The Marquee Volume 36 Issue 1 by The Marquee

The Marquee

Vol. 36 Issue 1 • Oct 12, 2021 • Edward S. Marcus High School • 5707 Morriss Road Flower Mound, TX 75028

Texas legislature passes new state laws

CAL CAL

distorted perception

Award winning wrestler coaches girls wrestling

Find your next Halloween costume

editor in chief Sophia Craig managing and online editor Shriya Mukkavilli design editor Alex Thornfelt sports editor Hyunsung Na business manager Aishani Raju reporters Garrison Acree Muna Nnamani Marley Roberson Vanessa Cardoso Alanna Reed Harrison Hamre photographers Avery Jerina Salma Ali designers Jayla Landou Jennifer Banh Marie Dacunos Saloni Mistry adviser LaJuana Hale principal William Skelton

The Marquee newsmagazine is a student-generated publication of Marcus High School. It is produced, edited and maintained through the efforts of the school’s advanced journalism class. The Marquee is designed to serve the school and community as a forum for open discussion and student expression. The Marquee encourages letters to the editor as part of its mission to educate, inform and provide an open forum for debate. All submissions must be signed. The staff reserves the right to edit all material. Editorials reflect the opinion of the staff, not necessarily that of the administration. Signed columns or reviews represent only the opinion of the author. Advertising rates are $70 per 1/8 of a page, with discounts available. Patron ads are available for $100. Online advertisements are also available. For more information call 469-7135196. The Marquee is a standing member of ILPC, TAJE, ATPI, CSPA NSPA, JEA and Quill and Scroll.

cover Alex Thornfelt

Senior Ifenna Cos-Okpalla jumps before slamming the ball at the Sept. 17 game against Lewisville. Photo Avery Jerina

08 10 24 26

Finding a new rhythm College student becomes high school teacher

Stepping into the lights Former backup quarterback now starter

Crib tours

Exploring student rooms and the treasures they hold

Seasonal delights

Reviewing local farmer’s market treats contents mhsmarquee.com

State laws go into effect story story VanessaRoberson Cardoso Marley

HB 1927 Act

Permitless Carry

People who are 21 and older and have no previous convictions can carry firearms in public spaces without a license or permit. This bill does not allow people who currently cannot own a gun the right to get and carry a gun. The bill refers to the Second Amendment in stating that people have the right to own and use guns for lawful purposes. Senior Jerod Crecelius said he believes that Texans should be able to carry guns in public. “In public spaces, I don’t see what the problem is,” Crecelius said. Senior Catherine Meeks worries about the effect this bill will have on the safety of police officers since guns may become more commonplace. “It’s just setting it up for people to get in trouble,“ senior Catherine Meeks said. Meeks said she worries there will be more conflicts between citizens and police officers because of the increase in rights for gun owners. “It makes me angry because … now police are more in danger,“ Meeks said.

HB 3979 Curriculum Changes

In K-12 social studies curriculum, teachers will not be required to teach current events or social affairs, and those who choose to will be encouraged to discuss them from a number of perspectives without bias. Humanities teacher Debbie Brininstool said she thinks that teachers need to be unbiased when discussing current events. “I think if you’re grounded in facts rather than emotion, … those teachers will be fine to go ahead and talk about current events,” Brininstool said. This bill states that teachers cannot: • require coursework that involves working with organizations lobbying for local, state or federal legislation • teach that any person is inherently racist or sexist because of their race or sex or consciously or unconsciouly • teach that someone is responsible for actions committed by others in the past because of their race or sex.

HB 103 - Active Shooter Alert System

The system will alert people through their phones of an active shooter within 50 miles of their location. Local law enforcement agencies can also activate the alert system if they believe that the shooter is in the agency’s jurisdiction. This alerts people in the area by giving information on the shooter’s location and description.

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SB 8 - Texas Heartbeat Bill

This law states that a physician can not perform an abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat in an ultrasound. This usually happens six weeks after the first day of the mother’s last menstrual cycle. Exceptions are made when the mother’s life is in danger, but not for victims of rape or incest. Some students like sophomore Michelle Sayers feel that this bill is a violation of women’s rights. Sayers worries that limiting abortions will put women in difficult positions. “I think it’s very sexist in that women don’t have a say in it,” Sayers said. On the other hand, some people like senior Avery Hamilton agree with the bill. Hamilton said she is pro-life, and believes that life begins at conception. “I think it’s wonderful … we should be on the road to abolishing abortion entirely,” Hamilton said.

design Saloni Mistry

mats Leaving the

Champion wrestler hired as coach story Hyunsung Na Newly hired girls wrestling coach Brittany Marshall was just 16 when she competed in her first state wrestling championship for Lewisville High School. The same age as some of her students now, Marshall only had three years of wrestling experience. She was terrified.

Walking onto the mats for her first match, all she thought was, “don’t mess up, don’t mess up, you deserve to be here.” Her entire junior year she was constantly convincing herself she was good enough. Marshall always saw the other wrestlers’ demeanors and the way they carried themselves and thought they were the real athletes. She was just Brittany. The same unconfident Brittany who could never get out of her own head. It was a terrible mindset that she fought to escape every match. But standing in that chaotic arena with stands full of cheering fans, she remembered her friends and family were out there. That calmed her nerves. Hearing the ref’s whistle, she blocked out any other thoughts she had. Now it was all about winning.

High school

Photo Avery Jerina

As the wrestlers lined up by weight class, Marshall began looking up and down the group. All she could think about was how she didn’t deserve to be there. There were players on her right who’d wrestled most of their lives, and players on her left who’d won multiple state championships already. And in the middle of it all was Marshall. Even as a sophomore she was a talented wrestler who had the skills to win. The only thing in her way was herself.

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For Marshall, her wrestling journey started in middle school. At the time, she was a natural athlete without a sport she truly loved. “I was good at a lot of things,” Marshall said. “But I never found anything that I wanted to be great at.” That all changed when her long distance coach asked her to try out for the Lewisville High School wrestling team. At first Marshall refused. She’d never wrestled and didn’t plan on starting. Her coach then made her a deal. If she attended tryouts, he’d buy her the biggest bag of Skittles he could find. Marshall immediately accepted. In her first time wrestling, Marshall beat a varsity athlete. She had earned her Skittles and secured herself a spot on the team. The learning curve was steep at first for Marshall. Competing against players who’d been wrestling for years made

her feel like she was constantly playing catch up. However she quickly realized she couldn’t compare herself to those players. Instead she focused on her own self improvement.

I felt like if I could put my mind and my body under that much stress and still make it out on top, there’s nothing I can’t do in life.

- Brittany Marshall “It was hard but I was naturally athletic, and sometimes what took them to do in five years I could do in two weeks,” Marshall said. By her junior year, Marshall began feeling more confident. That season, she still had multiple meets where coaches told her that if she had got out of her own head she would’ve won. The hard work that season paid off and she made it to the state championship,

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but the round before the finals was tough. She made multiple mistakes and was barely able to keep going. But she made it to the final match, and wrestled with nothing held back. She wasn’t trying to have the perfect win. She wasn’t going to let anybody get in her way. Marshall defeated her opponent to win the state championship match. “It was everything that I wanted it to be,” Marshall said. “When I finally won, it was just relief that I did it, I accomplished it, I had faith in myself, and I accomplished so many things on the way.”

Defending her title

In her senior year, she wanted to repeat her state win. This time she felt more like she belonged. That she earned the right to be there. That tournament, Marshall didn’t feel the need to prove herself to anyone. She wanted another state championship to prove it to herself. In her preparation for the matches, she focused on ending each match as quickly as possible. “I think that set me apart from people. When I wrestled, I wrestled not only for myself and to be the best in my weight class, but I wrestled to also get people’s attention,” Marshall said. “I wanted you to see how amazing this sport was, how awesome and intriguing it could be.” Everything was clicking for Marshall in her final match to defend her title as the state champion. Her determination was at an all time high since this was the last chance she’d have to show colleges what she could do. “My confidence wasn’t where it should’ve been, but my drive was where it needed to be,” Marshall said. “I just wanted to be recognized by colleges at that point, and you weren’t going to stop me from doing that.” Marshall proved her skills by easily winning her match and becoming a two time state wresting champion.

Nationals

After graduating high school with her two state championships and three district titles, Marshall was recognized as a star athlete. However, at Wayland Baptist University, everything was at an entirely different level. Her first year, Marshall would step into practice daily and know she was going to lose. While she felt she didn’t stand a chance, she knew it would pay

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off eventually. “Of course I wanted to win. You “Eventually I gained that confidence. always want to win. The moment you tell Yesterday the score was 12-0, today it’s yourself you don’t, that’s your downfall,” 0-0,” Marshall said. “Just coming in with Marshall said. “It got to the point where that mindset that it’s a new day, a new I was just going because I felt like I had start, and I’m ready.” to.” One of the biggest differences was Weeks before her third national how much more was on the line at championship meet, Marshall attended Wayland Baptist. a tournament where one of her friends “You have to push yourself and be was competing. She watched the match the best version of yourself,” Marshall said. “They’re depending on you... so if you want to win that trophy, you have got to bring your A-game.” This caused Marshall to spend all her time in the gym and try to go even further. Her hard work paid off in her first and second year at Wayland Baptist, finishing fourth both years in the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association National Championship. But she wasn’t satisfied. When junior year Coach Marshall instructs students Jessica Cope and Marisa came around, Kloefkorn with a cardio exercise. Photo Avery Jerina

It was just relief that I did it...I had faith in myself, and I accomplished so many things on the way.

- Brittany Marshall Marshall pushed herself even more. While she was handling the physical side of wrestling, the mental side began wearing on her. “I’d worked so hard for a year and a half, day in and day out, it became like it was my job,” Marshall said. “I was working out so much it was taking the fun out of wrestling for me.” The issue wasn’t Marshall’s competitive drive. She was a winner at heart. However, staying motivated became a challenge for the first time.

from the sidelines to cheer her on. As her friend fell behind, Marshall yelled out instructions. Marshall felt her experience with wrestling allowed her to know exactly what to say. “I knew what to tell her because I’d been there so many times and I knew how hard she’d worked,” Marshall said. “To know what her goals were and to see her reach those goals, that meant everything to me.” After her friend won, Marshall found coaching taught her something vital

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With pride and her accomplishment, Marshall took a sigh of relief. Now with a trophy in her hand, she felt weight lifted off her shoulders. “Thank God I reached my goal, because I don’t know if I can continue to do this,” Marshall said. “It’s no longer fun to me.”

Marcus bound

After graduation, Marshall still loved wrestling. She wanted to coach instead of competing and found her first opportunity at North Central College where she got her master’s degree. She began searching Coach Marshall claps enthusiastically for her wrestlers for a head coach spot at during practice. Photo Avery Jerina the high school level, due to the lack of female coaches. “There are thousands of kids, young about who she was. “That was the moment I realized that women, who need someone to look up I don’t want to just wrestle,” Marshall to in that [level],” Marshall said. “Most said. “I want to be the one that’s helping people have to have someone that has been there to look up to. It’s important athletes reach their goals.” Marshall had re-thought everything seeing someone where you want to be about her future. But at the end of the and knowing ‘Hey she did it so can I.’” But the job search brought its own day, she’d set out for a national title and challenges. she was there to win. “It’s hard for people to associate At nationals, Marshall won four matches, setting her up for another final. you with something that’s so manly,” This time it was a back and forth fight Marshall said. “So when you give a for first place. The entire season this is all woman that type of authority in that she wanted. Marshall’s final match was manly figure, it’s hard for people to really digest what you’re trying to do tied at 5-5. “If this is a legitimate goal you set for and support you.” Marshall’s biggest inspiration to keep yourself, then you have to do everything that you can,” Marshall said. “I was just fighting these stereotypes were her telling myself, you don’t stop shooting, parents. “My parents have always taught me you don’t stop until he blows the whistle, no matter what your goal is, don’t be whatever you do you don’t stop.” With four seconds left in the match, afraid to go out there and work for it,” Marshall took a risk, and got behind her Marshall said. “If you work for it you’re opponent for a takedown. With seconds proving that you deserve it and no one left on the clock, Marshall won the can take that away from you.” At that same time, the school was match 6-5. It was the perfect ending to the perfect year, making her the national looking for a new girls coach. With the chance to come back to the same district champion. “I felt like if I could put my mind and where it all started, Marshall accepted my body under that much stress and the job. This is the first year where the female still make it out on top, there’s nothing I players have their own dedicated coach can’t do in life,” Marshall said.

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and class time. Sophomore Kennedy Cagle said this is an advantage for her and her team. “It was just way harder to learn stuff, but now since we have a girl coach she can show us the moves by doing it,” Cagle said. “She knows how to do it perfectly, so she can show us how to do it the right way.” Compared to the boys’ wrestling program the girls’ wrestling team is very new, having only existed for three years. With Marshall as the coach, she plans to spend the next following years carving out a legacy for the program. “I wanted to establish a culture that is welcoming and family oriented,” Marshall said. “And be something that young women would want to be a part of, and not be scared of or shy away from.” Senior Juliet Puente said that the program has come a long way from when it first began. “It was different because we were surrounded by guys and there were only three of us,” Puente said. “It was just an experience for sure, but I’m glad it’s

I want to be the one that’s helping athletes reach their goals.

- Brittany Marshall expanding.” Coming back to where she first discovered her love for wrestling to inspire other young women to do the same means so much to Marshall. “To be back means everything to me, because I’ve been to many different places and people support [those places],” Marshall said. “But there’s no support like the LISD support.”

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Bouncing back

Theatre students perform in person story Vanessa Cardoso

After all this time, I am glad that we get to be together and get to share our story with our community. - Denise Tooch After over a year of not performing in front of a live audience, theatre students are ready to hit the stage. The first chance to perform on a stage together was in the production of “Our Town” in late September. According to theatre director Denise Tooch, everyone was excited to be back after being isolated during the pandemic. “The students are really looking forward to being able to have the community back with us to have these journeys together,” said Theatre director Denise Tooch. This year, students aren’t required to wear masks and can spend more time with each other without having to divide into smaller groups. Tooch said these changes have allowed friendship to become stronger. For Madison Leavitt, her biggest

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challenge last year was projecting. She said she had always struggled with projecting and had to work on it along with wearing a mask. Leavitt said she was able to improve on her skills and participate in several productions, and she’s excited to be able to perform in front of a live audience. “This time around, I can finally show what I can do on the stage,” Leavitt said. Senior Hunter Fields is also looking forward to doing what she loves in front of a live audience, especially after having their shows online last year. “I am enthusiastic about getting to see all the live reactions from what we perform,” Fields said. Even though students are on the stage together, safety is still a concern. Teachers and theatre students are following regulations to stay safe. Tooch is hopeful that soon things will go back to the way they were prior to the pandemic. Seating is also limited at this time. Before COVID-19, theatre was allowed

to seat 850 people in the auditorium. Now they will sit half as many. Friends and family will have one seat between them to avoid contact with the virus. Tooch said that it is important to accommodate the audience for they can enjoy the play and feel secure while watching it. “I think the audience might want the opportunity to be a little farther apart from other people,” Tooch said. According to Tooch, theatre was more conscious last year when students were required to wear masks and distance themselves from each other. They wore gloves and sanitized objects before someone else touched them. Marks were placed on the stage as well for the same purpose. Different classes weren’t permitted to gather together. Tooch said theatre is looking forward to taking advantage of the opportunities they have this year. “After all this time, I am glad that we get to be together and get to share our story with our community,” Tooch said.

Juniors Reese Martin and Jordan Thompson act out a scene from the play “Our Town” during the dress rehearsal. Photo Lacey Hayes

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Substitute Stephan Gomez leads his orchestra students through a piece in preparation for their fall concert. Photo Avery Jerina

College student takes on role as long-term sub story Marley Roberson The orchestra room was decorated with balloons, ready to host a celebration. It was early September and the students came together sporting matching homemade T-shirts celebrating their beloved long term sub. Their shirts were decorated with inside jokes and memories they had made with their substitute teacher, Stephan Gomez. He stood front and center, sporting a shirt dotted with flowers and hearts and smiley faces that said, “We love Stephan.” This student-led celebration was a way to show him how much he would be missed when he left the next day. Most people think of substitute teachers as retired teachers with gray hair and

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sometimes a grumpy attitude. None of the above apply to Gomez. The 21 year old, who prefers his students to call him by his first name, is a couple of semesters away from his undergraduate degree. Usually being a substitute requires a degree, but Gomez’s expertise and passion for music gave him credibility with principals and district employees who encouraged Gomez to pursue teaching. “It’s only gotten me here because of the people I know, and the person I am,” Gomez said. He has never questioned following these opportunities. His eagerness to learn more about music has guided him in his career. Gomez started teaching orchestra classes only a year out of high school. He originally taught at Guyer High School

the year after he graduated, filling in for his former teacher while she was on maternity leave. “I was teaching kids I just got out of school with. So they all knew me. It was weird, because I was 19,” Gomez said. Not even a year later, he got a second opportunity to teach because his teacher had another baby. His third teaching job was at Marcus. Gomez is not only a full time college student, but he attends two colleges. He goes to UNT full time to study music theory, and he flies to an orchestral conducting program in Nebraska once a week when he is not teaching. Gomez is working towards becoming an orchestral conductor for big symphonies. Part of his goal in-

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cludes going to community meetings and teaching youth orchestras about the importance of music. This led to Gomez taking on the challenge of teaching and going to school at the same time. Though he’s enjoyed the challenge of juggling two full time schedules he still found it hard to keep up with all of his responsibilities. He said that he often felt that he was taking on too much. “It’s a different level of exhaustion,” Gomez said. In his first two years of college, Gomez was not getting enough sleep, staying up to study or prepare lesson plans. His crammed schedule once caused him to take an exam online at 3 in the morning because that was the only free time in his schedule. Even so, Gomez has maintained a 4.0 GPA for the entirety of his college career, studying upwards of six hours in the evening after teaching all day. He said one way he was able to

“I found a Wikihow article on how to gaslight people.” -Orchestra room

avoid burnout was learning something new about music every day. He said that despite his full schedule, he looks forward to teaching. “I don’t think I would be able to hold

Substitute teacher Stephan Gomez taught orchestra at the school while attending college classes. Photo Avery Jerina

overheard

any other job, and go to school full time if it wasn’t teaching,” Gomez said. Many students, like junior Carter James, said Gomez was able to relate to them. “We were here to help support him, and he was here to help support us.” I thought it worked really well,” James said. Junior Isis Richardson said Gomez’s goal of inspiring passion for music helped him bring the students together while they played. “When we played as an orchestra, it didn’t feel like the conductor was on a different level,” Richardson said. “It just felt like we were all making music together.” He said his victories in teaching and sharing music also kept him going when his busy schedule caught up with him. “It could literally be a smile from one kid in the room. It could be one kid who has never played in tune, finally getting the concept of playing in tune… when they come to you, you get that reassurance that you’re doing the right thing,” Gomez said.

“I get the point of this but I don’t really get the point of this.” -Newsroom

“I mean, people are going to lose their love for people, but you’re always going to love money, you know? Money’s never going to say mean things about your parents.” - S Hall

“No, I don’t want to hear about your Annoying Orange fan fiction!” - Front of the school

“So as an Italian, how do you feel about Chris Pratt?” - S Hall

“You’re 15, you don’t have an opinion.” - Cafeteria “The chicken nuggets were so bad that I cried” - W Hall

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Next man up New quarterback leads team this season story Hyunsung Na As Garrett Nussmeier’s backup last year, senior Jaxxon Warren hardly ever stepped onto the field. Instead, he was right beside it. During games he’d cheer for his teammates or watch closely as Nussmeier led the team. But Warren wasn’t bitter or upset. He knew to be patient. His chance would come. It was the last game of the 2020 season, the team had an undefeated record, with only Plano East to play before the playoffs. For Warren to play over current LSU quarterback Nussmeier, something unbelievable would have to happen. By the second quarter, the Marauders had a 35-14 lead. Nussmeier and the offense were clicking. The defense was playing great. With momentum heading into the playoffs, everything pointed toward capping off their perfect season. With little time left in the quarter, Nussmeier had a big run. It seemed like an everyday play by the talented quarterback until after the tackle, when Nussmeier was helped off the field by multiple trainers. Warren was the next man up. With a big lead and his team around him, he managed to close out the game with a 66-21 win. The following week was the real challenge for Warren. Nussmeier badly injured his non-throwing hand, which meant Warren’s first start of the season was in the playoffs against Prosper. “Now that, that was pressure,” Warren

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said. “I knew I had to be ready at all times, but I did not expect that to be the time.” “Don’t try to do too much. Don’t try to be Garrett. Just be yourself.” was the message coaches gave to

Senior Jaxxon Warren is the starting quarterback this year. Photo Avery Jerina

Warren the week of the game. Offensive Coordinator Tim Morrison said starting for the first time was a big part of Warren’s growth. “Seeing what the expectation is and what it takes being the guy that takes the snap, I think it was really good for him,” Morrison said.

Warren felt the pressure on him but felt ready to take on the challenge. “My dad always says, you got to have a little bit of nervousness, but as soon as you step on the field it’s gametime,” Warren said. “All that goes away.” ••• Up to the second quarter, the team kept the game close with a score of 1713, with Prosper in the lead. After a sack from a Prosper defender, Warren got stuck under a pile of players, spraining his MCL in his knee. “I knew immediately something was wrong,” Warren said. “I checked the game tape afterwards, it looked like my ankle was touching the back of my head.” During halftime he sat in the locker room, iced his knee, took an ibuprofen and headed back out. With a wrapped up left leg he still managed to play for the rest of the game. But the team struggled to score the last half and ended their season with a 38-19 loss. Even during this loss, Warren completed 19 of 28 pass attempts with 231 yards and two touchdowns, showing he could perform at the biggest stage. ••• In the following offseason, Warren put lots of time in the gym to try to put on weight. By the beginning of this season, he had put on 15-20 pounds. This meant a lot to the coaches who wanted to see Warren lead through his actions, before leading through his words. “For us, one of the big things

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leadership-wise is showing that they’re putting in the work first,” Morrison said. “Then once you’re able to put in work and your teammates notice, then you can be a little more vocal with them.” Warren was working his hardest for the upcoming season. Especially with the competition he had for the starting job. Sophomore quarterback Cole Welliver transferred from Washington during the offseason and is a nationally ranked quarterback in his graduating class. Warren never expected the starting job to be handed to him. Coming in everyday during practice to compete with someone as talented as Welliver was a welcome challenge. “You know when he first came in, I was a little worried, not going to lie, but Coach Morrison and Coach Atkinson just told me, ‘You have the upper hand, you know the playbook, just compete with him and it’ll make you better,’” Warren said. “Overall I think it’s been a pretty healthy competition, I can’t wait to see what he does in the future.” The decision for now is for Warren to share time as the starting quarterback with Welliver, with Warren playing at the start and Welliver subbing in and out throughout the game. Heading into the first game of the season, Warren heard all the comments people had about him and as much as he tried to ignore it all, he felt pressure. “The whole week I was getting myself nervous and in my own head,” Warren said. ”Because I heard people left and right saying, ‘Garrett’s gone, will Marcus be the same this year?’ Everyone had doubts.” But like always, Warren knew to just focus on the game and to ignore all the outside distractions. ”I was just like ‘I got to step up, fulfill this role,’ Warren said. “I had to find that confidence in myself that I can get the job done.” ••• In the first game against Jesuit, the offense’s first drive ended in a missed field goal. Coming off the field, Warren was frustrated. He knew the team couldn’t open the season like this. On the next drive, Warren threw for his first touchdown of the season.

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Senior Jaxxon Warren drops back to throw during the Sept. 24 Mound Showdown. Photo Avery Jerina

That was enough for him to relax and be confident. “I was like okay, now I got the nerves out, we’re going to start cruising from here,” Warren said. “Just keep pummeling them and run up the score.” The team kept scoring, but the game ended in a 34-38 loss. However once again, when the lights were the brightest, Warren showed up. He ended the game with 407 yards, four touchdowns and 19 completions out of 25 attempts. Garrett Nussmeier reposted Warren’s stats on Twitter with a caption reading “Jaxxon Warren’s got next,” which Warren appreciated from his former mentor. “I love Garrett, he’s like a brother to me,” Warren said. “Just having his

support and him watching the games... having that support throughout this season, that’s just a good feeling.” But Warren wasn’t thinking about stats. All he cared about was the fact the team lost. “I was just thinking about how we can improve from this week to the next week,” Warren said. “We got a lot of young talent, and I thought that Jesuit was a good learning point for our team. We got some experience under our belt and we came out against McKinney and got the job done.” Week two and three were huge successes for Warren. In the Sept. 3 game against McKinney, Warren threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns in a 2821 win. Then in the homecoming game

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Senior Jaxxon Warren catches the snap in the game against Keller Central. The Marauders won 41-14. Photo Avery Jerina

against Keller Central, Warren threw for 173 yards and one touchdown in a big landslide 41-14 win. Dudley said that watching Warren succeed at such a high level in his first couple games has been amazing. "I’m really happy that he can prove a lot of people wrong and show that he can be the starting quarterback,” Dudley said. The toughest game so far this season was the Mound Showdown against cross town rival Flower Mound. Both teams had trouble scoring against equally tough defenses, but Flower Mound won the game 14-17. After the loss not everyone believes in the team’s long term success. But Warren is used to hearing the doubters. “Believe in us,” Warren said. “We’re going to get the job done. We’re just going to use this as motivation and keep trucking forward. Morrison said he enjoys working

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“

The whole week I was getting myself nervous and in my own head, Because I heard people left and right saying, "Garrett’s gone, will Marcus be the same this year?"

- Jaxxon Warren, 12

with him because of how he carries himself both on and off the field. “He’s just a good kid, and he wants to do it right. He has all the intangibles, and the kid puts in effort, whether that’s on the playbook, on the field, or in the weight room,” Morrison said. “... It’s been a pleasure to see him kind of grow and come out of his shell a little bit, he’s just a great kid to be around and I think his teammates would echo the same thing.” Warren understands why fans might have doubts about his ability to take this team far but hopes he can prove it to them “Not having played last year, they don’t really have a reason to take a chance on me,” Warren said. “But as the season progresses, I hope they can see that they can trust me, that I can get the job done and that I’ll help lead this team to victory each week.”

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Mound Showdown

photos Avery Jerina

Senior Dallas Dudley runs with the ball towards a Jaguar defender. Junior wide receiver Ashton Cozart defends the ball against a Jaguar.

Players take their places at the start of the second quarter.

Senior Jayden Jones dressed for the game along with other students.

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Student Section Spirit Leader Senior Parker Shelton begins a chant in the student section.

Sophomore quarterback Cole Welliver practices passes on the sidelines.

design Jayla Landou

compiled Alanna Reed photo Salma Ali

Spirit week

SE6ONDS

What is the

Josh Matthews 11

best decade of music and why?

Probably the 90s…. that’s when I’d say the most change in music happened. You have the grunge, and then you have techno, and all that kind of starting to emerge. And that branched off into what we have today.

Seniors Zoe Piazza and Rhea Karumuru dress up for Red Out Day on Sept. 24 Photo Salma Ali

How would you achieve world

peace?

I don’t really think there’s a way to do that. Just because humans will always have conflicting interests.

Would you rather travel through space or the oceans and why? Space. Ocean’s scary.

Seniors Maddy Loyens, Nicole Baker and Delaney Starin wear bright colors for Neon Day on Sept 20. Photo Salma Ali

read the book or watch the movie first and why? Do you

I’m a big fan of books. I haven’t really watched many movies recently.

What music is your guilty

pleasure?

Country because that’s kind of a really terrible music genre. I just kind of enjoy how bad it is sometimes.

Do you identify with your zodiac sign? Why or why not?

I have no idea what my zodiac sign says. I think I’m a Taurus. I don’t know.

design Marie Dacunos

Sophomores Regan Schwendinger, Paige Wood and Meghan Kerns weaing matching shirts for Twin Day. Photo Salma Ali

extras mhsmarquee.com

UNWRAPPING BODY STANDARDS

Facebook and Instagram have come under fire recently from lawmakers regarding their negative impact on teens’ mental health and body image. Executives attended Congressional hearings starting on Oct. 4 after released documents revealed that Facebook knew that its platforms were linked to increased rates of anxiety, depression and eating disorders among teens.

From childhood Many behaviors and ideas associated with eating disorders start at early ages. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 42 percent of first to third grade girls report wanting to be thinner and 81 percent of 10 year old children are afraid of being fat. Junior Emily Starks said that growing up, she and other kids grew to associate weight with beauty, which contributes to unhealthy body image. “When we were little I feel like all we knew was the word ‘fat’,” Starks said. “So if you’re fat we will attach stigma to it as if being fat or being bigger is a bad thing.” Student Assistance Counselor Hollie Wilson believes that comments teens hear can cause them to develop unhealthy ideas about their bodies.

“If you live in a home environment, or you’re surrounded by adults, or peers

*94 percent of students polled said that the media plays a part in body image issues and 56 percent said it plays a large part who the focus is on, ‘You look beautiful today’, or ‘you look so cute in that outfit

today’, what you start to associate with is that your positives come from your physical appearance,” Wilson said. Wilson also believes the same effect can happen with negative comments. “If people are surrounded, and you’re having lunch, and somebody says ‘You shouldn’t eat that’, or ‘You shouldn’t have that much’ and ‘That’s not good for you, you’re going to gain weight,’” Wilson said. As the Student Assistance Counselor, Wilson watches for signs that might suggest a student has an eating disorder or unhealthy eating habits. “What I’m looking for is maybe somebody that is coming to see me personally during lunch, or avoiding the cafeteria or areas that they provide lunch, maybe being isolated during the lunchtime period,” Wilson said.

Effects of media Social media has also affected the way teens view their bodies. A Wall Street Journal article released on Sept. 14 detailed research done by Instagram and Facebook on how one in three teen girls and 14 percent of boys could trace body image issues back to Instagram. Former Facebook employee, Frances Haugen, turned whistleblower when she spoke to Congress about the effects of Instagram on teens on Oct. 4. “It’s just like cigarettes, teenagers don’t have good self... regulation,” Haugen said. “They say explicitly, ‘I feel bad when I use Instagram and yet I can’t stop.’” On social media platforms, many influencers and celebrities post photos, edited and doctored to perfection. Students who see these photos may try to edit their own photos to look more like these influencers. Junior Emily Starks said that filters and apps like Facetune help

teens to change their appearances to match what they desire to look like.

their ideal bodies on social media, they may develop eating disorder symptoms to look more like them. “I know a lot of people that Very serious see people smaller than them on social media and feel very * Serious about themselves to the Somewhat serious bad point where they then develop Not serious an eating disorder,” Owens said. 27.1% Haugen revealed during the Not a problem hearing that Facebook has run 7.9% experiments on how young Instagram users could be directed 5.6% to eating disorder posts, and that 31.7% the company is aware of the effects. “So Facebook knows that 27.7% they are leading young users to anorexia content,” Haugen said. Junior Victor Mora said he often sees content on social media that causes students to develop unhealthy ideas about their bodies because “It’s so normalized to edit and they see unrealistic body standards. change yourself,” Starks said. “Everyday I scroll through Instagram, Senior Emerson Owens said I see bodies that are not normal, also guys that when teens see people with and girls, and they just basically work

How big of a problem are body image issues on campus?

design Alex Thornfelt

in-depth mhsmarquee.com

How common are eating disorders at school? * 29.4% 12.2% 29.4%

26.1%

out their whole life and...have strict meal plans,” Mora said. “So it’s like nearly impossible especially for students that go to class until four and have these lunches.” Haugen also stated that she had done research while working at Facebook that confirmed Instagram’s ability to expose teens to content that could cause eating disorders. “Instagram latched onto that teenager’s initial insecurities...then

push more content and recommendations glorifying eating disorders,” Haugen said. “That’s how Instagram’s algorithms can push 3% teens into darker and darker places.” Junior Emily Starks said that eating disorders have been normalized and are not viewed seriously by her peers. Sometimes it’s so scary how casually people will just be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I have one’,” Starks said. Student Assistance Counselor Hollie Wilson said that there has been a shift towards more boys talking about their experiences with eating disorders. “It is predominantly more female based, but we are seeing it and seeing more adolescent males verbalizing their concerns either for the body or the restrictive eating,” Wilson said.

Very common Common Somewhat common Not common Rare

Junior Emily Starks said that many of her peers emphasize changing their appearance by changing their weight. “It’s always ‘Oh, I can’t wait to glow up.’ And underneath that it’s ‘I can’t wait to just lose weight,’” Starks said. Wilson said many students who have an eating disorder or symptoms of one may not easily seek help. “They don’t feel it may be something that they can fix, or that they can work on,” Wilson said. “And so they’re hesitant to tell that to somebody for fear that it may not change.”

*78.2 percent of students say they know someone with an eating disorder

Media increases eating disorders in teens story Shriya Mukkavilli *statistics from a poll of 300 students by The Marquee

in-depth Oct. 12, 2021

design Alex Thornfelt

Going Hungry

Senior shares struggles with eating disorder story Alanna Reed

Senior Denise Rodriguez started thinking about diets when she was eight years old. During family gatherings she had heard her aunts berate themselves over their looks. I wish I were skinnier. My arms sag too much. That model is so fit. These words had begun to repeat over and over in Denise’s head. Growing up, Denise’s female relatives struggled with body image. They emphasized a slender waist, a flat stomach. Denise soaked these phrases up like a sponge. “It’s instilled in the way I was raised…. I do think it is something that kind of runs in my family,” Denise said. Denise twirled in front of the mirror, examining her body. Dark hair, soft brown eyes, a toothy grin. Her small body was as frail as a baby bird. The giggling elementary schooler was ready to go hungry. From that age she vowed she would be skinny, no matter what it took. ••• Denise had just finished a seventh grade volleyball match. She was starving, but fast food was out of the question. When she arrived home, she barely had the energy to fix herself a meal: a salad, with lettuce, vegetables and grilled chicken only, no dressing. Dressing builds up calories, and 1000 was Denise’s daily max. “Anywhere between a 1000 to 1200 [calories] if I was being nice to myself,” Denise said. Instagram was her muse. Denise followed countless food and exercise blogs. She pored over these sites as if her life depended on it. And in a way it did. “I really liked being in control. It was

design Alex Thornfelt

also a time period where I had other things going on, so it was the one thing I felt like I had a grasp on,” Denise said. Seventh grade was the year her eating disorder reached its peak. Denise was exercising too much for someone who ate too little. She played volleyball and ran cross country, miles every morning and nearly every night. Her mind kept

“

I was so obsessed with controlling this aspect of my life that I hated when people gave their input.

- Denise Rodriguez, 12

telling her to run or she would be a failure. Denise’s eating disorder was manipulating her life. “I would avoid going to certain things because I knew I wouldn’t be able to control what I was eating there. That took a big toll on my social life,” Denise said. When they were in eighth grade, Denise’s friend senior Mina Basharkah noticed Denise wasn’t eating when they were at lunch. Denise had a sandwich with low calorie bread and cheese, spinach, turkey, and some fruit and carrot sticks. She wasn’t touching it. “She was kind of just sitting there,”

In seventh grade, Denise often ate salads with grilled chicken for lunch. Photo submitted by Denise Rodriguez

Mina said. “I never really noticed until that day, she doesn’t really eat.” Denise’s friends knew something was wrong. But she refused to accept their help. “I would get so annoyed. Because people would tell me, ‘Oh, you look really sick,’” Denise said. “But I was so obsessed with controlling this aspect of my life that I hated when people gave their input.” ••• Denise looked at the clock. It wasn’t even dinner time and she was aching with hunger. She picked up an apple. How long had it been since she ate? Breakfast? Oatmeal with almond milk and a dash of chia seeds. Just enough to keep her in shape. Denise took a deep breath. She grabbed the knife and slit the apple into thinner slices, leaving herself three. Denise dumped the rest in the garbage. She wouldn’t let her hunger get the best of her. Denise’s mother Lucy Rodriguez saw a skeleton where her daughter used to be. She was underweight at 87 pounds. Denise weighed herself constantly. Her room was littered with mirrors, a constant reminder to check herself. Lucy felt helpless. Talking to Denise felt like speaking to an inanimate object. As a parent, watching her child go through

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her eating disorder was frightening. It was so unlike Denise. She who was once happy and energetic was now starving herself. Lucy was determined to get her out of it. She consistently fed Denise, insisting that she eat enough. Lucy prepared half portions of chicken and salmon. Just a couple of bites was enough to bring Lucy temporary relief. ••• It wasn’t until eighth grade that Denise realized something had to change. Her social life was nonexistent and she was exhausted. “I was tired of feeling like my life revolved around what I was eating...,” she said. “I wouldn’t get to enjoy anything because I was always concerned about what I was going to eat.” The first person Denise reached out to was her mother. Even though this period had brought some distance between them, they were still best friends. Her mother’s protective instinct immediately kicked in. Every day, Lucy would prepare her daughter breakfast, lunch and dinner. Denise was not ready to give up her control, though. “The unfortunate thing was that I would throw a lot of it away,” Denise said. “When I would go to school she’s not going to know I threw away everything she made.” Denise’s guilt won her over. She felt ashamed that her mom was putting forth so much effort to help her and she was sabotaging her hard work. She started to eat what her mom put in front of her, no matter how much her mind protested. Slowly, Denise let go. It was scary at first. She so desperately wanted to hang on. But she knew this would be the best for her. “I wanted to feel like I could have fun again and do normal things again without having to worry about food all the time,” Denise said. “It was so worth it because I felt like I was living again.” Denise’s problem had been hard for Mina because she did not know how to help her friend. She was a confused and scared middle schooler. “I was disappointed in myself when I....wasn’t realizing she needed help,” Mina said. But she was inspired by Denise’s recovery.

in-depth Oct. 12, 2021

“She understood that there was a problem and she was fixing it,” Mina said. Denise wanted to physically track her progress, so she kept a journal documenting the fear foods she tackled. Forcing herself to eat red meat and fried food, which she had primarily avoided. Friends could also check her journaling to guide her through her journey.

“

Denise scrolled through her Instagram page. Supermodels and hourglass figures, attacking her with images that stung like a spear. “It was the easiest way to keep myself accountable,” Denise said. “The food journal was really encouraging because I could go back on harder days and see how much progress I had made.” But the road to recovery was still bumpy. “The most difficult part was letting go of something that I thought I was in control of,” Denise said. “Food is everywhere.” ••• Denise scrolled through her Instagram page. Supermodels and hourglass figures, attacking her with images that stung like a spear. She glanced away from her screen for a moment. It was her sophomore year. She had never been healthier. Denise took one good look at these profiles and saw them for what they truly were: toxic. Suddenly her way was clear. Each unfollow brought her closer to her goal. She was taking her life back. ••• Now Denise drives with her friends after band practice to Chick-Fil-A. She enjoys a meal of fried chicken and French fries. She inhales the food, her body rejoicing in its recovery.

“I would consider myself recovered because I know how to deal with it,” Denise said. Mina encourages Denise in any way she can. She checks on her friend regularly, making sure that Denise has had a meal that day. “When we’re having lunch [I make sure] that we’re having lunch, or if we’re having dinner together making sure she’s eating dinner,” Mina said. Lucy observed that Denise grew not only into a healthier person physically, but mentally as well. Denise became more resilient, and she learned how to walk away from toxic habits and relationships. There are still moments of relapse, feelings of defeat. She, although rarely, has a few days where she hasn’t eaten much. Denise feels embarrassed during these instances. But she carries on. “I just have to remind myself of how much I worked to get to where I’m at right now,” Denise said. “I’m ok….It’s been so good to enjoy normal stuff and not worry about what I’m going to eat all the time.”

As a senior, Denise says she enjoys a more normal life now. Photo Avery Jerina

design Alex Thornfelt

OVer ThE Net

Player reaches 1,000 point milestone story Hyunsung Na Days leading up to the Sept. 10 vol- play like every game could be our last.” leyball district opener against Plano East, Over the years, Boyd has developed senior Maggie Boyd knew she was just a close relationships with the five returncouple points shy of reaching her 1,000 ers, including senior setter Paige Hildebpoint milestone. Something that would rand and senior outside hitter Haidyn cause her to become one of the best vol- Sokoloski. leyball players in school history. But on Hildebrand has played with Boyd the day of the match, Boyd wasn’t fo- since their freshman year. She says their cused on stats. She was never obsessed close friendship has helped their connecwith her own success. Instead she was tion on the court. figuring out how she’d get her team’s “We’ve built a really good connecfirst win of the season. tion,” Hidlebrand said. “Normally what ever I set to her, she can always put it ••• down.” Ever since she was six playing at her local YMCA, Boyd had an unmatched passion for volleyball. She loved the adrenaline she felt while playing and naturally was very good at it. That energy and skill she brought to the court continued. Even by the seventh grade, Head Coach Danielle Barker noticed how much Boyd stood out compared to I really wanted the everyone else. milestone, I’ve seen “She was someone who was sticking other people get it at out like a sore thumb,” Barker said. “We knew she would be super special.” different schools and During Boyd’s time on the team, they now that I finally did, have made the playoffs each of the last four years. However the team has had I just want more.” the same issue year after year. After great regular seasons, they’ve struggled -Maggie Boyd to make it past the first round of the playoffs, like last year. After a great regular season going 10-3, the team lost to Guyer in the first Boyd said the connection between round. The loss was especially disap- setters and hitters is essential to the team pointing because of the close relation- and has been a big focus over the years. ships all the players had with each other. “It’s not just timing, it’s the location and However it was a learning experience for everything,” Boyd said. “And that’s how the five returning players to appreciate you score points so we’ve had to work a their senior season. lot on that this year.” “I think it taught us a lot,” Boyd said. Hildebrand says the team is fortunate “For the returners that came back this to have such a valuable outside hitter year, we know that we can’t take any- like Boyd but it can be difficult for her thing for granted and we really have to sometimes to be relied on so often.

design Jennifer Banh

“A lot of teams don’t have a player like Maggie,” Hildebrand said. “I’m sure it’s really hard for her, always being relied on but it’s really helpful to the team and she knows that.” Senior Haidyn Sokoloski said that relieving Boyd of that pressure to always do well has been a focus this season. “We’re trying to take some of the pressure off, but we all know she feels it,” Sokoloski said. “But when she’s under pressure, she always does amazing.” Along with Boyd’s talent, Sokoloski says everyone respects her because of her leadership as well. “When she’s on the court, we all respect her,” Sokoloski said. “She kind of helps run everything, when Maggie tells you to give more effort, you will give more effort, she will tell you what to do, she takes control whenever she’s on the court.” Coming into this season, the team had a big focus on developing chemistry with

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Senior Maggie Boyd leaps to serve the ball at the Sept. 17 game against Lewisville. Photo Avery Jerina

all the new players on the team. While it took time to build that chemistry, the team went 16-5 in their scrimmages and tournament games. Now playing in district games, Boyd feels like the players have really come together as a team. “At the beginning of the season that kind of held us back a little bit in my opinion, but now that we’ve figured it out, I feel like we’ve improved so much already,” Boyd said. “Now that our chemistry is there, I think we’ll have a lot of success.” With high rankings for both preseason national and state, the team had high expectations going into the district opener against Plano East. The matchup was also a special one, as Boyd always loves playing in the big rivalry games against the Panthers. ••• After winning the first set, Boyd’s coaches informed her that she was only three spikes away from reaching 1,000. She felt pure excitement but focused on winning the game. Two spikes later. On any other play, Boyd jumped up to hit the ball, but as soon as the ball slammed into the ground, it was a play she’ll always remember. The announcer told the crowd that she’d reached her 1,000th kill. The home crowd began cheering as her team-

sports Oct. 12, 2021

mates began screaming and cheering, holding up their huge “Congratulations” sign. It was the perfect moment. Until Boyd quickly realized they still needed to finish the match. “I was just so happy,” Boyd said. “But it was in the middle of the game so we had to move on from it really fast, but I was definitely thinking about it the whole night.” The game concluded with a 3-0 victory, and Boyd ended with 18 kills for the night. For her performance, she was awarded the Star Local Media’s Athlete of the Week receiving 35 percent of the online votes. After reaching the milestone, Boyd wasn’t satisfied. All it did was motivate her more to accomplish more. “I really wanted the milestone,” Boyd said. “I’ve seen other people get it at different schools and now that I finally did, I just want more.” Winning is just something Boyd has been familiar with her entire volleyball career. While excelling in playing indoor volleyball at the school, Boyd has also shined in beach volleyball. Playing with her partner, Gabrielle Walker, a Flower Mound High outside hitter, the two have had a dominant run at the national level, winning four National AAU Junior Na-

tional Beach Volleyball championships and both earning beach volleyball scholarships, with Boyd going to UCLA and Walker going to USC. Their most recent win was the most special to Boyd, as it was the national championship. The two practiced three or four times a week while lifting weights on the side. But Boyd says the effort and time the two put in was fully worth it. “It’s just such a big accomplishment,” Boyd said. “You work so hard the whole season and then to be rewarded like that is just a great feeling.” While dedicated to having a great last indoor volleyball season with her teammates, Boyd’s love for beach volleyball is unmatched. “It’s just more relaxing, and I love parts of indoor, but I really like how individualized beach is, because you can do every part of the game,” Boyd said. Now playing district games, Boyd hopes to end her season far into the playoffs but at the same time enjoy her last year. “It’s really sad. I’ve enjoyed my time here so much, I’m just hoping that I can make this year the best that it can possibly be,” Boyd said. “Just having fun, not dwelling on losses, just learning from them and moving forwards.”

Boyd prepares to hit the ball at the Lewisville game which the team won 3-0. Photo Avery Jerina

design Jennifer Banh

What kind of

will you have? Halloween is right around the corner but many both love and dread coming up with a new costume every year. Take this quiz and we can tell you what kind of costume you’ll be rocking.

story Harrison Hamre

How much do you prioritize homework?

A. You don’t do it B. You do it sometimes but a late grade never hurt C. You get it done on time D. You have to get a 100% on every assignment

How creative are you?

A. Not at all B. You have some ideas, but don’t act on them C. You enjoy making stuff D. Art is your life

How would you describe yourself socially?

A. Class clown B. Chill and along for the ride C. The therapist who everyone rants to D. The planner/mom who orchestrates all get-togethers

design Marie Dacunos

entertainment mhsmarquee.com

The Name tag:

This is the bare minimum effort for a costume. It’s incredibly last second and is no more than a sticker with a name that isn’t yours.

Pro- Cosplay:

This is kind of unnecessary for a dress-up holiday for kids. You’re going to pour in hundreds of dollars to create the most accurate recreation of a comic book character you possibly can and it is definitely admirable.

Home made:

You’ll put in a considerable amount of effort. You maybe will get some help from your mom to make part of it but it still will take time and work from you to make it. This is definitely respectable and well planned.

Party City:

You kind of care, but not that much. A little effort is better than nothing but it’s and it gets the job done. Could be worn ironically or seriously, but it’s really just convenient. entertainment Oct. 12, 2021

design Saloni Mistry

room report story Garrison Acree

Scotlind Myers - 11

Scotlind Myers is such a gamer that she keeps her gaming setup right next to her bed. When she’s not playing Minecraft with her childhood stuffed animal, Cowy, she’s either admiring the blue paint on the walls or laying in the well-framed bed. When

design Marie Dacunos

her room doesn’t have laundry piled to the ceiling, it’s very spacious. And on the rare occasion that the floor is actually visible through the laundry and boxes, a nice, soft carpet is visible. entertainment mhsmarquee.com

Josh Neth - 11

From the comfy reading nook with a salt lamp to the Harry Potter and New York Giants setups, the layout of his room has been consistent the entire time that he’s lived in it. Because of the positioning of the window, closet and entrance doors, arranging the furniture in any other way simply

wouldn’t work. Whether he’s listening to music on his stereo or reading the Harry Potter books, Josh’s room seems like a great place to kick back and enjoy some afternoon vibes.

Faith Kurkowski - 2 1

Faith Kurkowsi’s sleeping chamber has some things that not many rooms have. Her favorite painting that sits against the wall features a bunch of people sitting around on their phones, while there’s one person entertainment Oct. 12, 2021

among them looking around, enjoying the moment. The overall theme is country with some splashes of color. A synthetic leather couch next to the wall offers an alternative place to relax. design Marie Dacunos

Falling for food

Farmer’s market offers autumnal delights story & photos Muna Nnamani

I’m not a fall person. I don’t understand the people who post autumn-is-here tags and go out and buy apple cider when the weather gets slightly colder. To me, fall is just an in-between, the time when people trade their cardigans for slightly thicker cardigans

and argue about whether after Halloween or Thanksgiving is the proper time to start listening to the same three Christmas songs on Spotify. But I must have read one too many “Falling into autumn” blog posts, because I’ve decided to give this autumn

thing a try. And to completely immerse myself in everything maple-pumpkin-apple-pecan-spice, I set aside one Saturday to peruse the Coppell Farmers Market for seasonal foods.

Wackym’s Kitchen - Maple Pecan Cookies - 5/5 Booth: The Wackym’s Kitchen booth at the farmers market was impossible to miss. The vendor was almost leaning out of it, making recommendations to the gaggle of people inspecting the display of cardboard-wrapped cookie boxes. From salted caramel chocolate chip cookies to chili cheese biscuits, customers left with the variety of cookies that make Wackym’s a popular booth.

design Jennifer Banh

Food Review: I ordered their maple pecan cookies, which came in a plastic tub wrapped in red and brown cardboard. The cookies were petite with bits of pecan folded between the crunchy batter. With these cookies, Wackym’s Kitchen accomplished what few bakeries can: the perfect consistency. All too often, I’ve been disappointed by those underbaked cookies that make you feel sick afterwards. Thankfully, Wackym’s cookies are known for being crunchy and light, so they were not soft and pathetic. Instead, they gave a satisfying crunch and melted in my mouth when I bit into them. The pieces of pecan acted as little bits of toffee, working to make

the cookies chewy and offsetting their sweet maple flavor — in terms of cookie ingredients, the pecans carried the team. Autumn Vibe Check: I actually scarfed these down hunched over my computer on a Saturday night, but I could definitely envision dropping into a couch after a late-fall school day and eating these while reading comics. These got me excited for the onslaught of fall vibes that are coming in the next few months. And you best believe that when Wackym’s comes out with the Ginger Pumpkin seasonal flavor, I’ll be ready to buy tubfulls.

entertainment mhsmarquee.com

SoCo Ginger Beer - Peach Ginger Beer - 3.5/5 Booth: SoCo’s ginger beer booth gave off very happy vibes: The chipper vendor was in no hurry to get her customers in and out of the line, but instead stopped to have conversations about the process of fermentation and the natural ingredients used to concoct ginger beer. I sampled some until settling on peach ginger beer, after which she poured the most gorgeous amber drink into a large glass bottle.

Food Review: So ginger beer is basically a stronger ginger ale. Both drinks are carbonated, nonalcoholic and contain huge amounts of ginger, but ginger beer is also fermented with yeast and commonly mixed with alcoholic drinks. It’s also spicier than ginger ale. Of course, I did not know that. I just looked at the bottle, saw that its golden liquid glowed in the sunlight, and chugged half of it down. What ensued was a very difficult experience. At first, the carbonated peach was sweet, resembling lemon soda: tangy and fizzy. But not a lot of time passed before I felt a strange burning in my throat — I didn’t predict that the ginger beer would be so strong. Its sheer spiciness, coupled with my inability to process fizzy drinks like a normal person, made the first few sips a very unfun experience.

But once the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad burning subsided, my throat felt clearer and I felt much more awake. That’s because ginger beer, which is usually marketed as a wonder beverage, is believed to assist the digestive and cardiovascular systems. And as I kept taking careful sips, the burning sensation faded and I could almost enjoy drinking it without pain. So all in all, I would buy this again — I would just warn people to consider its strength and strong ginger before purchasing it themselves. And I would warn them to drink it in moderation. Autumn Vibe Check: This tasted like the kind of drink your Southern mother would pour into glass tumblers for you and your friends while you were out on your front porch in the early evening.

Hazel’s Kitchen - Meg’s Apple Cake - 5/5 Booth: The Hazel’s Kitchen booth was like a lone island of baked goods in a sea of fresh produce. Along with its cinnamon rolls and coffee cakes, Hazel’s Kitchen displayed pumpkin scones and bread. Overall, it was a welcoming and creative atmosphere, with the owners changing flavors weekly to fit the season.

entertainment Oct. 12, 2021

Food Review: Because of my all-consuming desire to be not like the other girls, I scorned the basic pumpkin foods and ordered a slice of apple cake instead. The small slice came wrapped in Saran Wrap and taped with a little Hazel’s Kitchen sticker with a list of its potential allergens, which I thought was both adorable and thoughtful. So this is the only apple cake I have ever consumed. Before trying it, I didn’t even know that apple cake was a thing. But judging from what I consumed, I don’t think I will ever enjoy another apple cake as much as I enjoyed this one. Biting into it was like biting into a muffin: the exterior’s moisture had been preserved by the plastic wrap, and so had the interior’s richness. Immediate-

ly, I detected spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. My favorite part about it was that it wasn’t just cake: nuts and apple chunks were softly enveloped in its folds, finishing it off with tanginess and texture. Finding this complex world of tiny ingredients under the cake’s simple exterior made me feel like I had discovered an autumnal fruitcake. Autumn Vibe Check: For my family, one of the signs that fall is turning into winter is our huge consumption of apple cider and our Christmas movie tradition. This cake encapsulated both the feeling of drinking apple cider and the comfort in eating fruitcake on a cold fall day. It tastes like latter-year nostalgia, and that makes me excited for fall.

design Jennifer Banh

things we like

Science labs are back

Free lunches again

Circle of Friends is back

With COVID, hands-on science labs were basically undoable last year unless they were virtual or done with minimal equipment by one person. But now with fewer restrictions, we can get back to building ramps, using bunsen burners and dissecting frogs in our science classes.

Last year the district made school lunches free for everyone, and they are continuing it this year. Not only is it convenient, as students don’t have to worry about bringing money or bringing lunch if they don’t want to, but there isn’t a bill hanging over students heads as they get their meal.

Circle of Friends was not active last year due to COVID restrictions but it is back again. This means that events like the monthly lunches and the Grand Ball will return on top of helping students in the school come together and create friendships, regardless of ability.

My brother, me and the ‘Burbs column Harrison Hamre

I love that a movie, no matter how “low brow” or strange it is, can connect people. It can remind them of a specific time in their life, an experience or a memory. Most people have a movie they’ve seen a thousand times, but never gets old. It has attached itself so deeply into a person that it’s a true “comfort movie. For me that movie is the 1989 cult classic, “The ‘Burbs”. Now, this movie may not be a comedic masterpiece, but I love this movie with every fiber of my being. The cast and crew of this film is full of respected Hollywood names. The main character is played by Tom Hanks, one of the most famous actors to ever live, and his wife is played by Carrie Fisher. She was Princess Leia in “Star Wars,” one of the most popular movies of all time. It’s directed by Joe Dante, who directed “Gremlins” as well as various other strange, genre bending family movies. The score is by Jerry Goldsmith, a composer with 18 nominations and one Oscar win. The fact that all of those people signed on to be in this utterly weird movie is baffling to me. Ray Peterson, played by Tom Hanks, falls into paranoia as he suspects that his new neighbors are Satan worshippers. It’s as insane as it sounds.

design Jayla Landou

But it has a charm that for some odd reason resonates with me. It’s the 80’s suburban setting. It’s the goofy and incredibly overly dramatic music. It’s the downright weird acting choices and shots that just lead to you questioning what’s a joke and what isn’t. It’s strange in so many ways, but I love it because it’s so much more than a movie to me.

When I watched it for the first time, I was in the fifth grade and watched it alone. I remember being confused about how I felt. I was laughing at the jokes but being somewhat scared by the random horror aspects woven into this 80’s family comedy. A week later, I showed it to my brother

and we had a good time watching it. I didn’t think much of it but then a couple of months later he told me he wanted to watch it again. That is when I not only began to appreciate the strangeness of this movie, but I also began to bond over it with my brother. Since then, we have seen it countless times. My brother and I reference and joke about “The ‘Burbs’” constantly. By complete and total chance, I found a movie that brought my brother and me closer, and I’m so thankful for that connection. I’ve shown this movie to people ranging from friends to family to significant others, and they just never quite get it, but my brother and I do. He and I have a close relationship, but now he’s in college and lives over four hours away. We still get to spend time with each other, but that period of endless time together is over. But that connection that he and I have will never break. It’s little things like a stupid movie that can help keep us close. Whenever I see that movie I think of my brother, and it just gives me feelings of pure nostalgia and comfort. Not everyone loves “The ‘Burbs” and not everyone has to. It’s special to me. Just like my connection with this movie, everyone has something like it. Whether it’s a movie, a song, a show, whatever it is, we all connect over something and that is so beautiful to me.

opinion mhsmarquee.com

things we don’t like

No water during D Lunch Many students appreciate having a jug full of ice cold water in the cafeteria. But by the time D lunch rolls around, there isn’t any water left— it’s just all ice or warm water. The students of D lunch would appreciate a full jug of both ice and water during their lunch too.

Devious licks

Roaches everywhere

The “devious licks” trend has been terrorizing our school’s bathrooms and we are over it. Nobody wants to go into the bathroom and find that a toilet, all of the toilet paper and all of the soap has been stolen but is not being replaced. We want our bathrooms to be functional once more, so let’s all stop stealing basic bathroom necessities.

It is not ideal for anyone to lean down to tie their shoe in class just to see a cockroach crawling at them. Since the start of school, students have noticed a significant number of roaches around the school. Even though pest control may not be a huge problem at the school, a little extra wouldn’t hurt.

Written as people column Hyunsung Na In my room sat this giant plastic box of toys. It was supposed to hold clothes but instead it held every single action figure I ever had. We didn’t even keep a lid on it because it wouldn’t fit. During elementary school, I would go to a daycare until 8 p.m., so the little time alone I had, I played with my Spiderman, my Superman and Batman. I loved those toys so much. We had to donate them eventually, but looking back I realized one common trait, all of them were White. Along with that, almost every TV show or movie I watched had White main characters. The times I found Asian characters, they were either just racist or stereotypes. One of the most famous of these characters is Long Duk Dong from “16 Candles.” His character is a creepy unattractive guy with a thick Korean accent. His entire existence is a joke. Then if it’s not a racist caricature, other Asian characters like Mr. Miyagi from “Karate Kid,” or Lane Kim from “Gilmore Girls,” are merely side characters with stereotypical roles. Mr. Miyagi is the wise old man who helps the White protagonist find his way, while Lane Kim is the Asian nerdy best friend who has a stereotypically

opinion Oct. 12, 2021

controlling mother. The issue has never been Asian characters who have race related stories. There just haven’t been enough instances of characters with enough depth to make them feel like people rather than some token minority. Growing up I was this fat, unconfident Asian kid. While I had the Bruce Lees or Jackie Chans of the world, their movies

weren’t really during my time. I would’ve loved to have seen an Asian man in any newer media. This is why I was so excited when I recently watched “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” It was everything I wished a younger me could’ve seen. Shang Chi had personality and time to show he had imperfections

and how he could overcome them. He felt real. Like he was an Asian person and not just the idea of an Asian person.I felt happy leaving the theatre that night. I knew that very young Asian kids were going to be able to see an East Asian man taken seriously, especially as a superhero. While there has been a push in recent years for more Asian-led movies and TV shows, with big financial successes like “Crazy Rich Asians,” and “Parasite,” there wasn’t something for someone like me. I hope that the effect of Shang Chi’s release will have a similar one of “Black Panther.” While there were Black side characters in the Marvel universe, no stand alone Black superhero movie existed. After the release of “Black Panther,” there now was a superhero that young Black kids could look up to. It was incredibly groundbreaking. Then in 2021 with the release of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Sam Wilson becoming the new Captain America, well written Black characters have become so much more common. I hope that Shang Chi can be that for the Asian community and be the beginning of a larger movement to represent Asians in media as people rather than token side characters. So that kids like my younger self can see Asian people be everything they think they can’t be.

design Jayla Landou

Going the extra mile column Garrison Acree

The locker room smelled of deodorant, cleaning chemicals, vape smoke and humiliation. Some sort of liquid was all over the floor, and the sounds of screaming and banging on lockers was deafening. I stood in one of the bathroom stalls, changing out of my football pads. I was an average sized 8th grader that stood at 5’8” and was bigger around the waist than some of the other athletes. I was tired and bruised from football practice, humiliated from the comments, and felt like I had failed myself. The majority of the team didn’t seem to care about how I looked, but a group of seven or eight other guys wasted no opportunity to tell me how they felt. They would bang on the stall door as they walked by or yell sexually explicit things at me. Sometimes they’d even hop over the stall walls to watch me change. At random times throughout the day, they’d grab at my chest and neck so hard that it left bruises. It slowly became clear how those guys saw me: a failure of an athlete that saw Athletics class as a time to relax. A human road block that took up half the hallway. Someone that inhaled food and water like a vacuum. And over time, I began to see myself that way too. I’d stand shirtless in front of a mirror after school, obsessing over the parts of my body that I didn’t like. The shape of my body and the way that people viewed me became the two things that I focused on the most. My solution to this harassment was

design Jayla Landou

to wear up to three layers of clothes to hide my body. On the days that it was too hot to wear winter clothes, I walked into school petrified about wearing shorts and a t-shirt. And during the daily mile run in athletics, the powerful heat slowed me down. When I drank more water to relieve the heat, those same guys would tell me that I didn’t need it since I was going so slow. Around six hours after the mile run was my lunch break. I was embarrassed to eat in front of other students, so I ate lunch in my counselor’s office every day. My daily time there consisted of having lunch and scrolling through Instagram. Though eating alone helped, the extra time online would only leave me feeling worse about how I looked.

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I never had the body that other guys had on social media. - Garrison Acree, 11

I never had the body that other guys had on social media. My explore page would always be full of guys that looked like bodybuilders. If that type of body was so common, there could be no reason for how I looked besides laziness. Little did I know, even if everyone ate and exercised the same, we would all still have different bodies. The COVID-19 lockdowns were a blessing in disguise. After the pandemic hit and we all spent five months away from campus, the comments about my body almost entirely stopped. The months that I spent away from campus led to me developing more confidence, and my mental health vastly improved. When I joined the newspaper staff and became more involved in my JROTC unit, I came to realize something

important. The people that bother to see past the physical appearance are the people that get to know you for who you are. The newspaper staff saw me for my writing experience and potential on the team. The JROTC unit saw me for my potential to instruct and lead the new cadets. And I began to see that potential in myself. As much as I’d like to say that joining these tightly-knit groups helped me move past my insecurity overnight, I unfortunately don’t live in a stereotypical high school movie. Sophomore year entailed a long road of healing and soulsearching, longer than any mile I ran in Athletics. I’d still instinctively check my clothes throughout the day to make sure my body wasn’t showing. There also wasn’t a day that year that my arms weren’t covered. Through it all though, the friends that I made were always there to help, to talk to, or just to listen. I’m now a junior, comfortably wearing shorts and t-shirts. I no longer feel the need to obsessively pull at my clothes, because though my friends see my outward appearance, they don’t see it as what defines me. They never make remarks about how I look, because it doesn’t matter to them. It took me several years to realize that I have the right to exist, regardless of the body I live in. Every time I changed out of my gear in the stall, every time I let the comments ruin my day, every time I cowered in the counselor’s office during lunch, I allowed someone else to determine my value as a human. It doesn’t matter if you’re tall, short, skinny or large, the only person that can determine your value is you. The only thing that should matter should be living a healthy lifestyle. It took me several years to realize that, but better late than never. It took hundreds of mile runs, a lot of tackles, gallons of sweat and just as much weight lifting, but I no longer feel like a failure. I still struggle with the trauma from those days, and it will likely be years until I’ve fully moved on. Though there’s many more miles to run until I get to that point, I think I’ll take them at my own pace.

opinion mhsmarquee.com

Do students feel pressure to diet or workcompiled Harrison Hamre out to change their bodies? photos Salma Ali and Sophia Craig

“Especially because of social media nowadays, a lot of us see all of these models and perfect bodies on Instagram and stuff, even though it’s not real because it’s like photoshop and makeup.”

-Mary Hannemann, 10

“Our society has built a facade around beauty, and they have the wrong interpretation of what beauty is. It’s your inner appearance.”

-Amber Sultanov, History teacher

“The main problem (in wrestling) isn’t necessarily eating disorders, but when you’re cutting a lot of water weight, it definitely messes with your mind a little bit. It affects not only your performance, but mentally it’s really bad for you.”

“Things that can factor into eating disorders can be like stress in your life because it can be like a control mechanism. Body image, social pressure, and social media encourages a lot of issues.

-Dylan Beall, 11

-Paige Madl, 11

Eating disorders affect all genders staff editorial The standard of beauty is often seen in our society as a girl’s issue. However, from a young age, boys are pressured to look a certain way too. They are expected to be muscular, tall and lean. When they don’t possess these characteristics, some boys take extreme diet measures to fix their body, leading to eating disorders. Boys’ problems with eating disorders are just as important to discuss as girls. Eating disorders are more common among boys than one might think. For example, male athletes can be asked to lose or gain weight to compete in a specific weight class. According to a study by the National Eating Disorders Association, 33 percent of boys in weightclass sports such as wrestling are affected by eating disorders. In addition, the National Eating Disorders Association stated that males represent 25 percent of those with anorexia nervosa and are more likely to die than girls because they are diagnosed later. This late diagnosis happens because

opinion Oct. 12, 2021

they are often overlooked. The focus on girls only is detrimental to boys. If they do not receive the help they need, whether medical or supportive, it could

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Just because fewer boys are affected by beauty standards doesn’t mean they should be disregarded. permanently alter their life. Some may say that boys’ issues concerning eating disorders are smaller compared to girl’s and matter less because boys have not been sexualized as much as

girls have, but this is not true. In a study of adolescents with eating disorders, 14 percent of those were likely to have avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), similar to anorexia. With anorexia and ARFID you are restrictive with the food you eat. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, the majority of those with ARFID were young boys. This is generally ignored due to the stigma surrounding boys’ vulnerability. Just because fewer boys are affected by beauty standards doesn’t mean they should be disregarded. It’s just as crucial to discuss boys’ eating disorders as girls’. If you have a loved one who is not eating enough, do not let it slip by. By doing nothing you could be allowing them to have a serious health issue. Talk to them. Let them know that you are there for them. We are all human beings who were meant to look different. Loving ourselves is critical to our health and well being, and it’s also important to teach others to do the same.

design Jayla Landou

Red Out Pep Rally photos Avery Jerina

Varsity cheerleaders Camryn McDonald, Brittney Martin and Ella Francis perform in front of the senior section.

The Marauder debuts at the Mound Showdown pep rally. The iconic horse-riding bandit has been the school’s mascot thoughout its history.

Students got fired up at the Sept. 24 pep rally for the Mound Showdown game that night. The pep rally was in honor of the decades long cross-town rivalry between the school and Flower Mound High School. Marquettes and varsity cheerleaders performed. Coaches and students also played Pacman along the lines of the MAC floor. Two of the Hall of Fame recipients, one of them former principal Gary Shafferman, were recognized as well.

Senior Talianna Jenkins cheers in the student section.

A Marquette does a high kick during their performance.