The Pirate Clipper- Feb. issue

PC

The PIRATE CLIPPER Magazine Issue 3 Vol. 26 Platte County High School

Finsta Famous Teens use private instagrams for self expression

Make A Splash

Four swim team members qualify for state

Speak Out

DECA student creates project to raise awareness of mental illness

News

Full S.t.e.m.

Ahead

4

Speak Now

What Would You Do As President?

A Helping Through His Lens

2 Table of Contents

8

Finsta Famous

9 Opinion

10 16

Make a Splash

6

Courtwarming

7

In Depth

Feature

Education on Our Backs

New Year, New

18

11

Think Before You Speak

20

Staying Senior The New Normal

22 23

The Pirate Clipper Staff Mara Tharp

Kevin Burns

Editor-in-Chief

Sports Editor

Ashley Tohm Staff Writer

McKennah Houlahan

Jake Nicholson

Kianna Castro

Lauren Sherwood

News Editor

Feature Editor

Staff Writer

Staff Writer

Alysse Maxwell

Lauryn Masters

Nicole Reed

Danielle Boyle

Opinion Editor

Staff Writer

Staff Writer

Staff Writer

Photographer

Photographer

Savannah Rottinghaus Jalisia Lay

Who We Are: The Pirate Clipper is a student-run newspaper dedicated to informing students on current local, national and worldwide issues without bias.

Opinions and editorials do not reflect the views or opinions of the Platte County staff, school, administration or adviser. For questions or concerns, contact adviser Kari Johnson at johnsonk@platteco.k12.mo.us.

Letter to the Editor: The Pirate Clipper will strive to meet professional journalism standards. We report news accurately, objectively and fully in-depth. We will acknowledge mistakes and correct errors in content when brought to our attention. Letters to the editor are subject to be condensed for space and grammar. They will not be subject to editing for content. Anonymous letters to the editor will not be accepted. To contact the Pirate Clipper, email PCHSpirateclipper@ gmail.com or deliver letters to Room 23. * Correction: In our December issue, we inadvertently left some groups off of our Day of Hope graphic.

NHS, FCCLA and the faculty and staff all contributed items to the campaign.

piratestudentmedia.com 3

Full S.T.E.M. Ahead

Internationally-ranked robotics team finds success at local, national level Lauren Sherwood Staff Writer

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he robotics team has won multiple awards throughout the season including the skills awards and design champion. The teams built, coded and competed with four different robots.

The competitions are set up where their robot and another team’s robot work together.

They get points by throwing objects over PVC pipe and onto the other team’s side.

Junior Becca Beall said they started out with one robot, but it did not work how they wanted it to, so they built a new highfunctioning one.

“It [building the robot] is just a lot of figuring out what components work, and we build it as a team so different people build different parts,” Beall said.

4 News

The team worked to make sure there were no problems when competing.

“The kids work really well together, and they get excited for trying new ideas,” team adviser Roberta Rudolph said.

Many joined the team because they like the science, technology, engineering and math [STEM] fields, and robotics gave them more time to pursue it.

“It’s a good extension of the design process outside the classroom,” senior John Morrione said.

Sophomore Parker Johnson adds that the best thing about robotics was being able to have the freedom of creating whatever you want and being able to solve a problem.

“The ability to see the prob-

lem and go ‘I know how to fix that,’” said Johnson. “Do it with your own hands and see it perform well.”

The team gave members a chance to talk to people with the same type of interest as them. It also gave members a chance to talk to people who they normally would not get a chance to talk to on a regular school day.

Senior Will Valentine explained that they share the same sort of interest.

“Most of us wanted to pursue STEM fields, and we really enjoy math and science,” said Valentine. “We really enjoy problem solving too, and we get to do all those things here. The freedom it gives us to explore whatever we want and to build. It’s just who we are really.”

Infographic by Lauryn Masters

How It Works The five main parts of the 9065C robot Graphic by Alysse Maxwell and Kianna Castro

Lift Towers controls claw, allowing it to move up and down

Hang Bar allows robot to hang on to the pole at the edge of arena (extra points)

Photo By Lauren Sherwood

Claw picks up the item (hands) Vortex the computer that runs the robot (brain)

Base holds the robot piratestudentmedia.com 5

Speak Now

DECA student creates project to raise awareness of mental illness Jake Nicholson Staff Writer

Every year the president of DECA creates a campaign to raise awareness of an issue that he/she feels is important. This year’s president, junior Courtnie Morgan, is doing her campaign over mental health awareness.

“When I was brainstorming about what my campaign would be about, I wanted to focus on people talking about their disabilities,” Morgan said. “I felt the slogan ‘Speak Up’ represented what my campaign is about in an easy-to-understand way.”

Every year during the summer, DECA is given a grant by an organization to do a campaign on that topic. The sponsor of DECA, Jerri Spores, is in charge of arranging what the campaign will focus on with the president.

“We vote through the Platte County Prevention Coalition, “ Spores said. “We then look at the data taken from the survey the state gives every two years.”

Morgan said she hopes that the project will show people how serious of an issue mental health is and that students can help them.

“My hope is for people to see that mental health is a big issue, “ Morgan said. “But we can help

Information from the National Alliance on Mental Illness

6 News

people with mental disabilities by spreading awareness so they feel like they have people to talk to.”

The campaign, according to Morgan, has been successful thus far. Many are participating in a variety of different ways.

“I think my campaign has been very successful,” Morgan said. ¨People have been participating through Twitter and the stickers they were given.”

Morgan’s major issue with the campaign has been spreading it and its message out to the public.

“My biggest problem with the project has been getting the campaign out there to the student body in a way they would enjoy and understand, “Morgan said. “Everyone’s different so it is very challenging to make the message universal.”

Overall, Morgan said she hopes that this campaign has allowed people with mental health disorders to see that people care about them and want to help.

“I hope it has helped people with mental health disabilities,” Morgan said. “I hope it lets them know that they’re not alone and that people care.”

Infographic by McKennah Houlahan

Danielle Boyle Staff Writer

NEW YEAR , NE W COURTWARMING

Student Council changes to Courtwarming to improve attendance

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ourtwarming does not get a lot of buzz around school. This dance does not receive a lot of attention from students and so, in recent years, there has not been a large turnout.

Student Council sponsor Kyle Perkins stated that less than 100 students attended the last Courtwarming celebration.

Because not many students attend, Courtwarming is always changing. Instead of a dance, last year’s celebration had a dodgeball tournament to get more students interested. Though there was a lot of talk about it, Student Council did not get the big turnout they had hoped the dodgeball games would bring.

“Last year we tried something entirely different

and it didn’t work out at all,” Perkins said.

This year, because there was no time to fit in hallway decorations during Homecoming, Student Council is moving the decoration contest to Courtwarming.

“That’s just because of the short amount of time we had to get Homecoming ready this year,” Perkins said.

Even though the hallway decorations are later in the year, some are excited for it no matter the time.

Junior Christian Torchia is looking forward to the hallway decorations.

“I’m really excited to see how the hallways are decorated,” Torchia said.

Most students have not gone to Courtwarming in the past. Some students do not even know what Courtwarming is. Sophomore William York has a theory about why.

Infographics by Ashley Tohm

“It’s not publicized enough,” York said.

Hoping to have a bigger turn out, the date has been changed to Thursday, Feb. 9.

“We’re hoping that by moving it to Thursday night, it will get you guys there because no ACT the

next day, no wrestling the next morning, you guys will have that day off,” Perkins said.

This year’s theme is blackout, and it is attracting attention. Junior Kaylee Noyes is attending just for the theme.

“It’s a blackout, and I think it will be really fun, so I’m going,” Noyes said.

Even though Courtwarming is not a big dance to most, Student Council is really working on it and looking to make it more successful. And students are being optimistic about the dance.

“I think it’s fun to have more and more dances for students to get involved,” Torchia said. piratestudentmedia.com 7

Education On Our Backs Students’ backpacks pose serious health risks

Mara Tharp

Editor-in-Chief

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any students can be seen in the halls with bulging bags swinging on their backs, the straps loose and the seams strained by the weight of Chromebooks, textbooks, binders and notebooks.

Senior Olivia Forrester carries all of her school supplies in her backpack because she said she does not have time to go to her locker despite the school’s “long” six-minute passing period.

“My locker is in the senior hallway, but I don’t have classes anywhere near there,” Forrester said.

During registration last August, students were given the option of having a locker, because many choose to carry their entire day’s worth of supplies on their backs. Forrester said she was not given a choice as to where her locker would be, and with more than half of her classes in the southern part of the school, she does not have the time to go to the other end of the building.

“If I could choose to have my locker in the freshman horse-

Information from the National Safety Council 8 Feature

shoe, it would be preferable,” Forrester said.

While some students can be seen conversing and standing around during passing periods, others are rushing to their next class because it is in the Paxton annex. Many students are late to their Paxton class when coming from the senior hall, and most do not stop at their lockers during the passing period. Sophomore Conor Hunt said the only solution he can think of would be next to impossible.

“If the school were more compact it would definitely be easier,” Hunt said. “If classes were closer to where my locker was, I would definitely use it.”

An additional solution Hunt suggested was digital textbooks for all classes, which would make his backpack much lighter.

“It would significantly impact the weight of it,” Hunt said. “I wouldn’t be carrying this huge social studies book right now.”

The size of backpacks has been a conversation among experts, and local chiropractor Dr.

Dave McGee said the weight of a backpack can cause major back problems as students age.

“It puts a lot of pressure on the disks in between the vertebrae, which can weaken them,” McGee said. “This can lead to the degeneration of the spine later in life.”

McGee recommends students only carry 10-15 pounds, which aligns with the University of California’s 2010 study. The research warns students that more than 10 percent of their own body weight on their backs can cause significant damage. The biggest concern other than weight of the bag is how the bag is worn.

“You should wear the straps as tight as you can to your body so the backpack doesn’t swing,” McGee said.

This suggestion from McGee, and many health experts, serves as a warning for students who carry their education on their shoulders everyday.

“Having a backpack that is too heavy sets them up for major issues later in life,” McGee said.

Infographic by Alysse Maxwell

WHAT WOULD YOU DO

AS PRESIDENT?

In light of the recent inauguration of President Trump, the Clipper asked students what they would do as the leader of the free world.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR EDUCATION? “I’d improve the system by asking students what they would prefer to learn.”

Rogelio Zavala, Sophomore

“I’d make sure the food was better, and that people didn’t have to wake up as early.”

Ashley Tohm Staff Writer

WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT THE WHITE HOUSE?

Alisa Payne, Freshman

HOW WOULD YOU RUN THE WHITE HOUSE? “I feel like everyone should get a chance to have a say. It should be like a debate, instead of me saying ‘Hey, I’m in charge.’”

“I’d make it bigger, more intimidating. We’re the best country in the world and we should have an intimidating White House.”

Jack Renner, Senior

“I’d paint it a new color every day.”

Kirsten Schlarmann, Junior

Rogelio Zavala, Sophomore

“We’re in the country’s most stressful job so I don’t want my workers stressed. So we’d probably have a day off, like every Wednesday. I don’t like Wednesdays.”

Jack Renner, Senior

WHO FROM THIS SCHOOL WOULD YOU WANT ON YOUR CABINET? “Zachary Geniuk, because he’s hardworking and trustworthy.”

Logan DavelerDamm, Freshman

“Dr. Sayre, just in case he’s reading this.”

WHAT PROGRAMS WOULD YOU START? “I’d start programs to take down the national debt. I feel like that’s a really big problem that needs to be addressed.”

Payton Boekhout, Senior

“I’m a woman, so I would always advocate for a women’s right’s program.”

Kirsten Schlarmann, Junior

Rogelio Zavala, Sophomore For more responses, visit piratestudentmedia.com

Photos by Savannah Rottinghaus

piratestudentmedia.com 9

A Helping Hand

Peer helpers demonstrate passion, care in their classes

Meeting with students, junior Chase Randolph reviews tests with Stephanie Reichers’ fifth grade ELA class. As a peer helper, Randolph helped students every week.

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ach semester, juniors and seniors have the opportunity to sign up for peer helping, a program which allows students to mentor younger age groups in a classroom setting.

Peer helping is a requirement for participation in the A+ Program, which allows Missouri students to receive two years tuition free from a local community college or technical school.

In addition to the monetary benefits of peer helping, the program allows students to engage with younger students. Junior Summer Lutz was able to mentor to the third graders.

“You get to work with young kids, and it just brings you to a broader range of what’s going on,” Lutz said. “I learned a lot of things from the kids, and it was a good opportunity.”

According to Bev Hartland, who directs the peer helping program, each semester approximately 100 students enroll in peer helping.

10 Feature

This school year, Hartland said peer helpers have brought stellar feedback from the teachers.

“This year I have gotten several students’ rubrics back, and the teachers have written on the bottom what a great job that particular student did,” Hartland said.

“They just say how responsible they are, how they are quick to step up and help out.”

For junior Jessica Clark, directly helping the younger students learn is what she does most of during her peer helping hour.

She strives to truly develop a relationship with the kids.

“I love it when they are excited to see me when I get there,” Clark said. “It’s good to have an influence in their lives.”

Peer helping is influential for not only the young students, but the high schoolers as well.

“It helps teach responsibility because it’s not a program where I see them every day,” Hartland said. “They are expected on their

Photo by Amanda Sullivan

Lauryn Masters Staff Writer

own to show up, get there on time, and help out.”

The skills taught in peer helping are vital for students after high school, regardless of what path a student plans on taking.

“It is a good insurance policy for anybody,” Hartland said. “You never know, you may take off thinking you’re going to go to a four-year school and then find out that maybe you would rather come back and do two-year school.”

Peer helpers work for the teachers doing anything and everything they need, all while working directly with students.

“Sometimes I teach the kids if they weren’t there,” Clark said. “I teach someone a little math lesson or I help them with their work or sometimes I cut out things that she needs.”

Having the peer helpers in the classroom puts smiles on the faces of young Pirates. “All the kids look forward to you,” Lutz said. “You form this friendship with them.”

...

Nicole.Reed Staff Writer

Finsta Famous Teens use private Instagrams for self-expression

Nicole.Reed

One beep, and another, then another one followed by a few more. The unmistakable sound of notifications popping up on the phones of students filled the room.

Within the school building, students sat on their phones, snapping quick pictures and telling their followers about just how awful their morning had gone or about how much AP Language homework they have to complete. Some students who were not posting were reading about the drama in their friends’ lives. And those who became too dramatic on their spam accounts? They were sitting in the office, waiting to see which offensive post resulted in them being sent to the principal. These were not typical Instagram accounts, but something new entirely. With their new trending spam accounts, students express themselves in both positive and negative ways.

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Spam accounts, also known as Finsta accounts, are a second “fake,” Instagram account for teenagers to share with their close circle of friends. Unlike most main accounts, users make their spam private and post frequently and casually. Spam accounts are used to express frustrations or happiness at day-to-day things, and almost everyone has one.

Senior Skyelar Perkins prefers to have fun while sharing about her life with the followers on her spam account.

“I think most spam accounts are funny,” Perkins said. “I mean it’s high school, and it’s where you can just really let out what you really feel about things without getting

judged. You put out things you want only certain people to see because you make it private. I just think they’re fun, depending on the spam account.”

With his separate account, junior Tiler Brooks shows another side of himself that the followers on his personal account do not know about.

“I think it’s original,” Brooks said.

“I get to express myself in a way that I wouldn’t normally. Most of my posts are something either to do with horror movies or music of some sort. I’ll post the music I’m listening to at the moment, like my favorite artist, and I’ll talk about them and how their songs make me feel and stuff like that.”

Infographic by Mara Tharp

12 In-Depth

Information from brandwatch.com

Not everyone can get behind spam accounts, and junior Audrey Puntney believes spam accounts are addictive and negative.

“I think they’re pointless because, what’s the point of having two accounts?” Puntney said. “Are you being fake on your first account and then, on the second account, you’re showing who you really are? I also feel like they’re super dramatic. They kinda jab at other people. I feel like a lot of it is like an environment for circulating drama.”

Freshman Savannah White personally experienced the negativity of spam accounts.

“I had one spam before, and it was an anonymous one,” White said. “A lot of people, we were mean about other people on it. It was kinda like a smack in the face like, ‘Oh, we’re being mean.’ And then I deleted that account, and I was done with spams for a little bit. So that was the only bad run-in I had. It turned really negative really fast, and I didn’t really know what to do about it so I just deleted it all.”

Since White’s first account, she is determined to stay positive on her new spam account.

“I try now to keep all the drama I can off of it, and just post about things that couldn’t possibly offend somebody,” White said. “That’s how I try to keep it positive.”

Perkins uses her two different accounts to showcase different aspects of her life.

“I would say my personal is different than my spam because I post things [on my spam] closer about my personal life and things that I’m okay with my closest people seeing rather than people I don’t really know from other schools,” Perkins said. “I just think I like my spam better because I can just put myself out there.”

Through the use of her spam account, Perkins expresses her true self and interests while staying positive.

“What I like about mine is, on my spam account, I mainly post about music that I’m listening to and I don’t really post about bad things,” Perkins said. “I like how ‘me’ it is.”

Teen Terms: SPAM: a second Instagram used for ranting and self expression in ways you would not on your regular account (also known as Finsta) PRIV: Short for private piratestudentmedia.com 13

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piratestudentmedia.com 15

Through His Lens

Local photographer makes lasting impact on community Kevin Burns

Sports Editor

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ccording the the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, one person dies approximately every nine minutes in the United States from blood cancer. Leukemia is among those, and occurs when cancer infects the blood cells. This is most common in people over the age of 55 and under the age of 15. Five years ago, then-41 year old Todd Nugent was diagnosed with Hairy Cell Leukemia. Fortunately for the Nugent family, they had unwavering support from the Platte County community.

“Since I’m not from here, when I was diagnosed with leukemia and people started finding out, the response was overwhelming,” Nugent said.

After Nugent graduated high school, he attended Benedictine College, in Atchison, Kan. where he played football and worked as a photographer for the newspaper and yearbook for his work-study to help pay

tuition costs.

“I was interested in photography, it was something I liked to do,” Nugent said. “It wasn’t anything I saw myself doing as a job. My freshman year my work-study job that was assigned was the music department. I just had no desire to do that, so I went to the athletic director and tried to get into sports somehow.

He came back to me a day or two later and said, ‘Hey, one of the football players is one of the editors of the yearbook and the newspaper; go talk to him,’ and the guy goes, ‘If you wanna come help me work on newspaper and the yearbook, that’d be great, we need another photographer.’

I said, ‘Sweet!’ I had a camera, but at the time I had no training, no experience, nothing. That’s how I got into taking sports pictures.”

After graduating from Benedictine, Nugent went on to teach and coach. His first coaching position was assist-

Downtown Kansas City has sights that attract people of all ages, whether they are photographers or just want to see a pretty view. Todd Nugent was able to capture the Bartle Hall pylons and the Kansas City Power and Light Building in between color changes.

16 Sports

ing former Benedictine teammate and current PC head football coach Bill Utz at Stewartsville High School.

Shortly after that, Nugent helped Utz coach again at Mid-Buchanan High School.

“We met in the fall of 1990,” Utz said. “He was two years older than me, but we knew each other fairly well.

We hung out with the same group of people.”

Nugent gave up teaching and decided to sell insurance. He worked for various companies over an 18-year span, which he did until changing career paths to become a full-time photographer, starting with just football and slowly transitioning to all sports and then all kinds of events around the community. This made Nugent a prominent figure in the Platte County area, according to managing editor of the Platte County Citizen, Ross Martin.

Photographer Todd Nugent stops and takes a moment to admire “The Scout” statue. Nugent started trying to diversify his photography to help become a more well-rounded photographer.

Photos by Todd Nugent

“He’s very genuine, honest and outgoing,” Martin said. “Obviously he gets to be well-known because he’s the guy behind the camera, so he’s not afraid to learn about anyone if they approach him. Todd doesn’t seem to know too many strangers.”

Nugent being such a genuine person only made the blow that much more devastating when he was diagnosed with leukemia, but with the help of his friends, family and community members, he was able to overcome that obstacle and made a full recovery after only three months.

“I’m a strong believer in whatever you’re given you can handle, and he’s strong enough to do that,” Utz said.

“He has the attitude that no matter what the scenario is, he’s gonna be able to fight it.”

The Platte County community has been challenged more than once to unify to support a cause greater than themselves. In 2016 Landon Jaros, son of Platte County teacher and coach, Todd Jaros, passed away from leukemia.

“Seeing the whole community rally around Landon was pretty cool to see,” Nugent

said. “I hate that Landon had to go through that. Landon had leukemia, and I had leukemia, and compared to him, I had it easy.

So I struggle with this a little, because here’s this 4-year-old little boy, that had to endure and go through what he did, and here’s me, this 46-year-old guy who’s got to experience these things that he did not. That little boy touched more people than he’ll ever know. Bringing people together like that, and bringing the good out of people in this unfortunate situation. And then seeing

Smiling with his son, Todd Nugent accompanies Carter Nugent in accepting the NAIA Character Award. Both of Nugent’s sons played football for the school last season.

Shooting Union Station from the Liberty Memorial, Todd Nugent takes a different type of photo than he is used to taking. Nugent has been taking sports photos since he first touched a camera.

Todd Nugent captures a newly-married couple leaving their ceremony. Nugent began taking wedding photos because he “enjoyed capturing special moments in people’s lives.”

my own situation, it makes me proud to live in Platte City.”

After overcoming leukemia, most people would think that Nugent was safe. After being diagnosed with cancer, having an unrelated death scare only five years after is unlikely, but that is exactly what happened when doctors discovered a golf-ballsized tumor on the back of his brain, which ultimately turned out to not be cancerous.

“I only put so much into Facebook in the likes, because you know there’s some people just like everything, first of all,” said Nugent. “Then when I sat down and read all the comments and saw the number of likes, I was overwhelmed. I was totally blown away. It made me feel good when I was feeling pretty crappy; I was scared to death. At the time, we didn’t know if it was cancerous. It was a brain tumor in the back of my head, and I was scared I wouldn’t make it.”

Nugent has impacted people in more ways than he will ever know, according to Utz. “He’s an extremely loyal, faithful person,” Utz said. “It’s been an honor and a joy to know him.”

As the student section erupts, Todd Nugent captures the emotion of the crowd.

Nugent began taking pictures of the student section to involve more students than just the athletes.

piratestudentmedia.com 17

Making a Splash McKennah Houlahan News Editor

Four swimmers qualify for state

Four girls swim team mem- participating in “hell week” bers qualified for state compe- where the swimmers wear tition: seniors Hailee Baer, weighted suits called drag. AcHannah Havemeier and Racording to her, hell week is chel Valentine and junior Bai- just as much physical as menley Newell. tal.

Havemeier set multiple “I just try to keep a positive school reattitude and cords and “I was very, very ex- cheer on my qualified teammates cited because this will and hope for state three times be my third year going for the in her best,” Haveto state, and I would meier said. swim career. just like to finish off Baer also “I was qualified to my senior year strong.” compete at very, very excited beHannah Havemeier state. Baer cause this started will be my swimming third year when she going to was 9 years state, and I would just like to old. In her career, Baer broke finish off my senior year six records. strong,” Havemeier said.

“It was our third time qualTo stay motivated during ifying for the relay, but it was the season, Havemeier set surprising because we put a goals. Prior to this season, lot of work into it, and I was that goal was to finish in the expecting to do it further into top 16 at state. the season than we did,” Baer Havemeier prepared by said. practicing after school and Preparing for state, Baer

will go into competition with an open mind.

“Physically I think we are doing a lot of stuff [assistant coach Marnie] Jenkins is preparing us for, and mentally I think I am going into it as a senior, and I am just ready to have fun and enjoy my last year,” Baer said.

For Baer, being around her team during the season keeps her motivated.

“I just like hanging out with all the girls and having my spirit stick and cheering them on, that’s my favorite part and getting to know everyone,” Baer said.

Bear had many achievements throughout her swimming career, but one stuck out in particular.

“I think just being able to compete all four years when I have been swimming since I was 9, so sticking with something for so long I think is an achievement in itself,” Baer said.

Gripping the diving block, junior Bailey Newell prepares to start her relay.

Newell’s relay qualified for state with a time of 1 minute, 58.21 seconds.

Photo by Kasten Green

18 Sports

Q&A

WITH THE STATE QUALIFIERS

Q: A: Q: A: Q: A:

What is your personal goal finishing up your season?

“This year I came in knowing I may not swim my best, but I wanted to have fun and enjoy the company of my friends and teammates and just have a really good senior year.”

-senior Hailee Baer

“I would really like to just kick butt at conference.”

-junior Bailey Newell

How are you preparing yourself physically and mentally for state?

“I would say I am getting lots of rest and trying my best at practice.”

-senior Rachel Valentine

“Personally I’ve been trying to eat fairly healthy. At this point though, how you do is largely dependent on the work you’ve put in throughout the rest of the season.”

-junior Bailey Newell

“Mentally I just try to keep a positive attitude and cheer on my teammates and hope for the best.”

-senior Hannah Havemeier

What motivates you during the season?

“What really motivates me is time cuts. When you see that every time you swim you’re improving, it motivates you more than anything else to keep that improvement going.”

-junior Bailey Newell

“I would honestly say that every single season I have a different goal. So like this season I would like to make top sixteen at state, especially since it’s my last shot.”

-senior Hannah Havemeier

“Trying to do better than last year and beat my personal times.”

-senior Rachel Valentine

Q: What was your biggest achievement in your swim career so far?

A: “I’d have to say my sophomore year when I was the first person, in like twenty-years, to make state on the swim team; it was really exciting.”

-senior Hannah Havemeier

“I would say placing top sixteen at state would be my biggest achievement.”

-senior Rachel Valentine

piratestudentmedia.com 19

Students need to have decency when making jokes Clipper Staff

Staff Editorial

Graphic by Mara Tharp

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art of a normal school day is socializing, and joking around with friends is a common practice of students. They laugh about memes, tweets and Snapchats, but some phrases students use are no laughing matter. When passing a group of students who are being comical, it is not uncommon to hear insensitive phrases. When making jokes about suicide, mental illness, sexuality, etc., most students do not consider the repercussions of their words.

20 Opinion

“Go kill yourself,” the second-leading cause of death for high school students, has become a common phrase that persists throughout the halls of the high school. The use of the phrase is not only insensitive, but it is a serious trigger for those who have contemplated or even attempted suicide. Making a joke out of a topic that is quite literally life or death does not make someone funny. Students do not consider what they are actually saying, and it does not matter if they

are not serious about it.

In a study done by the Child Study Center, 24 percent of high school students have seriously contemplated suicide.

If they have not had that type of inner conflict in their lives, many have been touched by the pain of mental illness. Whether it is them that deals with a disorder or someone they know, those topics are too sensitive to be made a humorous insult.

Calling someone “bipolar,” or more popularly, “retarded,” is hurtful.

Receiving insults or jokes Mental illnesses and diswith offensive words from abilities are not a joke to a person who is considered anyone, especially those who a friend can be impacting. live through what the jokes The world may not be a “safe are about. The most recent space,” but students should study by the National Center have the decency to consider for Education Statistics puts that their words the amount can hurt. Just of public “The world may not because the school of the students be a “safe space” recipient joke does not diagnosed with mental but students should voice how much words offend disabilities have the decency to the him/her does not nearly 13 consider that their mean that he/she percent of not offended by their popuwords can hurt.” isthem. lation.

Many avoid There are calling someone hundreds, out on something that they if not thousands, of insults someone can use without using have said because they do not want to be called other words, insensitive words if they feel it such as “gay” or a “girl.” The is appropriate to insult somewords students are afraid of one or something.

Infographic by Kianna Castro

being called do not have a negative denotation in any dictionary, yet the connotation persists throughout not only our school, but society.

The Clipper is unanimous in the belief that there is a difference between being funny and being offensive. People with legitimate struggles, conditions or beliefs cannot continue to be made a punchline to a tasteless joke. Students need to be more aware of the words they use and how they use them.

Our school’s population needs to end the use of these types of offensive words. Having decency is an essential trait for life, and if we can end the use of those words here, current students and even generations after ours will be able to go to a school where peers do not feed into hatred.

piratestudentmedia.com 21

Staying Senior

Lauryn Masters Staff Writer

Juniors face descision on whether or not to graduate early

E

very January, students face the difficult task of creating their schedule for the upcoming school year. Counselors pull students out of class to talk about a future that is a year away.

While all grade levels engage in this activity, juniors are plagued by one decision, setting the tone of their senior year. They must decide whether or not to graduate at semester.

Graduating early offers many benefits such as starting college early, going directly into the workforce or not wasting time taking classes when you have long since reached the minimum 24 credits. Every student has a different plan for life after high school, but graduating a semester early forces students to miss part of the senior experience.

Senior year is meant to be a year of friendships and lasting memories before leaving classmates of 12 years. Once high school is over, one can never get those opportunities back. Graduating early cuts the memories and overall experience short.

22 Opinion

Some may claim that cutting the high school experience short is exactly what they wanted; but in losing a whole semester of class, those students also lose a whole semester of opportunities.

Students who opt out of second semester will miss those dayto-day moments and memories with their classmates and friends.

These students lose the opportunity to be involved in many activities at school. If a student graduates at semester, sports and clubs are out of the questioncompletely left behind. Â By the time graduation rolls around, the seniors who graduated at semester will be long gone. Those graduates will have already moved on with their lives, and walking at graduation will just draw them back into the high school days that are already in their past. A divide will have been created between the early graduates and their peers, and while difficult to see, their lives will be different than those of their high school friends.

Some may contend that for

every opportunity lost by graduating at semester, a new one is presented. Entering the workforce during the spring semester of senior year can allow a student to save money before they start college with their class in the fall, or can give beneficial experience to the non-college bound student.

Starting college in the spring semester can help a student get some general courses out of way in order to get a head start on their degree.

Adults warn about teenagers growing up too fast. While the maturity level that comes with graduating early can be beneficial, students also lose part of their childhood. Maybe graduating at semester is the right decision for some, but that choice is up to the individual. Students need to take this decision seriously, and weigh the benefits of losing a semester of high school compared to the memories they could have before high school is gone forever. The choice comes down to whether or not a student is ready to say goodbye to PCHS.

Infographic by Lauryn Masters

The New

NORMAL

Generation Z expands borders of gender

Alysse Maxwell Opinion Editor

Generation Z, also known as the post-millennials, is the generation born between 1996 and 2010. Coming up in the age of rival music streaming services, Apple products and deceased monkey memes, this generation has been defined as the next big thing for “market researchers, cultural observers, and trend forecasters,” by the New York Times.

While previous generations had the birth of rock & roll or school integration as a backdrop, our generation, generation Z, is tasked with expanding a concept that seemed pretty settled from the beginning. With people of all walks of life, from gay, straight, transgender, etc. being represented in the media, what we see and deem as normal is taking on a whole new definition.

As this generation matures, some no longer feel the need to bend and fold according to the precedents that have been laid before them. Today they break barriers in more areas than just fashion and social media; this generation is breaking barriers in the way we define ourselves.

There are more than 30 gender and sexuality identities, including agender, bigender, femme and genderqueer. Humans are breaking the stereotypes and basing their lives off how they feel inside, not how people say they should feel.

Omnigender, also known as pangender, for example, is defined by www.lgbtqia.ucdavis. edu, “as possessing all genders.

The term is used specifically to refute the concept of only two

genders.” This term, like many others, is just one of many words for people who don’t wish to be put into such a distinct box.

When describing themselves as someone outside the male and female spectrum, these people wish to be referred to with they/ them pronouns instead of the specific her/ him.

Out of a survey done by J. Walter Thompson, of 300 13-20 year olds, 56 percent of respondents say they know someone who uses non-gender binary pronouns instead of the traditional gendered pronouns, and 74 percent of those said they are more accepting of people of nontraditional gender identities than they were a year ago.

However, there will always be people who disagree. Some people refuse to support humans who categorize themselves outside of what they were seemingly born as. This discriminatory attitude can be for religious beliefs, upbringing or just plain judgement. Nevertheless one thing will always be true: people are going to do what makes them happy and that alone can be enough to spark change.

The world is divided in many ways, and most of that division is the neglect to respect others’ differences. If we stopped perceiving the contrasts in each other as obstacles and more as attributes, the idea of someone being different wouldn’t be so hard to accept. Just like everything revolutionary, the concept of the gender spectrum has made its mark on this generation, and it’s not going away anytime soon.

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