Arlingtonian vol. 1 2021-2022

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

VOLUME 85, ISSUE 1

ARLINGTONIAN

B ACK L A S H A ND B AT HRO O M S : BEING QUEER AT UAHS READ NOW ON PAGE 20

IN THIS ISSUE

FEATURES, NEWS & NOTES

Masks, Germs and Vaccines

A Trip Worth Waiting For Junior Katie Harris describes her long-awaited trip home to Ireland.

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The coronavirus pandemic has continued into a third school year—and brought fresh controversies with it.

Fresh Faces

New staff explain their roles and careers.

Maskless Mosh Pits Despit the surge in the pandemic, music festivals have returned.

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Challenging the Board Meet the three challengers for the upcoming school board election.

SPOTLIGHT

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Backlash and Bathrooms Upper Arlington’s first ever Pride event is the most recent chapter in a long history of being queer at UAHS. SPORTS

OPINION

Application Pending Columnists provide a checklist for seniors participating in the college application process.

Playing the Mental Game

Columnist discusses how to balance mental health and athletics.

Lashish the Greek

Staff writer Luke Eriksen reviews Lashish the Greek.

ON THE COVER

GRAPHIC AND DESCRIPTION

BY LUCY O’BRIEN, ’22.

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ARL Athlete: Emily Barker

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EDITORIAL

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hen designing the cover for the first issue of the 2021-2022 school year, I wanted to find a way to incorporate most of the stories in the issue. The focus of the cover, the hand, represents someone

Strength in Numbers

lifting their hand in the air, specifically at a concert or musical festival like Lollapalooza. The rainbow symbolizes the pride flag and ties in the spotlight story of the issue: “Backlash and Bathrooms”. Finally the

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mask being held in the hand, instead of worn on the face, signifies the loosening of COVID-19 mask protocols, and it is hopefully predictive of a healthy, COVID-free future for 2021.

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EDITOR’S NOTE

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elonging is vital to our well-being, and yet, it is often overlooked—until it isn’t there anymore. The butterflies and discomfort of its absence can be found when you walk into a room full of strangers or don’t know where you are in an unfamiliar building, or when you move to a new state and start sophomore year at a new school alone. But you are never alone.

There is always someone who can be a friend, a mentor, a confidant, a teammate, a lunch date—even if you don’t know them yet.

We are entering, once again, a year of transition. We have and will get lost in the halls of our beautiful new high school building, and we will be comforted by the fact that all of the other students, teachers, administrators and faculty that surround us are lost too. For the first time in decades, transfer students and freshmen will be in the same shoes as the most seasoned seniors.

When you get lost, make sure you pull out this copy of Arlingtonian for an informative map created by our graphics team. If you’re not a map person, flag down someone wearing a black Student Mentors t-shirt.

They will lend a helping hand.

This is the first year that I don’t feel like the new kid. My freshman year, I was in the company of a sea of new kids. Sophomore year, I started over at a new high school. Last ARLINGTONIAN EDITOR IN CHIEF year, the pandemic made everything feel new again. But this year, despite the new environment, does not feel new. It isn’t because I’ve lived in Upper Arlington for over two years now or because I’ve gotten the hang of the UA school system. It is because of the people that surround me. It is the passionate teachers, thoughtful mentors, inquisitive classmates and new friends that bring me a sense of belonging.

So go out and meet new people in those rooms full of strangers.

Introduce your pronouns and be thoughtful about getting others’ pronouns right each time you see them. Say hello and their name.

Invite the person sitting alone at lunch to join your table and later join you at a football game. Open your mind and uncover your biases. Find spaces where you can create change, be inclusive and lead in your community. Find your people and read Arlingtonian— our reporters will keep you informed. Stop by Ms. Mollica’s second period for new friends or to pitch an idea for the magazine. All are welcome and no one is alone.

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ARLINGTONIAN VOLUME 85 | 2021-2022

September 1, 2021, ISSUE 1

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Callia Peterson MANAGING EDITORS

Matthew Doron James Underwood COPY EDITOR

Brooke Mason ARTS EDITOR

Lucy O’Brien MULTIMEDIA EDITOR

Ava Adamantidis STAFF WRITERS

MULTIMEDIA

GRAPHIC ARTISTS

George Bernard Antonia Campbell Ellie Crespo Luke Eriksen Elena Fernandez Fia Gallicchio Gracie Helfrich Sophia Hudson Iris Mark Safia Malhotra Greta Miller Ava Stanhope

CONTRIBUTORS

Ryn Card Molly Hench Ava Neville Megan McKinney Stella Petras Sanay Tufekci

Daphne Bonilla Lauren Buehrle Ryan Efird Elizabeth Goth Grant Overmyer Gia Stella

BUSINESS

PHOTO MANAGER

MANAGER

Bella VanMeter

Parker Badat

PHOTOGRAPHERS

BUSINESS

Héloïse Dutel Maya Khevashilli Sarah McCulloch Bridget Mitchell Jayden Banks

ASSOCIATES

SPORTS CORRESPONDENTS

Jack Diwik Julia Molnar

Hayden Kegg Lauren Leff Krish Mawalkar TJ Vasudeva Alexander Wilkins

DONORS

Arlingtonian is provided free to all UAHS students and staff with contributions from the generous people and businesses below.

GOLDEN BEAR ($300+) The Peterson Family DIAMOND ($200) Your Name Here PLATINUM ($100) Jennifer Doron GOLD ($50) The Gaines Family SILVER ($25) Barbara Shramo The Leahy Family

BRONZE ($10) Barbara Hotchkiss Susan E. Louix Aric Vacciano Sheila Arata Abayhassan Jaren Woodland McChesney Yanitza Brongers The Rodgers Family The Tanner Family Mary Stucko Roger Burns Jill Paxton Jackie Gregg Trish McClanaham The Hord Family DONATE

Arlingtonian accepts donations throughout the school year. To find out more, visit arlingtonian. com/donate.

EDITORIAL POLICY Arlingtonian is a studentproduced newsmagazine published

by Journalism III-A students at UAHS. The publication has been established as a public forum for student expression and for the discussion of issues of concern to its audience. It will not be reviewed or restrained by school officials prior to publication or distribution.

Arlingtonian welcomes letters to the editor, guest columns and news releases from faculty, administrators, community residents, students and the general public. The Arlingtonian editorial

board reserves the right to withhold a letter or column and return it for more information if it determines the piece contains items of unprotected speech as defined by this policy.

The Arlingtonian staff raises and pays all printing and production costs through advertising sales, donations and fundraisers.

The Editor in Chief shall interpret and enforce this editorial policy.

To read our full editorial policy, visit our website at arlingtonian.com.

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A Trip Worth Waiting For Junior Katie Harris describes her long awaited trip home to Ireland.

BY CARLY WITT, ’23. GRAPHIC BY CAROLINE KEGG, ’24. PHOTO COURTESY KATIE HARRIS.

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ith so many vacations and travel plans cancelled last summer, junior Katie Harris couldn’t wait to take her long awaited trip to Ireland, where she was born. After not visiting for five years, Harris was very excited to see her extended family and all her favorite parts of the country.

“The best part was probably seeing my family and getting to see different types of scenery, like oceans and mountains, and stuff like that,” Harris said.

Harris was born in Ireland and moved to the United States when she was three years old. She has visited many times throughout her life, as Ireland is home to her extended family and many memories.

To get ready for the 10 hour trip to Dublin, preparation included research and lots of packing.

“We planned all the cities we wanted to visit, and how long it was going to take to get around to each of them and a lot of packing because we were [going to] be gone for two weeks.” Harris said.

She traveled with her parents and younger brother to Dublin. Once there, they met up with her aunt, uncle and cousins.

“We spent a week in Dublin, and then took a week traveling to towns like Cobh,

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Cork, and Killarney.” Harris said, “The most memorable part was probably Cobh, because it’s like a sea town. So, there’s a lot of big ships, and brightly colored houses which are really cool. It’s really, really steep, trying to get up and down that road all the time. Probably other than that, [the most memorable part was] seeing all my family I haven’t seen in a couple years.”

While in Dublin, her family stayed with her uncle’s family at their house.

When they were traveling throughout the country, they stayed in numerous hotels. Harris said the only thing that was disappointing and out of her comfort zone was the cold.

“I’m fine with a little bit of cold, but I was wearing like three layers the whole time.

But other than that it was great.”

Harris explained her favorite funny moment on the trip.

“Me, my aunt and my dad kept trying to take better pictures than each other. After I would take a picture, my aunt would sneak up behind me and try to take the exact same one, just with a better quality phone, and we were trying to do that for the whole trip, which was just a disaster, but it was very entertaining.”

She also expressed how much she loves the foods they have in Ireland, and she brought some back with her to enjoy.

“I didn’t really get souvenirs because I already have a lot, but I got fruit pastilles, and some cadbury twirls, and teabags,” Harris said.

Although Harris has been to Ireland many times, she

aspires to go back and explore more.

“I would want to travel inland to other countries other than just Ireland, because I’ve seen most of Ireland at this point. To maybe England or Spain, and probably just seeing more of the city. I’ve only really ever been in part of the city, mostly around Temple Bar and stuff, because there’s lots of little shops and stuff in there.”

When traveling, Harris said she loves to see local attractions rather than tourist attractions, especially when she’s been to certain places before.

“On this trip, when we were going to the other cities, we did a lot of touristy stuff because we hadn’t been there in a long time or at all. But when [I’m] in a familiar place, I like doing more local stuff, because I’ve already done the tourist stuff before. But if it’s a new place, I kind of like a mix of both.”

She advises those traveling to Ireland only a few things: “Layers. Bring lots of layers, especially a raincoat. And, be open to trying things that might be a little bit different than what you’re used to. And, I would also say to take a lot of pictures because it’s going to be something you’re gonna want to remember.”

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Who is Arman Ramnath?

This UAHS alum appeared on Jeopardy! earlier this year.

BY JAMES UNDERWOOD, ‘23.

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n June 24, Arman Ramnath, UAHS class of 2012, appeared on Jeopardy!, taking home an impressive $19,205 and moving on to the June 25 game. Arlingtonian sat down with Ramnath via Zoom earlier this month to interview him about his experience.

Q: Can you start by walking us through what originally had brought you to Jeopardy!?

A: Yeah, so I grew up watching it all the time, pretty much with my parents every night. At dinner or after, we would watch Jeopardy!, and so I just grew up watching it. But I never was like, “Oh, I need to be on the show.” Then, I saw that you could take an online test to get on the show, [which] they offer a certain number of times a year. I just decided to do it, kind of for fun, which was March, 2020, and then I forgot about it really.

Then, in October of 2020, they said that I qualified for the next round. I did another sort of test over Zoom with some other potential candidates. Then, in February, 2021, they said that I qualified to do a mock game over Zoom. So it was me and other people, and we competed. They had a gameboard, they shared the screen, and you used a pen to click in. They interviewed us as though we were on the show. And the first week of March, they called me and said they wanted me to come out and film at the end of March, and that’s when I did it.

Q: What was your initial reaction to that?

A: Mostly shock. The last mock game I did and the interview part—I felt like it went well. But I never actually FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @UAARLINGTONIAN

thought that I would get on the show.

When you take that last test, they tell you that they can call you any time in the next 18 months for the show.

So when they asked to talk to me in, like, three weeks later or so, I was very surprised. I did not expect that they were calling me to tell me that I was going to come on [the show].

Q: Once you found out you were going on the show, did you start to prepare right away?

A: Yeah, I Googled how other contestants prepared, and the number one thing people would seem to say is [to] watch a lot of episodes. So I would pretty much go on YouTube and watch two to three episodes a day. I bought children’s books and studied them, because I read that James Holzhauer did that, because they cover a topic broadly, but not in depth, so it’s similar to Jeopardy! question knowledge. I did both of those together. It was only three weeks between when they told me I was on and when I came out, so basically for those three weeks I did my best, just so I would feel comfortable when I actually got on the show.

Q: From there, what was your actual experience that day in the studio? Was it what you had prepared for and expected?

A: Yes and no. It’s a really busy day.

They tape five episodes in a day. It was pretty long; it’s kind of an exhausting day. There’s about a fifteen minute break between the two episodes that I did where I had to change clothes and pretend that [it] was the next day. I didn’t expect it to be such a long day.

The producers were really nice— they really want people to do well and they’re really encouraging. And then [guest host]

Savannah Guthrie got there, and she was really nice. I just graduated from Georgetown Law, and that’s where she went to Law School, and so it was nice to talk to her. All the other contestants were really, really nice. I didn’t know what it would be like to interact with the people on the show, or the other contestants, and that was unexpected, but it was very cool and I enjoyed getting to meet them all.

Q: Once the episode had actually aired, what was it like to actually see yourself on the screen?

A: It was very strange. I kept saying it was surreal, and that’s probably the best way to describe it. I was in Columbus with my parents at home, and they invited a bunch of friends, and I invited friends from high school and from UA. At first I [had] told my parents I didn’t want anyone to come over to watch it with me, because I was stressed to see how I would look on TV. But then I figured it’s such a surreal experience and even a really cool experience, just the fact that I got to be on. So it’s like, might as well embrace it and let people also watch.

Q: Do you have any tips to Jeopardy! enthusiasts, or to students who are interested in getting involved?

A: Yeah, I would just say, don’t doubt yourself about [your] ability. Because I never thought that I would get on, and I never thought that I would win, but I just remember liking the game and watching it and playing along at home. So I would say, go for it if it’s something you really want to do.

JEOPARDY! ▶ UAHS alum Arman Ramnath took home $19,205 his first day on the show.

PHOTO COURTESY CBS MEDIA

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Maskless Mosh Pits Despite the surge in the pandemic, music festivals have returned.

BY ANTONIA CAMPBELL, ’22. GRAPHIC BY STELLA PETRAS, ‘22.

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fter over a year of living in an isolated, mask-filled and fearful world, the country has brought concerts, music festivals and other large in-person events back.

With COVID-19 vaccines becoming more accessible, many people’s favorite artists are performing at festivals and confidently scheduling tours all over the country.

Music festivals such as Rolling Loud in Miami and Lollapalooza in Chicago took place in late July and had large turnouts.

Around 80,000 people attended Rolling Loud each day. Artists such as Megan Thee Stallion, A$AP Rocky, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott performed.

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each day and nearly 200 artists such as Miley Cyrus, Tyler, the Creator and the Foo Fighters. There were many parallels as far as the festivals’ lineups, although Lollapalooza was less rap based than Rolling Loud.

Regarding safety precautions, Lollapalooza required proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID test within the past three days. There were also mask rules for unvaccinated attendees.

“If you weren’t vaccinated and showed proof of a negative COVID test, you were asked to wear a mask throughout the festival,” Lollapalooza attendee and sophomore Lucy Devine said.

However, Rolling Loud did not have any general COVID restrictions.

“You didn’t have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test. I have seen

other festivals doing that, but at Rolling Loud they really had no way of showing vaccination,” senior Jimmy Chieffo, who attended Rolling Loud, said. “I’m pretty sure Florida has basically given up on trying to stop the spread.”

Masks were not mandatory for everyone at either festival, and the amount of people who chose to wear one was low.

“I saw a few people in the crowd with masks, but I don’t know how they did it because it was already hot and hard to breath without them. Most of the staff and security didn’t have masks either,” Chieffo said.

Senior Lauren Olmstead attended Lollapalooza and also saw few maskwearers.

“I didn’t really see people in masks.

If I did, it was either kids or workers,” FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @UAARLINGTONIAN

Olmstead said.

With the new Delta variant and varying vaccine statuses, it’s difficult to say for sure whether in-person concerts and music festivals are considered safe.

As of now, every person is willing to take different risks, and artists and companies are taking different precautions.

“I personally felt safe because my family and I have been fully vaccinated for a few months. But I can definitely understand someone saying they didn’t feel safe,” Chieffo said.

For many, attending the festivals was worth the risks.

“I had a really good time overall.

There were a few problems like sets starting late and having to wait in super long lines, but I still can’t complain because I got to see almost everyone I’ve ever wanted to,” Chieffo said.

The pandemic has left lasting effects, even if most aspects of life are generally back to normal.

“I had a lot of fun and I definitely wasn’t expecting that many people.

I think COVID has really changed me socially where before I would love FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @UAARLINGTONIAN

hanging out with people at the festival, but now I am a little more shy when it comes to concerts,” Olmstead said.

More festivals, such as Breakaway and WonderBus, are coming soon to wrap up the summer. Artists such as Elton John and Tyler, the Creator are coming to perform in Columbus early next year and students are excited to attend these events.

“I plan to go back to Lollapalooza and [see] other artists like Caamp, Tyler the Creator, and many more,” Devine said.

AMONG THE CROWD ▶ People cheer and wave their hands in the air near the Rolling Loud stage in Miami.

PHOTO COURTESY JIMMY CHIEFFO

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vaccine; in Alabama, that minor must be 14, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. In most other states, including Ohio, minors aren’t able to be vaccinated at all without their parents’ permission.

UAHS junior Rahul Rajaram said he didn’t run into any problems getting vaccinated.

“Both my parents were vaccinated, both my parents support vaccines, both my parents supported me getting vaccinated as well,” he said. “So I am fortunate to not have had issues with that.”

Junior Annie Hu had a similar experience.

“My parents were pretty supportive,” she said. “My parents actually got vaccinated first.”

Masks, Germs and Vaccines

The coronavirus pandemic has continued into a third school year—and brought fresh controversies with it. BY ELENA FERNANDEZ, ’23 AND JAMES UNDERWOOD, ’23. GRAPHICS BY DAPHNE BONILLA, ’22.

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asks. Social distancing. Hybrid learning. One-way hallways.

The 2020-21 school year still lives in the collective memories of UAHS students. Yet as students return to school from a summer with a taste of normalcy, COVID cases have begun to rise, inviting debates and controversies old and new back to the public sphere.

GETTING VAXXED? The COVID vaccine was first authorized for teens in Ohio on March 18, 2021, as announced by Governor Mike DeWine.

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were vaccinated in the three zip codes including UA Schools, according to Franklin County Public Health data obtained by Arlingtonian, leaving about a third unvaccinated.

One problem behind getting teens vaccinated is parental permission. While data is sparse, anecdotal evidence, covered in a New York Times article published in June, suggests that letting teens make the vaccine decision for themselves may be an important step in increasing vaccination rates.

In the meantime, some teens are getting vaccinated without their parents’ permission—often illegally.

Indeed, the laws vary wildly by state. In Washington, D.C., a minor must be 11 years old to get the

MASK UP, REDUX As teen vaccination rates slowly inch higher, an older aspect of a broader public health debate has resurfaced: masks.

Over the summer of 2021, a petition to the district circulated throughout the community asking that the district require students to wear masks for the 2021-22 school year.

“We strongly urge that the school board reimplement a mask mandate for the 2021-22 school year,” the petition stated. By the time it was submitted to the district on August 9, it had attained just over 800 signatures.

Rajaram, too, supported another mask mandate.

“I do think [requiring] masks in

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schools is a good idea,” he said. “I was planning on wearing a mask regardless.”

The controversy reached a boiling point at a Board of Education meeting on Aug. 10.

At that meeting, held at the Upper Arlington Municipal Building, parents on both sides spoke passionately about the issue. Some said that parents should make the decision for their children— not the district.

“It is not your responsibility, as elected members of this school board, to make health and safety decisions for my children,” one parent said. “It is not your job.”

Ultimately, the board voted to require masks for pre-K through middle school.

High school students, on the other hand, are encouraged to wear masks.

“The Board of Education also strongly recommended that [UAHS students] wear a mask when indoors on school property,” the district said in a statement.

The district is also advocating increased “outdoor time,” with weather

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permitting, in which students of all grade levels are not required to wear masks.

The district’s mask policy does not distinguish between vaccinated and unvaccinated students—under an Ohio law set to take effect later this year, it can’t until the vaccine receives full FDA approval. Still, the district is asking that families submit scanned copies of students’ COVID-19 vaccination cards.

Vaccinated students exposed to a student

with COVID-19 would not need to quarantine.

TUMULTUOUS TIMES

This year’s masking controversy parallels more general, and more intense, issues brought up during the 2020-21 school year, a time that notoriously saw students swing back and forth from online to hybrid, and eventually settle on in-person schooling, five days a week. As students finally finish unwinding from last year, some have solidified their opinions from the vantage point of hindsight.

Rajaram, for example, said he was not impressed with the one-way hallway policy.

“I don’t know if that is a guideline

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▶ BOARD DECISIONS The UA Board of Education met Aug. 10. The board voted at that meeting to require masks for students K-8.

PHOTO COURTESY UA SCHOOLS

that should [have been in place],” he said.

Nonetheless, Rajaram said he was in general satisfied with the district’s response.

“I think the district responded pretty well,” he said. “I thought some things maybe should have been dealt with a little bit better, but, looking back, I think that the district was in a very difficult decision, trying to balance education and the safety of students.”

Hu shared a similar sentiment.

“I think that they did try to keep people safe with the information they had,” she said.

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Fresh Faces

New staff explain their roles and careers.

BY CALLIA PETERSON, ‘22 AND MATTHEW DORON, ‘23. GRAPHIC BY CAROLINE KEGG, ‘24.

PHOTO BY BELLA VANMETER, ‘22.

MEET MS. LOCKWOOD

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fter serving as director of Vocal Music at UAHS for three years, Lydia Smith-Lockwood, or “Ms. Lockwood” to her students, replaced Matthew Jordan as assistant principal over the summer.

After pursuing an undergraduate degree in music therapy for three years, Lockwood switched to music education during her senior year at Willamette University. Her “foray into the education arena” was a practicum where she worked with preschool students with special needs.

“I wanted to be in the classroom or in the schools with kids,” she said. “I thought music was the perfect medium in which to engage the students.”

Lockwood began her career in education at an intercity middle school.

A few years later, she got a masters in education from Wright State University while serving as a faculty member in the history department. For the next five years, she worked at the same middle school where she began. She then worked at a rural high school in Springfield, Ohio for eleven years before coming to UAHS. In 2015, Lockwood began to pursue a doctorate in educational leadership. Her dissertation examines issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in schools, with a focus on how it relates to teachers and their professional development. Lockwood hopes to complete her doctorate by next May. “I’m very passionate about issues of equity for students as they relate to socioeconomics, racial [and] cultural

diversity and just equitable access for all students,” she said. “We need to make sure that we are honoring everyone within the frame of the system. I believe the administration is very committed to that, so I’m very excited to be in this position.”

In her new administrative role, Lockwood will be engaging with students during Power Hour, and she said she hopes students will come to her office on the third floor to talk.

“Students just need to know that I am really looking forward to engaging with them on different levels, and I want to continue to have that student interaction in my daily life,” she said. “We as administrators are accessible. I don’t want any student to feel like they’re alone.”

MEET MS. GARRETT

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lintonville native Dominique Garrett has filled MaryAnne Nyeste’s shoes as school counselor for students with last names beginning with C, D, Q, T or V. Garrett received a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology from Ohio Wesleyan University and was on the school’s track team. She then got her masters in school counseling through an online program with Liberty University.

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becoming a long-term substitute at Dublin Coffman High School and West Central High School last school year.

She chose to pursue high school counseling to help students prepare for their careers after they graduate.

“I went into counseling … to help students to see the realm of possibilities and to understand there is more than one route to take after high school,” she said.

Her goals for her first year include getting involved in as many activities as possible and getting to know multiple facets of her students. “[I want] to get the well-rounded

picture of students besides just academics, because I know there’s way more to every kid besides just school,” she said.

Garrett said she is “more than happy” to write recommendation letters and assist seniors with college applications, but understands that many students feel their teachers know them better and would prefer recommendations from them rather than their counselor.

“I hope to meet each [senior] in the first two months of school, just to kinda check in to see how things are going, so we’ll go from there.”

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MEET FERRIS

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new furry face will be joining the UAHS community this year.

Based with intervention specialist Kim Wilson on the first floor of the academic wing, Ferris, a one-year-old golden retriever, will be available for students to pet and interact with, and will serve as a way for students with disabilities to connect with more of their peers.

As a facility dog, Ferris will be available to students that want to interact with him and will be used in Wilson’s classroom for instruction. He is still undergoing onsite training, and his availability to the student body will widen by the end of his training. Ferris will also eventually be a certified therapy dog. However, he will not function as a therapy dog in the school.

“He will be used in my class for instruction in a whole lot of different areas that my students are learning in...

One of the hopes for my students is that it’s going to improve communication and initiation,” Wilson said. “[O]ur primary goal was that he’s going to be a bridge between students with disabilities and [able-bodied] students, and [be] a meaningful thing that my students can be in charge of in the building that other people look up to.”

Two years ago, Wilson proposed the idea of having a therapy dog assist her students “through the lens of special ed[ucation]”, and the idea was widely supported by the staff. She began connecting with service dog organizations and was supposed to be placed with a dog in the summer of 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic and online learning stalled her project. Eventually, Wilson was given a grant from the UA Education Foundation and got approved to move forward with the service dog organization last spring. In July, Wilson was placed with Ferris through a Michigan-based organization called Paws With a Cause that trains service dogs for a variety of tasks, from personal support to search and rescue. “[The organization said Ferris] is FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @UAARLINGTONIAN

unable to be placed as a one-on-one service dog because he has hip dysplasia and he will have to retire early. It’s not that he can’t do the work, it’s that if he’s placed one-on-one with an individual, that individual is relying on him and he can’t retire early. So he’s sort of a failed service dog, but he didn’t fail [because of ] his behavior, it was a medical concern,” Wilson said.

Ferris is still training and will not be fully available to the general student body for several weeks. By the end of his training, Wilson said Ferris will be available during certain periods of the day and potentially lunch in the northwest common area of the building.

She emphasized that Ferris is the building’s facility dog, so students can interact with him differently than they would with a personal service dog.

“We will be working on some guidelines and presenting that information to students, you know, [teaching them to approach] him in a calm manner.

He gets excited if you get excited, so we will work on getting that information to students.

[However], he’s different [from] a service dog.

You can pet him anytime,” Wilson said.

“If [students] think he’s cute, [they can] go ahead and give him a scratch on the head, it’s fine.”

Wilson said Ferris is able to engage with all students, but that they are cognizant of the students who do not like dogs or cannot be around dogs for medical reasons, such as allergies. Thus, there will be parts of the building and certain classrooms Ferris is not allowed in so that people do not have to be near him.

Ultimately, Ferris is at UAHS to be a calming presence for students. “[A]ny time anyone sees him and they want to reach out and pet him or say ‘hi’, he’s always available,” Wilson said.

TONGUE OUT ▶ Golden retriever and UAHS facility dog Ferris sticks his tongue out for the camera.

W W W . A R L ING T O NIA N. COM | 1 3

Bumper to Bumper Students and staff brace for a year of limited parking.

STORY AND DIAGRAM BY JAMES UNDERWOOD ’23. GRAPHIC BY MEGAN MCKINNEY, ’22.

A

ugust was a month of change for UAHS students. Beyond the typical changes that come with a new school year—a new schedule with new teachers and new classes— students welcomed a long-awaited new building.

But one aspect of it all had some students less excited: parking.

While parking has long been a hot topic in the UAHS community, it holds a special importance for the 2021-22 school year due to the opening of the new building. Until the old building has been entirely destroyed and the land repurposed for parking and fields, “oncampus parking will be extremely limited,” said UAHS principal Andrew Theado in an email to students sent in late July.

That work is tentatively slated to be completed this spring. For now, students can park on the streets surrounding the high school.

Available streets for parking include part or whole of Brandon Road, Brembridge Road, Chester Road, Halesworth Road, Halstead Road, Inchcliff Road, Kirkley Road, Melford Road, Mt. Holyoke Road, Northwest Boulevard, Wellesley Drive, Westford Road, Westmont Boulevard and Zollinger Road. The segment of Brandon Road adjacent to the school is available for teacher parking only.

Still, senior Olivia Howe said she thinks the parking situation is inadequate.

“I understand they redid the lots on Mt. Holyoke and Brandon,” she said. “I get it, and I’m very grateful for that. But I feel like that wasn’t enough [for] the teachers or the students.”

Senior Sam Miller shared a similar concern.

“It looks like there’s not enough spots for students, so obviously that’s not great,” he said. “I would say pretty much every person I’ve talked to—senior, junior, regardless—everyone who drives says that the parking situation isn’t great Howe also suggested busses could be used to compensate for the low parking.

“I think it’s ridiculous that we’re the only school in Columbus

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that doesn’t have freaking busses,” she said. “Like, get off your high horse, UA, and get some busses.”

Parking this year can also be difficult for UAHS teachers, according to UAHS math teacher Sue Stimmel.

“I think parking this year is going to be a challenge,” she said.

Still, Stimmel emphasized that the challenge is a temporary one.

“This building is beautiful, [and parking] will be taken care of at some time,” she said. “It’s going to be a temporary inconvenience.”

Likewise, Howe sees an upside.

“I get my steps in,” she said.

Stimmel agreed.

“I think you have to look at [that] as a silver lining,” she said.

Ultimately, Stimmel shared an optimistic perspective on the parking situation.

“We are going to have a beautiful new building that’s going to run smoothly at some point,” she said.

“But it’s not going to be [on] day one.

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Bueller... Bueller...

Don’t be late! Your cheat sheet to the new UAHS.

BY THE ARLINGTONIAN STAFF.

Forum?

Forum is simply study hall.

Bell Schedule MONDAY - THURSDAY

With parental permission,

juniors and seniors do not have to attend Forum if

FRIDAY

Period

Start

End

Period

Start

End

1

8:05

8:55

1

8:05

8:47

2

9:00

9:45

2

8:52

9:34

3

9:50

10:35

3

9:34

9:48

4

10:40

11:25

9:53

10:35

POWER HOUR*

11:30

12:35

KICKIN’ IT LIVE 4

10:40

11:22

5

12:40

1:25

11:27

12:19

6

1:30

2:15

POWER HOUR*

7

2:20

3:05

5

12:24

1:06

BC†

1:11

1:31

6

1:36

2:18

7

2:23

3:05

* Lunch & office hours † Bear Connections

A

ROOM NUMBERS

re you confused about what the letters and numbers mean on each room number? The Academic Wing is on the west side of the building, so all academic room numbers will begin with a W. Music and Athletics are located in the east wing, so those room numbers begin with an E for east. You may also see GBB, Golden Bear Boulevard, or other letters which indicate rooms in the middle or outside of the east or academic wings.

The second number is which floor the room is located (one, two or three). The third number, ranging from one to four, is which section the room is in, with one being closest to the main entrance and four being the farthest.

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they have it first or seventh period.

OFFICE HOURS ART, BUSINESS & MUSIC Monday/Wednesday 11:30 - 12:00 MATH & SOCIAL STUDIES Monday/Wednesday 12:05 - 12:35 ELA & SCIENCE

Tuesday/Thursday 11:30 - 12:00 GLOBAL LANG & WELLNESS

Tuesday/Thursday 12:05 - 12:35

W W W . A R LING T O NIA N. COM | 1 5

FIRST FLOOR

SECOND FLOOR

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THIRD FLOOR

WELCOME

Use this map to help you navigate the building this year and beyond.

Art

CREATED BY THE ARLINGTONIAN GRAPHICS TEAM

Music

Common Spaces

Athletics

Learning Center

Science Labs

Engineering

Food

Restrooms

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Video Productions

W W W . A R L ING T O NIA N. COM | 1 7

Challenging the Board Meet the three challengers for the upcoming school board election.

BY LUKE ERIKSEN, ’22 AND ELLIE CRESPO, ‘22. GRAPHIC BY LUCY O’BRIEN, ‘22 PHOTOS COURTESY THE CANDITATES’ WEBSITES.

O

ver the course of the Aug. 10 Upper Arlington Board of Education meeting, the audience went from booing to cheering and back again. The public participation section of the meeting was the cause; parents on both sides of the mask debate expressed their opinions on the school district’s mask policy.

Around 90 minutes into the meeting, one man said he believed the school district should wear masks. Later in the meeting, a woman said she believed students should be given a choice whether to wear a mask or not.

There has been no shortage of controversy regarding the board’s decisions surrounding the district’s approach to COVID-19. In February, the board voted to move in-person students to a five-day schedule starting Mar. 1. This move was met with frustration from parents, students and faculty. The teachers’ union reacted to the board’s decision with a work to rule mandate, teachers were required to work only the minimum hours. Administrators hosted information meetings and created

LIZ EASTON

L

iz Easton has been a resident in Upper Arlington for 15 years. All of her children have graduated from Upper Arlington High School, the youngest graduating in 2020.

Easton has a teaching degree, but only taught in Upper Arlington for a few years in order to take care of her kids at home.

She decided to run after her youngest child graduated this past year.

“I’m just kind of concerned about the direction that our schools are headed. The school board has kind of lost focus on what is really important and that’s the education of our children,” Easton said.

She said she gained inspiration from her father who was a principal in a suburban community outside of Chicago.

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scheduling and safety procedures. Many parents said they felt they were not given sufficient notice from the vote, and wished they had time to address it at board meetings.

In the midst of divisive issues and controversial board decisions, three people are challenging incumbents Scott McKenzie and Carol Mohr, the board’s president and vice president, respectively. The incumbents are running joint campaigns and share a website. With five candidates running for two seats on the board, the community is preparing for a competitive race.

The election will be held on Nov. 2. Voters must be registered 30 days prior for both online and in-person voting and mail-in ballots must be postmarked for 30 days prior.

and my dad was there for 25 years,” she said.

Easton explained her father came up with the “three A’s” for working in education.

“That was his focus for 25 years with excellence. Those three As are academics, athletics and activities,” she said.

Easton wants the school board to focus most on issues regarding the “three As”.

“I think we spent a lot of time and energy on things that don’t have anything to do with the academics for our kids. You know - for example, the whole bathroom issue, and time and money spent on masks,” Easton said.

She mentioned she was concerned about UA’s dropping school rankings in recent years.

“We need to be focused on getting our school rankings back up, and while I totally understand that rankings are

not everything, they are important when people move to a community,” she said.

Easton did not state any specific policies she would want to implement, although she said she believed the board is not using finances in the right way.

“We have so many great resources in many ways that fiscally, I’m not sure we’re using the money in the right places,” Easton said.

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NIDHI SATIANI

O

ptometrist, mom and avid participant in the district Nidhi Satiani entered the race earlier this year.

“Lots of things inspired me to run for Board of Education... watching how policies are being made within our district and knowing that there is a better way that is more inclusive of everyone’s voices,” Satiani said.

LOU SAUTER

L

ou Sauter, UA native and father of two, is running because of his disapproval of the board’s recent decisions.

“I felt like Upper Arlington School [District] leadership has failed our kids and that the UA School Board has failed to lead and provide oversight,” Sauter said. “I think a lot of people, especially parents and some of our older students, recognize the same things that I see, and are uncomfortable with the current direction of school.”

Sauter said he values transparency within the school district.

“It seems as though a lot of decisions are made without communicating to the community first, so, you know, we should trust our community,” he said. “It’s about being honest and open with the community about what you’re doing.”

The issue of masks in UA schools is

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Satiani has served as the After School Discovery Chair/Co-Chair at Wickliffe Elementary for five years before the pandemic, exposing herself to a wide range of perspectives.

“There’s the parents, there’s the teachers, there’s administration, there’s community members who don’t have children in the district, there are people who formerly had children in the district. I’ve really appreciated the ways that I’ve been able to be involved because you can see how these different stakeholders have a different impact on what’s happening within the classroom,” she said.

Prior to being actively involved in the UA school district, Nidhi started out as a student herself, becoming an optometrist and studying public health at The Ohio State University.

“I have fifteen years of practice of combining [the] science-backed answer to a problem with the human element,” Satiani said. “Creating a treatment plan

also a focus of Sauter’s.

“I think we should have followed what New Albany did and, and allow[ed] the parents the opportunity to choose whether or not their kids should be in a mask at school,” he said.

Sauter shared his thoughts on the Aug. 10 Board of Education meeting, where the decision regarding masks was made.

“I thought the behavior of the people in the crowd on both sides was something we shouldn’t be finding acceptable. We shouldn’t be yelling at a doctor [who] is volunteering his time to be guiding our community and guiding our schools. We shouldn’t be yelling at the school board. We shouldn’t be yelling at each other,” he said.

Mental health is also a priority of Sauter’s.

“We should have, for our students, an opportunity not to schedule something with somebody a week later, right? But somewhere, someone in the school for

honors all of that.”

As an optometrist, Satiani often provided care for patients facing serious issues like drug addiction and income instability.

“My experiences allow me to be very comfortable in different settings.

We need to have respect for the lived experiences of people different than ourselves,” she said. “That’s something I value.”

She also put great emphasis on the importance of having a good method of communication with the Upper Arlington community.

“I would love to see the board stepping into the role of being the [organization] that you reach out to, the [organization] that you connect with,” she said. “As a citizen in our community, it’s important to me that I’m able to connect with the person that I voted into office.”

you to go and talk to, not a college counselor, somebody who’s a trained psychologist [to] stay in the school to help you,” he said. “I think this is an issue that should be talked about. It is so normal to have… some kind of mental health [struggle] in your life. If you haven’t had it, there’s a good chance you’re [going to]… it’s okay to say, you know, I need some help along the way.”

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BACKLASH AND BATHROOMS Upper Arlington’s first ever LGBTQ+ Pride event is the most recent chapter in a long history of being queer at UAHS.

BY MATTHEW DORON, ‘23; IRIS MARK, ‘23 AND GRACIE HELFRICH, ‘23.

GRAPHICS BY STELLA PETRAS, ‘22 AND AVA NEVILLE, ‘23.

PHOTO BY HIDETA NAGAI

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @UAARLINGTONIAN

W W W . A R LING T O NIA N. COM | 21

BACKLASH AND BATHROOMS

U

pper Arlington’s first-ever LGBTQ+ Pride event took place on June 13, 2021, at Northwest Park, with around 1,000 attendees over the course of five hours. There were multiple performances by local drag queens, both voter registration and vaccine drives and pop-up shops for Pride-related businesses. Advocacy organizations Kaleidoscope Youth Center, GLSEN, Stonewall, BQIC, PFLAG and League of Women Voters were featured in various booths.

Rainbow UA, a neighborhood alliance started to support and serve the LGBTQ+ community, hosted the event.

“[F]or this first year, one of our primary goals was visibility; not only for our organization, but also for the greater UA LGBTQ+ community. We also wanted a family-friendly event, and I definitely think we achieved that,” Jillian Maruskan, the media contact for the organization, said.

Senior Max Bailey attended the event and said the historical significance of Upper Arlington’s first Pride event enhanced their experience.

“It was really nice knowing that Upper Arlington has a queer community especially amongst the youths.

It made me really happy seeing the young queer people really proud of themselves… [E]ven now it makes me a little emotional to talk [about it] because it makes me very happy, to see so many queer people come together despite the rough times and the weather being hot and despite [the fact that] we had no clue how it was going to look this year because it was UA’s first Pride event... Everyone was still having a really good time.”

This past summer continued to be a landmark year for queer rights in Upper Arlington. In late June, UA City Council updated their anti-discrimination ordinance for the first time in 50 years to prohibit

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discrimination based on gender expression, gender identity or sexual orientation. This update comes at a time when several Ohio legislators have introduced legislation to bar transgender students from joining athletic teams that align with their gender identity and passed a law that included a clause that allows medical professionals to deny queer patients care due to their identity.

UA Pride took place shortly after a heated community debate surrounding gender-neutral bathrooms within Upper Arlington schools, particularly the new high school building. While this community debate garnered much attention, it wasn’t the first instance of controversy in UA surrounding queer students.

‘GROWING UP GAY’ On April 6, 2001, Arlingtonian released an article chronicling a gay senior’s experience “growing up as a homosexual in UA” as part of a supplement titled ‘Growing Up Gay in America’.

The article, written by Elizabeth Waring, focuses on thensenior Adam Bahgat and his experience growing up in UA, coming out to his family and trying to find his place within the LGBTQ+ community.

The article sparked both outrage and support, with some defending Waring and her article and others accusing Arlingtonian of disseminating propaganda and assisting gay activists in seducing children.

The Monday following the article’s publication, parents raised complaints about it during that evening’s UA School Board meeting.

According to The Columbus Dispatch’s coverage of the meeting, parent Colette Menhart said that “gay activists are ‘subtly taking over our schools and seducing our children’ and that, by allowing

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BACKLASH AND BATHROOMS

publication of the pieces, the school district is ‘undermining parental authority.’” Upper Arlington News also covered the meeting; “Susan Miller, a parent of a 15-year-old student, … said schools are not in the position to encourage students to ‘come out’. She said ‘14 to 17 year-olds have enough to deal with.’ ‘Respect my right as a parent to deal with the topic consistent with my beliefs and morals,’ Miller said.”

In the following weeks after the Board of Education meeting, UA News published seven total letters to the editor, both in favor of the article and in rebuke of it.

A parent “issued a press release that called the article in the Arlingtonian ‘radical and in favor of homosexuality’”, according to a UA News article titled ‘Parent says coverage promoted homosexual lifestyle’. In that press release, parent Linda Harvey said “homosexual activists must be very pleased with this propaganda piece for their movement… but a lot of damage has been done in distributing misleading information to children that may endanger lives.”

One of the UA News letters to the editor was written by Harvey, arguing that calling someone a homophobe was hurtful and that “no one is a homophobe who mourns the entry of a young person into a life [of being gay] that will probably shorten his life.” “[O]nly an ill-informed person swayed by the latest trend in political correctness could still believe [being gay] is a civil right or an inevitable ‘identity’. If we buy into this, we will soon be affirming 10-year-olds in this pretend identity,” Harvey wrote. “There is no such thing as a gay child or teen, only those who practice homosexual behavoir.”

In the face of the backlash against the article, community members, UAHS Principal Kip Greenhill and the Board of Education defended Arlingtonian’s public forum and freedom from school censorship. Many also expressed their support for Waring and the publication through various letters to the editor.

This wasn’t the last FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM @UAARLINGTONIAN

time queer students were covered in Arlingtonian; recent coverage ranges from students’ coming out experiences to views on same-sex marriage. Coverage in recent years included two nonbinary students’ experiences at the high school, the youth Christian group Young Life and an anonymous transgender student’s experiences being closeted.

▲ BEYOND THE RAINBOW Rainbow UA concieved of, planned and hosted UA’s first Pride event.

PHOTO COURTESY KATHY ADAMS

BE YOURSELF, FACE THE CONSEQUENCES While there have been many advances in LGBTQ+ rights in the last 20 years, those in the queer community still face discrimination, violence and legal barriers every day.

Despite the progress made since the 2001 article’s publication, queer students in UA still face similar issues of homophobia, transphobia and rejection.

“I had a teacher who would purposely misgender me, and on PowerSchool [he would] pull up my dead name … and he would show it and didn’t think of privacy or anything. I’ve had a few past classmates make inappropriate comments [and] W W W . A R L ING T O NIA N. COM | 23

BACKLASH AND BATHROOMS

like] two girls together holding hands, was somehow more gross than people making out in the halls,” they said. “I saw a lot of people that made comments about holding my partner’s hand at the time, when we were dating, which didn’t feel good.

[There were] a lot of eyes. I got asked a few times by a teacher to ‘tone it down’ even though most of it was just holding hands.”

Bailey said they felt they could not report these incidents due to the school environment.

▲ HOLD YOUR FLAG HIGH Human Rights Campaign and transgender pride flags were given away to attendees, along with other Pride accessories at the UA Pride event PHOTO COURTESY KATHY ADAMS

remarks, about how I chose to dress and how I chose to present myself,” junior Ryler Gill said. He said that incident is one of several: “[R]ight now we’re prepping to go back to school, [so] I check my PowerSchool, and I find [my] teacher’s email, and I send them an email really quick like ‘Hey I go by this and this’... but I’ve had a few teachers be like ‘Sorry, I’m not gonna call you that.’”

Bailey said they also faced similar rejection by peers and

teachers. “[When I still identified as a woman and was dating my female best friend] during my freshman year, … I felt a little bit outcasted from teachers or students in the hallways for just holding my partner’s hand. At the time, it made me feel very uncomfortable, and even though there were people making out in the hallways, I felt like somehow me holding my partner’s hand, [which] at the time [seemed

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“I think people are a little more ‘hush hush’ at UA. I think they try to keep their prejudice [hidden], despite being, you know... a little more closed-minded.”

SENIOR MAX BAILEY “[School] hasn’t felt overly accepting at all times, just because [when] a lot of [harmful] things [are] said, teachers don’t say anything. I think that [causes] a lot of harm… because I will hear people use ‘gay’ or whatever as insults down the hall, and it’s not a huge deal, but they’ll also call each other the F-slur... and hearing that in the hallways, like being thrown around so easily, it’s definitely not a great environment even if [the slurs aren’t] directed at me,” they said.

Bailey also said that they felt unable to report the anti-LGBTQ+ behavior at the high school due to fear of possible retaliation. “[T]here has definitely been a lot that’s been harmful at the school

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BACKLASH AND BATHROOMS

that I felt like I couldn’t say anything about, because it would have caused problems, or it would have been seen as me being disruptive or me causing problems which is obviously not something I want to do. [School] hasn’t been welcoming enough to make me feel like I can speak up about harm targeted towards queer people,” Bailey said.

Other students and staff agree that the school environment is not welcoming enough to queer students, which is why some students remain in the closet.

“Although more and more LGBTQ+ students are out at school, there are still many students who are scared or unsure about whether they will be accepted by students whom they don’t know or their teachers. They are not sure who they can trust,” Tricia Fellinger, German teacher and co-advisor to Ambassadors of Change, wrote in an email.

A anonymous transgender student said being closeted at school is extremely stressful, and “every second of every day you’re just constantly trying to protect this aspect of yourself… and that’s just a very hard thing to do.”

She said that one of the reasons she stayed closeted was the blatant transphobia exhibited by other students and that there are many people within the school “that could potentially be transphobic.”

However, the student said she has found support from select students and teachers.

“I haven’t really talked to a whole lot of teachers about it yet and the ones that I have talked to are teachers that are particularly supportive… I’ll say though, that the majority of students and staff members are pretty supportive.”

Gill said that many students and staff, while possibly accepting, still view queer students differently than their cisgender and heterosexual peers. “[W]hen a cisgender person looks at you and they’re like, looking at you like you have four eyes on your face or something, that is just not very affirming,” Gill said.

Bailey also said that discrimination in UA is toned down.

“I think people are a little more ‘hush hush’ at UA. I think they try to keep their prejudice [hidden], despite being, you know.. a little more closed-minded.”

Despite the progression of LGBTQ+ rights over the past two decades, queer students at UAHS are still outcasted and alienated. However, the recent anti-discrimination oridinance update, UA Pride and the gender-neutral bathrooms at the high school have given queer students hope.

“I guess as a teenager in [a] world that is progressing and changing every day, [with] more and more people com[ing] out, … people have realized who they are [and] what it means to be queer,” Gill said. “That is—like with our school we recently got the gender-neutral bathrooms—that’s a big win.”

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A Sign of the Times

A

fter its last 2020-21 school year meeting in early June, the UA Board of Education decided to continue with its plan for gender-neutral bathrooms at UAHS, despite concerns from community members. Back in May, many parents raised concerns about the logistics of having all students using the same facilities. Cathy Pultz, president of the Upper Arlington Education Coalition, voiced her argument against the bathrooms in a May Arlingtonian article, ‘“I just think by this style you’ve made it unhygienic for boys and girls.”’

Chris Potts, Chief Operating Officer for Upper Arlington Schools was quoted in the same article as supporting the new bathrooms, saying, “‘When we have students who are questioning their assigned gender or sex or who identify differently than their assigned gender or sex, they are able to use the restroom without added stress for themselves or their classmates.”’

While the bathrooms themselves have floor-to-ceiling stalls, UAHS has designated certain student bathrooms ‘all-gender’ while designating others as either ‘mens’ or ‘womens’. Staff restrooms are labelled ‘all-gender’ while athletic locker rooms and showers are ‘girls’ or ‘boys’.

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A R L SPORTS

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SPORTS AT A GLANCE

COMPILED BY JULIA MOLNAR, ‘22.

VARSITY CAPTAINS Girls Field Hockey: Lucy O’Brien, Caroline Langmeyer, Caroline Campbell and Jillian Kuehn Girls Tennis: Anna Leach, Megan Basil, Ellis Mizer and Ava Richards Football: Asher Hamilton, Jake Pritchett, John Pritchett, Doak Buttermore and Carter Brock Girls Soccer: Sophie Esquinas, Camryn Callaghan, Abby Reisz and Ceci Dapino Boys Soccer: Miles Bonham, Ethan Howe and Evan D’Hereté Girls Cross Country: Rian Adkins, Tora Blamer and Mollie Kawakami Football Cheer: Neila Sarkis, Claire Lebron and Emme Stephens Girls Water Polo: Stella Petras, Caroline Porterfield and Samantha Schaefer (As of Aug. 14.)

UPCOMING GAMES 8/20 : Boys Varsity Football 8/21: Girls Varsity Volleyball, Girls Varsity Soccer and Boys Varsity Soccer 8/23: Girls Varsity Field Hockey 8/24: Girls Varsity Volleyball and Girls Varsity Soccer 8/26: Girls Varsity Soccer 8/28: Girls Varsity Field Hockey and Girls’ Varsity B tennis 8/31: Girls Varsity Vollyball 9/1: Girls Varsity B tennis 9/7: Boys Varsity Soccer 9/9: Girls Varsity Volleyball and Girls Varsity Soccer 9/10 Boys Varsity Football 9/13: Girls Varsity Field Hockey 9/14: Boys Varsity Soccer 9/16: Girls Varsity Volleyball and Boys Varsity Soccer

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ARL ATHLETE

EMILY BARKER

Field Hockey player captures attention with outstanding performance.

BY ANTONIA CAMPBELL, ‘22. PHOTOS COURTESY EMILY BARKER.

O

n June 15th, 2021, junior Emily Barker was bombarded with phone calls. It was the first day of NCAA recruitment for the class of 2023, and Barker was a target of many field hockey coaches who wanted her for their program. But only one phone call truly mattered.

Barker started playing field hockey when she was 8-years-old because her sister was playing field hockey at Michigan State at the time. She started playing club field hockey shortly after and has worked to be a respected player.

Barker has a plethora of accomplishments—winning tournaments for her club team and starting as centermid for the UA team since her freshman year—and her talent has not gone unnoticed. In 2019, she was in the AAU Junior Olympics Selection and won First Team All League. In 2020, she won First Team All League-West and was ranked among the top 50 players of her class.

Behind all of her achievements was one goal: to play Division I field hockey at The Ohio State University. So, when she got a call with an offer, she knew the hard work paid off.

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“OSU offered me on the first day so I felt at ease because I was like okay, I know they want me, they already offered me, so I had the whole summer to commit. I actually didn’t have to decide this summer, but I wanted to commit by the end of summer, so I had the time to kick back and look at other schools and just take in the whole recruitment experience instead of just committing then and there,” Barker said.

Barker began going to field hockey clinics and camps at The Ohio State University in seventh grade. She had her heart set on going to OSU and knew it was the right choice.

“I’ve been a buckeye my whole life and I’ve been to the games since I was a baby. I’ve always loved watching the football games and basketball games.

Then I started playing field hockey and ever since I stepped on their field, it just felt so right, and I knew that I wanted to go there. The coaches are my favorite people, and they’re so nice and fun. I just ◀ COMMITTED felt the most at home [there],” she said.

Barker will Barker attributes attend The Ohio her success to the fact State University that she set her goal in two years. of playing Division I field hockey when she was barely a teenager.

“I started working out and going to the gym so I could get stronger when I was in seventh grade. I would go to the field on my own time and hit the ball around and shoot on the cage because l knew I wanted to get there, and I knew that it would be a lot of work and very challenging to get to Division I.

▲ BARKER IN ACTION Player Emily Barker sweeps the ball down the field at the Marv during a home game.

Especially with playing club, spending my summers training and going to camps instead of going on vacation is what sets me apart,” she said.

Barker’s biggest inspiration is her sister, who was a three time All-American when she played for MSU. “I would go to all of her games and I just loved watching her. She’s the one who I’m always texting about field hockey. She has helped me so much [to] develop as a player and as a person. She’s my biggest motivation and the reason I played field hockey in the first place,” Barker said.

As far as UAHS field hockey goes, Barker said she looks forward to her junior season.

“We have a great coaching staff and I’ve learned a lot from them and especially this year,” she said. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to play with fourteen seniors.”

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Application Pending

Columnists provide checklist for seniors participating in the college application process.

BY BROOKE MASON, ‘22 AND MATTHEW DORON, ‘23. GRAPHICS BY STELLA PETRAS, ‘22.

W

ith the Common App open for submission and school back in session, college application season has begun.

The coronavirus impacted college admissions in multiple ways, from how competitive they have become to colleges’ standardized testing policies. Last college admissions officers saw an influx of applications and had many students take gap years, which greatly decreased colleges’ acceptance rates for the class of 2021.

Many colleges are also remaining test-optional for this admissions season due to the impact COVID-19 had on the two last school years. However, make sure to research a specific college’s SAT and ACT policy, since many have specific requirements such as a questionnaire or additional essay.

Colleges will also be flexible about other factors impacted by the

coronavirus and school closures, such as pass/fail grades and limited extracurriculars and athletics.

The Common App will still retain its COVID-19 question from 2020, but will now have one regarding gratitude; “Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?” In addition to the COVID-19 prompt and the recent gratitude question, the Common App has kept the same prompts from last year regarding failure, passion, and challenging beliefs.

This checklist is a simplified guide to college applications; be sure to check out the College Center’s checklist for more information.

FINDING COLLEGES

When looking into colleges consider the location, programs offered, size and your individual interests.

Tours, even virtual, can be extremely useful for finding the college that is right for you. Take advantage of college fairs and talk with visiting college representatives.

ESSAYS

Most colleges require a personal essay to apply; you can find the prompts for this essay on the Common App website. Some colleges’ applications also include optional or required supplemental essays.

ACT AND SAT

Seniors, do not forget to prepare if you are registered for the Sept. 11 ACT. Juniors, the College Center recommends you begin taking the ACT and SAT in December.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Do not forget to ask your teachers early in the year if they are willing to write you a letter of recommendation. Once your teachers agree, request the letter in Naviance. There is also an optional “other recommender” category in the Common App for recommendations from non-UAHS teachers.

COMMON APP

All seniors should have an account on the Common App website. This website can be used to submit the majority of your college applications. There are various questions to answer for your profile under the Common App tab and questions to answer for your individual colleges.

Need More Information?

For more detailed information visit the College Center—located in the second floor Learning Center to the left of the entrance— or the College Center page on the UAHS website. Any student can schedule a meeting with College and Career Counselor Dr. Kathy Moore by emailing College Center Secretary Beth Redman at bredman@uaschools.org or collegecenter@uaschools.org.

Meetings are reserved for seniors until Dec. 1.

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Playing the Mental Game Columnist discusses how to balance mental health and athletics.

BY GRETA MILLER, ‘23. GRAPHIC BY DAPHNE BONILLA, ‘22. PHOTO BY BELLA VANMETER, ‘22.

S

ports are a huge part of American culture. Fans love attending sporting events, watching athletes play and rooting for their teams. Athletes enjoy the competition, camaraderie and notoriety of playing on teams. Professional athletes, specifically, are revered for reaching the highest level of their sport, for developing an excellent physical condition and for earning a prosperous livelihood that much of our country desires. It might appear as though athletes just need to prove they can play to be successful, but there is another equally difficult component to sports––the ever-elusive, ever-changing mental game.

Managing one’s own thoughts, insecurities, and personal struggles at all times is difficult. Michael Phelps, the winner of 23 gold medals, is just one of the many athletes who has recently admitted to having struggled with anxiety and depression. After winning his last gold medal in 2016, he decided it was time to focus on his mental health. More recently, Simone Biles pulled out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the middle of

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the gymnastics team final not because she could not perform, but because of the intense mental pressure of competing. We all have bad days, but athletes are expected to somehow remove life’s ups and downs from their thoughts and just compete.

Team dynamics, such as fitting in with teammates or coaches, is another hurdle that athletes must overcome. A great team has players who understand their respective contributions and is led by a coach who can bring the best out of every player. Sometimes athletes and their coaches may disagree on the game plan, the selection of players, or playing time, which can make it difficult to perform. Aaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers quarterback has experienced 13 years of a contentious relationship with his coach. Rodgers and the Packers coach, Mike McCarthy, had problems since Rodger’s draft night in 2005, when McCarthy passed Rodgers over during selection. Their original dislike for each other was later compounded by other disagreements regarding the offensive game plan and the drafting of additional quarterbacks during the season. Recently, Rodgers said he is thankful to have had some time in the off-season to focus on things that keep him in the right mindset.

In addition to internal and team/ coach dynamic pressure, athletes must deal with pressure from the press and fans. While the media does provide exposure for athletes, it can be a distraction that hinders athletes’ abilities to remain focused on their game or an avenue for harmful

commentary and criticism. Naomi Osaka, a four-time tennis Grand Slam champion, has recently been vocal about her struggles with the press. Osaka believes that athletes should not have to attend every press conference, and when athletes do not attend, they should not be asked why. Sometimes players are not well, and it should be acceptable to take a break from the press and the constant barrage of questions.

So why is there so much recent talk about athletes struggling with mental health? It has always been hard for athletes to consistently perform well.

Managing personal struggles has always been hard; blending with teammates and coaches has always been hard; and dealing with the press and fans has always been hard. So why is there this new discussion? Maybe it is because today’s athletes have to face the intense scrutiny from the press and the brutal comments of fans on social media like no generation before them. Maybe it is because of the increase of insecurities, egos and jealousy in our culture. Or maybe it is simply because our society is now willing to talk about mental health in sports. The next step, though, must be if we can adjust what we are doing to each other because if not, some great athletes might start questioning if it is all worth it.

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LASHISH THE GREEK

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BY LUKE ERIKSEN, ’22.

ashish the Greek is located on 788 Bethel Rd in the Olentangy Square.

It is is a traditional Greek restaurant with a menu compiled of authentic Greek dishes.

The interior design was very welcoming, with cushions and pillows laid on the few tables inside. The restaurant was silent with the exception of a few customers’s conversations. I noticed most of the customers ordered takeout.

Lashish required me to climb out of my comfort zone. Not only did I have to look

up most of the dishes, but I also had a hard time pronouncing most of the Greek words!

I had no idea what flavors or textures to expect so I made sure to order a variety of dishes. Nonetheless, I was thrilled to try a new food from a culture I’m not as familiar with.

Spanakopita is a light, flakey and crunchy appetizer filled with spinach and topped with feta cheese. The dough is unlike anything I’ve ever had. It was lighter than paper and so delicate that it crumbled onto my plate with each bite. The crust had a crunchy flake that contrasted the spinach stuffed inside.

Falafel is one of my favorite Mediterranean foods, so I could not resist giving Lashish’s a try. I was not disappointed; the deep fried layer outside the ground chickpeas was satisfying. The green goddess sauce added a sweet flavor to the falafel as well. Falafel can be an excellent alternative to meat inside a gyro or dish too.

The Moussaka resembled a meatloaf topped with potatoes: a Greek meatloaf.

The ground beef topped eggplant with a

touch of red sauce and feta cheese was a filling and satisfying dish. The slow-cooked ground beef and vegetables were a warm and soothing base.

Dolmadakia consisted of four grape leaves wrapped around rice, topped with a lemon sauce. Although grape leaves may not look appetizing, they were a very unique wrap with little flavor and texture. The lemon sauce was the star of the dish, as it was sweet and a bit tangy. I found myself dipping my other food in the leftover sauce.

Lashish introduced my taste buds to unique and distinct flavors I have never experienced before. I was satisfied with the food I ordered, yet so curious to try more on the menu. When I visit Lashish again, I will likely order both something familiar and something new. This makes Lashish the first restaurant to be Lou Approved.

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STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

Our power lies in our people.

BY EDITORIAL BOARD

T

he definition of community is a group of people who live in a similar space or share similar characteristics. However, there’s a more complex meaning to the word community; it’s a group of people that support and sustain each other.

Our power as individuals comes from the support of our community. Others help us so we may succeed, and in turn, we fulfill a niche within the community and help them.

Our community is our safety net and our lifeline. It must be protected and nurtured.

One of humanity’s most basic instincts is to form a community and to protect it from danger. Long ago, danger meant poisonous plants and mammoths, but now it means the COVID-19 pandemic and the ramifications of climate change. We need to protect our community. The easiest way

to do that: follow COVID-19 guidelines. More than four million people have died from COVID-19 and cases are on the rise due to the Delta variant. Protect our community, both local and global, so that we may be safe and continue supporting each other.

UAHS is a community, one divided about vaccines, masks, and bathrooms. It’s a community within a larger community that is even more divided: Upper Arlington.

Upper Arlington is infamous for being exclusive, but is changing. That change, and the promotion of inclusivity, is the first step towards building a better community. The first-ever UA Pride event combined with the school district’s decision to retain gender-neutral bathrooms has made 2021 a landmark year for LGBTQ+ inclusivity in UA. Internal problems, such as discrimination towards other members of the community, can damage a community and split it apart. Fortunately, Upper Arlington, while deeply polarized, can repair some of the damage it has inflicted onto itself through nurturing the community it has. This healing can begin with the acceptance of everyone.

Inclusivity and support will save our community, which will then save us as individuals. Our power stems from the support our community gives us. Let’s show them the same love they show us.

By the Numbers Explore this issue through statistics.

COMPILED BY ELLIE CRESPO, ’22. GRAPHICS BY DAPHNE BONILLA, ’22 AND STELLA PETRAS, ‘22.

5

candidates are running for the Upper Arlington Board of Education. The election will be held this November.

6

2022

in the spring is when the onsite parking is scheduled to be completed. Until then, parking spaces will be extremely limited.

number of basketball courts in the new high school. Some sports have been using parts of the new building throughout the summer.

395,000

square footage of the new school.

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1,000

46

students make up the 2021-22 Arlingtonian staff, a record.

people approximately attended UA Pride over the five hours it took place.

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