The Occurrence Vol. 4 Issue 3

Publication Policy

The Occurrence will not accept submissions containing the following:

Informally written letters

Letters over 175 words

Anonymous letters

Signed by a group

Rude remarks against sexual orientation/ gender

Inappropriate remarks towards any religion

Rudely directed at a certain individual

We will accept the following:

Formally written letters

Letters 175 words and under

Signed letters by an individual

Letters that aren’t discriminatory

One letter per issue

Remember not all letters will be chosen

Thank you, The Occurrence Staff

Advisor Meag Abo

Ivana Wang: reporter/designer/artist

Daziyah Fogle: reporter/designer

Dexter Lowery: reporter/designer

Teagan Willyard: reporter/designer

Caroline Sanders: photographer

Bethany Meador: photographer

Leila Brown: photographer

Angela Ocampo: photography editor

Roe: photography editor

Gabrielle Smith: art editor

Katie Wright: editor-in-chief

Addison Warford: editor-in-chief

Annabel Odom: editor-in-chief

Letter from the editor

Sadly, this is our last issue of the 2022-2023 school year. Don’t worry we’ll do website stories and publish a literary magazine later on!

Now for the issue, for the cover we used a picture of dandelions to tie into our stories relating to Spring Break, which we are quickly approaching.

For the color scheme we went for a bright and happy feeling. With a kind of pop art element to it. We did this to help incorporate to the cheerful feeling of spring and the new life and emotions it brings.

We wanted the last issue to be a fun one so, we did almost all stories relating to the spring and summer coming up! Along with a story talking about the grammy’s, cool stores to shop at, social media and sensory disorders.

We enjoyed creating this issue and we hope you guys enjoy reading it!

Katie Wright, co-editor-in-chief

the best red carpet

New TikTok sensation Landon Barker showed up wearing an Alexander McQueen suit. To complement this, he wore E’era jewelry with his nails painted by celebrity artist Brittney Boyce. Barker’s style was simple yet bold and trendy. His outfit was fantastic for the occasion and set the bar for Gen Z stars.

American DJs and producers showed up sophisticated and polished to the Grammys. Usually, men can not pull off a fringed hemmed cardigan, but Diplo did it well. Not only did all of the colors of the black match, but his glossy uppers matched Vinetria, his date. Diplo’s outfit was easygoing but sharp. If best dressed was a category at the Grammys for men, Diplo would have come in second. The one earring messed up his appearance.

Bad Habit singer glowed in a Saint Laurent suit. Lacy’s freshly shaven face and knotless braids complemented his look. Lacy’s tattoos on display could be a form of art. Lacy would win if best dressed at the Grammys was a category for men. He also had clean nails, which most men fail to have. His overall look was clean and gave “America’s Top Model” for men.

carpet fashion

Lizzo is never one to shy away when it comes down to fashion. "About Damn Time" singer always goes over the top in style. It was no surprise when she showed up wearing custom Dolce & Gabbana. Lizzo made a fashion statement with a hooded floor-length brightly colored cape, along with a corseted floor-length gown. Lizzo gave body goals and all the plus-size girls a confidence boost. Other Grammy attendees hopefully took notes and won’t show up in cow print next year.

Cardi B honored Gaurav Gupta by wearing the Indian’s designer spring collection. Although the dress on the runway was mini, she somehow managed to pull off the entire thing. The color on Cardi B looked great. It really brought out her skin tone. She did not get nominated for a Grammy but she won creative dressing on the red carpet.

Queen Bey looked fabulous in a gold and silver dress by Gucci. To conclude this, Beyoncé wore long black leather gloves. She glowed that night, marking her territory. The hit maker looked incredible that night.

Story by: Daziyah Fogle

COMFY OR STYLish?

The fashion choices of Junior High students differ widely depending on one’s preferences. These are are then separated into different aesthetics, but there are two main categories often debated today: Style, or Comfort.

Clothing for humans has evolved since centuries ago, while fashion design has believed to have originated in 1826. Years have passed since then and so have trends, but is it “trendy” to be flexible and comfortable, or to be stylish and fashionable?

As stated by artsandculture. google.com, fashion plays a vital role in many societies. The fashion industry is also said to be the second biggest worldwide economic activity, with an estimated value of $3 trillion.

Clothes may often have a psychological effect on an individual and their peers. As according to brainfodder. org, fashion can affect one’s behavior, perception of

themselves, confidence and self-esteem.

Thus, the clothing choices you make are still a reflection of you. Many underestimate how important fashion is as a method of self-expression. What you wear could be someone’s first impression of you!

Regardless, people will still choose to prioritize comfort than concern themselves with appearances. This is evident in studies made by forbes. com who claims, “over 8 in 10 people (81%) prioritize comfort over costs or style.”

A poll was run in our Junior High and from 41 different responses, 87.8% of students said they prefer wearing comfortable clothes, while the other 12.2% said they would rather be stylish.

A student who voted for comfort said “It’s easier to make it through the school day when the clothes I’m wearing are comfortable, it’s hard to learn if I’m focused on my clothes.”

Meanwhile, another student who voted for style answered, “I enjoy feeling like I have a good outfit on. It helps start my day with something positive as well.”

We also questioned whether trends played a role in students’ fashion choices. From the results of the poll, 53.7% said clothing trends didn’t matter to them, 26.8% stated they did, and the remaining percentage said it depended on the trend.

Whether you choose to dress comfortably or fashionably, it’s important to wear what you personally enjoy, so long as it is appropriate for what setting you are in.

Don’t feel obligated to wear simply what’s “trendy” or what everyone you know wears. Your clothes are a part of your identity and it’s important to not let others take that away from you.

Story by: Ivana Wang Art By: Jenna James

Addison Warford

Natural State Natural Choice

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge

Carroll County, Arkansas

Adults (20+): $32

Teens (13-19): $20

Children (4-12) Seniors (65+) Military/Veterans: $15

Children under 3: Free

Are you a cat lover? If so, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge is the place for you. It shelters and takes care of abused, abandoned, and neglected big cats. But by going here you’re not just enjoying tours of the 459 acre refuge, you’re learning about exotic animals and being taught on the issues of big cats in captivity. To get in touch visit https://www.turpentinecreek.org or call 479-253-5841.

Castle Rogue’s Manor

Carroll County, Arkansas

Adults: $20 Kids (0-15): $10

Castle Rogue’s Manor is perfect for anyone who wants to feel like royalty. From its renaissance design, to its cliff perch above the White River and Tablerock Lake, it’s one of Arkansas’s hottest places to visit. It’s perfect for any wedding or event and supplies wonderful food and services, on top of that, it offers tours and food for single parties or groups. Get in touch with them at castleroguesmanoratbeaver.com or by calling 479-981-6816.

Magic Springs

Hot Springs, Arkansas

2023 Season Pass: $99.99 or $59.99 when you buy 4 or more

Single Day Adult Saturday Ticket: $59.99

Single Day Adult Sun-Fri Ticket: $39.99

Child/Senior Anyday Ticket: $39.99

Spring Ticket Valid May 6-14 ONLY: $34.99

From musicals to raging roller coasters, Magic Springs has it all. It has 5 roller coasters, 11 water rides, daily concerts, and special events. This place is perfect for bringing family or friends and is open throughout the year. So if your looking for adrenaline rushes and excitement visit https://www.magicsprings.com/concerts.php or call 501-624-

Story by: Addison Warford

Social Media. A Blessing

Social media has been a hot topic over the past few years. From dangerously sharing personal information to promoting businesses. The wide variety of possibilities that come from it is astonishing.

Social media platforms sole purpose was so that people could have a place to socialize and share their lives with. Now it has become a big concern for parents and students. Federal investigators believe that more than 500,000 online predators are active each day.

What can people do to keep them safe from predators online? Keeping a private account/settings online really

help keep any person from messaging. However these things still happen because anyone can try to appear as something they are not.

People, specifically teens, oftentimes forget that once you post something, there’s no turning back. In Brandi Levy’s case, a freshman cheerleader at the time of the incident, posted a derogatory comment to Snapchat regarding the school and the sports teams she was in. She was forced off the team but took the school to court and eventually won.

Although in her case she had a freedom of speech battle, it doesn’t necessarily mean

students should make the same decisions. Everything that is posted on social media is there forever.

While Social media has its faults, it also has some positive things too. People can promote their business or share fun pictures/videos for their families and friends. According to Statista.com, Facebook and Instagram were the largest social media platforms for marketing in January 2022.

Social media is also a great way to see what your favorite celebrities are up to! Even if most of them don’t post on their own, it’s still fun to see new pictures from them or see

Blessing or a Curse?

Popular for sharing your daily life, but how much is too much? Every time a picture is posted, the chance of someone downloading your information increases. legaljobs.io says people with social media accounts have a 46% higher chance of having their identity stolen due to identity theft.

Mental Health is a touchy topic these days but how much is social media hurting it? In a poll done by PushON, 62% said they spend over 3 hours per day on social media, 42% of that are teenagers ages 16-19. 48% of social media users said they felt self-conscious

Along with feeling self-

conscious, social media was at the top of the list of most common places for cyberbullying according to stopbullying.gov.

Story by: Katie Wright

Ways to stay safe on social mediaKeep a private account

Only allow close family and friends to follow you

Ways to stay safe on social mediaKeep a private account Only allow close family and friends to follow you

Don’t let people you don’t know message you

Don’t let people you don’t know message you

Don’t have location sharing on

Don’t have location sharing on

Newspaper Tips

Since this is our final issue for the 2022-2023 school year, (don’t worry though, we will be posting website stories!) We wanted to give out some tips for our next year’s editorial staff!

Constructive criticism isn’t mean. It can be very hard to tell people things to fix in their work but it isn’t mean and won’t hurt their feelings.

Don’t be too nice. Now we’re not saying be rude but we have deadlines that we have to hit and if someone isn’t doing their work, you have to be stern.

Communication. Communication is key to being successful as a journalist, if people don’t know what they need to be doing, how are we supposed to publish great work?

Don’t be afraid to voice your ideas. It’s important to voice your opinions and speak out on the thing’s done as a staff.

Be open-minding. Not every story is gonna align with what you believe but it is still important to continue writing and be open to ideas from others.

Tips and Tricks

Write until the story is finished. No one wants to read fluff but make sure you get the whole story in, no more, no less.

Get stuff turned in on time. Don’t slack and leave the other person you are writing with or giving art/photography behind.

Take action. When you see someone isn’t getting their story done or can’t figure out the angle, help them!

Know your story. Don’t make a crappy story just cause you need to fill the page, make sure you mean it.

Have fun! Journalism allows you to unleash your creativeness and show your talents to others, so enjoy it!

This year has been great and we hope everyone next year will take these tips to heart! Applications for BJHS Media are out now so apply while you can!

design by Gabrielle Smith

A PlAn for College

Students should create a four year study plan, research career paths and make a list of possible courses after high school. Be sure to have multipul alternates for courses you don’t get.

Students should plan on taking the PSAT/PreACT and choose at least one extracurricular to stick too.

Students will have the oppurtunity to take the SAT/ ACT. In this year you will begin looking at colleges and weighing possible oppertunites.

During this school year, students should visit college campuses, submit the FAFSA and apply for scholorships/college.

Sensory Processing Disorder

A person’s mind formulates what it thinks is an appropriate response to the stimuli in its environment based on what their senses perceive is going on. If the brain processes this information incorrectly it can impact a person’s day-to-day life. When a person perceives their environment as more or less dangerous than it actually is, it’s called sensory processing disorder or SPD.

reality.

STAR, an institution focused on learning the causes of and offering treatment for SPD, says.

The five senses are common knowledge, but the human body actually has eight sensory systems. These systems are visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, gustatory, vestibular, interception, and proprioception. In more simple terms, what someone sees, hears, smells, touches and tastes, their sense of balance, internal bodily signals and the ‘awareness’ of their body in a space. The senses come together to form a person’s

STAR claims.

In individuals with SPD, the signals from these senses can became crossed, resulting in what A. JEan Ayres, PhD, a neuroscientist and psychologist, refers to as a neurological “traffic jam”.

When these signals become crossed, it can result in the person perceiving their environment as overwhelming or harmful or they could feel no sense of danger in an environment that could actually harm them. These individuals can be called “thrill-seekers” and partake in risky situations or hobbies to account for their lack of the sensations of pain. While on the other end of the spectrum, they can be passed off as “over-dramatic” because sensations others would consider normal, such as the feel of fabric on skin or the texture of certain foods, can be perceived as dangerous.

STAR references while explaining the aspects of SPD.

Misdiagnosis is common as problems with sensory processing are common in other conditions such as ADHD or autism, and many professionals are not properly trained to recognize SPD.

Even if psychologists were properly equipped, “no two people process and experience sensation and/or move and coordinate their body in the exact same way,” STAR says.

(source: sensoryhealth.org )

Story by: Teagan Willyard

“Sensory processing is the neurolOgy of how we feel,”

“Making sense of sensation is what makes us successful,”

“[A] researcH study…suggests

that 1 in every 6 cHildren experiences differences in sensory processing that may be significant enough to affect aspects of everyday life functions,”

Summer Jobs for teens

Jobs you can/can not take between the ages of 14 to 17 & the rules

There are many reasons a teenager might want a summer job starting around the ages of 14 - 17. Some reasons people can think of would include purchasing new clothes, shoes, electronics such as a new phone or game machine, spending money for hanging out with friends, potentially saving up for a car or buying gas for the car they have. Dr. Mary L Gavin believes teenagers should look for a summer job to help in different ways. In her article written for Kids Health, “5 Reasons to Look for a Summer Job” she says the process of trying to get the job might even outweigh having one. It will help develop interview skills which is something everyone will need in the future. It might help teens get better at coping with rejection. Dr. Gavin says the more a person faces rejection, the easier it is to bounce back from it. You might learn something about yourself, a new skill or interest for example. It will definitely help get you out of your comfort zone. Then of course it will help build self confidence.

With the summer months just around the corner it’s time to start planning what to do with our time off. Even if you are one of the kids looking for a summer job, you may find you are not old enough

to work at your favorite fast food restaurant. The state of Arkansas has many laws or rules for children within the ages of 16 to 17 when it comes to working. Some include not being allowed to work before 6am or to work more than 10 hours per day or 54 hours per week during the summer, according to the University of Arkansas’s website on child labor, (Arkansas Labor Laws). Then if you are a little younger teen, (14 to 15 years), a permit is required to work which is issued by the Arkansas Department of Labor. As stated on the website:

They can NOT work before 7am or later than 9pm during the summer.

They can NOT work with heavy machinery or gasses.

They can NOT work more than 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week during the summer. They can NOT work more than 18 hours per week, 3 hours per day or after 7pm during school days/nights.

In Saline County, if you are under the age of 16, you might consider babysitting for friends or family, mowing yards for neighbors and elderly, working at a camp such as Family Farm or Brookhill Ranch, delivering newspapers or possibly as a lifeguard. (a

lifeguard has to be certified by the American Red Cross).

Once teens are 16 and up, the world or Saline County, is their playground. Magic Springs hires just for the summer, Camp Bow Wow will hire you to play with the dogs, Crumbl Cookie needs cooks and salespeople, the various car washes around will hire you, the grocery stores will hire you to stock shelves, and so many more places. The movie theater seems to be a favorite summer job location for teens in the area, Freddy’s, Dunkin Donuts, and Hobby Lobby are always hiring.

Regardless of what you decide to do with your summer break, hang out by the pool or get a job, it is just a matter of time before we all get those first jobs. Remember how Walt Disney put it, “Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.”

Story by: Annabel Odom & Art by: Jenna

Store Review

Stores in little rock/Bryant

Hibbet Sports

7319 Alcoa Rd, Bryant, AR 72022

Hibbett Sports offers sports equipment, clothing, shoes, and accessories. They also offer brands such as Nike, Adidas, Jordan, and New Balance. It is a smaller store, so it’s not crowded often. On the Hibbett Sports website, they offer full outfits for all occasions. With big name brands, Hibbett is definitely not cheap, but they have nice, quality products. It is a perfect store to spend your birthday money on if you’re interested in getting cool clothing or shoes.

Nike outlet

11201 Bass Pro Pkwy D-S101, Little Rock, AR 72210

The Nike store is similar to Hibbett in what they offer, but except basketballs, they don’t offer any sports equipment in the store. Nike has shirts, pants, shorts, hoodies and other apparel for men, women and kids. They also have a wide selection of shoes. Employees at this store are very friendly and helpful. The store gets busier on weekends, so it can be crowded then, but otherwise the store isn’t too busy. Overall, the Nike store has good merchandise, is organized and clean.

Target

7377 Alcoa Rd, Bryant, AR 72022

Target is a store with a big variety of products. Some of their departments include: electronics, beauty, clothes, and entertainment. This Target location also has a Starbucks and concession in store. The beauty/ skincare department is their most popular department at the Bryant store. One Target shopper would describe Target as “having nice products and being affordable.” Target is also clean and easy to navigate. Employees are also helpful. Overall, Target is a nice store with a wide array of products for anyone and everyone.

Hot topic

11201 Bass Pro Pkwy RM

A-E123, Little Rock, AR 72210

Hot Topic sells a lot of pop culture merchandise, like shirts, toys and bags. They also have a lot of accessories such as jewelry, hats, and belts. Their most popular items are blindboxes and pins. Hot Topic also offers a great deal of $15 in “Hot Cash’’ for every $30 spent either in store or online. One Hot Topic customer called it “A very interesting and quirky store.” No matter your aesthetic, you’re bound to find something to match at Hot Topic.

Five below

7341 Alcoa Rd, Bryant, AR 72022

Five Below has many different departments and products mostly costing only $1-5. Room decor, tech, candy, gadgets are just some of the cool things you can find at Five Below. Five Below’s age demographic is directed towards tweens and teens. While Five Below used to strictly be things $5 and below, it is still a fun store with relatively cheap prices and good products.

Story by: Dexter Lowery