![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
In this episode of Feedback Loop, senior Lucas Hendrix discusses his experience writing and performing music as “Phimpkade,” playing with the band Pipe and living with perfect pitch.
Hendrix grew up in a musical family, but he became a musician in his own right after finding his very own guitar at the end of a Christmas scavenger hunt when he was 6 years old. Hendrix couldn’t stop playing and soon picked up the drums, bass and double bass.
“I’ve just always been starstruck by music,” Hendrix said. It’s always been the big thing that’s been surrounding me, the big maze that I’ve had to vertically climb.”
In an elementary school music class, Hendrix discovered that he had perfect pitch, the ability to identify notes by name and photographically remember songs in key.
“It’s a odd weight carrying it with me, but it’s awesome,” Hendrix said. “I don’t know how other people live without it. I don’t know how other people live without this heavy of a music passion.”
While Hendrix is a three-year All-State bassist in the McCallum Chamber Orchestra, he writes his own music on guitar and plays guitar in Pipe. He finds inspiration in music from The Flaming Lips, The Velvet Underground, Beach House and a wide array of artists across genres.
“I expel the noisy, loud, very hurtful energy that I took it over COVID,” Hendrix said. “I think that’s my roots– the extreme, awesome, riffy guitar music.”
Hendrix writes music based on moments in his everyday life, from his frustration surrounding a stolen gyro to walking around on a broken ankle at school. And while his room is his recording studio, Hendrix said he’s most in his element when performing on stage.
“I like performing and I like the idea of performing,” Hendrix said. “People come in to see you and you’re given a time slot. You have to fill that time slot with something. You could unplug everything and make everyone scream along with you, or you could be a hype man. You could do anything for like 20 minutes.”
After high school, Hendrix plans to focus on writing, producing and distributing music. In kindergarten, Hendrix said “music is my life.” Now, Hendrix said music is the one thing he couldn’t live without.
“I’m tethered to it,” Hendrix said. “I don’t think there can be any other thing for me. This is my life, and it always has been. I don’t think about anything else.”
Hendrix’s playlist of the 10 songs that have impacted him the most
This story was originally published on The Shield Online on January 11, 2024.