The Occurrence Vol 2, Issue 4

the occurrence BRyant Junior High | February 3, 2021 | vol 2, issue 4

Covid Mutation...page 2 Ninja Warrior...Page 3 Editorial...Page 4 TikTok Musical...Page 9 Track Preview...Page 10 News 2 | Feature 3 | Opinion 4-5 | Centerspread 6-7 | Entertainment 8-9 | Sports 10

the occurrence | News | Page 2

Teenage Mutant Ninja Virus

Covid Mutation discovered in UK “Ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses similar to COVID-19 which became pandemic. Original image sourced from US Government department: Public Health Image Library, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Under US law this image is copyright free, please credit the government department whenever you can”.” by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is marked with CC0 1.0

Emir Oviedo, Staff Writer In wake of the new COVID vaccine, new mutations have cropped up raising questions and new fears over the virus. There is much left to be discovered but here is what is known.

Mutations start when a virus starts replicating itself but not al, of its copies are perfect and have small changes that can change the virus’ aspects.

Scientists worry that the new variants could cause the vaccine to become ineffective and create “escape mutants” (viruses that avoid being killed by mutating and becoming immune).

However experts say that “there is no evidence that this is occurring...escape mutants are unlikely to emerge because of the nature of the virus”.

FDA calls for vaccines that produce antibodies “that target several parts of the spike protein” for a virus to be immune to a vaccine it would have to mutate several times in it’s spike protein. Spike proteins being one of three types of proteins that envelope coronaviruses and are responsible for

penetrating and starting infection in cells.

Currently there are three known variants of the original COVID strain. The UK (B.1.1.7) and South African (1.351) mutations are the most similar, with both having the ability to spread faster and easier.

However the Brazilian variant (P.1) differs from the others and may affect its ability for antibodies to recognize it.

“These new variants are currently being studied by scientists.” Public Information Officer, Danyelle McNeill, of Health Communications for the Arkansas Department of Health Since the mutations are prone to spread faster this could lead to a higher volume of COVID cases in a shorter time. The variants haven’t been shown to worsen illnesses or increase the risk of death.

“However, a strain that spreads more quickly and

“We will continue to keep a close eye on these mutations.”

vaccine frenzy Gabi Dawson, Editor-In-Chief Scientists and doctors have worked together for the past several months to find a vaccine for covid-19 called the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine. Elders and health care workers will be the first to receive the vaccine, prioritizing the more affected by covid-19 and the ones who are working to get the virus under control. Teachers are next to get the vaccine as they face so many children everyday and are essential workers. The covid vaccine involves getting two shots, twenty one days

vaccine for covid 19 released

apart, It’s a shot into the muscle of the upper arm. There can however be some side effects to the vaccine, such as headaches, chills, tiredness, joint pain, fevers and more.

It is not recommended to get the vaccine after already having the virus or you could end up sick. Currently, there are no other vaccines out besides the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine. If one has a fever, has any allergies, have received any other vaccine, have a bleeding disorder or is on blood thinners, are on any medicine that affects their im-

mune system, or are pregnant or plan to become pregnant they should tell their vaccine provider before getting injected. One should also tell them about any medical conditions.

One should not get the second vaccine shot if they had an allergic reaction to the previous shot. Pfizer-Biotech is currently an unapproved vaccine. In clinical trials, about 20,000 people 16 years or older have gotten the vaccine so far.

more easily can, of course, make more people sick in that short amount of time and this can cause a strain on the healthcare system.” McNeill states.

Fournatetly, a lab study concluded that the vaccine is still effective against the new strains. The CDC is continuing to study the current vaccines effectiveness.

As of late there are no reported cases in Arkansas but no one is for sure how far the new virus strains have spread.

“We will continue to keep a close eye on these mutations, how they change over time and whether any changes are needed in our response.” McNeill concludes.

Covid 19 Stats in Arkansas - total of 288,964 cases - On Jan. 26, 2,485 were reported - An average of daily cases in saline county are 74

The Ninja Amongst Us

the occurrence | feature | Page 3

Student trains for American Ninja Warrior

S

Gabi Dawson, Editor-In-Chief

ome who have a passion for fitness simply go to the gym a few times a week. Others compete on tv shows for the thrill of being better.

Dylan Hunt, 8th, started working out the summer before his 7th grade year and has been training for the national television show American Ninja Warrior ever since American Ninja Warrior Jr. stopped making seasons, which he had previously been training for.

“I saw an ad for anw jr and I thought that was really easy, trained for that but they didn’t make another season so I thought I might as well do American Ninja Warrior,” Hunt said.

He is currently training to become an all

round athlete while doing track and taekwondo training,” Hunt said.

He has alone set the unofficial state standoutside of just working out daily. When Hunt is working out daily, he tends to even do six hours ing long jump and drives to be better than his peers at what he does. “ a week of weight trainHonestly I get the motivation ing and six hours a “I get the cause I love being able to do stuff that week and cardio trainmotivation cause I people can’t do,” he said. ing for a total of 12 Hunt is currently training to comhours every week dedi- love being able to pete in the television show but is also cated to training. do stuff that soon competing in a Spartan race, a When Hunt is working out, he doesn’t people can’t do” military course that’s a 5k and has plenjust do traditional trainty of obstacles. ing, he likes to switch things up.

“I don’t do normal training. I mix up different types of training like right now I do strongman, NFL, calisthenics, body-building type

Journalism Applications a guide to joining journalism

Cj Hunter, Staff Writer So you’re looking to join newspaper? Well here are some things one needs to know. Before planning on applying, tell your legal guardian about it. Another thing one should know is as a requirement, you need a 2.0 gpa or higher. To apply, fill out the google form designated on google classroom in your English class. The deadline is Feb. 27.

The goal as journalists is to inform students and teachers and make a newspaper that they’ll enjoy reading. The journalism and specifically newspaper program helps build social skills because you will have to get out of your comfort zone and talk to different people all over school when you have to interview someone for a story. It also

builds leadership skills. You might not believe it, but the program is you to have more opportunities. actually student-run. if you have questions, Abo is located in room 1110 and her email is The school’s newspaper program is run by two editors and an as- mabo@bryantschools.org sistant editor under the direction of the the advisor, Meag Abo. The skills you’ll learn from this program are skills you will be able to use in real life situations. People who are in newspaper have higher grade point averages and have higher acceptance rates colleges, you may also get scholarship money depending how hard you work.

“We aren’t a PR company. We are a public forum who create dialog to inform our school,” Abo said.

Joining newspaper can open so many new doors and can allow

The occurrence | Editorial | page 4

fixing problems in 2021 Editorial As we jump into 2021, unfortunate things are already happening. With an attack on the capital and another impeachment, this year is going to be another year of uncertainty and anxiety. The world is in shambles, and it isn’t going to be easy to fix.

2020 was an awful year, and just because we switch from one year to the next doesn’t mean all of our problems vanish. Black transgender women are still being targeted, kids are still in cages, and the virus is still killing tons of people. Sure, America has a new president, but he is not going to fix everything. Many political choices have been determential to the American people and there is a lack of trust in the system. It is quite frankly really old.

The big problems can’t be fixed in just a year; racism can’t be dismantled in a day, classism isn’t just going to disappear, and homophobia is going to be around for a long time. It takes steps and hard work to fix these issues, and one of the best things we can do is unite as a nation.

Obviously, not everyone is going to agree on the same things, but people need to realize that our society has problems. Global warming, for example. We have a limited amount of years on Earth if we don’t hold companies accountable for releasing so many emissions, and it will be hard to fix the problem, but if we can just unite as a people and see the wrong we could turn around the effect we have on the Earth.

Change is happening. For example, Biden has ordered for private prisons to end their contracts, and that’s a huge step in the right direction. We can’t just rely on politicians to do what we expect. There are still innocents on the death penalty, and even just innocents in prison due to the rampant racism in the system.

We as a people need to also hold big corporations accountable. There are policies in place that hurt employees at large corporations; many peo-

Editors: Kenzie Robertson Gabi Dawson assistant editor: Priscila Cox Writers: shelby Douthit BRaxton Speer carissa callicott jocelyn kirby cannen garner Mackenzie Keith Emir Oviedo Nery Gonzalez CJ Hunter Rylee Rutledge The Occurrence is a student-run publication at Bryant Junior High, serving grades 8-9.

Letters to the Editor Policy: Signed Letters to the editor which are free from profanity, offensive language, and libel will be published when space permits.

ple make barely a livable wage; meanwhile Jeff Bezos, CEO of one of the largest corporations, Amazon, does nothing and bathes in riches. We cannot go forward as a society if we do not take action against the evil in our world and do not unite as a people.

We can’t just be sitting ducks waiting for something to happen, so people should go out, vote, use their first amendment rights, and try and make a change in the world.

Corrections: If a correction is warrarented it will be made through one or all of the social Media platforms and in the next issue.

the occurrence | opinion | Page 5

Gender Neutral Terms in the House

“Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi” by Jason Pier in DC is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Carissa Callicott, Staff Writer Why are we continuing to learn gender-specific terms in English classes if in our society we are going to continue trying to change our way of life? How will this affect our traditional everyday lives? In the Rules of the 117th Congress, a bill was proposed to ban gendered language in the house.

The proposed bill wants to ban gender-specific terms in Congress. Some examples of what they are talking about are a mother or a father should be referred to as a ¨parent¨ and a brother or sister now referred to as a ¨sibling.¨ According to thehill.com, Congress has “a record number of LGBTQ+ lawmakers,” which has undoubtedly influenced this proposed bill.

Because of the hate and the bullying, I do understand wanting to help non-gender-specific households. A bill like this can help improve equality in legislation and even perhaps slow down the bullying towards the LGBTQ+ community by giving them extra respect and power.

In my opinion, this bill will trickle down and cause peo-

Amen and AWoman

ple’s traditional beliefs to be challenged. In our generation, we are all about improving our way of life and changing things to be new, but some changes are not for the better. I do feel like this bill will eventually cause my traditional belief of being a Christian to be interfered with.

In the Bible, we talk about how we need to “honor thy father and thy mother”. Which is one of our 10 commandments, they are not only our traditional rules to live by God and are a huge deal. Reason being, if someones trying to mess with them, they’re not just changing the rules, they’re going against God himself and they are someone’s whole religion/belief system, lifestyle, and way of life. Proof that my traditional beliefs are being interfered with is that Congressman Emanuel Cleaver ended a prayer on the opening day of the 117th Congress by saying “amen” and “a-women”. Amen is not specified towards a man.It is simply a Hebrew word meaning “so be it”. “A-women” does not have any meaning so why would you use it after a powerful and meaningful prayer. We are also supposed to love thy neighbor so I support the people who are in these LGBTQ+ communi-

ties who identify themselves as a different gender or gender-neutral. However, in addition with my Christian beliefs, I do believe that gender is backed up by science. When you are born you have specific anatomy. Why should we try and defy science and our everyday lives?

If you look at it logically gender-specific terms are going to be inevitable because of what students learn every day in English classes. English is our way of communication, how we express ourselves through the art of writing. I know some will say that we can gender neutralize English but “English grammar doesn’t distinguish between genders except in assigning a masculine or feminine singular pronoun” according to the Washington Post.This bill could impact everyone’s life. I guess you could call it a cause and effect. It would cause a lot of conflict and a lot of happiness to some communities. The effect would be changing everyone’s life for the better or for worse, which brings me back to the question: do we change change or not change our traditional way of teaching and of life?

Gaming for Money

The Problems with Twitch Kenzie Robertson, Editor-In-Chief Twitch is a major uprising right now, and with that you have new viewers flooding in daily to watch random people on the internet play games or simply just chat. As the viewers, subscriptions, and followers rise, it is apparent that Twitch moderators are quite literally garbage at their job.

Multiple streamers have been

banned for months for no reason revealed to the public, while people who have done some questionable things and are banned for only a week. A case of this can be seen with JustaMinx, a streamer banned for a month for no reason at all it seems. On the same day, however, a streamer had indecent exposure on her stream and was only banned for a week.

Twitch is an amazing site where

communities grow and people can connect with others, but I feel that with the major influx the site has gotten over the past couple of years, and with Jeff Bezos owning it and just not caring for it, Twitch has developed awful moderation, and it needs to be fixed so streamers don’t just randomly lose what may be the only thing that pays them.

“Giant Twitch Logo LEGO Build Time-lapse” by BrickinNick is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

The occurrence | Center spread | page 6

New Years ResolutionsA tradition of Motivation From numerous beloved celebrity deaths,

I

MacKenzie Keith, Staff Writer

t’s said that around 4,000 years ago, the ancient Babylonians were the first people to make New Year’s Resolutions. Although, for them, the year began in midMarch, when the crops were planted, rather than in January. They held a 12-day-long festival known as Akitu, in which the Babylonians crown a new king or avow their loyalty to the reigning king. They then made promises to the Babylonian gods and believed if they kept their word they would have good favor given to them by the gods for the entirety of the next year. This ancient practice has now been turned into a yearly tradition that anyone can participate in.

multiple wildfires, and the global pandemic that caused billions to be quarantined, last year was a lot to take in and deal with. People had more than enough time to thoroughly rethink their lives. Many stuck with the traditional exercise, hobby development, or money management resolutions, a lot of people had new, personal ones to try and complete within the coming year. People are trying to quit bad habits, spend more quality time with their family.

The main problem with New Year’s Resolutions arises when people actually begin the process of completing them; motivation.

After a few weeks - or less - of working their

2021

way through a goal, it becomes fairly difficult to continue. The best ways to stay motivated are to understand why you are doing what you’re doing, have a clear goal set in mind, and create a plan that allows you to spread out progress evenly and easily.

Reach out through our social media platforms and tell us your resolution for the year and how you plan to stay motivated. You can find us on Facebook at bjhsjournalism, Instagram at bjhs._journalism, Twitter at bjhs_ journalism and TikTok at bjhsjournalism.

A Year For New Beginnings

the occurrence | center spread | Page 7 “I think new years is a good way to spend time wiwth people and bring people together when we enter a new year,” Charolette Perry, 9th, said.

“It was meh. Like I wasn’t really suprised that it was a new year, it was just like any other day,” Daniel Cruz, 9th, said.

“New years is a really good time to set goals for yourself, especially since the beginning of a years feels like a fresh start or clean state,” Ella Howard, 8th, said.

“Happy New Year 2014!!!” by davidyuweb is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

RINGING IN NEW VIBES: Students Reflect on Changing Year

“I think New Years is a great time for everyone to set goals and to feel like you get a new start in life, especially if the previous year wasn’t that good for them,” Maricka Farr, 8th, said.

“It’s the celebration of a new year and everyone has new goals that to be honest no one ever sticks to,” Chassitie Shepherd, 9th, said.

The occurrence | entertainment | page 8

Monster Comparisons Ratings of monster drinks

“Monster Energy” by JeepersMedia is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Original

Pipeline Punch

Papillon

Every single monster Tastes like Fruity Battery Acid Classic Can 8/10

I don’t really like the taste Has a weird after taste Cute can 5/10

I love this one Delicious Flavor Pretty can 9/10

Pacific Punch

Zero Ultra

Mango Loco

Tastes like fruitpunch bitter like coffee 8/10

It’s alright Good aftertaste White can is eh 7/10

My favorite Monster Mango Flavored Good Aftertaste Pretty can 10/10

Cannen Garner, Staff Writer There are many energy drinks out there on the market. Redbull, Monster, Bang, and many others are well known. Redbull, being arguably the most iconic energy drink, is a classic. With 111 mg of caffeine, and 37 g of sugar, this drink definitely does it’s job. It has such an original taste, one that’s defined as its own. It can’t really be compared with any other. It has a carbonated taste. It has a yellowish color, similar to motor oil. It can be bought in 8oz, 12oz, 16oz, or 20oz cans.

Most know Red Bull for their commercials. “Red Bull gives you wings,” is a common phrase heard.

Or for sports fans, you can find Red Bull advertising in many sports such as F1, Moto GP, Football

(or soccer), and many other extreme sports. This massive publicity definitely boosted their sales, and it was the only reason I started buying them. It gives you an idea that they are the dominant drink, and because you see it almost everywhere, you should buy it. Not only how much they publicize helps, but also how they publicize it. From Paul Steiner changing planes mid air, to Felix Baumgartner’s skydive from space, with the Red Bull logos everywhere, you never fail to realize that Red Bull is behind it all.

Back to the actual effectiveness of the drink, I would say that it works quite well. My friend once went two days without sleep, drank a Red Bull, and stayed up for another whole day. Surprising-

ly, I witnessed it all. I once only slept 4 hours on a weekend, picked up a Red Bull, drank it, and stayed up another night. Despite how tired you might be, Red Bull would be an excellent option to keep you awake.

Don’t forget, however, that they are extremely unhealthy. Minors should not consume large amounts of the drink frequently, as it can cause a caffeine overdose, insomnia, heart palpitations, increased heart rate, dehydration, many other effects that could cost you your life, as it has to many before.

“RedBull” by clairebear83613 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The occurrence | entertainment | page 9

we’re the rats

ratatoutille musical on tiktok

“Pixar’s Ratatouille” by L.Bö is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Priscila Cox, Assistant Editor in chief When the lights of Broadway dimmed amidst a virus, and all seemed dark, an unusual star lit the stage, or should we say the internet? Ratatouille the TikTok musical became an overnight sensation, but why did the story of a French rat resonate so much with users?

Allow us to set the scene.

In August, 26 year old elementary teacher, Emily Jacobsen, was cleaning her apartment when she began singing a little tune to herself. She decided to make a TikTok out of it.

“I grabbed photos from Google, made them into extreme closeups of the characters, I made my voice sound more cartoon-like and I just posted this little ‘Ode to Remy’ song. I sent it to friends and family for a quick laugh and forgot about it”.

Composer and arranger, Daniel Mertzlufft, stumbled upon Jacobsen’s original video through Brittany Broski’s (kombucha girl) TikTok and created a parody for an Act 2 finale.

“I decided to give it the full Disney treatment...And then my good friend Cori Jaskier and I recorded all the vocals...And then I posted it.” Mertzluft states.

From that point on, things really started cooking.

Battle of the Apples AIrpods vs.

Airpods max

Hundreds of videos went hashtag #ratatouillethemusical and users shared their songs, choreography, set and costume design. All songs in the official musical were created by TikTok users.

Graphic designer Jess Siswick, joined in by creating a playbill.

“It was a joy to see everybody creating, focusing on different parts of the story. Same with costume designs and everything I was really affected….I have no musical ability whatsoever. I can’t add a song to this. I’m going to make the playbill.” Siswick reminisces.

The musical was presented by Seaview Productions and streamed live on January 1, 2021 7pm (Eastern Time) with tickets ranging from $5-$50. Ratatouille managed to raise 1.9 million for the Actors Fund and other organizations such as (SAG/AFTRA, IATSE, and Producers Guild of America).

“Finding new outlets for creative collaboration has never been more imperative than it is right now,” Seaview CEO Greg Noble states, “We can’t wait to share with these remarkable creators Have dreamt up which will now allow them to benefit other artists through the vital work of the Actors Fund”.

The Actors Fund has been helping actors and the people working behind the scenes (technicians,

hair/makeup, directors, etc). It has provided grants and the money donated helps run other services to help actors like counseling, assisted living or health insurance , and has been key in providing aid to theatre workers during the Broadway shut down due to Covid-19.

The main cast of Ratatouille includes: Wayne Brady (Django), Tituss Burgess (Remy), Kevin Chamberlin (Gusteau), Andre De Shields (Ego), Andrew Barth Feldman (Linguini), Adam Lambert (Emile), Priscilla Lopez (Mabel), Ashley Park (Colette), and Mary Testa (Chef Skinner) When Broadway went dark, Ratatouille became a spark in an otherwise desolate year, proving that people of all backgrounds could still be united in their shared love and create a heartfelt work of art.

Jacobsen states, “I was truly honored to hear that my theme is going to be featured and brought to life. I am just so thrilled that the excitement can be put towards such a great cause. I have enjoyed many of the benefits for the Actors Fund over the past months, and the idea that now my song is playing a small part in bringing [a musical] to life is so thrilling for me”.

Airpods - first gen.

Airpod Max

-not resistant to sweat/water -earbuds -white -charges inside case -5 hours in one run, 24 if charged -$150 -can charge in case -released December 13, 2016 -sensors on the sides

-sweat/water resistant -headphones -Space gray, silver, sky blue, green and pink -enters ultra-low power mode inside its case -20 hours of listening -$549 -noise cancellation/transparency mode -released December 15, 2020 -digital crown

The occurrence | Sports | page 10

Sporting Events of 2021 BB 8B vs Hot Springs @ BJHS (8G8B) Jan 28 from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM BB 8G8B White/9G9B @ NLR Jan 28 from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM Swim Only @ Cabot Jan 29 from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM Home 11 Dive Meet Jan 30 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

BB 8W/9 @ Episcopal (8G8B9G9B) Feb 1 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM

BB 8B @ NLR (8G8B) A/B Feb 1 from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM BB 8B vs Cabot N @ BJHS (8G8B) Feb 2 from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM Swim @ Home Feb 4 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM BB 8G8B White vs NLR @ BJHS Feb 4 from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM BB 8B/9 @ Conway White (8G8B9G9B) Feb 4 from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM BB 8G8B White/9G9B vs Benton @ BJHS Feb 8 from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM Swim Last Chance w/Bauxite Feb 9 from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM

Track Preview Jocelyn Kirby, Staff Writer Although Covid-19 ruined track’s season last year, they are working hard so they’re ready for this year. They have been practicing and have many goals set for their meets coming up in March, which they are expected to do very well at.

All six track coaches are training the students and helping them reach their goals. Each of the coaches have different goals set for each team but their main goal is for the kids to have a good season. Coach Bradbury said,”I mainly just want my girls to hit their goals. I want them to set high goals for themselves and just help them get better,” Bradbury said. She is helping her girls reach their goals and encouraging them to push themselves.

Coach Orr is the 9th grade boys coach. He is preparing them for high school track. Coach Orr said,“Our goal for this season is to win the conference track.” Coach Perry is also coaching 9th grade. “My primary goal is to 1, be more competitive, get the girls ready for high school. Last year their track season ended abruptly, they didn’t really get a track season, so they are having to learn the events all over again. My goal is for them to learn each event, so

BB 7G7B8G8B White @ Cabot S Feb 11 from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM 9th BB conference Tourn TBD Feb 15 from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM 9th Volleyball Tryouts Feb 16 from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM 9th BB Conference Tourn TBD Feb 16 from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM 9th BB Conference Tourn TBD Feb 16 from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM 9th BB Conference Tourn TBD Feb 18 from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM

they excel in those events for high school,” Perry said.

Coach Belcher started coaching track last year, but didn’t get to have a season. “My biggest goal is to give each kid a season, do whatever we got to do, protocol wise, or safety wise, to insure they have a year,” Belcher said.

Most coaches are hoping this year they can have a season and Covid-19 won’t affect it. “We were 3 days from our first meet last year before we got shut down in march. It was my first year coaching track and I was looking forward to it. To see all the hard work the kids put in during the off-season never come into fruition, just kinda is dis-heartining,” said Belcher.

Track is a very independent sport. “It is a team sport made of individual events. One guy really has to see how he compares to everyone else, but they add the points up as a team. So I guess the coolest thing is, unlike other sports where everyone helps you, it’s really individual, it’s really you against everyone else at that point. It’s really cool for you to get out there and compete and really truly see how you stack up,” Orr said. Every player is competing with other players, but also with themselves. They are trying to beat past results and scores. “You’re compet-

ing with yourself more so than anything, you don’t have teammates out there on the court with you, it’s just you.

You are your own team,” Belcher said.

Even though it is early on in the season, some of the coaches have players in mind that they expect will do good this season. “All of them, the entire team is my most valuable player. They’re all going to push themselves,” Belcher said. He thinks all of his team is going to do great this year. Coach Orr said that it is too early to tell with his team also, but he knows that Peyton Brack, a distance runner, will do good this year.

Brack is on track and cross country. He has been known to be a very talented runner and has goals set for this season. “This season I’m really close to breaking the school record for the mile and 800,” Brack said. The school record right now is at 3:35. He is excited for this season to see if he can break it.