Wait…You’re Asian?
By Alison Kenaston and Emme Perencevich
January 22, 2019
Filed under Opinions
When you grow up in a mixed-race household hearing many different languages, eating many different foods, and experiencing many different cultures, even many different religions, you become a blend of all these different things. For us, being American-born Asian-Europeans means that nobody quite knows...
Invisible
By Rin Swann, North Allegheny Senior High School
January 18, 2019
Filed under Opinions
Earlier this week, I received a letter from the administration reminding me, in hard black letters, that I had missed more than 18 days of school and, in the future, I will need a doctor’s excuse for all other missed days. This letter went in the trash with all the other junk mail. I have received...
All Voices Matter: separating art from the artist
By Aviance Pritchett, Liberty High School
January 17, 2019
Filed under Opinions
A six-episode docuseries revolving R&B singer R. Kelly and the allegations against him recently debuted on Lifetime. To many, especially the older generation, this wasn’t anything new, from him being 27-years-old and marrying 15-year-old R&B princess Aaliyah Haughton to the rumors of him ru...
“Kids these days”: why older people should stop judging our generation as lazy
By Shivi Sharma, Coppell High School
January 17, 2019
Filed under Opinions
As long as the Earth continues to turn, older generations will continue to look down upon their posterity, maybe with a look of disgust or a cliche “In my day…”. Though such thoughts are often expressed in agitation, it is important to look at the significance behind them. Are we really...
Do what you are good at
By Nicolas Reyes, Coppell High School
January 17, 2019
Filed under Opinions
As a kid, I was always clad in Spiderman shirts garnished with hints of mud and paired with scattered marker stains and scraped knees. I wanted to be many things. For one, taller. Maybe an astronaut. Then, one day, I went home and proclaimed I would be a painter. With a smug little grin, I presented...
Beauty from within
By Umama Suriya, Coppell High School
January 16, 2019
Filed under Opinions
Society.It tells you that a perfect girl needs to be skinny like a twig, have pronounced curves and wear layers of makeup to cover the scars and acne naturally on her face. Who made society this way? Why is the ideal and perfect girl the most beautiful? I am a short, average-weighted girl with g...
Kat Von D “Underage Red” lip shade scandal and society’s dangerous “Lolita complex”
By Eve Katz, Summerville High School
January 15, 2019
Filed under Opinions
The “Lolita complex” is most popularly discussed in Japan, but many are quick to overlook its existence in American society as well. The complex refers to the sexual attraction, usually by older males, to much younger, often underage, females. American TV shows and movies such as Riverdale and Twilight...
Pep rally skit decision made without considering compromise
By Liz Iaconis, Londonderry High School
January 14, 2019
Filed under Opinions
The Mack Plaque pep rally this past fall might’ve been the worst in LHS history. This event leading up to the most anticipated weekend of the year for Lancer athletics lacked spirit and put many students in extremely uncomfortable situations. But now, five months later, the repercussions of this...
Popularity over success: uneven support in sports
By Carter Smith, Carlisle High School
January 11, 2019
Filed under Opinions
When it comes to watching high school sports, there are two clear favorites: football and basketball. While these sports may be the most popular among students, staff, and members of the community, it doesn’t always mean that the sports are successful. In 2017, the CHS football team finished with...
Disconnected
By Caterina Tomassini, Wayland High School
January 10, 2019
Filed under Opinions, Showcase
A simple ring of a phone call, text message or Snapchat has the power to make a person stop in their tracks to respond, look down from their steering wheel and grow anxious not knowing who is trying to contact them. As a matter of fact, 95% of texts are read within three minutes of being sent. About a year ago, I decid...
Students Burdened by the College Board
By Bridgette Lang, Southern Lehigh High School
January 9, 2019
Filed under Opinions
If you are a sophomore, you may be planning to take the PSAT or an AP test in the near future. As a junior, you may register for the PSAT, SAT, AP tests, or even some SAT subject tests. Seniors can take a final round of SAT and AP tests. All of these exams are administered and created by a single organization:...
Southern Lehigh’s Grading System Must Change
By Saskia Van’t Hof, Southern Lehigh High School
January 9, 2019
Filed under Opinions
As students reach the middle of the school year, their frustration over grades echoes through the halls. It’s not just Southern Lehigh – all across the country, teens’ anxiety over school is becoming an epidemic. A survey from October 2018 by the American Psychological Association finds that on average, te...
The Case Against Harvard
By Amanda Lu, North Allegheny Senior High School
January 8, 2019
Filed under Opinions
College hysteria is a real problem for seniors across America. What used to be considered free time is now filled up with Common Application tweaks, transcript requests, and freak-outs over the test scores we can't improve or the bad grades we can't change. Fortunately (and for some, unfortunately),...
The Hidden and Observant Ear of Technology
By Ethan Jayne, Santaluces
January 7, 2019
Filed under Opinions
Since the revolutionary breakthrough of modern technology, concerns haven arisen about personal security and privacy. Fears of what can happen to a persons identity arose with the rise of social media. Cyberbullying has started to grow, identity thieves can access personal information in more ways than...
The Diminishing Role of Letter Writing in a Digital World
By Elizabeth Niemiec, Patchogue-Medford High School
January 7, 2019
Filed under Opinions, Showcase
It’s 2018. Today, we can communicate with anyone from around the world with a press of the "send" button. Just 37 years after the development of the personal computer and 27 years after the invention of the internet, it seems every day we progress in developing newer and faster ways of communicating...
A Day in the Life of the Cast Aside
By Sofia Puerto, Clayton High School
January 7, 2019
Filed under Opinions
Why do we do this to ourselves? We live in a generation where all of the world’s knowledge is at the click of a button for us, and we continuously make mistakes in etiquette when calling someone the right name or their prefered pronouns. Are we too afraid to ask? Do we not want to get caught looking...
Blast from the past: Resurgence of 80’s Fashion
By Kathleen O'Neill, Carlisle High School
January 7, 2019
Filed under Opinions
80’s fashion is coming back and in a big way. Teens and young adults everywhere are looking to their parent’s high school pictures for outfit inspiration and the fashion industry is here for it. The trend has slowly come back into fashion, stating in 2015 with the return of the lumberjack look,...
Revisiting 2018: “Year of the Woman”
By Riya Bindlish, Dougherty Valley High School
January 4, 2019
Filed under Opinions
2018 has officially been declared the second “Year of the Woman,” with a record-breaking 102 women in Congress thus far and pending elections possibly increasing that number. 1992 was the previous “Year of the Woman,” seen as the first major rise in the number of women in Congress. However, wit...
My culture shock at the dinner table
By David Villani, Walt Whitman High School
January 4, 2019
Filed under Opinions
I’ve seen a lot of weird things in this country since I moved here from Italy. The constant optimism and cheerfulness, the intense patriotism, the freezing air conditioning in the summer and overpowering heating in the winter—all these things are still bizarre to me. But there’s one American quirk...
I Don’t Know What My College Major Should Be. And That’s Okay.
By Alicia DeMar, Santaluces
December 28, 2018
Filed under Opinions
As a senior in high school, you would think that I have an idea of what my major will be in college. But I have no clue. And honestly, do I need to know? Growing up, I went through many phases of “things I want to be when I grow up”. I wanted be a professional gymnast but my height said otherwise....
Pop Tart Taste Test
By Irene Yannakakis and Anna Pavlisin
December 28, 2018
Filed under Opinions
1. Wildlicious Wild Berry (3/10) Moving along to our last place contender, the Wildlicious Wild Berry. Before trying this Pop Tart, we had high hopes because we were expecting a sweet berry flavor, but that is not at all what we got. The Pop Tart tasted similar to a sour grape flavor, so we were ...
An art school or a school with art?
By Aiya Hunter, Grand Center Arts Academy
December 28, 2018
Filed under Opinions
I think being a professional artist requires several key components, a few being; knowing your talents, understanding the business, training, experience, and patience. At school I am a student and actor, yet, I haven’t been offered classes that focus on how to help me manage the acting world outside...
We are not your enemy
By Anjali Huynh, West High School
December 28, 2018
Filed under Opinions
The gunshots ringing through the newsroom at the Capital Gazette this past summer struck more than five fatal victims. Those shots ignited fear in the hearts of every working or aspiring journalist in the country as this horrific event confirmed our worst fears: the war on the media was no longer a verbal...
Santa who? Senior recounts her less-than-merry Christmases
By Janice Asabere, Watkins Mill High School
December 27, 2018
Filed under Opinions
Having a broken home doesn’t hit you until this time of the year. The holidays are family-oriented. Only seeing half of that can be depressing. My parents got divorced when I was in the second grade. I was seven years old. After that, the whole dynamic of my family changed. I was continuously confused...
Op-Ed: Ode to the ceremonial mayor
By Sam Hosmer, Carlmont High School
December 27, 2018
Filed under Opinions
Things are different in San Carlos. None of the three incumbents whose seats were up this year chose to run for re-election, so council gadflies can no longer enjoy the perennially confused quasi-libertarian dissents of Matt Grocott nor the judicious parliamentary procedure of Lord Mayor Bob Grassilli....
“Unsafe, Vulnerable, and Belittled”: The Legal Rights of Transgender Students
By Aiiden Robinson, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
December 27, 2018
Filed under Opinions
As a transgender male, I worry every day about losing my life because of being who I am, and some of my biggest worries have come from other students, and even some teachers, at my school. Students don’t realize that when I walk the hallways I hear them whispering things like “Pinocchio” and...
A 15-Year-Old-Girl’s View On Brett Kavanaugh
By Abigail Gallen, North Allegheny Intermediate High School
December 26, 2018
Filed under Opinions
Every woman in America is furious. And if some are not, they will be. If Brett Kavanaugh is named a Supreme Court Justice, a judge on the highest court of the land, every woman will cry. And every husband, brother, and friend will watch them, and maybe some of them will cry too. Justices on the Supreme...
At the End of Your Rope
By Nina Cinca, Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy
December 26, 2018
Filed under Opinions
Life is a constant competition. We compete at everything we do and the vicious cycle is never-ending. Teenagers compete against one another to get into college, athletes compete against rivalry teams to win the championship, students compete against each other to win the title of valedictorian in high...
As a Family, We Grieve Together
By Haylee Brewer, John F. Kennedy High School
December 21, 2018
Filed under Opinions
In devastating news, we lost one of our own. Kennedy mathematics teacher, Rick Nees has passed away from a tragic car collision in Fort Collins, Colorado on Thanksgiving morning. When students returned to school on Nov. 26., many were upset and grieving. Nees had a large impact on students, he will be...
iPads Broaden the Way We Learn, But They Are Also a Huge Distraction
By Olivia Galbraith, La Salle Catholic College Preparatory
December 21, 2018
Filed under Opinions
Writing an essay digitally, doing online research, giving a presentation with a digital aid, and turning in homework with the click of a button—the benefits of technology in classrooms are plenty. Having iPads in classrooms broadens the ways students can learn, for the better. However, speaking...