Issue 5

the

TOWER

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017 Volume 90 Issue 5 @thetowerpulse thetowerpulse.net

A weekly tradition since 1928

Grosse Pointe South High School 11 Grosse Pointe Blvd. Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236

BIG BOY A controversial South tradition continues

“We go back around 11 p.m. and there’s one car parked in the lot,” Cassidy said. “A different car, and it had its lights off and not really by the Big Boy so we * Some names in this story have been changed to propulled in to kind of check it out. Then a car came in tect the identity of students upon Administration request. with its lights on and started following us out.”

Over eight decades ago, Bob Wian opened the first On their third attempt, right as their lights peered Big Boy, “Home of the Big Boy Hamburger.” This chain into the long path leading to North’s campus, a car imof American restaurants has expanded from it’s roots mediately approached them, and followed their truck in California, and with that, its mascot has become emout to the intersection at Vernier Rd. bedded in the culture of the Grosse Pointe high school It wasn’t until their fourth go around that the coast rivalry. was clear.

The tradition of ‘bor“People from North were guardrowing’ Big Boy from the ing it all night, we must have caught local Grosse Pointe Woods them on an off shift,” Jesse James I looked it up, the thing location hasn’t always con’18* said. weighs 230 lbs. Which, for sisted of going to Big Boy, This off shift was around midasking permission to have five guys it wasn’t that bad. night, according to James. the statue for spirit week “We go over to the Big Boy, and BUTCH CASSIDY* ’18 and then returning it. we’re freaking out because we think Before recent years, someone is gonna come,” Cassidy Norsemen would go to Big said. “The tool I used-- I had a little Boy, and, without permission, break the lock securing axe, or a hatchet-- and these intense tree clippers, but the statue and ride off to their school with it according those didn’t really work.” to Billy Hoover ’18, a senior from North.

Once the tool of choice was determined, the group “We first saw (the statue) was gone right around debated where to try and break Big Boy free, either on when we showed up to North in the morning, around the metal link chain itself or the Master Key lock that 6:45,” Hoover said. was binding Big Boy to the parking sign cemented into According to Hoover, just about every Norseman the ground. who was there before the sunrise to see a broken chain Conducting trial and error for both ideas, and makin place of the beloved statue knew it must be on ing noise doing it, the group drew weary their plan South’s campus. would go detected by Norsemen in the area. These “And then two cars (from North) went to South to concerns were met with the uplifting noise of the lock look for it (big boy),” Hoover said. breaking free of the chain.

But once the two cars reached South, it was still too “So then, we unwrapped it (the chain from Big Boy), early and the thieves hadn’t placed Big Boy at South yet. picked it up and put it in my truck,” Cassidy said. “I Some of the students who took part in extending looked it up; the thing weighs 230 lbs. Which, for five this year’s North-South rivalry have come forward to guys, it wasn’t that bad.” tell their side of the story, and how exactly they pulled The ride back was suspenseful, according to Cassioff the prank. dy, for obvious reasons. It wasn’t until around 7:30 a.m.

“Well, we first went at 9ish, and there were a ton of that Big Boy made it in front of Clemenson Hall. The cars parked by the field, for a sports game,” Butch Casthieves even managed to pass one of the school’s new sidy* ’18 said. And of those cars, according to Cassidy, Assistant Principals, Mr. Spryszak, upon carrying the one of them was set apart from the rest, parked near statue in. the Big Boy. “I saw Mr. Spryszak, and he was just laughing and Feeling somewhat excited to see some form of sethought it was kind of funny,” Cassidy said. “But it’s his curity, Cassidy and the four others left North to come first year so he was kind of sketchy about it. He wasn’t back later, hopefully to see the restaurant mascot unreally sure what to think of the whole thing, because we attended. just told him this was a part of the rivalry and it hapJOHN FRANCIS ’18 Editor in Chief

BREAK A LEG:

pened often.”

Big Boy was outside of South for approximately an hour before North Ad m i n ist r a tion ordered two district trucks to return the statue to its temporary home at North.

According to Hoover, he knows who took Big Boy and is actually friends with some involved.

Hoover also added he hasn’t heard or been a part of any retaliation efforts by North because of Big Boy being stolen.

“Kudos to South for taking it; I’m not mad at them,” Hoover said. “You guys have the rock and we can’t take the rock. If you had something to take we’d try and take it. To steal the rock we would need the whole football team and more.”

Our reporters tried to get a comment from Big Boy management and the North senior class president, but their schedules conflicted and they couldn’t comment.

ON THE BIG STAGE Grosse Pointe South choir students strike a pose during last year’s Fall Follies event.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WILL MUAWAD’17

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College visits for Indiana University and Oakland University

PHOTO BY JOHN FRANCIS’18

Choir’s annual Fall Follies takes place Oct. 20-21 at North’s performing arts center ANNE MUAWAD ’21 Page Editor

IMPORTANT DATES

WANT A BURGER? The Big Boy statue rests outside it’s location at the restaurant on Mack

oct.

Fall Follies, South’s annual choir concert, is fast approaching. Preparation for the first concert of the 2017-2018 school year is in full swing and the students of the choir are working hard in order for the show to be perfect, according to Andrew Fleming ’20.

“In class we work on various songs and dances,” Choir President Grace Brandon ’18 said.

“We have a lot of after school rehearsals, especially the week of the show when we have five hours after school everyday, which is tech week.”

According to Choir Director Christopher Pratt, Fall Follies will feature a wide range of

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many different genres of music allowing the audience to be kept on their toes for what number will be next during the show.

“This year we have everything from operetta to rock, country to folk and everything in between,” Pratt said.

Brandon said with practices being so long during tech week, a student must have good time management skills in order to balance the extensive practice hours with homework from the earlier school day.

“Time management becomes very important especially with the long rehearsals,” Brandon said. “It’s just staying on top of your work and not falling behind. It becomes easier to manage the longer you’re in choir,” Brandon said.

The choir also has a number of other shows during the year which are all different due to the type of music and the performances the audience will see out

South’s sailing team competes at the MISSA Michigan state championship

oct.

on the stage, according to Pratt.

“This show features all choirs on a variety of musical literature,” Pratt said.

“Sounds of the Season features holiday music. Winter Spectacular features competition sets and Broadway features our seniors.”

According to Fleming, a member of the Pointe Singers, the show will impress the audience and help people understand that show choir isn’t as mundane as people might think it to be.

“It’s a concert like nothing they’ve ever seen before,” Fleming said. “People often associate choir concerts with boring standing and singing, but it’s so different then that. It’s so involved and interesting and different. I think people just have to come and experience it for themselves.”

The performances will be on Oct. 20 and 21 at 7 p.m.

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South football plays their last home game against L’anse Creuse North.

2 | OPINION

THETOWERPULSE.NET | 10.12.17

Slow school Wi-Fi impedes on students’ ability to access useful learning resources

T

he technological revolution of the past 20 years has been something out of a fairytale. All of human information is available at a few taps of a thin piece of glass and metal, and now, in the cathedral of knowledge where we as students are supposed to forward our intellectual processes, we can’t access this wealth of knowledge.

To put it simply, the Wi-Fi at Grosse Pointe South is atrocious. This isn’t even referencing the infringement of Snapchat, but the fact that Wikipedia pages won’t load or how Google searches become akin to the movement of glaciers--incredibly slow. Imagine the frustration of reviewing for a test in class and not being able to reach Google Classroom, a utility many teachers employ as the homebase for all handouts and homework answers.

The woeful Wi-Fi has started to impede our ability to learn as students, which is completely contradictory to the whole point of school. Kahoot, an incredibly helpful review tool also employed by many teachers, has become nonresponsive and slow, making the utility pointless and inefficient a decent amount of the time.

This editorial is not about the restriction of Snapchat, but it seems like resources are being allocated inappropriately. Time and energy is being pushed towards this instead of making sure every room has a good connection to society’s greatest wealth of knowledge.

There are stories of teachers suggesting to students that they should go outside the room to access some sort of connection in order to participate in classroom activities. Think of all the time wasted and efficiency lost in the pursuit of a VPN or just a simple connection. The predator becomes prey as students have, and will, find a way around the blockage of Snapchat. The whole point of the blocking of Snapchats and VPNs were to halt student distractions and improve the classroom environment, while ignoring an even bigger issue that has made the educational opportunities for students difficult to access.

For example, in the Tower room, a room where Wi-Fi is critical in the update of our social media pages and research into stories, Wi-Fi and cellular service are both a rarity for Verizon customers, where AT&T is average at best. It is a hurdle that slows our whole production process.

We recognize the budget and money have been a major topic of discussion, and there is no easy solution to our plight, but maybe it’s worthwhile to invest in the ability of South students to achieve.

We were told South is to be kept preserved in its history while remaining modern and functioning.

If Grosse Pointe South High School wants to pride itself on being an elite institute of education, then its students need to have the basic learning opportunities which have become a necessity in this day and age of modern technology.

OUR VIEW || EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL CARTOON BY RILEY LYNCH ’18

Letter to the Editor Former student responds to week four editorial, criticizes administration I want to applaud the Editorial Staff of The Tower newspaper this year. Week after week, I seem to be reading quality, thorough and scholarly editorials. I would like to address the editorial from Issue 4, titled, “Administration responds harshly to vaping situation”.

The piece was very well written and speaks on the issue of “punish(ing) an entire student body”.

Of course, I am saddened to read students are abusing the purpose of the bathroom, but I am even more appalled at how administration handled the incident.

It should never be expected for the administration to, “strip the rights and privileges of students who follow the rules.” This is the administration taking a stance of retribution rather than prevention or rehabilitation.

The student(s) had no right to use tobacco products on South’s tobacco-free campus. One would think a just administration would focus on the students involved in the incident and hold only them accountable for their actions, or address the topic to the entire student body as an inhibiting measure. The administration could hold an assembly on tobacco and electronic cigarette use. Rather the administration disciplined around 50 percent of the student body, an act that has a precedent.

During my time at South, one male student decided to spread defecate all around the bathroom. The administration’s response at the time was to lock all male bathrooms. At the time, I had a class on the third floor of the IA-Building. I asked the teacher to use the restroom and I found myself having to go all the way to the first floor of the S-Building, just to use the restroom. This was not solely inconvenient; this was unjust. A female peer of mine could have walked 30 feet to a bathroom fit for them; I had to walk through two bridges and many staircases just to perform a normal bodily function.

This administration has created a hindrance to all members of one sex based on the actions of few.

Moving forward South’s administration should focus on preventative and rehabilitative solutions to an issue before making large assumptions on the actions of a single group.

SA President reflects on four years of homecoming experiences MY VIEW RACHEL HARRIS ’18 Supervising Editor

“If you are going to say the H-word to me right now, just don’t please,” I said as a friend walked up to me, mid-sentence, about to say the one word I needed a break from at the moment.

Homecoming.

It was Wednesday of Spirit Week, and I was in the midst of the chaos before senior Spirit Day and Unity Day. As the Student Association President, Spirit Week was a busy time for me. I was tired and stressed, thinking I wanted nothing more than for homecoming to be over.

But now, homecoming is over. Four years of planning floats, designing t-shirts and painting posters are done. I thought I would be relieved that a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, but all I want is to go back to the one week when the whole school unites together and shows their South spirit. I miss the days of getting to school before the sun rose in the morning, running across the gym floor during the Pep Assembly, and seeing the unique posters from each class

on the walls. been this way freshman year and taken the time After experiencing four years of homecom- to enjoy the excitement of homecoming week ing, it was interesting to see the difference be- even more. Spirit Week may be a stressful time, tween the freshmen and the seniors on their but it is also one of the best weeks of high school.

Spirit Days. I remember on the morning of my Don’t miss the opportunity to dress in a crazy freshman Spirit Day, I showed up to school in outfit, yell at the top of your lungs at the Pep Asa “Fire and Ice” outfit and I had left the house sembly, and dance like nobody’s watching you. feeling full of spirit. But once I got to school, I felt like one of the “lame freshmen” and decided to take off some of my spirit day attire.

Throughout sophomore and junior year, as we became more acquainted with each other and the school, we became more comfortable with wearing silly costumes and showing excitement on our Spirit Days.

When finally senior Spirit Day came, almost everyone donned a costume and the excitement was contagious. With each passing year, we gained more confidence to wear our own unique costumes on Spirit Day. At the pep assembly, the seniors were roaring with EMCEE Rachel Harris ’18 announces the winner of muexcitement and spirit. sical chairs during the pep assembly. Harris was one of Looking back, I wish I had four senior Pep Assembly emcees.

NEWSPAPER

the

TOWER

STAFF

Sincerely, Daniel Kuhnlein ‘17

Editor-in-Chief

Liz Bigham* ’18 John Francis* ’18 Online Editor-in-Chief

Henry Ayrault* ’19

Print Associate Editor

Alyssa Czech* ’19

Online Associate Editor

Grace Reyes* ’19

Supervising Editors at Large

Ray Hasanaj* ’18 Liam Walsh* ’18

Supervising Editors

Katherine Bird*, Rachel Harris*, Riley Lynch*, Elena Rauch*, all ’18 Bianca Pugliesi* ’19

Page Editors

Chase Clark*, Kaitlin Nemeh* Cam Smolen*, JD Standish*, all ’18 Adrian Doan* ’19 Anne Muawad*, Lauren Nemeh*, Maura Shine*, Aidan Walsh*, Elizabeth Wolfe*, all ’20 Copy Editors

Ian Dewey*, Piper Eschenburg*, Phoebe Miriani*, all ’18 Sylvia Hodges* ’19, Elizabeth Flower*, Victoria Gardey*, Claire Sheeren*, Imran Siddiqui*, all ’20 Business Managers

Evan Skaff* ’18 Web Editors

Arianna Pagenette* ’18, Kaitlyn Perkins* ’18, Katherine Costello*, Claire Koeppen*, Jaqui Mercier*, Audrey Whitaker*, all ’19 Dominic Dulac* ’20

Multimedia/Social Media Editors

Abigail Due* ’18, Erica Fossee* ’19 Tower Radio

Alex Acker* ’18 Zachary Heimbuch* ’19 Staff Writers

Margot Baer, Solana Bryson, Blair Cullen, Griffin Jones, Harper McClellan, Caitlin Miller, John Schulte, Lauren Thom, Brennan Zihlman, all ’18 John Bellamy, Isabella Craparotta, Allison MacLeod, Olivia Mlynarek, Sarah Stevenson, Arif Ulku, all ’19 Madeleine Allen, Julia Ambrozy, Daniel Klepp, Evelyn Kuhnlein, Charlie Matthews, Kari Ronning, all ’20 Eva McCord ’21 Adviser

Kaitlin Edgerton

“The Tower” is the weekly publication of the Advanced Journalism classes at Grosse Pointe South High School. It has always been a designated public form of student expression.

The Tower is located in room 142 in Grosse Pointe South High School. Please contact us at 313-432-3649.

Errors

Factual errors will be corrected on the opinion page or in news briefs written upon request and verification.

Letters

Letters to the Editor are encouraged and will be screened for libel, irresponsibility and obscenity. The Editorial Board may edit or shorten letters as long as the meaning is Opinion Pieces unchanged. All letters must be signed and Editorials represent the majority opinion of include a telephone number for confirmation. the Editorial Board and are left unsigned.

Request to withhold the writer’s name Columns represent the opinions of individual from publication for good reason will be staff members and outside contributors. considered. Letters can be sent to the above email address, or dropped off in “The Tower” Editorial Board Room.

An asterisk * denotes Editorial Board editors.

Advertising

Display adverising is sold at a rate of $7 per column inch, with discounts for large or frequent advertisers. Advertising may not advocate illegal activities or contain libelous, irresponsible or obscene material.

Professional Associations

Member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll, the Society for Newspaper Design and the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association.

THETOWERPULSE.NET | 10.12.17

3 | NEWS

BOO! Williams’ Haunted Garage will be set up and run by NHS volunteers for service hours on Oct. 14.

PHOTOS BY SOLANA BRYSON ’18

SPOOKS FOR SERVICE HOURS

NHS sponsors the Haunted Garage to fundraise for their fall charity, Fleece and Thank You SOLANA BRYSON ’18 Staff Writer National Honors Society (NHS) is sponsoring the Haunted Garage fundraiser on Oct. 14 from 6 to 9 p.m. to raise money for the their fall charity, Fleece and Thank You. The money raised from the Haunted Garage on Oct. 14 will help fund the production of blankets that the NHS students will be producing along with a video to donate to the Fleece and Thank you charity, according to NHS advisor, Lisa Kline.

“Our charity event for the fall is called ‘Fleece and Thank You.’ It’s a non-profit organization where our NHS kids make blankets and then they create a video, and the Fleece and Thank You organization takes the blanket and makes a little care package and takes the video and shows the video to a child who’s ill in the hospital and sometimes it develops a pen-pal relationship,” Kline said.

According to Kline, the NHS students will not receive any service hours for just attending the event, but by attending the Haunted Garage, it will make it easier to fundraise.

“The Haunted Garage is a thing that has been going on in Grosse Pointe for a while,” Kline said. “Each night of it, Glen Williams, who

runs it, allows part of the proceeds to go to the charity. He’s letting without all the real gore and horror other haunted houses can us do it as a fundraiser.” sometimes bring, according to Williams.

Jacob Martin ’18, an NHS member, will be running the fund“They’re focused on chasing you with chainsaws and screaming raiser alongside Kline and Williams. at you,” Williams said. “It was just a direction I didn’t want to go in.

“This is just an event that I decided to host I thought we can do Halloween better. We can do because I worked with Mr. Williams on the Halloween for families.”

Haunted Garage, so I decided to bring it to NaThe event raises money by selling ticket for We turned a Halloween tional Honors Society to help people get their $10. The small concession stand offers donuts and collection into service hours and raise money for our school,” other sweets for purchase, according to Williams. something that could Martin said.

“You can buy tickets in advance and just plan to 10 years ago, the Halloween Garage dego, or you can buy tickets at the door,” Kline said. help people and that’s cided to reach out to the PTO president for a “Either way, it makes no difference, you just have what we were looking chance to raise money for the PTO, Williams to go on that night and say that it’s for NHS. GLEN WILLIAMS said. Every year, schools were added to the list The goal this year is to make enough money Haunted Garage attending the Halloween Garage, until all nine to fund 100 blankets and to bring Grosse Pointe elementaries were included.

South and the community together to help the ill “We turned a Halloween collection into children in the hospital, according to Kline. something that could help people, and that’s what we were looking “The biggest thing is we want community to come,” Williams for,” Williams said. said. “We want community involved.”

The Haunted Garage is geared towards children and families,

Madame Moon’s class says bonjour to pen pals MAURA SHINE ’20 Page Editor French students at Grosse Pointe South High School are getting a chance to immerse themselves in French culture. Starting this October, Madame Moon’s French class began communicating with pen pals from a suburb outside of Lyon.

Sophie Iafrate ’20 is excited to get the chance to participate in this type of program, since many language programs don’t get to do anything like this.

“I think it’s cool because I’ve always wanted a pen pal,” Iafrate said. “The people I talked to said they’re pretty excited about it because it’s something other than classwork.”

The benefits of doing a program like this are numerous, according to Moon. It will improve how well students are speaking the language and provides something they can’t get in the classroom, allowing them to absorb and apply their knowledge of French culture.

“It’s a real world application of the language, but then it also provides them the opportunity to learn about these students,” Moon said, “It’s not just using the language to communicate but it’s learning about the culture through the language and that’s a really amazing

SNAPSHOT MEMORIES:

Yearbook club at South recruits new members

thing to see.”

Moon got the idea from when she studied abroad in France in 2004, and this will be her twelfth year doing the program. According to Moon, the Mother’s Club funds the French pen pals project every year. The students send candy or trinkets back and forth from their native countries.

“We talk about sending a newspaper or magazine or we used to send mix CD’s,” Moon said,” Sending candy that is common in other countr y It’s learning about the is something we’ll culture through the share.” language and that’s T h e and that’s a really tradition amazing thing to see of writing to the MADAME MOON penpals French Teacher will hopefully be continued at South for years to come, Moon said. As long as Madame Moon is at South, the students will keep getting this chance to interact with the students of Lyon.

PH

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PHOEBE MIRIANI ’18 Staff Writer Yearbooks are a part of many high schools’ history. The yearbook club helps capture those moments of high school for students to remember.

“It’s cool to think I played a part in creating a book that people in my class will nostalgically look back on years from now,” Jade Shepherd ’18 said.

Shepherd, along with Lee Jackson ’19, are the Editors in Chief of the yearbook club, which entails overseeing each section of the book and the staff members and making sure they’re focused on getting their tasks done throughout the year.

“It’s an extremely tedious process,” Jackson said.

The Yearbook Club will start welcoming new members after school on Oct. 17. The club meets every day of the week besides Thursdays, but members don’t have to attend every meeting, according to Jackson.

“My favorite thing about yearbook is probably the fact that our budget allows us to make frequent trips to Farms,” Shepherd said. “Free food after school is pretty motivating.”

During the times they meet, they divide up jobs, including naming people, organizing pages, indexing and collecting photos, said Shepherd. They are able to get all this work done with the help of their advisor, John Cilluffo.

“I became the advisor back in 2003,” Cilluffo said. “The assistant principal at the time told me, ‘It’s not that hard, it’s like scrapbooking.’ I enjoy being a part of history, and I truly believe that is what yearbook is all about.”

Jackson said her favorite thing about yearbook this year is the connection between all the editors.

“We’re like a family in a sense. We get along really well and we have a close bond,” Jackson said.

Mr. Cilluffo needs According to Shepherd, the most rewarding feeling is your yearbook when she can hold the finished product in her hand. portrait by Oct. 23.

Deadlines for senior portraits and quotes are Oct. 25 and Don’t drop the ball!

Nov. 1, respectively.

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VIEWING THE POINTE The Viewpointe began in 1928 and many students cherish the yearbook years after they graduate.

PHOTO BY RILEY LYNCH ’18

4 | HOMECOMING

THETOWERPULSE.NET | 10.12.17

PHOTO BY JOHN FRANCIS ’18

ers. The fear of glitter bombs was real, and people were extremely into representing their grade and their school.

What changed from then to now? Despite all the hard work the Student Association and Class Council puts into spirit week and the dance, students just don’t seem to get as excited as they used to.

Was it just the excitement of freshman year? Is it simply the students’ lack of enthusiasm for no good reason, students not liking themes, or do we really not like our school?

I believe it is not the fault of any of the groups here at South that work hard to make spirit week fun, but that we have come to dislike our school because of its reputation.

Since my freshman year, there have been a few unsavory incidents that have gotten us in the news and given us a bit more of a reputation in the area. Aside from being “Grosse Pointe snobs” in the eyes of the communities around us, we’re a disrespectful and rough crowd.

While these events were resolved well by the administration when they took place, people outside of our community don’t know what amazing steps we took and that what happened doesn’t define our student body and community.

It’s sad to think this shame could influence our student body, but for me, it’s definitely a reality. I wish that I didn’t get that “look” when I say I go to Grosse Pointe South. I wish the people who have that reaction could understand what a great school and community we really are, and I wish I could too.

I think this sense of embarrassment affects our student body more than we will admit. We want to be proud of our school, but there are some old things we can’t be proud of.

So what can we do to let bygones be bygones?

We can start by participating in spirit week. We must prove we are proud of our school for the steps it took long ago to overcome these incidents. By showing our pride, we expel the shame. By showing our pride, we prove to others that we are more than that, as a school and a community.

A look at the lack of student enthusiam this year MY VIEW

AUDREY WHITAKER ’19 Section Editor

Spirit week is supposed to be the most fun and exciting week of school. We’re supposed to be able to coast on that excitement until Thanksgiving break. It’s supposed to be so much fun; your football team is guaranteed to win and fill you with school pride.

My freshman year, this was totally true. Students from every grade were pumped. People were riding scooters in the halls, music played over the speakers and seniors walked through the halls with noise mak-

Freshmen Homecoming Experience: Expectation vs. Reality

EXPECTATION: I thought more people would be dancing on the dance floor but it was kind of mellow.

REALITY: Homecoming was fun but kind of boring. I didn’t expect for so many people to be sitting in the commons.

REALITY: It was fun, there was good music and a lot of my friends were there. There was also a lot of people I didn’t know that I got to know. Homecoming was a great experience for my first year.

Jennifer Nihem ’21

EXPECTATION: I thought it was going to be really big and hype considering spirit week and everyone talking about it.

Ellie Costello ’21

REALITY: Homecoming was really fun.

Everyone was having a good time together.

Sam Cieleska ’21

EXPECTATION: I didn’t really know what to expect from homecoming. I knew it was going to be similar to a dance but more fun.

Gia Agosta ’21

Diane Dollison ’21

GRACE REYES ’19 Web Editor in Chief

EXPECTATION: I expected homecoming to be a fun experience. I wasn’t expecting it to be as strict.

REALITY: They made us wait in a really long line and I didn’t know you had to wait to leave until 10:30 p.m.

EXPECTATION: I expected really good music and it to be a really fun experience overall and a lot of people there.

REALITY: Well, it was pretty fun but the music could have been a little bit better and it was just a weird experience for the first time.

If your senior portraits don’t capture your special inner beauty, give us a call.

THETOWERPULSE.NET | 10.12.17

5 | FEATURE

A venture into veganism AUDREY WHITAKER ’19 Managing Editor

Being vegan isn’t just about the diet, according to Thomas Progar, vice president of VegMichigan, a nonprofit organization focused on promoting the health, environmental and ethical benefits.

“Being vegan is more than someone’s diet; it is an ethic or a lifestyle,” Progar said.

Katie Cherven ’20 said along with her diet, she had to change the products she bought and used day-to-day.

“I don’t eat animal products, and I don’t wear animals. I don’t understand why dead animals are considered a fashion statement,” Cherven said. “I don’t support animal exploitation...animals don’t exist for human entertainment. I don’t think zoos, aquariums, animal circuses or animal experimentation are morally right.”

Progar said many vegans avoid products like leather, silk and wool for the same reasons they avoid products like eggs and milk-- they feel the animals used for the production of t h e product are mistreated and the methods used to produce them are inhumane.

“For other products, such as clothing, vegans do not wear leather or fur because it is the skin of an animal,” Progar said.

Progar likes vegan brands because many of the people behind them are more concerned about the welfare of

animals and being environmentally sound rather than making a profit.

“Big companies are very deceptive when it comes to animal testing, especially makeup brands,” Cherven said. “Luckily, the internet exists, so a quick search is enough to let me know which brands to avoid.”

Cherven also said it’s easy to find out if products are testing on animals or contain animal products by doing a Google search.

Many larger brands are required to allow their products to be tested on animals in order to sell in certain countries, Cherven added.

“I always try to Google beauty products before I buy them to make sure I want to support what they’re doing,” Cherven said.

Progar said products that don’t contain animal ingredients and are not tested on animals can be identified by the cruelty free symbol on the container of most vegan products.

When it comes to food, Cherven said she is able to eat at most of the same restaurants as her non-vegan friends.

Progar agrees, saying finding vegan food in restaurants isn’t hard to do.

“To be honest, I really like all the vegan restaurants in the area.

Why I picked the vegan lifestyle MY VIEW

They all offer something different,” Progar said. “When I first became vegan 10 years ago, there weren’t many choices, but there are a lot of vegan restaurants today. In addition, almost every restaurant in metro Detroit offers a few vegan options on their menu.”

Progar thinks substitutes for meat and dairy are not only tasty, but provide the protein and flavor a vegan needs for a healthy diet, and are becoming available at more and more locations.

“For burgers, I like the Beyond Burger and the Beast Burger by a company called Beyond Meat. For fish, I like Gardein’s Fishless Fillets. For chicken, I like all of Gardein’s chicken selections. If you would like to make a sandwich, Tofurky slices are the best,” Progar said. “Additionally, I think some other brands like Field Roast, Daiya nondairy cheese, Kite Hill cheese, Follow Your Heart Vegenaise, Just Mayo, and So Delicious non-dairy ice cream are great.”

Both Progar and Ethan Schenk ’20, who has been vegan for 2 years, said Ben and Jerry’s seven vegan ice cream flavors are delicious alternatives to milk based ice cream.

Progar noted it is still very important to keep one’s health in mind when on a vegan diet.

“It’s good to have veggie burgers and all of these other products that are now available in almost every grocery store but, ideally, if you want to switch to a vegan diet, you want to make sure you are eating healthy,” Progar said. “If you are considering going vegan, make sure you eat lots of vegetables, greens, fruits, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds. These foods provide the nutrients we need to be strong and healthy.”

My week with a plant-based diet MY VIEW

MARGOT BAER ’18 Staff Writer

JACQUI MERCIER ’19 Managing Editor

Ever since I can remember, I have had a special place in my heart for animals, but I never thought I would have ended up changing my entire lifestyle for them.

W h e n I was 15 years old, I stumbled across a video on YouTube titled, “Why I’m Vegan + How You Can Be Too!” and ever since watching it, I have been a vegan.

Even though I have been vegan for almost two years, I still face some struggles. It is hard to know which products to buy and not buy and what brands to support or not, but that is something you learn along the way.

Veganism, to me, is something you commit to for your whole life, it’s not just a diet. To be a vegan, you need to make a conscious choice every time you go to the store. Personally, I don’t support brands that test on animals of any kind. At first, this was extremely hard for me to keep up with, but now I have learned all about the brands to support and all about the cruelty-filled c o mp a n i e s FRESH FOOD Margot Baer’s weekly meal prep that I will of brown rice, lentils, carrots, broccoli and n e v e r spinach. support.

PHOTO BY MARGOT BAER ’18 My most recent effort to become as ethical as possible is buying as little clothing from the big industries, such as H&M or Zara. These companies treat their employees very poorly and pay them almost nothing. This is the hardest roadblock I have had thus far on my vegan journey. Trying to find ethical clothing brands that have reasonably priced clothes is extremely difficult.

Constantly being surrounded by non-vegans can be a challenge. The standard American diet is so drilled into people’s heads that it’s almost impossible for them to even wrap their brain around the idea of not eating animals or animal products. Whenever someone finds out that I am vegan, about half of the time their immediate response is something like “I could never do that” or, “But bacon”. The first response is very sad in my eyes. To me, they are really saying, “Food controls me and my brain so much, I won’t even let the thought of trying not to add any more pain and suffering into the world cross my mind.” The second response makes me so upset. To me, bacon is a living breathing life, a creature that had thoughts and a family, and I think that response is extremely insensitive.

Veganism is such a huge part of my life, and at this point, I can’t imagine what it would be like without it. Having something that I am passionate about is what keeps me going. I think everyone needs a certain thing they love so much that they make major sacrifices for it. For me, it’s this planet and all the beings on it.

GRAPHICS BY RILEY LYNCH ’18

Day One: Tuesday

Last night, I came across a documentary called “What The Health” on Netflix and found myself surprisingly interested in it. Within the hour-and-a-half running time, I learned more about nutrition and the food industry than I had in the entirety of my life prior to watching it. The movie claimed that after just one week of eating a plant based diet, the health benefits were noticeable. I got curious and decided to give it a try for a week, and see how it would go and take it from there.

Today wasn’t nearly as difficult as I expected. I ate a banana for breakfast, like I always do, and made my normal salad at Farms, only replacing my usual grilled chicken with chickpeas. I ate the dinner my mom made, without the meat. I ran into my first bump in the road when my mom pulled out the ice cream for dessert, which left my mouth watering. Immediately, I left the kitchen. I wasn’t about to give in on the first night.

Day Two: Wednesday

Overall, today was easier because I had a slightly better idea of what to expect. I had the same breakfast and lunch, but switched it up and cooked some tofu and kale for dinner. While cooking, I almost instinctively took out butter to grease the pan, but luckily caught myself last second. I’m known for having quite the sweet tooth; there was no way I’d go another day without ice cream. After school I picked up a couple containers of almond milk-based chocolate and vanilla ice cream, and it was a lot better than I expected.

Day Three: Thursday

I’m tired of eating the same stuff. This is getting boring and repetitive, so I switched it up by making a green smoothie for breakfast with coconut water, spinach, mangos and bananas. Needless to say it tasted a lot better than it looked.

For lunch, I went to Farms and was immediately overwhelmed by the smell of fresh chicken tenders, but I pulled it together, kept walking and got some vegetarian grape leaves and tabouli instead. So far I’m pretty surprised by how it’s been easier for me to give up dairy than meat. I thought it would be the other way around going into this.

Day Four: Friday

I started off today with some toast with peanut butter on top. I got some spicy noodles from Sprout House for lunch, snacked on some trail mix. I had Mediterranean food for dinner. Today’s easily been the tastiest day so far. I feel like I’m starting to get a hang of going about this in a way that’s both healthy and enjoyable for me.

Day Five: Saturday

It’s homecoming! Yay! I started off with an apple and an extremely filling almond butter banana smoothie from J House and made a quinoa, bean, pepper and chickpea salad for lunch. The only dilemma today was that I preordered my white fish homecoming dinner before this whole thing and basically just stared at it when it was brought to the table. That was tempting... but I stayed strong.

Day Six: Sunday

Today was busy, so I just ate fruit and leftovers from other stuff I’ve made so far. But I came across a crisis: I ran out of vegan ice cream. I searched frantically around my pantry reading the labels of every sweet I picked up and my jaw dropped when I found that I could eat Oreos. Oreos, which are supposed to be “chocolate” cookies with a “cream” filling, don’t list any dairy in their ingredients. Let that sink in.

This is probably the most unhealthy thing I ate all week. Plant based? No. Necessary and technically okay to eat? Absolutely.

Day Seven: Monday

I didn’t wake up today thinking, “Thank God, this is the end,” like I initially anticipated. Instead, I thought, “this was a lot easier than I thought”. I had a smoothie, a salad and more Mediterranean food today. I’m pretty much used to eating like this, and I’ve grown to like it. I haven’t felt that gross, over-full feeling in a while and my skin looks just about the best it ever has. I don’t feel weak by any means; I’m performing the same I always have at field hockey. I plan to stick with being dairy-free after this, as it’s surprisingly easy (and just as delicious) if you replace dairy products like milk, coffee creamer and ice cream with almond, soy or coconut-based products. I’m going to continue to cut back on the amount of meat I eat, but I think going fully vegan is something people should ease their way into. Ultimately, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the past week. I learned a lot of new recipes, learned a lot about nutrition and my body and it served as a wakeup call that I really do feel better without eating so much processed food.

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6 | FEATURE

THETOWERPULSE.NET | 10.12.17

ON K E Y

South students showcase their musical talents throughout the community

Motivated violinist performs weekly at Eastern Market in Eastern Market that is helping bring Detroit back,” Farrell said.

Farrell said although some people just walk by without Charlotte Farrell ’18 has been playing the violin since she showing any response to the music, a lot of people will stop was just five years old. She said her mother is the person who and tell her they like the songs she’s playing. pushed her to pursue music.

“We don’t just play classical music; we play music that peo“I remember we would always go to orchestra concerts ple want to listen to,” Farrell said. “We play when I was really little and I would always some Led Zeppelin songs, and it’s just reallook up on the stage and say, ‘I want to play ly cool to see people respond to what we’re that, I want to play that kind of music,’” Far“I remember we would doing down there. It’s a real sense of comrell said. munity at Eastern Market and people are so always go to orchestra Farrell is now involved in multiple orfriendly.” concerts when I was chestras, such as the Civic Youth EnsemAs Farrell thinks about the next step in really little and I would bles, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the her music career, she said playing for a uniUniversity of Michigan’s Youth Ensemble always look up on the versity is something she would love to do, and the Symphony Orchestra at South. In stage and say, ‘I want to even though it is a long application process. addition to these, she is a part of a quar“You have to submit your regular applay that, I want to play tet with students from all over the Detroit plication like everyone else, and then you that kind of music.”’ area, and in a group with Billy Beardslee have to film a video tape, which is called CHARLOTTE FARRELL ’18 ’19, Anna Jarboe ’19 and Brianna Corrion a pre-screening, and send it out with your ’18. common application,” Farrell said. “If they Farrell said her goal is to practice four like you enough and your playing, then they hours a day, which helps prepare her for the ask you to actually come and audition in person.” two to three performances each ensemble has per year.

Farrell said as the end of her high school career approaches, In addition to these performances, Farrell also plays at Eastshe feels lucky to have had the opportunities she was given, ern Market on Saturdays. She said she has been going to Eastsuch as performing at Eastern Market and being a part of her ern Market with her family since she was young and would see orchestras. street performers, also called buskers. After learning how easy “Now that I’m auditioning for college, it feels nerve-rackit was to get a busker license almost two years ago, she decided ing, but also exhilarating,” Farrell said. “I get to see if everyto get one and has been performing downtown since. thing I put into my life, because music has been my life since “It was really cool for me, (I’d see) these people just using I was five years old, I get to see if it’s all been worth it, and their talents to help people and sort of create this environment hopefully it will be.”

LAUREN THOM ’18 Staff Writer

BEHIND THE MUSIC Charlotte Farrell ’18 plays the violin at Eastern Market. She performs with other South students every Saturday.

PHOTO BY LAUREN THOM ’18

Middle school student enrolled half day at South, finds success with music program & academic classes ment flute suite in fifth grade. Later, in seventh grade, he composed a piece which Pierce’s orchestra premiered at their spring Most eighth graders seen at South can concert last year. only be found in the early hours of the “He is ahead of where almost every kid is morning, rushing into class at 8 a.m., and who is his age,” Takis said. then juggling rides back to their middle Takis, who also teaches at Pierce, has had school for second hour.

Plansker as a student for over two years. He However, Ian Planagreed to let Plansker sker ’22, an eighth gradaudition for the wind er from Pierce Middle ensemble in order to school, spends his time “The expectations challenge him more. at South a little differentare a lot higher for “This is a kid who ly than most. the work you have to writes a lot of music, Plansker is at the high who is studying with produce, it’s not that school for not one, but a DSO member and a bad for me because three periods every day Wayne State professor,” in the afternoon.

I’m used to working at Takis said. “It would He starts off his mornthat level with many have struck me as a ings at home, studying of my extracurricular waste of his time to keep German online in lieu him where he was.” activities.” of a first hour. He then Plansker is also curIAN PLANSKER ’22 heads over to Pierce for rently a student in honsecond and third period. ors biology and honors After, he has lunch and geometry, the last two then travels to South, hours of his school day at South. Yet, he said ready for a more intellectually challenging he’s not feeling terribly overwhelmed by afternoon. these additional courses.

Plansker’s first class at the high school is “The expectations are a lot higher for the playing flute and piccolo in fifth hour wind work you have to produce,” Plansker said. ensemble, the most advanced band at South.

“It’s not that bad for me because I’m used According to Christopher Takis, South’s to working at that level with many of band director, Plansker wrote a seven moveELIZABETH FLOWER ’20 Copy Editor

PASSION FOR PLAYING Ian Plansker ’22 plays many instruments, including the flute. He is in the wind ensemble at South, and also takes three academic classes.

PHOTO COURTESY OF IAN PLANSKER ’22

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my extracurricular activities.”

In his free time, Plansker utilizes 3D modeling programs online, dances ballet and, in addition to the flute, plays violin and piano. Furthermore, he is fluent in Japanese, having learned the language on his own.

According to Takis, Plansker is a very talented young person. Takis guesses music especially will be a part of Plansker’s future.

“I think he feels refreshed to come to band everyday and be able to play some college-level literature,” Takis said. “It’s a lot of what we do in wind ensemble and he is holding his own just fine.”

Plansker also participates in full orchestra, an after school ensemble with both band and orchestra students. Roo Wiley ’20, who plays violin, performs in it with him.

“Ian’s hardworking and really dedicated,” Wiley said. “He puts a lot of effort into his schoolwork. There’s no way to describe the way he plays; he’s just really good at everything he does.”

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SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK: Would a later start time benefit students?

PHOTO BY CAMERON SMOLEN ’18

MAURA SHINE ’20 Page Editor High school students need nine hours of sleep, according to Nationwide Children’s Hospital and many respected medical groups, yet the average high schooler only gets seven each night.

Getting so little sleep affects how students learn and how productive they can be, according to the American Medical Association. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control also endorse a later than 8:30 a.m. start time as better for the bodies and brains of high school students.

Some school districts not far from Grosse Pointe agree with the findings and have decided that students should start school later-- or at least be given the choice.

This school year, Ann Arbor Public Schools gave students the option of starting as late as 9 a.m., according to Jeff Gaynor, secretary of the Ann Arbor School Board.

“Students would have the option of starting first hour or second hour,” Gaynor said.

“For those starting second hour, there was the option of taking the scheduled bus to their middle school, which starts later than high schools’ first hour, and then a bus from there to the high school.”

Schools in Dearborn and Birmingham, where local chapters of the national Start School Later advocacy group, have also enacted later start times. Start School Later advocates locally for safer, healthier school start times. Various research and examples of later start schools are on its website, startschoollater.net.

Grosse Pointe Public School System President Brian Summerfield said the

board has not discussed the issue of school starting later for North or South, but that doesn’t mean the board wouldn’t discuss it if the issue were raised.

“This has not been an agenda item for the board since I joined the board in 2013. It may have been discussed before then,” Summerfield said. “If there is evidence-based research showing that it improves student learning and it is feasible, the board may take it up in the future.”

Gaynor said there is valid evidence that starting school later can improve students’ grades, but the district will know for sure after more time has passed since the change.

As a former middle school teacher, he has seen first-hand how a lack of sleep negatively affects students.

“The research says yes,” that getting more sleep and waking up later is beneficial to teenagers, Gaynor said.

“I will say as a former middle school teacher, students are not at their best first hour, even with middle school starting later than at the high school,” Gaynor said.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, teens need to start school later than 8:30 a.m. Research shows during puberty, teens’ physiological sleep schedules are altered, on average, by two hours. This makes it difficult to fall asleep before 11 p.m. and wake up before 8 a.m.

Summerfield is familiar with evidence pointing to benefits of later start times for high school students, but there are many barriers to implementing changes.

“If a later start could be accommodated taking other factors into consideration, I would support it,” he said.

“However, any delay in starting school would be added to the end of the day,” he said.

“This is why it is so difficult to accommodate a later start. If we started an hour later, school would end an hour later, and all after-school activities would be similarly delayed.

Some South students like the idea of starting school later, but some are concerned about extending the day for after-school activities.

Bennett Smihal ’21 said that more sleep would be beneficial to him and help him improve his school performance. Owen Chen ’20 agrees, but has concerns about how school starting later could affect after-school sports-- and then, possibly, time for homework.

“I think that it’s a good idea because you get more sleep, but it could impact after-school sports because you have to stay at school longer, which means you have to be at your sport longer,” Chen said.

Take a peek behind the curtain, get to know Ms. Peck in a different light order to teach Shakespeare, you need to MADELINE ALLEN ’20 be able to do it. So that is where I got Staff Writer In the classroom, Danielle Peck is an started, it was very inspiring,” Peck said.

According to Peck, once she returned English teacher. But after the school day ends, Peck spends her time memorizing from London, she made it a goal to apscripts, rehearsing stage directions and ply theatrical aspects to her teaching to better her students’ understanding of performing in front of audiences.

For the last two years, Peck has been ex- writing.

“I’m an English teacher, ploring her interest in so I love writing, I love to theatre. As of 2015, she has been in a variety of I learned how to read. When I’m teaching, shows that are political, perform because in my job is to convey that enthusiasm to my students,” contemporary, musical, order to teach ShakePeck said. “When we are along with Shakespeare speare, you need to be reading a book in class, no productions. able to do it. matter what I do, I feel like “I have been doing DANIELLE PECK I haven’t connected with theatre since the sumsome students by the end mer of 2015. I got this of a book. But the thing idea in January of 2015, that I really wanted to do something inter- about theatre is, you can take a piece esting for my teaching over the summer. of text that you have so much passion I got to travel to London for three weeks about, you can connect immediately in the summer for a Shakespeare perfor- with an audience and share with them mance program. I worked with different your passions about that literature.”

The love of theatre and performing actors, directors, costumers, and it’s pretty has given Peck a new aspect of teaching, amazing,” Peck said.

According to Peck, the most effective and betters the way her students learn, way to portray literature to her students is according to Peck. through acting.

“I learned how to perform because in

STAGE-STEALING PERFORMANCE Danielle Peck steals the show at her performance. The beginning of her acting career came once she returned from a trip to London.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DANIELLE PECK

VÄLKOMMEN! Meet foreign exchange student Simon Drehmer KAITLYN PERKINS ’18 Web Editor

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? Simon Drehmer WHAT COUNTRY ARE YOU FROM? I am from Sweden.

WHAT GRADE ARE YOU IN? I am a sophomore.

HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO BE A FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENT FOR? I am going to be an exchange student for 11 months, so I will be here until July.

HOW IS YOUR EXPERIENCE AT SOUTH SO FAR? So far, it has been very good. It’s amazing to see how different it is from Sweden, especially with the pace. It’s much faster, we usually have a 15 to 20 minute recess in between class periods, and here ,we only get around six or seven. I think it pushes productivity.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE EXPERIENCE SO FAR HERE? I think my favorite experience has been the sense of comradery. You are South, you are Blue Devils, and that is not an experience that I have not yet had. You are a community, together.

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The benefits of out-of-school sports Schlissel has been playing volleyball for four years and currently plays for Crank It Volleyball in Macomb County.

Schlissel said practice for her team is two hours every night.

High school is ridden with many time-consuming activities, and sports According to Schlissel, it’s imperative to be committed are no exception, whether they be inside or outside of school. to playing one sport instead of In high school, the season for a particular sport only lasts so many, since practice takes up long, and when that season is over, the athlete’s time playing is sigan extensive amount of time. Acnificantly reduced, according to the Michigan High School Athletic When playing for cording to Sherry, high school Association (MHSAA). gets significantly busier, espea school sport you cially between balancing school, According to the MHSAA, after a tryout or competition with the school team, student athletes are prohibited to participate in are representing work and hobbies. an out-of-school team of the same sport during the interscholasSince outside of something that is school sports aren’t tic season. Typically, while the interscholastic and out-of-school seasons overlap, it is difficult to join a team because the team has tied to the school close to you. already set their roster for the season. Some student athletes choose calendar, finding to play a sport outside of school to increase the chance to have an time to participate in opportunity to play in college. school activities can REGAN SHERRY ’21 Sam Sklarski ’18 has playing soccer since she was three and also be challenging. According to Sherry, hasn’t stopped since. she rarely gets the chance to hang out with “I think it would be fun to play for the school, but because I’m her friends because of her rigorous going to college for soccer, it’s more competitive,” Sklarski said. hockey schedule and daily homework.

In out of school sports, the players stay with the same team for a longer Sklarski said homework takes up most of her nights and amount of time and it is easier to create a stronger bond between team- she has to stay up late in order to get it all finished. The mates, Sklarski said. Since she has been with her current teammates since sports, being a time commitment, also teaches time she was 11, they have a strong friendship. management skills and how to work with others.

According to ice hockey player Regan Sherry ’21, one of her favorite “When playing for a school sport you are things about her team is she sees people that she doesn’t see at school ev- representing something that is close to eryday. you,” Sherry said.

Sophia Schlissel ’21 is also heavily involved in sports outside of school, and said she enjoys getting to know her teammates, many of whom have become her friends.

“Hanging out with the team is a lot of fun, and so is getting to know everybody,” Schlissel said.

JULIA AMBROZY & CAITLIN MILLER ’20 & ’18 Staff Writers

DANGLE SNIPE Regan Sherry ’21 skates hard for the puck. Sherry plays for Michigan Elite Travel team.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SAM SKLARSKI ’18 & REGAN SHERY ’21

FOOT RACE Sam Sklarski ’18 finds the gap towards the goal. Sklarski has been playing soccer since she was three years old.

BREAKING THE LINE Sklarski dribbles the ball toward the net. She will be attending and playing at Michigan State next year.

Athletic Director looks ahead to various future rennovations AIDAN WALSH ’20 Page Editor Grosse Pointe South’s athletic facilities haven’t seen a major revamp since the football field received a 500,000 dollar re-turfing in 2014--but there may be a reason to believe this may change in the near future.

Athletic Director Jeremy Hawkins elaborated on some new things students might see coming to better accommodate the many teams in South’s athletic program.

“The press box we’d like to [upgrade], the sound, there’s a lot of things that we could do, it’s just a matter of funding,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins said there are some of projects he would like to undertake in order to improve South’s athletic facilities. These included new audio systems for both the gym and the field, as well as a potential new practice area for various teams.

“I’d love to, in a perfect world, have another turf space,” Hawkins said. “If you turf the outfield of the baseball field, there are a couple high schools that do that, and it’s very beneficial for baseball because our baseball team plays a ton of games.”

However, according to Hawkins, if any of these things were to be accomplished, it would take a group effort from various outside organizations. He said the cost of replacing just the audio system for the football field would be somewhere between ten and 20 thousand dollars.

“We could just say let’s attack these couple things first, and then once we get that done, now let’s move to the next priority,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins emphasized his favorite potential project for South’s athletic facil-

ities would be adding a new practice space for teams that need it, citing the common overuse of the main field by all teams.

“For me, the thing that is most important [is] probably a practice space,” Hawkins said.

Mike Mallegg, Vice President of the Grosse Pointe South Gridiron Club, commented on the possibility of funding an upcoming renovation for the field.

“We’d have to look at it in terms of the cost, but I would say that the PA system is a big part of everybody’s football experience at South [and] I think improving it would be a great idea,” Mallegg said.

However, the Gridiron Club is mainly responsible for the football teams’ equipment and other operational costs, so a large undertaking like a press box revamp would likely have to follow Hawkins’ plan of getting multiple booster clubs to pool together for a large renovation in multiple areas.

“The Gridiron Club is primarily concerned with fundraising and volunteering to support the football program,” Mallegg said.

Mallegg said he hopes the field is kept in prime condition.

“I think that we need to make sure we maintain the field, because that’s as very big investment, and the other thing would be to consider upgrading the press box,” Mallegg said.

Varsity soccer player John Blake ’20 expressed his opinions on a potential new turf field for South.

“That would be good because when field hockey has a game we have to practice on the grass behind [the bleachers],” Blake said. “It’s not the best grass, so if we could get a separate field that would be absolutely fantastic.”

PHOTO BY AIDAN WALSH ’20

Second Chance: boys get another kick at North on Oct 11 CHARLIE MATTHEWS ’20 Staff Writer The boys varsity soccer team is set to face North for the second and final time this season at home on Oct. 11. The team previously battled North at their field on Sept. 18 and struggled to a 4-1 loss.

As South faces North once again, they’re hoping to capitalize on the mistakes that were made during that game.

“It’s not that they were a better team at all, it’s just that we had a couple of mental lapses,” varsity team captain Anthony Frasier ’18 said. “We’ve been working on our concentration throughout the games and we’ve seen a lot of improvement. Honestly, I find it hard to believe we are going to lose again.”

The team has been focusing on making an effort to not let a losing score affect the team’s morale during the game and to play as one team, instead of having one or two superstars leading the way, according to Humza Mohsin ’19.

When South fans that came to support the team at North last time, it did not go unnoticed by the team.

“I feel that if the fans come out to help support the team, we’ll for sure win,” Frasier said. “We’ll be giving out t-shirts to the first 100 fans that get to the game.”

BAR DOWN Peter Buhl ’18 stares down the ball ready to strike against Utica. The boys took on L’Anse Creuse North on Monday night.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PETER BUHL ’18