Volume CXVI, Issue #5
The student news publication of Walnut Hills High School
Tuesday Dec. 7, 2021
THE CONVERSATION MUST NOT STOP. The Chatterbox Editorial Board Talking about school shootings has never been enough. Action is needed to make change, but now not only has action halted, conversations have as well. As the student news publication of a high school in America, we feel that it is important to help start the conversation surrounding one of the darker sides of the return to inperson classes. We have tried our best to focus on the positive aspects, however, in light of recent events, we felt it necessary to address a certain sense of vulnerability that has arisen from coming back into the building. We are all familiar with the protocol of what to do if tragedy hits. Lock-ins, lock-downs, these drills feel real, they induce stress for students. However, nothing can equate to what happened in the community of Oxford, MI on Nov. 30. Four students at Oxford High
School died in yet another school shooting, with one of the victims being as young as 14. While the community mourns the deaths of these teens, this should be a reminder of the violence that this country endures every day. It seems, however, that there is a disturbing lack of discussion about this topic. After 29 school shootings this year, the community has slowly become desensitized, but we cannot forget the scope and gravity of the situation. One shooting is unacceptable, but 29 shootings are incomprehensible. If we as a high school are trying to return to what is considered a normal year, and this is part of it, then we need a new normal. While we aren’t trying to say that there is one correct way to deal with a tragedy like this, whether on a national or personal level, there’s no harm in doing at least something. Yes, things like walkouts are a start, yes, they do raise awareness,
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but they are not an immediate solution. We can’t command any number of you to do one thing, but we can point out options, such as writing to your representatives, donating to the families of the victims of any tragedy like these and just overall being respectful of those who choose a different way to help than you. There are valid arguments to be made about not celebritizing the victims or the offender in fear of glorifying the topic, but we as a community cannot become complacent and accept this as a part of a return to normalcy. Whatever the solution may be, don’t let yourself become desensitized to violence and support causes that need you. Recognition and conversation is the first step toward change. This is an editorial --The “voice of the paper.” Editorials reflect the newspaper’s official positions on issues.
FAHRENHEIT 2021 OPINIONS
DEC. 10, 2021
PAGE 2
WHHSCBOX.COM
CINCINNATI, OHIO
SECTION EDITOR: ISABEL RODRIGUEZ
THE PROBLEMS WITH THE BOOK BANNING CRAZE OF THE LAST YEAR Owen Cummings, ‘22
Isabel Rodriguez, ‘22
Rabih Abuismail, a Republican representative for the Spotsylvania County School Board in Virginia, petitioned the rest of his colleagues to remove certain books in school libraries. “I don’t want to see them. I think they should be thrown in a fire,” Abuismail said, describing books with “sexually explicit” material that he deemed against school regulations. This violent outcry to challenge or ban books from schools is just one of many that have arisen in the past year. According to BannedBooksWeek.org, over 270 titles were either removed from shelves or were at least attempted to be, with the top 10 most challenged books being either stories from the perspective of people of color or members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The definition of a banned book, according to the American Library Association, is a book that has been removed from libraries, either in schools or nationwide, and a challenged book is one that is up for consideration for that title. Throughout history many books have been banned for fairly progressive reasons, such as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which was taken out of school curriculums due to the repeated use of derogatory terms for African-Americans, and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, which addresses segregation and racial bias through depicting lawyer Atticus Finch in a “white savior” role. In the past couple of months, however, there has been a much larger push from the conservative side of the political spectrum to remove books that glorify a more liberal world view. Of course, people are allowed to feel how they feel about the subject matter of books ranging from Huck Finn to The Hate U Give, but there truly is a fundamental difference between banning a book because of social reformation and because of discomfort or guilt. Banning or challenging a book like Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck “for racial slurs and racist stereotypes, and their negative effect on students,” according to the ALA, is fighting against centuries of inherent oppression and the inability to speak out against the degrading nature of these slurs. The idea that a book like George by Alex Gino can be eight spots ahead of Of Mice and Men on the top challenged books of 2020 list for representing LGBTQIA+ individuals in a way that goes against the religious tolerance (or lack thereof) and “the values of [an individual] community,” proves that something is wrong with the way these more
traditionally conservative groups perceive marginalization and whom it actually applies to. “If it is a traditionally marginalized or oppressed group, people are much more likely to listen and give credence to those voices than... the voices claiming to be oppressed are a group that has never known oppression,” Blake Taylor, a WHHS English teacher, said. Taylor teaches AP English Literature and Composition, a class that “allows [students] to immerse [themselves] in minds, hearts, and experiences that are unlike [their] own… through the lens that the author provides.” The curriculum is inherentlybased on learning from multiple different perspectives, but it has certainly shifted as more and more groups of minorities began to speak up about the discomfort being felt by those written about from a perspective they didn’t share. “Although I’m deeply troubled by some of the uprisings of book banning in the last… nine months or so… it’s a surge coming from different quarters of society,” Taylor said. “I should not be so arrogant to think that my love of [a] book is more important than the hearts and minds of my students and their families.” One of the most well documented pushes by a more traditionally right-swinging community in recent news is that of Matt Krause in Texas, who asked the Texas House of Representatives to identify any books in their school districts that contain “material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.” Krause then proceeded to attach a 16 page list of books and texts he deemed unworthy of being in schools,
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION / FLICKR
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin features six interviews with trandgender and gender non-conforming teens. In 2016 the book was in the American Library Association’s list of the top 10 most challenged books due sexually explicit content and homosexulity.
including a childrens’ board book called A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara, and a video about Roe v. Wade, the supreme court case that first dealt with a woman’s right to having an abortion. Note that Krause makes explicit reference to making sure students don’t feel racist or sexist because of any book, while glossing over titles that may make students in historically oppressed groups feel that stress. It is decidedly not a reflection of an entire group of people that one might feel racist or sexist. If the call was for those who were oppressed before to now oppress those who were in the majority, that would be a different story, but the ask from these groups is for equality, not superiority. If a person reads a book and feels like they themselves have been mistreated for feeling bad about centuries of inequality that did not happen to them or their group, that’s probably a clue that they’re just part of the problem.
The growing popularity in banning books by these groups is most likely a result of growing legislations across the world that grant minorities equal rights as them, such as Scotland making LGBTQIA+ history required teaching, and record numbers of Hispanic and African-American members of the American government, which disrupt their views of how the world should work. There needs to be a widespread understanding, however, of the threshold of banning a book. The bottom line is this: banning a book to make up for widely condemned events in the past is in no way comparable to trying to cover up widely praised progressions in civil rights of the present. All views shared in the Opinions section of The Chatterbox belong to their respective authors, and may not represent the views of the publication as a whole.
On Nov. 8, Spotsylvania County VA held a schoolboard meeting in which they discussed concerns about “inappropriate” books in their school libraries. Board member, Rabih Abuismail, argued for a swift audit of the libraries, saying:
EA PERKINS / CHATTERBOX
The Chatterbox Policy Statement The Chatterbox has been guaranteed the right of freedom of the press through the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The administration of Walnut Hills High School is thus bound to support and protect the Chatterbox’s inalienable rights as a free press. As an integral part of the Walnut Hills High School community, the Chatterbox has the responsibility to report in the most comprehensive and objective manner possible. Students, parents, faculty, and administrators
are encouraged to use this publication as a forum to express any ideas or concerns, whether they be personal or of local, national, or international scope. Journalists are required to work under established guidelines. Invasion of privacy as a means of news gathering is prohibited. Articles found to be discriminatory, libelous, or unnecessarily obscene (as determined by the editors or the advisor) will not be published. Finally, journalists are granted the right to keep private the name of a source
from whom they received information with the understanding that the source was to remain anonymous. The role of the newspaper advisor will be to provide counsel and criticism pertaining to the newspaper’s content and production. Although both the advisor and the administration hold certain powers regarding the Chatterbox, both must respect the paper’s autonomy. No student shall be prevented from joining the staff on the basis of sex, race, creed or national origin.
The Chatterbox Editorial Staff
SARAH DAVIDOFF, ‘13
Bobby Keegan,
Isabella Zinchini,
Editor-in-Chief
Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Kaylee Robbins, Managing Editor of Current Events
Hajra Munir,
Managing Editor of Student Life
Owen Cummings,
Managing Editor of Viewpoints
Sydnie Barrett,
Managing Editor of Visual Elements
Ryan Helton,
Operations Manager
Alonzo Montgomery, Public Relations Manager
Samantha Gerwe-Perkins, Adviser
Brian Sweeney, English Department Chair
FEATURES
WHHSCBOX.COM
CINCINNATI, OHIO
DEC. 10, 2021
PAGE 3
SECTION EDITOR: KIMAYA MUNDHE
Mental health: striving for excellence Kimaya Mundhe, ‘25 Susan Flowers, mental health specialist, has helped students work through mental health struggles at WHHS for 10 years. She’s advised a student who went from a naive freshman, who walked through the daunting doors of WHHS for the first time four years ago, to a soon to graduate SENIOR. “She’s had a gamut of things going on in her world, school, peers, the whole bit, some sexuality things… and she’ll tell me things she won’t tell anybody else, which is awesome,” Flowers said. Today, under the guidance of Flowers, this student has made meaningful progress to overcome these ongoing mental issues. “She was someone who struggled with ever talking to someone, so she built rapport [with me],” Flowers said, “That’s one of the nice things about having the stability of someone here.” After recently helping an underclassman who is struggling with some of the same things she worked through, the SENIOR was inspired to continue higher education in mental health. She is now interested in going into the field of therapy. “The student came [back to me], saying ‘It was actually so awesome for me to be able to provide that input,’ It was almost therapeutic to her, and was so empowering,” Flowers said. Flowers continues to leave a similar positive impact on the mental health of younger students
KIMAYA MUNDHE /CHATTERBOX
From left to right: Susan Flowers, Julie Cathey and Regan Kitzmiller are working full time at WHHS to support students facing mental health issues. she’ll work with over the next years. Mental health is a broad term used to describe a range of symptoms that contribute to problems in someone’s life. “It’s the coping skills that we develop, when we deal with difficult times in our life, how we handle that, how we cope with stress and how we go about taking care of ourselves,” school psychologist Julie Cathey said. Along with the normal stressors teenagers face, WHHS students are dealing with new, unusual sources of anxiety. This has become more prominent now than in previous years due to recent violence around the neighborhood. “I felt very unsettled. It’s very saddening to go through a lock-in
because it’s another thing you have to stress about in an already very stressful school day, and it’s just very horrible to hear about people getting killed in the neighborhood.” Nikolai Fedorov, ‘26, said. Counselors see anxiety as an extremely common concern, especially due to the high academic pressure WHHS students feel. However, mental health is a widespread issue that extends far beyond the school. “Anxiety just takes a different approach to everybody,” Flowers said. “Students here might have some anxiety around getting straight A’s, while other students have anxiety around passing a course to graduate high school.” Still, there are multiple, in-school
resources students have access to for support. They can schedule an appointment with Flowers, Cathey, social worker Regan Kitzmiller or a counselor by email. “I want kids to know that there is mental health help here and that we can help you all through any situation...the school is huge and I really think that students have no idea how much support [there is],” Kitzmiller said. Kitzmiller is also running an after school group that will continue to meet throughout the year. “We’re a group of people who talk about anxiety and depression and about feelings and emotions,” Camille Lewis, ‘25, a member of the after school group, said, “it’s been a positive experience… it’s
definitely something I would go to again and I’ve made a few friends.” Madison Lane-Jenkins, ‘24, another member of the group, agrees, “You’re not obligated to talk about any hardcore things like depression or anxiety, or even any home problems... it’s a really comfortable space,” Mental health is an ongoing struggle. Students cannot and should not treat high school as a transitory period because the same struggles they are facing now will be what they carry with them through life. They are encouraged to use resources available to them to acknowledge and act on mental health issues now before they escalate. “We are going to be starting additional groups at lunch on a variety of subjects, including consent, boundaries, anxiety and depression,” Kitzmiller said, “[I hope it’s] a fun, relaxed place to just work on hardships in your adolescence.” She’s working together with Flowers and Cathey on starting the lunch groups second semester in hopes of reaching more students. As the demand for mental health support increases, resources are only getting stronger. “We all are dealing with struggles… and I think we all kind of collectively understand that and I feel like there’s been a movement towards more support especially here at Walnut for students,” Cathey said.
Making light despite difficult times
COURTESY OF BRYCE AGYAPONG
After a brief period of closure, Agyapong has recently reopened his Etsy shop. Sarah Wilson ‘25 Bryce Agyapong, ‘24, the founder and owner of candle business TellusCandleCo, is helping others to make light of difficult times. In addition to running his business, Agyapong is president of the Class of 2024 and performs in the WHHS Marching Blue and Gold. Agyapong has been operating TellusCandleCo since June of 2020 and sells his various candles on Etsy, where he holds a five star rating. After realizing he wanted to start a business last year, Agyapong researched various products he could supply that both interested
him and were attainable. “I was thinking, what’s a basic thing that brings light into peoples’ days, and the most basic thing I could think of was the five senses. I decided that smell was [very important], and so I decided that candles were something that I would like to do,” Agyapong said, “I had thought of starting a business before… then something just clicked.” Without prior knowledge of candle-making, Agyapong delved into research about the craft. “As I was doing the research… I realized that soy candles were the thing that I wanted to use because they’re vegan, they’re a bit more
sustainable than paraffin and they’re not as harmful. It’s an easier, more natural way to [make candles],” Agyapong said. Yet Agyapong’s motivation to start this business extended far beyond anything material; he wanted to create something simple that could positively impact people’s lives. “I’m just proud that this business was born out of a time that was, and still is, so hard for many people,” Agyapong said, “[I’m proud] that I’m able to provide something to bring a little joy, or a little light… for a person into their day.” Agyapong has also learned valuable skills and lessons through running his business, specifically the importance of patience and diligence. “It’s taught me patience… you have to be willing to wait,” Agyapong said “You don’t know if a candle is messed up until eight hours later when it’s cooled off. And if it does mess up… you just have to calm down, focus, and do better, especially if it is for an order.” As TellusCandleCo is an onlineonly small business, Agyapong takes care with each of his orders to ensure customer satisfaction despite fluctuating order amounts. Agyapong also runs an Instagram account @telluscandleco. “If I get one order a month or if I get [a lot]... as long as I’m providing something to help someone, or just providing for someone, I feel like that’s [valuable],” Agyapong said. However, Agyapong has faced various obstacles and challenges
while running his business. Since his candles must be shipped, Agyapong has needed to correct multiple mistakes, including damage to his products. “A month or two into when I started… one of [a customer’s] candles broke. I felt so terrible because that was the first time anything like that had ever happened, and so I immediately sent her another one,” Agyapong said. Despite these struggles, Agyapong anticipates continuing his business into the future and hopes to fulfill larger orders for customers. “Recently I was able to supply for a [baby shower] and I was able to get [a customer] 35 candles which was very fun, and I was very happy that I was able to be part of that moment,” Agyapong said. Agyapong’s biggest takeaway
from starting his business has been the importance of appreciation and dedication. “A little candle burning on the side of your desk while you’re working can really change the whole mood of your day. So I try to think of that while I make a candle for another person… that this can just be something that makes the process easier, whatever that process may be,” Agyapong said. Due to supply shortages, some candles by TellusCandleCo are temporarily unavailable, but Agyapong hopes to add new candles to his shop in the near future. Students may use the code “Walnut” before Jan.1 to receive a 10% discount, and all orders over $35 include free shipping.
COURTESY OF BRYCE AGYAPONG
Agyapong currently sells eight different candle scents on his Etsy shop, Hot Holiday Cider is shown.
FINE ARTS
DEC. 10, 2021
PAGE 4
WHHSCBOX.COM
CINCINNATI, OHIO
SECTION EDITOR: NAZRET DEGAULLE
The spring plays are underway Growing out of audition anxiety Rylee Williams, ‘23 The Theater Department at WHHS has had much success throughout its years, producing several performances and winning many awards. Their most recent works this year include Rhinoceros, the One Acts Festival, and upcoming, Lend me a Tenor and The Spongebob Musical. Auditions for Lend me a Tenor and The Spongebob Musical were just held, where students auditioning were asked to perform a dance, song and scene for the role they wanted. More experienced theater students say that they feel more relaxed and confident when it comes
to auditioning for roles because they’ve done it often. Those who have been through several other audition processes know how to prepare and are, “a lot less anxious [about auditions],” SENIOR Lily Canter said. Canter has been a part of the theater department at WHHS since seventh grade, having her first role in The Wizard of Oz. When she first started theater, the auditioning process was, “a lot scarier because everyone seemed a lot older and knew what was going on,” Canter said. Now that she has more experience, she knows what to expect and is less intimidated about the
audition process. For those who are newer and less experienced, there were several workshops to help with the audition process, which helped them feel more comfortable and confident in their performances. These workshops were very beneficial to some of the more experienced auditioners too, helping them practice some of the things that they wanted to work on. The members of the theater department at WHHS are very different from those at other schools; there is more of a sense of community rather than competition. A new member to WHHS Theater
Department, SENIOR, Nicholas Kaufman, says that, “the theater people at the school are super nice.” While at his other school, the theater department was way more competitive and much less supportive of newcomers. The WHHS Theater Department is welcoming to those who are unsure if they want to audition and taking many steps to make sure that auditioners are confident and prepared for their first audition. “You just got to go into [the audition] thinking you’re gonna kill it, just practice, know your stuff, and be like, ‘I’m gonna crush this,’ and most of the time, you crush it,” Kaufman said.
Inhabitants of the Bikini Bottom The theatre department’s production of The Spongebob Musical will be performed in the WHHS auditorium February 17-19.
Leo Jenkins Grade: 12
Age: 17
Role: Spongebob Squarepants
What got you started in theatre? “I’ve always had this really big love for performing. My family was super into it. And then once I found out that theater was basically you practicing to perform in front of a giant crowd and just showing what you can give out. That really just really drew me towards it, and also the diversity and inclusivity.” What is your theatre experience? “I auditioned when I was in seventh grade, and I got really nervous about it. Then when I wasn’t called back, I decided to try for crew and I saw tons of seniors there, so then I was like, Oh, my goodness, I can’t do this. And then I kind of dropped theater for a while. Then a friend came up to me and said ‘yous should totally do Urinetown’ and then I got in. I was like, Why did I not do this before? I may have failed that one time, but why didn’t I try again?” SYDNIE BARRETT/CHATTERBOX
Diana Hutchinson Grade: 11
Age: 16
Role: Sandy Cheeks
What got you started in theatre? “I had never seen colored people on stage. My sister did the first Broadway show that had a lot of people of color, which was Ragtime. I saw it over the summer when I was in fifth grade, and I was like, Oh, if she can do it, I can do it too. So then I started doing classes and stuff like that and then at Walnut I started doing it on an actual stage and here I am.” What inspired you to audition for this play? “Last year I was supposed to do my first Cappies show. Then I got into professional theatre playing Annie for the Children’s theatre, so this year it’s the Cappies show and we’re bringing Cappies back so I was like I might as well go ahead and do it.”
SYDNIE BARRETT/CHATTERBOX
Age: 17
The senior high spring shows, The Spongebob Musical and Lend Me a Tenor, schedules don’t overlap, which gave some students an opportunity to be cast in both.
Brando Donaldson
Grade: 12 Age: 17 Roles: Plankton Tito
SYDNIE BARRETT/CHATTERBOX
How do you feel about your roles?
“Before auditions even started, [Plankton is] who I knew I wanted to go for. Especially with Spongeob being my second to last show at Walnut, I want to end with a bang. For Tenor, I don’t think I was going for anyone too specific, but I think Max and Tito were the two that I was going for, and I’m just very happy... It’s also got a little bit of a bitter sweetness, with it being my last two shows at Walnut, but knowing that I get to have really fun roles and go out on the stage another time.”
Chloe Goodman
Grade: 11
Age: 16 Roles: Sardine ensemble Maria SYDNIE BARRETT/CHATTERBOX
How do you feel about your roles? “I love the role of Maria but I did not expect myself to get it because I am an Asian person playing a person who’s Italian, and I’ve never really expected myself to jump into a very loud bodacious comedy role... that’s what I expected out of myself, so I was insanely shocked when I got the role and I want to do it justice [For Spongebob] I had already been casted as the scenic designer before this year, so that was a given. I wanted to be part of the ensemble as well. I only wanted the ensemble just so I could tap dance because that’s something I love to do and it’s something I want to work on.”
Sophie Christian
Grade: 11
SYDNIE BARRETT/CHATTERBOX
Oscar Dreith Grade: 12
Lend me a cast
Age: 16 Roles: Old Man Jenkins Bellhop SYDNIE BARRETT/CHATTERBOX
Role: Patrick Star
How do you feel about your role? “Personally, I think I do a really good Patrick impression, and I’m a really good tenor. Patrick has a lot of really high notes that a lot of other people who are only in theater, and not really in chior, don’t really have because, I don’t know. They just haven’t been vocally trained to sing super high. So I just thought that Patrick was really like the perfect role for me. I couldn’t really see myself as anyone else… I really got excited over this musical I think mainly just because of my love for Spongebob and being able to play Patrick Star, just like seemed like it meant something in the world to me.”
What got you started in theatre? “Well, my family has never been typically athletic. We all really come from the arts. And so my mom wanted me to do dance, but I was not really a dancer. I didn’t really like following instructions, but when she got me into theater, I was able to do my own thing, so I really liked that a lot more than dance… I’ve been in over 50 plays my whole life. Yeah, I’ve been in a lot of plays and musicals and I’ve been an extra in like a couple movies...I’ve worked with some [play companies] at my elementary school, and some others in my neighborhood, and Cincinnati Children’s Theater and Cincinnati Shakespeare.”
NEWS
WHHSCBOX.COM
CINCINNATI, OHIO
DEC. 10, 2021
PAGE 5
SECTION EDITOR: KAT SWIFT
District introduces Class of ‘23 bi-weekly testing future planning policy to CPS Katherine Swift, ‘23 A new policy that teachers must administer bi-weekly assessments in core subjects has been implemented within Cincinnati Public Schools. The policy was created to combat the loss of instructional time, but there is much backlash from teachers and parents alike that the assessments only add to the issue. “A math teacher crunched the numbers and these added tests will take up to 19% of their total precious instructional time just to make sure teachers are doing their jobs. This is a slap in the face and is unfair to our district’s children and their parents who entrust us with their children’s education and it’s also by the way great way to ensure that they won’t be grade level ready,” Michelle Dillingham, an organizer for the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers (CFT), said at a board meeting on Nov. 15. There are conflicting reports on how much class time the testing
will take up as CPS administration And this directive is a violation of has said that the assessment will our union agreement, because in take up 2% to 10%. the Union agreement there is a very In response to the mandate, CFT specific section on discipline...So has stated in an open letter to the you can’t arbitrarily fire somebody... public on Facebook that teachers The discipline process, as it relates are “rejecting these tests and are choosing The reason teachers are to instead outraged about the bi-weekly p r o v i d e students with assessments is because they are m e a n i n g f u l a waste of precious instructional learning e x p e r i e n c e s time and teachers care about with their students. peers after 18 - Karen Imbus months of pandemic disruption.” to the two week assessment, is According to CFT, these refusals a violation of the due process,” to administer the tests have been Dillingham said. met with threats of job termination. The conversation around the “So far, [the action taken against assessment process is still ongoing teachers] has been some sort of and new changes will continue intimidation...but then it kind to be made as more information of escalated with a directive that comes to light. principals could do a series of discipline that ends in termination.
“
Employ Seek employment and start a careeer. Contact WHHS’ career coordinator, Shybria Pleasant (pleasas@cpsboe.k12.oh.us) for help.
Enlist Enlist in the US military. The five branches include: army, navy, air force, marines, and coast guard.
Enroll Enroll in a college or university to earn a degree in a specialized field.
A list of bills in Ohio legislature
Lael Ingram, ‘24
• The Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill allowing adults 21 or older to carry concealed weapons without a license or permit. The current Ohio law requires all people applying for a conceal and carry permit to go through a background check and receive eight hours of training before obtaining their license. The proposed bill would allow any citizen over 21 to carry a concealed weapon without receiving prior examination or meeting any specific requirements. • House Bill 99, which has not undergone a final house vote, would allow teachers in Ohio to carry firearms in the classroom. Teachers would have the right to carry concealed weapons in classrooms as long as they complete 20 hours of initial training along with four additional hours annually. • House bill 109 focuses on protests and police interactions with protestors. This bill says that protesters could face up to 180 days in jail if their protests are deemed as illegal or riots. The bill also states that police officers could sue protesters if they are hurt and it creates a fifth-degree assault charge called riot assault. • House bill 454, a transgender healthcare bill, would prohibit the use of puberty blockers, hormones and gender reassignments surgeries for trans youth under the age of 18. This could not be overridden even by parental consent of these treatments for their children. This bill would also require teachers to inform parents when a child claims that their gender is different than their assigned sex at birth.
What have you missed? Stay updated on current events. These are major headlines from the past month Stephen Sondheim dies at 91 Stephen Sondheim, a celebrated composer, most well known for shows such as “Into the Woods,” “Sweeney Todd,” and “West Side Story,” died on Nov. 26 at the age of 91. Several Broadway performers gathered in Times Square to sing the song “Sunday” from his Pulitzer prize winning “Sunday in the Park With George” as a tribute. Metro Bus Contract Terminated Metro will no longer provide busses for Cincinnati Public Schools starting June 30, 2022. Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority’s decision comes as a result of CPS opening up the bid for transportation to Metro and other charter companies. Due to a federal law, Metro cannot compete with private bus companies to provide services. Even once Metro no longer works with CPS the same bus routes will still be provided by the company only now students would have to pay.
Choose your path
”
Bills, bills, bills
Katherine Swift, ‘23
As second semester approaches, juniors are less than a year away from starting the college application process and need to start thinking about their futures.
It is currently unclear how students will be transported to and from school once the contract expires. Omicron variant found A new COVID-19 variant, dubbed the Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa, has begun spreading around the globe with the first cases to be detected in North America recently cropping up in Canada. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no cases have been found in the U.S., but Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that it is inevitable that the variant will show up in America. In response to the detection of the variant, several places have begun to re-implement travel restrictions such as Australia, Canada, Dubai, Egypt, the European Union, Israel, Japan, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey and the United States. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa, has warned that “travel restrictions may play a role in slightly reducing the spread of COVID-19, but place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods.”
Start with Naviance Add colleges to your list
Use the “colleges I’m thinking about” tool to keep track of your top schools. Use can use the “supermatch” toolto find colleges that cater to your interests.
Research colleges you like
Look through your favorite colleges’ profiles to find information about tuition, demographics ans application requirements. Also look into the virtual college visits that Naviance offers.
Update your resume
Keep track of your experiences, skills, and achievements with the resume tool in naviance
Stay on track
Finalize your testing plan
Every US college accepts ACT and SAT scores, but don’t require both. Juniors will take the ACT for free on March 1, but are responsible for registering for any other session they wish to take it.
Prepare to graduate
As optioning approaches, students should make sure they are on track to have earned all of the necessary credits to graduate with their peers. Graduation requirements can be found in the student handbook.
Contact your counselor Set up a meeting with your counselor to make plan and get advice. Renita Brooks: 9-10, A-L Adrian Cabrera: 9-10, M-Z
BrooksR@cps-k12.org CabrerA@cps-k12.org
Patty Morgan: 11-12, A-G
MorganP@cps-k12.org
Tanya Ficklin: 11-12, H-O
FickliT@cps-k12.org
Morgan Taylor: 11-12, P-Z
TayloMor@cps-k12.org
Check out the counseling Schoology page and College Information Center for more resources.
STYLE & CULTURE
DEC. 10, 2021
PAGE 6
WHHSCBOX.COM
CINCINNATI, OHIO
SECTION EDITOR: KATE STIENS
Succession: top dog entertainment Ben Schneider, ‘24 Logan Roy is a grumpy old man. He yells at his underlings for minor mistakes, he is not afraid to disparage his own children, and for the head of a major successful news outlet, he is a pretty angry dude. He serves as the centerpiece for his children, Kendall, Shiv, Roman and Connor, all chomping at the bit for his job as CEO. The nervous tension that ignites the plot of the show Succession starts simply as people waiting for Logan to die. The fictional company Waystar Royco, is a news company that prioritizes power over public knowledge. In the context of the show, it’s almost like a modern day monarchy, with all of Logan Roy’s children grasping for the metaphorical throne that is the position of CEO. There’s Kendall, an alcoholic, a deadbeat dad and an all-around scumbag, so I would say he’s a perfect fit for the head of a massive conglomerate company. He seems to want and deserve the position the most, and as an audience member, it is easy to see he is the best fit for the company’s chief executive officer. There’s Connor, played by Alan Ruck, who is also known for playing Cameron from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Connor is a lot like what I imagined Cameron would have been doing 40 years
later, just kind of bumming around his dad’s company headquarters. There’s Shiv, who is the smartest of the family and presumably the favorite of their dad. There’s Roman, who is a manchild. He is vulgar and perverse, but follows his own heart when making decisions and is not afraid to tell you how it is, even if it is in his own immature way. Then there’s Greg. I could watch an entire spin-off show of just this guy. Greg is the youngest of the bunch. He is awkward, he is confused, he is never where he is supposed to be, and he is a great refresher for this serious show with a slow-burn. He lightens the mood and brings us further into their world. I started watching the show in season three because I was curious about the new season which has been airing the last few weeks. I felt exactly like Greg at the start. There were all these established characters arguing, debating and half the time I didn’t know what the heck they were talking about. The way the show pulls you back in is when they manage to bring everything to a dramatic halt: Kendall freaking out because he’s in over his head; Roman making an inappropriate joke, Greg wandering into somewhere he’s not supposed to be like a lost dog; Logan yelling at someone for no valid reason. The show slowly jogs towards the opening credits, with each
PHOTO COURTESY OF HBO MAX
Season three of Succession has been airing on HBO Max, and it’s the show’s ensemble of characters and their own established goals and principles that define the show. scene building off the last, gradually ramping it up until all these selfcontained events collide into a full on sprint to the finish. Any episode of “Succession” would be better than a lesser show’s finale. What makes Succession such an achievement is how the writers are able to do it again and again and again. All of these characters, with these defined personalities, are unwilling to change themselves for the sake of their own family members’ happiness. They are all locked in a stalemate of their own personal agenda of self gain that they can
forget where they came from and what is truly important. The Roys have such unfathomable wealth that creating some sort of relatability for the audience to these characters seems impossible. If there is one moral of this show, it is that even if you have more money than you know what to do with, you can still be miserable like the rest of us. That’s what’s so personable about these characters. There are a dime a dozen of these shows about down and out protagonists fighting for whatever they can get that are written for the mass public to enjoy, and it is
hilariously ironic that one of the most popular shows on right now, Succession, is about adult babies of a billionaire barking at each other for the position of top dog. It is a testament to how we can pretty much find relatability to anyone anywhere if we try hard enough. I haven’t been with these characters from the beginning, but I already feel connected to them. These characters are written in a way where it feels like they are not even being written at all, just like real people existing in our world.
SPORTS
DEC. 10, 2021
PAGE 6
WHHSCBOX.COM
CINCINNATI, OHIO
SECTION EDITOR: MEGAN DORR
Making A Way For Women 3 Lady Eagles are college commits Megan Dorr, ‘22 From the pool to the soccer field, WHHS SENIORS Sophia Cucchetti, Ava Stallmeyer and Phoebe Wright have all competed well enough to catch colleges attention. At signing day on Nov 10. the three lady eagles were surrounded by a crowd of fellow SENIORS cheering them on as their signatures made their commitments official. “I felt really proud to be signing the letter,” Wright said. “It was a surreal feeling to finally be signing and to make everything official. I was really happy about it.” There is a long commitment process these athletes must go through before signing day. From communicating with coaches to taking official visits, athletes have a lot to think about and have to make their decisions a significant amount of time before other SENIORS. “I felt like there was a lot of pressure in the recruiting process because it starts at
PHOTO COURTESY OF AVA STALLMEYER
SENIORS Sophia Cucchetti, Ava Stallmeyer, and Phoebe Wright all signed their letter of commitment to their respective colleges on Nov. 10. Cucchhetti will be playing soccer at Cleveland State, Stallmeyer will be swimming at Bucknell University, and Wright will be swimming at Geroge Washington University.
such a young age,” Stallmeyer said. “By the time you’re out of your sophomore year you don’t really know what you want yet, but you have to figure it out and choose a year earlier than most people.” After having gone through this process, Stallmeyer will be swimming at Bucknell University, Wright will be swimming for George Washington University, and Cucchetti will be playing soccer at Cleveland State. They arrived at these decisions with large support systems behind them. “My club coach Alex [is my
biggest influence] because he got me to the level I am today and really helped me with the recruiting process,” Wright said. “My biggest influence would probably be my dad and my trainer,” Cucchetti said, “They support me through everything and help me get better and push me to be the best I can be. I’m so grateful that I’ve had great teammates as well throughout all the teams I’ve been on.” Notably, for the first time in recent WHHS history, all of the athletes on signing day were women. Historically,
women have not been offered the same college athletic opportunities as men have, so it is promising to see three lady eagles committing to collegiate athletics. “I thought it was really empowering to girls and it shows that girls can compete at a high level in sports just as much as guys,” Stallmeyer said. “I thought it was awesome,” Wright said, “lots of girl power in our grade. It was really nice signing with two other girls just knowing we’ve gone through a lot of the same things and all getting to
Ava Stallmeyer “I would say I realized I had a shot at swimming in college when I unexpectadly made state in the 100 breaststroke my freshman year.”
sign together.” Although they had to put in a lot of work to get to signing day, all three eagles agree it was worth it. They hope that other girls will continue to excel athletically and have more signing days that include a large number of lady eagles committing to college athletics. “My advice for other girls who want to play in college is just keep working every day,” Cucchetti said. “It’s not easy ever so you just have to keep working hard.”
Sophia Cucchetti Phoebe Wright “The moment I realized I had a shot [of swimming in college] was when I made the podium at states my sophomore year...I wasn’t expecting that and then that’s when everything got more real.”
“There was never really a certain moment I realized I could play soccer in college, but I would say around 8th grade I realized it’s something I wanted and was something I could pursue... then I really started working hard to get there.”
ARCADE & PEANUTS
DEC. 10, 2021
PAGE 8
SECTION EDITOR: JAKAYLA ROGERS & FAITH WALLACE
WHHSCBOX.COM
CINCINNATI, OHIO
Piper Peanut on exams Study tips for junior high students’ first exam season Hi y’all! It’s Piper Peanut here to offer some tips to make exams a bit easier for the Effies and the E-flats. Get ahead by asking your teachers what will be covered on the exams. Then go through notes, quizzes, and homework to study. Focus on any unit or section you previously struggled with or are struggling on. If you still have any questions, bring it up with a teacher after class or privately. Studying is difficult, and there’s no right way to go about it, but there are options. One studying technique is a study group. Find classmates or friends to go over concepts that you’ll use on the exams. Everyone thinks differently, so going over together notes and concepts with a partner or group is something worthy of looking into. If you choose to go solo, make sure you go over any mistakes on past homework, quizzes, and tests. Remember, it can be time consuming to sit down with your face stuck in a textbook, so give yourself breaks once in a while to make it easier. Each exam varies by subject. For math, if the teacher offers you help, take it. If your teacher is giving you a copy of an old exam, use it to your advantage. Use any extra practice by finding existing exams or tests online. Or studying using flashcards and writing down vocab and concepts.
If you don’t have a study guide, write down all the vocab/formulas that you know you will need on the exam paper before it begins. A studying technique could be going on to websites that are dedicated to the subject such as Khan Academy or study.com. English will have multiple choice questions and extended response questions, often based on passages or texts. Multiple choice sections often feature literary terms, vocab, as well as elements from books read in class: the names, spelling, authors, setting, and plot. For science exams, use flashcards for any vocab. Look over notes, quizzes, and labs, ask questions in class and attend as many help nights as you can. For foreign language exams, be sure to go over any past grammar and vocabulary. Write down or find a Quizlet for the vocab for each chapter, as well as any grammar rules in the chapter. Listen to any new or old vocab words spoken by a native speaker, then repeat these words yourself. Use the textbook as your main resource. For Latin exams, the best tactic is to go over everything your teacher gives you, grammar is the foundation of a language. You should consider making a quizlet of your own vocab set or going to www. magistrula.com. If the internet can’t help you, write out the vocab at least 3 times without a mistake.
The exam is calculated by 40 percent of your grade from quarter one, 40 percent of your grade from quarter two and 20 percent of your grade is made on the exams. If you want to calculate your grade after taking the exam, put (0.4)+ (0.4)+(0.2) into your calculator to your semester grade. If you’re worried, turn in any homework and make up any extra stuff to get your grade as high as possible. It’s easy to get fretful about the exam but remember all the hard work you’ve put into your classes. You’ve been given the material and you’ve done great so far. Any extra help you could use to prepare are help night, tutors, and the student success center. Start early with studying and a little each day helps make sure it’s a plan you can stick to. You will do well, I believe in you! Piper Peanut
The best Dino Crossword Puzzle Ever!!! 1
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find the answer key on whhscbox.com 3 4
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6. this aquatic dino was discovered by Mary Anning in 1810
9. this dino was covered in thick armor with a club like tail 10. this dino was actually a flying reptile called a pterosaur
1. this feathered dino couldn't fly but could run up to 40mph 2. this dino's name means "different lizard" 3. the state dinosaur of Colorado 5. this dino is known for its 3 horns
word bank allosaurus mosasaur ankylosaurus pterodactyl brachiosaurus stegosaurus carnotaurus triceratops ichthyosaur velociraptor
4. this dino's name means "meat eating bull" 7. this aquatic reptile had a double hinged jaw and was larger than a T-rex 8. was thought to be the largest dino ever when it was discovered in 1903