Tri-Color Times 2022-04

Granger musicians perform “The Night of the Chess Music”

By Adrian Aguirre

ASIDE from a cello’s string slipping, two car crashes, and three violinists’ in distress, the musicians were able to come through at the end of the night and produce a successful winter concert. The concert was titled “The Night of the Chess Music.”

“This was probably the most ambiguous title I’ve used, and in hindsight, maybe not the best choice!” Mr. Moore, the school’s music director, said.

Mr. Moore knew it wasn’t going to be a typical holiday concert, because he knew that some of the pieces had no connection to December, Christmas, or any other seasonal holiday. Therefore, he relied on a southern expression.

“There is something called a ‘chess pie’ in the south,” Mr. Moore said. A chess pie is basically just a pie. Except this type of pie usually contains a small amount of cornmeal, and typi-

cally lacks a custard or fruit filling. Mr. Moore says that saying ‘chess’ with a southern accent sounds a lot like ‘just,’ and therefore, a chess pie, is just pie.

“I want the audience to want to come back,” Emma McAllister (12) said. McAllister plays the cello for Granger’s orchestra, and she has done so since her freshman year. “I want them to be surprised at how well we can play,” McAllister said.

McAllister was really excited for the instrumental concert. She’s been preparing by attending rehearsals, playing the music, and listening to the pieces that she is going to play.

Although she is very excited, McAllister says that one of the challenges she had to face was learning a new instrument and learning it quickly. Since she was in every musical piece for the concert, McAllister had a lot of work to do, and at the end of the

night, all of her hard work paid off.

“In order to do anything well, you must work for it,” Olivia Gukeisen (12) said. Gukeisen, who is this year’s concert master and violinist, says that even though she was very excited, she does think it could’ve been better.

“I think that we could’ve done so much better, but it is what it is,” Gukeisen said. Yet, she does hope that the audience will want to come back for the next concert.

“There is nothing like being able to listen to the music around you, and fit your own sound inside of it,” Gukeisen said, “it is a very special experience, and I love being able to share it with my orchestra, and the audience.”

“When I go on stage, I feel great, I feel excited, and powerful,” Alexander Suarez (11) said. Suarez, who plays the baritone saxophone, has been performing here for quite a while, and says

Heard in

that he wants to gain more experience as a performer from this concert.

“It could’ve been better,” he said, “we could’ve used a bit more time on our pieces, but overall, I felt excited and overwhelmed. I also hope that the audience also felt excited watching us perform.”

“Before going on stage, I get kind of nervous,” Yareli Lopez (12) said, “you never know what’s going to happen. mistakes can be made. When going onto the stage knowing that you got your band members to back you up, you feel fine after a while, and you get what you get.”

Lopez, who has been playing the alto saxophone for four years says that even though she feels as if they didn’t have enough time to practice, it still sounded good for it being the first concert. Due to scheduling conflicts the music

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the Halls

By Naomi Dominguez “I’M

5-foot-2-inches. On my money I’m 6-foot-3-inches.”

“It’s like they’re making machine guns and hospitals.”

“I’ve been expelled from this school five times, bro.”

“He got more in the front than the back.”

“We did the fight without your brother, and it was boring!”

“Tell me why I just spent five minutes trying to unstick my bracelet from some kids backpack.”

“I can read people.”

“I read tacos.”

“I got cheated on.”

“That is the mustard!”

“Let’s skip — all we do is sit around anyways.”

“Did you hear someone got in a fight?”

“I followed her ex.”

“I did not give you a dirty look.”

“They want us to be divided.”

“We all the same.”

“I didn’t even go to sleep, bro. I’ve been awake for two days.”

“If he’s not here today, I’m gonna chill in Murillo’s class.”

“I left my charger on the train too!”

“Man, people walk slow in the hallways.”

“Grow up, bro! Grow up! Grow up! Grow up!”

“Did you just ask if my blackness is measured?”

“She’s built like a box of Cheerios.”

“I need to get caught up with homework.”

“His boxers are longer than his shorts.”

“Did you hear about Matt?”

“What was that? Hello! That was not normal.”

“You still owe me.”

“Her breath stank.”

“My flash drive is missing, and I really need it. It has like four years of art archived!”

Granger artists bring crazy enthusiasm to Art Olympics at Hunter High

By Sofia Torres Albarracin

“GRANGER’S attitude was incredible! Everyone was cheering for Granger students, and the district was super impressed with the energy of the Lancers, so they decided that Granger should be the next host for the Art Olympics,” Ms. Galarza, an art teacher, said.

On March 15, Granger participated in the Art Olympics. In this competition all high schools in Granite School District could compete in different categories. This gave students the chance to show off their art. The event’s energy was super contagious with a lot of Granger students cheering fellow students on. The competitors had only four hours to

create and show their piece and one hour for the judges to decide which ones were the best three winners of the different categories.

“We doubled the awards won with what we got last year; we got six this year!” Galarza said. She also says their art was amazing, and no matter the category, the student works were amazing.

But not everything was perfect. At the beginning of the competition, the event was super disorganized, and many students were lost and stressed because of the situation. Each student had to show their best art pieces with their

names next to it. This helped the judges decide the strength of a

nical issues gave students extra stress during the competition, but in the end, the students made it through successfully, and then they took a break for lunch.

Latai Tauilange (11) was chosen for the competition in mixed media. She said that it was a fun experience and that she enjoyed it a lot, and she met new people. “The part that stressed me the most was the time.

your work, but for me it was hard,” Tauilange said, “I also think that the beginning of the competition was kinda disorganized.”

The time limit was a big factor in the competition. It was difficult to execute everything in a timely manner — especially with difficult techniques. “My recommendation to future competitors is to practice a lot and be confident with the work you do,” Tauilange said.

student’s technique and the way they work with art. All the tech-

Sometimes you think that four hours is enough time to complete

All of the schools did a really good job, and they made great art pieces. Granger did especially fantastic. Everyone was helping everybody with organization and cheering all the students with the pieces. Hopefully, Granger will be a great host for next year’s Granite Art Olympics.

Mr. Moore conducts the concert orcestra during a performance of pieces in a collection he calls “The Night of the Chess Music.”

Gabby Muñoz competes in the Art Olympics.

FCCLA students compete in STAR

By Kayla Mercado

MEMBERS of the FCCLA club competed in the regional STAR competition. STAR stands for Students Taking Action with Recognition. FCCLA members who participated had to create and work on a different STAR event category and demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities. They were all able to compete in a team or individually. FCCLA Lancers did great, and all who competed either earned a silver or a bronze, and all will advance to the state competition in March.

“Getting ready for the STAR competition was really stressful because of all the rubrics and packets that judges expect from you,” Rosie Harry (9) said. “It was all different based on what you are doing, and I chose Leadership,” Harry said.

One of the many categories that kids can choose is leadership. “When you think about leadership, you think of how to talk in public and how to be a leader at school or even in the workplace. I liked the experience and would recommend it to anyone who likes to travel outside of the school or who wants to do something within the school and be beneficial to them. FCCLA is a good start,” Harry said.

Overall participating in FCCLA STAR events could be a great experience for any Lancer who wants to compete.

The nerves do quicken when participating in these types of events — especially when competing with different schools at the same time. “The STAR event was a bit nerve racking because we had to present in front of the judges,” Gisell Genovez (10) said. “My project was interior design, in which we had to make a board and design a space for our project,” Genovez said.

One of the many categories to choose from for the FCCLA STAR event is interior designing. “We designed a counseling center, and there were many

rooms. We had to create two boards for our materials and another one to describe the design and all the patterns we were going to use,” Genovez said. For each project, students have to create a board with different parts and meet the requirements for the project. “I was able to work with people, meet new people, and learn new things from the project,” she said. The FCCLA STAR event is a good experience and gives kids the opportunity to meet new people.

Preparing for these events can be stressful and pressuring. Especially, when competing with many different schools and in front of so many judges.

“I was super nervous because our project was not all the way done,” Ja Veon Huie (12) said. “For our project, we had to make a poster board and design a floorplan by describing and showing the plan for our project,” Huie said. “The experience was pretty fun, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, it’s just you thinking through it in your head. It can get stressful if you think about it too much,” Huie said.

People may think of these types of events as stressful or nerve racking but genuinely it’s not that bad and you have a fun experience in the end. “You meet a lot of new people. I think I would probably compete again, but just do a better job next time,” Huie said.

“During the event, I was a little nervous just because I feel like it went by too fast,” Lesly Pallares (12) said. “After a while, once I got to presenting, the nerves kinda went away just because the people were so nice about it,” Pallares said. “My event was career investigations, so I researched and informed myself about the career I want to pursue after high school. The experience overall was fun, they had a lot of workshops there for you to pass the time and have fun,” she said. “I met a lot of new people, and all the people there were sweet. I would compete again.”

Twelfth Night uses two casts to maximize participation

By Mati Turner GRANGER’S

hallways are booming with so much talent that the spring play, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (or As You Will), had to double cast! “We had so much talent go through auditions, and it was going to be impossible to narrow it down because of how small this cast is,” Braxton Moore (11) said. Moore is the student director for Granger’s theatre program. “It was challenging because we had a lot of talent and it was hard to make a callback list because we could not call everyone back,” Moore said. He is very excited to take chances with a double cast, and work with director Jana Timpson and musical director Damien Kroger. These students showed up as actors for the invite-only callback portion of the audition process. They were given parts of scenes to read as they were called up. “The people who received a callback made it one of the best callbacks I have ever seen as both a director, and someone who has been through that process as an actor so many times,” Moore said. Moore also mentioned that everyone who got up on stage really understood the Shakespearean language; he said that it is

a hard language to understand and properly convey. Moore is a proud director and classmate. He says that he is most excited to teach play participants how to really understand the language of Shakespeare, especially in a play like this with many context clues.

“When people think of theatre, they usually think of movies and not Shakespeare, but it is a very beautiful form of theatre, and once you do Shakespeare you can do anything,” Moore said. These students really showed off the advanced theatre program’s depth of talent. Moore thinks his biggest struggle was being an authority figure, but also letting the main director take charge by staying off her toes. “I think it’s going to be really interesting to see each character portray their role; everyone has a different acting style, and it’s going to be awesome to see how the actors put their twist on these Shakespearean characters,” Moore said.

Ms. Timpson did not go into the audition process with the intent of a double cast — it had crossed her mind before, but after seeing everyone give it their all, this just seemed like the best decision and the actors seemed to love the idea.

Malohifo’ou dances with pride

By Mareai Meh

DANCE Company is a place to express art through dance. It gives students an opportunity to be creative.

Salanieta Malohifo’ou (12) is a member of Dance Company and the Excaliburs drill team. Malohifo’ou joined the team last year. Dancing had impacted her in a positive way, and it allowed her to create a more positive mindset.

Whenever there’s an opening or an open house, Malohifo’ou takes her dance students there with other dancers. Before any performances she does, there’s days and hours when she tends to be all up in her head and feeling nervous, but right when she’s about to perform, she starts to feel excited and hyped.

“I’m excited to see how my ‘double’ is going to portray our character, Sir Toby Belch,” Dakota Sanches (12) said. Sanches says he needs to find a balance because he wants to be different from the other cast, but not too different because each cast still needs to work together.

“I think a double cast was a very smart decision because there was a lot of talent involved, and it’s a small cast, so by splitting it into two, we get a lot more variety and opportunities for more people,” Brady Benson (12) said. Benson says that memorization is going to be his biggest hurdle since Shakespeare is very monologue heavy.

Of course, there will inevitably be some talk and anxiety between the two casts, but with the directors and the students, they are confident that they can work together and be one hive mind of a team. Moore says, “Our casts are named William and Shakespeare, because we wanted to make both casts feel equal; there is no A or B cast, and there isn’t a cast one or cast two. We are all still one team. We are not picking favorites in anyway; these casts are both incredible, and we all have the same goal for success.”

Malohifo’ou pictures herself dancing after high school, and she got accepted into the University of Utah kinesiology of dance department, where she will study the movement of the body. She recently joined a dance crew that she will be pursuing after high school as well.

Her greatest strengths while dancing are improv and freestyling her movements, and she describes herself as a smart dancer. Salanieta can pay attention to other’s movements, if they’re ever on the wrong count, she’s able to catch them up.

Although there can be ups and downs as a dancer, Malohifo’ou’s biggest weakness is self-criticism. “With dance, you stand in the mirror 24/7, so you tend to criticize yourself more often,” she said. Even if the mindset gets to her from time to time, she’s able to lift herself up to do better.

Dancing makes her happy, but being on three different teams can be painful, so her body can get really sore. She wouldn’t have put her body through all those hours of continuous training and hard work if she didn’t have a love for dance.

One favorite memory she has of dance is all those long hours of practice for each team she went through in a day, and she goes back and reflects on them.

Malohifo’ou inspires her team by showing them that she loves doing what she does and that there’s a reason why each one of them made the team.

As the team president, she always tries her best to show them that just keeping a positive mindset and being able to push through these long hours of practice shows them that they’re able to do it as well.

Malohifo’ou dances outside of school in a crew called ADC. She also teaches her own personal classes and sometimes subs for other professional dancers.

Malohifo’ou describes Dance Company as weird “It’s a journey, and I love it so much and look at movement in a different way. In comparison to drill, you must be super unified and organized, but in Dance Company, it’s OK to be completely messy, and that’s the art of it,” she said.

Teammates who dance with Malohifo’ou describe her as a sister and say that her energy is amazing. “Sala is always super happy and excited, and you can feed off of her energy and want to do better because she’s doing amazing — even when it comes to finding ideas, too!” Adrianna Pace (10) said.

One of Pace’s favorite memories is of the two of them going to Disneyland together with her family, Dance Company, and drill. “Just goofing off and having a good time together was super fun,” Pace said. “Sala’s super supportive of you and someone you just want to be around.”

Isis Espinola Meza (11) is another one of Malohifo’ou’s teammates. “Sala brought the whole team up and made us happier. She inspired us to work harder for what we want, and for me personally, she’s like a mom to me. She has pushed me and has been there for me,” Espinola Meza said. A favorite memory she has with Malohifo’ou was when they stayed at a hotel together, “I was already asleep and I heard her and she was saying how I felt like her younger sister to her and how she was like my mom,” Espinola Meza said.

Ms. Winklemen, the Dance Company coach, has been teaching dance at Granger for more than a year now. She describes Malohifo’ou as a very hard-working girl, and she doesn’t ever have to worry about her giving 100%, because she always gives 110%. “Sala is a very positive person, I’ve never heard her say anything negative about anyone on the team, and she has the best performances, too!”

With the actors and audience both on stage, the dramatic interactions hit harder.

Salanieta Malohifo’ou is a high-impact dancer who serves as a role model.

Black Student Union at GHS since ‘70s

By Eboni Robinson BLACK

Student Union, or BSU, is an organization that helps students gain access to a variety of resources that will help them be successful, and it also helps them break down what’s going on in society concerning the black community. BSU provides students with a place to talk about their experiences and find their place in the community.

BSU is not only an organization, but also a community. BSU is where black students can be their true and authentic selves, without fear of judgment. It’s a place where Granger’s black community can unite and share ideas and solutions to problems.

The BSU president is Joanne Uzoigwe (12), Since this is the

last year of Uzoigwe’s presidency, she’s trying to make it the best year that the BSU has ever had.

“This is my last year at Granger BSU, and my goal is to inspire and help the youth continue this legacy that we’ve built,” Uzoigwe said.

Uzoigwe has worked hard organizing BSU’s events. There are multiple events in the months of February and March. The biggest events being The Classic Fun Center Fundraiser on February 24th, and the Black Excellence and Our Legacy event on March 24th.

BSU holds these events to bring the community together and acknowledge community leaders.

BSU’s advisor is Franchesca Henicke, an art teacher. Like

The Night of the Chess Music

Uzoigwe, Henicke enjoys BSU describing it as, “a community where students can be safe and a place where they can represent their blackness however they like,” Henicke said. She is enthusiastic about students joining BSU. “I know the black community can be scary if you aren’t a certain kind of black, but in BSU, we accept all our brothers and sisters,” Henicke said.

Granger’s BSU is bigger than it seems to be. BSU is an amazing club; the leaders of BSU are hoping that one day, if BSU gets the club numbers up, it could become a class like POP and LIA. Uzoigwe and Henicke encourage Granger students to join BSU and be a part of this open and amazing community.

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program had to push back the date for their first concert.

Throughout Lopez’s individual practice time, she was brought upon the challenge of getting used to lower and higher notes, because she usually plays harmony and not melody.

“Even though it sounded a bit gloomy, because of the setting in the beginning, at the end when the orchestra and band were together it was fun,” Lopez said.

“It’s fun to play the instruments and to be there,” Hyrum Morga (10) said. Morga, who

Ms. Sutton hits her marks as drill coach

By Belen Suazo

GRANGER’S drill team is now under new management. After the retirement of Ms. Lago, the team was handed over to Ms. Sutton. Sutton has officially been coaching for about 25 years, with this being her first year at Granger. Sutton already feels that she has connected with the dancers.

Since competition season has begun, she feels that the team has improved their technique and presence on the floor. Before every competition, Sutton reminds the girls to “give it your all,” and after every competition to “know we did our best,” said Sutton.

Coach Sutton is very happy to be a part of Granger’s Drill Team and is delighted to bring her hard work and discipline to the team. Sutton looks forward to building relationships with the dancers and appreciates each one of them for what they bring.

Mabel Suarez (12) feels blessed to have the new coaches and wishes she got to spend more time with their coaching. Suarez has been passionate about dance since seventh grade when she saw her first drill team performance. “Seeing them perform really

inspired me to join,” Suarez said.

Although being a competitive dancer can be stressful, Suarez enjoys drill competitions. She prepares by working on her technique, and that’s something Coach Sutton says the team has improved. “It’s taught me to be determined,” Suarez said.

When Suarez feels overwhelmed by the stress, she relies on the sisterhood of the team. “The sisterhood has got to be the best thing about drill,” said Suarez. Drill has taught her how to build relationships with others and enjoy bonding with her teammates through sharing stories about their lives. Suarez encourages upcoming dancers to join the team, “More people should join because the team is very welcoming,” Suarez said.

When Suarez isn’t dancing on the floor, she likes to take time to herself by resting. “I really like to just take time for myself and have ‘me time,’ ” Suarez said. She hopes to pursue dancing when she graduates this year, and she has many offers from colleges to join their teams. Now all that’s left is for her to decide.

plays percussion, says that even though he’s had a bit of experience playing, it is still scary at times.

Morga says that he likes playing with the other musicians. “It feels great, sometimes it’s a little bit different, because some people play differently, and it’s a bit weird to play with them, but since everyone is having fun, I guess it works,” Morga said.

Overall participants of Granger’s winter concert hoped that the audience enjoyed the show, and that everyone who played had fun while performing.

PreACT tests young Lancers

By Jasmine Vazquez Soto

LANCERS took the PreACT, and they are taking it seriously. This year, Lancers were scheduled to take the PreACT to prepare them to take the ACT in their junior year in the spring. It was the first time that freshmen of 2026 were taking the PreACT, and it gave the students an opportunity to prepare and learn what may come up on the ACT.

The PreACT is a huge thing for the students because they are practicing for the real thing — the ACT. For the sophomores who already took the PreACT in their freshmen year, they will have to take it once and finally in their junior year before taking the ACT.

Some sophomores would say that it got harder than last year and of course it would be more difficult because they learned a lot since their last year in math, English, science, and reading classes. Some people try their hardest in the math section, but they were probably relieved when they finished that part of the test.

This is the first year that the freshmen were taking the PreACT. “I had thought that it would be really hard, but surprisingly

it wasn’t as nerve wracking as I thought it was going to be,” Breana Maldonado (9) said. Lancers didn’t know if they were doing well or poorly in some sections, but they got through it. They will learn more throughout the years, and they will get more practice and learning.

The PreACT is about a test that is a practice or a learning tool. A test that gives scores to students. They will be able to predict how they’ll likely do on the real ACT as a junior. In the years, months, and days, Lancers will have more learning experience throughout their courses. “Overall, I think it is a good, standardized test that helps test your knowledge,” Maldonado said.

For Lancers who previously took the PreACT last year or in the years before, they will have a little bit more knowledge and more understanding of how things go. Some sophomores think it was a bit more challenging in some parts because of the timing mostly.

“I didn’t have much time on the math part, but it was OK with me — just the timing got to me,” Karmela Johnson (10) said.

Tri-Color Times Staff

Executive Editor Haidee Smith Social Media Editor Adrian Aguirre

Annika Jones

Managing Editor Hanna Johnson Junior Editor

Reporters Reporters

Petra Acevedo

Samantha Aguilar

Vanessa Ayala

Litzy Carlos

Phoenix Crump

Kenya De La Cruz

Cinthya Garcia

Lee Gillam

Danyella Ibarra

America Lagunas

Elle MacPherson

Mareai Meh

Kayla Mercado

Ahmed Mohamed

Alex Nguyen

Tea Nyitrai-Dulo

Eboni Robinson

Qadega Shak

Belen Suazo

Sophia Than

Sofia Torres Albarracin

Mati Turner

Jasmine Vezquez

Izrael Velasquez

The Tri-Color Times serves as a student forum for student opinion and student expression. The views expressed herein reflect neither the opinions of Adviser John Carlisle and Granger High School, nor those of Granite School District. The Tri-Color Times invites and publishes letters to its editorial board; all letters will be edited for taste, length, and liability.

Tri-Color Times c/o Granger High 3580 South 3600 West West Valley, UT 84119 (385) 646-5320

Granger High‘s Black Student Union (BSU) enjoyed a field trip to the University of Utah.

Coach Sutton is proud of her work with Granger’s drill team, the Excaliburs.

Como la Flor theme makes Prom bloom

By Tea Nyitrai-Dulo

THIS YEAR, prom has been memorable for many Granger students. The theme was based on a Selena Quintanilla-Perez song — “Como La Flor.” This theme of the dance is special because this was the first time Granger was using a Hispanic theme for a school-wide dance. Most of Granger students had positive thoughts about the subject and were supportive, but of course people have different opinions, and not everyone will like and agree with the choices.

The junior prom took place on March 18 at the 6SIX9 venue from 7-10 p.m. The requirements for attending were the usual: only upperclassmen with at least a 2.0 CPA. This wasn’t an issue for most juniors and seniors.

This was the last dance of the school year, besides the senior ball. It was the best and most outstanding so far. The venue was large enough for the number of upperclassmen, and it was decorated well. As usual, the students who attended were able to take pictures by the photo booth corner and get their own copies of the images decorated in the theme.

The theme for this year’s prom was Como La Flor, so the theme’s colors were purple and gold. However, it’s always a mix of students who follow and don’t follow the theme.

“I’m always curious about what the topic will be each year and might have some ideas how I could contribute to the theme, but in the end, I’m going to be choosing the dress that looks good on me and matches my own energy,” Larissa Diaz (11) said.

“I chose to go with the theme, I was wearing a red dress for a rose in the song,” Jamie VillalobosRámos (11) said.

At the dance, they played many popular songs both in English and Spanish. It’s an incredible thing about Granger High School: how extended the diversity is. Students support and take part in Hispanic cultures in all fields. Not just variety in nationality, but the variety that took place in the music. They played many genres of music. There was mostly pop songs, but there were a few slow dances, too.

“I liked the music choice of the DJ, but I kinda wished there were more songs from Selena because her song was the theme itself,” Villalobos-Rámos said.

One of the top moments of the dance was the announcement of the prom royalty: Rachel Gomez (12) won prom queen, Qani Abdi (12) won prom king, Helen Aceves (11) won princess, and Travis Phan (11) won prince.

After the announcement about who won royalty, the balloons were supposed to be released from the ceiling. However, there was an issue with the mechanism to drop the balloons, so the students ended up dragging and yanking them down from the net. It was an experience to see all the upperclassmen go wild trying to get to the balloons.

The memorable dance ended around 10 p.m. to the students’ disappointment. After the last song most people were shouting the same phrase over and over again: “One more song!” in hopes of making the event just a little bit longer.

Opinion by Lee Gillam

THE SB 16 law is very harmful to transgender youth, because it bans gender-affirming care for trans people under the age of eighteen. Spencer Cox, the republican governor of Utah, signed the bill on January 28, 2023. It became the very first anti-LGBTQ+ law of the year.

This law has the potential to progressively become worse over time. Transgender kids already struggle daily. A lot of LGBTQ+ kids, especially trans kids, aren’t accepted by their families. There’s a reason why there are homeless shelters specifically for queer minors. About 28% of LGBTQ+ youth have experienced homelessness, according to thetrevorproject.org website.

However, the passing of this law makes everything worse. SB 16 bans hormone treatment, gender-affirming surgery, and more for minors.

People don’t realize just how bad this law is. Trans youth who have access to gender-affirming

Minimum CPA rule affects dance attendance

By Sofia Torres Albarracin

GRANGER is a fun place where Lancers can enjoy different school activities, such as school dances.

But Granger’s new CPA policy prevents some Lancers from attending dances. The new policy, introduced this year, states that students who have a CPA below 2.0 cannot attend school dances.

The rule was put into place this year. According to Mr. Babcock, a counselor, the rule is intended to help the school “control students to get to class on time and also helps them have good grades.” At the beginning of the year, Lancers struggled to be on time, which influenced students’ grades. The school is worried about students’

poor grades, so the administrators decided to create a policy to encourage attendance.

However, many Lancers are not happy about the policy. Students believe the rule will prevent them from participating in the fun activities they enjoy. Administrators say they are not happy with the new policy either, and they don’t like to take the fun away from students, but “that’s the only way to make the students be more responsible for their actions,” Mr. Babcock said.

Administrators also plan to introduce more rewards. Students who show good behavior, attendance, or grades can earn rewards, like tickets to dances. Administra-

tors hope this system will encourage Lancers to attend class.

Despite the reward system, students are still unhappy about dances being used as leverage. Students say this policy impacts more than just the students who have a CPA lower than 2.0. If someone wants to attend with their friends or date, they may be unable to if that other person has poor attendance.

A lot of students have the opinion that it’s not fair for the school to restrict dances. Some students are considering not attending school dances at all and believe the CPA situation can be fixed in other ways that have less of an annoying impact on everyone.

care have lower rates of depression and suicide, so by taking it away, the governor will have blood on his hands.

Many hospitals who perform surgery and prescribe hormone treatment to trans minors are opposed to this law, and they are actively trying to get rid of the law. Because of this, it will hopefully be taken down within a few months.

In addition to other actions, the lawmakers claim that they will “analyze any effects and side effects of the treatment” and determine “whether each treatment has been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration to treat gender dysphoria.”

Gender dysphoria (also known as gender identity disorder) is highly uncomfortable to deal with. Trans kids already deal with this, and this stupid law prevents them from having it treated. Governor Cox, a man who has no experience with gender dysphoria and doesn’t know even half of the struggle and pain of it, has taken

away the things that can be done to help treat it.

Alongside all of this, what are minors who already plan to take hormones supposed to do? Lawmakers have created substantial limits for hormonal treatments. Trans kids all over are being affected by SB 16, whether they’re planning on surgery or hormones. They’re being seen as less than other people, and that has devastating effects on them.

It’s unfair and incredibly frustrating! He’s taken away things that are keeping younger trans people going, and he’s taken away the hope of getting on hormones or getting surgery. Screw him, seriously. This is a very anxiety inducing-situation for a lot of people.

And then there’s the legislature: Why are they approving such discriminatory bans? “These kids… they’re just trying to stay alive,” he said. Then why did he ban something that keeps us alive? Huh, Spencer? Get rid of SB 16 if you want us to live.

Exchange students from around the world at GHS

By Sofia Torres Albarracin

GRANGER is lucky to welcome exchange students from around the world. An exchange student is someone that comes from another country to study at a college or high school and learn about different cultures.

Tea Nytrai-Duló (11) is an exchange student from Hungary. She came to Granger in August 2022 for her junior year of high school. Her experience as an exchange student at Granger High has been mostly positive, and she says being at Granger feels like an “American movie.”

Nytrai-Duló loves the diversity of Granger and how modern it is.

WVC is new home for student from Ukraine

By Tea Nytrai-Dulo

THE RECENT news of the war between Russia and Ukraine is obvious.

First of all, students should know that although Ukraine and Russia have a poor history together, Ukraine fought hard for its own identity and independence. The two countries have had tension between them for almost a decade. Russia was already controlling parts of Ukraine when, in November of 2021, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, decided to go all in with controlling efforts. Ever since then, the situation has

gotten worse. This war is one of the biggest since WWII, and because of this war, people are seeing a huge impact on Europe’s and the world’s economy.

Consequently, many Ukrainian and Russian citizens have fled their countries because of the war. Multiple countries have helped and welcomed these refugees, including the United States.

There are some students at Granger High School who are refugees of the war, and moved temporarily to Utah. One of these Ukrainian students is Illia Hrushchenko (11)

Hrushchenko and his family moved to West Valley City in August, and started school knowing very little English. It’s been hard on him — moving to a different country and knowing no one. Luckily, he’s adjusting to Granger and hopes to play volleyball on the school’s team. It’s difficult living in a new country, but Granger High School is full of students with different backgrounds and cultures, which helps him to feel less alone. It’s also fortunate that Granger has many opportunities to meet new people and make friends.

She currently lives with her host parents and plans to return to Hungary at the end of this school year.

Blanca Tapia (10) is another exchange student at Granger. She is from Spain, and this is her first year at Granger. Like Nytrai-Duló, her experience has been mostly positive.

Tapia appreciates that Granger doesn’t use uniforms. She enjoys learning about U.S. high schools. She also lives with a host family and has four host siblings.

Nytrai-Duló and Tapia share mostly positive experiences at Granger, but both can agree that not everything is like a movie as Nytrai-Duló mentioned. One

thing they both agree could be better is Granger’s food. “School food sucks,’’ Nytrai-Duló said. Nytrai-Duló and Tapia also had a hard time with the adaptation process. European school schedules are different from U.S. schedules. Both students have had to learn to adjust to longer class periods.

Another challenge exchange students face is making friends. Both Nytrai-Duló and Tapia agreed that making friends is harder as an exchange student. They suggest a Granger exchange student club to provide community and support to Granger exchange students.

Tea (L) thinks living in the U.S. is like being in an American movie. Blanca agrees.

Sales of dance tickets are down after GPA or CPA minimums must be met.

After-school jobs demand a high price

By Alex Nguyen

HAVING a job is a common experience for students at Granger.

Lancers have jobs for many different reasons, but regardless of the reason, working while juggling school can be both challenging and rewarding.

Jose Pardo (12) is a working student who admits that finding a balance between work and school can be difficult. “It can be stressful to be working and having school because it is something that you must learn to balance out. It takes a lot of time, and you can get too busy with your life by doing a job at a young age,” Pardo said.

Regardless of the busy schedule, Pardo thinks working while in school is worth it, especially financially. “I think it is worth it to be working because we are still young. They don’t pull a lot of taxes out of our paychecks,

and it also makes saving money way easier because of the lower taxes,” Pardo said.

Other students agree that the financial benefits are worth the busy schedule. Christopher Duran (12) works as a mover. A mover is someone who helps people move objects such as couches, beds, and furniture in their house to another place. “The benefits are that I get the money and I’m able to help my mom with the rent,” Duran said.

Duran admits that his job does sometimes gets in the way of school due to scheduling conflicts, but he thinks working is still rewarding. “It is worth it to be working while in school because you get new learning experiences and you can learn a lot of stuff by working while being in school at the same time,” Duran said.

Duran manages school and

work by talking to his teachers beforehand. “I can get the assignments done earlier if I am busy on a certain day,” he said.

For Duran, the hardest part of his job isn’t how it impacts him academically, but how it affects him physically. “The downside of working at this job is that you can get body problems because of all the stuff you are lifting. In the moving industry you can be moving around 5000 pounds to 35,000 pounds per day,” he said. Other working students experience physical and emotional stress from working. Pray Reh (12) recommends that students take time for themselves to recover and do things they enjoy. “Some of the ways students can deal with it is by joining school sports and hanging out with friends to relieve stress,” Reh said.

CTE at GHS looks good

By Annika Jones

JAMES Taylor is Granger’s director of CTE classes. Mr. Taylor used to be an assistant principal at Granger High School, and he developed his love for Granger through that position. His journey of becoming a director began when Craig Stauffer left GTI, so Taylor took his place.

Mr. Platero, Granger’s CTE coordinator, suggested to Mr. Taylor that more companies should come and present. About 25 businesses were scheduled to attend on March 22. Some events that have taken place include recognizing students with a certificate which was handed out to 63 Lancers.

Concurrent Enrollment night was an amazing event that took place where they had 100 people and 30 of them were Native American students. “I didn’t realize Granger had that large a number of Native American students here — that’s awesome,” Taylor said.

Students struggle to manage phone use

By Qadega Shak

PHONES are everywhere and pretty much everyone has one. Staff at Granger have them, teachers have them, but students seem to be attached to them. Phones are used by everyone on a day-to-day basis, but the question is are students using them responsibly, are they using them too much, and what effects phones are having on students in classrooms.

Phones are useful. Kids can write down a quick note or send out a quick text and phones are amazing for selfies. Some students seem to not be able to put the phone down when it’s time to work. “My phone does affect me while I’m trying to work. I usually must put it on ‘Do Not Disturb’ or put it away in my bag so that I can stay focused,” Adelaide Roberts (12) said. Well, maybe some students are good at knowing when it’s time to put phones away and get to work. “I think teachers should be stricter, because in some of my classes, the students are on their phones the whole class period, and the teacher does nothing about it,” Roberts said.

In some classrooms, phones are no issue. Some teachers have a strict no phone policy in their classrooms. “I have students put them away, but I’m not sure how much that really helps in the long run,” Mr. Moon said.

Some students don’t put their phones away even when teachers have made it clear that phones are not allowed in their classrooms. “I think some teachers are pretty strict about phones, but some students just don’t listen,” Grissel Jurado (12) said. “You should try and focus on getting your work done and not get distracted because you don’t want to be the one struggling in the end because you couldn’t pay attention,” said Jurado.

So, if telling students to get off their phones doesn’t always work, what should teachers do?

Some students feel like they should be able to use their phone in class. “I think it’s a great way for students to get their work done because the internet has many sources,’’ Joyce Gbalah (12) said. Phones

give kids many opportunities to find more information on some of the things they’re doing in class online, and some students are actually responsible and use their phones only to help them get their work done.

Phones can give students a sense of relaxation if they are using them appropriately. “I get more work done with my phone than without,” Gbalah said. Some students find it more comforting to have their phone while they are in class than to have it taken away or away from them while they work.

Music is, for many people, a great way to relax or concentrate. Many teachers have music playing in their classrooms while students work. Music can help students focus and create a more calm and friendly environment in a classroom. Some teachers allow their students to wear their headphones and pull out their phones to play their music. Some students put on their music and get to work while others get distracted by the screen and continue to use their phones during a class’s work time. “I don’t think for the most part that teenagers can use phones responsibly in class,” Mr. Moon said.

Phones can also be one big distraction to students, but most students know that they are missing out on time to work in class or important instructions while they are on their phones and still chose to have their phones out. “It should be up to the students whether they want to use their phones or not,’’ said Roberts.

It can be hard for some students to get off their phones and stay focused, but all students should really try their best to get their work done before getting on their phones. The phone will still be there after they get their work done, and students will feel more at ease knowing that they have finished all their work. Then they can finish class with some time to themselves to pull their phones out. Students should also encourage their peers and classmates to stay focused and get work done so no student feels left behind.

Some other amazing events that have or are taking place are a CTE task force which is held every second Tuesday of the month where 17 CTE teachers gather, and they discuss stuff based on improving the CTE classes. In April they will be having a showcase in the alumni room at lunch for students to look at their classmates’ or even friends’ projects in April.

Taylor talked about some challenges and ideas he had, one

of the challenges he says is that teachers are very stuck to their part of teaching their section of CTE classes and need to come together as one. Some ideas Taylor suggests doing were a student of the month. He suggests taking a handful of students and having a casual lunch with them and their parents if the parent is wanting to come and sit down and discuss the students’ and parents’ thoughts and suggested ideas. He thinks this is a very fun activity and gives a lot of feedback.

As Murillo and Taylor discussed the CTE classes, there was some feedback from Mr. Murillo. As a CTE teacher, he believes that CTE classes offer technical skills and give kids hands-on experience as well as being able to work in the workforce. CTE classes are great for fellow Lancers interested in what it can offer. Murillo thinks CTE classes are great, but the CTE administration should update equipment yearly.

As Mr. Platero talks about the CTE task force. Murillo said he did attend these meetings and thinks they’re very helpful. As Taylor discussed, teachers coming together as one instead of categorizing themselves in single sections creates more opportunities for collaboration. Murillo thinks this is a great idea to come together as one. Murillo, the welding teacher, and Masimer, the woodworking teacher, work together to create interesting projects.

CTE Director James Taylor visited Granger High on March 10.

Christopher works as a mover and carries heavy furniture and objects — thousands of pounds each day!

Netflix cancels password sharing options

By Jasmine Vazquez Soto

MANY PEOPLE have been sharing their Netflix passwords for years. This includes sharing passwords within or outside of the household. Because of the high subscription costs, it’s easier for people to use a friend’s or parent’s Netflix account to watch favorite shows. Netflix has seen this as a profit loss, and they have decided to force everyone to pay for their own accounts and no longer share.

Netflix is preventing users from using other people’s accounts, which is making it impossible to watch shows or movies on that streaming service without paying for a household account. Blame goes to “feckless Gen-Z kids for buying avocado toast instead of their own Netflix subscriptions,” as stated on the pluralistic.net website. People are buying things like avocado toast and even more expensive stuff, rather than buying their own subscription to Netflix.

Many Lancers are finding out that Netflix is considering charging the users who are sharing their account passwords. “I share my account with my family members,” Mr. Keyes said. Netflix is going to be stricter on who is sharing their accounts by seeing if they use the same IP address or not; they will also be verifying said IP addresses before they will allow access into the account.

The motive for getting rid of password sharing stems from Netflix hoping to see an increase in profit. By forcing people to create their own accounts, Netflix will be gaining extra members. It will be another way for Netflix to make more, but it doesn’t seem like much will change. “When

you define ‘family’ in ways that makes Netflix less money, that’s a ‘felony’ contempt of business model,” as stated on the pluralistic.net website.

Back in 2017, Netflix tweeted that, “Love is sharing a password.” However, it seems that the executives at Netflix may have changed their minds. Because now, they are limiting the people or maybe restricting password sharing in early 2023. This is not something new for Netflix, because a similar situation is happening in other countries.

For some people, this new policy change isn’t much of a concern because they worry about sharing passwords. This worry may be because they feel people are untrustworthy, or maybe even because they stress about account settings being changed. “I think I will never share my password to anyone because you never know if that person will pass it to someone else,” Joshua Munoz Gomez (10) said. It is difficult to understand someone’s true intentions, even with something like a Netflix password.

“Netflix already has such a big platform, and they are charging people to use it,” Darling Torres Pastelin (10) said. Netflix is a huge platform because of the movies they have available. This ranges from Netflix originals, documentaries, and popular tv shows and movies—Netflix is providing people with a spectacular streaming service, and this naturally comes with costs. On average, people are paying anywhere between $6-$20. Nothing is completely set in stone, but users should keep an eye on this policy change to better manage their accounts.

Games on Netflix can be fun, but most are boring

Review by America Lagunas

WE ALL know Netflix. When we get home from work or school, we relax and watch our favorite shows or movies on streaming services like Netflix. Now, Netflix has added a couple of games. These games are only accessible to Netflix users and must be downloaded as separate apps.

These Netflix games are not available on kids’ profiles because some games are mature. As we know, some games are not really meant for children, and some parents do not allow their kids to play games that are inappropriate.

Anyway, I went on Netflix and decided to play some games, and from what I have played, some

games could be considered appropriate for kids. They have several different entertaining games you can play, and there are upcoming games scheduled to be released this year.

There are fun games that are mysterious and help with problem solving. When games are about solving mysterious problems or cooking, those types of games keep you invested for a while. A few games that were fun where Spongbob: Get Cooking and Scriptic: Crime Stories were pretty good, and they keep you distracted.

Other games I played were just a waste of my time. They were boring and did not have many fun

things to do. Games can be more difficult to play and have more instructions and rules involved like Wars Unlimited and Unleashed.

The games are easy to load in. If you have a profile in Netflix, then you can play games, but if not, then you will not be able to access the games. While they are not available for kid profiles, some of these games would be OK for kids to play.

I liked some games, and they kept me distracted for a little bit. While some games that I played were boring because they didn’t have interesting things to do, others were boring because they required a lot of reading in order to continue playing the game.

Maybe date kids from other schools

By Jasmine Vazquez Soto

STUDENTS do not want to date other people who are in the same school as them. People want to date students from other schools for many reasons. People consider things like their privacy, personal preferences, or because they don’t want a relationship with someone from their school that they have known all throughout their schooling.

Everyone has their own unique preferences of different type of people they are into. Some feel like they can’t find their type or maybe they don’t feel a romantic connection with anyone at their school.

When someone is in a relationship with someone from their school, it can cause fear about the possible chance that the relationship might end over time. “They don’t wanna see them after the breakup,” Shamila Sotelo (10) said.

After the breakup, kids will see that previous partner around school, and if they have a class with them, it’s going to be awkward if they sit next to each other in class.

Staying friends after a breakup is a likely chance, but probably not going to happen.

Kids will see an ex- talking to other people that they never knew about before the breakup. Some think it’s better to be alone than to be in bad company with some-

one else. In some situations, they don’t stay friends with their exbecause of the memories they had together, and it makes the situation sad for them.

Students may find someone from a different school with the same interest or the same personality as them. “People at their school suck and they find someone better from a different school,” Adriana Martienez (10) said. Somehow a relationship could have been started by family, friends or even a party they attended.

For some students, they find someone sweet, nice, attractive, funny, etc, but the only downside is that they go to a different school. Even if they don’t go to the same school, they will find a way to hang out when they have free time. They’ll never know if they found the love of their life, as some would say, somewhere in the world and not in your school.

“It’s kinda hard to get out of the talking stage for some people,” Rachel Ta’ala (10) said. Kids don’t have relationships with others from their school because of the failed stages they are going to have. If you have or had talked to someone for a long time, but you feel nothing for them or never had an interest in them, you ghost them. The problem with that is you’re going to see that person around school, and they’ll even be in some of your classes.

Josh is careful with passwords. Netflix’s policy makes sense to him.

Shamila thinks that dating outside Granger could prevent awkward situations.