The Bruin - April 2023

WADSWORTH WRESTLING LEAVES IT ALL ON THE MAT

JAXON JOY REPEATS AS STATE CHAMPION

nazis have

As the “Rock-n-Roll Humanist Drag Queen Story Hour” event sparks even more controversy and confusion, we, the Wadsworth community, are responsible for how the future unfolds. It is evident that our town was in deep danger as citizens were threatened by Neo-Nazis, waving swastikas and shouting slurs. Because many people refuse to speak out louder than the hateful protests, our city is losing to chaos and inequality.

in no place wadsworth

The simple fact is that online hate served as a signal to many extremist groups that Wadsworth is a place where Nazis can show their face. This is shameful. Because there continues to be noise all over the internet about the protests and the event, many choose to sit back and watch the trouble unfold. It can be intimidating to speak up in such a hostile environment, but it is the biggest power a citizen holds.

A big argument that has surged with the drag event was that it was harmful to children.

The idea that children were in danger because the event was labeled “family-friendly” and included a drag queen is simply ignorant. No one was required to go, and a drag queen merely existing is not going to plant seeds in a child’s head. As a generalization, most children have access to the internet, television, and various other forms of media. It is not unlikely to assume that they have heard of the LGBTQ+ community before, and even more unlikely to assume that this is the last they will hear.

QUEER PEOPLE EXIST, REGARDLESS OF THE TYPE

THEY ARE A PART OF.

This plays into the idea that being queer is a choice, one that can be influenced by one’s surroundings. This is a complete conspiracy. Queer people exist regardless of the type of environment they are a part of. It is up to every parent or guardian to determine how to inform a child and teach them. However, it is unrealistic to believe that children will never come into contact with people that live different lifestyles than what they are used to.

Because there was so much controversy spread to every corner of the internet, our town was endangered by Neo-Nazis. Many Nazis traveled from different states to come and protest. If we do not stand up to these other hate groups, they will consider it an invitation to come back. Wadsworth is an excellent community, and we cannot let our silence be an answer to those who have jeopardized the people at the event, the local businesses, the citizens who are part of and associated with the LGBTQ+ community, and the very grounds of what this city stands for. Not only does this affect everyone in the town, but it also pushes a threatening message out to everyone targeted by Nazis, for example, all Jewish people or anyone of color.

If we as citizens are truly against the hate portrayed in the protests, it is necessary to overtake the violent threats and use our strength in numbers to provide a voice of support to all those affected.

To let go of stability and lose sight of a common goal, at its core, is anarchy.

If we begin to seek the common good and stand up to opportunistic extremists, Wadsworth will be a solid, safe city. Conversely, if this does not happen– if the fearmongering continues, if citizens shy away from the issue for fear of being disagreed with– disaster is bound to happen. It is up to us to use our voices to keep the Wadsworth community safe for all.

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WADSWORTH HOLDS JUDICIAL ELECTION

BY ALEX BANKS

Wadsworth’s Judge Stephen Mcllvaine is not running for reelection, opening the seat for candidates Tom Morris or Susana Lewis.

Morris graduated from Wadsworth High School, and has been working with the Wadsworth Municipal Court since his time in law school. Morris worked in the largest law firm in Wadsworth where he spent 16 years representing hundreds of cases for Wadsworth citizens. Morris has been working with the Wadsworth Municipal Court in some way for the past 25 years.

“[Wadsworth] is where I learned how to be fair, how to do jobs that are necessary for a judge, that was all through Wadsworth,” Morris said. “It is not how Medina does it, it is not how Akron does it, that isn’t what my focus is on. My focus is on what we can do here in Wadsworth and we make it the best that we can, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. The laws are changing all the time.”

Lewis is currently the Chief Magistrate for the Medina County Probate and Juvenile Court and has 17 years of experience in that career. She is also part of the court’s leadership team and trains all court staff, along with supervising magistrates. Before that, she served as an Assistant Summit County Prosecuting Attorney from 1994 to 2005.

“I think I’m the best candidate mainly just because of my lengthy experience as magistrate,” Lewis said. “I’ve been a public servant my whole life, I’ve had 30 years of public service. I was previously a prosecutor, I worked for Job and Family Services and was prosecutor for eleven years.”

Morris recalls wanting to get into court since he was young, and had a great interest in convincing judges and jurors to agree with his side.

“When I was young, I wanted to be able to go into court and be able to mix it up to convince judges and jurors to be on my side,” Morris said. “As I was doing that, I would look at the judges and always be amazed because that is really hard to do what they are doing.”

Morris has worked with Wadsworth’s two most recent judges, Judge Kimbler, and Judge Mcllvaine. Mcllvaine, who he has been working with for a long time, has taught him a lot during his career.

“Being raised in Wadsworth makes a difference. You want somebody who shares your values and you know that because I’m somebody who has come up with you and your community. You want somebody who is going to keep the community safe as a judge, so you want somebody who is going to prosecute and who has been protecting the people and been working with law enforcement officers to do that from the start. You’re looking for someone who has that experience.”

“From Judge Mcllvaine, I’ve always learned how to be fair because you’re not dealing with just black and white issues, you’re dealing with people,” Morris said. “It is having that ability to look beyond the cold white pages and see what needs to be done for equity’s sake.”

In addition to Lewis’ experience, Lewis believes that she has the attitude needed to be a judge from her years of working in the courts.

“I’m very fair. I’m very balanced, I have a very good judicial temperament, sometimes judges can have different temperaments in court. I know, when I was a prosecutor and I went before judges, there were all kinds of different judges,” Lewis said. “Some judges had different temperaments but I feel I have a really good judicial temperament, I don’t lose my temper on people. I think it’s important to be able to listen carefully to the facts and have people be able to present them in the best way possible.”

Additionally, at the end of her time as prosecutor, she was given the High Point Award by Summit County. This award honors outstanding service to the Summit County community.

“I worked really hard as a prosecutor, I took my job extremely seriously, I always felt that it would be so important to be able to pursue support for children because they need that to be able to pursue healthy lives.”

Both of the candidates have had to learn how to adapt to the constantly changing court system and how to apply new laws.

Morris hopes to take advantage of new

LEWIS

“I’ve devoted my entire career to public service. I’m very fair, I’m very disciplined, and I have the highest integrity imaginable. I know how to apply the law fairly and I know how to do my job because I’ve had so many years of experience that is very similar to the work of the municipal court. I serve with complete dedication and I know I can serve our community in the most positive and highest way possible.”

technologies that are becoming available to make sure the court is running as efficiently as possible.

During the pandemic, Lewis helped the Medina County Probate & Juvenile Court adapt to the changes and helped the court continue to run.

“We had to figure out what to do immediately because in our court specifically, probate and juvenile, we had the most vulnerable people coming to our court, like kids that are abused or neglected, or people adults that maybe have issues of severe mental health where they need intervention from the court to be able to get them to a safe place,” Lewis said.

Throughout her experience in court, she has also handled crises such as the opioid epidemic in court.

“When you go through a crisis like that in court, it makes you feel like you can handle any crisis that comes your way because you have to have an administrative side to you that reacts quickly and efficiently and you have to lead, because sometimes in a moment like that, people are really concerned and they need somebody very strong to say ‘okay, this is what we’re going to do’,” Lewis said.

In addition to all of Morris’ experience in the court. Morris focused on learning the rules of evidence and learning the rules of procedure so that they would become instinctual knowledge to him.

“The only way to do that is through 10,000 hours of practice,” Morris said. “So, in order to do that, I became the prosecutor here because I wanted to be able to do it more than anybody else in the county, and that’s what I did.”

Although Lewis works in juvenile cases, she has to apply the same law she would apply to adults.

“I’ve handled every type of case that would be handled in the Wadsworth Municipal Court. Even though I handled them on the juvenile end, it’s the same law,” Lewis said. “Criminal law applies to both kids and adults, you have sentencings, or dispositions that are different, but I handle misdemeanors, felonies, traffics, civil matters, like emergency custodies for children, probation violations, warrants, and some probate matters.”

Morris believes that he has the most experience in the court in the county and in 2014 he became the sole criminal prosecutor for Wadsworth where he was able to gain even more experience.

“I would say that there is nobody else in the county who has spent more time on jury trials or regular trials in court,” Morris said.

“We have 600 cases a year and that was my job, just churning through those.”

Lewis teaches many educational programs about the legal system and teaches Continuing Legal Education courses. Additionally, with her current career, she sometimes has to be the judge and jury. Meaning she has experience in both ends of the court.

“I’ve certified lawyers to work in our court to be able to handle juvenile matters, I’ve prepared and presented seminars for that purpose through the Bar Association, both local and for other counties,” Lewis said.

Lewis also runs teen court, which helps educate kids about the court system.

“It really teaches kids about due-process rights and connects them to information about the court and connects them with jobs in law.”

She is very proud of her involvement in the community. She is involved in programs such as Share Cluster, which created Huddle, and she was on the Alcohol Drug and Mental Health Board, which connects people to services for both addiction and mental health programs that come up with services based on societal needs.

“I am involved in different functions that help families in our community,” Lewis said. “I’m on the anti-suicide coalition, where we tried to bring about public understanding and resources to try to prevent suicide, to do whatever we can to do that. That’s a very important program that I am involved in.”

Morris also hopes to continue handling specialized cases with the court that other counties have not been handling.

“There are specialty branches of the law that most people don’t get to see that we as municipal prosecutors see all the time, like people who drive under, not under the influence of alcohol, but under the influence of heroin or under the influence of marijuana,” Morris said. “Those are cases that are specialized where drug recognition experts are needed… And there’s not a lot of courts in the state that are trying these cases, that have taken them to jurors, but we’ve done six or seven of them, so we’ve done more than, I think, anybody else.”

Morris thinks that there is a security issue in the court, and he is hoping to increase security so that people feel safer in court.

“Right now, our security consists of a sticker that says ‘no guns please’, so that needs to be addressed so that the people, the litigants, the victims that are coming in here can feel safe and while they are here they’ll be protected by some type of security system,” Morris said.

Lewis has co-developed many court programs and protocols. She hopes to see if she could try to bring some of these programs to Wadsworth.

“I would like to explore a valor court, which is a specialized program for veterans who are caught up in the justice system for a lot of varied reasons that a lot of the time are related to trauma that they have faced with what they have given to our nation,” Lewis said. “For that, we could maybe take a look at ways to try and restore people.”

Both Lewis and Morris believe that it is important for everyone to educate themselves on the candidates and vote in the upcoming election.

Tom Morris and Susana Lewis are both running for judge of the Wadsworth Municipal Court. Both have extensive experience working with the court. Photo courtesy of the candidates.

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MAYOR LAUBAUGH CREATES EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH AWARD

BY KATIE ALLEN

In addition to Mayor Laubaugh’s Workforce Initiative, this March she added a new award of Employee of the Month to be awarded to any city employee each month. This Workforce Initiative, which first started over the summer, brings focus to five areas: the Onboarding Program, Compensation, Communication, Better Feedback on Performance, and Recognition and Reward. The start of this employee of the month award will be in addition to the Recognition and Reward area of focus.

“Basically the workforce initiative has five different perimeters within the initiative,” Mayor Laubaugh said. “One of them is Recognition and Reward, so awarding an employee of the month is one of the ways of recognizing employees for the job that they’re doing.”

Although this initiative originally started this summer, new aspects are continuously being added towards it. Since starting it, Mayor Laubaugh believes that the initiative as a whole has already had a positive impact on the city and employees within it, being successful in showing them that they are valued.

“The whole purpose is to make sure that your employees feel valued and that they recognize that we are appreciative

of their hard work and effort that they do everyday to provide a service for the citizens of Wadsworth,” Mayor Laubaugh said. “Our goal is to retain them because we value them, we want them to continue working here because they are doing a good job.”

The requirements to receive employee of the month is limited to the employee must have worked in the city for at least a year. Then, anybody can nominate an

Mayor Laubaugh’s Workforce Initiative:

Onboarding programFocuses on helping a new employee be successful as he/she starts employment in the City of Wadsworth.

Compensation-

Making sure each employee is being paid fairly for the job they do.

Communication-

employee whether it’s their coworker or supervisor.

“This is an opportunity for us to highlight or to honor an employee such as Bobby [this month’s employee of the month], that is an individual that goes above and beyond their normal duties to be an excellent employee and to help provide a service to the

Focuses on improving communication with employees. An example of this is the new monthly newsletter. In the newsletter each month we highlight a department. We also have a section to “get to know” an employee. There is a section that tells a little about employees that just joined the city, as well as a section for the Employee of the Month.

Better Feedback on PerformanceNew evaluation system providing better feedback to help an employee be successful.

Recognition and RewardShow greater appreciation for positive feedback and employee of the month honor.

CITY OF WADSWORTH PURCHASES LAND FOR NEW SPORTS COMPLEX

BY NOELLE ALLEN

The city of Wadsworth has decided to purchase over 200 acres of land in an aspiration to create a sports complex and public park. The site is located on a property beside The Village of St. Edwards retirement community, which previously housed a brick factory. For years this site has been idle and Wadsworth has been investigating further use of the property for some time.

On October 17, 2022, the purchase was made. The project was further discussed at last week’s City Hall meeting. Many members have encouraged the continuation of the project and are eager for the benefits it is projected to bring to the city.

Danielle Maur, president and CEO of The Village retirement community, reported her excitement on behalf of the establishment about the purchase of the neighboring land.

“We believe that this would be a great asset not only to the Wadsworth community but also to the residents of the Village of Saint Edward,” Maur said.

Other communities around Wadsworth, such as the youth baseball program, have expressed interest in the project as well. Mike Noll, president of Wadsworth Youth Baseball, is very much in favor of the --- due to the plans to create multiple new baseball and softball fields of differing sizes. These

fields will be available for both youth and high school teams to utilize for practices, games, or tournaments. Noll believes that hosting tournaments at this complex could potentially bring in substantial profit for the city.

“This is a great opportunity for this city and youth baseball,” Noll said, “A sports complex in this location would be key.”

The complex is planned to include a number of other athletic and recreational features such as tennis and pickleball courts, hiking trails, mountain biking trails, a fishing pond, playgrounds, and more.

Funding for the project has been allotted in this years budget. The Public Service Committee also received a targeted Brownfields Assessment Grant from the Ohio EPA which helped pay 100% of phase one and two of the environmental site assessment.

Phase one focused on overview of the entire site to determine the quality of the land. Phase two is currently in motion as further testing and sampling. So far,

the results from sampling have been very positive and continue to encourage the continuation of the project.

The city plans on using general funds surplus to go towards improvements in the future and for any remaining funds needed they would look for further grant funding or borrowing.

Plans are currently being made to remove the remaining masses of bricks and cement from the property. The city is working with a local company to go onto the site and begin crushing and recycling the debris to potentially reuse as road base

or parking lot base in the future.

This project will offer opportunities that Wadsworth has never seen before. The city has never had any sports area as wideranged and all inclusive as this.

Members of the Wadsworth City Council are hopeful of the positive impacts this expansion could have on the community.

“We are encouraged and excited about the possibilities for this athletic complex,” said Robert Patrick, Public Service Directer of Wadsworth, “We believe this will set the community up for many generations to come.

Shown above is the first employee to be honored as employee of the month, Bobby Devaney. Mr. Devaney works within the Water Treatment Plant and plans to retire this summer. Photo courtesy of City of Wadsworth.

“WE BELIEVE THIS WILL SET THE COMMUNITY UP FOR MANY GENERATIONS TO COME.”

-ROBERT PATRICK, PUBLIC SERVICE DIRECTOR

A map of the area that was recently purchased by the City of Wadsworth. The city has plans to turn the area into a sports complex and park, which will include a number of athletic and recreational amenities. Map created of Noelle Allen.

AP TESTING SEASON APPROACHES

BY LILY CHESBRO

As the end of the school year comes closer, the thoughts of AP exams and finals fill WHS and other high schools. Students face a lot of stress during this time: the thought of not doing well, not understanding the material, and the worry of failing an AP test that was paid for and could have an effect on college credit.

AP tests begin the first week of May and follow through the second week as well. All AP classes have different preparation built around it depending on the course and what is included in the tests.

Different teachers give example problems in order to prepare the students.

Mark Schoonover, English teacher at WHS, teaches the AP classes of Seminar and Research. These classes are a little different than the other AP courses offer because the students are physically completing the entire course the whole year rather than just taking a final at the end of the year.

These two courses cost 145 dollars to take the test, which for Seminar is different from Research. AP Seminar is primarily based around two different presentations and two different academic papers, that correlate with these presentations.

As these classes both have presentations, this could cause a lot of stress for students.

“I think a lot of it comes down to comfort and confidence in front of an audience,

everybody for the most part has a little bit of stage fright, but the class is designed so that we try to build a good community so that people don’t feel uncomfortable talking to their classmates,” Schoonover said.

These classes are primarily writing and research based, and writing longer papers or essays than what a student is used to could be overwhelming.

“Doing prep work ahead of time, don’t think about writing a whole paper, think about writing one part of the paper,” Schoonover said. “Outlining and doing all of that pre-writing makes the writing process so much easier.”

The course is set up so the students are able to split the work up, and they aren’t trying to, for AP Research, for example, write an entire 4,000-5,000 word paper with no outlining or organizing.

The paper and presentation is the AP research “exam”, since there is no written test.

As for Seminar, there is an end of year exam.

“The two papers that we write for the exam are essentially small versions of the two larger ones you write to turn in for part of your portfolio,” Schoonover said.

These two classes are part of the AP Capstone and prepare students for college research and presenting.

AP Biology, another AP course offered at WHS, has a little bit of a different

preparation than the two courses previously mentioned. Shelly Rohrer teaches this science class, and it is primarily focused on the MCQ’s (multiple choice questions), FRQ’s (free response questions), and SAQ’s (short answer questions) that mock the same style of questions that will be on the AP exam.

“It’s eight units of content that goes through what’s really supposed to be the first semester of a college biology class. Our textbooks are an entire year but the new content is really just about a half year, so a semester,” Rohrer said.

With this being a college level course there is a lot of material to cover just in a school year’s worth of time.

“We do what I call FRQ Friday, which is the free response questions. Then we do MCQ Mondays where the students do like real AP questions,” Rohrer said.

Having the students score well is a goal of Rohrer’s, so finding new things to help accomplish that have improved the scores.

AP uses specific words in questions called “task verbs.” These are words such as “identify,” “explain,” or “describe.” Knowing what these words mean in terms of how to go about answering the question could potentially help the students score higher.

“I would say that implementing the FRQ Friday has been really helpful. I think that the practice with the way the questions are worded, and there’s specific terms that

are included in the FRQs that may mean different things like the word ‘identify’ means they literally just have to say one word,” Rohrer said.

These questions are mostly taken from previous year’s AP tests in order to get an accurate idea of what will be seen on the test in the beginning of May.

With such a heavy course load there is not a ton of time to review the year’s worth of material for the final exam.

“We do not review in the class. I know that there are some AP classes that spend the last couple weeks or even the last grading period they review because they’re done with their content, but as of right now I have one day that we are not doing content,” Rohrer said.

2023 AP EXAM SCHEDULE

May 1: US Gov and Politics -8AM

Chemistry-12PM

May 3:

May 2: Environmental Science-8AM

May 4: Seminar-12PM Statistics-12PM

Literature- 8AM May 10: Biology-12PM

STUDENTS BEGIN PETITION FOR STAGGERED RELEASE

BY LEZLIE TINNEY

Students at WHS have started a petition to bring back staggered release. The petition was made by senior Ayden Usinski, after he realized the traffic in the WHS parking lot was dangerously chaotic. At the end of the day, when the last bell rings at 2:34, students sprint to their cars and to the buses to get out.

“Some current issues that I’ve seen

are kids almost being hit,” Usinski said. “This is because students are running across the lot to get to their cars and there are other students racing out of the lot, going way faster than they should be. I’ve also seen an accident happen and many other close calls because everyone is in such a rush to get out.”

Usinski’s idea for staggered release would be to let out different grades at different times. Starting with seniors at 2:28, juniors at 2:30, sophomores at 2:32, and freshmen at 2:34.

“I do think a staggered release would fix the issue. Whether it’s by grade level, like I recommended, or class number/floor,” Usinski said.

Students have been reposting the link to the petition on their social media accounts, and currently there are 409 signatures. Usinski started the petition with the expectation of receiving the reaction he got.

“I did expect a reaction like that from other students because everyone I talk to completely agrees with me on this topic and that it needs to be changed,” Usinski said. “Teachers as well agree, from what I’ve

been told.”

The process of implementing staggered release is more than just taking a few minutes to release students

“We’re required to have so many hours of class time, so there is a lot much more required,” Berlin said

STUDENT PROPOSED STAGGERED RELEASE SCHEDULE

SENIORS SOPHOMORES

JUNIORS FRESHMEN

earlier. The last time staggered release was implemented at WHS was during the COVID-19 pandemic, to keep students and staff apart for safety.

“We’ve had those conversations, it’s not as simple as just doing a staggered release,” Rich Berlin said.

Implementing a staggered release would take away from class time; and the school can not do that because the state requires a certain amount of time in class each year.

Berlin believes that a staggered release schedule, would open up the parking lot more and relieve some of the congestion, but he thinks that the students would still be running out into the parking lot to get out as fast as possible.

2:28 2:30 2:32 2:34

“There’s always concerns when teenagers are driving, and trying to get out of here,” Berlin said. “We’re always concerned about the safety of everybody.”

The current solution from the staff is to stay out in the parking lot during release to monitor traffic and safety.

“We will consider everybody’s ideas on how to make things better,” Berlin said.

Currently staggered release is being discussed and taken into consideration for the 2023-2024 school year.

The petition started by Ayden Usinski on Change.org has 409 signatures currently. Students were spreading the link to the petition around shortly after it was made. Photo courtesy of Fair Use.

WADSWORTH WRESTLING LEAVES IT ALL ON THE MAT AT STATES:

BY BRENDEN BARLETT & CARSON BERNARD

Four seconds. In front of a live audience of 17,000 people, only four seconds remained on the clock when Wadsworth High School’s Jaxon Joy (11) and St. Edward’s Kade Brown (11) stalemated and returned to the center of the mat. Joy led 5-0. Once both wrestlers were set, Joy on top, Brown on bottom, the whistle blew. Brown shot to his feet, looking for anything while Joy kept close behind, and the final four seconds ticked away. Joy had become a backto-back State Champion.

“I mean, it’s nice,” said Jaxon Joy, a junior and one of the Grizzly’s three team captains after his Finals win, “but my goals are a lot higher than winning the State Tournament.”

Throughout the State Tournament, at the Schottenstein Center down in Columbus, from March 10-12, Joy comfortably climbed to the State Finals, winning his Round of 16 match on Friday evening by tech-fall (15 points or higher) and his quarterfinals match Saturday afternoon by pin. That said, when it came to his Semi-finals match Saturday night, Joy did not achieve the outcome he had hoped for.

“If you go into every practice and tournament going, ‘I gotta win, I gotta win,’ you are just putting too much pressure onto yourself,” Joy said. “You can’t guarantee a win, but you can guarantee you are going to have fun if you have the right mindset.”

Joy avoids worrying about whether or not he will win or lose before his matches. Rather, he focuses on keeping his mind right, getting ready to score as many points as he can, and, most importantly, making sure he has fun. Joy applies this way of thinking to both high-pressure situations such as matches and to training in the room.

“I mean, I have a ton of fun each practice, just doing what I love, and it makes it pretty easy.”

-Jaxon Joy

2X State-Champion, 3X State Finalist, TeamCaptain, and ranked 16 nationally at 132lb.

Joy said, “If you do what you love, you are going to have fun doing it, and I love wrestling. There’s nothing I’d rather do. I’m borderline obsessed with it. I mean, I have other things I look forward to, but at the end of the day, I just want to wrestle.”

“I set a goal to get bonus points in all my matches, but, I mean, there are great kids here,” Joy said. “I was dominant, and I didn’t give up an offensive point, but I just wanted to get bonus points.”

Joy’s determination to get bonus points in each of his matches is just one aspect of what makes him so successful and dominant on the mat and why over the course of the season, he was able to amass a total of 327 takedowns, which would place him at number 8 in the state on OHSAA’s unofficial takedown record for a single season. Another aspect to his success is his mindset.

Overall, Joy is excited about being a twotime State Champion, but he is also already looking ahead, eager to do more in the room at practice, perfecting his technique and in crucial tournaments this summer and next

“I want to become unbeatable,” Joy said. “Win IronMan; Win Powerade.

Those are my two big goals for next year. They were my goals this year, but I’m going to work even harder to achieve them.”

Finishing the season 51-4, moving forward, Joy’s goal is to become more dominant, win more, lose less, and have a good summer. While Joy still has another year left with the Grizzlies, he is committed to Cornell University.

Although Joy certainly dominated at the 87 Annual State Wrestling Tournament, all ten of the Grizzly’s state qualifiers performed well. Each wrestler won at least one match, and the combined effort of all the Grizzly’s wrestlers contributed to the team’s 5-place finish in Division I with 95.0 points. The Grizzlies placed ninth overall among Divisions I, II, III, and the new Girl’s Division.

Leading up to Aaron Ries, another of the Grizzly’s juniors, 285lb semi-finals match, Ries prevailed through the Round of 16 with a 3-1 victory in the first period of overtime, which is a sudden death, winner takes all situation. A match later, in the quarterfinals, Ries returned to overtime against Miamisburg’s Abel Ngoh (11). Ries and Ngoh were tied 1-1 heading into the two thirty-second “tiebreaker” periods. Ngoh scored first in their

match, giving him a criteria advantage, but Ngoh had also been called for stalling. If he were called for stalling again, Ries would earn a point.

That said, if Ries did not do something big over the course of the two thirty-second tiebreaker periods, it was very likely that things would end in favor of Ngoh, as in “Ultimate Rideout,” the final round of overtime, Ngoh would choose bottom.

And so, Ries was on top in the first thirty seconds, in which Ngoh escaped, making the match 2-1.

Shortly after, Ries got his escape, too, making the score 2-2. Ries needed to go. Twenty seconds remained before “Ultimate Rideout.” He needed to move. So Ries charged. Placing constant pressure on Ngoh, Ries forced out another stalling call. With the score 3-2, it was over. Ries had

“I NEVER WORRY ABOUT WINNING OR LOSING BEFORE MY MATCHES. IT’S JUST ABOUT GOING OUT THERE AND SCORING POINTS.”

Jaxon Joy (11) kicking out his opponent during the Round of 16. Jaxon went on to win the match by Tech-fall in the Second Period. Photo by Brenden Barlett

won.

But Ries was not content with his first two wins of the State Tournament–something he made clear after beating Barberton’s Roosevelt Andrews (12) 6-4 in the Semifinals match.

“I just wasn’t happy with the last two wins I had,” Ries said. “So I was like, ‘I gotta score in the first period.’ I haven’t been scoring in the first period since the first round of Districts, and that’s just not good enough.”

Ries not only scored in the first period against Roosevelt but controlled the entire match. This was huge, especially after coming into the State Tournament after a bitter overtime loss to Roosevelt in the North-Canton Hoover District Finals match. Since then, Ries adjusted accordingly, and it paid off.

“I didn’t want to let him get on a shot,” Ries said. “Last week, I dominated the match, but he got a good shot during overtime. I just didn’t let that happen this time.”

After Ries’s huge semi-final win on Saturday, he faced off against MassillonPerry’s Aidan Fockler (11) in their fifth match against one another. Going into the Heavy Weight State Finals match, they were tied 2-2.

After over eight minutes of facing each other, Fockler won criteria, chose bottom during “Ultimate Rideout,” and came out ahead 3-2. That said, by the time the match ended, Ries had nothing to be ashamed of. He is only hungrier as he looks ahead to the next season and his senior year, where he will definitely get another shot against Fockler.

“I mean, obviously, I’m pissed off when I lose,” Ries said. “I mean, everyone’s pissed off when they lose. But you just got to refocus real quick. As I said, it’s just wrestling. I’ve lost a lot of matches, I’ve won a lot of matches, it doesn’t matter. It’s just wrestling.”

Chris Earnest, a Senior at Wadsworth High School and a two-time State Finalist and three-time state placer for the Grizzlies, is another Grizzly wrestler who competed at States. Being both a returning State Champion and a team captain alongside Joy and Coen Grimm (12), Earnest’s goals heading into the Tournament were to become a two-time State Champion and to help his teammates grow.

“You know, I kinda just tried to get my team along,” Earnest said. “With it being my senior year, I wanted to get as many people as much

experience as they could. I know for Flea (Blake Frantz, 9) and Shien (Kolten Mellon, 9), it was their first coming down; Kyle (9) also came down to watch with our team, and I think they all had a lot of fun.”

Unfortunately, Earnest faced a very narrow 3-1 loss in the final match of his trilogy with Dublin Coffman’s Ethan Birden (11) during the 157lb State Championship. That said, through the wins and losses of the three-day tournament, Earnest carried himself with class and set an example for his younger teammates.

“I mean, it sucks,” Earnest said. “But I’m just thankful to have won a State Championship in the first place. Not everyone can call themselves a State Champion, so I’m blessed.”

Although Earnest’s high school career is finished, he is committed to Campell University, a Division I school, where he will continue his academic and athletic careers. Furthermore, at the end of the day, Earnest is happy with his experience at the State Tournament.

“I think that’s all that States is about,” Earnest said. “Coming down and having a lot of fun with your team and getting after it at the tournament.”

While States Weekend was undoubtedly a success for the Grizzlies, a lot is set to change. Eight of the fourteen wrestlers on Varsity A were seniors, so a lot of shoes are going to need to be filled. That said, Earnest and Joy are confident in their younger teammates.

“It’s almost impossible to explain the amount of work and effort our team puts in because nobody will be able to understand,” Earnest said. “There are kids in our B team that would start at other schools throughout Ohio.” Our team has an insane amount of depth and the amount of work from Middle School all the way up to High School and even Youth—you can just see how hard Wadsworth as a whole works at wrestling.”

Alongside Earnest, Joy believes their teammates, from those who have been on Varsity A to those who will be next season, have put forth more than enough effort to show they are ready to wrestle.

“I’m really glad to be doing it alongside them all,” Joy said. “They’re great kids, and they work hard just like I do, and they deserve it just like I do, and I hope they take in the atmosphere. They’re going to do great things.

year, where he will wrestle for the University at Buffalo.

“I’m just excited to get another four years because not everybody does.”

scary for sure. Never knowing if you’re going to be able to finish or not; never knowing what’s going to happen, it’s so unpredictable. But I just have to trust in our trainers and our medical staff and prevail.” - Nick Humphrys

Nick Humphrys, another senior for Grizzlies Wrestling placed sixth during the 2021-22 season and qualified for States during the 2022-23 season. He is committed to Newberry College. “It’s

Coen Grimm, a senior and team captain for Grizzly’s wrestling, placed Fourth at the State Tournament. While he was not content with taking fourth two seasons in a row, there is no doubt in how well he improved and proved that he is ready for Division I Wrestling next

- Coen Grimm.

Photo by Brenden Barlett

Photo by Brenden Barlett

Photo by Brenden Barlett

WADSWORTH BECOMES A NATIONAL SPECTACLE AS PROTESTS ESCALATE IN MEMORIAL PARK

BY HALEY REEDY, KATIE BASINGER, & CARLEY SORRENT

The “Rock-n-Roll Humanist Drag Queen Story Hour,” organized by Wadsworth local Aaron Reed, was held in Memorial Park in downtown Wadsworth on Saturday, March 11. It quickly escalated into an event for protest by many extremist groups, putting those at the event and consequently all Wadsworth citizens in danger.

Reed’s event was envisioned to be a peaceful storybook hour, where a local drag queen would read a selected story and perform a few rock songs for the children at the event.

The event was originally set to be held at a local business–the Wadsworth Brewing Company– in downtown Wadsworth. Death threats were made to Reed, the Brewing Company, and the drag queen, Miss Solveig Wells. Businesses located downtown originally had posters advertising this event to be “fun for all ages,” but later took them down after immense negative attention. Eventually, the brewery backed out of the event after the extensive hate it received, leading other businesses to shy away from hosting the event as well. Additionally, after more and more threats occurred, Wells too decided to step back from the event.

The original plan was for the proceeds made from the event to be donated to Margie’s Hope, a local charity that aims to help support members of the LGBTQ+ community. However, seeing the negative attention that the event was pulling in, they backed out due to safety concerns.

After Margie’s Hope backed out, Reed started marketing his event as a memorial event for the Club Q shooting that occurred in November, stating that the proceeds would instead be going to the B. Reily House for LGBTQ+ persons in crisis and addiction.

The threats themselves were coming from a heavy online presence by the supporters of the event and the opposition. Members of the community expressed

their differing opinions on the event.

Some agreed that this was a family event and would love to have their children attend. Others argued whether or not Wadsworth was a place that would support a drag show.

People on the internet announced that this was a child grooming event and had no place taking place in a public park.

Reed took to his Facebook page to condemn the hate that he was receiving. He got into several online debates about whether or not what he was doing was

Reed as well as the discussion that had come up around it.

“Like many of you, the city does not condone the behavior of the organizer,” the statement said.

“We also condemn the negativity and rhetoric that the discussion surrounding the event has caused. After much discussion and legal review, we have no choice but to let the event take place at the Memorial Park Pavilion on March 11, 2023. We take that oath [to uphold relevant federal, state, and local laws] seriously and can’t break laws, regardless of our personal opinions on a topic.”

In preparation for the event, The city provided many different forms of public safety measures in case there was any escalation or violence. Surrounding communities provided police presence and surveillance systems were installed earlier in the week.

On the day of the event, people attending the rock-n-roll celebration began to arrive shortly before noon. However, the memorial event was infiltrated with dozens of protesters from around the community and even some traveling from neighboring locations.

Amongst the protesters, more prominent groups came out of the shadows. Neo-Nazis showed up wearing full-face masks, waving flags with swastikas on them, and screaming homophobic slurs and chants.

morally acceptable.

He believed that he was providing a family event to support the mindset of equality and others believed that introducing the children to drag queens at the event was putting them in immediate danger.

Despite all of the threats and fighting that occurred, Reed’s resilient attitude toward making sure the event took place led him to apply for a permit in one of the city’s public venues. The city sat on the permit approval for a while before approving it.

After finalizing the permit the city released a statement to the public condemning

The signs that were being used by these Nazi groups were filled with messages saying “White Lives Matter,” “There Will Be Blood,” and “[Children] and F****** Don’t Mix, Drag Yourself Away From Kids.”

Reed asked for all the silent people to use their voice in support of his cause, and to draw attention away from the hate given at the event.

“Stand up to all the bigotry, hate, and violence, that our community is suffering at the moment to stand as a community alongside and in front of our LGBTQ friends, family, and neighbors and tell them that they do belong in public spaces and around children and to be as much of a part of our society as anyone else,” Reed said.

Throughout the day the protests proceeded with the persistent continuation of backlash from attendees.

By the end of the event, several people were arrested for usage of pepper spray, using a flag pole as a weapon, and wielding threatening objects disguised as guns at the crowds.

After the event, Reed wrote on Facebook page that this event will happen again in the years to come.

Memorial Park was overtaken by protesters, yelling at all those involved in the story hour. Slurs were screamed and threats were made. Photo courtesy of the Allen Family. Photo was censored to cover slur.

The protests were met with police presence from local police and surrounding counties. Surveillance systems were installed in the park earlier that week. Photo by Katie Griffin.

The “Rock-n-Roll Humanist Drag Queen Story Hour” was promoted as a family-friendly event. This label caused much backlash to the organizers and those involved. Flier courtesy of Aaron Reed.

Many people performed, including drag queen River Rose. These performances remained, as promised, appropriate. Many families attended with their children.

Photo courtesy of Amanda Malnar.

RECENT LEGISLATION AND EVENTS REVEAL ANTI-TRANS SENTIMENTS ACROSS AMERICA

BY HALEY REEDY, KATIE BASINGER, & CARLEY SORRENT

The increase of transgender and LGBTQ+ groups has become a flashpoint in American politics. Bills and laws have been passed that are attempting to limit the rights that transgender people have and feed into that hatred. These laws are ranging from limitations on the changing of legal documents, the access to gender-affirming health care, the ability of transgender people to play sports, and restroom use. These are just some of the states that have demonstrated actions against transgender and LGBTQ+ groups.

OHIO TENNESSEE MISSISSIPPI

The governor of Mississippi, Tate Reeves, signed a bill in February that would eliminate access to hormones or reaffirming surgeries to youth, or anyone who is under eighteen years of age. This was just an additional restriction that the state is trying to implement in addition to the continuous effort to ban transgender athletes from competing in their sports of choice.

The bill, banning the athletes from participating in athletics was signed into law in 2021.

“This is truly scary stuff that’s being pushed upon our kids and, yes, their loving parents. They’re being taken advantage of, all so some can push their wrapped view on gender or appear to be woke for their friends,” Reeves said. In addition to the ban on gender affirming care, the state also banned all funding that goes to the institutions that provide this branch of care. This law allows for suing of the provider up to thirty years post receiving the gender affirming care.

UTAH

The state of Utah became the first state in the country to ban gender affirming care in 2023.

Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, signed a bill which would eliminate the allowance of youth citizens to receive gender affirming health care. This bill includes transitional surgery and hormone treatments.

“While we understand our words will be of little comfort to those who disagree with us, we sincerely hope that we can treat our transgender families with more love and respect as we work to better understand the science and consequences behind the procedures,” he said.

Cox, however, was the second republican governor to veto a bill that would ban transgender youth from participating in sports. He believes that not allowing them the same rights as other students, puts them at a higher risk of suicide.

“I don’t understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live and all the research shows that even a little acceptance and connection can reduce suicide significantly.”

While the City of Wadsworth became a national spectacle– even featured on national news stations– for the powerful image produced by the Neo-Nazis spewing hatred towards the event’s attendees, it is not the first time something like this has happened in Ohio.

In April of 2022, Ohio Politician, Jane Timken, who was running for U.S. Senate, used the Hoover High School gymnasium as a backdrop for her condemnatory rhetoric directed towards transgender athletes in her campaign video.

Timken’s’ speech deeply affected the LGBTQ+ community in and around the school district. Students began to feel unsafe as if they were not welcome in their school.

Sabrina Estevez, a student at Hoover High School, mentions how quickly the advertisement spread.

“Students were scared, sad, and even angry that our school was being used as a vessel for such a terrible, controversial topic,” Estevez said. “Members of our school’s GSA discussed their concerns with our administration. The ad was discussed at the next school board meeting but very few individuals had anything to say about it. The administration remained, for the most part, quiet to the general public on the entire situation.”

SOUTH DAKOTA

South Dakota is the fourth state in the country to ban gender-affirming care following Utah’s recent ban. A bill was passed that criminalizes certain kinds of gender-affirming care to minors who are transgender. A different bill was introduced that would ban minors from “exposed” to drag performances. The bill defined drag as any type of performance, such as singing and dancing, that involved an individual exhibiting a gender identity that was different from the performer’s biological sex by using clothing or makeup or “other physical markers”. Another bill was introduced that seeks to ban drag from any state owned facility. Last year, a bill was passed that banned transgender students from participating in school sports that matched their gender identity. Around the same time, a bill was passed that would prohibit transgender youths from using a restroom that matches with their gender identity.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of South Dakota made a statement, “This ban won’t stop South Dakotans from being trans, but it will deny them critical support that helps struggling transgender youth to grow up to become thriving transgender adults.”

On July 1, 2023 anyone in the state of Tennessee that is planning to receive gender affirming healthcare will no longer be able to do so. As for individuals who are currently receiving this range of healthcare the bill will go into effect for them after March 31, 2024. This care includes not just visiting gender affirming facilities, but also anyone taking any medication will need to adjust to an off treatment lifestyle as this will also be banned after March 31,2024, as well as surgeries Not only does this bill ban gender affirming care but it also bans any drag queen related events from occurring.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee stated, “We are dedicated to overturning this unconstitutional law and are confident the state will find itself completely incapable of defending it in court. We want transgender youth to know they are not alone and this fight is not over.”

FLORIDA

The “Don’t Say Gay” bill was introduced in Florida and supports the ideology that school is no place for personal gender or sexual orientation expression.

The bill, which has since been signed into law by governor Ron DeSantis, states, “Classroom instruction by school or personal or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

Something that may have led to this was a bill passed in Florida in March of 2022 that made any conversation about sexual orientation or gender identity illegal in classrooms. By definition sexual orientation is “a person’s identity in a relation to the gender or genders to which they are sexually attracted.” Under this definition, any topic that covers sexual orientation should be prohibited from schools, including heterosexual orientation as well as homosexual orientation. The events that transpired in Wadsworth would not be able to be spoken about in a Florida classroom. This bill makes it difficult for LGBTQ+ students more ostracized in a school system that has deemed it bad to ‘say gay’.

The bill will go into effect on Jul 1, 2023.

CLUB SPORTS OFFER COMPETITION OUTSIDE OF HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

BY LAUREN BALL

For some athletes at Wadsworth High School, training and games for their sports do not stop when the high school season ends. In fact, this is just the beginning of what leads into a club season filled with training and games.

The year-round training is often fueled by a goal of playing one’s sport at the collegiate level. To accomplish this, a club, also known as travel, team is necessary for constantly improving and being seen by college coaches.

Avery Nicholson, junior at WHS, competes

for the Grizzlies during the high school season but also for NOVA Juniors, a club volleyball team. She cites the high levels of competition as one of the main reasons for playing club.

“The competitiveness [is different] because when you’re playing club it’s actually people that want to play volleyball because you’re spending so much money on it,” Nicholson said. “You’re just surrounded by coaches who also want to be there because sometimes coaches don’t want to be in a sport, so it’s just that super competitive atmosphere.”

Sean Conley is a club softball coach and president of the Ohio Emeralds, a competitive travel softball organization.

In addition to coaching a 16U softball team, he has two daughters who each play high school softball, which allows him to see the perspectives of both sports.

Conley said a main difference between the two is the competition level at which it is played.

offers a chance to represent one’s community and bond with peers, for those with aspirations of playing a sport collegiately, club sports are vital for increased competition and college exposure.

“At this point, if you’re still playing club then you want to play in college, and I do,” Nicholson said. “I’ve been talking to different colleges and been looking for places to go, so I definitely have intentions of playing in college.”

As a coach, Conley works to assist his players who have aspirations of playing college sports by playing in front of prospective coaches, and he encourages networking via camps.

Nicholson

“Competitiveness is the big difference between travel and high school, but the high school season is more of a grind,” Conley said. “It’s Monday through Saturday, and you get 24 hours off pretty much, and then you’re back in it again.”

While playing for a school team

“Coaching a travel team, you find the girls who want to play college softball, and I try getting them into as many travel showcase tournaments as we can and talk to them about the process of how to get into college or be noticed for college, either going through a showcase camp or the actual camp put on by the college themselves,” Conley said.

A vital part of any team, whether at the high school, club, or college level, is the teammates and bond shared between them. Despite club teams having players hail from different places, and high school teams all being from the same community, Nicholson says that the connection she has with her

club teammates is still strong.

“I just feel like the girls that you play club with you’re just so much closer with than the girls you play school with, even though you see them everyday,” Nicholson said. “We have girls who play from like an hour away, but still I’m so much closer with those girls than some on my school team because you’re all the same age and you all go through the same thing.”

For those with goals of playing their sport at the next level with like-minded teammates, it is clear why some athletes choose club sports in addition to competing for the Grizzlies.

MOSER STEPS DOWN FROM HEAD COACH

BY MALLORY GERSCHUTZ

After five years of head coaching Wadsworth High School basketball, Michael Moser has stepped down.

For the past 18 years, Moser has coached at a variety of levels for both Highland and Wadsworth high schools. He spent the last five years of his coaching career with the WHS varsity men’s basketball team, which went 5264 this season.

Moser ultimately decided that the mental and physical strain had become too much to continue coaching at the high school level. It became difficult splitting time between coaching obligations and his own kids’ activities.

“I think the biggest struggle was trying to find the balance of being a dad of four kids and having a family,” Moser said. “As my kids got older, that became a challenge.”

Chad Bever, WHS JV boys basketball coach has experience as a head coach at other schools from years past.

“It’s such a big time commitment as head coach, it takes away from your family, and your personal time.”

Another obstacle was Moser’s absence from the high school building.

Currently, he is the PE teacher at Wadsworth Middle School, and while still being in the district, he is mostly unavailable during the school day to his student athletes. Moser values his time with the athletes, helping them to grow individually as people.

“Relationships, integrity and character were incredibly important to him, and I think he made that known to each one of the players,” Bever said. “He made it very clear that he cared about them as people more than he cared about them as basketball players.”

The biggest thing Moser takes away from his time coaching is the relationships with his players.

“I love the kids that will come back five, ten, and even fifteen years down the road that I’m still talking with,” Moser said. “Watching them grow up and become parents with kids of their own, that’s really cool.”

Moser made a great impact on every athlete he coached over the years.

“I think Coach Moser was a great

leader of young men,” Bever said. “I think he set a good example of what kind of person to be, he was a great role model for them.”

With his time off, Moser plans to continue coaching his two younger kids, as well as his daughter’s AAU team. Looking forward, he would love to coach on the high school level again if an opportunity were to present itself

The position for head coach is still

undecided. Administration is going through the interview process and the final decision should be made by Dr. Hill within a few weeks.

Moser was a leader and good example to the team around him, as well as the rest of the coaching staff, and he will carry that into his teaching career.

“He’s a good man, it was nice to be able to work with him this year,” Bever said.

Sean Conley’s 16U Ohio Emeralds team poses for a photo at Tiffin University after attending a team camp. Performing directly in front of college coaches through camps is one reason that athletes participate in club sports. Photo courtesy of Lauren Ball.

and her NOVA volleyball team are close on and off the court. Nicholson said that despite living far from her club teammates, she still has a close bond with them. Photo courtesy of Avery Nicholson.

Moser kneels by his players at the Wadsworth v Hudson game. The Grizzlies walked away with a 52-44 win. “I got into coaching because obviously I love the sport, but I love being able to get those relationships with the kids and hang out with them on a different level,” Moser said. Photo courtesy of Michael Moser.

“RELATIONSHIPS, INTEGRITY AND CHARACTER WERE INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO HIM AND I THINK HE MADE THAT KNOWN TO EACH ONE OF THE PLAYERS.”

-CHAD BEVER, FORMER HEAD COACH

INDIE BAND WATCH WITH A.B.

OPINION BY AIDEN BROWN

Indie rock music has drastically increased in popularity, and in honor of that I have scoured the internet for the most niche and impactful indie rock bands out there.

Hot Mulligan

Is a “Post-Emo” band based out of Lansing Michigan. Those who are fans of Tradition emo music and loud, instrumentally intense music. A song that I recommend is “Visited Salmon, I Mean Transit Balcony” off of their EP Fenton.

OPINION BY JOSEPH DAVIS

School and club sports both have a big impact on high school students. Though there are those who always find one better than the other.

Club sports are a lot more fun because of the opportunity to meet new teammates and coaches each year from different schools and leagues.

I have enjoyed it so much ever since I started playing spring sports to create lots of new friendships.

One thing I love the most about club sports is to expect the unexpected. Getting to play in different environments

all around the state and the competitive side of it too. Club teams can provide an advantage in the recruiting process for those with hopes and desires to play their dream sport in college. Rayyan Hamdallah, a sophomore at North Olmsted high school has been playing for both club and school sports for two years now.

“I personally think a club sport is way better because they work on developing you to play all positions and I think they motivate you more than school sports,” Hamdallah said.

He overall has way more fun playing in a club sport. He enjoys meeting new teammates, where as on a school sport it is usually just the same people every year that make the team.

“I’ve been doing club for 2 years now and it’s been the best 2 years of my life a lot has changed for my physical and mentally,” Hamdallah said.

He is very thankful for those who have actually cared to train him and help him develop so much as a player.

“I’m looking forward to another good year and just getting bigger and stronger and just being able to play any position on the court and will see what happens from there,” Hamdallah said.

Maxx Bosley, a junior at Wadsworth High School, finds school sports a lot more entertaining and interesting compared to club sports. He enjoys travel

The Thermals were a Post Punk Rock band based out of Portland Oregon. Their sound is very reminiscent of the time period that they were built on. Their song “A Pillar Of Salt” was featured on the soundtrack for video game Skate 3.

Left: The Thermals’ album “The Body

The Blood The Machine” was released in 2006. The album tells a story of a young couple having to flee the country to avoid a Fascist controlled United States.

Photo courtesy of Fair Use.

Defiance, Ohio

Is a band from Columbus,Ohio which I would assume is very confusing to many people. Defiance, Ohio plays Folk-Punk which basically means that a violin and a cello sings along with someone screaming. Defiance, Ohio brings a level of charm that only a band named after a small midwestern town can have. This band perfectly balances homey sound of Folk and the confrontational tone of Punk. I recommend “Calling Old Friends” for anyone curious.

but fun being around school because he has the same bonds with teammates.

“You’re with the people you grew up with and with each other every day at practice trying to accomplish something special throughout the season,” Bosley said.

AAU to Bosley is just something on the side where you can get recruited for schools. Going from place to place.

When he is with his school team it’s a strong family bond to him. Relationships he has had with friends at his school,

since playing with the same kids since 2nd and 3rd. “AAU is just something to do on the side,” Bosley said

He loves staying with the same teams and getting to expand on those relationships with the same players whereas AAU is different from different schools. “I love AAU, but I think school ball is definitely better. I enjoy being around all my friends and teammates everyday; AAU is really nice but I think school ball just has a different vibe to it,” Bosley said.

AAU has some aspects he does enjoy like traveling with teammates over the weekend. His main goal during AAU is to win tournaments and perform better and better each day. He has been playing AAU since the age of nine. “Wadsworth basketball means everything to me. I was blessed with the gift to be a basketball player.” Bosley said.

He is so thankful for his teammates and those who surrounded him. He is so blessed and excited to come back and play for Wadsworth for another year. “Wadsworth left me that message that has made me feel very blessed for the opportunities I was gifted in Wadsworth basketball.” Bosley said.

Bosley is most excited to see what next year has in store and what he will be able to accomplish in his last year with Wadsworth basketball.

Left: Hot Mulligan’s first album came out in 2018 titled Pilot. The band has coined themselves the “Inventors of Post-Emo” leading the charge for the genre since their debut.

Photo courtesy of Fair Use.

Rayyan and his AAU team posing for a group picture after winning their first tournament against SMAC Akron.

Photo courtesy of Rayyan Hamdallah

Maxx Bosley goes to the foul line to shoot free throws against Hudson. Bosley is hoping he could take the lead.

Photo courtesy of Sky High Sportz

Above: Defiance, Ohio is a Folk-Punk band from Columbus, Ohio. Their unique name originates from a real life city located near Toledo that has a bad Heroin epidemic. Their second album “The Great Depression” was released in 2006. Photo courtesy of Fair Use.

BIDINGERS: BATTLE OF THE BEST FLAVORS

MINT LAVA CAKE

BY SYDNEY BLAKE

With the Wadsworth favorite Bidinger’s Ice Cream reopening for the season, many locals visit the shop to enjoy creamy soft serve flavors, the homemade hard served ice cream.

At Bidinger’s, there are 24 hard served ice cream flavors to choose from. 12 of those flavors stay throughout the entire season, while the other 12 go through rotations. While 24 flavors might be intimidating to

choose from, many fans are always loyal to their favorite.

Mint lava cake is the best of Bidinger’s hard ice creams, with a bright green look, a minty base, pieces of brownie, and delicious hot fudge swirled through. Although this ice cream is a favorite, it is rotated out with other homemade ice cream flavors.

“Mint lava cake is the best lava cake flavor at Bid’s,” said Ashleigh Jones, junior. She has worked at Bidinger’s for three seasons. It’s a fan favorite.

The ice cream can be deliciously paired with a waffle cone in the warm summer months, or include it in a hot fudge sundae on a cold day.

Bidinger’s Ice Cream is always open to new flavor suggestions and fun, creative ideas.

BISCOFF

BY BRI PERKINS

Bidinger’s Ice Cream is a well known ice cream stand on College Street in Wadsworth. Bidingers just opened back up for the season on Saturday, March 11.

It is not a surprise that Bidingers draws so much attention from the public due to its homemade ice cream rotation with a new soft serve special every week. Many people come to Bidingers with a favorite ice cream that seems to be their go-to flavor. In the evaluation of ice cream, the flavor ‘biscoff’ is the best flavor at Bidingers. Kendall Smith, a Junior at WHS, has worked at Bidingers for two seasons.

“Biscoff always sells out quickly when we have it,” said Smith. “So we never

My favorite FLavor is:

have it for long when we do make it”. With this in mind, Biscoff is a high demand flavor when it comes to hard icecreams at Bidingers, making it a crowd favorite.

The flavor is based off of the Lotus Biscoff cookies created in a Belgian town. These cookies are rectangular shaped with a crunchy texture. Their caramel cinnamon flavors are captured well in the ice cream by using the Biscoff cookies themselves and BIscoff cookie butter. That is what makes this flavor so popular and therefore, the best ice-cream at Bidingers.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER

Henry canfora, 11

CONFETTI CAKE BATTER

Tyler probst, 11

CHOCOLATE REESE’S

CHOCOLATE AND VANILLA SWIRL

stephanie novak, 10

SPRING BREAK SHOULD COINCIDE WITH OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS SUMMER SCHOOL IS UNDERUTILIZED

OPINION BY JADE WILCOX

Schools should have their spring break correlate with other school districts.

Each year, students get a break during the school year during either March or April--hence the term “Spring Break”. Unfortunately, friends and family in different school districts often do not have the opportunity to go on vacations together, or even hang out during the days, for their breaks do not line up.

In Wadsworth, it is determined by multiple different parties.

“The teachers vote on potential calendars for upcoming school years. The school calendar is typically created years in advance…the calendar needs to be approved by the Board of Education,” said Dr. Suber, principal at Wadsworth High School.

This is practically identical to the happenings in the Chippewa District in Doylestown, OH.

“We are typically given 3-4 versions of a school calendar,” said Jamie Zollinger, principal at Chippewa Intermediate School. “The Administration can give feedback, the teachers union gives feedback and the Superintendent takes the ideas and creates a version. That version is then presented to the school board. Ultimately, the school board has to approve the calendar.”

Students’ should have the ability to request the weeks to line up, or at the very

least, suggest to the teachers what weeks would work best for them the following year. This would allow for the students to feel like they are being heard, and would allow a chance for their schools to line up.

Having Spring breaks lined up may alter transportation and travel plans, as more cars would be on the road and more flights would be booked at the same time. This could cause popular vacation spots such as beaches and Disney to become overpopulated. Not everyone has to go to these spots for Spring Break; some may wish to stay local and play board and video games with their out-of-district family and friends.

Even though this could be seen as a negative, it would, again, allow families and friends from different schools to have a chance to spend time together during the school year, instead of being forced to wait for Summer Break to arrive.

OPINION BY LUKE HOUSER

Summer school at WHS allows students to take an economics or government course during the summer. This frees up a class period during the school year, making it easier for students to choose other classes they may be interested in. However, many students avoid summer school because it takes time away from their summer or because they might just not realize it is an option they can choose.

“I took gov and econ over the summer,” said Zachary Randles, senior. “It was only like two weeks and it was only a couple hours each day so it was really worth it.”

Summer school is usually not discussed with students unless they have a conflict with the Four Cities Compact or cannot take it because of another class.

“I took [the semester-long] government and now I’m taking econ,” said Matthew Livingston, senior. “It definitely would’ve been faster [in the summer] and I probably would’ve been with more of my friends... I think it’s underrepresented for the younger grades.”

Students can take both economics and government over the same summer, knocking out two semester-long classes in less than six weeks. Granted, taking summer classes for four hours a day might seem like a lot, but with it all being during the morning, students can easily take a summer class and then still have the rest of the day free.

“I’m planning on this summer taking

economics and government summer school,” said Emily Holmes, junior. “I’m taking the animal science compact and I don’t have room to take it during the normal school year. I heard about it through my counselors.”

For students who do not have conflicts, it is often never brought to their attention that summer school is even an option.

For many, summer school is not a known possibility. For some going through the traditional economics course at the end of their senior year, it would have been far more beneficial to have completed it during summer in order to have more freedom in their current schedules.

“I think freeing up your schedule during the school year would make it easier,” Holmes said. “I think some of your health and technology classes that you need to graduate would be good.”

WHS should also offer more than just economics and government classes as summer classes. Allowing students to take all their required semester-long courses, such as health, during the summer would allow a lot more flexibility among students’ schedules.

Wadsworth City Schools and Chippewa Local Schools are only one county away. However, this fact does not stop their Spring Breaks failing to line up with one another. Photos courtesy of Fair Use.

Photos by Bri Perkins.

FLURRY

Amelia Milano, 10

FEEDING MEDINA COUNTY REACHES WHS STUDENTS

BY LIZZY EDWARDS & GRACE BARRETT

Feeding Medina County is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger and food insecurity across Medina county.

Katy Fuerst, the executive director of Feeding Medina County, has a large role in various areas of organization within the program.

“I spend a lot of time working to raise money for the organization—I write a lot of grants and meet with donors, and foundations to update them about what Feeding Medina County is doing in the community,” Fuerst said.

There are many ways in which Feeding Medina Country distributes meals to

families in need.

For example, FMC holds community-wide food distributions; in which they provide groceries to families and individuals in need. These occur monthly at numerous different locations, including one at Art Wright Stadium in Wadsworth. Beyond these distributions, FMC has programs for senior citizens, a walk-in pantry, and free transportation of food.

The benefits of Feeding Medina County are brought to students at Wadsworth High School through a program called “Weekender Bags.” Any students who receive free or reduced lunches from the school are eligible to receive them.

“We provide breakfast and lunches to them here during the school week, but then, the weekend is a long time…the idea is that [the bags] offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the weekend as well,” said Mrs. Beth Beal, a prevention specialist at WHS.

As the name suggests, Weekender Bags are available to students at the end of each week. They are placed next to the Grab-and-Go station in the guidance office. Then, students receiving bags are sent a Remind message letting them know they are ready. The whole process is organized so that students are sure to get the correct bag.

“Everyone is assigned a number, and they can just come through and pick up their bag,” Beal said. Beal serves as the link between

WHS students and Feeding Medina County. She helps to make sure that students without secure sources of food are able to get the help they need.

“I really connect mostly with parents and families,” Beal said. “[Food insecurity] is one of those subjects that’s important to talk about because we want anybody that needs food or wants to be part of this program to sign up.”

In addition to the high school, weekender bags from Feeding Medina County are sent to the elementary schools, CIS, and the middle school. This allows students to have access to a bag for as long as they need, regardless of their age or what school they are at.

“Some of our students here have gotten a “weekenders” bag every weekend since they were young, so it’s kind of routine, and they just naturally come into the program from the middle school to us,” Beal said.

Beyond Wadsworth, FMC provides 983 Weekender Bags to students of all ages across Medina County.

In order to maintain the program, Feeding Medina Country highly depends upon the assistance of volunteers.

“We have over 400 active volunteers,” Fuerst said. “They are the reason that we can serve so many people each month.”

Fuerst’s main goal for the future of Feeding Medina county is to reach everyone

who is in need of groceries. She aims at doing this through strategic partnerships with other organizations in the community. However, the program doesn’t come without its setbacks.

“One of the biggest challenges that we face is helping to reduce the stigma around receiving help from a food pantry. You never know what kind of situation someone is in or why they need help,” Fuerst said. “I want everyone to know that we are here to help, not judge.”

Despite the challenges they have encountered, FMC has succeeded in helping families around the county. Through the Weekender Bag program specifically, FMC and Wadsworth City Schools have created a safe environment for students to receive the help they need.

“A lot of our families, without this for their children, wouldn’t make it through a weekend,” Beal said.

The partnership between Feeding Medina County and Wadsworth City Schools has been mutually beneficial, allowing them to reach beyond their previous limits.

“I am so happy to say that we have increased our impact and the number of people that we serve by over 500% since before the COVID-19 pandemic. We are more accessible to more people, and this is because of great partners like Wadsworth City Schools,” Fuerst said.

ZIONNA REDMON BECOMES IMPROVANEER METHOD DIRECTOR

BY KATIE GRIFFIN & DREW BOWERMAN

Zionna Redmon, a junior at Wadsworth High School, is expanding her passion for acting by assisting children and adults with developmental disabilities in the field of improvisation. Known as the Improvaneer Method, Redmon actively teaches people how to improve their improvisation skills through different games and activities.

Although Redmon was not originally aware of this outlet for those with developmental disabilities, she decided to partake in the Improvaneer Method after her vocal coach made mention of it.

“[My vocal coach] recommended me for the job, and I met with one of the main directors and talked about what it was and what I would need to do and train for,” Redmon said.

After the interview process, Redmon had to go through an extensive training program to ensure she was ready to become a director.

“I started training a few months ago,” Redmon said. “I would meet with the director a few times and we would go through all of the lessons. Each lesson or agenda would have a few games, so I would have to learn all

the games and learn the rules and tips for each game and I’d have to learn how to speak properly and have the time management for class.”

While some groups perform the classes in person, there is not an in-person facility near Wadsworth, so Redmon’s classes are held over a Zoom call each week. These calls involve Redmon, the director, an assistant director, and somewhere between three and ten students.

“[For a typical class] I would log in to Zoom, and I’d look at the agenda,” Redmon said. “When all the kids come in, there is a certain topic that we will talk about for a little bit while we get settled in, and that’s when I’ll start to play the games with them. The assistant director is the one reading everything and explaining the game.”

Beyond class, Redmon’s students also improve their skills at home.

“At the end of the class, we have what is called “Homeprov”, which is what to do at home until class the next week,” Redmon said.

Within the Improvaneer Method program, there are directors and

split up by age, and directors are placed with age groups with which they feel comfortable.

“There is a youth section, which I do, and then there are adults,” Redmon said. “I’m the youngest director [within the Wadsworth division], there are some older and some younger, but I’m the youngest that I know of so far.”

Redmon does not see this as her forever career, as she hopes to pursue a career in acting. However, she believes that it will help her with her acting career, and plans to continue it for a while.

“I would say this will help me with my career, but I don’t think this is what I want to do forever,” Redmon said. “I think [I want to keep doing this for] as long as I can. It’s a great job, and I can do it for as long as I want to, so I want to keep it going.”

Redmon is grateful to have such a unique opportunity.

“I don’t really want to do normal [teenage] jobs like working fast food,

Redmon said. “A lot of the directors have been doing this for years and I want to do that too.”

Redmon continues to work with the Improvaneer Method each Wednesday. While helping others enjoy an activity that she is passionate about, she continues to learn more about acting herself and forming new relationships.

“A LOT OF OUR FAMILIES, WITHOUT THIS FOR THEIR CHILDREN, WOULDN’T MAKE IT THROUGH A WEEKEND.”

- MRS. BEAL, PREVENTION SPECIALIST

Feeding Medina County volunteers work at the Wadsworth distribution location. Here, they prepare groceries to be sent to families in need. Photo courtesy of Katy Fuerst.

Zionna Redmon poses for her head shot on the Improvaneer Method website. She began her first official classes in mid-March. “I think helping other people with acting will help me, I think it’s a good thing to try out and help people,” Redmon said Photo courtesy of Zionna Redmon.

BY ANGEL JONES & LILY LOVE

Spring break is one of the many end of year highlights for students. It is a time when students are able to take a break from the normal flow of school days and enjoy a week of early spring.

Over spring break, many students are able to travel outside of the state or country and see many unique places.

WHS junior Hailey Duong is excited to be going on vacation over spring break. Over spring break, Duong is visiting the Dominican Republic with her friends.

“My favorite part about spring break is not having to do any schoolwork,” Duong said. “My least favorite part about spring break is taking a break from lacrosse.”

WHS freshman Larkin Tackett is looking forward to spending her spring break abroad.

“I think it will be nice to learn more about the culture in Europe with my friends and family,” said Tackett. “I have never gone outside of the U.S. before and I am excited to see what it is like in Europe.”

Over spring break, students are visiting many fun places like Florida, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, and Europe.

Washington D.C.

Nice, France

Barcelona, Spain

On spring break there are many WHS students that get to go on vacation. On this map the stars represent the different places students are going on vacation. “I’m super excited to be going out with family and friends over spring break,” said Abby Tennant, a WHS freshman. Some of these places include Washington D.C., Florida, and Ohio. Students are also traveling out of state to places like Aruba and the Dominican Republic.

Rome, Italy

This year Wadsworth High School is going on a school trip to Europe over Spring Break. The stars on the map represent the different places that are going to be visited. Some of the places include Italy, Spain, and France. The Students express their excitement for the trip. “I have never gone out of state before and I am really excited to see what is in Europe,” said Larkin Tackett, a WHS freshman.

“I am going on the trip because I thought it would be fun to travel out of the country. I think it will be nice to learn more about the culture in Europe with my friends and family. I get to spend time with people I know as well as people I haven’t met before which will be a very fun and exciting experience.”

“I am really excited to be going with my boyfriend and his family on their trip to Columbus. It’s not anywhere big and it’s not too far from home, so it makes it even better. I can’t wait to stay at a hotel with a pool and just be able to spend time with them.”

“I’ve always wanted to go to Europe but more specifically Rome. I can’t wait to see the ruins of the ancient civilization and absorb all of the rich history. The art is incredible as well and I imagine how breathtakingly beautiful it will be in person.”

“I am going to Florida to visit my grandma, and of course, go to the beach over spring break. I am most excited to experience the warm weather, enjoy the beautiful Gulf of Mexico waters, and relax with my family.”

Data taken from a poll put out by the Wadsworth Bruin. The poll asked students whether or not they were traveling over spring break or staying home. Graphic By Angel Jones

Photo courtesy of Larkin Tackett

Photo By Angel Jones.

Photo By Angel Jones.

Photo courtesy of Amelia Lutz.

LARKIN TACKETT ABBY TENNANT EMMA WATSON AMELIA LUTZ

Palm Springs

Columbus

St. George Island

Aruba