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NEW MURALS
Three art students collaborate to make book-inspired paintings in teacher Melissa Kevonian’s room.
SHUT DOWN
A controversial decision to close a majority of Utica’s bathrooms isn’t too popular among students.
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SPOTIFY WRAPPED
Take a look at the top artists and songs of 2022, through student’s year-end recap.
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NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS AND TRADITIONS
Students share their yearly traditions for New Year’s Eve and go over the resolutions they’ve set.
UTICA’S BOWLING TEAM BONDING
Utica’s bowlers share different ways the team prepares and celebrates.
ONLINE CHECK THIS OUT
FIND EXPANDED COVERAGE FROM EVERY PRINT EDITION, NEW STORIES, RECENT SPORTS SCORES AND MORE AT WWW.UHSARROW.ORG.
Taylor Swift’s fans are outraged after tickets for her upcoming tour caused Ticketmaster to crash. Now lawmakers are demanding answers about the company’s operations. The demand for pre-sale tickets for Swift’s upcoming tour caused the ticketing service Ticketmaster to crash, and fans on TikTok had many complaints about the whole fiasco.
“My mom was on Ticketmaster in the queue for five and a half hours,” senior Makenna Riggs said. “Luckily we were able to get the tickets, but it was super stressful.”
Ticketmaster service delays and website crashes outraged fans trying to buy tickets to the superstar’s 2023 tour this week, causing widespread outcry and condemnation for the ticket service as high up as Congress. Finally, the company officials later announced they had decided to cancel the general ticket sale, blaming a surge of unregistered fans and billions of bots for the failure.
“I was the one of the first 8,000 people in line waiting to get tickets, and I got them in an hour,” junior Grace
Jenkins said. “My friend waited in line for hours and right when the website told her she was next to buy tickets, the website would crash and kick her out and she’d be all the way in the back of the line again. It was unfair for everyone, which explains why it was such an effort to get tickets.”
Fans already bought up more than 90% of the ticketing inventory, breaking the record for the most tickets ever sold in a single day by a touring artist at 2 million. With that success came the catastrophe. More than 3.5 million fans registered for the chance to buy Swift tickets.
“My mom was able to get a code for the pre-sale, and we ended up getting a pair of tickets,” senior Emma Clarke said. “However, a few days later we got an email from Ticketmaster that said they sold too many tickets and ours weren’t valid anymore.”
Company officials say, however, it wasn’t pre-registered fans buying tickets who caused the crash, but that tens of millions of uninvited fans and billions of bots trying to access the sale early were to blame.
Utica has its fair share of events made to raise money for charities, ranging from simple and generous donations to throwing pies around for the sake of fun. Before Christmas began, Utica started their Toys for Tots fundraiser, where classes competed to donate $60 in order to earn a movie day. Classes were also open to donate toys and extra money.
This year, Utica and 21 other schools partnered with Toys for Tots for a charity and donation drive. According to the official Marine Toys For Tots website, they have accumulated over 627 million toys and over $210 million dollars since the company was founded, and Utica High has contributed to that. Utica also had a coin stall event back in October, where students would bring coins to their first hour class and their teacher was not allowed to teach until they finished counting all of the coins. All of the money that was given to the teachers was donated to the Humane Society of Macomb.
With the start of winter sports it has become more common for there to be little to no students filling the bleachers.
Even when students fill the student section, not everyone is participating in the chants, and it’s just too quiet.
“Be there or be square,” junior Dylan Kelley said. “If you’re there in the student section, be loud.”
The whole point to a student section is to be loud for your team and support them.
There’s a clear difference in the number of students at girls games compared to boys games.
One game in particular that stands out for the girls is when they played against Anchor Bay game. Four students showed up.
“We have to support our lady Chieftains,” junior Riley Sangster said. “If you have the time, support the teams.”
There’s very few student who support our girls.
“Girls games are dead,” junior Landon Drew said. “We need some more people popping out for our ladies.”
The boys aren’t exempt from low fan turnout, as evidenced by their very first game at Port Huron. Only nine students showed up.
“I feel obligated to show up for the players,” junior Zeyad Yousef said.
Student turnout appears to be affected by location, who is playing, and how the team is doing.
“No students really come to our games,” junior Addison Stuehmer said, “but shout out to the few who still support us.”
Varsity basketball player Stuehmer appreciates the small number of students in the bleachers; teens screaming and being loud goes a long way and can affect the opposing team’s ability to perform.
“The student section most definitely affects the other team,” junior Nik Gojcaj said, “just with them being so loud.”
Others also appreciate the supportive student section.
“I love the student section; it brings lots of energy to the games,” junior Sebastian Soriano said. “They keep me going during the game.”
Problems in the student section arise when younger kids take seats, people don’t participate in themes, and others who don’t chant.
“It’s different depending on the sport,” Kelley said. “You can blend in at football games, but basketball is smaller.”
The Humane Society is an organization in Macomb that focuses on finding pets a home, using the community to get animals adopted into a new home. Utica High School teacher Suzanne Greenfield is a active volunteer and employee at the Macomb Humane Society.
“I support them because they are such a local organization and they work to get humane help to animals,” Greenfield said
The Humane Society of Macomb’s mission is “to help those who cannot speak for themselves and to provide humane care for unwanted, abused, and injured animals.”
“I originally started supporting the Humane Society as a senior project,” Greenfield said. “It was required for service hours, so I supported them with the students who had to participate.”
The Human Society is always open to volunteers and donations. According to the Utica website, UCS as a whole has done 200 charity drives this season.
Utica High School has done a Canned Food Drive, Villas of Shelby Senior Christmas Party, Kiwanis Food Drive, Adopt a Family, U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots, Macomb Charitable Foundation, Macomb County Children’s Giving Tree, Macomb Area Food Bank, Shelby Lions Meals, Assisted Living Supplies, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and Charity Week for the Macomb Humane Society.
Utica High School is no stranger to giving back to the community. In Utica’s eyes, supporting each other is monumental and is an important part of what it means to be a Chieftain.
Teachers decorate their classrooms in all sorts of different ways. Some are scattered with bright pictures and posters, while others are more minimalist. Some even have strips of LED lights across the walls.
Others, however, decorate their classroom with the help of artistically talented students at Utica, such as seniors Zoey Lawrence, Sadie Heman, and Zoie Garrett, who are painting murals in teacher Melissa Kevonian’s classroom.
Room 235 previously had multiple unfinished murals on the walls.
“Previously, Mrs. Kevonian’s classroom had some murals started on there already,” Lawrence said. “Basically, what we’re doing is painting over them with what was originally intended. They were never finished because of COVID-19.”
The new murals will have the same general idea as the old, unfinished ones.
“It was actually mostly blank,” Heman said. “There were only a few sketches on it because the students never got to finish it. It was a very similar concept, it was also about literature.”
Lawrence’s mural depicts the 1949 dystopian novel “1984.”
“I’m working on a ‘1984’ themed mural,” Lawrence said. “It’s supposed to be a black and gray painting of an important character in the book. It has a bright red background that says ‘Big Brother is watching’ in big, bold letters.”
The other two students’ murals feature similarly famous works.
“The main part of the composition is about the books that she has taught in class. We have the dragon from ‘Beowulf’ and the map from ‘Lord of the Flies’,” Heman said.
The project began after a conversation with Kevonian.
“I recently was a part of last year’s musical, and I did a lot of the artwork for that,” Garrett said. “I was really interested in big mural paintings, and I currently have a friend in Mrs. Kevonian’s class. She heard Mrs. Kevonian talking about how she really wanted her murals
redone, so I reached out because I was a previous student of hers. We discussed it, and we got together to repaint this mural for her.”
Lawrence joined the project after being approached by Heman and Garrett. “Zoie and Sadie were talking in my AP art class,” Lawrence said. “They were talking about how they get to paint this mural in Mrs. Kevonian’s, but they said they’re not really good at painting portraits of people. I told them that I’m good at painting people, so they let me join them since they had a lot to do already.”
The project is expected to take a while for the students to finish.
“We started it a few months ago and we’ve been going every Tuesday and Thursday,” Garrett said, “so we’ll probably be finished around a week or two from now. We’re pretty close to the deadline.”
Lawrence, Garrett, and Heman are enjoying the experience and opportunity.
“It’s been pretty fun,” Garrett said. “Some days have been harder than others because of motivation, but we usually leave feeling quite proud of ourselves.”
To an artist, having an opportunity like this is important.
“I like being able to paint this mural because I actually get to show off my work,” Lawrence said. “Not enough art is shown in classroom environments. A lot of classrooms are just blank, white rooms. I think it’s important to have some sort of art in the room to keep it different and not as boring for everyone.”
The project is important to Heman, as it makes up for something she had to miss out on in middle school.
“At my middle school, my art teacher would give students ceiling tiles from her classroom to paint,” Heman said. “I was going to do that, but because of the pandemic, my class never got to do it. I feel like this is sort of redemption from that.”
Lawrence believes Utica should consider adding more murals to their classrooms.
“I think Utica should add more murals, and that students should be the ones to do it,” Lawrence said. “I know that leaving a mark on the school is something most kids want to do. They want to have something to remember their time there.”
On Dec. 17, the choir class held a winter concert in the auditorium with multiple school choirs to put on a show that they’ve been working on since the first day of school.
“We had sixth grade choir from five elementary schools,” choir teacher Lindsey Tycholiz-Mckiddy said, “and we had the Eppler’s choir in the concert.”
This concert was a team effort between Utica and the other schools.
“We had our own parts to sing,” junior Molly Collette said, “and some volunteered to sing with the kids from the elementary schools.”
It’s the year’s hot topic: bathroom closures around the school due to vandalism and vaping. Everyone at Utica has different opinions on how the school should handle the situation. Students say it’s not fair to the kids that actually have to use the bathroom since they’re now required to walk across the school. Staff, however, say it’s what needs to be done in order to get everything under control.
The real reason for these lockdowns is the use of vaping devices among students.
“The reason for all these closures are too many students congregating in the bathrooms,” principal Timothy Youngblood said, “along with vaping being an issue.”
Many teachers seem to be agreeing with the fact that there seems to be a serious problem throughout Utica, and this is one way to curb those issues.
“Obviously there’s a problem that needs to be addressed,” teacher Collin Syler said. “While this certainly isn’t the ideal solution, sometimes you have to work with the tools that you have.”
Closing bathrooms in a public school with hundreds of students is definitely not ideal, and students are starting to feel irritated.
“I have to walk across the school just to use the bathroom,” sophomore Mellisa Hormoz said. “Even with all these lockdowns, students still find a way to vape.”
The problem doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. Some believe that the only way we can solve this issue is through positive peer pressure and a collaborative effort from both students and teachers.
“The ones who are not using the bathroom improperly need to exert positive peer pressure and make it known that improper use is unacceptable to the rest of us,” school resource officer Leslie Heisler said. “The responsibility of stopping kids from making bad decisions can’t just lie in the hands of the adults; the kids have to help, too.”
Although we don’t hear a ton about the status of the issue, Youngblood and the administrators are working quietly behind the scenes to get things back to the way they were.
“Students should know,” Youngblood said, “that we are trying our best to get the bathrooms cleared for students who are actually using them for their intended purpose.”
The scenes inside the bathrooms are not pretty. There’s fog in the air, people everywhere, and lines out the door.
“One thing that is definitely bothering me with all the closures is the lines we have to wait in just to use the bathrooms,” junior Rosemary Manni said. “I am always late to my classes because of the lines in the bathrooms.”
Some teachers around the school understand that their students might come in late because of the lines and are understanding of the situation.
“My teachers never mark me tardy,” sophomore Holly Hirmiz said. “When I walk in late, I let them know it’s because of the bathrooms and they fully understand.”
Hopefully this school year is a reminder to all of the extent the school’s administration will go to in order to ensure the bathrooms are being used for the right reasons, even if those measures seem ineffective or drastic to students.
Singing in a choir doesn’t mean that the members sing the same thing, they have them sing their parts with diverse styles.
“The choir is made of the alto, sopranos and baritones,” junior Katlyn Pace said. “Altos on the left, baritones in the middle, and sopranos on the right.”
This concert wasn’t just any other concert with singing, there were performances as well.
“We had choreography and solo acts performed by students,” junior Katie Maryanski said. “The solo acts took time and had to be practiced at home.”
It was commonly said to be a lively and positive atmosphere.
“The lobby was decorated,“ Maryanski said, “and they were selling popcorn, hot chocolate and roses.”
Multiple songs were sung by the choir and solo acts, such as “The Girl in 14”, “Somewhere in My Memory,” and “AFRICA.”
“It was fun and very entertaining,” principal Timothy Youngblood said. “Lindsey [Tycholiz-Mckiddy] is doing a good job rebuilding the class.”
The choir class worked very hard on the performance.
“It went well,” Pace said. “We never practiced with the elementary schools and only practiced on stage a couple days before.”
The choir class was relatively small throughout this year, but choir students encourage more people to join choir.
“We promoted the choir class on Instagram,” Collette said, “hoping that more people would join.”
The concert was considered a positive experience for many choir members.
“Student should join choir,” Pace said. “It is very fun.”
Students interested in joining choir can talk to choir teacher Lindsey Tycholiz-McKiddy.
The winter concert was enjoyed by both the audience that attended the event, as well as the choir members that performed on stage. It contained hardworking students and a display of talents, singing, and dancing.
“My results were not what I expected. I made a new account, so it only had all of my new stuff and none of my old stuff.”
Junior Lauren Garwood
“My only issue with my results is that I wish I had spent more time listening to it. I had set a goal to get the total time listened to 100,000 minutes but unfortunately didn’t reach it.”
Senior Alaina Wisswell
NUMBER ONE MOST STREAMED ARTIST OF 2022
The top streamed artist of 2022 is Bad Bunny, with more than 18.5 million streams throughout the year.
MEDIA INFLUENCE
After being featured in “Stranger Things,” “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush saw an increase in streams by 8,700% in 2022.
“I was very shocked by the artists and the songs that were in my top five. I didn’t realize how much I listened to them.”
Junior Gracie Wetherington
THROWBACK SONGS
Many of 2022’s hit songs are from over 20 years ago, such as “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana.
PODCASTS
Popular podcasts on Spotify include “The Joe Rogan Experience” and “Crime Junkie.”
“My results were alright. I feel like it only represented me in the first half of 2022, not the second half. ”
Junior Tyler Watford
“I didn’t think I listened to Kanye that much; usually Rihanna is on top.”
Junior Loriana Mannino
“I really love the layout this year.; I thought the design was really cool. I found the artists to be pretty accurate to what I thought it’d be.”
Junior Grace Jenkins
“AS IT WAS” by Harry Styles “HEAT WAVES” by Glass Animals
“STAY (with Justin Bieber)” by The Kid LAROI
“ME PORTO BONITO” by Bad Bunny feat. Chencho Corleone
“I felt my Spotify Wrapped was pretty accurate besides my top song, but maybe I just never realized how much I listened to it.”
Junior Adi Catarino
“My results surprised me. I don’t use Spotify often so I definitely didn’t expect to have so many minutes.”
Senior Zoey Lawrence
“I felt my Spotify Wrapped was fairly accurate. I spent a lot of time listening to classical music, so I wasn’t surprised when Chopin was my top artist.”
Junior Breanna Kosanke
“TITI ME PREGUNTÓ” by Bad Bunny
“RUNNING UP THAT HILL” by Kate Bush
SHARING LYRICS
Spotify has the option to share lyric segments to social media. Some of 2022’s songs with the most shared lyrics include “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals and “Heather” by Conan Gray.
Each year, Spotify Wrapped showcases information about the year’s most popular songs, artists, and more on both an individual and a global scale.
All sorts of different songs topped the charts throughout 2022, such as “As It Was” by Harry Styles.
The most streamed albums over 20 yeas old are “The Marshall Mathers LP” by Eminem and “1” by The Beatles.
Not all of 2022’s most popular songs are that recent, though. “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush was first released in 1985.
Below is a compilation of tracks, artists, and fun facts featured in this year’s Spotify Wrapped.
MOVIE RELEASES After “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” was released, streams of the official Spotify playlist for the film increased by 4,000%.
As 2022 came to a close, Spotify users wrapped up their year with their annual collection of data and activity.
Spotify Wrapped allows users to see a compilation of their favorite artists, songs, and genres at the end of each year. The slideshow has a similar format to Instagram stories and informs users of what they listened to throughout the year.
16 PERSONALITIES
Some of the 16 listening personalities assigned by Spotify are “The Replayer,” “The Top Charter,” and “The Musicologist.”
TWITTER JOKES
Wrapped’s release spawned numerous jokes on Twitter, with users poking fun at their own listening habits.
Spotify is a favorite streaming service among students.
“Spotify is the main app I use to listen to music,” junior Ani Quartuccio said. “I just like the way it’s laid out, I also like Spotify Premium.” Quartuccio isn’t alone in preferring Spotify over any other music streaming services.
“I like Spotify a lot,” senior Alaina Wisswell said. “I use it because I listen to a lot of music and most of it is on Spotify. It’s very convenient to have it all in one place.”
Spotify Wrapped 2022 was released to users on Nov. 30, 2022.
“I look forward to it,” Wisswell said. “I like to see how much time I’ve spent on Spotify. I try to set a goal for each year of how many minutes I’ve listened, as well as trying to be in the top percent of listeners of my favorite artists.”
Spotify Wrapped changes slightly each year. The 2022 version was mostly the same as past ones, but included a new feature: a user’s “listening personality”. Similar to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator used to describe 16 different personality types, users were given one of 16 listening personalities based on what music they listened to throughout the year.
Wisswell’s listening personality, “The Adventurer,” has the acronym “ENVU,” standing for exploration, newness, variety, and uniqueness. People who got this listening personality are described as being “a seeker of sound. You venture out into the unknown, searching for fresher artists, deeper cuts, newer tracks - especially gems yet to be found.”
“I liked how the listening personalities were modeled after the 16 personality types,” Wisswell said. “I thought my description was pretty accurate, as I got the Adventurer. However, I didn’t exactly see the point of it. I guess it’s just there for people to share, but it doesn’t hold much meaning otherwise.”
Some students claim their Spotify Wrapped results seem inaccurate.
“I feel like it’s really inaccurate to what I listen to,” Quartuccio said. “It seems like it really only tracks the music you listen to at the beginning of the year, and not much at the end of the year. My results definitely were not accurate, there were some artists on mine that I didn’t really listen to as much.”
Some believe their Spotify Wrapped results could be skewed or numerous reasons.
“I think it may be inaccurate because people sometimes use other apps to listen to music along with Spotify,” Wisswell said. “Sometimes, Spotify just plays songs random songs and still registers that you listened to it even if you skip it right away.”
Spotify stops tracking what a user listens to after Oct. 31 of each year.
“I think they should track more of the year,” Quartuccio said. “I feel like it’d give us more accurate results, and I feel like it’d be cooler to see.”
Despite this, students still enjoy Spotify Wrapped. Due to its extreme success, other apps have tried creating something similar to Wrapped, but students believe nothing can beat Spotify.
“I’ve seen other apps doing something similar and it’s not very good,” Quartuccio said. “I think Spotify does it the best.”
Students are already thinking about the next Spotify Wrapped and are anticipating changes in their listening habits.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Wisswell said. “I want to compare my previous results to the new ones and see what about my music taste has changed.
A shoe? Slide? Sandal? Crocs have rolled their way into many students’ wardrobes.
Crocs have their own classification of shoe: foam clogs, a combination of sandals and slides. Crocs have brought back into the spotlight 21 years later and are worn by many students.
The ease of use with Crocs are very appeal-
“They’re comfortable,” junior Addison Johnson said. “I bought mine so I could wear them after basketball games and track meets.”
Some students, however, dislike the shoe’s looks.
“I just don’t like looking at them,” sophomore Nicole Levoy said. “I prefer Birkenstocks.”
shoes is how customizable they are. Decorative charms called Jibbitz can be inserted into the
“I like the Jibbitz, they’re pretty cute,” La voy said, “but I prefer Birkenstocks.” There are all sorts of different kinds of Jibbitz: fruits, box TVs, animals, num bers, letters, and more.
you can style your shoe is endless.
Crocs have ex panded just from the classic clog style. They also offer slides, fur lined, sandals, and snow boots.
Not everyone likes the new styles.
“They were nice until more styles were made,” junior Dylan Kelley said. “Fur lined ones came out and then it just got out of hand.”
Despite this, most students like the new styles and find the purchase worth it.
“I like them,” junior Akiyah Henderson said. “The fuzzy ones are better than the normal ones.”
Fur lined Crocs are pretty popular, especially with Michigan’s cold weather.
“The fur Crocs are where it’s at,” junior Landon Drew said. “They are so comfortable.”
Students who don’t own Crocs also think positively about the shoe.
“I don’t have a pair,” sophomore Diego Arce said, “but I feel they’re a seven out of ten in comfort level.”
Comfortability is also an important factor when it comes to buying Crocs.
“When I’m trying to stunt, I’ll throw them on,” junior Riley Sangster said, “but the comfort attracts me heavily.”
This comfort is more important than looks for some stu
New year, same traditions. Everyone has their own way of bringing in the new year. Utica’s family is diverse and have many different traditions unique to each person. Whether it is new year’s resolutions or celebrating on New Year’s Eve, everyone has something to share.
“My new year’s resolution is to spend more time off my phone,” junior Nadya DeRosa said, “and be more involved things outside of school.”
Many other students have similar resolutions to DeRosa.
“My first resolution is probably to get up earlier in the morning,” junior Addison Johnson said. “That way I can get myself fully ready and do more self care.”
Lots of students take the new year as an opportunity to better themselves.
“For my resolution this year I am really focusing on myself and just bettering myself,” senior Makenna Riggs said. “I am also continuing what I did last year with reading at least one book a day, which I was able to complete last year. I love reading so I really love challenging myself to read at least one book everyday.”
Some students are pushing themselves to work harder in school in the new year as well.
“My new year’s resolution this year is to really work on my school work,” junior Akiyah Henderson said. “I am trying to push myself and work on being more motivated. I think if I am more motivated my grade will improve and I will get more work in on time. I also hope to work towards better test grades.”
Junior Christina Bojaj has a similar resolution.
“I am really trying to focus on school and get good grades,” Bojaj said, “and I really want to put more effort into my work and what I turn in.”
Some students are really pushing themselves this year and working towards putting more effort into their school and themselves.
“My new year’s resolution is to be more kind to myself and others. I want to work on forgiving people and focusing more on myself,” junior Grace Jenkins said. “I also aspire to be more productive, especially with the oncoming SATs and other tests my junior year. I think it’s important to move on from my past. I am looking forward to spending more time with family and friends and the new experiences that this year will bring. I’m excited to turn 18 and it is important that I focus on preparing myself for the future in 2023.”
There are also many special ways that people celebrate both the new year and New Year’s Eve.
“I hang out with my family,” sophomore Tiffany Roose said, “and I stay up to watch the ball drop. Then I watch the after show.”
Many people take the new year as a time to be around family.
“My new years traditions are staying with my family, getting lots of food,” sophomore Adam Younan said, “and we gamble and play games for money. We all just stay up until midnight and have a good time.”
In addition to her resolutions, Johnson also has a special way of celebrating the new year. “On New Year’s Eve I always have crab or something nice to eat and we hangout with our friends. This year I went to my boyfriend’s,” Johnson said. “New Year’s Day, we spend the day doing things with our grandparents.”
Sophomore Nicholai Trimceski works on a “one word” project that focuses on how he wants to improve in the new year. photo by stacy smale
Utica’s bowling teams have started their season off strong. The teams have really been bonding well and working on their perfect bowling technique. Sports have a special way of bringing many different people together in the best way.
“We stretch together as a team and we do a chant before the tournament,” senior Grant Levin said. “Before the organizer announces the start of the tournament, we take a bunch of pictures for the parents as well.”
The boys and girls team each have their own, yet similar, ways of preparing and celebrating.
“This year, a lot of times after tournaments or matches, most of the team really enjoying going to a store. Something like Target or Walmart. Wherever really,” senior Savannah Van Pamel said. “We just kind of walk around. We have gotten a lot of really weird looks because we are always really loud and having a good time. Besides that, we have team dinners that are also always really fun. As well as just hanging out before and after a tournament.”
Besides hanging out and having a good time, there are some fun things the teams do to prepare and get excited before a tournament.
“Usually before our games, the team does a chant. Recently we have started saying it in Arabic,” senior Nadeen Rashed said. “They thought it would be interesting to start saying it in Arabic. The chant is just ‘chiefs on three, one, two, three, chiefs.’ It is kind of like our good luck charm. After our games, we usually go like a random store and just hang out.”
Sophomore Hadley Clark felt similarly about the teams rituals before their games and what they do to become stronger as a team.
“We usually stretch together as a team and do a chant,” Clark said. “I feel like it really
helps us to be better as a team and get really hyped up and excited before a game.”
Even the coach chips in on preparing for a game.
“We typically just have a normal conversation before we start,” coach Taran Heersma said, “to keep the nerves down.”
Bowling it about having the right technique and lots of practice. There is a perfect way for each bowler to throw the ball to get them the result they want.
“I mean really it just depends on how you throw it,” senior Sean Sun said. “So basically you are supposed to throw it with your hand on the side of the ball. This will basically get it to hook. That means it is going to curve around and hit the pins in the right spot.”
Other bowlers have similar ideas about their technique.
“A lot of technique is in the wrist placement,” Van Pamel said. “It really depends how the ball comes off your fingers and trying to make sure you turn your wrist at the right point.”
Some bowlers even have a name for their technique.
“There is this thing called petting the cat,” Rashed said. “When you throw the ball, you are supposed to turn your hand to the left a bit if you’re right handed. You kind of just try to aim for the sky. The trick has worked for me, it is just like imagining you are about to pet a cat. Then you will hit your mark or the pocket exactly which will make all the pins fall down.”
Despite many similar techniques, some bowlers do something a bit different and unique to them.
“I actually throw the ball two handed. A lot of bowlers usually use a one handed throw,” Levin said. “Basically it is about having a consistent approach. As well as having good hand-eye coordination and smooth foot work.”
The boys and girls bowling teams are working hard and excited for what is to come as they continue to bond this season.
The basketball season is in full stride and the boys and girls varsity teams need an update.
The girls team is in their a “rebuild phase” after losing many of their seniors from last year.
This year’s team is young with only three seniors, one sophomore and eight juniors, and for most it’s their first year on varsity.
“We’re still learning to work as a team,“ junior Addison Stuehmer said, “and through each game I feel we’ve gotten better and better.“
It’s hard to work with a team when you haven’t built strong relationships with them.
“It’s just nice to get close with the girls, this being my first year,” junior Addy Johnson said. “We’re just trying to work hard.”
Building a bond with the team has proven to be beneficial with the team’s chemistry.
“This season has been more of a rebuild after losing eight seniors,” senior Natalie Shtogrin said. “I’m just proud of how people have stepped up.”
A rebuild like this will prepare this girls team for the
struggles next year will bring.
The boys team, on the other hand, is bringing out huge success and triumph, compared to last year’s season.
Last year ended with a 7-14 record for the boys, and now they are already far ahead at 10-3, finishing week 7.
“We’ve got good chemistry; lots of guys doing their part,” junior Mason Brodi said. “We’re just winning and having fun doing it.”
Success comes with a team working together and this year’s team has stuck with each other through every game.
“What’s great is we know how to balance fun and hard work,” senior Trent McFarland said. “It gives our team great chemistry and it helps us succeed.”
Even though playing a sport like this can be very serious at times, they manage to have fun.
“Nik Gojcaj is my favorite teammate,” junior Mason Brodi said. “He just brings a different aspect to the game that makes it more fun.”
To Brodi, Nik is important on this team.
“I feel like I have a big role on this team,” junior Nik Gojcaj said, “getting rebounds, feeding my guys and helping us win.”
In order to combat vandalism, vaping, and other inappropriate behavior in the bathrooms, Utica has shut down a majority of the bathrooms during the school day.
Our editorial staff may have differing opinions on many topics, but we can all agree on one thing: we wholeheartedly disagree with this decision. We believe that shutting down bathrooms to “prevent” these issues is just creating more problems than solutions, and it’s punishing students who did nothing wrong.
Students are not informed of which bathrooms are closed during the day, leading to students wandering around the school in search of a bathroom that’s open. We believe students should be informed of which bathrooms are open and which are not in order to prevent us from needing to try every bathroom in the school.
also does not solve the problem of students vaping in the bathroom or engaging in any kind of vandalism. They’ll still be doing it, it’s just now in a more concentrated area instead of spread across the school.
Some students are actively avoiding using the bathroom at Utica now because of this new policy. They are either uncomfortable with the large amount of people in the bathroom, they don’t want to be present in the bathroom if students get caught vaping by a staff member, or they are worrying about upsetting their teachers due to the long wait times.
SHOULD BATHROOMS BE CLOSED AT UTICA?
Additionally, when using the bathroom during class, teachers expect us to come back fairly quickly and often get upset with us if we take too long. Coming back in a timely manner is infinitely more difficult when only one or two bathrooms in the entire school are open and we need to find which ones they are.
YES 0 NO 16
This is not fair to students who aren’t vaping or vandalizing the bathrooms. If anything, it impacts students who aren’t doing anything wrong more than it impacts those who are. Shutting down most of the school’s bathrooms may lessen the amount of vandalism and vaping, but it doesn’t completely solve the problem. Students are still going to do these things, the only difference is now it’s causing problems for otherwise uninvolved students.
Some teachers also only permit one student to leave the classroom to use the bathroom at a time. Needing to guess which bathrooms are open holds up other people from using the bathrooms and is a general annoyance for everyone.
The few bathrooms that are open are extremely crowded and practically unusable due to the amount of people in them. This, again, leads to long wait times and frustrated teachers assuming we’re wasting time in the hallways. It
We recognize that this is a problem that has been around for much longer than we’ve been alive, only with cigarettes rather than vapes, and it does not have an easy or obvious solution. Punishing the entire school for the actions of a small amount of students is ineffective and is only going to irritate students, instead of fix anything or make meaningful, long-term changes.
A better solution is to invest in full-time hall monitors, who can check in on bathroom usage throughout the day. Clearly, security cameras are not the answer, and we are definitely worth the investment.
“No, not really, people who go to the bathroom have to go, so the bathrooms have to be open.”
“I don’t. If they close it because people were vaping, they are going to vape with the bathrooms opened or closed.”
“I do agree with the bathrooms being closed because we are not monitoring ourselves as a student body. Someone has got to speak up and we can bring that to a stop.”
Jeff LaPratt“The reason for all these closures are too many students congregating, along with vaping being an issue.”
Timothy Youngbloodclosures. A different approach is needed to curb inappropriate behaviors.ILLUSTRATION BY ANI QUARTUCCIO
“ I dislike it very much. It’s so irritating because sometimes it’s open, so I go and check and it’s locked.”
New year’s resolutions are the most meaningful goals to have. As you’re starting the new year and putting things in the past, you should also set yourself up for the future. While you set these goals, you’ll be able to figure out what has been holding you back from achieving the things you want, and what you can alter in the new year to make things better in the end.
Resolutions go hand and hand with reflections. Step number one of making a resolution to live out in the new year is to reflect on the past year. You’ll become aware of the things that are actually important to you, whether those things are people, jobs, activities, or hobbies, they are all things that help you become who you want to be.
A lot of people will argue that many will make a list of all the things that they want to accomplish or get rid of in the new year, and never achieve or change anything. That is because some people make their goals very unrealistic and they don’t organize the amount of work it takes to get to the fulfillment of them. That’s step number two, you need to be sure that your goals are attainable. You must see yourself performing the tasks needed to carry out your ambitions, then continue to push yourself and you’ll get there.
The major characteristics of effective goals or resolutions include choosing your own goals based on your interests and desires, which gives you ownership and responsibility for the things you want, making sure your goal is measurable and specific, the goals need to be challenging enough to push you to actually try, making the tasks needed to achieve your goals possible, and lastly, just keeping a positive attitude and never giving up.
According to Ray Williams, “A New Year’s resolution is a tradition in which a person resolves to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal or otherwise improve their life.” There’s no better time to do that than after the sparkly ball drops in NYC!
Why wait until the new year to start the new you when you can just start now? The idea of starting the new year with a “new you” sounds amazing, but it’s not practical as it’s much easier to lose hope later in the year.
Studies show that 43% of all people are expected to fail before February, and almost one out of four quit within the first week of setting their New Year’s resolution. After two weeks, the number drops to 71%. After one month, the number drops again to 64%. And after six months, 46% of people who make a resolution are still thriving in keeping it.
Many peers who make new year’s resolution don’t even go through it because after a few weeks, the feeling of starting anew and wanting to start fresh fades away.
“It’s true that when starting a new year, most people are going to want to change something about themselves, but the problem is that why wait until the new year and not make the change you want to make right now?” senior Quinn Gilkson said. “Not only are you wasting your time to make it feel more ‘meaningful’, but there’s a 99% change you are going to give up in a matter of days.”
When making a resolution, constructing a detailed plan is a must If no specific instructions are in place, there’s a better chance of it all crumbling down due to setting unrealistic exceptions, not going step-by-step, having too many goals at a time, inability to identify obstacles, and the one of the worst emotions there is: stress.
“People tend to create super crazy goals that are just not for them or not achievable,” senior Nathan Richards said. “I’m not saying don’t do them or that they’re not achievable, but you have to know who you are to know what is and how is the best way to grab that goal and achieve it.”
If you want to make a change because you feel that change will make you a better or different person, then do it. Don’t wait until the start of a whole new year to do so.
Contact information
Arrow Utica High School 47255 Shelby Road
Utica, MI 48317
phone: 586.797.2305
fax: 586.797.2201
e-mail: uticapublications@gmail.com website: uhsarrow.org
Staff policy
Arrow is published monthly by the newspaper class of Utica High School and is funded by advertising. Our main purpose is to (1) inform the students, faculty and community of school-related news; (2) broaden the range of thinking of staff members and readers; (3) provide a forum for readers; (4) train the students in the functions of the press in a democratic society; and (5) provide entertaining features of interest to the students. All editorials without a byline reflect at least two-thirds opinion of the Arrow staff but are not necessarily the opinion of the administration.
Letters to the Editor are welcomed and must be signed; however, names will be withheld for valid reasons.
Letters may be dropped off in room 205, and electronic submissions will be verified. All contributions are subject for restrictions of libel, defamation, slander and obscenity. Arrow staff reserves the right to edit letters without changing the meaning, and also reserves the right to reject letters for reasons of limited space, untimely material, or unbalanced coverage.
Arrow is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll, National Scholastic Press Association, Michigan Interscholastic Press Association and the Student Press Law Center. Some photos courtesy of American Society of News Editors/Tribune News Service. Cost per issue is $.50. Subscriptions are $10 per year. Digital publications available via Issuu.
This was really insightful without giving away what the play is about. It’s nice getting a summary of the play without spoilers, so I can get an idea of what I’m paying to see. It was well organized and good to see what’s going on before the play.
Jenna, Online ReaderWe have things like this at Romeo, as well. It’s nice seeing more high schools introduce pathways to their students so they can get head starts on careers.
Ava K, Online Reader
uhsarrow Donuts and CNN10! graciewetherington
The donuts were delicious! So glad our school got the opportunity to have the truck come.
Editor In Chief
Abby Williams
Managing Editor Alexander Schmidt
Copy Editor
Gracie Wetherington
Sports Editor
Tyler Watford
Social Media Manager
Loriana Mannino
Photographer
Natalie Garwood
Reporters
April Alexander
Christian Cummings
Paul Disho
TeYanna Eades
Rosemary Hormoz
Ashlin Hurry
Alessandra Ivanaj
Alanna Kosciolek
Gavin Ladd
Bryan Orellana
Yunans Youhana
Adviser
Stacy Smale
@UticaArrow @UHSArrow @uhs_arrow
Cover by Abby Williams Photo by Natalie Garwood at the Humane Society of Macomb
Teacher Anthony Sader’s Instagram account has been gaining in popularity, with his followers being none other than his students.
“I started the account before I started working at Utica, on March 25, 2017,” Sader said.
His content showcases what happens in the high school setting where he teaches.
“It started as a way to document or remind myself of all the different experiments or hands-on things that I do in class,” Sader said. “It’s kind of like a yearbook in a way, but just all science.”
Students think positively of both Sader and his Instagram account.
“I really like Mr. Sader,” sophomore Amy Williams said. “He’s a very good teacher who knows how to engage his students in what we’re learning. I think his Instagram account is very fun and is a nice way to show what kids are doing in class.”
Since Sader posts often, many students check his account every day.
“His Instagram is really funny and he posts a lot of interesting stuff,” sophomore Scott Forte said. “One time he posted something that said something like, ‘If you’re having a rough go, you should take a break and talk to someone.’ It was really nice of him to care enough about his students to do that.”
Usually, if students found their teacher’s social media, this wouldn’t be the reaction. However, @sciencewithsader is different because of the students’ involvement in the account.
Sader also offers merchandise to his students.
“We started the merchandise last year because students were impressed by my Instagram account,” Sader said, “and they said that I needed merchandise.”
The students’ idea then went into action after convincing their teacher.
“A student created a design and I knew of this website where all you need to do is upload it and it does everything for you,” Sader said. “It’s called Spreadshop. It creates the product, it ships it, and takes care of all the transactions for you. It’s really easy.”
Students are fans of Sader’s merch.
“His merch is pretty funny and very original,” Williams said. “I haven’t seen any teachers do something like that before.”
Overall, Sader’s involvement on social media has made a positive impression on students.
“I think more teachers should do what Mr. Sader’s doing,” Williams said. “I think it’s a great way to showcase what his students are learning and doing. It makes the class a lot more fun and engaging for everyone.”
After following the link in teacher Anthony Sader’s Instagram, Science with Sader’s direct.me will open, with merchandise, Amazon recommendations, free phone wallpaper, and a link to virtual tutoring sessions.
merchandise available at https://science-with-sader myspreadshop com/
“Mr. Sader is my favorite teacher in the whole world. He always finds a way to make me laugh.”-
Sophomore Lana Burkhart
