2019-2020 The Whirlwind - Issue 1

WHIRL WIND WEST ALBANY HIGH SCHOOL

ISSUE 1 OCTOBER 2019

4-5 Vaping

and its effect on teenage health

10 What we

can expect from the 2020 election

24-25

How a team manager made the most of high school

THE FIRST YEAR How the choices made freshman year can determine your life path

THE WHIRLWIND October 2019 NEWS

4 6

7 8

Va p i n g a d d ic t io n s ca u se d a m a g e P a r ki n g sit u a t io n s b r in g st r u g g le s t o o bta i n a sp o t Co n str u c t io n fo r We st a f t e r 60 ye a r s Ho n g Ko n g p ro t e st s a re c o n sta n t a n d a big deal OPINION

9

Tr u m p ’ s p re sid e n c y le a d s t o h o st ile b e h a v i o r s t owa rd s im m ig ra n t s

10

U p co m in g e le c t io n s c re a t e m o re

d i v i d e w it h d ive r se ca n id a t e s

11 12

Gree n ca rd s b e c o m e h a rd e r t o o bta in 21 st ce n t u r y t re n d s c h a n g e c o n

sta n tl y , in c lu d in g se lf - im a g e

13 14 15

Ha l l owee n st ra ys f ro m o r ig n ia l p u r p o se Ha za rd s o f va p in g lit t le k n ow n , a la r m in g J o k i n g w it h m e n ta l illn e ss p rove s t o u n p ro d u c t ive SPECIAL

16 17 18

Fre s h m e n sh a re t h e ir ex p e r ie n c e o f h ig h sc h o o l

20 22 23

An a th l e t e w h o ju g g le s ex t ra c u r r ic u la r s a n d h o b b ie s

b a g s , sla n g , a n d r it u a ls

24

Hi g h s c h o o l m a n a g e r sh a re s h e r love

a n d i nvo lve m e n t in sp o r t s

26

Fre s h m e n t r y fo o t b a ll

27 28

P o p cult u re b e c o m e s c o m m o n in t h e c la ssro o m

N ew fre sh m e n sh a re o p in io n s o n t h e ir ye a r How fre sh m a n p ro g ra m s in c re a se su c e ss SPORTS Ch ee r l e a d e r s c h a n g e c o a c h , c h ee r s Sp o r ts sh ow d ive r sit y w it h t h e ir

A R T S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T

30 31 32

A g u i d e t o H a llowee n 2019 N ew a r t ist s f ro m We st A lb a ny Be h i n d t h e sc e n e s w it h t h e a c t o r s f ro m fa ll p la y Stu d e n t a r t , t re n d s, a n d a q u iz

Contact Us CORRECTIONS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITORS PLEASE SEND CORRECTIONS OR COMMENTS ON THIS ISSUE TO:

wahswhirlwind@gmail.com 2 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

C O V E R I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y M AT T E A H E L L M A N

WHIRLWIND S TA F F

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS ALIZAH BUENO and MALACHI MURPHY B R I M M I N G W I T H E X C I T E M E N T and ready to take in as much as I could, I practically ran out of my mom’s car and into the building. It felt as if the hallways were packed, and most of the people I had never met, none of the teachers I recognized. I was bombarded with new information about counselors and classes, honors programs and clubs; it was the first day of high school. All of these did not deter me, I wanted to do everything and learn everything and meet everyone. Yes, my ambition might have been peculiar, but it was my freshman year. It was exciting in my mind, and I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

Now, after three years have passed, it’s the beginning of my final year of high school, and I still feel the same. The rest of my life is months away, and yet I’m still excited to see what else I can learn, who I can meet, and where I might go. To think that in these hallways walk freshmen who were scared of the possibilities before them, reminds me of how far I have come in three years. To forget that we all started out as the scared ones, the freaked out ones, the ones who didn’t know where we belonged, is to forget who we are.

I think toward the rest of this school year, and I hope to make it the best. This is our freshmen issue — the first Whirlwind of a new year. But it’s also The Freshman Issue, and we worked to uncover the faces of the newest class and show how the beginning really matters. We choose for ourselves the mindset we carry with us throughout high school and maybe life. To make the most of life, but it’s worth it in the end.

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Alizah Bueno Malachi Murphy MANAGING EDITORS Mattea Hellman Jonathan Perkins BUSINESS MANAGER Preet Dhaliwal ART DIRECTOR Maggie Bedrin PHOTO DIRECTOR Karissa Lamonte NEWS Dezmond Remington Cheyenne Such OPINION Maggie Bedrin A R T S & E N T E R TA I N M E N T Abigal Winter SPECIAL Emily Haarstad SPORTS Bri Budlong S TA F F Cole Bakley Ethan Biersdorff Corbin Cellerini Gage Crabtree Coral Cwmwlamare Brooklyn D’Alessio Hannah Field Caleb Hart Mandy Howard Lucy Johnson Cloey Marsh Sam Mattingly Rahima Monahan Ewan Murray Aiyana Noelani Brogan O’Hare Colvin Parvin Eleanor Peterson Melia Rasmussen Tr a v i s S h o l l e n b e r g e r To r i T h o r p G e o r g i a Va t c o s ka y Nicole Williams ADVISER Michelle Balmeo

THE WHIRLWIND WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR SPONSORS: Blue Level

Gold Level

Bulldog Level

Al Severson Anonymous Anonymous Mad Dog Adamec Jane Marshall Bob & Linda Antrim Emily Carrick Mindy Droke

Anonymous CM Nuts LLC Tim & Michelle Fief

Pepper Tree Sausage Wheelhouse 20/20

T H E W H I R L W I N D I S A D E D I C AT E D STUDENT FORUM. CONTENT AND EDITORIAL DECISIONS ARE MADE B Y S T U D E N T S TA F F M E M B E R S EXCERCISING THEIR RIGHTS AS PROTECTED BY THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND THE OREGON ST U D E N T F R E E E X P R E S S I O N L AW ( O R E . R E V. S TAT. S E C . 3 3 6 . 4 7 7 (2007)). OPINIONS ARE THOSE OF T H E W H I R W L I N D S TA F F A N D N O T WEST ALBANY HIGH SCHOOL OR T H E G R E AT E R A L B A N Y P U B L I C THE WHIRLWIND 3

NICADDICT Newfound studies show that vaping addictions hold serious consequences, but teens, 15 to 17, are slow to stop

BY Cheyenne Such and Jonathan Perkins The generational nicotine problem is no new story, but the effects of it combined with fairly recently available vape products is. With teen vaping use at its highest rate ever and still in its early stages of experimentation, doctors are now linking the effects of vape pods to the human body.

The effects of frequent vaping are proving to be more complex than the signs of a typical smoker’s lungs. Whereas a frequent smoker may be likely to show the typical black lung, the lungs of somebody who vapes experiences something different. Doctors worldwide are now openly warning against teenagers and young adults developing lungs that appear on x-rays with white buildup. This build-up is proven to be fluid and extreme scarring, the fluid is similar to the nicotine affect a typical smoker may experience. Smokers experience a shortness of breath attributed to alveoli, the part of the lung which transfers carbon dioxide and oxygen from the respiratory system to the rest of the body, breaking and trapping air due to smoke inhalation. Those who vape are affected by damage to their bronchioles, the smallest of tube passages which split up and off of your windpipe to carry air to the alveoli.

From Martin Health System, “The nicotine content is

0.7mL (or 59 mg/mL) per pod, which is approximately equivalent to one pack of cigarettes, or 200 puffs.” This damage is an irritant and thus also an inflament which leads to scarring that shrinks the tubes. Information from The Next Web explains the problems with botched products. “PG and PEG have been shown to break down into carcinogenic substances, including formaldehyde, at temperatures around 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Consumers regularly vape at temperatures exceeding 475 degrees Fahrenheit. Vitamin E oil, on the other hand, turns into acetate. Introducing vitamin E acetate into the human respiratory system is known to cause lipoid pneumonia and chronic lung illness.” The end result of this is similar to that of smokers: shortness of breath and poorer lung capacity.

To reduce young people’s usage of these products, governments have stepped in with bans for what they consider to be advertisements oriented toward children and teenagers. The most common example of this is the banning of flavored vape juices like the popular mango pods.

Oregon is currently following suit.

On Oct. 11, the Anonymous, JUNIOR Oregon issued a six month ban on flavored vape juices, which put heavy pressure on vaping industries.

Not even a week later, a stay was implemented which

“It costs a lot of money... you shouldn’t do it if you can’t afford it.”

Phil Ray and Norman Jacobson commercialized the first official e-cigarettes

1979 4 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

1990

The World Health Orginization condemns any claims of e-cigarettes assisting smokers

Food and Drug Amininstration refused permission to allow sale of E-cigarettes on the market

2009

2008

Food and Drug Aministration prohibits importation of any e-cigarette devices

NEWS

nulled the law. The people who pushed for the stay were prominent companies such as Vapor Technology Association, Vape Crusaders Premium E-Liquid LLC and Smokeless Solutions LLC, arguing that their M R S . B O R N H E I M E R H E A LT H T E A C H E R businesses would suffer financial hardship before they law had been adequately reviewed.

So on the Oct. 17. Oregon Health Authority announced that the Oregon Department of Justice would be paying respect to the current situation.

Nevertheless Oregon Health Authority is asking all businesses to temporarily remove flavored products from their shelves. Comparatively, more extreme prevention techniques can be found in San Francisco and Massachusetts, where a complete ban has been implemented upon any vaping products.

These facts may sound absolute, but how is the vaping epidemic dealt with on a school wide level? Turns out there isn’t actually a set academic lesson plan.

“Unfortunately, trainings on this content for health teachers are few and far between,” ealth teacher Jennifer Bornheimer said. “There is no curriculum out there. I just really have to create my own. I find reliable evidence, and I currently try to create what I think would be something that’s useful and informative for my students. I don’t have a lot of guidance. Other than that, other than sticking to the state standards surrounding Alcohol, Tobacco and other drug prevention.” Bornheimer has concern for the future of her students. “A lot of people with an addiction don’t know how to replace it with something else that’s less or not harmful at all.”

“There is no curriculum out there.

I just really have to create my own.”

HOW LARGE IS THE PROBLEM How does vaping affect our school?

84 %

of students know of somebody else who smokes or vapes nicotine

63.9 %

of students are concerned about the health of those who do

but only

35 %

said they’ve smoked a vape or nicotine product

and of that group

23.2 %

of them are worried about their health

By: Cheyenne Such

2009

Judge Leon prohibits FDA from seizing e-cigarettes

Oregon attorney accuses Smoking Everywhere that their flavors targeted children

2010

2011

GSTHR releases report calling e-cigs as harmful but significantly safer than traditional cigarettes

American Journal of Preventive medicine reports e-cigarettes are promising for quitting smokers

2019 News / THE WHIRLWIND 5

The Space Race

The Struggles of WAHS parking

BY Gage Crabtree

P A R K I N G AT W A H S

has never been perfect, but the recent construction for the new school has hindered the parking more. With the start of the construction students lost the beloved senior lot, and are now forced to scavenge for spots on the street or overcome the stadium parking rush. And while the freshmen and sophomores may not care so much, the

upperclassmen are surely upset by this. In the past we had a whole extra lot for the seniors, but the recent construction at west has taken away this lot. In place of the lot is going to be the new gymnasium, and part of the new theater. So while it may seem all bad in the end, at least we have these new things for the future generations of West. But in senior year they might see

the completion of the new parking lot that will be located in the front of the new school, or in the field if you don’t know where the new face of the school will be. Also we have had the accommodation of a longer lunch to compensate to the longer time it takes to get to the school from the stadium parking lot.

Q : W H AT I S T H E BIGGEST STRUGGLE OF THE WEST ALBANY HIGH SCHOOL PA R K I N G L OT ?

“Finding anywhere remotely close to park, especially if you’re running late in the morning.”

SENIOR Jasmine Ruiz

“It really sucks needing to wake up extra early to get a semi-decent spot. [...] By the time you get into the building, you’re soaked and it’s not a great way to start the day.”

SENIOR John Colgate

6 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

“The biggest struggle would by far be how full size trucks can’t easily fit in the parking spots, we can in the parallel spots. But sometimes little cars take them.”

SENIOR Manuel Maciel

“We walk a mile in Oregon rain. It ain’t fun.”

SENIOR Jada Kliever

HISTORY IN THE MAKING The record of construction at West Albany

BY Dezmond Remington

WEST ALBANY

is currently being ripped asunder to reconstruct and add to the school.

Though this construction is a recent development, there have been many remodels and rebuilds done on the building over its 60 year history.

There have been four additions since the original inception of West Albany. The original building is everything except the lower part of F hall (added in 2008), as well as most of G Hall and the band and choir rooms, which were added in a later edition.

“G1, and the office down there, those were new,” said Engel. “All of the classrooms down there, the ones that face Memorial, you actually had to go outside the building. There wasn’t a hall there; it just ended past the wood shop.”

Another important change that occurred was the controversial addition of parking spaces in the front of the school. “[The front] was just a bus lane and a huge grass area,” says Albany Public Schools Foundation president and five-years retired West Albany teacher, Joanne Alford. “They took the grass out, and that was fairly controversial because it was grass and trees. By doing that, they created all this teacher parking which wasn’t there.”

With the creation of those parking spaces, space was opened for students. “They opened up parking on Liberty street to students,” said Alford. “That wasn’t there. Before that, students would just park around the neighborhoods. So the students would be late to class and people around town would be saying people are parking in front of my house.

As of now, construction is on schedule, according to Engel. “We have a meeting every Thursday [with the contractor]. Obviously, the walls for the auxiliary gym are done. Basically, the footprint for the entire site is done, so all the utilities are plumbed in, and the foundations and things are basically all done. So over the next few months, wall will start going up and things will really start to take shape.

Also, the stadium remodel is expected to be completed the first part of November.”

Though the construction of the building may take a while, Alford expects the impact will be positive.

“The school has never had a performing arts complex,” said Alford, “and they put on amazing performances and they’ve had to do it in the cafeteria. A school our size, that’s necessary.”

“When I started, I had classes of 15-20 students,” said Alford. “When I left, there were 40. The school wasn’t built for 40 kids in a classroom. The overcrowding is a real issue.”

“It’s an old building and it’s really time for a change,” said Alford.

1 9 5 3 Ye a r b o o k

T H E C U R R E N T West Albany building, right after it was built in 1953, with almost no nearby buildings.

1902 Whirlwind

T H E O R I G I N A L Albany High School. This was the first high school in Albany, built in 1902.

News/ THE WHIRLWIND 7

CITY OF TEARS What are the Hong Kong Protests and why are they happening now

BY C ora l Cw mCw l amare

2019 Hong Kong Protest Timeline

PEOPLE MARCH THE

streets of Hong Kong, 2019, masks covering their faces. By this simple action, they are putting themselves in danger in order to speak out against the Chinese government. This prompted China to send law enforcement to attempt to end the protests using tear gas and other methods. These protests are deeply rooted in the history of Hong Kong and with each one a symbol has emerged. Umbrellas became important in these protests as they are used to hide the faces of protesters from cameras to prevent identification and have now became a symbol to represent the protests.

On April 3, 2019, China proposed an extradition bill that would have Hong Kong citizens potentially deported to mainland China to face trial under Chinese law instead of Hong Kong law. Many believed that this would infringe upon Hong Kong’s status as partially separated from mainland China.

“In the United States, there will be a day of protest.

It is almost always one and done,” Peace Collective adviser Blain Willard said. “What has amazed me about Hong Kong and other protests around the world is that they show up day in and day out, and they are very prolonged.”

Hong Kong, while being part of China, has close ties to the United Kingdom due to its time as a British territory, causing Hong Kong to adopt British ideas.

This history with the United Kingdom has impacted Hong Kong as the United Kingdom helped to keep Hong Kong’s democracy as a result of a deal with China stating that the Chinese government can’t interfere with Hong Kong’s democracy for 20 years. While this has protected Hong Kong in the past that, time period ended in 2017.

“The commuinist government of China seems to have an interest for a more concentrated effort to control [Hong Kong],” World History teacher Todd Zimmermann said.

During the length of time that these protests have occurred, few countries have spoken out about the Hong Kong protests. Britain, while not playing a very active role in the protests, has spoken out by threatening sanctions on China if they interfere with Hong Kong’s democracy.

On Oct 14, the United States House of Representatives passed the Human Rights and Democracy bill, which exempts Hong Kong from the sanctions on China and allows people charged in the protests to get US visas. After an 18 year old student was shot while protesting, the European Union said that the situation needed to de escalate.

This protest has not been the first that China has 8 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

June 9, 2019

The first major protest occurred

June 12, 2019

Police started to use tear gas and rubber bullets on protesters Chinese government proposed extradition bill Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam, indefinitely postponed extradition bill Protesters storm Legislative Council

April 3, 2019 June 15, 2019

July 1, 2019 August 12, 2019

Chinese government calls the protests an act of terrorism

September 4, 2019

Carrie Lam withdraws extradition bill

October 1, 2019

18 year old student shot by live round by police

October 4, 2019

Chinese government bans masks

October 14, 2019

US house passes bill to support protesters

October 15, 2019

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y T R AV I S S H O L L E N B E R G E R

Human rights activist, Jimmy Sham, was attacked and hospitalized

used brutality to quell the crowds in the streets.

“The Chinese government responded with absolute brute force when students were protesting,” history teacher June Morris said. “Students were camping in Tiananmen Square and [the Chinese government] sent tanks through, more than one time, and if you didn’t clear out, you run a risk of being crushed.”

Amnesty International, an organization that works to improve human rights around the world, has been involved with the protests in Hong Kong a great deal.

On Sep 19, they released a report based on their own investigations. What they found was evidence of torture done by Hong Kong’s police, as well as the police not following procedure, forcing people arrested to strip searches.

On Oct 15, Jimmy Sham, a human rights activist, was attacked by several people with hammers and was hospitalized for head injuries. Amnesty International, the next day, suggested to Hong Kong police to investigate it thoroughly due to the political climate of Hong Kong.

Many companies, including the NBA and Blizzard, have attempted to remain neutral in regards to the protests. Daryl Morey, the Houston Rockets’ General Manager, on October 7, 2019 tweeted in support of Hong Kong protesters. Adam Silver, NBA commissioner, said that China asked for Morey to be fired but China denies this was the case. Video game company, Blizzard Entertainment has banned three players because of the protests. On October 8, 2019, Blizzard banned three Hearthstone players during an official live stream for holding up a poster telling players not to support Blizzard Entertainment, after a popular player was banned for speaking out in order to support Hong Kong protesters. Vans, the popular shoe company held a shoe design competition and removed entries due to references to Hong Kong protesters.

“China wants to tighten the reins and the younger people of Hong Kong don’t want it.”

June Moris HISTORY TEACHER The Hong Kong protests have been going on for a very long time and have impacted public relations between many countries and companies. With the bill passing in the United States House, China has promised to find countermeasures for them. The NBA has lost massive amounts of money due to worsening relations with China because of Morey’s tweet. While the protests are occurring in Hong Kong, they still impact the United States and our interactions with foreign countries.

TONE DEAF

By: Colvin Parvin Lucy Johnson

The Tone Change Since Trumps Presidency.

THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECT I O N of 2016 was extremely influential. After

The effects of his presidency have changed things on a universal basis; the statistics posted by the FBI universal crime report showed a 17% increase in the amount of hate crimes committed between the year 2016-2017. We see these effects on a nationwide level, but collecting statistics on a local level is much harder.

“I’ve seen that people are more confident in their racist ways,” senior Lisa Gutierrez said. “They feel like they have the right to say racist slurs or treat me a certain way because of my skin color. I’ve seen that at West and in public.”

President Donald Trump won, the divide between the two parties grew due to the influence of Trump, an already controversial face in the media and known as a conservative man. His ideologies conducted a change in the tone of the media and that would fall over the nation.

Many communities have felt as if they have gone without representation since the beginning of his presidency. As many communities feel misrepresented and forgotten, which has created a group of people that are actively advocating against Trump. Due to the involvement with social media this has created a stigma against Trump, where he is accused of many false things, that has created and added to his negative image. While many decisions he has made have added to this image, and statistics have shown the increase of hate crimes this cannot always be tracked directly to the election of Trump.

Trump’s decisions have trickled down and continue to affect many aspects of society causing an increase of racism, descrimination, homophobia and increasing the divide between parties, and even affecting daily life on local level. Children of immigrants have experienced intense consequences, especially since the election. Such as, racism and descrimination.The increase in white nationalism and hate crimes have been on the rise and this can be linked to the election, while many people believe this is only a factor of people being more proactive on reporting and not an issue with the opinions or words of Trump.

The change in tone has had not just an affect on the country, but also on the localized businesses and schools. Some are concerned that the change in tone could cause people to believe that racism is okay.

While Gutierrez has had these experiences, this is not everyone’s struggle.

“It has not affected me,” senior Manuel Maciel said, “But I feel like it might affect people in different backgrounds.”

Likewise, Gutierrez hesitates to draw a connection between conservatives and racism, understanding

A menagerie of old familiars and unique pieces from around the world Mary Artz (541-760-1941

223 Second Avenue SW Albany, Oregon 97321

211 Second Avenue SW Albany, Oregon 97321

FREE BUFFALO NICKEL WITH PURCHASE

OPINION

that not all conservatives are racists.

“I don’t like to label conservative people racists and things like that because some people aren’t,” Gutierrez said. “But more racist have shown, and Trump has definitely been their leader.”

Along with hate crimes, Vice President Mike Pence has been accused of targeting the LGBTQ community. For example in 2014 Pence supported a bill to add an amendment banning same-sex marriage to Indiana’s constitution. Since Pence is against the LGBTQ community it makes it seem okay to be homophobic, due to the support Trump has given him.

The Trump administration announced that it supports faith-based schools using religion as a “right to discriminate” against LGBTQ teachers and staff. This shows that both the President and the Vice President are against the LGBTQ community. If the Trump administration allows faith-based schools to discriminate it will cause more and more schools to feel okay to discriminate against LGBTQ. Both Trump and Pence have been known to be openly bias. Pence for example, has dogged the acusation of him being a supporter of conversion therapy. Conversion therapy is a practice of trying to change someones sexual orientation or gender identity. Trump has not been accused of being for, or against conversion therapy.

While there can be accusations about the rise of white supremacy and hate crimes linked to the election of Trump, evidence is hard to collect when these events are based strictly to people’s beliefs and thoughts on the subject.

DINE IN DELIVERY PICKUP

541-791-7663

560 NW Hickory St, Albany, OR 97321 southpawsperfectpizza.com NEWS/ THE WHIRLWIND 9

THE CHOICE OF A DECADE

IN THE POLLS

BY Malachi Murphy

In the upcoming election, an upset is enjoyable IN THIS UPCOMING ELECT I O N , a fierce competition between our current president, Donald Trump, and a variety of new democratic candidates is about to be under way. Election day 2020, who will win?

With scandal after scandal in his current term, Trump will not be re-elected. Especially considering a less-than stellar approval rating and more issues creating more and more controversy. As mass shootings have struck our country in the past few years, more people have waned away from more-gun gun control. “More gun-gun-control” is the belief that having more guns in an area, the less likely someone is to shoot others for fear of getting shot themselves by an armed bystander. However, Trump even changed his own platform after this clearly did not work, leading to disapproval from his hardcore supporters, further lowering his standing in even his fans, eyes.

Although Trump slipped into the position of president after he robbed the people of their voice and won over the electoral college, the popular vote was in support of Hillary Clinton. Clinton was a candidate that split the democratic party and even caused a lower democratic voter turnout due to white middle class blue voters turning to Trump’s rhetoric rather than trusting the bureaucrat Hillary Clinton. Yet, with this stacked against her she still managed to get the popular vote against Trump.

A campaign to remember

KEEP AMERICA GREAT D o n a l d Tr u m p ’ s campaign slogan

Kamala Harris’s campaign slogan

TOUGH. PRINCIPLED. FEARLESS.

1 0 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

BIDEN Joe Biden currently polls from 18 to 35% in the most recent polls.

BERNIE Bernie polling in the

Sanders is currently between 10 and 22% newest polls.

WA R R E N Elizabeth Warren polls between 14 and 30%.

HARRIS Kamala

Harris is in the polls between 3 and 8%.

Polling statistic according to project Five W Eight

OUR BEST DAYS STILL LIE AHEAD.

Joe Biden’s campaign slogan

Bernie Sander’s campaign slogan

Not Me. Us.

WILL YOU

JOIN OUR FIGHT IN _____?

Elizabeth Warren’s campaign slogan

A candidate that should not get the democratic primary vote is Joe Biden. A middle of the road bureaucratic lifelong politician with no backbone and simple patriotism is the lure of all middle class voters. One of the largest issues with his lack of platform is the acclaim he receives for destroying the heavily partisan politics in our country, when in fact he is just without a base. He has little in terms of tangible policy, and without policy he leaves little to be attacked by opposition. This does not seem to have crossed the mind of his supporters, however, as he leads in the democratic polling. Although Biden’s leading in polls, he should not receive the primary nomination, for we might experience the same issue we had with Clinton. As the large base of extreme voters in the democratic party saw the nomination go towards Clinton, they felt their voices went unheard in their own party. We must avoid this, and instead pull in the middle of the road for their mutability is easy to win over. Finally, Biden’s inappropriate touching allegations, we do not need to elect another creep into the most powerful position in the U.S. I believe that candidate to be Bernie Sanders, for his large support in rural communities and urban centers alike. He has a platform that appeals to all of the more extreme democratic voters, and doesn’t leave behind the more conservative, middle of the road democratic ones. A large slogan within the progressive community is “anything except Trump.” If America can get a candidate that gets the most liberal voters and forces the mid range voters to choose between themselves and Trump, Trump will lose. Not only that, but Bernie also has voiced his more extreme views for the longest time, not just hopping on the new liberal wave washing over the democratic party in candidates like Warren and Harris.

This upcoming election is crucial to win middle America back from Trump, and the only way to do that is to meet their needs. Why did a “self-made man” and a rough-speaking anti establishment candidate win? Because people are tired of the less than stellar status quo.

America is in love with grandeur, and they all want it for themselves. Trump spoke to those narcissistic wants, to “make America great again”. To give the people a new golden age of American Prosperity. We must face these concepts head on and give these voters a new voice through a democratic candidate. A democratic candidate that can provide an answer to the most pressing issues to our countries futures. The candidate to do that is Bernie Sanders.

THE PROBLEM WITH GETTING IN LINE It is too complicated for immigrants to gain access to green cards

G E O R G I A VAT C O S K AY

OUR COUNTRY IS

built upon the backs of immigrants. All of our ancestors were immigrants, but in today’s age, immigrants are treated like all they do is cause problems. This is very wrong, but unfortunately the president and his supporters seem to believe it.

In a speech Donald Trump gave he said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. [...]

They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Again this is far from the truth as a CNN article, along with a think tank called the Cato Institute said that immigrants, illegal and legal, are actually less likely to commit crimes than natural born citizens and this research was near unanimously agreed upon. So if they are so hard working, and they follow our laws even better than we do, why don’t we want them in our country?

A lot of people say they want the good ones. They say it like people who enter our country are bad people that just need to get in line. It is not nearly that simple, as there isn’t a line at all. According to John Oliver, a British born celebrity who had to deal with immigration problems himself, says there are four ways most immigrants make it into the U.S.

Family Intergration The first of the four is family. You can get into the country if you have family here, which is how an estimated two thirds of legal immigrants get in. While this is the most common way for them to get into the country, it is still far from easy. They are still subject to rigorous background checks and country caps, which is an act that means no country can receive more than 7 percent of the available green cards regardless of population size. Only if they can jump through all those hoops can they get citizenship to the country.

Working Visa If you don’t have family, then your next best bet is a work visa. Unfortunately, it’s rare that work visas are converted to green cards.

“Like getting a backstage pass to see BTS,” Oliver

said. “Sure, it will allow you to hang around for a bit, but you’re probably not going to end up becoming part of the band.”

So this option leaves people having to return to their country every 11 months or so and it leaves people constantly worried that they will not be invited back. Every year is a roll of the dice in these people’s lives while they are just looking for a better one.

This along with the problems mentioned previously leaves people waiting years to get a work visa, in some cases so long that they are no longer able to work by the time they are eligible.

Now if neither of these options work there are the final two, which Oliver calls good luck and bad luck. The good luck of the two is winning the visa lottery. This is gambling with people’s lives.

S TA F F - E D

The

opinion of the

Whirlwind

editorial board

Winning the Lottery On the official website for the Diversity Visa Lottery you can click a link that states that the Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery is a,“Random selection of Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) applicants, based on allocations of available visas in each region and country, from all registered entries,” the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. This may sound like an easy way of getting into the country, but of the 22 million people who entered into the lottery only 50,000 were given visas.

“Your odds of winning that lottery to come into the country are about the same as your odds of getting shot once you get here,’’ which would be 1 in 285 Oliver said based off of a statistic from the National Safety Council. So unless they are incredibly lucky they will also be unable to get a green card. That just leaves the bad luck of being a refugee. Unfortunately, the bad luck option is becoming way less likely and is not as easy as just submitting an entry into a lottery.

The bad luck option is being a refugee, which means that they have to be seeking asylum from a dangerous

country. This seems like a good thing because they are escaping potential death somewhere else, and it is. America has even been number one in taking in refugees per year for a long time. But now the Trump administration has brought those numbers way down, resulting in other countries overtaking us in these statistics.

According to research done by the Pew Research Center, the year before Trump entered office the number of refugees entered into America was 97,000. The following two years after his election dropped to 33,000 then 23,000 last year. This isn’t because of a lack of people needing an escape to a new home, this is the Trump administration making it harder for anyone to make it into the country. Trump has made it his goal to reduce illegal immigration but what is really happening is a complete decrease of immigration, legal or not. While some may see this as a good thing the issue is that these people are in need of a new home. They aren’t just coming in because it sounds fun, they want a better life.

The American Dream in a nutshell.

The Problem Now Just recently a new federal law was nearly put in place making it even harder for the immigrants in actual need to make it into the country. The president himself recently tried to pass a law that would have made it easier to block immigrants that were low income and deemed potential burden to U.S. taxpayers. Now while it was blocked by three federal courts, a new lightly reformed law is set to take place on Nov 3. This law, while not going out and targeting the low income specifically, does target those who can’t afford health insurance or healthcare costs by outright rejecting their visas. This results in just about the same effect, making it harder for the poor to make it into the country for the better life they deserve.

Time and time again the Trump administration makes it harder for immigrants to get in the country. It doesn’t affect most of us but the matter of the fact is we are all human. We are denying these people the very rights our ancestors used to make their lives. We need to make it easier to let immigrants from other countries to get into ours, and we need to stop the nationwide xenophobia that led to these laws in the first place. If America is the best country in the world, let’s start proving it.

OPINION / THE WHIRLWIND 11

Basing your identity around a trend is harmful to your self image

BY Brooklyn D’Alessio and Samantha Mattingly

THERE SEEMS TO BE A NEW trend every week, and with each trend comes new styles, terms, and most of all: stereotypes. While there seems to be a place for each and everyone with all these new fads, it can also be constricting. If you start to dress or act a certain way, it can feel like you’ve fallen into a trap and you have to take on the identity of whatever fad you fell victim to.

The newest of these trends are VSCO and E-People, taking two different styles and putting them in the spotlight for others to criticize. Things like “sksksk” and “and I oop” were made as a way to passive aggressively make people feel like how they dressed and how they looked was something to be ashamed of. The ways these girls dress is what they feel most comfortable in, and they should not be criticized for feeling comfortable.

The simplest fashions and actions seem to invite ridicule from others. Wearing a shell necklace or carrying a Hydroflask, for example, can cause people to judge you and make unfair assumptions, such as believing you’re depressed or you self harm because of your style. When stated when Tori Gibbs, sophomore, shares her experience “I’ve been called E-Girl, emo, goth(…) People mess around with me saying, like, stereotypical emo stuff. But sometimes it gets kind of out of hand, like they’ll tell me I cut my wrists and stuff.”

This is just one example of the profiling experienced by people just trying to express themselves. Someone’s style does not determine their entire personality, nor does it prove whether they’re happy or sad. Most people know VSCO girls by their “sksksk” and their “and I oop” but the origin of “and I oop” was said by the drag queen Jasmine Masters. After Jasmine, it became a meme that was taken to the next level. Megan Adamec, a Junior said, “I enjoy photos and just capturing little moments.” When asked why she

12 WHIRLWIND/OCTOBER 2019

enjoys the style, which is the same for most VSCO people when it comes to talking about the style and the trend, but because of social media, such as Tik-Tok, the girls who tend to dress more “VSCO” are put in a constructive trend that has them endure nasty comments about their way of life.

Although it’s common that people will deny being an E-Girl or VSCO girl, is it really a bad thing to consider yourself a follower of the trends? After all, VSCO girls’ metal straws and Hydroflasks are in an effort to save the environment, and E-Girls’ fashion is just a way to show off your personality. Sure, some people may consider the personalities attached annoying, but everyone has their opinion. These people are just expressing themselves the way they feel is right, and it’s not hurting anyone.

Although some trends can be expressed in a healthy way, when taken too far it can become straining on your mental health and self image. Going from trend to trend can have a toll on the way you see yourself. Not knowing which trend you really fit into and never figuring who you really are and what you are comfortable wearing and acting. Your mental health is so much more important than “fitting in”.

Through thick and thin, trends are there as a negative and positive outlet for youth. For the most part, they exist as harmless fashion crazes to let teens express themselves.

However, there is always the occasional incidence where kids will base their whole identity around a trend. E-Girls and VSCO girls are just one trend in an overwhelming history of teenage trends, and although the fashions change, the ideas behind them never do. Kids want to find a place where they belong, and oftentimes they will express that with fashion.

Why ridicule children for simply trying to find where they fit?

T R AV I S S H O L L E N B E R G E R

THE ORIGINAL SCARE Halloween has changed from its origin due to capitalism

BY Maggie Bedrin

THE ONCE RELIGIOUS FEAR induced holiday known as Halloween has strayed from its origin. Once called All Hallow’s Eve, it was thought to be the merging of the dead and the living world, letting creatures of all shapes and sizes crawl around on our streets. Our fear of such monsters has dwindled to almost none, and the reason is disappointing.

The downfall of Halloween is partly due to the mixing of cultural views over the course of thousands of years. Halloween originated Samhain belief (the original Halloween), a belief persued by the Celts who covered most of Ireland nearly 2000 years ago. That then stirred into Roman belief, which mixed the passing of the dead with a celebration called Pomana (the Roman goddess of fruit and trees). That was then was overtaken by Christianity and renamed All Saint’s Day, which became mainly parties. Finally it became meshed with early American and American Indians ideas of the dead, again becoming more of a party than something paranormal.

Besides the cultural overtaking, our modren world favors pleasantries over fear. Forgetting what we once were afraid of in favor of consuming sweets and throwing parties that now lack meaning.

Our fear has mainly subsided into a love of horror.

While many no longer believe in the merging of worlds, they do believe in the wandering dea, some people even going as far to seek out ghosts and spirits in search of a paranormal experience, striving for more fun than fear.

The candy factor started with sacrifices to the Celtic deities. But the introduction of celebration was morphed into party confections, which then lead to trick-or-treating, a fun outlet for parents and children. with retail stores focusing so heavily on selling you every pumpkin, treat, and costume. Halloween then lost its costume factor, turning to more sexualized costumes meant to attract others rather than provoke fear in the hearts of werewolves or other evil creatures.

Capitalism has taken its trick or treat back and stuffed America in it. To gain profit off our joy businesses have continued this holiday into the grave, making it a retail holiday, that people get to see overdone decorations for only a few weeks before Christmas gets put on display. The legacy of Halloween has been burned to a crisp and the economy is to blame.

Halloween has been ruined by the growing economy and misinterpretation of religious practices. This has happened with many dates marked on our calendar, so unfortunately Halloween doesn’t stand alone on this one.

One could only ask, will this be the end of our destruction of historical holidays? The answer is no, definitely not.

Halloween should be observed as something else, since it is no longer of its origin. It should be considered a new, modern holiday and leave the history at peace instead of further disgracing it. We can party and snack all we wish without further destroying this once meaningful holiday.

The Original Halloween S TAT I O N E D I N I R E L A N D , the Celts believed Samhain, Oct 31 was the merging of the spirit and normal world.

The coming of this day meant the death of crops and livestock because it was the beginning of winter, the season that typically brought death. It was believed that those who had died would return to earth on this day.

The day would start with the burning out of hearth fires and the night would begin when the bonfire was lit. It was brought to life using a wheel that would run to create sparks.

Such celebrations did not come without benefits, it was also believed that Druids and Celtic Priests could read the future better on this day. So the people sacrificed food and animal for the Celtic deities into the fire, such gifts include freshly farmed items like livestock and crops. However, non-participants were believed to be punished by the gods through illness and/or death.

Costumes were typically made of animal heads and skins, and then proceeded to try and tell each other’s fortune.

During “Dumb Supper” the people would feast only after inviting the dead to join. After supper the children would entertain the dead through games while the adults informed the spirits of the history of the past year.

The flame was then brought back to their houses to relight their health to protect them from the oncoming winter. Their celebration was in fear and in hope, both to drive the living forward and the dead away.

TORI THROP

OPINION / THE WHIRLWIND 13

DON’T VAPE JUUL REGRET IT Vaping negatively impacts your life

BY Corbin Cellerini

I T H A S B E E N P R A C T I C A L LY engraved into people’s brains that vaping is a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes. However, studies suggest that despite what the money-hungry tobacco companies have told us, that is not entirely accurate.

In 1963, the first e-cigarette came out, but it was just kind of invented without a recorded sole purpose.

The idea is good, if you think about it, a cigarette you didn’t need a lighter or match for. Saves trouble and time, just not your lungs. Since then, a lot of people have made their own brands, saying theirs From the Center for are better than the others.

Many people think vaping is safe, that could be why they choose vaping over smoking. In fact, according to the Center for Disease Control, there have been at least 1,299 cases of lung disease and at least 28 deaths in almost every state. That’s a lot of deaths due to one small device that people usually turn to because it’s marketed as safer than smoking tobacco. Just because it’s safer doesn’t mean it’s safe.

According to the U.S. Surgeon General, more high school students use e-cigarettes than adults. In fact, vaping amongst teens rose by 78% between 2017 and 2018, according to the Federal Drug Administration. Not only that, but almost 3 in 5 teens vape,

and only one of those three knows that it is nicotine they are vaping, according to the Surgeon General.

Most teens claimed they only vaped because of the flavors. And the huge presence vaping has on social media doesn’t help, in fact it influences more to start.

All these stats and studies should give you plenty of reasons not to vape. There just isn’t anything good that comes from it. It’s been proven that they are just as harmful as cigarettes, and people just don’t realize that.

The law states that vaping is prohibited to anyone under the age of 18 —which is likely to be raised to age Diease Control 21— and it was proven that more minors vape than adults do. So why are all these underage people going out and vaping? These products were made for adults, not teens, yet they’re advertised to teens and most teens end up doing exactly what the e-cigarette companies want us to do.

The e-cigarette companies need to be held to the same advertisement restrictions as tobacco companies, and teens need to snap out of it and realise all the negative impacts that vaping has.

“There have been at least 1,299 cases of lung disease and at least 28 deaths in almost every state. “

Recent Juuling Findings 33 deaths have been confirmed in 24 states.

All patients have used e-cigrettes, vape pens, or other smoking products.

Research states that Tetrahydrocannabiol could be the cause of most outbreaks.

Specific causes connecting to lung cancer are unknown.

Starting Oct 15 lung injury was connected to the use of Juuling as a result from reports of 49 states.

CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

M A N DY H OWA R D

1 4 W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

“They can be, but they can go too far.”

Cecilia Green FRESHMAN

Kids are using dark humor to cope with mental illness.

This is why it’s unhealthy and unproductive.

BY Mandy Howard scared to have, but it starts with talk that is in the completely wrong tone. Mental health isn’t a joke for seen a major incline in mental illness in teenagers. Acpeople who actually suffer from mental illness. Serious cording to the American Psychological Association, only topics shouldn’t be turned into a joke that people send to half of Gen Z as a whole feels like they do enough to each other over social media. These memes just prove manage their stress. Gen Z would have 27 percent report how much of a joke people think mental health is. that their mental health was fair or poor. This generation Gretchen Brown, a writer unis also known for their technology D I D Y O U K N O W ? der Rewire, was able to contact and social media use. The Pew Resomeone making these memes. The search Center states that 54 percent Mental Health statistics account @manicpixiememequeen of teens in the U.S. said they spend on Instagram gained followers too much time on their cellphones through posting memes about her and 45 percent said they’re online 9/10 Gen Z adults said mental illnesses. In the article, the most of the time. If you search “methey have expirienced owner of the account was quoted mes images” on Google you will at least one symptom of saying, “There is a lot of stigma get over 3.6 billion results. If you stress with mental health, and people Google “mental illness memes imThe American Psychological don’t know how to approach it in Association found this in a surages”, there are 15.6 million results. a way that doesn’t feel like a docvey with people aged 15-21.

The Oxford Dictionary defines a tor is talking to you about it.” Her meme as, “a humorous image, vidintent (along with the many other eo, piece of text, etc...” Mental ill72 percent of Gen Z is accounts with similar content) is to ness shouldn’t be linked with somestressed about school start the conversation about menthing humorous. It’s a serious issue shootings. tal health that most people are too The Center for Health Care and affects 1 in 4 people, according afraid to have. The issue is that it’s conducted a survey with 3,759 to the World Health Organization. people, three hunderd of them turning mental illness into a joke.

People have started to turn their were between the ages of 15-17 Getting rid of the massive buildup problems into memes. This is exand the remaining were over 18 of stigma around the topic is hard, tremely unproductive for themand it’s great that people are tryselves and the world around them. ing to take it down, but this isn’t the way to do it.

A meme is a joke or a funny video. By turning mental Checking up on your friends and family frequently illness into a meme, it turns it into a joke. Granted, most is an important step to removing the stigma surrounded kids and teens are guilty of laughing or chuckling at this by mental disorders.

Being honest about your feelings kind of dark humor. Most of the time, we don’t think of can be hard, but it is also extremely productive. Mental the consequences of doing this. By turning mental illness health is extremely important to someone’s wellbeing. into a joke, we prevent people from getting help that they Therefore, it needs to be handled in an appropriate way. genuinely need. It’s become hard to open up to someone

IN RECENT YEARS, WE’VE

“Yes, because I can relate to most of them, or I have friends that can.”

Natalie Quinn SOPHOMORE

“It depends, but they can go too far. It’s okay as long as they aren’t about other people.”

Emily Ray JUNIOR

“It depends.

If it’s about suicide, it’s not okay.”

Sierra Struthers SENIOR

because they might take it as a joke due to these posts.

Making memes about mental illness does start the conversation about mental health that a lot of people are

OPINION / THE WHIRLWIND 15

As the class of 2023 begins its journey, the potential paths they can take start a new chapter in their life

BY G e o r g i a Vat c o s k a y a n d Nicole Williams

W H E N YO U ’ R E A F R E S H M A N , high school seems like a fresh start. Teachers tell you about the new opportunities and freedom you’ll have and how these years could change your life. However, the choices made as a freshman seem to stick with you throughout your high school career.

Ninth grade is one of the most crucial years for setting up the rest of your high school experience. According to the National High School Center, “More students fail ninth grade than any other grade in high school, and a disproportionate number of students who are held back in ninth grade subsequently drop out.” Despite that statistic, some freshmen push themselves to the limit, and go above and beyond the standard for most ninth graders.

English teacher Blain Willard, who teaches Honors Freshman English, estimates that 90 percent of his students leave his classroom going into Honors Sophomore English, continuing the pattern for taking advanced classes further into their high school career. Taking advanced courses as an underclassman may determine how the rest of your education will look. As a freshman, choosing to take Algebra 1 or Geometry will affect which math you are able to take as a senior, considering math courses progress sequentially. Because of that, it’s difficult to change your path once you’ve started. The small decisions you make prior to your freshman year, like whether or not you want to take Honors English or not or which language you choose to take, determine your high school experience. The path you choose to take surrounds you with like-minded people, making it even harder to break the educational pattern, advanced or not.

Freshman Kyleigh Barksdale, who felt that her classes as a middle schooler weren’t challenging, decided that she would push herself harder this year. Her choice to go into advanced classes was partly influenced by others.

Her parents were interested in College Now, and Barksdale says, “All my teachers thought that I did so well in

FRESH

FRESH BY THE NUMBERS

BY Emily Haarstad and Brogan O’Hare

22%

of students repeat the 9th grade

9TH

graders have the lowest grade point average

1 6 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

all my classes that they wanted me to be in better classes to push me harder.”

The decision to take advanced classes can also affect friend groups, and peers may be a deciding factor in students’ choices to stay. With other like minded individuals in these classes, those are who you see the most and spend the most time with. Therefore, you’re more likely to befriend students that are also in the classes you’re taking. This could potentially break up old friendships due to differences, but also spark new friendships.

“I came from Calapoolia, so I didn’t have many friends here,” Barksdale said, “but I’ve been meeting more of ‘my’ people.” She also explains how this year she is finding more friends in her classes.

Even though there’s a push for AP classes, some students who start in advanced classes choose to switch out. Not everyone sticks to the pattern they potentially set up for themselves, likes and interests just change as you grow. “[Looking back], I definitely would have changed out of Honors English,” junior Lilly Hanamoto said. “Instead of taking an advanced English course [this year], I just went to take regular English.” Hanamoto says that she’s

Here is a compilation of statistics from a research report titled “The Predictive Power of Ninth-Grade GPA” from UChicago Consortium in September of 2017, and the Oregon Department of Education

2019, 85.3%

At-A-Glance report card for West Albany High School for the 2018-2019 school year.

GPAs were graded on a scale of A to F, 4-0, with first and second semester grades averaged from core classes.

As of

of freshmen in Oregon are on track to graduate

47.4% of freshmen girls had GPAs of an A or B

Less than

25%

of students who are off track their freshman year graduate

31.8%

of freshmen boys had GPAs of an A or B

H

k

getting better grades in her regular English class, and she’s satisfied with her choice.

In contrast, junior Garrett Boren started in basic level classes and switched into AP. He believed he wasn’t much of an honors student, even though his prior school, Santiam Christian, used a curriculum that held students a grade above the one they were in. Instead of taking

English teacher Blain Willard, who teaches Honors Freshman English, estimates that 90 percent of his students leave his classroom going into Honors Sophomore English.

F 30% ONE

in a year-long course at grade nine can decrease the possibility of graduating by

Pre-Algebra in eighth grade, they took it in seventh.

According to Boren, every student was pushed to work harder than they would in a traditional public school. As a freshman, Boren started in Algebra 1, and two short years later he is in Precalculus. He took Algebra 2 over the summer, after he had a spark that drove him to pursue higher classes. Currently, he is in AP U.S. History, Precalculus, AP Language and Composition, and Chemistry.

Boren adds that he’s struggled with procrastination.

“I won’t do my homework until the day it’s due, and half the time it works out,” Boren said. “I need to work on getting rid of that habit.”

Boren says that his previous classes were easy enough for him that he could do the homework within an hour, and the transition from normal to AP classes was definitely a major one for him.

Advanced and AP classes require a good amount of dedication and studying. Without these skills, the courses seem daunting, and taking hard courses while having responsibilities outside of school can lead to feeling overwhelmed.

“I have AP kids that take [Stress Management] because they need a break in their schedule,” Health teach-

SPECIAL er Jennifer Bornheimer said, “and then I have some that are like, ‘Thank God for this class because it helps me keep my sanity.’” However, your ability to perform well in AP classes isn’t exactly dependent on how well you can handle stress, and not the entire Stress Management class is enrolled in AP. Willard observes, “I think that’s maybe a misunderstanding, that AP classes are extra work. I would say they’re different work.” While AP students may find it more difficult to do well in the course, the workload stays relatively consistent. The defining factor is how challenging the work is, and if they’re able to handle it.

However, no matter what classes you’re currently taking, there’s freedom in your choice to forecast for advanced courses. In the end, the choice of AP or regular classes is all up to the student. Yet, the choice can be influenced by teachers, parents, and peers, and determine the path freshmen take for the rest of high school.

Students’ unexcused absences

QUADRUPLED when they moved from eighth to ninth grade

Roughly

35%

of West Albany’s freshmen are ahead of their grade

81%

13%

of our freshmen meet an ‘A’ rate attendance

of those are on track to graduate early

2006 VS. 2013 30.4%

students who earned a GPA of an A or B

50.1%

SPECIAL / THE WHIRLWIND 17

FRESHMAN YEAR IS...

FRESHMAN CALEB SMITH

“Interesting.”

FRESHMAN RJ BANKS

“Good. Do your work and you’ll be good.”

FRESHMAN KAYLA MANDELIKE

“Better than middle school.”

FRESHMAN ADELA BONAVIDEZ

“Boring.”

TEACHING FRESHMEN IS...

SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER MARTY JOHNSTON

FRENCH TEACHER JACQUELINE KAHLER

FRESHMAN DREW BARNES

“Eventful.”

FRESHMAN SPENCER MADSEN

“Sweet.”

SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER TODD ZIMMERMAN

“Challenging.”

“Invigorating.”

“Pure Heaven.”

SENIOR JACOB STUTZMAN

SENIOR COLBY GRIEVE

SENIOR OSTEN PHAM

FRESHMAN YEAR WAS...

“It wasn’t as fun, you don’t know as many people. You don’t know what to expect, and it’s kind of scary going in.”

1 8 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

“Terrible. I didn’t really know anybody, and dances felt lonely because I didn’t know much and all I had was my middle school friends.

“It was a little more awkward, I wasn’t that self confident, I didn’t know anybody.”

NEBRASKA

MARYL AND

All ninth grade science, English, and social-studies teachers meet three times a week to discuss their students and ensure consistency.

CALIFORNIA A Long Beach school district created a task force to tackle barriers for freshmen with disabilities.

Jumpstart to Graduation was created to get students to focus on graduation before they even enter high school.

LOUISIANA The purpose of the Commission on High School Redesign is to make recommendations that will ultimately create high schools that graduate all youth prepared to succeed.

TEXAS

School districts around the nation have developed innovative ways to address the crucial ninth grade year. Here are some examples.

F E AT U R E D F R E S H M E N F R O M L E F T TO RIGHT: (page 16-17) Greta Babbitt,

B r a d e n A r g e t s i n g e r, A v a R e m i n g t o n , M i a A n g , G e o r g i a R o g e r s , M c k e n z i e M u r p h y, W e s t o n C a v e n d e r, Va l e r i e B r e c e d a , ( p a g e 1 8 ) J a y d e n S l o v e r, S t e v e n P h a m , Aver y Hughes, Jacob Wolfor d, Emmaleigh H a g n e r, G a g e P e a r s o n

One school district in Houston has opened four ninth grade only “centers” to personalize freshman year.

START

WHAT WE’RE ALREADY DOING

HOW WAHS ADDRESSES THE FRESHMAN TRANSITION TO IMPROVE RETENTION AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS SUMMER TRANSITIONS

FLASH

R O TAT I O N C O U R S E S

STARTING HIGH SCHOOL EARLY GIVES STUDENTS A LEG UP

TRAINED SENIORS CONNECT WITH FRESHMEN TO OFFER GUIDANCE, SUPPORT

FRESHMEN EXPLORE OPTIONS THROUGH SIX WEEK LEARNING MODULES

Transitions Summer School is an opportunity for a group of recommended students to gain a leg up on their high school career. Students come to school a few weeks early and get a helping hand and head start that would otherwise not be available. Science teacher Karissa Olsen explains the benefits for Transitions Summer School and its advantages for the incoming class. “It provides a fun environment for students to get to know each other and to get to know some of their teachers as well”, Olsen said. “It also gives them half a credit as well, so they kind of get a leg up on their school year.” A small group of other freshmen allows students to build peer and teacher connections that get them involved early. They get one on one help and are better prepared for the incoming workload.

FLASH, Freshmen Learning Seniors Helping, is a program that helps freshmen and seniors alike. On freshman day, seniors arrive early to help with directions and anything else freshmen would need assistance with. At the end of every full week during the first semester, a group of FLASH seniors go to their assigned freshman study skills class and give advice, answer questions, and provide mentorship to the freshmen.

FLASH helps to break the divide between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen and educates freshmen on topics pertaining to their school. Freshmen get to learn about school activities and opportunities that may otherwise go unknown. Seniors show freshmen how things are done, and leave a strong impact and legacy on the freshmen to continue to uphold, even when the seniors are long gone.

Intro to Career Technical Education, or CTE, is a class over the span of a year that gives an introduction of different career paths to freshmen. There are six different paths, each rotating after six weeks. It spans from business to art to culinary. “They can take a string of courses throughout high school to prepare them for college or for a career in one of those areas,” Video Production teacher Matt Boase said.

He also says that many students were just bouncing from elective to elective, and this course helps expose students to classes that they would like to take for the rest of high school. This also opens opportunities for students to find a potential career path, which recent research has tied to high school graduation and success.

SPECIAL / THE WHIRLWIND 19

Q U I C K FACTS A BO U T SENIOR ANNIE BERRY

Q: Who’s your favorite artist?

A: Probably Picasso, but I like more of his sculptures.

Q: What’s your favorite piece of art?

A: I got to see Monet’s “Water Lillies” when I went to Europe last summer, so probably those.

Q: What’s your favorite piece of your own art?

A: I really like this lion piece I did. It was a sculpture of a lion that was done in cardboard and charcoal.

Q: What’s your favorite animal?

A: A dolphin.

Q: What’s your dream job?

A: Just something with art.

Q: What’s your favorite sport to play?

A: I don’t think I can choose between running and soccer.

Q: What’s your favorite food?

A: Watermelon.

Q: What’s your favorite berry?

A: Strawberry.

Q: What’s your favorite color?

A: Blue.

Q: What’s your favorite show?

A: Friends.

Q: What’s your dream college?

A: There’s just a certain four that are nearby that I’m looking at. None are like a dream.

20 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

ANNIE AWESOME BERRY

BY Caleb Har t

Senior Annie Berry juggles her extracurriculars, education, and hobbies while also excelling at them.

Soft-spoken Berry has quietly excelled at most things to science teachshe’s done, with her teachers saying she is an excellent er Shana Hains’ enthusiasm about senior Annie Berry. student.

Berry holds a 4.0 and is projected to be a vale“I would take a classroom full of Annies,” Hains said. dictorian come June. Taking classes like AP Physics and “She’s one of the most genuinely kind people I have ever AP Stats, she pushes herself to a high level. met.”

“She’s an excellent student not only in the traditional Berry is more than just a senior here at West Albany. sense of good grades, but in the sense that she is genuineShe’s a student, a multisport athlete, a homecoming prinly curious and wants to learn,” Hains said. “It’s refreshcess this year, an artist, and on track to be a class of 2020 ing to have kids like that.” valedictorian.

Berry has enrolled in When Berry isn’t in the many art classes during her classroom, she’s shining on four years at West. the field. Currently, she is “I’ve gotten to take a lot playing varsity soccer and of art classes that I really running cross country. Last liked this year like Jewelyear Berry finished 15th ry Making and AP [Studio] overall in the state for cross Art,” said Berry. country and played a big role With art being her favorite in the soccer team’s state subject, she spends a lot of push to the semi-finals. Both time working to excel at it. cross country coach June Caleb Hart “In art she’s incrediMorris and varsity soccer ble,” art teacher Babette coach Erik Ihde believe that S E N I O R N I G H T senior Annie Berry receives Grunwald said.

“She’s a she is an important asset to gifts during senior night at her final home game well-rounded art student.” against ilverton.

The game ended in a 1-1 tie. their team and a great role Grunwald was impressed model for others. by Berry’s artistic ability “[She’s] something that and drive — so impressed, in fact, that she invited Berpeople want to emulate,” said Morris. “They want to be ry to participate in Philomath Open Studies. Grunwald like Annie.” explained that normally they invite professional artists, Morris says Berry isn’t always able to make it to cross but the quality of her work was so high that she invited country, but when she is there, she gives all her effort and Berry. truly supports her teammates.

“She could be selling her work,” Grunwald said.

On the soccer field “she can play almost any position,” Even with all of this, Berry finds the time to work at according to Ihde.

The Boys & Girls club at least once a week and works Berry is a team captain this year for the soccer team, concessions at sporting events. which is surprising for some because of how humble and “I definitely love all I’m doing, it’s just a lot,” Berry quiet she is. Ihde says team captains are typically vocal, said. but he believes that she leads by example in the best way.

With sports, school, art, and a part-time job, Berry Berry practices soccer every day and plays games twice has a full schedule. Her hard work doesn’t go unnoticed, a week. After she is done with soccer practice, she tries to though.

Berry was elected homecoming princess and is get in a run if she can’t make it to cross country practice. loved by many. Her teachers and coaches all believe she Her hard work and determination makes her stand is hardworking and a leader even when she’s not trying out among others. After the fall season she takes a short to be. break before jumping back on the wagon and running to “I’m pretty happy with the things I’ve done,” Berry stay in shape before track season in the spring. said, “I don’t think I could have done more.”

THERE’S NO LIMIT

Y

SPORTS

If you could have one virtue of Annie’s, what would it be and why?

We asked senior Annie Berry’s friend, teammate, coaches and teachers that question.

Here’s what they said.

“Her motivation and drive. She puts 100 percent of herself into everything she does and truly dedicates herself to whatever she puts her mind to accomplishing.” senior and friend Sarah Ball

“I would say her work ethic, because the kid is tireless and driven. She’s one of the hardest working individuals that i have ever coached.” soccer coach Erik Ihde

Caleb Hart

“How genuine she is. She is who she is and doesn’t pretend to be anyone else.

She has a very high self-confidence and is happy with who she is.” science teacher Shana Hains

“I would like to be as awesome as Annie is because her nickname is Annie ‘awesome’ Berry and that is just a fantastic characteristic to have, especially when [substitute teacher Max] White thinks you’re that awesome.” junior varsity soccer player Megan Adamec

“I would say her determination. If you’ve ever seen her face while she’s running, she is determined to finish that race the best way she possibly can on any given day.” cross country coach June Morris

SPORTS / THE WHIRLWIND 21

Ever yt hing

The cheerleading team has all new coaches this year.

Does this change anything?

SIXTY-SIX YEARS

of tradition makes West Albany well known for its spirit. The pep assemblies and games are well known for the energy in the audience that’s often hard to create in teenagers. The school isn’t the same as it was in 1953. The classes, sports, teachers, and even cheers have changed over the years tremendously.

Teachers, coaches especially, are constantly changing.

This year the cheer team has entirely new coaches, head coach Tamryn Carlson and her daughter Jordan NeSmith, the assistant coach. The student body has noticed these changes, but where are they coming from and why?

Cheerleaders this year have new uniforms, pompoms, an abundance of new cheers, as well as new motions to old cheers.

The uniforms are only a temporary fix for a sizing issue made last year. They’re made of fabric and aren’t tight, which is much different than the form-fitting spandex skirts the girls are used to. These skirts are also a slightly different color than their original uniforms, but luckily these skirts shouldn’t be in the picture much longer.

“I came up with a quick solution with the navy skirt,” said Carlson. “I needed something quickly to get them on the field.”

However, the new pompoms are here to stay. For years the cheerleaders have been featured with big, bouncing pompoms, one blue and one gold. This year they sport much smaller ones in only metallic gold, as chosen by Carlson with good reasoning. According to her, the smaller size works better with stunts and only gold poms help visually.

“The navy blue isn’t visually effective,” Carlson said.

“If you look at pictures when a cheerleader has one gold and one navy, the navy kind of gets lost.”

The biggest changes made this year, however, would be

2 2 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

NEW

Cheyenne Such

GOLD, BLUE,

CHEER ON Junior Savannah Schneider (center) and the rest of the cheer team perform at the Homecoming pep assembly Oct. 10. The team welcomes new coaches Tamryn Carlson and Jordan NeSmith, and with new coaches come new changes.

BY Gabrielle Budlong

those made to cheers, these affect the whole school and not just the team. Carlson brought loads of new cheers to the team from the last high school she coached at, changing what she needed to so that it relates to WAHS. “It was a little bit challenging to remember all of them,” freshman Avery Dodd said, “but I practice them a lot, so it really wasn’t that difficult for me.”

Senior Aaliya Mohamed was a cheerleader at WAHS her sophomore year, but had to pause her junior year due to injuries. She’s continuing this year, her senior year.

“She’s bringing more to the team than what we just had because we really didn’t have that many cheers before,” said Mohamed, “Now we have new things to call out.”

“She’s bringing more to the team than what we just had.”

A A L I YA M O H A M E D , S E N I O R

Most motions to traditional cheers have been changed as well. “[There’s] more to it because they’re really easy motions before and anyone could do them,” said Mohamed, “We look better doing them.”

Carlson didn’t get rid of any traditional cheers, just adapted the motions.

“My only request was that we modify [the traditional cheers] to make them more modern, to make them fun,” Carlson said.

West is well known for its school spirit, rowdy crowd, and heavily involved student body. So what is the student body supposed to do at games if all the cheers have been changed?

“The team was worried that the crowd would not be responsive to the new material,” Carlson said, “but I watch and I observe, and the crowd yells with our new cheers and I think they like the new material as well because it’s challenging them to learn new stuff and to bring in different aspects of them as well.”

Carlson moved to Oregon from Maryland, where she coached cheer at another high school. Before this Carlson lived in different locations across the United States due to her husband being an active member of the military.

“My husband just retired from 30 years in the military,” Carlson said. “and then he was offered a job on a farm in Molalla, Oregon and he’s from Scio, I’m from Lebanon. So we figured we would move back to home.”

Carlson actually chose to work here because of the positive reputation and our well known school spirit that draws administration from other schools to our pep assemblies. “[WAHS’ cheer is] a really recognized, strong program,” said Carlson. “I knew that I’d bring a lot of stuff to the program to make it even stronger, and I thought we would work well together and it’s greatly respected in the state of oregon.”

Both Carlson and her cheerleaders agree that the student body will overcome and embrace any changes thrown their way.

“I’m so impressed with the student body that comes to our away games.” Carlson said. “The West Albany crowd stays until the end so they can do the alma mater with the team… I have been so impressed with the school spirit at pep assemblies as well.”

WHAT’S IN MY BAG

Varsity soccer player junior Dakota Lacasse-Tran tells us what’s in his soccer bag

BY Alizah Bueno

Water bottles

TEAM RITUALS “It varies. When we are home we usually wear blue, and if we are away we wear white, but the shorts differ.”

Varsity volleyball shares pregame rituals THERE ARE

“My teammates usually have a portable charger, so I just use that.”

“If it rains out after the practice or game then I can change. I don’t like feeling soaked or wet.”

“In case one of my teammates forgets their shinguards for a game or practice.”

Team jacket

“It’s my lucky headband, and I wear it for every game, and so far its been helping.”

Practice shirt Cleats

SPORTS SLANG Varsity football explains their slang on the field

F O O T B A L L I S A sport that consists of different plays and a constant change between offense and defense. Math teacher Cole Pouliot, one of the many varsity football coaches, opens up about secret codes that they use during games to keep their next move on the field a secret.

“We use Bull and Dog since we are the Bulldogs,” Pouliot said. The team also uses a lot of terms such as early 90’s and 2000’s rappers like Tupac and Nas as code for plays. When asked why they have used things like rappers and pop culture references for their codes, he said, “It’s because everyone can relate to it.”

teams that are

known to have rituals or traditions that they follow through with for a long time. For the varsity volleyball team is no different.

“Sometimes we use visualization and we go into the team room and turn the lights out and everyone lays down.

I take them through a little relaxation and then we visualize our match.” explains varsity Volleyball coach Kelli Backer.

The team also does team lunches which basically means that the team gathers together for lunch the day of the game. Sometimes the team will establish goals for the game along with a quote of the day to spark some motivation.

“This years team has a pre-game ritual where they have some song that they like to listen to in the team room without the coaches. They have like a team dance party before the match.”

Backer shares.

Each team has a different kind of tradition that works for them, these work to help our Volleyball team succeed on the court. Not only during a game but also with their teamwork.

The team also uses something they call the Family Guy Fall which means that if a guy gets hurt on the field, he will put his arm behind his back to show that he is okay and not to worry. They not only use terms that relate to the whole team but also keep it fresh by using pop culture references.

SPORTS / THE WHIRLWIND 23

S I D E L I N E 2 4 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

Senior Kendra Spalinger manages three sports teams but doesn’t play on any. The dedicated senior — and this year’s Homecoming queen — explains why she can’t play the sports she loves and how she’s still living her best life.

BY Cloey Marsh

THOSE

AROUND

S PA L I N G E R

recognize her as the most caring person in the building but she wasn’t always like that.

“I still hold the referral record at Memorial...I used to be a nightmare,” said senior Kendra Spalinger, “My freshman year I ended with a 1.8 and last year I ended with a 3.8.”

After realizing that her actions were getting her nowhere, Spalinger turned her life around the second semester of her sophomore year. Her grades rose and she started caring more about others. This is when she became the girl we all know now.

“She’s much older than her age, as in her compassion for others,” said head coach Bryan Barker.

Barker is the head coach of Unified Sports and Spalinger is a member of the team. According to Barker, Spalinger does everything that is asked of her and more with Unified Sports. She connects to her teammates easily. She makes everyone feel included, like they have a friend.

Spalinger can be spotted in the halls talking to everyone and giving high-fives. It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t

know who she’s high-fiving, they’ll get one regardless.

If she sees that someone is upset, she will comfort them.

Spalinger is very involved at West Albany. During pep assemblies she is the person getting her whole class hyped up, she always participates in spirit week, and is at every school dance. She’s your friend even if you have only talked once.

Her mom got her into sports when she was younger, swimming, playing soccer, basketball, t-ball, and football. Spalinger wanted to continue to play but was forced to quit in eighth grade because of her epilepsy, causing 25 to 35 mini seizures a day and only getting worse during the season. Since her love for sports was still there, she decided that if she can’t play, she would be involved by managing. Her freshman year she got connected with head football coach Brian Mehl.

“She has a great attitude,” Mehl said. “She really cares about West Albany football.”

Every Friday night, Spalinger is on the sidelines cheering on her teammates, picking them up after a bad play,

A I YA N A NOELANI

and encouraging them to keep playing their hardest. She is the loudest person cheering after a touchdown.

Spallinger has also been managing baseball for the last two years. She keeps the players in check and knows their temperaments. Slowly gaining a great connection with the players and coaches.

Baseball coach Don Lien said, “She helps us stay focused as well as keeping me organized.”

Spalinger is also a peer tutor for students with special needs and cadet teachers for academic development at Memorial. She does this because after high school, Spalinger plans to minor in Spanish and major in special education, which she hopes to get her masters in.

“A lot of misunderstandings with those kids is because of the language barrier. I want to make that transition smoother,” Spalinger said.

Unless you’re close with Spalinger you might not know about her record at Memorial or her struggles with epilepsy.

“She’s the person you could call at two o’clock in the morning,” Barker said. “and she would answer, no matter what.”

CLOEY MARSH

A I YA N A N O E L A N I

Q U E E N Spalinger and her mom Melissa before she was crowned at the Homecoming game on Oct. 10. Typically Spalinger would be managing the game.

SENIOR KENDRA SPALI NG E R ’S TO - DO LI ST

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Manage Varsity Football Manage Basketball Manage Baseball Peer Tutor Join Unified Sports Graduate High School Minor in Spanish Master in Special Education

S U P P O R T E R SPORTS / THE WHIRLWIND 25

FRESH ON THE FIELD How do new athletes team this season?

affect

the

freshman

football

BY Melia Rasmussen

HOW MUCH DOES

a person need to

know about football in order to start playing it? Do they need to know what a first down is and why it’s important? Do they need to know what sacking the quarterback means? What position a linebacker plays? For some students, this year is their first time playing football, which is somewhat uncommon in a community with an active elementary-level football program. They may not even know what a PAT—or point after touch down—is.

The freshman football team at West Albany has 43 players, about half of which are new to the sport or haven’t played in recent years. That’s 23 kids playing on the field who are at a disadvantage compared to their veteran teammates and competing against experienced teams. Does this have a negative impact on the team?

“Not really,” freshman head coach Joseph Meekins said. “As a freshman coach, you just have to understand that a lot of these kids are new to high level football— and there are going to be mistakes made.”

Meekins goes on to explain that his players work hard

and try to learn as much as they can to be prepared for the games.

“I think a lot of people, getting into high school, they just rally want to be a part of something.”

William Summit, FRESHMAN “The harder they work to reduce those errors and mistakes, the better we are in the long run.”

By not setting extreme expectations or standards, Meekins allows the new athletes to perform as best they can with their individual skill level. As they continue to practice through the season, the freshmen can improve

23

43

20

New Players

Total

Veterans

ILLUSTRATION BY MELIA RASMUSSEN 2 6 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

without feeling pressured or stressed in the games.

Just like beginning a brand new activity, it’s important to pay attention and practice in order to get better. The freshman football team has a large range of potential to expand and strengthen, just like any sports team can.

“Every year of football that comes up, there are always new people and there’s usually the same amount of people that are new to the sport that come into it,” freshman Joshua LaBelle said in response to whether or not practices have changed.

LaBelle, having four years of football experience under his helmet, said that it’s important to have an upbeat attitude during practice and games because “when other people make mistakes, others get on them about it, but it’s more of the coach’s job to do those sort of things.”

He also believes that when transitioning from middle school level sports to high school sports, everyone, new or veteran, needs a refresher.

High school, with its higher leveled sports and standards, is a popular starting point for students who want to try new things because of the wide variety of activities that is provided.

For freshman Gage Pearson, who is brand new to football this year, the motivation was a little different. “[I wanted] to stay fit and have fun,” Pearson said. “I was very lazy when I was younger.”

Some may have negative experiences with the sport in the past, so joining a team—especially one as big as a football team—allows a new student to have support and people they can lean back on in times of stress or conflict.

“I think a lot of people, getting into high school, they just really want to be a part of something,” freshman William Summit said. Summit plays as a starting nose guard on the team, and he hasn’t played the sport before, though he’s watched it growing up.

“I don’t know if it was my thing.” Summit said, “Everyone was telling me to play it, so I joined and found that I really, really liked it.”

While some started football for the challenging athletic aspect, others began to play in order to discover a new experience and to be a part of a team with players who have each other’s backs.

“We’re all pretty much like a family,” Summit said.

“You just get really close to everyone, like brothers.”

ARTS AND E N T E R TA I N M E N T

POP-TAUGHT Pop culture makes its way into classrooms

BY K ARISSA L AMONTE

M AT H T E A C H E R

Cole Pouliot’s financial algebra classes can be found listening to the “Credit Card Debt” song, from popular TV show Family Guy, at the beginning and end of most classes. This pop culture reference from time to time shows how teachers use pop culture to help teach students and grasp their attention, Pouliot is one of several teachers using pop culture.

Pop culture is the base of an average teenager, especially in this generation. It involves different aspects of social life, such as current styles of clothing, language, TV, movies, music, etc. With age separating educators from their students, being able to somewhat relate to teens and bring their popular culture into the classroom can change the whole dynamic of a teacherstudent relationship and the students’ ability to learn.

“I would say most teachers have posters and even some quotes in their classroom that involve pop culture, sometimes pop culture from their childhood too,” senior Ethan Talsma said. “There’s some teachers like [psychology teacher Kyle] Hall who have pop culture references all over their room, and [social studies teacher Erik] Ihde, he always makes all kinds of jokes and references relating to pop culture.”

For Hall, pop culture is not hard to come across in his classes. “It’s not like I’m desperately searching for things that kids will understand,” Hall said. “It just kind of makes sense with my material.”

According to Talsma, “Hall would reference different shows or movies, like ‘What Would You Do?’, he would play that because it used social psychology, and it was entertaining.”

Hall has pop culture references scattered in nearly every corner of his room, from an “Inside Out” movie poster to a “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” poster, along with his collection of The Who posters and CD’s hung. Hall also likes to play some of his favorite music quietly sometimes during work time, each piece bringing in pop culture from his childhood to his classes.

“I try to give as many examples as possible, and pop culture is the best way to do that. But it has to be relatable... If I quote a movie nobody knows, that’s a dud.”

Similar to English teacher Jordan Ruppert, Hall likes to refer to The Office every now and then. “It’s my favorite show, I love that kids watch The Office…

I can bring up Andy Bernard or all these different things and bring it to a point where kids are like, ‘Oh my gosh, I remember that episode.’”

Hall is just one of several teachers who uses pop culture in their classroom to help students get a better grasp of the material, such as math teacher Cole Pouliot playing the credit card debt song from Family Guy, or Ihde telling his joke of the day. Bringing these aspects into classrooms helps gain students’ attention

and helps them understand more material since they’re able to relate their work and what they’re learning to their hobbies and social life.

Q&A: Who are some teachers you’ve had who used pop culture in their classroom?”

Senior Colby Grieve: “Probably [study hall teacher Jane] Marshall and [science teacher Chris] Hains.”

Could you give some examples?

CG: “Well, Mrs.Marshall will sometimes play some rap to help us focus while working, she’s up to dat with high school slang too, so it feels like I’m talking to another student.”

Have any of your teachers ever used pop culture to help give you a better understand of something?

Senior Ethan Talsma: “Yes, in phsycology.

Hall would talk about different shows or movies that made use of old phsycology beliefs and would play them in class.”

E N T E R TA I N M E N T / T H E W H I R L W I N D 2 7

10/31/19

GUIDES

BY Mattea Hellman and Abigail Winter

HOW TO: HALLOWEEN 2019 Downtown Trick or Treating & Costume Contest

Archive Coffee & Bar

THE TWO LIGHTS The story of one student’s past paranormal experience

T R AV I S S H O L L E N B E R G E R

The well-loved Downtown Trick or Treating and Costume Contest will be occuring on Oct 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for children and their families alike.

The merchants that are handing out candy will have orange and black balloons in front of their businesses. There will be two photostations for selected contestants for the costume contest, and voting will take place through likes on Facebook.

Vince Woods U-Pick Patch

MAGGIE BEDRIN

Vince Woods Farm in Salem is open every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m until the 31st. After picking out a pumpkin for 25 cents per pound, explore the corn maze that spans out for 2⁄3 of an acre for the low admission of 50 cents. To end the day, pay 1 dollar to explore the Pumpkin Forest and “gently haunted” Caboose, which is filled with various decorations and small attractions that are kid-friendly.

28 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

T R AV I S S H O L L E N B E R G E R

At Archive Coffee & Bar in Corvallis, a Halloween event dedicated to the ´80s will be on Oct 26 and 31 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. There will be a light Hallowenthemed lunch from 11 to 4, and from 4 to 9 there will be various full Halloween-themed food choices. Minors are allowed to attend until 9 p.m., and costumes are extremely welcomed and encouraged to go along with the many iconic ´80s ballads, jams and bops.

Melon Shack Corn Maze

T R AV I S S H O L L E N B E R G E R

From now until Oct 31, the locally famous Melon Shack corn maze will occur everday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays the maze turns haunted at 7:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. The cost of the regular corn maze is $5 and children under three get in for free, and it is $12 for the haunted maze, except for on Sundays, where it is $10.

A M AYA B U L C A O - M O O R E SENIOR

I N T H E M O U N TA I N S O F M A U I , H A W A I I , at around ten at night, seven year old Amaya Bulcao-Moore watched from her bed as two small lights moved back and forth along the side of the sliding glass door in her room for about five minutes before they collided into one bright light in the top right corner and stayed completely still. ¨They stayed there until I went to bed. I never saw them dissipate or move,” says Bulcao-Moore, who is now a senior. “I think [for] three more nights the same exact thing happened. They did a little dance, went to the corner, went up, stayed.” Even when things such as leaves and gusts of wind moved behind and around the bright light, Bulcao-Moore says it didn’t move from its place at the top of the door until she fell asleep.

After the third night of this strange thing occurring, she asked her younger brother Zack if he had also seen the lights. He said he had, but along with the mysterious lights he saw a pair of feet on the ground and a lantern in the air.

Although Bulcao-Moore was a bit suspicious of her brother’s story, she didn’t necessarily doubt him.

“He saw something too,” she says, which made the

STUDENT SURVEYS We asked 120 students what they thought about trick-or-treating, Halloween as a holiday, and whether they believe in the supernatural or not. Here’s what they said:

52%

SCIENCE TEACHER CHRIS HAINS’ PICK: The Original Scream Movies

34%

O P E N C L I PA RT - V E CTO R S

“Because they’re kinda scary and funny at the same time.”

of students responded saying they believe in the supernatural

of students responded saying they plan on going trick-or-treating this year

14%

43%

of students responded saying they think Halloween is overrated

of students responded saying they’re afraid of clowns

two speculate even more that they had experienced some ¨It makes sense for spirits to be in more forested areas sort of paranormal activity. than an urban setting,” she says.

When the two concerned children decided to tell their Plus, her dad’s house was set up on the edge of a dad, who they were visiting with at the time, about the ravine, and Bulcao-Moore could see out into it from mysterious things they had seen, he told them that if where her bed was set in her room. they saw the lights again, they had to go wake him up “Some people say that some spirits have a resolved and tell him immediately. Bulcao-Moore says their dad death, so I’m sure many people were just left to die in is spiritual and believes in the forest,” Bulcao-Moore the supernatural. remembers. This rumor But after the first added to the suspense and incident, neither Bulcaomystery that she felt after Moore nor her brother her brother told her he saw saw the lights, the lantern a pair of feet and a lantern. or the pair of feet on the “People could have fallen ground in the middle of down that ravine,” she the night again. adds.

At first glance, BulcaoAfter this odd and Moore had thought the inexplainable experience two lights she had seen from many years ago, A M AYA B U L C A O - M O O R E S E N I O R were fireflies.

Bulcao-Moore still “When I went home to remembers it clearly and my mom, I told her the story and she was like, ‘Honey, sticks by its trueness, despite what others may think or there’s no fireflies in Hawaii,’” she says. say about the supernatural, paranormal and overall odd Adding to that, Bulcao-Moore mentions that Hawaii beings that may or may not exist. is a very spiritual place, and isn’t very science-based in “If you believe in that stuff, people say that stuff will their beliefs, so she wasn’t surprised when she realized just be around you. So, I mean it’s definitely possible.” she had experienced something paranormal, especially in the forested area that her dad lived in.

“When I went home to my mom, I told her the story and she was like, ‘Honey, there’s no fireflies in Hawaii.’”

HALLOWEEN M OV I E M A R AT H O N T H E S TA F F P I C K S SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER ANDREW STURGILL’S PICK: The Nightmare Before Christmas

H T T P S : / / PX H E R E . C O M / E N / P H OTO / 2 6 5 380

“It’s creepy. I like the creepiness. [...] Plus, I like Tim Burton. He just does really weird kinda dark, creepy things and like the claymation part of it’s really nice.”

SCIENCE TEACHER GARETH ENGLER’S PICK: Young Frankenstein

T R AV I S S H O L L E N B E R G E R

“It’s terrifying.”

E N T E R TA I N M E N T / T H E W H I R L W I N D 2 9

WHO’S MAKING NOISE?

Many People around us in West Albany are part of a band or a musician. Let’s find em.

BY Preet Dhaliwal

THERE ARE STUDENTS

at WAHS with amazing art, woodshop, and cooking skills, yet some students have incredible musical talents that are hidden from their peers. These students practice music for their own reasons, whether it be to make a career for themselves or to just let others appreciate their craft.

In a survey of 120 students, 74 of them said they would listen to music made by their peers. One of those peers, sophomore Billy France, has been making music for four years. He started listening to classic rock on the radio when he was younger.

“It was like a gateway into all this amazing music throughout the decades,” said France. For France, his biggest inspiration is to make people laugh and be happy through his music. “I like to think of what’s funny, and I like to try to put it in song form because that’s just my goal.”

Another student making music is senior Diego Silva.

Silva says music has been apart of his life for all of it and has always been a huge influence for him. He started making music with the hope of being able to “create something as influential for someone else as various music has been for me.” His main inspiration has been producers such as Kaskade, Deadmau5, Hardwell, and Zedd. “These producers’ songs have the ability to evoke such powerful and inspirational feelings and have propelled my general fascination and admiration of the genre.” , Silva said.

61.7 PERCENT OF STUDENTS WOULD LISTEN TO MUSIC MADE

BY THEIR PEERS. 3 0 T H E W H I R LW I N D / O CTO B E R 20 1 9

Silva’s life has changed in a very positive way since he started making music. “Since I’ve started putting effort into learning how to produce, I’ve felt overall more fulfilled. It’s a meaningful passion of mine and an exciting hobby for me to pursue. There are even times where it can serve as an emotional outlet, though I’m forever learning how to be more expressive in my productions. But it’s gratifying for me to look at my progress since I first began, and it motivates me to keep on striving for my dream.”

Senior Isaac Benfield’s band Home Remedy is made up of nine people of various ages and from various locations. The leader of the group, Benfield got the band together after leaving another group due to conflicting levels of passion and created this group after going on the internet to find more like minded people with more similar motivations. The first member up is Madeline Soiney (Floraline), one of the vocalists and singers of the band, next up is Charlie Cavill a guitarist, producer,

“You’re falling in love listening to the album” Issac Benfield SENIOR and vocalist. Then we have Troy McFarland (August Park)a vocalist and producer. Next is Ron Hardwick a vocalist. After him is CJ Patterson (Mekhai) a rapper and vocalist. Then we have Paul Grant (EK) a vocalist and producer, and last but not least is Elliot Chapman a producer and vocalist. The band also has a graphic designer, Tommi Fish.

“We have something so unique, I think, the way that this is done, Like when I explain it to people they like that’s so cool,” vocalist Madeline Soiney said.

“The group is very close to each other,” Elliot Chapman said, “The atmosphere is very inviting but we’re all very ready to give each other criticisms for the purpose of getting better at whatever it is we’re trying to do.”

Home Remedy has three singles out right now, on all streaming services, they are very close to releasing a full album this November.

West Albany has lots of talented, very invested artists in their craft who want to touch the world with their music and have made the effort to be able to do so.

“Stay tuned. New music soon.”

A R T I S T S T H AT S T U D E N T S L I S T E N T O AT S C H O O L

Home Remedy Channon Schuerger Brenden Harding Lil Fatty Frosty

38.3 PERCENT OF STUDENTS SAID THEY DON’T KNOW ANY ARTISTS AT S C H O O L Art by Noun Project

F A L L P L AY

GOING IN BLIND Going behind the scenes with the actors from the fall

By Eleanor Peterson production of Check Please WHO’S NEW?

Senior Justin Howell

Freshmen Benj Stein Q: Is this your first time acting?

A: No, it’s not. I’ve done a couple of local productions.

Q: What’s it like being part of the West Albany cast?

A: A little different because you already know most of the people there, but you can meet new people there that you otherwise wouldn’t have spoken to, and it’s just cool to get together with friends.

Q: Why did you want to be an actor?

A: I saw that auditions were happening, and I’ve done plays before, and I kind of enjoyed it, so I thought I’d try again for the fall play.

Q: Do you have any prior experience?

A: A few drama classes, some time during highschool and a class or two during middle school, and a middle school play.

Q: What do you think about the West Albany cast?

A: Well, they seem pretty skilled, or at least it’s better than those cringey middle school plays.

Q: Why did you want to be an actor?

A: It just seemed like fun at the time.

W H AT W E ’ R E S E R V I N G

E V E R B E E N O N A B A D D AT E ?

How about six? This year’s fall play follows two hopeless romantics, Guy and Girl, played by sophomores David Nicholas and Tori Thorp, in their desperate pursuit of love. But instead of love, they find kleptomaniacs, mimes, and . . . pirates.

In this year’s fall play “Check Please,” the audience watches Guy and Girl as they go on bad blind date after bad blind date. It seems like they couldn’t possibly get any worse . . . until they do.

“I think [the audience will] think it’s really funny. I think they’ll come and they’ll laugh a lot,” director Cate Caffarella said, “It’s also really fun because we’re partnering with the foods program, and they’re going to be serving deserts at all of our shows.”

This is quite the contrast to last year’s fall play, “Radium Girls,” which dealt with the uprising of a new political movement advocating for workers’ rights. “Radium Girls” carried a much more somber tone, which is quite the opposite of “Check Please,” which has a much more lighthearted and hurmorous theme. “Check Please” caters to a very different audience in this way.

The two plays really have nothing in common, according to Thorp, but that doesn’t mean that one is any better than the other.

“I feel like it’s just as good but in a completely different way,” Thorp said, “because it’s, like, a rom-com. So it’s meant to be more lighthearted, funny.”

This play will have you laughing out loud. So if you’re a fan of good times, this is the play for you.

While the play itself doesn’t have much seriousness, the actors do. They will have spent around five weeks memorizing lines and learning their parts.

“It’s really crucial that each of the actors truly understands their part and understands their lines and is able to communicate that to the audience,” Nicholas said, “I think that’s kind of the hardest part, but that’s also what makes this play really fun.”

F A L L P L AY Dates and Costa $8 a ticket

Sophomore David Nicholas

Sophomore Tori Thorp

He has been acting for one year.

His first play was “Radium Girls.”

He started acting because it helped with public speaking.

“It’s really rewarding getting to work with all the different actors, meeting new people. It’s definitely one of the best parts.

She has been acting since fourth grade.

Her first play was “The Wizard of Oz”.

She started acting because it sounded interesting.

“I have over 300 lines to memorize, you know. It would mean a lot if people came and saw that, saw what we had worked hard on.”

Sowing Friday, Nov 8 7 p.m.

Showing Saturday, Nov 9 2 p.m. and 7 p. m.

Entertainment / THE WHIRLWIND 31

WHAT I’M FEELING Freshman Brooke Johnson’s favorite song at the moment is “hot girl bummer” by blackbear.

“This song gets me popping in the morning and [it represents] literally the same thing that happened to me this summer,” she says.

MY BEST WORK

The Walls Are Caving...

Junior Katie Stopher created this piece as a surprise graduation present for her best friend Kieran.

“That piece means a lot to me, because she put it up on her wall, and it matches her walls because [they] are yellow, and that means a lot.”

Interscope Records

“Speed Racer Live Action 2008... It’s fun to watch, for me at least. It’s cartoony, fun, and exciting!“ said junior class president Bobae Kim. “The story is well written too. [It’s] about someone fighting for his family, going to change the fate of racing forever.

It was made by the [same] people who made The Matrix too which was odd, but they did a really good job of taking this old cartoon [and turning it into] a live action production.”

Warner Bros.

Senior Sahalie Bishop created this piece using some of her favorite styles and techniques combining multiple mediums. she “cares [more] for content over creating something [traditionally seen as] good.” Sahalie made it rather clear quickly she cares more for content over anything else even going as far as not titling this artwork and many others.

“My white vans are my favorite thing in my closet. They’re cute, comfortable, and they go with pretty much everything.“ said junior Adelina Crainet.

GUESS WHO? 1.

W H AT W E S T A L B A N Y F U N C T I O N D O Y O U L O O K F O R W A R D T O MOST AND WHY? A.

“The football games. I like the environment and our team is really good and all my friends are there.”

Eli Prodrabsky JUNIOR

2.“I’d say I’m biased because I run track. But the track meets are always the most fun. Theres a great balance between appreciating individual talent on your team and getting to enjoy team spirit. coach Wadlow is very into team unity, even in a sport like track. It’s just an all around great experience, I reccomend it to everyone.”

B.

Isaac Pierce JUNIOR

C.

3. “Probably air guitar. It shows our school spirit and it’s not a common thing for schools to do. It really shows how much talent and creativity our school has over others.”

Derek Sissle FRESHMAN

1. C | 2. A |0 3. B

THE WHIRLWIND 32