The Voice, May 2017

The stars came out for prom 2017: Hollywood!

Photos, pg. 24

Voice The

your school. your voice.

Volume 57 May 23, 2017

NEWS

Students celebrate Black History Month by dancing through the decades

2 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Kaylin Nguyen Reporter

“I like how even though we have all our differences we all come together to perform as a family.”

-Sophomore Mckayla Vu.

KAYLIN NGUYEN

Black History Month is a chance to highlight the important contributions and achievements of African Americans throughout our nation’s history. In that spirit, the Spanish club put together a show that did just that. And it was a Stevie Wonder song that was Spanish club adviser Marie Anderson’s inspiration.

“I was just listening to a song by Stevie wonder called “Living for the City” and it just really struck me all the things that happened to African Americans and how they’re [sometimes not] recognized for anything but crime, gangs, and drugs and so I wanted to recognize them,” said Anderson.

Her purpose was to show people how most dances came from African American origin.

“The contributions that African Americans made towards American dance [are many], because pretty much every dance we do today is based off something that Africans brought with them from their mother lands,” said Anderson.

The performance was held in the large auditorium on March 3.

One of the dances that they performed is “The African American Dance,” along with the song “Kukere” by Iyanya.

“Practice is wild. It’s busy everyday and it’s stressful [but] I like performing, we have been working really hard and I like being around these people,” said sophomore Alonna Gomez.

The students in the dance were hard at work trying to get everything settled before the performance.

“Everybody put in something. It wasn’t [easy] with everybody putting in ideas, [but] it’s fun interacting with everybody and just being able to dance it’s just something I like to do. It’s just the excitement and the movement. There’s a lot of movement, and I like movement. I move a lot,” said sophomore Tiaja Perry.

The students are excited and dedicated to show what they’re capable of.

“I like how even though we have all our

Bird Clarkson, a professional dancer and a friend of Anderson, solos during the Black History Month dance concert. Clarkson spent time with students leading up to the performance, helping them prepare for the show. differences we all come together to perform as a family,” said sophomore Mckayla Vu. Not only do they have the dances and routines to take care of but they also had to get their costumes ready.

“Were dancing through the decades, so they will wear costumes that are appropriate for the decade their representing. [For the 1920s], the girls are wearing flapper dresses and the boys are wearing gangster type things to represent prohibition and stuff,” said Anderson.

Spanish club sponsored the event, and helped purchase all the props and anything else that is needed.

One of the dances representing the decades were the Jitterbug, an exuberant ballroom dance originating in the United States and spread internationally by U.S. armed forces during World War II. For the African dance connection, it refers mainly to the dances of Sub-Saharan Africa, and the many cultural musical and movement styles. The Girls wore all black with a long colorful skirt that was tied on

the side of their hips.

Bird Clarkson, a professional dancer and instructor from CMU, took time out of his day to come help with the choreography and perfect the dancers’ routines.

“They need to learn to maintain their energy, they have to be mentally ready so they can use that energy to do more cool stuff,” said Clarkson.

Clarkson would have liked to have more time with students so he can see what more they can offer, help them work together with

their strengths and weaknesses.

The show came together, and those involved said it was a success, with one big problem: very poor attendance.

“I enjoyed it very much; however...we only had like 20-30 people there and that was disappointing because those kids really worked super hard,” said Anderson. “I kinda felt like it was a kick in the butt for them because hardly anybody came out. I would do it again but it was a disappointing turn out for something they worked so hard on,” said Anderson.

NEWS

Ruth Horta Entertainment Editor

Your throat is dry, your mouth thirsting for water. The day has barely started, but you can tell it’s going to be a grueling one. As you’re reaching into your pocket on the walk to the vending machine, dread washes over as you realize that you left your wallet at home.

You look around and see one of the drinking fountains at school; the only thing that could quench your thirst at the moment, but one look at it and you find yourself walking away. You’ve probably found yourself in the situation of going thirsty just to avoid drinking water from the drinking fountains. However, things are no longer going to be like that.

Delta Dental had a grant called Rethink Your Drink: Water’s Cool at School. It was made to encourage students to drink more water. Certain schools were chosen based on applications and Everett was one of them.

Priority School Coordinator Dee Halstead was the one who made this all happen, filling out the grant application that got Everett the two water bottle fountains that were installed in the

school during Spring Break.

Students overall feel good about what’s going to happen.

“I feel like that’s amazing because a lot of people bring water bottles, but they don’t have where to refill them, so I think [the water bottle fountains] will be a great addition,” said junior Dayton Buchanan.

One reason students are excited is because they’ll actually use the fountains now.

“I don’t really trust [the water fountains].

I heard people say the water wasn’t clean,” said junior Vivian Ho. Freshman LaMiya Nixon agrees on that sentiment. “[The drinking fountains] are a bit disturbing because of all the gum and food that sits on them,” said Nixon. “[The new fountains will be] good for people so they can actually have a better use of [them]. Students try to fill them up now [in the current fountains] but it’s really hard and it doesn’t even fill to the top.

There are a few students who are uneasy about the addition of the water bottle fountains.

“I feel like typically when we get nice

BRIANA ORTA VAZQUEZ

New water fountains bring healthy change to Everett

A student fills up her water bottle during passing time. The filtered water fountain was from a grant from Delta Dental of Michigan. things, the students manage to ruin it. Hopefully they don’t,” said Ho. Junior Danielle Ellsworth agrees, but

takes it even further. ”They’re gonna get broke,” said Ellsworth. “[Delta Dental] is wasting their money because [the fountains] are going to turn out disgusting like the ones we have now.”

However, the majority of students are choosing to stay optimistic.

Buchanan agrees with Ellsworth to an extent.

“I feel like the [water fountains] may get destroyed or become trashy, but once they see what difference [the new fountains] make, students may take that into consideration and take care of them, hopefully,” said Buchanan.

Though Ellsworth isn’t warmed up to the idea of the new water bottle fountains, she doesn’t completely oppose using them. “[I might use them] the first day when they’re still clean,” said Ellsworth.

The two water bottle fountains won’t be the only thing the grant is giving.

“In addition to two water bottles stations every student and teacher is getting a water bottle,” said Halstead.

Some students feel good about the money that’ll be saved now that it won’t be neces-

sary to buy water bottles.

“I’m glad because before if you wanted cold water you had to pay for it and you’d get it in a plastic disposable bottle which wasted plastic,” said junior Julianna Markham-Adkinson.

Buchanan is one of those.

“I spend a lot of money because when I buy [a water bottle], I don’t have where to refill it,” said Buchanan. “Usually, I buy multiple throughout the day. I like that now we’ll be able to refill the same bottle.”

There are students that think two water bottle stations is too little for such a big school.

“More would be nice to start off with, but two can’t hurt,” said senior Bailey Dagley.

The point of the grant is that students will be drinking more water, especially since now they won’t have an excuse not to.

“I feel like as long as the water tastes good, people who don’t drink a lot of water will start to more,” said Buchanan.

Overall, many see it as an opportunity that would be a waste to not use.

“I hope that people take advantage of it,” said Adkinson.

Students join Young MSU saves Upward Bound Americans for epic collaboration Alex Perez Reporter The Young Americans took over Everett for a weekend in March, and Everett will never be the same again. A non-profit organization, Young Americans brought almost 40 members to take over the school and present two big performances with over 200 Everett students.

The performance was planned in only three days, with students from Pleasant View and Everett learning the choreography.

They are given a challenge to act, sing, and dance within the remaining days until performance night. The organization split the students into three groups by grade. 3rd-7th graders were called the lightbulbs, 10th-12th graders were referred to as EV Dogs, and 8th9th graders were called the Muhammad Alis.

All three groups of students had separate choreography given to them by the director.

The first day of the Young Americans workshop lasted 3 p.m.-8 p.m., the second day was on Friday, during school hours, until 5 p.m. The last day, Saturday, lasted from noon until 9 p.m. Everett was one of the few schools

the Young Americans worked with who got it for free, since they found a sponsor in Demmer Corporation. This meant that students could participate without paying the usual fees.

There were two performances on Saturday. First, the Young Americans put on their own exciting and energetic performance as a gift to Everett audience before letting the students do their performance.

The students began their show with an opening number, followed by “The Sunshine, which used music and visuals based on Sesame Street. Next, “The Salem” was about a peaceful protest going against a violent crowd. The protester would shout “Glory!” when they protested. They also performed other numbers, such as ones titled “The Act,” “The Stomp,” and “The Closer.” The encore brought the crowd to its feet.

Young Americans performances consisted of musical themed shows that involved acting and dancing. Junior Jason Cifran participated in the event, and agreed that the Young Americans were not what many were expecting, in a positive way.

“It got me to express [myself], and got

3 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

A week after a paperwork error led to Upward Bound announcing it was shutting down, MSU announced it would fund the program. Incorrect paperwork for the grant application led to the grant not being funded by the government, and Upward Bound announced it would be shutting down the 50-year-old program that helps many Lansing high school students.

“Upward Bound is a program that you go to after school and during school and during the summer, which provides you with tutoring and allows you to get into MSU,” said junior Terencio Scott.

The program helps students improve in areas where they struggle in school, and gives them a place to do homework.

“I went there, did homework and I studied for the SAT. I got tutoring with some of the issues I was having, like math,” said Scott.

Another thing Upward Bound provides is help with organization skills they’ll need to be successful. Junior Vivian Ho attended the program for her first year, and found it very helpful.

“They teach you things that are im-

portant like time management and like study skills,” said Ho. The students were preparing for another round with Upward Bound, until they heard the bad news.

“Mostly I was just disappointed... like it was just over and that was it, there wasn’t like anymore preparation,” said junior year Kiara Williams. “Especially because I’m going into senior year, and that’s like when I needed the most help.”

MSU did not abandon the program, though, and took action instead. They decided to fund the program, with some cuts.

This was a big relief to many of the students who depend on the program “Things were very unfortunate, a lot of people relied on that program,” said Ho. While there were some changes in programming like a shortened summer program, Upward Bound will continue.

Some staff cuts were made, as well, in order to keep the program afloat. Students won’t notice any big changes to the program during the school year. News that comes as a big relief to many students counting on Upward Bound to help them achieve their future goals.

BRIANA ORTA VAZQUEZ

Alex Perez Reporter

Friday afternoon Performers did two full run through of their performances before the actual show.

people out of their comfort zones,” said Cifran.

Some participants found it challenging.

“I didn’t expect the dance to be so complex,” said junior Danielle Ellsworth.

Many did not find it to be so hard, but instead enjoyable.

“It was fun, it felt kind of like a job, coming in everyday,” said junior Adiana Latham, who was one of the many students who joined.

Everyone interviewed said that their experience was exciting and fun, and they hope that the Young Americans can return.

Sophomore Isis Carter dances solo to a piece she choreographed called “Forks.”

PAMELA COLLINS

Zaria Cannon poses with some of her art work. [right]: Lines and colors, made with acrylic paint.

PAMELA COLLINS

AALEYA PEREZ

Dance, Art and Dessert was held on two days, April 23 and 24. Dance classes held a dance concert alongside an art show, with finger food snacks for attendees. The event helps raise money for both classes, so teachers can buy things they need for the upcoming year.

Admission was by donation. Students from both classes provided desserts, which were available for a donation, too.

The dance theme was “Featuring Famous Cities.” 16 cities were made into 16 small dances, choreographed by dance students, with help from dance teacher Christina Sears. The dance company opened up the show representing “Lansing” by dancing the pep rally show, a mix which was made by a collaboration of the dancers and costumes were made by them. Some dancers performed a solo, like Isis Carter whose dance “Forks” was to the song “A Thousand Years.” For their finale, the entire cast danced to “That’s What I Like,” by Bruno Mars, choreography

by Chontalice Hicks and Kurstina Simmons.

The art classes had a gallery walk featuring pieces from students in all art classes, including some 1st semester art student work.

This year’s art theme was marine life, and featured works made using paper mache, watercolors, self portraits, book covers, and even a Converse shoe painted with marine life. This year as judges walked around to select pieces of art for the Ingham art show, for the first time ever two art pieces made by the same person got picked, art work made by Alex Flores.

PAMELA COLLINS

Briana Orta Vazquez News Editor

This year’s paper mache art collection had the theme “Marine Life,” and featured many different pieces in various sizes.

BRIANA ORTA VAZQUEZ

Performing art students show their skills at event

Two of Alex Flores’ art pieces were picked for this year’s Ingham county art show. Here, he poses with his mother during Dance, Art and Dessert.

Senior Event √ List

4 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

“My

favorite memory of high school is getting a 94 percent on Elliott’s epic.”

- Lilia Lozano

Seniors high school days are coming to an end. Some senior events are closer than you think. Here is a look at the variety of activities for the class of 2017 in the coming weeks.

April 22 Gear Up Celebration Students who participated in the Gear Up program at MSU will have a celebration April 22. Gear Up students will be presented with a certificate of graduation, a laptop, a Gear Up stole to wear at commencement, and a backpack of supplies for their freshman year of college. ‘’I’m excited because this may be the last time we all [Gear Up students] might be together as a family,” said senior Ashia Ansley.

May 1 Decision Day Decision Day is May 1, which is the last day for students to either decline or accept to be admitted into many colleges. For some seniors, making a decision on where they were going was easy.

“Since eighth grade, my goal was to become a claims Adjuster and Investigator After high school I’m planning on taking advantage of the two year free I get at LCC then I will transfer to Davenport or Ferris to finish my Bachelors,” said senior Stherlyne Osterne.

May 12 Prom Prom is a night to dress up, spend with

friends enjoy the day and have fun.

May 19 “I will get to be with friends and party my Senior Skip Day night away knowing that my last couple days Many senior students are looking forward of high school was spent with people who are to take a day off and spending it with others. close to me,” said Osterne.

“I’m excited due to the fact that I will May 25 take a day off to enjoy and have fun with my Senior Awards Senior awards are a day to recognize seniors who have received academic and other awards for the effort.

For some se- A senior from last year embracing his mother while giving niors this is her a rose. not their first friends,’’ said Dan Muzembe. award. Senior Ashia Ansley will be receiving at May 23 least one honor.

Presentation of Roses “[I will be getting an] honor award for my Presentation of Roses is a day to show GPA,” said Ansley. “I have focus and goals; appreciation to those people who have supstaying on track with everything helped me ported graduates. Presentation of Roses is a stay on that honor.” special day to buy a rose to show appreciation June 4 to your family member, teacher or anyone who Graduation supported you in your journey. One rose is $4, Seniors are looking forward to getting or you can buy four for $15. The maximum their diplomas and preparing for their next rose purchase is four. steps in life, whether going to college or ser“I will get a chance to publicly honor and vice, or entering the workforce. acknowledge the people who have been the “I have accomplished one of the most biggest impact in my life. They will publicly important phases of my life, and I will be step- know how grateful I’m to have met and got to ping out into the world as a new young edu- know them,” said Osterne. cated adult,” said senior Marwa Aljazi.

ARCHIVE PHOTO

Bebeto Nyongobela Reporter

Remodel Remodel Aduitorum Auditorium

Remodel Cafeteria

Marching band had the opportunity to play at President Trump’s inauguration, even though they did not get to march in the parade.

The band raised $36,000 to send 47 members. Some people disliked the fact that the band was going to play for Trump, but most saw the experience as a positive one for the students, and Everett.

At the pep rally, the drum line wooed the crowed when two drummers where flipped and started drumming while upside down.

The band performed at half time during every home football game, as well as in competition.

Music classes prepare for final concert Briana Orta Vazquez News Editor

Remodel Band & Choir Classrooms

Add Scene Shop, Drama Classroom, Video Production Lab, &Everett Art Studio VPA 7th-12th Grades

Remodel Support Spaces Add Dance Studio

REMODEL

Auditorium, Band, Choir and Support Spaces

REMODEL

Cafeteria

ADD

Scene Shop, Drama Classroom, Video Production Lab,

Art Studio, and Dance After a year of meetings and Studio discussions, Everett and other Lansing Replace Windowsreconstruction over three years. Everett was ADDITIONAL schools will be undergoing Possiblemillion, 2nd Series funding - contingency given ADDITIONAL a total of $19.3 which is 16%plan of the total bond funds.

Along with the building expansions there are many modifications throughout the school.

The band room, choir room, auditorium and cafeteria will all be remodeled. Also all windows will be replaced, meaning more reliable insulation, as well as a change in furniture throughout the school. There is also a district wide upgrade in technology and security.

One major change is the improvement to the heating system. The school will have a more reliable and distributed heating system throughout the school.

“When it comes to temperature, the working conditions have been terrible,” said Advanced Placement United States history teacher Lothar Konietzko. “The worst part is not having any air conditioning. When the

room hits 90 degrees, especially with the humidity, it is hard to teach because students are miserable, and I’m miserable.”

While the hope and enthusiasm around the revival of the arts is great, some would like to see changes in other areas.

“I would have liked to see a second gym or a practice gym,” said Cheadle-Holt. “Many large high schools have multiple gyms. It’s ideal for many teams and gives more space for gym classes.”

Some students feel that the academics at Everett are being neglected, since the Advanced Placement program does not get funding from the district. The bond cannot fund programs like AP, though, as it is strictly for improvements to the district’s buildings.

This was the last spring concert for all music classes. It was held on Tuesday, May 16.

Director Penny Filonczuk presented a director’s award and others.

A look at this year’s success.

The marching band traveled to Washington D.C. and took part in the presidential inauguration.

A lot of people disliked it but the band overcame it.

“I thought it was ridiculous how everybody’s was hating on us for playing for a president because of who he is but they don’t realize how this opportunity is once in a lifetime,” said Junior Emirald Potter.

Silver Bells was another big event for the marching band. They got rained on but kept marching till the end.

“Usually it’s fun, but that rain made it interesting and I was proud that the band kids actually kept playing and marching,” said junior Tuan Nguyen.

The Young Americans coming to Everett was another great moment. Most band members took part, and it was not what most people expected.

“I didn’t expect the dance to be so complex,” said junior Danielle Ellsworth.

Tuesday’s performance The night was full of musical performances, including each class performing a special piece.

This year the choir sang “Why We Sing,” which featured two solos.

“I believe that it’s our best song, it will

outshine the others but overall I think we’ll do good,” said junior Riannon Sanford.

Jazz band performed “Shaky Grounds” Jazz members were confident in how they performed.

“I think it’s [going to] go pretty well. Mrs. Filonczuk recorded us today and we sounded really good,” said junior Nicole Gibbons.

The concert band played “Roar.” Concert band members were full of positivity “I think we’ll do great, because all the classes have been practicing hard and should be able to work out any kinks by Tuesday,” said Nguyen.

Symphonic band performed a Pixar collection. For the ending of the concert, band and symphonic band came together and played “Glory.”

“Having the Young Americans here inspired us to play that song,” said Filonczuk.

For the first time ever there will also be some kids rapping.

Music classes’ biggest improvements for the year, according to their director Concert band: discipline and music theory Jazz: learning to play as a unit Choir: sound production Symphonic: sound production and level of difficulty.

Goodbye, seniors Filonczuk had some final words for her graduating seniors.

“It has been a great year from the start to the finish, You were my first senior class that I’ve had all four years, I love you all, I’m going to miss you all, please come back and visit,” said Filonczuk.

5 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

A new, improved Everett!

ARCHIVE PHOTO

COMING 2018:

ARCHIVE PHOTO

Everett is called a visual and performing arts school, but the decline in funding for programs has caused that reputation to all but disappear. But the Lansing Pathway Promise, a district-wide reconstruction and remodeling plan, will revive the pride in the school’s arts.

The Lansing Pathway Promise creates three paths, each focusing on specific subjects.

In each path are schools which are meant to follow the focuses. The Visual and Performing Arts and New Tech pathway is where Everett falls, but completion of the projects will not be done until 2021.

The primary focus for Everett under the plan is rebuilding the Visual and Performing Arts. To accomplish this task $19.3 million, which is 16% of the total funds, have been set aside. The investment in the program creates hopes for both staff and students.

“I hope it makes things more up to date,” said Principal Susan Cheadle-Holt. “[The changes can] renew and promote the performing arts.”

The dance room is too small to many of the dancers. The cramped space is bothersome to the dancers and creates difficulty. Luckily for them the dance room will be expanded, an improvement that will more than double the size of the dance room.

“If you notice there are people practicing in the hall,” said junior Julianna MarkhamAdkison. “We can’t always use the auditorium, so we don’t have enough space. The New Tech class is worse because they have about three times as many people.”

Along with the expansion of the dance room, there will be an extension to the building that will include the addition of a scene shop, drama classroom, video production lab, and an art studio. The changes, like those in the dance room, can help Everett.

“Since Everett is in the Visual and Performing Arts and New Tech pathway, the school needs space to design scenery for musicals, plays, dance performances and other general performing arts,” said Lansing School District superintendent Yvonne Caamal Canul.

“It also needs a video production studio in order for new technologies to be combined with the visual arts side of the pathway.”

Currently there is no theatrical and video production class. When tech theatre teacher Jim Allen retired last year, those programs were not continued. While the school has lost one part of its visual arts program, through the new additions it could reach new heights.

“Until we have a fully operational theatrical and visual art facility, it’s hard to attract teachers,” said Caamal Canul. “But, the plan is to have Everett fully staffed in those important areas in addition to developing partnerships with the surrounding art and technology community to provide internships, real-world learning experiences, and mentors.”

LUIS MARTINEZ

Ali Aljazi Opinion Editor

PENNY FILONCZUK

Bond construction includes big changes for school, especially performing arts

OPINION

YouTube Gaming: The Next Sensation

“My favorite memory of high school is meeting new people that have changed me for the better.”

- Andrew Paulino

YOUTUBE

Comfort and quality in clothes abandoned over hype Christopher Ruiz Reporter

A lot of people around the world wear different kind of clothes and brands, but why do they wear them? Is it because they like the way they look? Is it because they see other people wearing it? Maybe it’s because they like the way the clothes feel?

In today’s society, kids and teenagers wear a lot of expensive name brand clothes and shoes that they buy in expensive shopping stores at the mall. The mall has a lot of nice clothes and shoes, but the prices are very high.

So why wouldn’t you go to a store that sells the same quality for a cheaper price like a local grocery store.

You can find a lot of good quality clothes everywhere, but most people don’t like them because they’re not a popular brand or trend, but that really shouldn’t matter. All that should matter is if you like the way the clothes look and feel on you. You shouldn’t get caught in the hype and trends that celebrities and famous people set by buying 1,000 dollar jeans and 500 dollar t-shirts.

The same thing is going on with kids and teenagers with shoes. They all end up seeing one of their favorite basketball players, favorite football players, Kevin Hart or even a friend from school wearing expensive 200 dollar shoes, then they feel like they need a pair, which is hype over quality. Things used to be

different; people used to choose the shoe by what they thought felt the best on their feet and something that was not too expensive. Now they spend 200 dollars on a pair of Retro Jordans.

People get caught up in the hype and spend a lot of money on expensive clothes, shoes, and nice brands. Sometimes, it’s actually worth it. There are actually a lot of good quality clothes and shoes that costs a lot of money.

For instance, Rock Apparel Jeans cost anywhere from 150 to 250 dollars and most people think that’s a lot of money. But these jeans are made of good strong material, and will last you a long time. But there are still many good quality clothes and shoes that are not name branded and are cheaper.

So what do you think?

Obviously, quality is the way to go. You shouldn’t have to buy expensive clothes and shoes to fit in somewhere. You should just be able to walk in a store and buy whatever catches your eye and what looks good on you. It is your money after all, so rock what you like.

Chris Ruiz on fashion: “It is your money after all, so rock what you like.”

ALI ALJAZI

6 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

According to mediakix.com, Gaming is the 4th most popular type of YouTube video out there. Many find it a very entertaining way to pass the time. Because of this fact, there are more and more people noticing these videos, and some of them have opinions against it. “Why would you watch someone else play a game when you can play it yourself?” and “Is this even a real job?” are questions that are often asked.

People watch gaming videos for many reasons. Many can’t afford expensive games or they feel like they need a friend to play with. Others just enjoy watching someone who is good at a game play through it.

YouTubers make a good living from YouTube. They pay taxes and get a paycheck just like everyone else; it is a real job. YouTube Gaming videos are as legit a form of entertainment as any.

Jimmy Kimmel shared his opinion on gaming videos on his show. He made comments like “We should all be hating ourselves for failing as parents,” and “To me, watching another person play video games is like going to a restaurant and having someone else eat your food for you.”

These comments seemed vastly unfair

watching their controller?” said Everett Spanish teacher Marie Anderson. This is a fair opinion to have.

YouTube Gaming is not for everyone and it was not made to be, but that doesn’t make it any less important to the millions of people who do watch and love it.

Other people like the idea of gamers dominating YouTube.

“I think it’s cool. They are just doing what they love and most have a career in it,” said sophomore Jade Walker.

For a good look at what different age groups think about YouTube gaming, check out “Adults React to Jacksepticeye” and “Teens React to Markiplier” on YouTube. As shown in these videos, it doesn’t matter how old you are, you can appreciate the filmmaking that is YouTube GamMarkiplier (left), PewDiePie (center), and Jacksepticeye (right) are joined togeth- ing. er in a special collaboration video for their viewers on YouTube. YouTube gaming YouTube Gaming has been growis a very popular form of YouTube entertainment. ing fast for the past few years and it hasn’t shown any signs of stopping. considering the fact that Mr. Kimmel had people are very passionate about this type of The biggest YouTube gamer and Biggest only just recently heard about YouTube Gam- media. ing and hadn’t even given it a chance. Soon Some Everett students share Kimmel’s YouTuber in General, PewDiePie, has over 52,000,000 subscribers and makes $12 milafter, Mr. Kimmel apologized and gave it a opinion on YouTube Gaming. try, even inviting YouTubers Markiplier and “It sounds like a big waste of time. Is it lion a year. If done right, YouTube gaming MissesMae on his show. He found out that supposed to be like sitting behind someone can make a very promising career.

YOUTUBE: PEWDIEPIE

Anthony Lopez Reporter

Christopher Ruiz Reporter

The NBA has always been a competitive sport where 30 teams from the East and West compete to try and earn an NBA Title. On these teams, are the greatest players from every college and high school around the world. Most NBA teams have had great players who are now legends that have helped their teams compete in championship title games. Legends like Michael Jordan or Larry Bird, and many more. One thing that made these players special is that they weren’t all on the same team; they were going head-to-head with each other every night to try and be the best. Lately, the NBA is being ruined by a super team called the Golden State Warriors, which is made up

of four NBA All-stars that have a total of three MVPs and four NBA titles between them. This basketball team has been breaking records for the last two years and they’re starting to make the sport look a little too easy and one sided.

The Warriors are changing the way the NBA plays basketball by shooting ridiculous deep threes at a pretty decent field goal percentage. For instance, the NBA used to be dominated by players that could attack the rim and score baskets with contact from the post. Now the Warriors is a team that has the ability to attack

the rim or shoot a 30-foot jump shot at a consistent rate. That’s a problem for the other teams that don’t have enough talent

even better, adding high-scoring small forward Kevin Durant to their roster.

There are so many ways Durant is helping their team, but the biggest threat he causes on the Warriors is that he is just another dangerous three-point shooter in their starting lineup.

The talent he brings to the Warriors is very unfair, and it’s making the NBA less competitive.

The Warriors lead the western conference in points per game this year, and had a record of 67 wins and only 15 losses. That secured their spot for best record in the Western Conference for the third time in a row. There’s no doubt they have the best team, but there are still a

The NBA is being ruined by a super team called the Golden State Warriors to match that ability.

In the 2015-2016 season of the NBA, the Golden State Warriors had the best season record the NBA has ever seen, going 73-9, surpassing the 1995-96 Bulls’ 72-10 record. Even though last year their team was really good, this year they’re

lot of great players in the NBA like Lebron James or Russell Westbrook. The only reason they can’t win as much as the Warriors is because they don’t have the support and stacked teammates that the Warriors have.

Even though the Warriors are dominating their opponents every night and making the sport of basketball look very unfair, they still have fans that enjoy that and find that it is exciting that their team is winning. But what about the other teams? What about all the other fans?

Most of them think it’s unfair.

The NBA should regulate the trades and monitor the teams to make the game more competitive for the fans, because nobody likes to watch an unfair blowout game. A super-team like the Golden State Warriors should not be in the NBA.

RYAN SCHACHT

7 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Golden State crushes the competition we love

OPINION

The Ultimate Breakfast Showdown Voice of Destiny: Waffles vs. Pancakes The

Perfect Pancakes

“W

e have to remember what’s important in life: friends, waffles, and work. Or waffles, friends, work. But work has to come third,” said actress Amy Poehler’s character Leslie Knope on Parks and Recreation. Leslie loves waffles, and so should everyone. Let’s just be honest and admit that waffles are the best.

First of all waffles are bigger and the BIGGER THE BETTER! Just one waffle has the thickness of about two and a half pancakes. That’s two in one. What better deal is there? With waffles you can have them either crispy, fluffy, or both. That’s one less big decision you have to make.

Waffles also have plenty of little pockets to create amazing little syrup ponds. Now you also don’t have to worry about it being a big mess. You can easily pick up your waffle and eat it without getting your hands getting sticky.

These waffle pockets can also be used to hold other things not just syrup. Those pockets can also hold all your toppings so they aren’t rolling around your plate like pancakes.

Waffles are awesome, if you didn’t already know. That’s why you need to share it. Waffles have a grid on them, which makes it super easy to section off correctly proportioned bites.

That also makes it easy to split one to share the love!

The only thing that’s better than just waf-

fles is more w a f fles. We are lucky enough to live in a world with geniuses who created waffle fries, waffle cones, and chicken and waffles.

It’s a brilliant combination!

Chicken and waffles is a very popular dish that many people enjoy.

It’s fried chicken and waffles with syrup. A perfectly nice cooked crispy, fluffy waffle topped with a piece of a crunchy fresh fried chicken. It’s simply a taste bud in heaven.

Unlike pancakes, they are a little hard to make. Waffles use a special type of pan, but once you get one of those pans, all you have to do is put the batch in! It’s simple. Pancakes are also just plain and flat which makes it inefficient to pick up and eat without making a mess and getting your hands dirty. With pancakes you have to dirty utensils and that ends with you having to wash more dishes. Who would want that?

Leslie Knope wants you to just make waffles. The world wants you to make waffles.

Make it for breakfast, make it for lunch, or make it for dinner. Just make waffles.

JA

Kaylin Nguyen Business Manager

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Wonderful Waffles AL

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Stephonz Flamand Reporter

W

affles or pancakes? It’s an easy choice, Pancakes!

They’re delicious any way you want them: soft, warm

or cool.

First, pancakes are great because you can put just about anything in them. Blueberries, strawberries, bananas, chocolate chips and cinnamon are all great choices to go with pancakes. Cinnamon pancakes are the best. They are go so good with the maple syrup, and together it is like having ice cream and cake.

Plus they are even better when they’re hot and straight off the pan.

Pancakes also go real good with sausage, bacon, eggs, potatoes and maple syrup. With waffles, you can’t mix a lot of different things like you can with pancakes.

Another good thing about pancakes is the texture. They are fluffy, and when you put maple or chocolate syrup on them, they absorb it. The flavor of the pancakes becomes so much better.

Pancakes are also easier to cook, and they take less time to make. Anybody can make pancakes, but waffles need a special cooker. What if you don’t have the money for the waffle maker? What are you going to make then? Pancakes can just get cooked in any pan as long as you have some mix. You won’t hurt your pockets making them.

Also, pancakes are way more creative.

You can make a lot of different shapes and designs out of pancakes. People love seeing their favorite character in their food. Only pancakes can do that, and it makes cooking pancakes more fun.

Some people might say waffles are better because they have a crispy gridded surface, but that is the problem. The grids create gross ponds of syrup that just spill out when you cut the waffle. Also, waffles can’t absorb syrup, so it just ends up on the plate.

Pancakes are definitely better than waffles.

They are easier to make and encourage creativity. They are so good, so just go out and make some pancakes.

Xitlali Garcia-Pilar Photo Editor Today, teen and parent involvement with one another is not really a thing. There are so many factors that get in the way of communication such as technology, parents way of thinking and their customs, and the fact that it’s a rebellious generation.

Almost every teen owns an electronic device, which occupies most of their life, and takes away from communicating with their parents. Cell phones seem to push us further away from our loved ones and closer to whoever is on the other line of the phone. It is sad to think about, but it is the truth, and it’s not only true for the teen, but the parent as well.

While in the middle of a conversation either one will feel a buzz, and drag their attention to their cell phone and pay more attention to

that.

ated where teens do confide Lets face it, it’s 2016. in their parent and they go What sets parents and teens to them with any situation. far apart is growing up with But for many, that bond isn’t different beliefs and custhere… and communication toms. Certain parents won’t needs to happen. let their child do some things If teen and parents set because they weren’t allowed aside their phone and all disto do it as kids, and that was tractions for at least ten minthe norm. This makes teens utes a day and communicated distrustful, and unable to about their day, there would be view their parents as friends. more interaction between the Without trust and that bond, two. It won’t be easy, but with there isn’t a lot of commu- Teens distracted by cell phones shut out opportunities to practice people can accomnication. plish great things. With better connect with their family.

This generation is so communication between teens full of rebellious teenagers and parents there will be better disrespectful and their whole attitude changes, who think they are grown at the age of 13. pushing parents to a brink. interaction and a stronger bond. Teens will No one can tell them anything without them In some situations, there is parent and then feel completely fine when being honest jumping straight to conclusions. They become teen communication. There is a bond cre- with a parent.

JAVIER GARCIA

8 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Teens and parents don’t interact as much

3900 Stabler Road Lansing, MI 48910 (517)755-4472 myvikingvoice.com myvikingvoice@gmail.com THE STAFF EDITORS Jae’Lyn McClain (Editor-in-Chief) Jae’Lyn McClain (Sports) Briana Vazquez (News) Ali Aljazi (Opinion) Ruth Horta and Jennifer Tran (Features/Entertainment) Jordan Phan (Online) Xitlali Garcia-Pilar (Photo Story) Juan Morales (Social Media) Kaylin Nguyen and Willow Baldwin (Business Managers) REPORTER Jangwa Ali Angelica Bermudez Kaitlyn Brown-Hatchett Gabriel Cruz-Torres Stephonz Flamand Calaia Hoskins Catherine LeVeque Anthony Lopez Keegan Moubray Bebeto Nyongobela Alexander Perez-De La Cruz Aaleya Perez-Wardlaw Christopher Ruiz ADVISER Chad Sanders Mission Statement The Voice is a monthly publication of Everett High School. It is published the second Wednesday of each month by the sixth hour Newspaper class. The Voice is distributed free of charge to every student and staff member at Everett.

The current issue is always available on the counter of the main office.

Subscriptions are also available for $15/year.

The Voice is an award-winning member of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association.

Letters to the editor are accepted at the discretion of the editorial board.

Forms of speech not protected by the First Amendment will not be published. Letters must be signed by the author, and will be edited for quality. Direct all questions to room 313. We can be contacted via e-mail at myvikingvoice@gmail.com The Lansing School District is committed to a policy of providing equal opportunities to all qualified people regardless of economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, veteran status, or physical or mental ability.

Our Voice

Toilet Paper should be a right, not a Privilege

Stigma to mental illness in movies Illnesses have been present in everyone’s life at some point. While physical illnesses are more visible and noticeable, mental illnesses are more subtle, or sometimes not noticeable at all. Because of this, it is hard to tell when someone has a mental illness, or what the symptoms of it are. Movies bring to life stories both of fiction and nonfiction, and at times use mental illness in fictional ways to push the plot. However, not everyone sees the fiction in those movies, and they may think that portrayal of mental illness is accurate, which isn’t fair.

The goal of movies is to draw in viewers to make money. For that, they sometimes take certain things to the extreme. Movies use gore, suspense, weapons, murders and other elements to draw in viewers to certain movies. However, putting in a mental illness in a movie adds a certain twist to it. The psychological aspect to things is very intriguing to people, given the fact that the mind is something amazing and it can even be scary. The limits of the mind are not known and that can frighten people, just as the future can. That is

why mental illness is a taboo to society. There is a stigma to them and that is used in movies, which are quick to make victims of mental illness the villains. The stigma of mental illness is especially strong among people with Schizo-

and while they are held captive, they meet the multiple personalities he has. The movie will culminate in the reveal of a personality of Kevin’s known as The Beast. The movie is fiction, but the ignorance of society about such illnesses gives the impression that these interpretations of illness are real.

While some parts may be true, the drive of Split is fear; this only adds to the bad name of mental illness.

A big part of the problem is that people are uneducated about mental illness and are quick to assume the worst, which media such as movies do a good job of misinforming people about it. Being misinformed feeds to the stigma and the stereotypes. People need to become more educated about these things before they make assumptions. According to mentalhealth.gov, “The vast majority of

phrenia and Cluster B personality disorders.

Split, which came out on DVD April 18, stars James McAvoy as Kevin, a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). Kevin kidnaps three teenage girls

people with mental health problems are no more likely to be violent than anyone else and only 3%-5% of violent acts can be attributed to individuals living with a serious mental illness.” This counters the myth that all mentally ill people are violent. In actuality, “people with severe mental illnesses are over 10 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than the general population.”

Mentally ill people can be very productive people in society, and it is very likely for you to know someone who suffers from some sort of mental illness. The problem lies in the stigma, and that is why mentally ill people tend to keep their illness hidden. No one wants to be seen as a monster, but movies make victims of mental illness seem as such. There are some who are very bad people, but it’s the minority and unfortunately in this society, it defines the whole even when most are just doing their best to live a normal life.

Movies will be made and they can be enjoyed, but people shouldn’t be so quick to believe everything they see and have a movie define how they view people. If anything, movies about mental illness should be a form of motivation to learn about these illnesses and be informed.

9 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Ruth Horta Features/Entertainment Editor

ALEXANDRA JOHNSON

You’ve got five minutes for passing time. That’s all you need. You rush into the bathroom at full speed and then go about your business. You reach for the toilet paper…only to find it’s not there. That’s a problem that is very common at Everett.

Whether there is toilet paper in the stalls is a coin toss and you find yourself losing more than you’d like. It shouldn’t have to be that way.

Toilet paper is a necessity to anyone who is human. If you use the bathroom, you will eventually need toilet paper. The school can’t just deprive students of something so important. It’s already hassle enough that there’s hardly ever any paper towel to dry your hands, but there being no toilet paper crosses the line. Students have a hard enough time trying to squeeze in a bathroom break wherever they can, given the short passing time, so they don’t usually check whether there is toilet paper or not.

They’re on a time crunch so it’s all about being in and out. One’s instinct is to assume it’s there because it should be. There not being any just puts you in an unwanted predicament.

Administrators make a big deal out of count day for the school to get money for the school, but where’s that money going?

Spending money on toilet paper should be something that goes without question. Unless the school is going to invest in bidets, which is not at all likely or would make much sense, then they should be able to provide the students with toilet paper. It’s bad enough that the toilet paper provided is very thin, which calls for more being needed.

Students aren’t the only ones who have to deal with this situation; staff are also victims. Some teachers have to even bring in toilet paper for them to use. APUSH teacher Lothar Konietzko said that he provides the toilet paper for the staff bathroom near his class.

It’s not just the school’s fault, though.

It is very common to look up in the bathroom and see balls of toilet paper stuck to the ceiling. That is something that could only have been done by immature students and unfortunately, the students who actually need the toilet paper are the ones that pay the price. So, some students are at fault as well because the little toilet paper available is being used for stupidities.

Some things are necessities and toilet paper is one of them. Everett should provide students with toilet paper because that is something that should go without question.

FEATURES

Love him or not, Jacksepticeye can’t be denied Seán William McLoughlin is a very well-known YouTuber, widely know by the name Jacksepticeye. He is the creator of the 38th most subscribed and the 44th most viewed channel on YouTube. He has nearly 13.5 million subscribers and nearly 6 billion views. He is loud and, by some description, obnoxious, but he tends to reach out to his viewers on a personal level.

Seán was born on February 7, 1990 in Athlone, Republic of Ireland. He was born in a cottage with four other siblings, his mom, and his dad. Early on in his life, Seán showed interest in music. He was the drummer of a Metalcore/Melodic Death Metal band called Raised to the Ground.

Around the late 2000’s he graduated secondary school with a degree in music technology. Contrary to his early interests, Seán went to college studying hotel management. He dropped out in early 2010 after two years and then went back and finished up around 2014. However, even though he has almost 13.5 million subscribers, some people just don’t see it.

personality,” said sophomore Alexandria Berry. “...But I never knew his name wasn’t Jack.”

Seán came up with the name “Jacksepticeye” from a series of events in his life. The name Seán means “Jack” in Irish and so that is what he was called by his mother and friends when he was young. While playing soccer one day he cut his eye on one of his friends’ glasses and weeks later the cut became infected. From then on, his friends called Jacksepticeye’s home page on YouTube. With over 13 million subscribers, and nearly 6 him “Jacksepticbillion views, he is one of YouTube’s most popular celebrities. eye”.

Seán started up “He’s really juvenile and not the Despite criticism, Seán does what he his YouTube career on February 24, 2007. ‘funny’ juvenile... [Personally I think] he’s loves and never backs down. annoying. He just doesn’t use my type of “He’s outgoing, fun to watch...he’s His first video was a impersonation of the humor,” said Senior Bailey Dagley. loud. I like his accent and his [all around] fictional character “Solid Snake” from the

Metal Gear Solid franchise. From then on he decided to become what is now known as a “Let’s Player”. A Let’s Player is someone who makes videos (usually on YouTube) focused on reacting and commentating to different types of video games.

Since then, his YouTube channel has grown exponentially (some would argue due to a shout-out from a fellow YouTuber and since then friend, PewDiePie), and his wealth along with it.

Some people don’t really see the point in Let’s Plays and the players that come along with them.

“Why don’t you just buy the game and play it yourself ? Why would I want to watch someone else play the game,” said EV student Alexis Lopez.

Seán has used his fame to make a better life for himself, improve his YouTube/ gaming “setup”, and to donate enormous amounts of money to various charities.

Along with Let’s Plays, Seán also uploads vlogs talking about things that are going on in his life and answers silly and serious comments from fans. He is one of the fastest growing YouTubers in the world and he has shown no sign of stopping.

Jae’Lyn McClain Editor in Chief

sions on what the best setup is for maximum performance.

Doctor, lawyer, pilot, vet, trash man.

Those are some of the jobs everyone knows exist because we see them every day. But what other kinds of jobs are there out there in the world? Paint gets made and, rubber is there when we need it, but how do we get it? How do we become the one who makes nitrogen ice instead of just watching YouTube videos about it? In this world it takes someone to do everything, and the only way for you to be able to find your dream job is if you know it exists. Here are ten jobs you’ve never been told about.

Ethical Hacker Like doing illegal things but don’t like the consequences? Then an Ethical Hacker is the job for you! You do the same work by hacking into companies security systems but you

Video Game Player If video games is your thing and you beat them on the regular, being a professional video game player could be something you’d excel in. For $50k a year you can test games out with other people trying to get to the highest level possible.

COURTESY OF YOUTUBE

Anthony Lopez Reporter

“My best high school memory was last year when they told me I got like a 3.8... basically when I had a high grade.”

- Damel Nixon

Power Line Helicopter Pilot Is there a power line near you out of service but hasn’t fallen over? No problem!

There’s a helicopter whose job is to float in mid air while there’s someone either fixing that tower or just inspecting it. Just for sitting in the air you could make $100,000 a year.

Bomb disposal diver For $168,000 dollars a year and only working two months out of every three, you could start descending to the bottom of the sea looking for unexploded grenades, bombs, shells, and land mines.

Race Engineer Are you a fan of NASCAR? Do you watch the Daytona 500? Instead of just watching the track you could be the one building it.

As a Race Engineer, you take feedback from the racers and analyze the data and make deci-

FREEIMAGES.COM: BORIS GASBEEK

10 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Jobs You Didn’t Know Existed

Divers are needed to swim underwater and take care of explosives. don’t get in trouble because you are simply just seeing how protective their protection truly is.

Unexploded Ordnance Technician Like when things go boom? Well as a UOT you’re the one who blows things up to see how dangerous or explosive they are.

Chief Listening Officer If you’re a naturally nosy person and enjoy knowing others’ conversations, this could be the position for you. With all that goes on in the world social media, headquarters need people to monitor people’s conversations and mentions.

Ice Cream Taster For those of you who couldn’t wait for Dairy Queen to open back up, you could get those sweet treats year round and get paid to eat them. Ice cream companies need to know if consistency, taste, appearance, and smell all are appealing to buyers.

Food stylist Are you one of those people who likes to Instagram all of their meals before they eat them? Well why not turn that annoying trait into a paying job! For $77k a year you can prepare food for magazines. It’ll reach a lot more people than your 700 Insta followers!

Disneyland Face Character Now this may be a job you’ve seen before, but at Disneyland animated characters come to life and they make good money while doing it. For $32k a year you can make a child’s dream come true and pay your light bill.

ow to Dominate Any Social Media in 4 Steps

Step 3: Hashtags

A video (with over 500,000 views) by vlogbrothers where Hank Green explains the situation of the “Adpocalypse.”

YouTube: The ‘Adpocalypse’ Anthony Lopez Reporter

Step 4: Partnerships

Big YouTube ad buyers such as PepsiCo, Wal-Mart Stores and Starbucks have stopped buying YouTube ads due to the video company’s inability or unwillingness to block potentially controversial content from appearing alongside their ads. These companies and others ceased buying ads on YouTube when Jack Nicas from the Wall Street Journal reported on YouTube’s inability to control on which videos their ads appear. Several ads were seen on at least five different videos that are considered racist and not family friendly. This boycott was meant to send YouTube a message, to hurt the company and force it to meet their demands.

Boycotts often happen when companies do not meet a group’s needs or requests. In this case, the ad boycott is not only hurting YouTube, but individual employees who might have nothing to do with the problem: the content creators, who get most of their income from AdSense. These people rely on ads to pay for the things they do on YouTube, as well as common things such as rent and food. Some even have YouTube as their full-time job, with no other income to keep them going.

Some creators (including the biggest one of them all, PewDiePie) have responded to the boycott in videos stating how they think that no one will associate the ads with the actual video.

These people hope to reach out to the companies and convince them that there is nothing to worry about, but the corporations haven’t budged. In fact, by com-

plaining, these YouTubers are assisting the boycotters by getting YouTube to notice that their employees are upset and that something needs to change soon.

Although YouTube has apologized for the mix up, they still have not fixed the problem. Ads still pop up on whatever video the site thinks is right. The solution to the problem has not been easy. The site relies mostly on automated systems, because, according to fortunelords.com, the site gets about 3,000 hours of content every 10 minutes, which is too much for any human to handle.

Plus, it’s cheaper to have a computer do it than to hire employees to take care of it. In the end, YouTube promised to hire more people to help create more sophisticated programs to help prevent this problem from ever occurring again, but it will take some time.

According to Matt Watson from the YouTube channel Supermega, Jack Nicas’ article was written to hurt “bigger YouTubers,” but instead it affects “smaller YouTubers” like him. Matt and his partner Ryan Magee have stated that they barely make any money now that there aren’t any ads on YouTube and that they blame Jack Nicas himself.

This boycott has done what it was meant to do and a bit more. The companies most likely will not be back until YouTube updates their algorithm in order to better police which types of videos ads might pop up on. Until then, YouTube will continue to see that drop in revenue and YouTubers will keep complaining about it. They may even be forced to find normal jobs so they don’t go completely broke.

11 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

JUAN MORALES

Step 2: What to post?

STEP FOUR: PARTNERSHIPS. The fourth and final step is simply making friends. Sure, you’ll have your friends that are following you already, but as you grow, you are not going to know every single one of them personally. At this point, you should be pretty well established as a social media account with a satisfying number of followers, but if you want to maintain your following, you’re going to need some assistance.

By making friends and forming a partnership with someone of an equal or greater amount of followers as you, you can agree to give each other a share or shout out every once in awhile to benefit the both of you. You scratch their back and they will scratch yours in return. In the process, you both attract more and more people to both of your profiles.

It is also important to know which platforms are the best to start out on. According to social marketing website Smart Insights, out of the 3.7 billion that make up the earth’s population, 2.7 billion have social media accounts. The same website shows Facebook’s ranking as the number one social media website with 79% of adult users (ages 18-34). Instagram comes in second with 32%, Pinterest with 31%, LinkedIn with 29%, and Twitter with 24% as of a study shown in 2016. It’s a safe bet to start off on Facebook and gradually expand onto other platforms as your following grows.

With time, your popularity will increase tremendously and you could very well be the next big thing gone viral. But, as a wise man once said, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Always be responsible and cautious on any social media you come across and beware of any and all threats while online.

Choose the right audience that will better benefit you. With the help of this list, make the right choices, stay smart, and stay connected!

JUAN MORALES

STEP TWO: WHAT TO POST? A wide variety of social platforms alNow that you have your unique profile low human beings to interact, communicate, set up, step two is to know what to actually engage, and create on a daily basis. In just post and send out for the world to view. Whatseconds, with a single tap of a finger, we can ever your interests are, whether it be music, access any platform of our choosing and in- art, literature, heroic characters, or even your teract with other people thousands of miles favorite TV series, it’s always best to add a huaway. Social media has conquered the 21st morous blend to it. Who doesn’t love a good century, and the biggest gift the last decade has laugh? This requires sharing or creating your given us is the ability to hold multiple realms own comedic images (popularly recognized as within our very palms.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Snapchat... the list of interactive worlds goes on.

Millions of people join these social networks each day, but the question is, how does one account stand out from the rest? If you have a certain interest that you want to share with the rest of the world, what is the proper way of getting it out Step 1: Presentation. there? If you have a busi- Amp up your cover and profile photos. ness, how do you promote and inform people memes) revolving around most of your interabout it? How can you gain a large following ests.

If you surround yourself with friends/ and dominate any social media? followers with the same interests as you, they are likely to like and share the content you STEP ONE: post. If the content is original, (you’re the PRESENTATION. A car dealership can’t grab someone’s one who posted it), it’ll draw more people to attention if they don’t have inflatable tube your profile and increase your following. As men waving around in the wind, theme parks popular as digital images are, sometimes short, wouldn’t attract customers if they lacked all entertaining videos can have a bigger impact. the luminous lighting that lured them in, and Also, it’s important to have your content relate you can’t gain a following on social media if to most of your audience. The more that peoyou don’t put a creative twist on your profile. ple feel a personal connection to your posts, Don’t just stick with the default profile picture the more the posts will be shared so their outlines and cover photos that are given to you friends/followers can see it, and so on. This step is the most essential part to getting your after signing up.

The first thing you may think of choos- name noticed on social media and a good way ing for a profile picture is a selfie you took five to grow a small following, but the next step minutes prior to creating your profile. Instead, could have the potential to make you go viral. try adding a photo of you expressing yourself in a favorite setting, something that tells a STEP THREE: HASHTAGS. At this point, your profile is growing, but story. Mobile photo editing apps such as PicsArt, Prisma, and Retrica can even amplify the it’s growing slowly. If you want to pick up the image to catch any eye that comes across it. speed and gain some momentum, you have to By doing this, you attract people to open your really get your name out there. Step three is profile and view the image so they can see the all about using hashtags. Hashtags are used to story being told throughout it and get a better put you in any category that will reach every idea of the kind of person you are. If done corner of any platform. When using hashtags, right, they’ll be interested enough to send you you break out of the bubble of your current a friend request or follow you instantly just for following and you reach out to the people who

aren’t following you. When using hashtags, you want them to relate to the post itself and it’s important that they are kept short, sweet, and right to the point. You don’t want your hashtags to be full sentences, but rather keywords that users might search for. When possible, choose a hashtag that is already popular, and people following that search term will find your posts as well. By expanding your profile to more people, the chances of a celebrity or well-established web account sharing your content is increased greatly.

COURTESY OF YOUTUBE

coming off as a cool dude/dudette.

JUAN MORALES

Juan Morales Social Media Editor

JUAN MORALES

H

FEATURES

Driver’s Ed 101

The Gay Straight Alliance group meeting in the library. The group meets weekly to discuss way to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues at Everett.

Everett, LGBTQ+ Friendly Willow Baldwin Business Manager

Everett has over 1,600 students going to our school. According to www.hrc.org, four out of ten Americans identify as LGBTQ+.

Another recent survey found that 64% of LGBTQ+ teens do not participate in school activities, for fear of being bullied. Everett’s Gay/Straight Alliance works to help bring that number down, by spreading awareness.

The GSA club meets Thursdays, 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. in room 209.

While the 64% statistic may seem high, there are many at Everett who express support, and hope that the school is an inclusive place for gay teens.

“I’m a big supporter, I know a lot of people who are gay. It could be better, and I know a few of my friends have been verbally bullied for being gay,” said 8th grader Jaina McCraight.

While Everett

has a reputation for diversity and acceptance, there are students whose behavior they say is unacceptable.

“Sometimes [there] are bashing, [and] bullying about it, people being treated differently…To be [LGBT+ friendly is being] accepting and loving and understanding,” said freshman Alyanah Simmons.

Simmons isn’t the only one who said that have seen bullying of LGBTQ+ students.

“I’ve seen people who are lesbian or gay talked about or bullied,” said sophomore Ryan Bowman.

There are more people who’d like to share there opinion on it. They think Everett is indeed LGBTQ+ friendly.

“Sometimes I think Everett is [LGBTQ+ friendly], but there are a lot of times where I can be skeptical about it,” said freshman Mark Cummins.

While some students said that they had seen mistreatment of LGBTQ+ students, some teachers said that those behaviors don’t show up in their classrooms.

“I don’t think I notice kids being bullied for it, maybe that’s because I don’t see it in my classroom,” said English Teacher Brittany Dambro. “I’m always interested in how we can tighten the community… I would hope [that Everett is LGBTQ+ friendly], especially in 2016.”

One group that is working to strengthen support for LGBTQ+ students is GSA (Gay/Straight

Alliance). The GSA is a group that talks about bullying of the LGBTQ+ community and how to make not just Everett’s community, but everyone else’s community a better place as well.

Most people at Everett seem to be supportive, and have a positive attitude towards the lives of LGBTQ+ students at Everett.

“I support the LGBTQ+ community very greatly because I think anybody that loves anybody else should have full rights as anybody else,” said seventh grader Oliver Hamilton.

Clubs like GSA are a chance to spread the word to students who are unaware of the issues in the LGBTQ+ community.

“There’s definitely certain students who have discriminatory points of view, but through education there are opportunities to change those people’s points of view,” said history teacher Timothy Walker.

Students taking segment one of Driver’s Ed at Everett.

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From the moment we were born, we started to learn. We learned how to eat so we would be strong enough to crawl. We learned how to crawl so we would be strong enough to walk. We learned how to walk so that we can travel greater distances to grow.

As we grow, we all come to the age where we are ready to learn beyond the basics. Beyond crawling, walking, and even the knowledge behind riding a bicycle lies a more advanced form of transportation: driving a vehicle.

This past March, students throughout the school signed up to participate in the Capitol Area Driving class under the teachings of instructor Brad Woll. As of this writing, Woll is in the process of teaching students the ins and outs of Segment One within their driver’s training, with three-week classes. Woll, along with second instructor Brian Murley, are also in charge of giving students their first taste of maneuvering around the road to work towards their required hours of practice. Conveniently enough, this after-school class takes place right here at Everett.

“In the classroom, [Driver’s Ed] is much easier, but on the road it’s still kind of easy. It’s simple. You’re stressed the first time going out and the next time you’re just more relaxed,” said sophomore Julia Tominski.

Unlike Tominski, who has had prior experience behind the wheel, many students are experiencing their first taste of operating a vehicle.

“It was pretty exciting,” said freshman Will George. “I was very nervous at first but eventually I calmed down and got used to it.”

After his first time out on the road, George took some time to reflect on what he could improve on and what he aspires to learn next.

“Turning and slowing down at stop lights and stop signs [can be improved]. I want to learn how to drive on the highway and how to switch lanes,” George said.

As anxious as George is to get back out driving, his class partner, freshman Lisa Nguyen, wasn’t too ecstatic about her first experience.

“It was really scary because I didn’t know what to do. It was my first time [and] I was bad at it. I still need to learn everything,” Nguyen said.

To students like Nguyen who may feel

overwhelmed during their first few times driving, sophomore Makayla Chandler has some reassuring advice for them.

“There’s a lot more rules than it seems like, [but] don’t freak out over the idea of driving. Be calm,” Chandler said.

Experienced drivers such as Chandler and Tominski even have their own set of challenges that they aim to accomplish.

A common goal between the two of them was to learn how to parallel park, which is a rather advanced technique that they will learn in the future.

For now, they can only dream of what they’ll actually be parking in when it comes time for them to own their own vehicles.

Chandler says that she wishes to own a Cadillac Escalade in the future, while Tominski’s dream car dates a few decades back in time.

“My dream car is a 1957 Corvette Convertible. In yellow,” Tominski said. She later said that she would settle for a brand new Chevy Impala as well.

As for Driver’s Ed as a whole, students find the class worthwhile.

“It’s a good experience and for basic drivers it’s very helpful because I’ve learned a lot already.” George said.

Tominski encourages every student at Everett to sign up for classes within the school if able, instead of signing up elsewhere.

“If it’s more convenient to go to Everett and get your driver’s training, do it.

Don’t go to Holt because you think Everett’s gonna be jankety. I knew people that were like “You’re gonna do it at Everett? That’s so dumb.” I’m like “Why is it dumb? I’m gonna get the same experience here as I am at Holt or any other place.” It doesn’t make any sense for me to drive all the way out to Holt or anywhere else, or to go out to Sears, when I can literally just go to the school itself,” Tominski said.

For those who are thinking about taking Driver’s Ed, or to anyone who’s hesitant about taking it, Tominski encourages everyone to give it a shot.

“Do it. Just do it. I promise, it won’t be a waste of your time,” Tominski said.

May 22 is the next available class start dates. Summer classes are also available for June 19th, July 10th, July 31st, August 21st, and September 11th. For more details on driving times, locations, and pricing, visit www.capitolareadrivingschool.com.

JUAN MORALES

12 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Juan Morales Social Media Editor

WILLOW BALDWIN

FEATURES

FEATURES

Featured Viking Students and Staff She makes the class entertaining.

In addition to being a fun teacher, some students said that Everyone has their Orr is their favorite because she own favorite teacher, but cares about them. there are many students at “I had her since 8th grade Everett High School who and I was a very bad kid in that say they think math teacher grade,” said sophomore Noah Sheila Orr is the teacher Smith. “I started giving up on who best fits that category. sports and my grades; she made Orr has taught at Everme get on track and made me realett for five years. She has ize what I had, and not to throw it taught 8th-12th grade, and all to waste.” currently teaches regular Orr’s goal as a teacher is to high school students and bring out the good in her students.

New Tech.

She always believes that students Orr, 26, married her have something special that can be husband Justin Orr five built upon them. years ago, and they have “I enjoy working with Mrs. been a very happy couple Orr. Our personalities match since then. They have a perfectly she is an awesome codog named Luna who will Mrs. Orr works to make teacher when we plan our work be six in January. Their dog class fun for her students. together our ideas just bounce is a Portuguese water dog. off each other,” said New Tech She has one sibling, a sister named Sarah. teacher Ashley Teed-Colbry.

Orr plays math games with students to help Orr helps students understand math in a fun students understand what she is teaching. way, she makes her students want to learn.

“My favorite moment is the computer “Mrs. Orr is a big help because she breaks games. The whole class can connect by using Mrs. down everything and no matter how much you Orr’s game code; we would all connect and play don’t understand she will constantly show you against each other,” said junior Milecia Griffin. different ways to understand,” said Griffin.

Brandon and Donovan: Twinning comes naturally Alexander Perez Reporter

Freshmen Brandon and Donovan Gonzalez-Espinoza are identical twins. If you don’t know their names, you probably still know who they are. They are well known for wearing the same outfits and even have their hair styled similarly every day to school.

They started out wearing uniforms at a charter school for four or five years, and when they left that school they decided to just keep wearing the same things to school.

They don’t wear the same outfits to impress people, but because they think it’s an amazing idea.

Though they are identical, they don’t have the same personalities. According to Brandon, Donovan “talks a lot.” Brandon is more quiet and conservative, “unless you really get to know him.” Also Brandon pointed out that “I’m taller and a little bit skinnier.”

One of their most memorable adventures they had together was going to Disneyland.

“We have a lot of memories that are good but one that took in place was in Disneyland, because it was fun

and our first time going,” said Brandon. His favorite ride?

“It was like the splashy ride, I don’t know what it was called, it was like in the log.”

The best part of having a twin, they both said was “having someone to talk to.”

Donovan and Brandon both play football, and enjoy going outside.

“We both play the same sport, we do everything together,” said Donovan.

Their God sister junior Erika Rojas, said that the matching outfits began even before charter school.

“When they were little, they used to wear the same clothes all the time, but now I probably think they would like to change their outfits, but I still see them around with the same clothes,” said Rojas.

According to Rojas, the brothers do sometimes dress differently outside of school. But if you see them in the halls of Everett any time soon, chances are they will definitely be twinning. Both said that they’ve been doing it since they were young, and they don’t see any reason to stop now.

Keegan Moubray Reporter Three months into the school year and already the 213 Everett seniors are itching to graduate. Josh Hurst is no different. He’s really looking forward to his final days of high school and then going into the Army. As of now, Hurst can’t enlist since he’s still going through school, but he’s waiting his turn to serve, like his family.

“I want to join the Army once I’m out of school. I’ve had this dream to join the Army since I was a young boy listening to my dad’s stories when he served. He also talked about the stories his dad told him when he was a young boy himself. This pushes me to serve for my country since it’s gone through my family for generations,” said Hurst.

Until he has the chance to go into the Army, he spends his free time on video games and sports. But he doesn’t play those alone though. He spends lots of time with his friends.

“I like to hang out with friends and play basketball and football. I also like to play video games like Call of Duty or G.T.A. But camping out with my friends and family has to beat everything. Stay-

Senior Josh Hurst enjoys hanging with friends and playing video games. He looks forward to joining the Army after graduation. ing out at [my stepdad’s] lake property is absolutely my favorite activity overall because I’m with my friends,” said Hurst.

When Josh is out at the lake, he

hangs out with friends of his and family. However he most often hangs out with his friend, Sergio Martinez. They usually find themselves taking care of each other and helping one another with whatever it may be. From lending cash to comfort, they always have each other to turn to in a sticky situation.

“I find Josh a good friend, he always has my back when I’m low on cash, always giving me rides when I need one, and is willing to help me when I’m sad.

He has [taken] care of me, and I do the same for him,” said senior Sergio Martinez.

Josh goes out to see Sergio at a lake property owned by Josh’s step father.

His step father only has positive things to say about Josh and overall, thinks highly of him and is very proud of his stepson.

“Josh is a good son and definitely a hard worker. I find Josh pushing to become what he wants in life and that makes me very proud of him,” said Steve Schmitt.

Excited about the army, Hurst is counting down the days until graduation. Until then, he will hang out with friends and family, work hard and get through the rest of the school year.

Brandon and Donovan standing next to each other in matching Hollister jackets and jeans. The twinning that started a few years ago at a charter school just never stopped.

13 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Angelica Bermudez Reporter

For Josh Hurst, it’s about friends, family and country

JUAN MORALES

New Tech teacher Sheila Orr shows she cares

FEATURES

Staff Speak Out on Sanctuary City Repeal Just nine days after the law was passed, the Lansing City Council decided to repeal their initial vote on naming the state’s capital a sanctuary city; in other words, a refuge for undocumented immigrants. Shortly after the 6-0 vote on April 3 that declared Lansing a sanctuary city, a second vote took place which resulted in a 5-2 decision to officially reverse the legislation.

The City Council then reaffirmed Lansing as a “Welcoming City” for undocumented immigrants.

Council member Judi Brown Clarke said that the term “sanctuary” is “problematic” and “distracting,” according to a report from The Detroit News. It came as a surprise to many that Lansing would take such a bold step in the first place to welcome a sanctuary Militia stand beside citizens outside of the Capitol for immigrants, but it may sing becoming a sanctuary city. have caused even more of a shock when the sing City Council, the core of this predicament lies in Washington, D.C. Since before reversal was made April 12.

As a result, one staff member feels that he was elected, President Donald Trump conan injustice is being committed. This staff tinuously promised to change immigration member, who has requested to remain anony- laws drastically. Now, just four months into mous, is in full support of Lansing as a sanc- his presidency, he’s acting on them. This, of tuary city and feels that the law, once passed course, is where it comes back to Lansing. A recent Michigan business group letter reads, the first time, should have stayed in place.

“I understand why [Lansing] would “Recent actions of City Council, whether be afraid to become [a sanctuary city], or intended or not, have placed an unnecessary why they would feel awkward, or bad, or it target on the city of Lansing while jeopardizwouldn’t work out, or something would go ing millions of dollars in federal funding that wrong, or whatever. But I think we should be impacts the city budget.” President Trump anyway, because I think it’s important to let has recently called for withholding federal

funding to any city that declares themselves a sanctuary for immigrants. This may have lead to the ultimate decision of recalling Lansing’s vote to become one, with $6.5 million (the city’s average funding) on the line.

“Do I think [Trump] is trying to help, trying to make the world a safer place, or trying to ‘make America great again’? No, I

Anderson then goes on to speak about the necessary process that she believes all immigrants should go through if they wish to become legal citizens.

“If you’re fleeing a country because of political oppression or something like that, that’s one thing. If your life is in danger. But if you leave your country illegally and come here

it,” said Anderson.

Often in political decision making, one is faced with three options: to agree, to disagree, or to remain undecided. At first, the latter of the three is where Geometry/Algebra teacher Ernest Estrada’s opinion lays.

“I didn’t understand why [City Council] would vote for something, yet didn’t understand what it was. They then turned around and voted it back and took it off. So now we’re no longer a sanctuary city,” Estrada said, “So that was more puzzling to me than anything else. Why would they vote for something if they didn’t know what it was for?”

Estrada clarified that he wasn’t in support of Lansing becoming a sanctuary city, however, he isn’t fond of Trump’s immigration promises either.

“I don’t think anything good is gonna come in support of Lan- Attendees listen in on a Lansing City Council meeting . out of it if he continues to attack the population don’t. I think he’s trying to line his pockets. illegally and you’re not being oppressed...then and immigration,” Estrada said, referring to And I don’t think he cares who he steps on or you’re breaking the law and you shouldn’t be Trump. As of now, the resolution still stands. hurts. I don’t think he cares about anybody,” here,” Anderson said. “You should go about For the residents who were looking forward it legally. If you don’t like the way that the to Lansing being established as a sanctuary Anonymous said.

However, a counter to Anonymous, laws are, then you should get somebody who’s city, how they will be affected is still to be deSpanish teacher Marie Anderson is in support in the United States to help you redo those termined. Although not very likely, each staff of the current non-sanctuary city legislation laws.” member revealed that Everett could possibly Anderson sees the sanctuary city vote as be affected due to the large intake of immiand states that Trump is in fact helping the an example of the kind of democracy she is grants and refugees within the school setting.

American people.

“I don’t believe that [Trump’s] actions talking about.

The chances of the City Council reconsider“It’s the law of the land and if you don’t ing are little to none, and as an editorial from are against immigrants,” Anderson said. “I don’t look at it as in the negative. I look at it as agree with it, then you work to repeal that law. the Lansing State Journal says, “There’s nothin he’s trying to protect Americans. So he’s be- So, apparently, there were enough people that ing more to do now, except let the storm blow didn’t agree with it and they worked to repeal over.” ing proactive to keep the United States safe.”

PATRICIA MORENO

people know they’re safe and this is the right place for them,” this staff member said. “On one hand, [the government is] like, ‘We’re gonna take your funding away.’ We can’t afford that. On the other hand, they’re like, ‘We’re gonna take your people away.’ Well that’s… horrible.”

Beyond the laws passed through the Lan-

PATRICIA MORENO

Juan Morales Social Media Editor

May means looking back, and setting goals for next year 14 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Jennifer Tran Features/Entertainment Editor There are many different types of goals students can set for themselves to motivate them throughout the school year, whether it be academic goals like getting good grades, or sports goals like participating in a school sport. As the year is coming to an end, students could be reflecting on how this school year has been going and how much progress they’ve made with their goals while also planning to think of ways to work hard in order finish off the year strong.

For many students, they started off the school year hoping to get good grades and tried their best to reach their goal.

“Well, I wanted to get all A’s and B’s.

Some of my grades were not okay, but I did accomplish it,” said seventh grader Wendy Ngo. Seventh grader Angel Buck completed a similar goal as Ngo, and she also has planned

out ways to achieve some For stunew goals in the future. dents like senior “[My end of the year Nuriza Mambetgoals are] to be more ambialieva, support tious, expand my learning from friends has preferences and how I feel helped her reach about school,” said Buck. her goals.

“I plan to seek help when “For people needed and to read more, to reach their pay attention to when begoals, they should ing tough, and to come to have motivation school with a better attiand they should tude.” have friends; for Some students have me it was really taken initiative by using difdifficult for me to ferent methods in order to find friends,” said be on track with reaching Mambetalieva. their academic goals.

“Start with little Ngo said if she does With only days to go, students are working to make it to that finish line. steps, find out poorly on a quiz, she asks information… If grade on it. She tries not to get distracted with the teacher if she could get points back by fixthey need help, they should ask someone beplaying on her computer when needing to do ing the answers she got wrong. She also asks cause you can always find someone to help.” missing work. to resubmit an assignment if she got a bad While trying hard to work towards their

good grades, some students have noticed a change in themselves.

“I have become less shy and try to be more brave by raising my hand in class,” said Buck. “I have been becoming more academically mature.”

Mambetabelieva, a foreign exchange student from Kyrgyzstan, advises students to go for their dreams and try new experiences.

“I [recommend that] all the students of Everett to become an exchange student and try to live somewhere else with a different language and different culture,” said Mambetalieva. “Most of the students in America seem like they don’t have a goal. They are just working and just thinking about money; how to get it and how to pay for college… Life is not all about money. Socialize, make friends, and travel around the world!”

ENTERTAINMENT

OM

Rising Hipster Music: Glass Animals & Blackbear Glass Animals AMAZON.C

be thought about to find a meaning.

One of my favorites from Zaba is “Black Glass Animals is an indie rock band that first Mambo.” The song has a became active in 2012. The members of the band are pleasing, calming tone durDave Bayley, Drew Macfarlane, Edmund Irwin-Singer, ing most of the song while and Joe Seaward. The group released their debut alsomehow also sounding bum in June of 2014 called Zaba. Since then they have threatening or intense. My released an additional album in August of 2016 called favorite song from How to be How to be a Human Being. Glass Animals can be found on a Human Being is “The Other many music streaming sites such as Spotify and Pandora.

Side of Paradise.” It that it has a They can also be found on YouTube and iTunes, Google nice beat that leans more on the um newest alb Play Music and iHeartRadio. edge of invigorating rather than ver of their co rt a m u alb g.

It is not likely that many of the students and staff of The relaxing but still uses relaxing voHuman Bein ow to be a H this Everett have heard of Glass Animals, however those who cals. The lyrics also speak from the album, what is said is have will know that they have quite unusual instrumenpoint of view of another person tals in most of their songs that aren’t seen often anywhere not necessarily what is meant. There are very many Glass rather than from the singer’s point Animals ’ YouTu else. The foursome explores a new area of music that is not hidden meanings in the songs that Glass Animal of view. be chan nel that seen as frequently elsewhere. In most of their songs, there is makes. In the album Zaba, it can take a fair amount of This band is overall a very nice genfeatures their mu usually a relaxing or upbeat mix of both electronically syn- thinking to figure out what is meant but there is not just one eral more elecband to listen to while alone or with sic vide os. thesized and acoustic instruments that blend together with meaning to anything they say. You may be able to find your tronic. The tone tends to be different friends in a relaxing environment. On soft vocals that even when loud and energetic can create own meaning in this album. a scale of one to ten, I would give this for each album also, while Zaba has a more relaxed ton of The album How to be a Human Being takes a different turn music, the latter album is more upbeat and energetic. Both band an 8/10. It may sound odd listening to this at first something that is very pleasurable to the ear.

When it comes to their album Zaba, the tone tends to stay when it comes to instrumentals. Zaba tends to have a more albums however have a middle ground where they both but over time I had come to greatly appreciate their music. acoustic instrumental tone while How to be a Human Being is tend to have unclear meanings behind the lyrics and should relaxing throughout the entire album. Throughout most of YOUTU

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Jordan Phan Online Editor

Matthew Tyler Musto is also known as the artist Blackbear. He is a singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Blackbear has not clarified how he came up with his rapper name, preferring to keep that and other parts of his life out of the public.

His career began in 2012, and he has collaborated with well known artists such as Mike Posner, T. Mils, and others. He also co-wrote the song, “Boyfriend” by Justin Bieber which has over 580 million views to date.

You can find Blackbear music on YouTube, SoundCloud, Tunein, Spotify, Google Play music, and iHeartRadio. His songs aren’t recognized with millions of views, but Blackbear fans continue to support him, and keeping him noticed, but he has not yet broken through to mainstream music.

He has produced multiple albums and EPs, six in total, three of them being Help, Deadroses, and Drink Bleach. Getting a lot of good ratings from his fans, Deadroses received more attention than the rest since it has more reviews on it. It caught a lot of people’s attention because of the beat and most of all, his singing. It feels as if he put more effort into this album then the rest.

One of his well known songs in his Drink Bleach EP has over 1 million views,

called “Girls Like U,” which is about how Blackbear wants a relationship that he never got in return, ending up with being cursed and blessed by having someone who loves him in return.

Another song on Drink Bleach was “Obvious” ft. Mike Posner, which has more than 400,000 views. This song is about how a relationship he was in wasn’t affectionate at all, but was instead a doomed relationship that didn’t really hang on enough.

The song “Obvious” ft. Mike Posner has a rhythm that suits his singing. His voice is powerful and holds a lot of meaning. As if his voice is the only reason why you’re staying to listen to the rest of the song, and could be categorized a lot, through feelings and emotions since it holds a piece of beauty and depression. The sound is slow and picks up the pace for the couple verses and then it goes back to how in sounds in the chorus.

Blackbear is still active. He continues to pursue in music and will be releasing new songs in the future. His fans are selfish, and many don’t want him to be well known, so they can keep him to themselves. Some say that’s one reason he hasn’t gotten popular as he should be. Other fans are concerned that if he doesn’t get more popular, he may stop making music.

Sooner or later, it will be up to him how his music will spread. 7/10

His EP Drink Bleach on June 17, 2016. It features other artists such as Mike Posner and P-Lo. There are five tracks in total on it.

15 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Alexander Perez Reporter

AMAZON.COM

“My favorite memory in high school is that beautiful sound of the final bell ringing and me running home to freedom.

Also seeing all of the seniors at pep rally wearing the senior shirts that I drew.”

- Zaria Cannon

AMAZON.COM

Blackbear

His most recent EP called Cashmere Noose was released on August 2, 2016. It has 6 songs.

ENTERTAINMENT

Jane the Virgin: An offbeat show with something for everyone

AMAZON.COM

Cate LeVeque Reporter

A Jane the Virgin advertisement starring the characters: Jane, Michael, Rafael, and the baby, Mateo.

A telenovella is a type of show that is usually a dramatic or funny soap opera and has a big storyline, and is generally known for being in Spanish or having Spanish in it. Right now, one of the most popular telenovelas is Jane The Virgin, which can be found on The CW. If you like comedy, thrillers, surprises, and romances, then this is the show for you.

This show keeps you on your toes and itching to watch more. The show is currently on its third season. New episodes air every Monday.

Jane the Virgin is a romantic comedy about a girl who lives with her mother and her abuela (grandma), and who is engaged to a handsome detective. She is also determined to remain a virgin until marriage so that she doesn’t repeat her teenage mother’s mistakes.

But that plan gets flipped upside down when Jane goes in for a regular checkup at the clinic and gets accidentally artificially inseminated with her boss’s sperm, by her boss’s

sister. This was a very confusing moment in the show and it was kind of hilarious how it all played out. His sister was drunk when it all happened so she inseminated the wrong girl and had to tell her brother that she used his last sperm on the wrong lady. It was awkward to say the least.

Jane’s life is constantly filled with mistakes, broken hearts, kidnappings, drug lords, killings, and difficult life choices.

The main characters are Jane (Gina Rodriguez), Jane’s boss Rafael (Justin Baldoni), Jane’s father Rogelio (Jaime Camil), Rafael’s wife Petra (Yael Grobglas), her boyfriend Michael (Brett Dier), her mom Xiomara (Andrea Navedo), and her abuela Alba (Ivonne Coll).

This show tries to impress all audiences.

If you like thrillers, then you would love this because there are things like murders, drug lords and kidnappings. Just a bunch of crazy things to keep you on your toes and practically foaming at the mouth for more episodes.

For those into romance, they get to watch as Jane constantly falls in love with people

such as detectives, bosses, and more.

Also, you get to watch as Petra and her mother battle with their love lives as well.

There’s also the joy of watching most of these relationships crash and burn in the swindle of things.

For comedy lovers, the show is narrated by a guy with a Spanish accent and a sarcastic quip, who makes the show even funnier than it already is.

Recently, this show has upped itself on the popularity charts and has gotten people into watching more telenovelas. The actors on this well-written telenovela have won countless awards for their performances, and the show itself was recently just nominated for an award for being the best comedy series by the Critics Choice Television.

I would give this show an 8 out of 10 on how good it is. They tend to leave a lot of cliffhangers at the end of every show and it tends to be annoying but besides that everything else is absolutely amazing. I love it and you should definitely check it out.

KICKTH RAM: @ INSTAG EPJ

M: @KICKTH

Are you looking for a new YouTuber to watch? Do you want someone creative and crazy? KickthePj may be the person you are looking for!

KickthePj’s full name is PJ Liguori.

He is a 25-year-old English (British) YouTube photographer, entertainer, comedian, artist, storyteller, and musician. KickthePj is a YouTuber whose content is full of made-up stories, and weird characters.

Currently, his main channel has over one million subscribers, and his side channel PJTheKick has over 356,000 subscribers.

He has 461,000 followers on twitter, and has 645,000 followers on Instagram.

His channel is funny and enjoyable, and he uploads videos weekly and currently has over 260 videos on his channel.

He is considered to be a semi-popular YouTuber. His target audience is worldwide, but the majority of his viewers are American and British. His channel(s)

vary between the ages 11 to 45+, but he is known to be a PG-13 channel. He has mild swearing in his videos, but generally is good about what he does online.

Slurp is a Q&A series on his main channel, and side channel PJTheKick. He is best known for his short film Tiny Planet Explorer, and his channel ve for kicked off from there. He calls ing his lo uori show ig L J P his viewers/audience Tiny Planet nture Time.

Explorers, and has been on You- Adve Tube since 2007. His short film felTiny Planet Explorer won a Virgin low YouTubers Dan Media Award in November 2012. In late Howell (danisnotonfire) and Phil Lester 2014, he and his filmmaking team part- (Amazingphil), currently with over 2 milnered with New Form Digital to create a lion views. “Would You Rather” is a Q&A 10-minute short film pilot Oscar’s Hotel Peej did, which included dirty jokes and For Fantastical Creatures. In September weird questions. Peej is also a part of a 2015, his six-week web series Oscar’s Ho- famous group called the “Fantastic Fourtel premiered on Vimeo. some” which is a group of British YouCurrently, his most viewed video is Tubers, including PJ, Phil Lester (Amaz“Would You Rather? EXTREME!” with ingphil), Dan Howell (danisnotonfire), INSTAGRA

16 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Willow Baldwin Business Manager

EPJ

Featured YouTubers: KickthePJ

KickTh e feature PJ’s YouTub e YouTub ers Da channel. Som n Howe e ll and P of his more hil Les popula and ter. r uploa ds Chris Kendall (Crabsticks). They all play a characand ter in KickthePj’s web series Oscar’s Hotel. personality, and He is a funny and quirky character, a few of his characters and works he’s his YouTube channel has loads of origi- done are entertaining. I do not dislike his nal characters. My favorite character is other work, but feel a neutral opinion Wiggles The Clown, a psychotic, funny, about it. 7/10 and crazy clown. I mostly like his humor

ENTERTAINMENT

Artists and Bands Coming to Michigan Michigan brings in a lot of artists throughout the year with something for the tastes of everyone. Whether you’re into rap or even metal, there’ll more than likely be an artist who performs in Michigan at a given time of the year that you have the opportunity to go check out. Now that the school year is coming to a close, there’s more opportunities

Pop

Clean Bandit 5/01 Mike Posner 5/02 The Weeknd 5/24 Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull & CNCO Tickets 6/28 Alessia Cara 7/6* OneRepublic, Fitz and The Tantrums & James Arthur Tickets 7/19 Bruno Mars 8/12

Alternative/Rock/Metal

Breaking Benjamin 4/30 The Maine 5/5 Veil of Maya 5/10 Animals as Leaders 5/11 The Story So Far 5/19 Ticket to Rock (Deftones, Incubus, Korn) 6/9 Deftones with Rise Against 6/10 Chon 6/13 Miss May I 6/27 All Time Low 7/20 Dance Gavin Dance 7/21

to go check out a favorite artist or even check out a new one. Most artists come to Detroit and Grand Rapids, which aren’t drastically far away. You can find tickets on ticketmaster.com with the prices varying. There are also music festivals like Vans Warped Tour and Common Ground, which is right here in Lansing! Listed below are list of artists coming to Michigan in the near future of a variety of genres for you to check out!

Indie/Hipster

The Xx 5/02 The Black Angels 5/9 The 1975 5/22 Palaye Royale 6/9 Jaymes Young 7/23 Foster the People 7/29-7/30 PVRIS 7/29 Young the Giant 8/3

Hip-Hop/R&B

Desiigner 5/01 Trey Songz 5/03 Kehlani 5/10 Chance the Rapper 5/18 Future with Migos, Tory Lanez and Kodak Black 5/28 Blackbear 6/9 Big Sean 7/9* Fetty Wap 7/9* *- will perform at Common Ground

JORDAN PHAN

Ruth Horta Features/Entertainment Editor

A collage of promotional pictures for some artists/bands’ tours with concerts in Michigan, including The Weeknd, Future, Bruno Mars, and The Story so Far.

Gorillaz is a four person digital band run by tons of animators and artists, but created by two people: Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. It’s known as the first “virtual hip-hop group.” Now, after seven years, they’ve released their newest album HUMANZ! The full album was released April 28, and fans have been happy with it, but some say it’s not as great as some of their other albums.

“I think it’s good, but not as good as the other [albums],” said Nexus Academy Sophomore Kinzer Kofoed. Because this album features more featured artists than any previous album, it sounds less like Gorillaz on some tracks. This is one reason Kofoed prefers some of their other albums.

The album has 26 tracks, which includes an intro and six “interludes.” The interludes on the album are basically just transitions between themes of each song. The album has a lot of different sounds to each song, so it’s believed that they have tried to make their music appeal to people with other music tastes. Some of the genres in the album are hip-hop, or reggae, and even electronic/techno.

A few of their new songs make you want to dance and maybe sing along, too. “Momentz (feat. De La Soul)” has an upbeat hip-hop sound to it.

A lot of the music on the album contrasts their older music, which brings something new to the band. For example, “Busted and Blue” is a lot slower and sounds a bit sad and intense.

“[It sounds] really chill, I’d imagine chilling on a field at night or something [while listening to it],” said Holt Sophomore Emily Williams. The story behind that song is that, 2-D ( the main singer out of the four digital band members) is struggling to come to terms with the domination that the internet has over the world. The lyrics Where do they come from? / The wires that connect to us are believed to be a reference to cyborg Noodle, who was introduced to the band’s storyline back in 2009.

“Hallelujah Money (feat. Benjamin Clementine)” is another great one, having a gospel/slow sound and has techno/ game type music to go along with the lyrics being sung.

“Ticker Tape (feat. Carly Simon, Kali Uchis)” is also really good, and has a sweet beat and sound and was well received by fans.

“That was a good chill song, not a party jam, but good to listen to,” said Williams.

Kofoed agrees with Williams on “Ticker Tape.”

“It really fit with the style of the album,” said Kofoed.

Some other great songs are “We Got The Power (feat.

Jehnny Beth), which has an 80’s pop sound, and “Carnival (feat. Anthony Hamilton),” which has a more soul-pop one.

Some other great albums Gorillaz have are The Fall, which was their last album before their seven year break back in 2010. Plastic Beach, released the same year, was ranked in many Top 10 Albums of the Year lists. Demon Dayz is another great album, and contains many popular songs you may have heard before. Overall, the album Humanz sounds great and you should totally go listen to it! 3/5

The cover-art for Gorillaz’ newest album Humanz which was released April 28, 2017.

17 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Willow Baldwin Business Manager

AMAZON.COM

Gorillaz’ Humanz: a welcome return filled with collaborations

ENTERTAINMENT

Excitement builds for Captain Underpants

TWITTER: @DAVID_SOREN1

Christopher Ruiz Reporter Captain Underpants is making a jump to the silver screen June 2. It’s going to be a animated remake of the short story comic book.

Many kids and teens are excited for this film because Captain Underpants was their favorite superhero book star. The comic book was a huge success. Captain Underpants books are about two boys named Harold Hutchins and George Beard who are big trouble makers in school. These boys drive everybody crazy, especially their mean principal. One day one of the boys gets a hypnosis device that can make anybody do anything they want. They use that to their advantage and

end up turning their mean principal into their favorite superhero, Captain Underpants. After they did that, Captain Underpants (AKA the principal), ran around the city fighting crime while Harold and George follow him to make sure he doesn’t get in too much trouble or hurt.

“I really used to like reading the Captain Underpants books because they were really funny and I liked the pictures,” said senior Darius Jackson.

Fans hope the movie keeps that original storyline for the film. Many people are excited that George Beard is going to be played by comedian Kevin Hart.

“I love Kevin Hart he is one of my favorite actors,” said senior Dalen Rosario.

Kevin Hart isn’t the only well known actor that’s going to be in the film, because Captain Underpants will be played and voiced

by Ed Helms. Ed Helms has been in some of the funniest movies ever to be in theaters, but the movie that he really blew up in was The Hangover. He was super funny in The Hangover so I know he’s capable of helping Captain Underpants be a great movie. This movie could really be a big hit, as Captain Underpants is surrounded by a huge fan base. Every kid loves funny cartoon movies. The trailer came out and people thought it was really funny.

“I think the movie would be a good movie to see with your family” said senior Cameron Jackson.

A promotional picture for Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie

YouTube Red: Is it Worth Your Money?

YouTube is used by everyone around the world. It’s a video-sharing place for people to learn new things like tutorials, DIY’s, etc. The most popular thing of it is the music videos that are uploaded. Lives probably would’ve been really different without YouTube. Now, YouTube has created their own way of watching without getting interrupted called YouTube Red, a paid subscription service which works offline, is ad-free and includes YouTube’s music. The subscription was launched October 28 and costs $9.99 a month. You can start now by getting a 30-day trial. The best

part about YouTube Red is that you have ex“I don’t really like the fact that I have to clusive movies and video series of some of the pay my own money out my pocket for someYouTubers that you’re subscribed to. YouTube thing that already works fine when it’s free,” Red is a premium version of YouTube. It offers better features, qualities, and it’s useful.

“YouTube is a great way to see what others are up to and I like it because I can watch videos that I can’t watch on other websites,” said freshman Binita Biswa. “I enjoy the tutorials. [I don’t] think YouTube Red is that bad. It’s just like paying The YouTube Red logo for a Hulu or Netflix account.”

Some people disagree and they say that said freshman Isha Lugendo. “I think it’s a waste of time and money. YouTube is there it’s a waste of time. for free. I wouldn’t mind the advertisements.”

YouTubers like Rudy Mancuso and Liza Koshy have exclusive shows and movies on YouTube Red. With paid subscription, you won’t miss out on any video series or movies. There are movies like Dance Camp, Unicorn Island, and Lazer Team.

“I decided to try out the free trial to see if it’s useful. I think it’s interesting and I still use it. One thing I like about it is that it has shows and movies of people’s YouTube channels,” said senior Neema Abakuki. “One of my favorites is a COURTESY OF YOUTUBE

Changwa Ali Reporter

movie called Dance Camp about teenagers and their dance teams. I really enjoyed this movie. It seems more real than other movies I’ve watched.”

According to Google, YouTube Red subscriptions also gives you a Google Play Music subscriptions, as long as you’re signed in to the same account on YouTube and Google Play.

“I thought it wasn’t worth it at first, but the shows and movies are pretty good and since I have Google Play Music,” said sophomore Marissa Zarewa. “If I pay for a YouTube Red subscription, it also covers my Google Play Music subscription, so it’s like a bonus for me.”

tired of the production of so many sequels and remakes of older films.

“I personally feel like the movies are being repetitive because of the fact that directors are constantly remaking movies,” said Phan. “So it really is disappointing because you’re constantly judging the new ones to old ones and after a while it gets old.”

Many students do not think superhero related movies will not be as popular in the future as they are now.

“I feel like [the popularity] is going to decline because they’re going to run out of ideas for new plots,” said junior Danielle Ellsworth.

Other fans disagree and believe the fame of superhero movies will continue.

“Everyone loves fantasy and everyone wants to be a superhero when they grow up,” said Carruthers.

Movies that students can look forward to soon or over the next few years are Wonder Woman (June 2, 2017), Spider-man: Homecoming (July 5, 2017), Thor: Ragnarok (Nov 3, 2017), Justice League (Nov 17, 2017), Black Panther (Feb 6, 2018), Avengers: Infinity War Part I (May 4, 2018), Ant-Man and The Wasp (July 6, 2018), and Aquaman (July 27, 2018).

Movie poster of Spider-man: Homecoming which is set to be released on July 5.

COURTESY OF AMAZON

Many Marvel and DC superhero movies are being produced to be shown at theaters in the near future. The popularity of the movies keeps increasing especially with successful movies like Suicide Squad, Deadpool, The Wolverine 3, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 that came out recently in the last two years.

Even students who are not a big fan of movies enjoy watching superhero and supervillain movies.

“I personally don’t like movies much at all, because I can’t sit through a whole hour,” said junior Lisa Phan. “But I enjoy superhero movies quite a bit because they include action, sarcastic remarks, and romance. All three of my favorite things in a movie.”

Some people go to see the movies because they have read the comics.

Assistant Principal Marcelle Carruthers said they remind him of his childhood of when he was a comic book fanatic. His favorite superhero from when he was young was Luke Cage who was the first African American superhero. A new Luke Cage series just premiered on Netflix late last year

Even though some people have found superhero and supervillain movies to be entertaining to watch for a long time now, many students have noticed them being especially popular recently.

“I think they’ve always been popular,” said junior Elian Arambula. “I think they’re just getting more buzz now because Suicide Squad and Deadpool were highly anticipated movies. There are a lot of movie and comic book fans and casual movie watchers that like to see action movies like them.”

Some students think many people were not aware of the different superhero and supervillain characters until the recent discussion of the movies online.

“Not a lot of people know about DC and Marvel. I guess [the movies have gotten popular] because on all the social media everyone is talking about it,” said freshman Donny Ngo. Despite the large amount of movies that are going to be released and the possibility of repetitiveness, some fans still remain hopeful that the movies will still be worth watching.

“Each one is different from the next and they’re all entertaining,” said Arambula.

Other students said that they’re getting

Movie poster of Thor: Ragnarok which is set to be released November 3.

The new logo released for the Aquaman movie set to be in theaters next year.

TWITTER: @BESTOFDCFILMS

18 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Jennifer Tran Features/Entertainment Editor

COURTESY OF AMAZON

Popularity of Superheroes Movies

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19 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

WIKICO

MMONS

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SENIOR

Valedictorian finds success through perseverance

20 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

As the spring season nears its end, students throughout the building are focused on completing their final weeks before summer.

For most students, the end of the year revolves around preparation for the next grade level. For senior Jerald Bullock, the end of the year means preparing for the chance to speak in front of his friends and family on graduation day.

“It’s kind of an honor, being a valedictorian... It’s what I’ve worked for,” Bullock said.

“It’s an honor to finally be rewarded for all the hard work that I put up.”

Longtime friend and fellow senior Dalen Rosario described how far Bullock has come.

“Last year, he wasn’t as high [in the class rankings] as he is this year. Last year, around finals time, he completely stopped talking to everybody and just did homework for like three weeks straight,” Rosario said.

Rosario credits Bullock’s work habits and how his dedication leads to school work being his first priority.

“He would do homework occasionally [back then], but now homework is a consistent thing for him,” Rosario said. “I’m just proud of him and all the hard work he’s put in and the countless hours of studying and blowing off ‘The Game’ (Call of Duty).”

Rosario says that even video games couldn’t distract Bullock from his academic success.

“All freshman year and sophomore year,

we used to play “The Game” and classes. Elliott says that Bullock then he started texting us and stressed to her that his tradiwas like ‘I can’t play, I have to do tional classes weren’t “challenghomework,’” Rosario said. ing” enough.

Bullock said that one in“He was placed in that spiration that motivated him to general class, I bumped him reach his goals came from within. into my Honors, and then asked “My biggest inspiration was him if he wanted to do AP and probably myself because nobody he’s like, ‘I want this’. I was like, made me do what I did and they ‘Alright!’ and so he did. He was were all my choices,” Bullock one of the top in my AP class said. too. I would definitely say withBullock also adds that some in the top five,” Elliot said. people in his life played a big role After complimenting his in his success as well. witty sense of humor and de“My parents, especially scribing how good of a class [helped me to reach my goals]. leader he is, Elliott expresses I pretty much did it for my parhow much she appreciates ents and my sister,” Bullock said.

Bullock’s selflessness when it “Most of my teachers were [also] comes to helping out fellow very supportive of me and liked classmates. me,” he adds.

“He wanted to make sure U.S. History teacher Lothar that [his classmates] had a ride Konietzko comes to mind when to the AP exam, and he didn’t Bullock describes his teacher’s have the number for one stusupport and admiration. dent, so he made sure to con“What I like about [Bullock] tact me and say, ‘Hey, is there a is that he actually cares where he’s way to get in touch with her so at. So, he’s never not concerned she can make sure she’s here?’. about his performance,” Koni- Senior Jerald Bullock is enjoying the rewards that come How amazing is that? It’s not etzko said, “I’d say the most posi- from hard work. just about the studies. You can tive thing that I like about Jerald excel in that, but compassion? credits Bullock on his academic performances. is that he will actually engage in That kid’s there,” Elliott said. discussion… He’s not afraid to say things, to Elliott says that she admires Bullock’s ambiAnother rather important person in Bulltion to seek out challenges within his educa- ock’s high school life has been his girlfriend participate in class.”

AP English teacher Robin Elliott also tion, especially when he transitioned into her and fellow senior Samantha Gifford, who Honors World Literature and AP English JUAN MORALES

Juan Morales Social Media Editor

“My favorite memory of high school is having B lunch back in 10th grade. We’d just sit around our table and talk and laugh. We always made jokes and laugh so hard until we cried.”

- Dylan Xiong

couldn’t be more proud of all his hard work and dedication.

“I’m proud of him because throughout the entire time, he’s always doubted himself.

He made it, so I’m proud of him,” Gifford said.

Gifford thinks that Bullock’s writing skills are one of his best attributes. She also believes that a message for all students can be taken from his persistence in excelling in all of his classes.

“No matter how much you doubt yourself, if you stick to it, you’ll make it,” Gifford said.

As Bullock puts the final touches on his graduation speech, he can’t help but think of his future aspirations while doing so. Bullock has his sights set on Olivet College and says that he’s going into Business Management and will pursue a career in the Economics field.

“I want to be the first person in my immediate family to get a college degree,” Bullock said.

Bullock has a message of his own for anyone who aims to become a valedictorian student in the school.

“Just don’t stop. It’s gonna be stressful, but you just gotta keep going.”

Graduation takes place on Sunday, June 4. The Commencement Ceremony will take place at 6:00 p.m. at the Lansing Center. For additional information on dress requirements and times, ask for a “Senior News - Class of 2017” handout, stay connected with The Voice on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram, or visit myvikingvoice.com for updates.

SPORTS

“I can’t come. I have practice, sorry.”

Days are packed for successful student athletes, but they say it’s worth the effort.

Shower 8:20-8:50 6:30 Wake up 7:15 Head to School Dinner 9:00 p.m.- 9:45 p.m.

School 7:25- 2:40

Homework 10:00 p.m.- 12:00 a.m.

Practice (day) 5:15-7:15

Game(day) 4:35-8:00

JESSALYN EMBRY

Bed 12:00 a.m.

Student athletes work to juggle jampacked schedules, find success Aaleya Perez Reporter Being a student is sometimes hard to keep up with in itself, but being an athlete and a student at the same time can be very hard to manage. When you’re an athlete you have to practice, focus, and give up your free time. Being a student athlete you have to do all of that while keeping up your grades in 6/7 classes.

You go to school, then right after you have practice. If you have to get your homework done that night then you better squeeze it in because that’s not your coach’s problem, or your teacher’s.

Coaches check your grades every month or so to make sure you’re staying on top of them. They give you one chance to get them up and if not then they will kick you out because they don’t want to give you the privilege of playing the sport you want to play if it’s

getting in the middle of your work.

Freshman Makyla May plays volleyball; she used to play basketball to but it got to be to much for her and she quit. She has sometimes thought about quitting volleyball but decided against it.

“I practice five days a week for two hours,” said May. In her practice they do footwork(footsteps leading to hits/spikes), practice hitting, new plays, then they work on certain skills. In vol-

leyball, Makyla says she can finally put her height to use. She likes to be in volleyball because she’s really good at the sport. She says that it can get to be really tiring because she goes to school for eight hours then practice for two. Then, once she gets home she has to do homework and chores. For a while, her grades started going down because she was juggling two sports and school so she was forced to quit. She really liked basketball but there wasn’t anything she could do because

she was starting to do bad in school due to the stress it added onto her.

Freshman Jazmine Nathan plays two sports, volleyball and pom and she says she’ll never quit.

“No matter how hard it gets I’ll never quit,” said Nathan.

She knew that she would be kicked off the teams if she didn’t keep up with her grades so she paid extra close attention in class and made sure to do her homework.

21 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Repeat 6:30 a.m.

Broken Seasons, and Broken Bones

SPORTS

Players know injury

Rolled ankles, pulled muscles: The may be unavoidable sports trainer heals them all Anthony Lopez Reporter

Cate Leveque Reporter

Being an athletic trainer can be a stressful job. Especially if while you’re trying to pop someone’s knee back into place, their parent is staring at you from across the room.

Being an athletic trainer can be a lot more stressful than one think. You have to be able to stay calm in high intensity situations, act, move and, think quickly all while the thought that someone’s career is in your hands.

Like paramedics, athletic trainers are the first on the scene, the ones who give quick stabilizing care until the next destination has been met.

Kevin Rosenbrook, age 23, is Everett’s trainer.

Rosenbrook enjoys his job and, being apart of a player’s transition to wellness is his favorite part about it. “[The best part about my job] is being able to help people on a daily basis, and watching their growth from the beginning of their injury until they are healed,” said Rosenbrook.

But before you start popping knees into place and, correcting kinks in backs you have to be trained, and get your certification. Where can you receive the knowledge you need to follow this career path? In these places: you need a four year

Though it can be stressful at times, trainer Kevin Rosenbrook says he loves it at Everett.

bachelor degree or a masters at University of Michigan, Western Michigan,or Grand Valley. If you have dreams of working in the pro leagues, an additional educational program is needed called KAATE, an accredited athletic training program.

Everett is a school population of 1,600 students, and Rosenbrook is the only guy we’ve got to help players who need him.

“I have trouble with time management, every season has too many sports.

I’m always rushing around, trying to help

too many kids at a time. I seem to be rushing around from the soccer field to the football field to help out,” said Rosenbrook.

Despite this slight disadvantage and, sometimes stressful part of the job Rosenbrook wouldn’t have it any other way.

When asked if there was anything he’d like to add with a smile on his face Rosenbrook simply yelled, “GO VIKINGS!”

Knowing how to prevent injury can save you pain

22 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Kaylin Nguyen Business Manager

For many, playing sports is one of the best things in the world. It validates their competitive nature, and includes an element of danger.

1.35 million youths a year have serious sports injuries. Student athletes have to find ways to put the work, effort and passion into what they love, but also stay safe. There are many ways athletes can prevent injuries.

Wear the right gear.

Protective gear, such as helmets, protective pads, and other gear are important. Players should wear appropriate and properly fitting equipment such as pads (neck, shoulder, elbow, chest, knee, shin), helmets, mouthpieces, face guards, protective cups, and/or eyewear. Young athletes should not assume that protec-

tive gear will prevent all injuries while performing more dangerous or risky activities, but they will definitely help.

Warm up and cool down.

It’s not a good idea to just bolt on to the field and start playing. You shouldn’t even start stretching until you’re a little warmed up. You should condition before the season begins, then be loosened up and be ready to play on game day.

Know the rules of the game.

If you don’t know what you’re doing you’re not ready and that’s not only bad for you but it could affect other team members. For example, cheerleaders have to know how/what stunt to perform and if they’re lost their flyer could fall and get hurt very badly.

Watch out for others.

Just like you other people are trying

to stay safe. Like baseball athletes should watch where they’re throwing the baseball. Baseballs aren’t light and soft. It could send someone to the hospital.

Don’t play when you’re injured.

If you’re injured, let the coach know.

Safety should come first. If you continue to play things will only get worse. “Make sure you have a proper warm up, take a light jog and stretch so that your body is ready to exercise. Cool down and stretch again and come back to a normal resting state. Take breaks in between so you don’t over exercise,” said athletic director Kevin Rosenbrook.

The most common sports injuries are: Sprains and strains, knee injuries, swollen muscles, achilles tendon injuries, pain along the shin bone, fractures, and dislocations. That doesn’t sound very nice. You wouldn’t want that either so play hard and stay safe.

Over 7 million students participate in high school athletics every year. Two million of those 7 million will suffer some sort of injuries, 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations each year. These athletes can suffer from as little as a lightly sprained ankle to a severe concussion. Almost all athletes have a story to tell about the worst injury they have ever sustained while playing sports.

Football players have to run all the time and while running, anything could happen.

“Probably just twisting my knee the wrong way,” said former football player Andreas Lopez. “When I was running it got pushed to the side and then straight down.

It hurt so bad that I couldn’t play for the rest of the game.”

An injury of that sort is common in more than just one sport; basketball players face the same problem. They have to “juke” and “cross up” every player they come face to face with, and well… Sometimes their whole body doesn’t go the direction their mind does.

“While I was playing, I stepped to the left too quickly and I hurt my ankle. Turns out it was sprained,” said basketball player

Joshua Davion.

Even sports that seem like they would be low impact can cause injury.

“I played golf when I was in high school,” said former golf player Jon Deford.

“I swung the wrong way and something snapped in my back. I couldn’t bend down for days. ‘Till this day I still can’t get a good swing in.”

Long term or even short term injuries really can take a toll on an athlete’s mind; but not just the athlete’s. Someone close to the athlete, like a coach can be deeply affected by something like that as if it happened to themselves.

“When one of my players gets hurt, I silently pray that he is okay and that their parents won’t be angry at me,” said basketball coach Steve Wardlaw.

Injuries have been a part of sports for as long as they’ve been around. It’s become accepted, and an issue the sports medicine world continues to try to improve. Athletes know that anytime they step on the field something could happen, and it could be the last time they play. A sports injury, especially a serious one not only affects the body, but the mind as well. And high school athletes, for the love of the game, have become prepared to take that risk every week.

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SPORTS

Lansing Newcomers: Giving refugees a safe haven they can call home Together, the Lansing Soccer Club Newcomers pass, shoot and score to dominate the game against their opponents. A few passes around the back field, and slowly they make their way up the field with great controlled touches, finishing the push forward with a ball smashing into the back of the net. They take their last win of the indoor season with a dominant 16-5 score, finishing a close second in the league.

The Lansing Newcomers were not always so dominant in the Lansing area, and they weren’t much of a team, either.

The Newcomers team was inspired by the book “Outcasts United,” which is about a team of refugees in Georgia. Sergio Keck, Lansing School District’s Director of Instructional Support Programs, was inspired by the story. Along with a colleague at the Refugee Development Center, he created the LSC Newcomers team in 2012.

“After I read the book, I said ‘we can do [this] here in Lansing,’” said Keck.

Through the collaboration between the school district and the development center, the program for Newcomers was created. Students at Gardner middle school would be given two days of tutoring after school and two days of training each week.

In 2012, official soccer culture was new to the newcomers. Many people in other countries do not need the fancy stuff like cleats and shin guards to enjoy soccer. Rather, kids will play barefoot in any condition, but the new equipment and officiated games were a new experience to the team.

At first the team struggled, but they pushed through the losses and kept battling until success came their way.

“We lost the first five games and then we finally scored our first goal,” said Keck.

“It was the most exciting thing ever.”

There losses was mainly due to the lack of chemistry among the players, and disunity between cultural groups. Players

would only pass to teammates they knew, and the team was not very successful.

“At first we lost so many games because no one played together,” said former LSC Newcomer and current Everett

to the community, the newcomers got the chance to broaden their experiences.

“We got a van from the church, which we used to take kids all around,” said Keck. “Many kids had never been out

the community. By reaching out to newcomers they can get the help to succeed and contribute as American citizens.

The Newcomers team played in many different communities and there

senior Parang Khanal. “Nepalis were passing to Nepalis and Burmese were passing to Burmese. But when we all played together we won and it was more fun.”

While the opportunity to play soccer is great for the newcomers, the exposure is a valuable part of the experience. Tutoring helped them be successful as students and open up to others.

“We have tutors to help with homework and it is very useful,” said LSC Newcomer Lawn Kim. “I got to meet new people and make friends. It’s great to have this community.”

The newcomers usually don’t get as many opportunities to see the world and go out as often as most people. The daily experiences others are accustomed to, can be fascinating to newcomers. And thanks

of Lansing, and one time we took them to Jackson and one kid says, ‘I counted 25.’ I was confused and I asked ‘25 what?’

Then he says ‘25 dead animals.’ He had never seen roadkill before and was actually counting. To most people it’s a normal thing and this kid actually took the time to count it.”

America is known to bring people of different cultures together, which lead to a “melting pot” being symbolic of the diversity, which has been shaped on a culture built on immigration. Although some people do feel uncomfortable about letting immigrants and refugees in, others welcome them making America a second -and in some cases- a first home. This welcoming attitude allows the kids to feel more comfortable and more open with

were cultural differences. Playing in areas like Grand Ledge, East Lansing, and Williamston was a cultural experience for both the newcomers and the communities receiving them.

“The exposure the other communities received was a tremendous success, [as well as] how kids got to learn about other people,” said Keck. “It bridges a lot of uncertainties people have about newcomers.”

Newcomers may arrive without the language capability to easily fit into society, but that does not mean they lack the ability to be successful and eventually contribute to society. The are able to succeed and getting past the language is one additional obstacle.

“Many of these kids have academic

skills,” said Keck. “They have the skills that get them ready for the university level. And think about this, in one generation it transitions from the parent fleeing, to children going to college and changing their lives. The sacrifice pays after one generation. They show strength.”

Language is the first step for the integration of newcomers.

Through tutoring and interactions with English speakers allowed the students to develop their language skills. Being surrounded by fellow English learners allows the students to have more confidence when speaking.

“We hope that [this team] is a safe space to share ideas and try new things to find who they are,” said senior school liaison Mariah Shafer, a representative from the Refugee Development Center who helps coordinate tutoring.

Although the team creates a special group, it was not meant to separate the newcomers from the rest.

“One goal is integration,” said Keck. “We want the newcomers to know there are other pathways to play soccer. Many more join regular soccer teams, and see that it does not have to be a special group.”

Those who do work with the newcomers are happy to meet and interact with the group. Just like all kids they like to have fun, play jokes and laugh.

“I learn from the everyday things they say,” said Shafer. “Their humor is the best and I think most adults could learn something from being with them.”

These newcomers were able to adapt to the changes and succeed on and off the field. They united with each other and with community around them. The community has welcomed them and in time they can transition from newcomers to fellow citizens, contributing to society as doctors, teachers, or innovators. It just goes to show, as Sergio Keck wants everyone to remember, that “when society welcomes you, you become a better citizen.”

23 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

Ali Aljazi Opinion Editor

PHOTO STORY

“[Prom was] everything I expected but better,” said prom queen Xitlali Garcia.

24 • The Voice • May 23, 2017 • myvikingvoice.com

A night on the red carpet