher and AICE coordinator Lisa Jones said. “I think it’s what you make of it really.” The “devious lick” trend definitely showcased the negative side of social media and the real effects of online pressure. The few moments of fame that the creators got were not worth the damage they created and the consequences they are going to face because of their actions. By participating in this trend, not only do

students get themselves in trouble, but they can also affect others. The events at our school caused expensive damage that could have injured people on campus; the students responsible showed no empathy and did not consider others. “Instead of worrying about people coming in like jumping the fence or something like that we have to now worry about kids in the bathroom tearing it apart,” School Resource Officer Kevin Coleman said. “Just don’t do it, it’s not worth it.” Like all things, social media has the capacity for good or bad, and it is important that we are really considering the effects of these trends before participating. “I’m still and I’m continuing to be so excited that you guys are all here back on campus, all 2,300 of us, and that you know I’m really proud of all the great things you guys are doing,” Principal Vera Perkovic said. “I know that like I said we had that incident but I think I don’t want that to overshadow the big picture of all the wonderful things that are happening on this campus.”

BY EMILY MORENO READ MORE AT: thelariatonline.com

WOMEN’S STUDIES An insight into CCHS’s groundbreaking new course and the teacher behind it Among a sea of social studies classes and between periods of psychology, one can find Maricarmen Herrera teaching the new Women’s Studies class to her eighth period students. Although this course is new to Cooper City High School (CCHS), it gained popularity and was a cause for conversation during the 2021 course selection season. Now, headed by Herrera, the Women’s Studies course sees a full class of eager and attentive students at the end of every B Day. Just like the course itself, Herrera is new to CCHS ...well, mostly. The 2021–2022 school year is Herrera’s first full school year teaching at CCHS, as she was introduced during the second semester of the 2020–2021 school year, to take over Steven Franzone’s Psychology 1 classes. Though Herrera is still new to CCHS, she isn’t new to teaching. She has experience working with a variety of age groups, from teaching instructional training and design in corporate America, to teaching eighth grade world history in a MiamiDade middle school.

“I just got very lucky that Cooper City [High School] had the psychology position open,” Herrera explained. “Because that’s my strength, it’s what I majored in at Florida Atlantic University (FAU).” Just as the Psychology 1 class piqued Herrera’s interests and brought her to CCHS, she was immediately drawn to the Women’s Studies course and jumped at the opportunity to teach it. Growing up, Herrera would always question why we abide by the norms of certain social institutions and discuss the effects they have on everyday life. “I would call myself a feminist killjoy, because I would bring up patriarchal things to my friends,” Herrera said. “But now, through maturing, I have learned how to put that into a tunnel of discussion, where you can find something you can do about [social problems] and not just complain.” Now, Herrera has the means to open that tunnel of discussion with her students. As she teaches an open-ended, adaptable course, where students help shape the curriculum through reviewing and

evaluating current events. The course itself focuses on topics such as famous women in history, analysis of text and how the patriarchy affects men and women. The course also explores the deconstruction of terms, such as “cheugy” and “girl boss” to evaluate their meaning. The course’s flexible and discussion-based format has allowed the class to engage in in-depth conversations, where every student has the opportunity to voice their views. “We discuss a lot of things, and we go into deep conversations a lot of the time,” sophomore Nirvani Bahadursingh said. “We get to hear everyone’s point of view and how we all think of things...I really love it.” This unconfined aspect of the class has also allowed students to stay up to date with current issues surrounding women, as well as topics that interest the class, such as Supreme Court rulings or recent movements. In having these discussions, Herrera encourages her students to develop their own opinions. She stresses the importance of challenging oneself to

form one’s own opinion on a subject, rather than taking on the opinion of someone else. “I want the whole class to read the text, and [not only] see, ‘do they agree, do they not agree’ but really, critically analyze it,” Herrera said. “I want everyone to take a moment and ask if that’s what they believe or not.” Many students appreciate this analytical approach as it allows them to dive deeper into the text and learn about the figures and events that are often brushed over in other social studies classes, such as the roles women played during wars and the contributions they made to social sciences. Herrera and her students hope that the Women’s Studies course gains enough popularity, to continue for years to come, so that the next generations of CCHS students can have a course to help them navigate what they see and understand its significance in our ever-changing world.

BY OLIVIA GIL