The Communicator, v. 51, Ed. 4

THE COMMUNICATOR MAGAZINE VOL. 51, EDITION 4, APRIL 2024

Explore how the evolution of Finn Anderson’s fashion sense allowed him to express himself and gave him hope for acceptance.

Page 84

About the Cover Finn Anderson has often felt boxed in by societal gender norms and has felt as though who he is has gone unseen. Fashion allows him to break out of those expectations and express himself to others however he chooses. He hopes that his fashion sense is reflective of who he is and how he identifies. Anderson is pictured with a mirror to parralel this idea: just as a mirror can reflect an image of a person, so too can fashion. Exploring his own style gives him more control over that image and other people’s perception of him.

Dear Readers, Last year, at around this time, the three of us worked on Vol. 50, Edition 3 of The Communicator: The Future Edition. In that edition we wrote about the future, about what it was likely to hold. The future of fashion, the future of the food industry, the future of AI. This year, as we sat around the high table in Room 300, we decided that there was an important aspect of the future that deserved further exploring, an aspect that molds the future, that shapes it, that dictates what our world will look like five, ten, a hundred years from now: hope.

Each of our individual hopes have the power to change our lives. Our collective hopes have the power to change the world. In this edition we delved into those hopes. We considered hope for judicial reform, the steps that have been taken and the steps that need taking to make the justice system one that serves us all. We considered hope for democracy, as higher youth voter turnout holds the potential to institute leaders who represent us and our vision for the future. We considered our hopes for a kinder world, one in which no student is ostracized for their differences, but is celebrated instead.

Each and every one of us has the potential to transform the world, to change our lives, to change the lives of others. All that change stems from hope: the hope that things can be different, the hope that we can change things and the hope that we can make our hopes a reality. Hope is not just wanting something. It is not just wishful thinking. It is not a figment of our imaginations. Hope is a dream supported by action.

We hope that in reading this edition you see our staff’s hopes for what the world could be and that you are inspired by all the people featured in this edition who are doing their part to make the changes they have hoped for. Every hope you have is an opportunity for you to act. We urge you to take those opportunities, to act on your hopes and to bring the world a little closer to your vision of it.

Your Editors,

PRINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF ISABELLA JACOB SERENA O’BRIEN RUTH SHIKANOV WEB EDITORS-IN-CHIEF ADDI HINESMAN ANJALI KAKARLA AILISH KILBRIDE SANA SCHADEN SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS-IN-CHIEF CLARA FREETH MORGAN MCCLEASE LUCIA PAGE SANDER ART DIRECTOR BEE WHALEN PHOTO DIRECTOR DANIEL GING ADVISER TRACY ANDERSON SECTION EDITORS LYDIA DEBORD LEILA DURRIE AIDAN HSIA VEDHA KAKARLA BRIDGETTE KELLY CHARLIE LAMAN ISABELLA MALDONADO EDDIE MOBILIO BRECK MAHIR SOOFI CLAIRE STEIGELMAN ANTHONY WANG JAKE WILLIAMS

STAFF KYAN ALCUMBRACK MCDANIEL, SARIE ANDES, LEILA BANK, SOPHIE BANTA, ALLEGRA BLACKWOOD, JACQUELINE BOYTON, JONATHAN CARTER, LEO CASTILHO, PIPER COOKE, CECILIA COSTELLO-SAILE, GABRIEL DEEDLER, MINT DRISKILL, HELIO FONG, ALLY FREIWALD, KAYLEE GADEPALLI, KYRIE GARWOOD, EMMA GOBLIRSCH, AVA GRIFFITH, KATE GROVES, STEPHANIE HADLEY, ANDREW HADLEY, MOLLY HAMALAINEN, LUCA HINESMAN, ANNABELLE HOARD, DANIEL JACOB, JASMINE JENNINGS, VEDHA KAKARLA, AUGUSTUS KASCHUBE, VIOLET KNYAL, SERAFINA KUTCHER, CHARLIE LAMAN, MAX LAWTON, WALKER LEDBETTER, CLAIRE LEWIS, JACK LEWIS, MALCOLM LONDON, ELIJAH MAKMANLEVINSON, ISABELLA MALDONDO, ELLE MCCREADIE, WILLIAM MILITZER, IVY MILLER, EVA MILLWOOD, JACK MORGAN, JANAKI NALLAMOTHU, SAMUEL OLIVER, PAIGE PLAVNICK, MIA RUBENSTEIN, AMELIA SANDSTROM, ESHWAR SCHADEN, ALEX SCHWARTZ, ELON SHAFFER-GREEN, NEILA SHEE, PAYTON SLY, IONIE STEUDLE, ELAINE STEVENSON, ZANE SWERDLOW, RIA THOMAS, NINA TINNEY, MALLORY TOWERS, MARIAH ZEIGLER, EMMA ZELLER, WILSON ZHENG

SPECIALIST JOURNALISTS HANNAH RUBENSTEIN

Columbia Scholastic Press Association Crown Finalist & Winner 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker Finalist 2024 Pacemaker Finalist 2023 Pacemaker Finalist and Winner 2022, Pacemaker 2021-2022 Pacemaker Finalist and Winner 2020 Pacemaker Finalist and Winner 2019 The Communicator Policy The Communicator is an open forum for student expression created by Community High School students. The Communicator does not represent the views of Ann Arbor Public Schools. The Communicator staff seeks to recognize the individuals, events and ideas relevant to readers.

The Communicator is committed to fair reporting, providing a platform for student voices and equitable coverage.

For our complete Guidelines & Policy, please go to www.chscommunicator.com

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Table of Contents VOLUME 51, EDITION 4 | APRIL 2024

Cover Story

News

84 Mirror Image Finn Anderson breaks gender and social norms through their fashion sense. They find hope through the clothes they wear.

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Forum Council Election

CHS Mock Trial A Team Advances to the State Competition

After a successful campaign, newly elected forum council co-presidents, Clara Freeth and Jacqueline Boynton, share their aspirations.

BY LYDIA DEBORD

One of two Mock Trial teams fielded by CHS advances from the regional competition held on Feb. 24.

BY ISABELLA JACOB

Photography by Morgan McClease and Addi Hinesman

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Features

Opinion

Arts & Entertainment

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54

76

The End of Cookie Cutter Justice

Facets of Rejection

How Much Hope Is Too Much?

After years of uncertainty, The Grady Els receive a verdict of not guilty. Their case shines a light on the pitfalls of our judicial system.

Students learn to balance hope and realistic expectations during the college application process.

A review of Northwestern’s Jewish Theatre Ensemble’s production of ‘Falsettos.’

BY SERENA O’BRIEN AND ISABELLA JACOB

BY ANJALI KAKARLA AND AILISH KILBRIDE

30 Welcoming The Year Of The Dragon Students and staff recount traditions for ringing in the lunar new year. They explore holding onto their culture through the spring festival.

BY WILSON ZHENG

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BY LEILA BANK

80 72 Readers Write Students reflect on the small things in their lives that bring them daily reminders of hope.

Artist Profile: Grieta Ham Grieta Ham shares how they express themselves through art that unapologetically reflects how they feel.

BY NINA TINNEY

BY STAFF

Trash or Treasure As a child, she loved fashion; now she works at a thrift store. Sadie Todd, dissects the importance of repurposing clothing.

BY NINA TINNEY, ELLE MCCREADIE AND KATE GROVES

42 Embracing The Challenge Students grapple with educational struggles and finding the balance between their schoolwork and social lives.

BY RUTH SHIKANOV

50 Navigating The Future of Climate Change Amidst a warming climate, students speak on the steps being taken to create a more sustainable school and community.

BY JANAKI NALLAMOTHU AND PAIGE PLAVNICK 7

NEWS On y Va! CHS French teachers Danelle Mosher and Marci Harris took 43 current French students on a trip to Québec City and Montréal over mid-winter break.

BY SERENA O’BRIEN AND CLARA FREETH

The sky was completely dark over CHS as students arrived at the parking lot. Call time for the bus was 3:30 a.m., which departed shortly after for Canada. On board were 43 students, chaperoned by CHS French teachers Danelle Mosher and Marci Harris, along with their partners, Nick Mosher and Bill Harris, respectively.

After a quick stop at the border, the bus delivered them to the Windsor Train Station, where they boarded the train for Montréal. They were aboard the train for nearly 12 hours — with a short layover in Toronto — witnessing both sunrise and sunset through the big glass windows. Once they disembarked in the evening on Friday, Feb. 16, they were met with a spaghetti dinner and another commute: a motor coach ride to Québec City.

Their time in Québec City incorporated a range of group activities, as well as free time to explore the city. A local guide, who spoke English and French, stayed with the group for the duration of the trip, offering opportunities to learn about the history and culture of the city at every turn.

“He just brought a really great energy to the group and was able to show us things that the teachers didn’t know because they just don’t live there,” said Meghan Pillote, a junior on the trip.

They explored the city as a group, visiting many of Québec’s most famous sites, including the Hotel de Glace de Québec, which is made entirely of snow and ice.

Their exploration also included a trip to Village Vacances Valcartier, which provides a number of inner tubing courses (sledding, but elevated). Throughout the course of the trip, they also visited Montmorency Falls — the highest waterfalls in Québec, visited the SUGAR SHACK to learn about the process of making maple syrup and tried out curling — a quintessential Cana8

Photography by Clara Freeth Danelle Mosher and Marci Harris, who have taken students to Québec for years, pose for a picture. The two French teachers, and friends, led the trip together. “Marci and Danelle are really awesome and I love them,” Freeth said. “So of course I had to take a picture of their dynamic.”

dian ice sport.

In their free time, students chose activities that interested them. For many, this included sampling the array of foods that Québec City had to offer: poutine (a Canadian classic), drinking chocolate, Frenchstyle pastries and more. Even Clara Freeth, a junior on the trip, set aside her gluten intolerance to enjoy numerous croissants.

“When in France,” Freeth said. “But actually it was in Canada that I was eating the croissants.”

On Monday, Feb. 19, the group departed Quebec City for Montréal, where they ice-skated, shopped and indulged in further sightseeing.

For Pillote, a graffiti workshop in Montréal was the highlight of the trip. They learned graffiti techniques from local artists, then attempted to replicate the style.

Each participant decorated a hat with a nickname or silly saying to take home.

“It was really cool to meet some artists

who do that,” Pillote said. “[When] we toured the city afterward we could see all the graffiti everywhere and I felt like I had more of an appreciation towards it.”

On Tuesday, Feb. 20, the final full day of activities, the group started the morning at a picturesque restaurant in the Plateau Mont Royal before another sightseeing bus tour on the way to Le Marché Jean-Talon, Montréal’s largest outdoor market. While there, students participated in a grocery scavenger hunt. After that, they attended a photography workshop where they got the overview of all things photography: from the first photo ever taken to how to adjust camera settings in French. One photograph from each student was selected, then the photos were compiled into a slideshow.

On Tuesday, Feb. 21, they got on the return train. After another nearly 12-hour train ride, packed with card games and chit-chat, they were back at Windsor Union Station.

NEWS

Photography courtesy of CHS French students Students on the French trip participated in a photography workshop, which included a presentation on the history of photography and hands-on experience. Pictured are the results of various students’ efforts.

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Counselor’s Corner As juniors face the oncoming SATs, Brian Williams and Kelly Maveal share their tips and tricks for preparation.

BY PAYTON SLY

For juniors, the SATs are the peak of their year and preparing for them dominates much of the school year. Amidst the ineveitable stress, the counselors provide vital guidance on this journey.

“First and foremost, don’t panic,” Brian Williams said.

“Remember that you’re much more than the test.”

A clear study method is to review material. However, Williams agrees that reviewing eleven years of material isn’t exactly ideal. One of the suggested methods is doing a question a day, which can give your mind a daily refresher and keep you up to par.

CHS also offers opportunities for practice SATs, which Kelly Maveal strongly advises taking advantage of. For rising juniors, an SAT prep course is offered over the summer by AAPS. This is a great way to become familiar with the type of questions to expect on the actual test.

“I think a lot of it is just fig10

uring out how those tests are formatted,” Williams said. “So the more practice you get with just reading those kinds of questions, the more familiar it becomes.”

Performance anxiety has become much more prevalent, especially in highschool. When taking the test, it is crucial to keep strategies for how to destress and stay focused in mind.

“I’d recommend looking into some relaxation and mindfulness and CBT skills for coping with thoughts of anxiety,” Maveal said.

The counselors stress that it is important to remember that the SAT does not define you as a person or how hard you work in school.

“If you start to feel anxious during the test, take a quick minute,” Williams said. “Take a couple deep breaths, relax and remind yourself this is just a test. This isn’t who you are as a human being.”

As of late, SAT scores have continued to hold less and

less weight for applying to colleges. Admissions officers have increasingly determined that an SAT score does not by any means fully encapsulate a student’s abilities. This has led many colleges to transition to test-optional, meaning that they do not require applicants to submit their SAT score unless they so choose.

Becoming aware of this broader context can help students to recognize their value beyond the score they receive on the SAT. Another essential tool the counselors emphasize is time management. Staying on top of schoolwork and knowing when to begin a project or study for a test are examples of good time management. For the SAT, good time management means knowing when to study, how often and, most importantly, what to study. Studies done by the National Library of Medicine show that time management is directly correlated with enhanced job performance, academic achievement and well being. Having a sense of control over your own time is a crucial destresser.

The teacher-student relationship has always been in the foreground at CHS. A strong positive relationship between a student and a teacher provides a learning environment that is tailored to the individual. It can also help to boost self worth in the long run.

“I think students being engaged in learning and caring more about the experience of teacher to student and student to student, learning together, rather than the letter grade is one of the best things that you can do to be successful on a future standardized test,” Maveal said.

Photography by Payton Sly Kelly Maveal and Brian Williams, CHS counselors, step outside the counselor’s office for a photo. They think preparing for the SAT is important, whether or not you choose to submit test scores to colleges during the application process. “I think a lot of it is just figuring out how those tests are formatted,” Williams said.

Fo-Co Column

Since the last time we talked there have been a few key developments in Forum Council. First off, the unprecedented campaigning for the 2024-25 Forum Council presidential election, which included the creation of multiple Instagram accounts and the distribution of cookies and stickers. The campaigns were definitely for the CHS history books. Forum Council also hosted the first town hall in years so that the candidates would have time to speak for themselves and answer questions from the student body. After a close race, the election results were announced during a Forum Council meeting: Jacqueline Boynton and Clara Freeth will be CHS’s 2425 co-presidents, with Lucia Page Sander as their vice president.

The council is continuing with middle school outreach by taking the next steps into the process. Members of Forum Council acted as student representatives at an event for prospective students and their parents/guardians. The CHS lottery results were announced on Feb. 22, so a subcommittee in the council has been working on writing letters to answer any questions that prospective students may have.

Finally, the second annual Forum Competition Week will be held the week after spring break. With the week of festivities fast approaching, the council will spend most of their time working on preparing for it.

Next on the agenda is the planning of Commstock, which will be held in mid-May.

NEWS

New Forum Council Leadership Who are Clara Freeth and Jacqueline Boynton? A profile on the new Forum Council presidents.

BY LYDIA DEBORD

In a way, their presidential aspirations began in their freshman year. Both Jacqueline Boynton and Clara Freeth were inspired by the 2021-22 school year Forum Council presidents, Noah Bernstein and Avani Hoeffner-Shah. Both of them hope to carry that legacy of leadership into their presidency.

“I think that it’s so cool because now I get to be that for the freshmen next year,” Freeth said. “I think that that’s just such a fun thing to be able to be someone that people might look up to.”

Having been members of Forum Council since freshman year, a presidential candidacy was the natural next step for the duo. From the very beginning, the pair looked up to the leaders of student government. Incorporating elements from past leaders along with their own twists, Boynton and Freeth spent time developing their campaign into something CHS students would be eager to support and benefit from.

“FIRE” is the centerpiece of the future presidents’ plan;

the acronym represents all the steps they plan on taking to further the school’s development: Forum, Inform, Renew and Expand.

The concept was born when Ryan Silvester, faculty advisor, asked candidates to submit condensed slides for the forum bulletin.

“Our first word was renewal because we want to renew all the things that past presidents have done,” Boynton said.

Goals stemming from FIRE include continuing the tradition of the Halloween Dance and fostering a stronger sense of forum. No current student at CHS has experienced pre-pandemic forum, something both Boynton and Freeth are hyper-aware of, as they’ve heard countless stories of the old forum structure and want to bring at least some of it back.

“We think that forums need more bonding and inter-forum relations,” Boynton said.

After hours of preparation and campaigning, the crucial 48 hours came: town hall and election day. Town hall was a

chance for the school population to meet their candidates through a question-and-answer session in the Craft Theater.

The candidates had to work on the fly, since they had received the questions that they would be answering only 10 minutes prior.

“I really didn’t completely know what I was going to say until I was saying it, which was kind of scary,” Freeth said.

Nevertheless, they got through it.

That Wednesday night, Boynton went to bed anxious. The next morning, Freeth woke up with the same feeling.

Then it was Thursday — Election Day. Both of them were nervous.

Through hallway chatter and the whispers of indecision, there was an atmosphere of excitement throughout the school regarding the election. Although both Freeth and Boynton were nervous, they were happy to see the majority of the student body be invested in the election.

“I think 387 people voted,

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which is like 76% of the student body,” Freeth said. “Which is higher than we’ve ever had before, and is super exciting because it means that people care about Forum Council, and that’s super important.”

Boynton could barely eat during forum lunch. It was a forum divided, with another candidate, Eliam Rosenberg, being one of her fellow Landrum forumettes.

After voting at lunch, Freeth and Boynton headed to their shared sixth block, FOS III. Apprehension was in the air with multiple competing candidates in the class.

“I was on the edge of my seat,” Freeth said.

Finally, the class had ended and it was time to go to Forum Council and face the music. The presidential candidates wished each other good luck before learning the results. At the end of the day, they knew that nobody would lose, as there wasn’t a bad option on the ballot. Forum Council runs on collaboration, and although it was a competitive election, there was support throughout.

“All eight of us were sitting at one of the tables in the back and we were all saying to each other ‘Good game, you all ran great campaigns, like, whoever wins, you’re gonna do a good job,” Freeth said.

If 16 fewer people had voted, or if nine had voted differently, the results would have been swayed. When the meeting officially began, the words on Silvester’s slideshow congratulated Co-Presidents Freeth and Boynton. The first thing Boynton did was text her parents, who each responded with instant excitement.

“I was like I had to text my mom, I have to text my dad, because they’ve been with me for this Forum Council campaign journey,” Boynton said.

Overall, both presidents love CHS. They want to share that love with the school and spread it beyond their graduation. As coined by Boynton, “We want to carry hope for the future.”

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Hidden History and Beyond Unveiling hidden histories: from Jones Elementary to Community High School.

BY ANTHONY WANG AND LEO CASTILHO

“Our purpose last year was to always recognize that there was an entirely different ecosystem in this building before we moved in 1972,” said Marci Tuzinsky, CHS Dean.

“We did that piece to celebrate 100 years, where we had renamed the school, Jones School.”

Before CHS was known as Community High School, it was Jones Elementary, a predominantly Black elementary school. Jones was closed in 1965 due to redistricting for racial desegregation purposes. It is an indelible, but also hidden, part of CHS history.

As a result, it has always been CHS’s mission to celebrate its history and ensure that students participate throughout the process. For the 2023-2024 school year, a documentary about Jones was made and released on February 4: “There Went The Neighborhood: The Closing of Jones School.”

“I think in Ann Arbor, there’s generally a lot of interest in this particular story,” said Joslyn Hunscher-Young, CHS social studies teacher and Forum leader. “Because a lot of folks don’t know about it, and then when they learn about it they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, how did I not know this?’ I think it’s something that’s been on the minds of a lot of people for a long time.”

Hunscher-Young also provided some insights into the documentary’s producer, Donald Harrison, an independent filmmaker and media educator in the Ypsilanti area.

“He made the Community High documentary,” Hunscher-Young said. “Which came out around 10 years ago. But as he was doing it, he came across a lot of stuff about Jones School. As a result, he started collecting it and had the idea to create a documentary about Jones Elementary. And then it just took a little bit more time and connection and work to get it to happen, both in terms of getting funding and support from the library and getting access to materials like archival photos.”

The Jones Elementary documentary mainly focused on the 1920s through the 1970s, a period when the local Black community thrived before Jones Elementary was re-established and became what is known as Community High School. The documentary highlights the changes in the local neighborhood, covering what that was like for the Black community, where they ended up, and the impacts on the local community. Additionally, the documenta12

Photography courtesy of The Ann Arbor News Members of the Al Toras, the Elk’s Angels, the Continentals and the French Dukes are practicing for their Saturday’s exhibition behind Jones Building, The practice took place in July 1966. Rights held by The Ann Arbor News.

ry explores the gentrification of the neighborhood, which has transformed into a predominantly white area today.

The documentary conveys the story through interviews with alumni, former news articles and archival photos about Jones Elementary, aiming to provide a viewing experience that wold allow for people from various backgrounds to understand the history of CHS. “It wasn’t any less surprising to me,” Hunscher-Young said. “I think a lot of people in Ann Arbor are surprised about thinking about desegregation because we so often learn about and talk about it as something that just had to happen in the south of this country. Thinking about what that meant locally, and then the im-

pact that had on black families in particular, I think is something that a lot of folks in America haven’t thought about.”

The documentary’s goal is for everyone in Ann Arbor to learn, engage and share the local history, understanding the impacts of issues like desegregation not just on a national level but also on a local one.

Before the movie was released, there was also an effort to publicize the documentary for residents around Ann Arbor. Teachers in the Ann Arbor Public School social studies department came at the beginning of February to see the displays from the Ann Arbor District Library that are up in the hallways. At CHS, students and staff will collectively watch the documentary on March 6, though it is also free to view on-

NEWS

line.

The intention of the documentary is to remind students to be aware that every space they enter has a history and to broaden their understanding of that fact. Hunscher-Young hopes that the documentary will resonate with students in the community to create further impacts for the future.

“I think it’s particularly important to think about how students and families of color have been treated,” Hunscher-Young said. “Especially in our workplace where we’re always thinking, we’re so diverse, we are super progressive and everybody is great. But it’s not actually like that, and our history is not like that. Now, when you actually look at things, I think that this documentary could be an important part of people’s growing understanding of the reality that we live in and thinking about what does that mean for what we should be doing right now?”

Learning from history is arguably one of the most crucial parts of building a healthy and diverse school environment. However, students taking action might be just as important. CHS, a predominantly white institution, has students taking action in many ways — attempting to promote a more diverse flow of students in and out of the school.

“Forum Council has been trying to figure out what the barriers that are preventing lower-income or students of color from coming to Community,” Hunscher-Young said. “When you are a predominately white institution, it takes a whole lot of time to create change and to make spaces more inclusive, open and comfortable for other people to join. I think we have to stick with it and continue to do outreach and continue to think about barriers, but we also need to do a lot more critical reflection.”

Lastly, Hunscher-Young wants to address and emphasize the importance of open-mindedness and awareness that there is always room for improvement. No matter where CHS is at, there are always ways for the school to improve its diverse environment as a whole.

“As a student body and the staff we are kind of in this Ann Arbor attitude of like, we’re a community, we’re super diverse, we’re very inclusive,” Hunscher-Young said.

“I think we are but I think there’s still a whole lot we can do to make it even better.”

Photography courtesy of Doug Fulton Jones elementary Students are taking tests for the spring phase of a follow-up study. The students are (from left) Janet Jones, Jock Crouch and Eldred Meadows. Overseeing the testing are two University graduate students, Miss Carol Kountz and Si Wittes. The photo was taken on may 31, 1965. Rights held by The Ann Arbor News.

Photography courtesy of The Ann Arbor News Jones School students square dancing in Bodley Hall, April 1949. Rights held by The Ann Arbor News.

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A New Light Shines on CET An abundance of work has gone into creating CET’s spring musical “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.” The lights crew specifically has introduced a new lighting tool used to transform the modern-day Craft Theater into 19th-century Moscow, Russia.

BY MIA RUBENSTEIN AND MALLORY TOWERS

Each show that CET puts on has its own unique flare. For “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,” it was the introduction of Titan Tubes to the program.

Titan Tubes are three-foot-long LED poles that can be held and moved around freely. The tubes can be programmed to have eight different color changes, as well as shifts in intensity, which spices up whatever show they are put in.

CET director Emily Wilson-Tobin first saw Titan Tubes in action during a production of “Richard II” by William Shakespeare at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

“I immediately thought the Titan Tubes could be useful for our show,” Wilson-Tobin said. “They fit right in with the style of the music and the way that the show moves quickly through multiple locations.”

Inspired to take action, Wilson-Tobin contacted the technical director of the theater where “Richard II” was performed in hopes of learning more about the lights. To her delight, he wrote back with details on how their theater used the tubes to elevate their show.

With the help of an anonymous donor, CET was able to purchase eight Titan Tubes.

Wilson-Tobin believes Titan Tubes can serve multiple purposes in future productions.

“We may use them like we use them in this show,” Wilson-Tobin said. “But we can also place them in fixed locations and in shapes on stage. If we decide to film anything for future shows, they could be really useful as portable lighting for sites outside of the theater.”

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Not only does the usage of the Titan Tubes vary between shows, but also between musical numbers within the musical. In “Prologue,” the tubes are used to draw focus on each character as they are being introduced. In contrast, Titan Tubes are fully integrated into “The Opera,” transforming into swords to depict a great battle. Other numbers, like “The Duel,” feature actors moving them along to the music to create eye-catching effects.

When Wilson-Tobin announced the select individuals she had chosen to operate the tubes during the show, there were mixed reactions. For actor Venus Stolerow, hearing that she was going to be handling a Titan Tube was a moment of pride.

“I feel honored that Emily and lights crew trust me enough to be one of the people holding them,” Stolerow said.

However, working with the Titan Tubes proved to be harder than she originally thought. During the early weeks of rehearsals, actors used prop canes in place of the actual Titan Tubes. This posed a challenge for Stolerow, who got used to working with the specific weight and length of the canes. When it was time for the actors to transition into using the real deal, Stolerow struggled to adjust to the new feel of the Titan Tubes.

Photography by Mallory Towers Luca Hinesman, Toula Greenawalt and Ivy Idzikowski use Titan Tubes to create an archway during “The Ball.” This archway highlighted the entrances of the other actors. “The Titan Tubes are heavy and difficult to carry for a long time,” Hinesman said. “However, they add excitement and lots of color to the show.”

NEWS

Photography by Mallory Towers CET actors hold up Titan Tubes during “Sunday Morning” to depict a mirror. The mirror has been a motif present throughout the show, and its physical appearance marks a pivotal turning point in the first act. “I think it’s an interesting way to represent the mirror rather than using an actual one because the lights really draw the viewer to the shape,” Beals said.

Photography by Jacqueline Boynton A Titan Tube casts light over Poppy Magee on stage. Many actors use the Titan Tubes during “Letters,” the first song of the show’s second act in order to continue the excitement and gather the attention of the audience back into the show. “Something about the Titan Tube that I hold in ‘Letters’ is that it represents the choice of Natasha,” said Autumn Klus-Salisbury, Titan Tube handler. “So, when her barrier of choice comes down, my barrier of the Titan Tube also moves away.”

There were also many instances while Stolerow was working with the prop canes where she hit another person. This alarmed Stolerow, who began to worry that she would hit someone during a performance. Along with hitting someone, Stolerow fears she might break her Titan Tube in the process.

“It’s very stressful,” Stolerow said. “I’m a very clumsy person, so I feel like I’m going to accidentally drop it.”

Actors aren’t the only ones concerned about keeping the Titan Tubes safe. Hans Rober, lights co-crew head, is worried that something might happen to the tubes.

“The biggest thing I’m worried about is that the actors aren’t always the most careful with sets, props and a lot of things,” Rober said. “So, I’m kind of worried about what might happen to these.”

While Titan Tubes are a new addition to CET, Rober feels they aren’t too dissimilar from any other light the program uses. He believes that they won’t be very difficult to set up and introduce to the system the lights crew already has.

“The Titan Tubes are going to be wirelessly receiving signals from our board,” Rober said. “All the actors are going to do is hold them in certain spots however the choreographer and Emily want them to be, and then we’re going to set up cues around them.”

Despite initial trepidation over working with the lights, Stolerow, among other actors, is excited to see what Titan Tubes can bring to CET. Like all things, the more time spent working with the Titan Tubes, the more comfortable people will become with them.

“Right now, it just feels kind of weird,” Stolerow said. “But I think it’s going to look really interesting in the end.”

Photography by Jacqueline During “Letters,” actors Venus Stolerow and Malia Weber hold the Titan Tubes on each side of Pierre. During this song, the use of the Titan Tubes is changed from being swung around while dancing in a club to drawing more attention to Pierre and the other characters. “I find it interesting that we are using the tubes to showcase the characters in different rooms even though we’re all acting in the same space,” Stolerow said.

THE COMMUNICATOR

15

CHS Mock Trial A Team Advances To States After a long day of competing at regionals, one of two CHS Mock Trial teams advanced to the state competition.

BY ISABELLA JACOB

Abbi Bachman, CHS senior, held the hands of her teammates as they awaited the final verdict: who would advance from regionals. After a three-round tournament, the team headed to the awards ceremony.

The Mock Trial A team held their breath as the announcement finally came.

CHS’s A team had placed third at Oakland’s regionals and would be going to the state competition.

“It was a mix of stress and also gratitude because I knew that either way I’d have this whole team of awesome people with me,” Bachman said.

The trip to regionals started on Feb. 23, one day before the competition. After the school day, they loaded their luggage and headed to their hotel which was conveniently attached to Trent Collier’s office. Collier has been a volunteer lawyer coach with the CHS Mock Trial program for years.

Collier provided a space and a fresh set of eyes for the final run-through before Regionals, as he and his colleagues acted as judges for A and B teams This was the last time they were able to practice complete memorization, objections and delivering statements to a jury before competition day.

Charlotte Rotenberg, CHS junior and captain of the B team, helped lead her team’s run-through. She provided notes on her teammates’ performances and coordinated last-minute changes within her team.

“We already had a whole school day and a long bus ride and everyone was already stressed,” Rotenberg said. “We knew that our material was going into competition no matter what. There were a lot of notes being written and fingernails being bitten off.”

Rotenberg played an expert witness named Cambridge Leone in this year’s case. This witness was one of three witnesses called by the plaintiff and her expertise was in drone technology.

Bachman, an A team lawyer on the Plaintiff’s side, was called for the first trial of the day. She arrived at the Oakland County Circuit Courthouse at 8:00 a.m. for registration and did not know which side, defense or plaintiff, would be going until 15 minutes before the first round started.

Bachman initiated the trial with her opening statement. Her colleague, CHS se16

Photography courtesy of Chloe Root CHS Mock Trial’s A Team poses for a group photo at the Oakland County Circuit Court during their bye round.

The team competed during the first and third round of the tournament. “After the first round of our competition, I felt optimistic,” Bailey said. “Our plaintiff team killed it and I was ready for my side. When I realized we had a bye round, and that our team wouldn’t compete for three hours, it was more stressful than relieving. The anticipation of competing in the final round was killing me.”

nior Indigo Guikema, concluded the trial with his closing argument. Since Bachman and Guikema represented the plaintiff, they were able to utilize a crucial part of the closing arguments: the rebuttal. Guikema’s favorite part of the trial was the rebuttal and liked how it was a chance to reverse the defense’s argument on the spot.

“I am most proud of my statement during the first round,” Guikema said. “I feel like I performed it just like I had in practice and my rebuttal seemed popular with the judges.”

As the A team’s defense waited to compete in the next round, they were met with unusual news: they had received a bye for the second round. The Oakland regional featured seventeen competing teams. As a result of the odd number of competitors, three teams received a bye, one for each round of the competition.

Lina Bailey, CHS junior, was one of three attorneys for A’s defense team. Bailey was prepared to go during the second round of competition and when she realized she had more time before her trial, her anxiety

kicked in.

“After the first round of our competition, I felt optimistic,” Bailey said. “Our plaintiff team killed it and I was ready for my side. When I realized we had a bye round, and that our team wouldn’t compete for three hours, this was more stressful than relieving. The anticipation of competing in the final round was killing me.”

After a day of anticipation, A Team defense headed into their final and only round.

“When I went into the courtroom, I felt a little less anxious,” Bailey said. “As we got further and further into the trial, my anxiety was alleviated. We were winning and we did win.”

Immediately after the last trial, both the A and B teams headed to the Oakland regional award ceremony. After almost an hour of announcements from the Michigan Center For Civic Education, the team found out that they would be advancing to the state competition. A Team is thrilled to move on to the state competition, which will be held in Lansing on March 23.

NEWS

More Than a Win Despite not having official sports, CHS students have created their own recreational soccer team, a tradition they hope will continue for years to come.

BY ANJALI KAKARLA

Natalie Serban hopes that the Lads From Leeds, CHS’s very own soccer team, will become a tradition that will be picked up by each new class of seniors at CHS. This year Serban and Ruth Shikanov decided to manage the team after previously playing on the team last year with the now graduated seniors.

“Ruth and I were a part of the team last year and we had so much fun that we decided

Photography courtesy of Iris Durrie The Lads from Leeds pose for a photo after suffering another defeat. The team stayed positive despite being one of the less competitive teams in the league; they claimed to have won every game. “It wasn’t so much about the winning,” said Morgan McClease, senior. “It got me out of my comfort zone and I got to hang out with some cool people, cool cats if you will.”

to pick it up for this year,” Serban said. “Community has no sports so this is an all-inclusive team for Community that has really allowed us to bond.”

Klava Alicea, a CHS junior, joined the team because she enjoys staying active and playing sports. Alicea scored two goals throughout the season, a feat that she hadn’t expected going into it. She also gained a connection with peers she had only known at school before the season.

“There’s some people that I’m really close with at school but that I don’t normally see outside of school because we don’t have that built-in friendship,” Alicea said. “But now I got to see them at soccer and it was really fun to see each other

in that setting.”

Although Serban was unable to play due to an ACL tear, she contributed to the team’s effort as the head coach. One thing Serban found herself struggling with was allocating playing time to the 40+ team members who showed up throughout the season. With only six people on the field at a time, she found it difficult to give everyone playing time while also setting the Lads up to win. Reflecting on the season, Serban recognizes it may have been easier to split the team up into two teams or make the team for juniors and seniors only.

Although the Lads ended the season with a 2-6 record, most on the team still considered it to be a very successful season.

THE COMMUNICATOR

For Alicea, playing with her classmates and having fun was much more important than securing a win.

“The other teams that were going against us really wanted to win,” Alicea said. “Of course, we wanted to win as well, but our main mindset was that we were just doing it for fun. Our coach was someone we were in class with and we just had a very different dynamic than the teams we were up against.”

Both Alicea and Serban think that the team improved drastically from their first game in November to their last game at the end of January.

“I think we all got more confident and loosened up throughout the season,” Alicea said. “Personally, I tried harder as the season went on and I was really happy to be able to make two goals as that was not something I thought I would have done at all since I hadn’t played soccer since fifth grade.”

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CAPTAINS OF How attending CHS has impacted high school sports captains.

BY KYRIE GARWOOD

Community High School doesn’t have sports, but that doesn’t stop the school’s athletes. Rushing between the CHS building and their home school, many CHS students have built their reputations as athletes. A few have earned the title “Captain.” For this select group, playing a sport comes with more importance and responsibility. They are always carrying the reputation of their sports team on their shoulders backpack, or team tracksuit.

Michael Jordan once said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” Without the leadership and guidance of cap18

tains, many teams would never reach the heights they do. Although being a captain in any capacity is a demanding task, CHS captains agree that going to CHS requires a heightened level of communication and determination but it can lead to even more meaningful relationships and connections.

“I find that I’ve ended up valuing my time with my teammates a lot more,” said Clara Freeth, a junior at CHS and captain of the Huron High School (HHS) field hockey team. “I’m very aware that I have limited time.”

Many of CHS’s captains wouldn’t trade the experience of going to CHS and playing sports for their home school but admit that connecting with teammates can be a challenge due to their lack of in-school contact. “[Going to CHS] makes it a

little harder in the sense that sometimes I don’t know the times that everyone gets out of school or the field schedules and stuff like that,” said Jaye Robbins Oliver, a CHS senior and captain of both the HHS soccer and field hockey teams.

“I do feel disconnected from my teammates because you don’t see them,” Freeth said.

“But I think if you put the extra effort in it’s really rewarding.”

Many of the issues with going to another school stem from not seeing teammates during the school day. It is not rare at Community to see student-athletes wearing strange outfits. Although this is usually due to a spirit week or game-day theme, it is hard to participate when there are just one or two people in a school instead of the 20 that are dressed up with each other at their home school.

Both Freeth and Robbins Oli-

ver agree that even though spirit days can be a little awkward, they are a fun part of playing a school sport.

Emmy Wernimont, a CHS senior and captain of the Pioneer High School (PHS) basketball team, feels that one of the hardest parts of going to CHS and playing sports is the lack of support she can give her teammates. Even if it is as little as giving a teammate a ride to an away game, scheduling can often become a point of issue.

“Sometimes when we’re going to away games we don’t always have buses,” Wernimont said. “So if people need rides, it’s hard to meet up with them since I’m coming from a different place. There really has to be increased communication.”

Despite the fact that most captains agreed that going to CHS presented challenges when connecting with their team-

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COMMUNITY mates, Cecilia Fortson, a captain and coxswain of the PHS crew team, disagrees.

“I feel like [going to the same school] gives them opportunities to build closer relationships, but I also don’t think it hinders my relationships with them,” Fortson said. “I think it’s just a different relationship.”

The captains agree that one of the best parts of being a captain is the leadership experience they gain. Being a team captain provides a unique opportunity to be a leader among peers and a point of communication between teammates and coaches. Many captains take on roles planning team bonding events for their teammates and are often responsible for making teams as cohesive as they can be.

“Being a captain is a really great way to hone your leader-

Photography courtesy of Emerson Wernimont, Jaye Robbins Oliver, Clara Freeth and Cecilia Fortson, Four CHS sports captains are pictured in their athletic uniforms. From left to right: Emerson Wernimont (basketball), Jaye Robbins Oliver (field hockey), Clara Freeth (field hockey) and Cecilia Fortson (crew).

ship skills on and off the field,” Freeth said. “Off the field I’ve learned skills like conflict resolution, directing people, taking feedback, giving input, making sure that everybody feels comfortable and I think that’s something that you have to work at.”

On the other hand, there was no clear consensus on what the hardest part of being a captain is. Robbins Oliver cited the amount of public speaking as her least favorite part of the job while Wernimont argues that having to be a disciplinary figure can be the hardest part for her.

“It’s hard to discipline people because even though I am a cap-

tain, I still feel like we’re on the same level,” Wernimont said.

All four captains take great pride in their roles on their team, using their leadership skills to encourage and inspire their teammates. These skills extend outside of their playing field by way of participating in a variety of other extracurriculars; Wernimont, Robbins Oliver, and Freeth are representatives for their forums in Forum Council and Freeth is Forum Council Co-President for the 2024-25 school year.

In closing, Freeth offered advice to other captains or those aspiring to be one on paying forward the kindness she has received in her time on her team.

THE COMMUNICATOR

“Knowing everyone’s name is like the bare minimum,” Freeth said. “You should know everyone’s name. You should know something about everyone. I think it’s important to make conversation with everyone, especially as a captain you should be getting to know everybody on the team and the JV team too. I think you need to know the whole program.”

Freeth and Robbins Oliver concluded their field hockey season with a 14-3-1 record this fall. Robbins Oliver will open the soccer season away at Crestwood High School on March 20 at 7:30 pm. Wernimont finished the basketball regular season with an 11-10 record, with districts still to be played at the time of writing this article.

Fortson will hit the water with the PHS crew team in March with the first regatta yet to be scheduled.

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The End of

COOKIE CUTTER JUSTICE The United States justice system advantages some and disadvantages others, but there is hope for reform as one couple finds justice at the end of a long road, a magistrate prioritizes the recognition of individual circumstances in her courtroom and a new generation offers hope for change within the judicial system.

BY SERENA O’BRIEN AND ISABELLA JACOB

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After nearly four years of scrutiny — of hearing their names maligned in supermarket aisles and facing invasive questions from strangers at work — the verdict came back.

Not guilty.

The result, delivered on Jan. 31 at the 22nd Judicial Circuit Court of Washtenaw County, marked the end of an arduous passage through the criminal justice system stemming from an altercation with police officers on May 26, 2020.

Sha’Teina Grady El and her husband, Daniyal Grady El, were attempting to film police officers as they formed a perimeter around their daughter’s home in Ypsilanti in the wake of a nearby shooting. However, upon their refusal to leave the scene, police officers moved to arrest them. United States law grants the right to resist unlawful arrest, a right that Sha’Teina Grady El exercised as she fought back against the officer who attempted to physically extract her. In the struggle, Sha’Teina Grady El bit and clawed the officer, but also sustained several blows to the head as the officer attempted to regain control of the situation. Daniyal Grady El was tased by another officer.

The Grady Els had thought that the incident was over and done with and were beginning to make plans to file a lawsuit regarding the violence perpetrated against them by the Sheriff’s department. But five months after the incident, in September of 2020, the couple was served with a slew of felony charges out of left field. For Sha’Teina, three counts of resisting and obstructing an officer, one count for causing injury to an officer and one count for malicious destruction of police property. For Daniyal, two felony counts for resisting and obstructing an officer.

Their court date was no swifter in coming. The Grady Els couldn’t even put a number on how many times their trial was delayed, but it was more than four times, with each delay lasting as long as six

months.

“It’s definitely draining,” Sha’Teina Grady El said.

“Having to go to court and then it being pushed back, or taking the day off of work and then finding out that morning that court is canceled. They had no consideration for our time.”

In all the time between the incident and the verdict, the threat of possible jail time loomed over them — up to 14 years for Sha’Teina and four for Daniyal. Throughout this time they were also unable to leave the state due to the pending charges, prohibiting them from traveling to visit family for close to four years.

“It’s been dragging out,” Sha’Teina Grady El said.

“Just keeping our lives on hold for no reason at all.”

Their experience illustrates one of the flaws in the United States justice system: timeliness. In spite of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution’s guarantee that “the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial,” many cases heard do not meet that burden, in part due to the high, and continually increasing, caseload in the court system.

The issue of timeliness contributes to other inequities within the system. Not all individuals are equally situated to make their court dates. Issues of transportation arise and some jobs don’t offer time off — making a court date might mean losing a job. These obstacles are most likely to hinder those who are less economically privileged. Getting to court is only half of the problem.

Hon. Tamara A. Garwood has served as a magistrate of the 15th Judicial District Court since May 2016. Before that, she worked in private practice for 17 years. In her years on the bench, she has seen it all.

“Somebody who comes in who can’t read, or somebody who can’t get here, somebody who doesn’t have an education to understand what’s happening here in the courtroom, those inequities are everywhere,” Garwood said. “I think the first step is to appreciate that everybody comes to you in a different spot, and you have to meet them where they are.”

For Garwood, this means doing all she can to provide resources to help all those who end up in her courtroom.

In fact, connecting individuals with the organizations that can provide those resources is a big part of her job and a responsibility of the court.

Not all courts offer the same breadth of resources as Garwood’s, but all share the obligation to provide public defenders.

The Grady Els were able to hire private defenders, but not all accused can. To ensure that all accused have “the assistance of counsel for [their] defense,” the state employs public defenders to provide legal counsel to those defendants who cannot afford to hire legal representation.

Chloe Root, CHS social studies teacher and head Mock Trial coach, recognizes the equity issue this poses.

“As you learn about how trials work, how arguments are made and see how there’s this sort of bending of rules, or referencing to rules, you realize that if there’s a better lawyer on one side, they’re much more likely to win,” Root said.

Root emphasizes that a better lawyer isn’t necessarily a more skilled one, although that plays some part. In her eyes, the major determinant is preparedness: how much time and energy could a lawyer dedicate to the case materials.

Public defenders across the country face an incredibly high caseload, often working on dozens of cases at a time. Private defenders, on the other hand, can choose to limit how many cases they’re working on at a given time; they can afford to spend more time on one case, whereas public defenders are spread thin.

Garwood acknowledges that in many places the public defender’s office is understaffed, with lots of turnover, as public work is often considered less desirable due to limited resources, lower salaries and other obstacles.

This public work can also be challenging because defendants often face circumstances that make communication between them and their attorneys difficult.

Garwood has witnessed complaints on both ends of the relationship: defendants who couldn’t get in touch with their defenders as well as defenders who couldn’t get in touch with their clients.

“Someone might be homeless, so how is a public defender going to get in touch with that person?” Garwood said. “They might not have a phone, they check their email at the library when they can and then they get charged with trespassing at the library and now the public defender is going to lose track of that person and they’re not going to come to court and then they’re going to get a bench warrant and it repeats and repeats and repeats.”

Garwood hopes that providing the right resources to those individuals can help break the cycle.

In spite of the many challenges, Root feels hopeful for the future of the justice system. She takes all of her U.S. Government classes to visit Garwood’s court as an example of how the justice system can operate to the benefit of all who encounter it.

Garwood does all that she can to exercise compassion in her courtroom and to look at the bigger picture of any situation. She believes that the primary hope of any court should be to never see the same person twice, and that effective justice should preclude repeat offenders.

“Whatever has brought you here, I hope to never see you again,” Garwood said. “So if I can get you a resource so you never come back, that’s great. You know, why are you here? You stole something, I get it. But why did you steal something? Because you needed it? Because you wanted it? Or were you drunk? Or were you high? Or did you do it because you were threatened, because you had to?”

At the end of the day, her job is to administer justice.

If a burden of proof is met, she has to deliver a sentence.

The law doesn’t allow her to simply forgive a crime, even if she can appreciate the circumstances that drove the person to commit it. However, other parts of the process allow her to consider those circumstances.

“In my mind, you can’t treat everybody equally,” Garwood said. “You have to treat everybody fairly, with respect, with compassion, but if we treated everybody equally, that would create inequity.”

For Garwood, finding that inequity in an inherent-

ly inequitable system means avoiding cookie-cutter justice. Although the same laws apply to everyone, the same punishment may not apply to everyone. Garwood provides bond schedules, which determine whether the accused may be released on bond and what that bond will be set to, as an example. In some places, those bonds are entirely fixed, meaning each alleged crime has a corresponding bond amount.

“But that means that we’re not looking at you as an individual,” Garwood said. “We’d just be looking at the crime with no exceptions, no excuses, no reasoning of what could have happened or didn’t happen. So we don’t have those things [fixed bond schedules] here.”

In a further effort to recognize individual circumstances, Garwood’s court holds pre-sentencing interviews. Once an individual has pled guilty, or been found guilty, they meet with the court’s probation department, where they are interviewed. These interviews provide further information to allow for sentencing that recognizes individuality and aligns with sentencing guidelines while being in the best interests of the guilty party (and, by extension, the community): ensuring that they never have to come back to court.

Change takes time, but individuals like Garwood and Root are taking action, both directly and indirectly, to make sure that the system is working for the people, not against them. Both Garwood and Root believe in the importance of education and engagement. The responsibility to ensure that the court system is equitable is a shared one.

“We are all a part of judicial reform, whether we are reforming a person or an entire system,” Garwood said.

“If there’s a judge who is doing a crappy job, what do you do to fix it? You vote, you find someone who is qualified and you talk to them and you get some grassroots going and you get them to run. Or when an appointment comes up you fight for that person so they get that seat. We are all accountable, not just the person sitting on the bench but us as citizens.”

With a judge position opening up in Garwood’s court this year, Root has been gathering signatures to get her on the ballot, doing her part to make sure that justice is in the hands of someone she believes will exercise it fairly and compassionately. Through her work as a teacher and coach, she also hopes to help make the justice system more transparent.

“I think a lot of times people feel like it’s this thing that’s over there,” Root said. “So I feel like a lot of it is about making some of that stuff more available and transparent and accessible so that it’s not this mysterious, scary thing out there that’s bad but we don’t know why.”

She thinks that Mock Trial is a great way to develop a better understanding of how the law can empower some people but disempower others, as well as identify where

those inequities arise.

“Having some kind of connection so that you’re not feeling like it’s this alien-like authority that is acting upon you and seeing how it works you can actually affect some change by doing specific things,” Root said.

Garwood urges youth involvement and believes that anybody watching a trial carried out can see how justice is applied and where the inadequacies are, which empowers them to hold their justice systems accountable.

“Come to court, see what’s happening and then figure out what you think is the problem,” Garwood said. “You can see, ‘Hey, that person got three minutes and that was it, how are they going to possibly understand what’s hap-

We are all a part of judicial reform, whether we are reforming a person or an entire system. pening and what can we do to change that?’”

In the process of implementing a new first-offender program for open alcohol misdemeanors (incredibly common during the Michigan football season), Garwood faced many of the hurdles that inhibit judicial reform. The process took time and a coordinated effort across the different components of the justice system, but her court now offers a deal (which includes an educational course on the dangers of alcohol, a fine and an essay) that keeps those misdemeanors off of records, preventing one mistake from hanging over someone for the rest of their life. The result of the hard work of Garwood and her colleagues? 1500 cases to a positive conclusion.

Garwood believes that optimism, grit and a bit of patience can bring about systemic change: “If you don’t have hope, what do you have?”

CHANGING THE

From student activism to designing natural spaces at CHS, students and teachers have taken new initiatives to help change the natural world in Ann Arbor.

BY AIDAN HSIA AND LEO CASTILHO

Like many smaller cities, Ann Arbor has experienced the sprawl of urbanism: lines of stores, uncontrolled development of neighborhoods and streets enclosed with chain restaurants. However, despite the pressure to add stores, Ann Arbor has remained vigilant in reducing urban sprawl.

Courtney Kiley has spent her whole life in Ann Arbor, with family ties dating back to 1948 when her mother first moved into the city. Kiley remembers her mom telling her when she was a kid that Briarwood Mall was the country, the houses on State Street were considered way out of town farmhouses, there was a one-room schoolhouse that was out in “the country” where her mom went to school for a couple of years and the houses along Stadium road were considered the mansions of Ann Arbor during the time before Barton Hills and Arbor Hills had been developed.

In 2024, Ann Arbor faces similar problems to the rest of the world: rising temperatures, pollution and chang24

ing weather patterns to name a few. However, Ann Arbor remains an environmentally friendly city. Around Ann Arbor exists a green belt, a strip of natural land that is left untouched to let plants and animals flourish.

Ann Arbor also has initiatives like A2Zero, which would achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

Kiley believes that one of the most important factors in reaching these goals is student involvement.

“Your livelihoods depend on it,” Kiley said. “No one’s going to be able to solve the problem except for the younger generations. You’re growing up in the climate crisis. I can teach you everything about it, but you guys are the generation that’s going to make the technologies and the policy decisions that are going to have an impact.”

One way for students to get involved is through the Freeman Environmental Youth Council, a group that aims to educate and promote the environmental sustainability with youth advocacy. The youth council is

FEATURE

I THINK THAT THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO JUST MAKE PEOPLE FEEL PASSION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND TO CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT IS EDUCATING THEM. for AAPS high school students and regularly collaborates on projects, such as educating younger students.

They’ve also done work towards changing statewide policies. Charlie Rosenfeld, senior, is part of the council.

During his sophomore year, Rosenfeld grew more aware of the threats to the environment and eventually joined the youth council.

“I wanted to find a way to channel this energy and emotion into something that felt practical,” Rosenfeld said. “The youth council has been really practical for me and given me a way to exercise my feelings. I have hope to make a change in the world around me and be able to transfer that energy effectively into projects and have a quantifiable effect.”

Rosenfeld is part of the education subcommittee. They organize events with kids and educate them about waste management and sustainability. In the spring, the committee participated in events with kids where they led activities and games to excite and educate kids about the environment.

“I think that the most effective way to just make people feel passion for the environment and to care about the environment is educating them,” Rosenfeld said.

“And so teaching them about the things that naturally exist and occur in the world around us, I think is the effective way to educate people and in doing so you can create a passion.”

This is Rosenfeld’s last year on the council. With only a little time left, he wants to make sure he can create a lasting impact by imparting the many things he’s learned.

“Help them build off of what I’ve done rather than having to pave the exact same path that I did,” Rosenfeld said. “I want them to be able to use my knowledge to continue to grow and have a greater impact.”

In the spring, the youth council took part in the Leslie Science and Nature Center’s Earth Day event. The center is a local nature space, and provides more hands-on experiences with a reptile house and aviary, along with over 50 acres of land. David Clipner, Director of Education and Wildlife at the Leslie Science and Nature Center, also believes that creating passion is one of the best ways to educate, especially when you can experience what you’re learning.

“Conservation does not exist without an educational component,” Clipner said. “Because no matter how much work you do, like you could clean up a whole forest, but if you don’t teach people about that process, they don’t continue that work.”

As part of their expanding environmental policies, AAPS developed a program that supports school gardens. The CHS garden, now named the Jones Community Garden, was established in 2019. After a Mosher Forum discussion, they started on the project in April 2019.

During quarantine, when the Mosher Forum couldn’t tend to the garden, parents of the Mosher Forum continued to plant.

“There were all kinds of rules about what we could and couldn’t do,” said Danelle Mosher, CHS Forum leader. “Remember at the beginning of COVID how weird that was? Don’t leave the house. You can leave the house but if you do, then do this and that. But they pushed through and did work even with the COVID period.”

The Mosher Forum students originally wanted the garden’s produce to go to local groups, like St. Andrews church and its breakfast program. But now, much of the produce goes towards CHS, with fruits and vegetables shared with teachers and students. Mosher hopes that the garden remains a place where students can come to pick some food to eat, participate in feeling the dirt with their hands and possibly bring birds and butterflies with seeds and milkweed.

Sylvie Zawacki got her start gardening by helping her parents in their backyard garden. In middle school, Zawacki got more experience in her school’s garden. At CHS, Zawacki designed a CR in which she tended to the garden by maintaining and planning out the plots.

Although Mosher sometimes finds it hard to get her Forum excited about the garden, she is glad for the new installment. With many rooms changing, Mosher was eventually moved right next to the garden.

“That space was always just green grass and nobody ever went there,” Mosher said. “And [my class] is right outside there. So it was really nice to look out and see the garden. I like having the garden so that students can walk through and have their lunch out there and join that space. Unifying the community.”

THE COMMUNICATOR

25

Uncovering Hope in History History and hope aren’t always easy to intertwine, but at CHS each history teacher has their own way of bringing the two together.

BY BRIDGETTE KELLY, VEDHA KAKARLA AND LEILA BANK

Social studies teachers Joslyn Hunscher-Young, Ryan Silvester, Sarah Hechler and Chloe Root all agree that when teaching the subject of history, it can be difficult keeping students optimistic for the future with all the atrocities that have occurred across the course of time; However, they also know that maintaining students’ positive outlook on the future is essential for progress in society.

Besides inspiring hope in their students, teachers also receive hope from them, creating an essential dynamic for learning and productive discussions.

When Joslyn Hunscher-Young was in high school, she recognized that she couldn’t change everything that she thought was wrong with the world. But this recognition became one of the driving motivations that would lead her to become a teacher. She appreciates how teaching has given her the ability to support young people who want to go out into the world and create change.

“Seeing students be really passionate about something and seeing them go out and protest or write letters or even just be kind to other people, gives me this constant sense of hope,” Hunscher-Young said. “It also serves as a reminder that there are good people working to make things better.”

When teaching history, one of the biggest challenges for Hunscher-Young is that much of the content can be very depressing. She tries to combat this by focusing as much as possible on resistance.

“I just made a new course last year about the history of racism and resistance, and it was really important to me in designing that class that it was very much about the resistance,” Hunscher-Young said. “It is this overwhelming system, but there are always people challenging it and going against it, and seeing those models of resistance is really important for me and for everyone to recognize.”

Hunscher-Young believes that learning about history can force us to confront and learn from our mistakes, but she knows that doing so is not as simple as it sounds.

“The more advanced you get into learning about history, you see that there are these cycles,” Hunscher-Young said. “Maybe there’s something about humans and how we operate that causes these cycles and the things that keep coming back, so it’s just really hard to change.”

Teaching and working with high school students has been inspiring for Hunscher-Young because she feels that even though they can be pessimistic at times, youth generally have a hopeful outlook on the future.

“To operate effectively as a person, you generally have to have a sense that things can get better,” Hunscher-Young said. “A lot of times when I talk to teenagers in particular, they have this ‘We’re gonna make this better, right?’ kind of mindset,” Hunscher-Young said.

Hunscher-Young noted that throughout history, youth have often been at the heart of historic movements. She 26

hopes that learning about youth activism will continue to inspire generations to fight for change.

“There’s a whole lot of actual change that happens from young people going out and protesting,” Hunscher-Young said. “So personally I find a lot of hope in young people because I think that they see the things that are wrong and recognize that they have to be part of the change to make it better.”

Hunscher-Young hopes that teaching her students how to think critically and communicate effectively gives them the tools they need to create positive change and face adversity. She also believes that these tools will help them feel more hopeful about life in general.

In her classes, Hunscher-Young assigns a research project to her students that requires them to look into modern revolutions and current protest movements which helps them find ties between the present and the past.

“Giving students that chance to look at something now that’s happening that they might already be passionate about or interested in can help them connect what we’re learning from history to more modern movements,” Hunscher-Young said.

When Hunscher-Young thinks of a time her students gave her hope, one of the most concrete examples that comes to her mind is from the previous school she taught at.

“I taught at WIHI, which has a pretty significant Muslim student population,” Hunscher-Young said. “The day after Trump got elected President, I was really sad and scared and anxious about going to school and having to talk with my students about this.”

She threw out whatever she was supposed to do that day in terms of a lesson and asked her kids what they would want to tell the people who just voted.

“Hearing their thoughts and knowing that they were, in a couple years, going to be out there voting made me feel a whole lot more optimistic about the future,” Hunscher-Young said.

Chloe Root also remembers a moment when students gave her hope.

“In my Gender Studies class, we had a final discussion which I facilitated, and it was one of those great moments where I didn’t have to do that much teaching because students are learning from each other,” Root said. “My students were putting together these complex systems in history that have led to systemic oppression based on gender and race, giving ideas as to how we could counter those systems. I just thought, ‘Man, this is so worth it.’ My whole profession is worth it because of those moments.”

Root is able to experience many smaller moments similar to that one across all of her social studies classes. The maturity and creativity Root finds in her students inspires her daily, and keeps her optimistic for the future.

ART BY BEE WHALEN

FEATURE

“Sometimes when students put things together, you’re like, ‘wow, if everybody understood the world as well as you just expressed it, we wouldn’t have a lot of social problems that we have,’ or we would actually be able to do something collectively about them more consistently,” Root said.

Sarah Hechler believes that one of the things that make us human is the ability to find joy and celebration even in the darkest of times. One example she provided was that even in concentration camps, people were composing music and writing poetry. She wants these accounts to remind students of how strong the human spirit can be in times when hope is hard to find.

“When studying oppression of the past, whether it’s the Holocaust or its oppression against Black people in this country, I try to incorporate narratives that also center around joy and humanity and personhood within those stories, because that stuff is always there,” Hechler said.

When studying heavy or dark topics Hechler tries to find something uplifting towards the end of class so that her students can leave the room with a little less weight on their shoulders. For example, at the end of her lesson about the Tulsa Massacre, Hechler played a recording of Marian Anderson — the first Black member of the New York Metropolitan Opera — singing at the Lincoln Memorial.

One thing Hechler likes about working with teenagers is that she feels they experience powerful emotions and have more passion for issues they care about.

“In the adult world, so many people have gotten numb and biased about both positive things and problems, so it is wonderful to work with young people who care so much,” Hechler said. “Oftentimes in the adult world, the extremes get all dulled down, but young people express so much humor, joy, fun, playfulness, thoughtfulness, consideration and emotion behind everything and it gives me a lot of hope.”

Hechler emphasizes with her students that history is a series of complex steps forward and backward, but steps forward are not inevitable — they can only be taken through hard work and dedication from many people.

“With history, sometimes it can feel so big that only truly great people who are on posters can create change,” Hechler said. “But so much of history is made up of everyday people, aggregating together, making choices and doing things that are incredibly powerful.”

Hechler wants students to leave her classes feeling like there are things they can do to make change by using the past to guide them forward. She feels that an essential part to this is finding joy, hope, resilience and strength in their local communities.

Ryan Silvester feels that when talking about terrible moments in history, it can feel as though those moments

fill most of our timeline, so he tries to find perspectives and narratives that keep students inspired. When teaching about the Holocaust, a lot of the resources Silvester draws from are raw and unfiltered accounts of the events, but he wraps up the unit with the spiritual resistance that occurred and how even in those terrible dehumanizing situations, there were still moments of dignity.

“I center a lot of hope on my students, and I emphasize that ‘you’re all here now, and I’ve seen so many good things and I’m so excited about the future that we can have because of you all,” Silvester said. “‘I know that puts a lot of emphasis and weight on your shoulders, and previous old generations have a tendency to do that to younger generations, but that’s what gives me a lot of hope.”

Silvester knows how easy it is to go home and read the news or “doom scroll” for hours and think, “How can we ever recover from these situations that we’re in now?”

But he still feels that not all is lost.

“History is set but the future isn’t,” Silvester said.

“We’ve got a lot of say in how we can change and use history to help us make informed decisions going forward. In so many ways, the purpose of what we teach is not to dwell on the past, but to understand the purpose of where we can go from here.”

Through much trial and error, these four teachers have been able to find unique ways to incorporate hope into their history curriculum — an addition that is needed to keep students’ inspired to fight for positive change. By using strategies such as ending a class period with an uplifting message or taking a moment to shed light on an inspiring event, these social studies teachers aim to foster a generation that believes change can still be made.

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27

The transition between 11th and 12th grade is a transformative time in one’s life, especially after three years of anticipation. While it can be stressful, it also offers an opportunity to redirect focus and make life decisions.

The juniors of today offer their unique perspectives on their hopes, worries, and priorities over the next few months.

BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI

Though Kaylie Peters had heard all the horror stories about junior year — the SAT workload, pressure to think about your future, the most stressful year of high school — she still didn’t know what to expect. Despite the uncertainty, she decided to walk into junior year enjoying every single day of it, finding the positives in each day and working through the stress. As a lifeguard-in-training, aspiring pilot and student anticipating AP tests, Peters feels that the biggest stressor is the range of things to focus on.

“Semester one was kind of like the jumpstart, the prep work, in order to get to the stressful parts,” Peters said.

“But I think once May comes around, a lot of the tests and qualifications will be over, so I can just kind of sit back and breathe.”

Peters feels like she has grown a lot since her freshman year, going into 9th grade after COVID-19 shut down schools for a year. She credits CHS for revitalizing her love of learning and regrets having dreaded the start of the school year. Peters decided to learn from the past and not give in to stress, knowing that her future self would just want her to live in the moment and enjoy the ride.

“I really didn’t know what to expect, especially going into CHS, but I really love this school so much,” Peters said. “It allowed me to open up and make friends again.

It allowed me to move on from my hatred for school, and now I love it. Now I love making friends. I love learning new things. I love taking new classes. And yeah, I think CHS really helped with that.”

Peters hopes to act as a role model for her sister, in addition to paving the way for other students who might be interested in creative pursuits. Her dream for senior year is to create a cosplay club to encourage people to check it out and to foster a safe space to learn about crafting, budgets and specialized areas of expertise. She hopes to unite people in the club through a shared love of art and cosplay.

As a reward for all of this hard work, Peters looks forward to prom. Watching the current seniors enjoy the traditions they waited years for has only increased her excitement to participate. She plans to do a lot of harmless but memorable things, including donning battle regalia to get her school schedule in the arena, wearing full camouflage for the spork game and training for the field day tug of war.

“I just like really making an impact on the school that I really love and just being remembered that way,” Peters said. “Like I saw the world in a very different way, but still had fun doing it.“ Peters has decided that her senior year will be her break year before college. She hopes to make it “beautifully chaotic,” exploring things she’s never done before and getting to know who she wants to be in this world.

She has always seen age as something ongoing, like the rings of a tree. Peters doesn’t think of her age as a stage of her life but rather as her past selves growing into her, making her a better person. She knows that life is temporary and wants to take it all in and enjoy the moment.

“I want to live my life with no regrets and live it to the fullest,” Peters said. “So that one day, if I do end up kicking the bucket, I won’t look back at my life and say, ‘Oh, I should have done that.’”

Peters has big plans for her future and is torn between three different careers: an animator, a commercial pilot and a facilitator for Disney Cruise Lines. While Peters currently participates in activities for all three, she knows she’ll have to make a choice for post-secondary, as there are few local colleges with good programs for all of her chosen paths. Peters feels lucky to have supportive parents to help her through this process, though she does field questions about her college plans from well-meaning family members.

“I really don’t feel the pressure,” Peters said. “I’m like, I’m going to do what I want to do. That’s my life, not yours. So deal with it.”

Gwen Galvin, a junior at Pioneer who participates in CET, shares many of Peters’ sentiments and priorities.

Her parents support her dream of going to art school, though Galvin is also considering taking a gap year.

Next year, she wants to start a club as well, get a lead role in CET’s play and participate more in the Pioneer High School Film Club. Galvin is good friends with many seniors, and she hopes that she will be able to fill their shoes when they leave. However, she disagrees with the common statement that high school contains the greatest years of your life.

“I do not, in fact, think that these are the greatest years of my life,” Galvin said. “I think they’re some good years, but I think I’ve got a lot more good years to come.

I want [high school] to feel hopeful. I want it to feel like I can do a bunch of stuff. And I want to feel happy.”

Galvin hopes to make the most of the coming year by capitalizing on those “classic high school experiences” and making memories to look back on fondly. She still feels like a child, and was pleasantly surprised that she didn’t feel old as a junior. While Galvin doesn’t want to grow up yet, she doesn’t fear growing up and is happy with where she is in her life.

On the contrary, Noah Walter has mixed feelings about growing up. He realized that becoming an upper-

classman meant accepting that he would have to move on with his life, leaving behind a phase of his life that he liked for a world of uncertainty.

“I want to go on with my life afterward,” Walter said. “But at the same time, it also kind of scared me because I don’t completely know what I want to do with my life.”

Though Walter is unsure what he wants to major in, he knows that he wants to go to college and could definitely see himself pursuing a career in music. He feels a lot differently about high school now, and credits the seniors who welcomed him to high school.

When I was a freshman, having all these seniors help me and all that was really big,” Walter said. “It helped me feel more comfortable in high school.”

Walter is excited for his second semester of junior year and wants to give back to Forum by becoming a role model for the freshmen. He is also hoping to hang out more with others both in and outside of school, something that he regrets not doing as much as an underclassman.

“Prioritize school,” Walter said.

“But also make sure you’re maintaining a life outside of school.

That’s my advice.”

While Walter doesn’t know what he wants to pursue yet, he doesn’t feel worried about taking on more responsibility. To him, it’s just part of transitioning into adulthood.

Walter, like Galvin and Peters, is ready to grow into the person he wants to be.

All three of these juniors have different plans and dreams for the future, but they share the same hopes of finding themselves and helping other people. To simplify: eleventh grade is the perfect time to figure out what you want to focus on and to take steps toward achieving what you want in your life.

“My parents are just like, ‘Whatever you do, just be good at it,’” Galvin said. “Like, I can do that.”

The Hopes of Freshmen 9th graders Lee Greenberg, Jasmine Jennings, Daniel Jacob and Milly Sandstrom share their hopes for the future and how they plan to get there.

BY LUCA HINESMAN

LEE GREENBERG

JASMINE JENNINGS Jasmine Jennings is an actress, singer, artist and student. She is a layered human being with many passions and talents. As a part of CET (Community Ensemble Theatre) and the Dance Body Club, she exhibits many skills. Jasmine enjoys performing and hopes to pursue that in the future.

“I feel pressured to improve in the future and fix everything that’s soon to come,” Jennings said. “I feel a lot of pressure on my shoulders from older people telling me to break the generational curse.”

Jennings, along with many freshmen, faces pressures for a successful future amidst societal expectations.

The stress of changing the world for the better as a new generation is prominent in Jennings’s eyes, and so is reaching her goals. She knows what she does and doesn’t want for the future.

“I really hope to be a successful and famous actress, which I will be.

I want to make sure to have fun in my life and not just be like a boring 30

adult that has kids at 25,” Jennings said. “I just want to live my life.”

Jennings knows that achieving her goals involves seizing every opportunity that comes her way. These opportunities serve to improve her experience in the future.

“I think I need to work harder with the opportunities that I’m given with CET and all these audition opportunities,” Jennings said. “I feel like I should take all of them but also not take every single one.

I feel like the ones that are the most important are the ones that will come to me easily,” Jennings said.

Jennings aspires not only for personal success but also to serve as an inspiration for others.

“I really hope to be an idol for girls that I don’t know,” Jennings said. “Just girls in general. I want people to look up to me as someone they could be. I feel like it’s important to have that sort of person to look up to who isn’t your own. So I guess I want to inspire.”

Lee Greenberg is friendly, kind, creative and artistic. She’s a hard worker and is involved in a lot of activities due to caring about many topics. Greenberg tries extremely hard in school to ensure she has the knowledge to decide what she wants to do in the future. Extracurriculars play a big part in this, as she participates in Mock Trial and other clubs, including the Red Cross Club, Ecology Club, Student Athletes Club and Board Games Club.

Greenberg and Jennings both feel similar pressure for their futures.

“I think that there’s definitely a big pressure with having perfect grades, doing like 10 extracurriculars, being a good ‘leader,’ and it’s just to a point that it sometimes feels practically impossible to be good enough, even if you’re working on stuff for 12 hours a day,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg has a wide array of interests.

“I would like to go to either Michigan or MIT for college,” Greenberg said. “I would also like to travel, and I want to have a job that either helps the environment or makes enough that I can donate to help the environment. I also want to do more volunteer stuff in the future.”

Lee knows that the future she hopes for will have obstacles, but she still remains positive and excited. Greenberg wants to spend her time doing what she loves.

“I’m pretty excited for my future,” Greenberg said.

“Although I don’t try to waste my life waiting for the future, I feel like there’s so much more I’ll be able to do, like travel and stuff. I have always envisioned that my job will be something that I look forward to and enjoy every day. I don’t want to waste my life waiting to retire.”

This excitement for the future trickles down into Greenberg’s everyday life.

“I’m pretty happy right now,” Greenberg said. “I have a lot of really good friends, I like all my classes right now and I love being busy. Sometimes the pressure for perfect grades gets a little overwhelming, but my parents have never pushed me to get certain grades, so I know that the only pressure is coming from me.”

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MILLY SANDSTROM Milly Sandstrom knows exactly what she wants and how to get it.

“Being a hard worker is my identity,” Sandstrom said.

“So that’s really important to me, and I know that if I work hard, then I can get there. I know that reaching out to coaches for soccer, keeping my GPA high and reaching out to people who will help me get into college even this early is the right path.”

She is part of many extracurriculars, such as the Michigan Tigers soccer team and CET but she knows that there will be a point where she will have to pick one.

“I’m always worried that at some point I won’t be able to keep up with the people who are fully invested in one or the other,” Sandstrom said. “And I think that’s hard. And it’s like, that’s something that’s really stressful sometimes.”

Sandstrom sometimes finds it hard to remember that she’s a teenager, and she doesn’t need to have it all figured out. Sandstrom has a clear vision for her future.

“I want to go to Columbia College in New York, or NYU,” Sandstrom said. “And I’ve always wanted to go to New York City for college and in my 20s. Just be there because it’s like, it’s like the dream city, and my best friend lives there. I love my family. But it is like I want to explore somewhere new and exciting. So I’m really happy that I have the resources to be able to go there.”

In the future, Sandstrom hopes to find a job that keeps her on her feet while using her intelligence. Sandstrom wants her job to be in a field that fascinates her, like athletics, and to hold some sort of leadership role. Along with her college plans and job hopes, she has aspirations for how she will be viewed.

“I want to be known and respected, but not necessarily famous — at least not too famous. I want to be creative in what I do and be doing something that actually matters.”

Sandstrom is hardworking and believes that she is on the right track. She is confident she will get there and knows her value.

DANIEL JACOB Daniel Jacob is a tennis player, a companion and someone who values time with friends and family.

Unlike Jennings and Greenberg, Jacob feels more pressure in the moment than in the future.

“I think there’s kind of just pressure in the present,” Jacob said. “Just kind of everyday stuff, like work in school, sports and stuff like that. So I think maybe subconsciously, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, if I don’t do all this good stuff now, I won’t be set up for success in the future.’”

Stress, often rooted in societal expectations, is always present for Jacob when it comes to his future.

“I think I’m a little stressed with schoolwork,” Jacob said. “I think it’s not like a ton, but I think there’s always kind of like a little thing in the back of your mind, whether that’s for the present or whether you’re like, again, subconsciously thinking for the future. If I don’t do well on this assignment, or if I get a THE COMMUNICATOR

bad grade, I’m not going to be set up and prepared.”

Jacob envisions a future where he is successful on his own terms and comfortable in his profession. In order to get there, he is working hard to prepare himself for getting into the college that is best for him and then taking the next steps. He also works hard in his sports in order to continue putting his best foot forward. Jacobs envisions a future that will provide him with happiness.

“I envisioned myself being so successful in some aspects of my life,” Jacob said. “That’s why I’m trying to work hard right now. So later, it can be a little bit easier. I would like to be kind of like, maybe, a software engineer and kind of lead a team, sort of a big company. I think that’d be fun.”

Jacob hopes to lead a happy life by spending his time doing what brings him joy and what is ultimately best for him.

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Welcoming the Year of the Dragon Across the globe, hundreds of millions celebrate the coming of a new year, while in the U.S., not a single sound is heard. CHS teachers and students share their unique experiences with the Spring Festival traditions.

BY WILSON ZHENG

Every year, millions of people across the world celebrate the coming of a new lunar calendar. Looking out the window, you can see people dancing and boisterous food vendors along the streets, loud firecrackers on the streets coupled with the bright orange glow from lanterns. The Spring Festival is one of the most renowned celebrations in the world, known for welcoming in good spirits and luck for the upcoming year.

At CHS, the Asian teacher and student body make up a small minority, and to many of them, the start of a new year is a time for them to connect not just with their families, but also their culture.

“I think it’s important that, when we come to a new place where our traditions aren’t much celebrated, we have a way for us to express our identities in a very family-centered way,” said Luciana Qu, math teacher and forum leader. “Especially with the diaspora of Asian Americans, Chinese Americans, being able to have the opportunity, and creating the opportunity yourself to just celebrate the things that you celebrated growing up is important.”

The origins of the Lunar New Year are not clear; some believe that it originated in the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC) around 3,500 years ago when people held sacrificial ceremonies in honor of gods and ancestors at the beginning of the year.

Another popular legend is about the mythical beast Nian (year in Mandarin) who ate crops, livestock and even people during the new year. It is said that a wise man found out that the Nian hated loud noises and the color red: the reason why there are firecrackers and lanterns everywhere during the modern-day festival.

In the Chinese Zodiac, each year 32

is linked to one of 12 creatures, with the zodiac repeating every 12 years.

It’s similar to the Western astrological signs but changes each year rather than each month. This year, it’s the year of the dragon. In the zodiac, the dragon, as the only mythological creature, is revered as a symbol of power and is also thought to be the most auspicious. To many, it’s also the best year to give birth, as children born in the dragon years, recently including 2012, 2000, 1988 and 1976, are said to be born leaders, energetic, determined and powerful with a strong sense of self.

Traditions are different for each family and culture. For example, in Korea they have the entire family gather in traditional clothes and perform a deep bow to elders, signifying respect. In China, each region has its own distinct foods to make and eat ranging from dumplings to rice cakes. A very popular and wellknown tradition is receiving red envelopes full of money from your elders, symbolizing good luck and prosperity.

Today, the Lunar New Year is a time to spend with family, catch up with old friends, give and receive gifts and take a break from work and school.

JOSLYN HUNSCHER-YOUNG For Joslyn Hunscher-Young, the Lunar New Year has been a time to connect with her heritage.

“Being Chinese-American is an important part of who I am. I think that having that connection to my heritage and my family and life is very important for me,” Hunscher-Young said. “In some ways, it has become more important since ART BY BEE WHALEN

my dad passed away. I lost that direct connection, and a lot of Chinese New Year is also about remembering ancestors and people that have come before you which is why it’s so important.”

Growing up, Hunscher-Young’s parents decided not to send her to a Chinese school. While in college, she met one of her best friends who is also mixed Chinese and white, who was able to speak Mandarin.

Not having been pressured to learn the language by her parents, she felt a little excluded “I did feel a little bit left out because I didn’t have some of those same experiences as a lot of people do, as many Asian immigrant families have. I didn’t have those. But I think as I’ve grown up, I’ve just recognized that everyone’s experience is theirs and unique,” Hunscher-Young said. “And no one, at least in my face, has ever been like, you don’t belong here. You’re not enough to be a part of this.”

In college, Hunscher-Young once went to Chinatown for a Lunar New Year celebration. During this time, she got to experience the many customs that go on, such as the Lion Dance and the loud firecrackers, which helped her connect with her community and feel at home.

Now, Hunscher-Young celebrates the Lunar New Year with her family by making a variety of dumplings with different shapes and fillings and eating foods such as long noodles and fish together.

“Long noodles are one of my favorites. And my kids like them now too,” Hunscher-Young said. “I remember that my dad would emphasize that you can’t bite them, you have to slurp the whole thing so that you don’t break the noodles, so [my kids] like slurping up noo-

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dles. So I think that’s part of it, plus they’re delicious.”

Hunscher-Young has many hopes and goals for the coming year. Being born in the year of the dragon, she’s hoping that this year will allow her to have the space to bring the energy to do many more fun and exciting things with the community, both professionally and personally. Along with that, she hopes to be able to clean her house more in order to get the new year off to an organized start.

ANTHONY WANG For Anthony Wang, the Lunar New Year is about spending time with his family.

Coming from China, Wang was used to the many festivities going on, such as the Lion Dance, where performers mimic the movements of a lion through paper mache, known for scaring off bad spirits.

During this time, students usually get a month-long break off school to relax and spend time with their families celebrating the new year. Another common way to celebrate for him was setting off fireworks, which he remembers going off late into the night.

“When I was around eight years old we had fireworks until like 2 a.m,” Wang said. “It was especially alarming when I was young. I remember it because the process took so long but it was also really fun. I just had a lot of fun with my family.”

Wang rarely gets the chance to experience the same fun now. Along with that, he lost contact with many friends and family back home.

“There’s more family members in China. And other than that, just the environment is different,” Wang said. “Back home, there were discounts in every shop and every other place and many New Year’s specials. In the U.S., there isn’t much of that here.”

Despite all of this, Wang still keeps traditions within his family, such as having the entire family go

out and enjoy hotpots and noodles, making dumplings with everyone and playing with fireworks. During this time, red is a very significant color for not just him, but also others, as red is traditionally a sign of happiness, good luck and fortune.

As a junior, Wang has many goals for the next year. With college applications coming up in September, he hopes to keep himself on track and do the best he can.

“As far as now, my goal is just to stay on track and see where I can go,“ Wang said. “I’m a junior, so I have college applications soon which is a big part for me and my family. Focusing on trying to do more and just see my full potential, seeing where I can try as hard as I can.”

LUCIANA QU For Luciana Qu, the Lunar New Year has been a time to remember her traditions.

Immigrating to the U.S. from Singapore in 1999, Qu found holding onto traditions difficult. Growing up in the early 2000s in Michigan, she found that the Lunar New Year wasn’t nearly as celebrated as back in Singapore. Instead, her parents had a large gathering each year with friends and family in the area.

“Every year my parents would kind of have a gathering, not with family because my family would be back in China, but we would have THE COMMUNICATOR

a gathering with our friends,” Qu said. “Every family would bring in like four, maybe three dishes, and we would all just kind of hang out and the kids would hang out together. The parents would hang out together and chat. There’s this show that’s in China that you can stream basically through a satellite and we would watch it with the family.”

For Qu, this time was not only a time to socialize with people who share similar backgrounds, but also a way to celebrate her culture and traditions in a place where the Lunar New Year wasn’t so commonly celebrated.

Making dumplings was also a large part of her tradition. Having both parents come from northern parts of China, making dumplings was a typical occurrence during the new year. To her, it was a bonding time, as making dozens of dumplings can be a very tedious and time-consuming task Now, Qu spends the new year with her husband, who was born and raised in China. With just the two of them in the household, they find it tough to keep the tradition going but they still celebrate with a hearty meal.

“We might make some Chinese food like stews or soup with ribs and other things, but that’s just how we celebrate, “ Qu said. “I think that in the future, if we have more families in the area, it’d be much easier for us to make this a more social event which I think is so central to this event or this festival.”

For the coming year, she hopes to focus on self-growth and being more conscious of others’ needs, as not only a teacher but also as a friend.

“I think that as I progress through life, I realize a lot of things in my life are aligned with me becoming a better version of myself,” Qu said.

“Last year, I had the opportunity to go back to China two times to visit my husband’s family and it’s made me realize how important it is that we carve out time specifically to see our parents and our loved ones.

Growing up with our parents, we take a lot of this time for granted.”

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Finding Hope for Mental Health Awareness at Community Mental health and wellness is a frequently discussed topic at Community, and teachers and students are learning how to approach it with a thoughtful mindset.

BY JACQUELINE BOYTON AND CLAIRE LEWIS

Mental health and wellness is a prevalent topic in schools today, but what steps are teachers and faculty actively taking to help the student body?

According to Sean Eldon, CHS english teacher, schools are in a different place than they were even ten years ago, achieving a space of acknowledgment and having come a long way in the de-stigmatization of mental illnesses. In years past, mental health issues were considered case by case, but more recently, there’s been a shift in that mindset. Faculty at Community have been taking a more holistic approach to the matter.

“Students, teachers and other staff members know that mental wellness is a constant internal conversation,” Eldon said. “But we’re learning how best to systematically respond to that, and how to draw healthy boundaries, while also opening up our arms so that our students feel supported.”

Eldon sees the importance of being mindful of how his students feel. He recognizes that people feel and think about school in many different ways. He acknowledges that everyone has things going on in their lives and feels passionate about bringing a sense of humanity into the classroom.

“We [teachers] need to show humanity in intentional ways and not just in a performative way,” Eldon said.

“It’s not just telling students that, ‘We love you or we’re here for you.’ It’s showing them.”

Change doesn’t happen overnight, but teachers are making an effort to implement shifts — and they’re starting in the classroom. Teachers are aiming to rethink traditional grading structures to ease the pressure. They’re willing to accommodate and adjust to meet individuals where they are mentally and emotionally, as well as making an effort to engage student participation and involvement, all in order to build a community that supports each other.

It’s a balancing act, building a united understanding of mental health and space where students feel supported, while also building resilience.

“The key word is balance,” said Brian Williams, counselor. “Kelly and I work hard so when you have a situation where you’re not feeling great, we can help initiate some skills to reduce it but not let us sit in it forever.

Let’s own it, let’s get through this and let’s move on.”

The conversation goes further than the classroom: faculty at CHS are trying to implement more resourc34

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RESOURCES IN THE COMMUNITY

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Washtenaw County Community Mental Health (24/7): 734-544-3050

Trevor Project Helpline (LGBTQIA+ support): 866-488-7386

es. TRAILS (Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students) is a non-profit organization based in Michigan that focuses on improving mental health through cognitive behavioral therapies.

The initiative trains faculty at schools to run successful groups that give lessons on strategies for students to use. Kelly Maveal, CHS counselor, is working to bring TRAILS into CHS to apply these functional tools in order to help students work on their mental well-being.

“I think that it is such a huge asset for our school to not have to constantly be on the defense and explaining why a student might have a mental health challenge like we all do every day,” Maveal said. “We are trying to think a little bit bigger of what could reach more students.”

While faculty are working to help with mental wellness, CHS students are actively working on the issue as well.

Depression Awareness Group (DAG) is a student-centered body focused on mental health recognition and a safe space for students. Lila Fetter, senior, has been a part of this group since her freshman year. She sees active shifts that the student body is trying to implement, such as putting chairs in the bathroom, creating self-care stations and hosting workshops like Lunch and Learn.

DAG recently tried to implement a safe space for students to take breaks in Bodley Hall but has faced challenges from administration.

“I think it’s important that we as students are able to feel like we’re being heard by administration when it comes to mental health issues,” Fetter said.

Fetter feels strongly about student voices being heard when it comes to mental wellness and has acknowledged the heavy stigma that comes with taking a day off of school for mental health reasons.

“I’ve had to take a few mental health days this year, and I think there should be some explanation for it,” Fetter said. “There are resources when your child has to stay home when they’re sick, but it feels like you can’t tell them, you have to lie.”

Fetter ultimately hopes that the future of DAG is brighter and can attain the resources that would allow them to turn all their ideas into reality.

The way teachers, faculty and students approach mental wellness in schools is constantly changing, but shifts towards a more inclusive and thoughtful community are undoubtedly happening.

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Ozone House (24 hour crisis line): 734-662-2222

Dawn Farm Detox and Help Hotline: 734-669-8625

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Corner Health Center: 734-484-3600

CHS Psychologist: Shana Cacioppo (cacioppos@aaps.k12.mi.us)

THE COMMUNICATOR

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National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Call or Text 988

CHS Social Worker: Traci Blancke (blancket@aaps.k12.mi.us)

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UM Psychiatric Emergency Services: 734-936-5900

School Counselors: Brian Williams (willia18@aaps.k12.mi.us)and Kelly Maveal (mavealk@aaps.k12.mi.us)

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10 35

ALLERGY ANXIOUS Anxiety around allergies is on the rise. Those who are first-handedly impacted by them have their lives on the line, and it has impacted the emotions of family members and friends.

BY HANNAH RUBENSTEIN

Rashes, stomach cramps, runny nose, vomiting and other allergy symptoms are what Cate Weiser experiences when she has an anxiety attack. For Weiser, anxiety arises around food. Is it an allergic reaction? Is it another anxiety attack?

Those are the questions that are always on her mind in these times.

“I would convince myself it was an allergic reaction and I would sit at the table for half an hour or so, freaked out,” Weiser said. “This was not a sustainable way for me to live transitioning into college.”

According to Dr. Charles Schuler, an allergist at the University of Michigan (UM), humans feel anxiety when they encounter situations that are unpredictable and/or uncontrollable. Medical emergencies (like anaphylaxis) that can come anytime one eats are a natural and appropriate source of anxiety given that by their very nature they are both unpredictable and uncontrollable, at least without proper training.

While allergists have tools to control these situations, most people experience their first anaphylaxis event as an unpredicted and uncontrolled event. Naturally, individuals would expect their next anaphylaxis experience to be the same. It does not have to be, since allergists can screen food (to avoid exposures) and treat people who experience anaphylaxis with epinephrine, controlling the reaction. However, until someone with food allergies has had a reaction treated with epinephrine and seen the rapid (within one to three minutes) onset of positive results, that person is unlikely to personally be36

lieve that epinephrine works so well.

The summer before college started, Weiser began meeting with a therapist who specializes in food allergies. She was able to help Weiser find skills to manage eating at dining halls and friends’ parties. Luckily for Weiser, the University of Chicago (UChicago) has one of the best allergy-friendly programs in the country, with a separate station called “Pure Eats’’ where students with the top nine allergens can eat without worrying about cross-contamination, though there is a downside.

“There are not enough students with food allergies, so they have to market the station as a health station as well,” Weiser said. “There’s a lot of steamed quinoa and cauliflower rice and food that is not very often appetizing.”

Now in her sophomore year at UChicago, Weiser has spent a lot of time bringing her personal pots and pans down to the shared kitchen in her dorm.

“I always eat better than my friends who eat in the dining halls,” Weiser said.

Chicago has been a better place for Weiser due to the food options at restaurants. In Ann Arbor, there were only two restaurants she could eat at without anxiety. In Chicago, there are more restaurants that understand how to accommodate food allergies. Due to this, Weiser’s anxiety around food has dwindled.

When Weiser was first diagnosed with eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, dairy, gluten, soy and sesame allergies, her mom took out her own anxiety on investing in re-

search. She’s raised a lot of money for Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) and kickstarted the food allergy center at the University of Michigan.

“Now, my parents and I don’t really like to speak about my parents’ stress or anxiety around the topic,” Weiser said. “I think that they try not to put their anxieties about it onto me because they saw how difficult it was for me.”

Julie Strassel has recently had to learn how to navigate allergies through her 14-month-old daughter, Vivian Wilson-Tobin. Wilson-Tobin was diagnosed with an egg and peanut allergy as a 6-month-old last June. Strassel knows of no family history of allergies.

“When we first found out, we were bummed,” Strassel said. “We have never had issues before with our other daughter. You go through the whole phase of introducing solids, it’s kind of fun, but all of a sudden we were worried about allergies.”

By the fourth or fifth time ingesting peanut butter, Wilson-Tobin broke out into hives.

“She got the peanut butter all over herself,” Strassel said. “So we wiped her face and there was redness, hives sort of emerged. Does she maybe have sensitive skin? Maybe we rubbed her face too hard? Then we called 911 just to be on the safe side because it was pretty extreme. That was when we found out she had allergies.”

While she didn’t end up going to the hospital during this event, she did have to a few months later.

“I gave her some scrambled eggs

ART BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI

S we made one morning and her reaction was really quick and very extreme,” Strassel said. “It was projectile vomiting, redness, hives, itching, and so we called 911. She was put in an ambulance and they did the EpiPen. So, at that point, it went from us being skeptical to okay, this is real. It was worrisome and a life changer. So when I say bummed, things we have gotten used to we have had to get rid of in our house and go through life a little differently. We can’t be nonchalant or relaxed.”

While the allergies haven’t affected Strassel on the day-to-day, they have affected her around the holidays.

“I used to be able to hand her off to somebody, I didn’t have to worry about my child’s safety, but now I can barely let her into other people’s arms,” Strassel said.

“Food allergies impose multiple social difficulties,” Schuler said. “In the first year after a food allergy diagnosis, families avoid travel and restaurant eating almost entirely due to the fear of reactions. Mothers of children under the age of five with food allergies have statistically higher blood pressure than mothers of similar age without food allergies.”

Strassel has thought about the idea of treatment for Wilson-Tobin’s allergies. According to Schuler, oral

food challenges in the office are generally quite helpful. Even when a reaction occurs, studies show that quality of life goes up afterward.

Schuler calls this the “monster under the bed” phenomenon because you don’t know that the monster is not scary, or even does not exist, until you look. You avoid looking because you’re scared. Thus, when the oral food challenge allows a food allergy patient to face the reaction with the help and safety of an allergist, even if there is a reaction allergists can help people face their fears and take control.

While Strassel is a little nervous about Wilson-Tobin growing up with allergies, she is also optimistic.

“I feel like when she is ready to go to school, we will have to navigate that experience,” Strassel said. “I think it’s going to depend on how the schools’ responses are too and if they’re on top of it or not, and then the social experience of having to sit at a different table or just feeling a little bit left out of certain experiences.”

According to Schuler, social isolation can be increased by food allergy lunch tables and having to have separate food sources. Some children, as they become adults, may either embrace a zero-risk-tolerance approach

or go the other direction and ignore their risk. Finding a middle ground is difficult.

Wilson-Tobin has already had a few scares at daycare earlier this year.

“She took a cup where a kid was eating an egg and she put it in her own mouth,” Strassel said. “So we didn’t have to use the EpiPen because she didn’t react but we did give her Benadryl just in case. I can tell it’s stressful for the teachers as well because they are taking on a lot of that responsibility.”

Ryan Silvester, CHS teacher, was first diagnosed with a tree nut allergy in seventh grade. The late diagnosis was hard on Silvester.

“I remember loving pistachios — eating tons and tons of them when I was really young,” Silvester said.

“When I found out, I was in my seventh grade social studies class.

One of my classmates went to Brazil for spring break, and brought back these chocolates from Brazil. I had one and had a reaction.”

After experiencing allergies firsthand, Silvester has implemented rules in his classroom to keep others safe. Silvester has designated “allergy-free” tables at the back of the room for those who want to eat in his room. He is also very aware of the snacks that he and other students bring in during Forum to make sure that everyone can eat them.

“I think I’m more aware of students that have allergies as well and think about it and that kind of dictates what we eat,” Silvester said.

Weiser transferred into Silvester’s Forum during her time at CHS. “She told me that she’d never ever eaten with her Forum before because she was always worried,” Silvester said. “For our final Forum day, we had breakfast together and I made sure that everything that we used was allergy-friendly. We had a big breakfast of pancakes, and we made sure that was all allergy-friendly for her so she could have a meal with us, which I think was a really important and powerful moment for her to have that in school and to be recognized.”

As for navigating his own allergies in the classroom, occasionally Silvester will have to reject a homemade baked good offered to him.

“I get anxious,” Silvester said. “I don’t want to go to the hospital.”

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The World is Watching: The Youth Vote With a pivotal election on the horizon, young peoples’ ever-fluctuating political involvement is due for another shift.

BY LUCIA PAGE SANDER AND CLARA FREETH

When Chloe Root was 17 years old, she wanted a fake ID — but not for the reasons you might think.

Despite her passion for politics, Root didn’t realize that registering to vote requires a bit more than just a driver’s license and that underage voting is election fraud. When she finally was of age to vote, Root felt she was a part of something bigger than herself; she felt empowered.

Like many others, the presidential election that overlapped with her time in high school was the first she was truly invested in, which, for Root, was the Bush vs. Gore race in 2000. But even before that, her first vote was cast in the primary prior to that presidential: the often-overlooked precursor to a general election.

“It was just a moment of like, okay, I’m a part of this now,” Root said. “I can actually help make these decisions. And even at the primary level, you’re choosing who’s going to be on the ballot in the end, which is a huge thing that a lot of people don’t necessarily think about when they’re thinking about getting to vote” Throughout her time as a high school government teacher, Root has seen many thoughtful students with a deep passion for politics pass through her class. While she appreciates that CHS may be a “skewed” sample population, it’s her students’ ability to think critically and their unwillingness to accept injustice that gives Root hope in the midst of the chaos of the current election cycle. In particular, it’s the fact that the predicted nomination is a pair of octogenarians — one of whom is entrenched in four indictments — that has shrouded this presidential race in a cloud of unpredictability.

With the 2024 primary elections on the horizon, many 18-year-old high schoolers are eager to cast their first votes in just a few week’s time. But Flynn Meagher, 38

CHS senior, feels conflicted.

“I am excited to cast my own vote, but I don’t have much overall hope for the future of elections and politics” Meagher said. “I don’t think much progress will be made for a while.”

Contrary to that prediction, some trends suggest an impending and significant shift in voter engagement, indicating headway in the ongoing fight to have more and more Americans’ voices heard through a landmark form of civic engagement: electing political leaders.

According to a 2023 survey conducted by Tufts University’s Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), 57% of young people (aged 18-34) say they’re “extremely likely” to vote this year, and another 15% describe themselves as “fairly likely.” Compared to past cycles, this prediction would be a drastic increase in turnout: the 2016 presidential race garnered just 39% of the youth vote, while the 2020 Biden vs. Trump presidential contest (a matchup we are likely to see again) earned just about half of the youngest demographic’s participation. So if CIRCLE’s data — with a margin of error of approximately 2.5% — holds true, the United States is set to experience another fairly drastic spike in young adults’ election involvement this fall.

Here in Ann Arbor, employees at the City Clerk’s Office are anticipatory of this “heavy” projected turnout.

Sarah Alanis, Satellite Office Project Manager, is optimistic that Michigan’s newly-instated Early Voting program, which requires cities and townships to offer early voting for at least nine consecutive days prior to statewide and federal Election Days, will help officials across the state in accommodating a potential voter influx this election cycle.

ART BY GABE DEEDLER

2016

2020

*projected

65%*

Biden vs.

Trump

50%

39%

Having grown up in Texas where laws surrounding voter registration are harsher than they are in Michigan, Alanis has been inspired by the large quantities of young voters who make an effort to take part in elections locally. Beyond just voting, the City Clerk’s office sees many college students and a handful of high schoolers making an even bigger effort to engage in the political process by working the polls on the day-of.

“I’m excited about the fact that there are just so many young people that do really want to get involved,” Alanis said. “It feels really, really good to be able to share that type of knowledge with everybody, especially young people. I live for it.”

A contributing factor to this early-onset motivation for civic engagement is the Clerk’s office’s efforts to engage with young Ann Arborites in order to ensure that they’re exposed to voting at the youngest possible age.

That’s accomplished by many a field trip, among other events. Recently, the office hosted a third grade class who voted on their favorite Great Lake, which resulted in a landslide win for Lake Michigan.

Not long ago, CHS’s student body demonstrated their drive to have their voices heard: during this year’s Forum Council elections. Roughly 76% of people cast a vote — 10-25% higher than the average voter turnout in the United States in the past six years, according to the Pew Research Center. Granted, that number doesn’t represent the greater U.S. population. However, it does speak to the nature of CHS students, who constitute the demographic that Root previously described as potentially “skewed,” and their tendency to take initiative in choosing decision-makers.

“When I think about my students and my former students who are now going to be voting it does give me hope,” Root said.

But beyond CHS’s bubble, new voters in Ann Arbor have been stepping up and embracing their civic duty with the help of local officials, who are nothing if not encouraging; as this year and each year to come progresses and your 18th birthdays come and go, your teachers, fellow students and city administrators hope to see you at the polls.

While registering to vote still requires more than just a drivers license and a passion for politics, we implore you to show up to the polls and to make your voice heard.

Clinton vs.

Trump

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Voter Turnout Between the Ages of 18 and 34 THE COMMUNICATOR

39

Trash or Treasure Sadie Todd reflects on her love for thrifting and hopes for the fashion industry.

BY NINA TINNEY, ELLE MCCREADIE AND KATE GROVES

After rummaging through countless boxes, 8-year-old Sadie Todd stumbled upon a bright red handbag. With thick, buttery leather and a big silver buckle, Todd knew she had to have it. Throwing the large red bag over her shoulder marked the beginning of her ever-growing love for thrifting.

At a young age, Todd would frequent garage sales and thrift stores with her mom. The pair would spend hours flipping through the racks, boxes and bins to find unique pieces. It was these mother-daughter shopping trips that hooked Todd, eventually leading her to apply for a job at Top Drawer, a local consignment shop.

“Working at Top Drawer is really cool because it’s very community based,” Todd said. “People sell and buy items off of one another, so it’s like a big, shared closet.”

Todd has found her work at Top Drawer to be incredibly fulfilling. Not only does she get to help people find new pieces, but at the same time, she’s knows shes helping the environment. Consignment shops are very similar to thrift stores in the sense that they both give people the opportunity to donate their unwanted clothes.

However, at consignment shops donors get money in return for their items. In the end, both thrift stores and consignment shops share the same goal: to minimize unnecessary waste.

Every year, around 92 million tons of clothing end up wasted. Piles upon piles of perfectly good clothes fill landfills, left abandoned by their previous owners. But Todd believes that just because someone is done using a piece of clothing, doesn’t mean it needs to be thrown away. It is through donating or selling that the clothing can have a new life.

“This is kind of a cliche about thrifting but, ‘one 40

man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ is definitely something I agree with,” Todd said. “I could find a piece and think ‘I don’t like this, it’s not my style,’ but then somebody else could find it and think ‘Oh my god I love this.’”

Despite all the pros to thrifting, Todd knows that it isn’t always easy. With misconceptions circling that thrifting is dirty or trash, some may never set foot in a thrift store. There is also the looming temptation of fast fashion, with its cheap prices and easy access. Clothing can be delivered to a customer’s door with the press of a button. Todd herself has given in to this temptation.

“Sometimes people think fast fashion is the only option,” Todd said. “I’ve indulged in brands like Amazon, Shein and Fashion Nova. It’s a hard cycle to get out of.”

After years of experience, Todd believes that the key to thrifting and staying away from fast fashion is an open mind. Going to thrift stores and consignment shops, Todd can’t expect to find the exact items she would at a regular store. So instead of having these unrealistic expectations, she waits to see where the experience will take her, relishing in not knowing exactly what she’ll get.

Having this open mindset has led Todd to find countless gems: handbags, jeans, sweaters, baggy t-shirts and more. Slowly she has built out her wardrobe to be full of unique, vintage pieces. With each new addition, she gains the peace of mind that one less item is entering the landfill.

“My hope is that we can work towards repurposing more clothing,” Todd said. “There’s truly something already out there for everyone.”

As thrifting rises in popularity, Todd’s only wish is that it continues. Her work at Top Drawer is a small step in the right direction.

So now, when Todd clocks in for a shift, she remembers just how much thrifting means to her. Whether she is organizing clothes on the rack or checking out a customer, she knows she is making a difference. And when she sees someone find their perfect pair of jeans or stumble across their ideal accessory she falls in love with thrifting all over again.

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“

My hope is that we can work towards repurposing more clothing. There’s truly something already out there for everyone.

Photography by Elle McCreadie and Nina Tinney Sadie Todd explores the racks at Top Drawer. After working there for about a year, she has loved every minute of it. “Working at Top Drawer is really cool because it’s very community based,” Todd said.

“People sell and buy items off of one another, so it’s like a big, shared closet.”

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Dual Enrollment & Future Success CHS students are able to take classes at Washtenaw Community College, allowing them to take on new challenges and further their learning while taking the next steps towards college.

BY CHARLIE LAMAN

“A midwestern treasure,” is how Brian Williams, CHS counselor, describes Washtenaw Community College (WCC). Community students have a unique opportunity to go beyond the normal curriculum and pursue their personal interests to prepare for college. Rigor, ever-prized in college admissions, is available to students in the form of a college-level experience available close to home and often for free, as Ann Arbor Public Schools usually covers the cost of tuition. Students can take advantage of this opportunity in order to take steps toward 42

their future goals and set themselves up for success.

Of the Community students who take classes at WCC, many elect to take math classes. The majority of these students have completed calculus and are looking to move to the next level of math. Once students finish calculus AB or BC the world of math courses opens up to them.

Subjects such as calculus two and three, linear algebra, discrete mathematics and college-level statistics become available. Kamen Panayotov, CHS junior, was looking to take the next step in math and took the op-

portunity to acquire some new skills as well.

“Last year, after completing calculus one and doing some BC prep stuff, I decided to just go and do calc two for a semester and that was great,” Panayotov said. “I was also interested in some coding and some auto repair so I took calc two, a baby intro to java class and an auto shop class that first semester.”

These advanced math classes allow prospective STEM majors to get a head start on their degrees and prepare for college more effectively.

Indigo Guikema, CHS senior, plans

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to major in math and is hoping to transfer his WCC credits to a fouryear college. “[It’s helpful to], one, get the college credit and, two, CRs don’t always work out because the [U of M] professor has to say okay, but for WCC if you can pay for a class, you have as much right to be there as any other student,” Guikema said.

The opportunity to take college classes is not without hurdles and these hurdles are often logistical.

WCC is on the edge of Ann Arbor and as such traveling to and from the campus can be a challenge.

“I think the biggest challenge is just making it work with their daily routine” Williams said. “Trying to figure out the class that they want to take and how it fits into their schedule. Can they get back and forth?”

Students may also struggle to find the same support that’s available to them at the high school level. In a high school class, the teacher does their best to make sure students are staying on track. At the college level, this amount of assistance isn’t always available.

Professors have office hours for students to ask questions and get help, but the process isn’t the same as in high school.

Many students who attend WCC classes often do so intending to earn college credit. Since Community doesn’t offer AP classes and taking one at Pioneer, Huron or Skyline presents its own set of challenges, college classes are a popular choice.

Students apply directly to Washtenaw, instead of going through the CR office and getting approval from the professor, like one would do for a U of M class.

This simpler process saves time and effort, as students apply directly to WCC and register for classes as regular WCC students, no professor approval is required.

When it comes to college classes, the best tool in a student’s academic toolbox is to be a self-reliant learner.

Being able to self-regulate and track your progress is key, as the same level of accountability and attention that’s available in high school isn’t there at the college level.

“It helps to have a system that you can track your progress so you have the stills that you’re able to track your progress. What do you do when you face a challenge? Do you have some kind of plan?” Maneesha Mankad, CHS math teacher said.

Self-reliance and self-motivation are important since finding support at the college level can be more difficult than when you’re in high school. Students find that knowing how and where to access resources is key to success.

Taking college classes while in high school is an opportunity for students to take their learning in new directions. Simultaneously they are able to earn college credit before going into higher education if they so choose.

Generally, students who decide to take classes at WCC are quite successful.

They are able to support themselves or find support if need it outside of the classroom.

“I’m very proud of the kids who are doing this and taking on this challenge,” Mankad said. “It brings me the greatest joy to see them really flourish and enjoy and feel passionate about their learning.”

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“The workload of my statistics class at Washetnaw Community College has prepared me for the rigorous workload I will have in college,” Parker Haymart said.

“Community’s math class has stopped at calculus and we don’t offer statistics,” Jaye Robbins Oliver said. “It’s been a nice way to be able to advance in math and take classes we don’t have here.”

“lt’s definitely been helpful to have other people I know taking those classes because then when I have questions we can figure that out together,” Emmy Wernimont.

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EMBRACING THE

CHALLENGE Understanding how CHS students navigate the path of educational struggles and finding hope along the way.

BY RUTH SHIKANOV

Junior year. It is coined as the most demanding and difficult year of high school, marked by heightened academic rigor, preparation for standardized tests and the beginning of the pivotal college search. Thoughts of performing well in school and maintaining a social life constantly run through Meghan Pillote’s mind.

“As a junior, this year is definitely the most difficult it’s ever been for me,” Pillote said. “It’s just so overwhelming, thinking ‘Oh my god, I have to get perfect scores on this giant test, the SAT and this is going to determine my future,’” Pillote said. “And then at the same time, I have all these classes and then I’m juggling it with my social life. It’s such a stressful thing.

Finding the balance is an everyday battle. But another aspect Pillote grapples with is feeling unmotivated, struggling to find the applicability of what she learns from her homework.

“It’s really hard to grasp the importance of school and a lot of the time, I feel like what I’m learning isn’t really valuable to me,” Pillote said. “If I don’t see value in what I’m learning, then I’m not going to want to learn another thing.”

For Pillote, this is where the snowball effect comes into play. “ I think what has been causing me a struggle in school is the work will pile up or I’ll get a lot and it’ll stress me out, which then overwhelms me and makes me not want to do my work because I’m stressed and overwhelmed and I just do nothing, and I get more and more behind,” Pillote said.

With demanding course loads, time management proves to be crucial in staying motivated and on top of one’s work; Izzy Stevens, senior, entered high school with a future-oriented mindset, recognizing the critical role school plays in shaping her trajectory beyond high school. Stevens’ most difficult courses are Calculus BC PHOTO ILLUSTRAION BY DANIEL GING

Photo by Daniel Ging and Ruth Shikanov Meghan Pillote finds herself overwhelmed and unmotivated once the homework starts to pile up. Pillote has enjoyed coming to school because of her friends, but this year is stressful, especially as a junior.

“I like coming to school, I like it socially,” Pillote said. “But this year has definitely tested that and that made it a lot harder.”

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DEMANDING

STRUGGL

OVERWHELMED and Physics, both with variable course loads, but the block schedule helps Stevens manage the work.

“I don’t think I struggle personally because I make time for it,” Stevens said. “I think the block schedule really helps me not get overwhelmed with the work. But I think if I had sports or something that I had to do multiple times a week, then I might be struggling.”

However, a glimpse into Steven’s study habits reveals a strategy that may seem counterintuitive: watching TV while tackling her homework, typically a show that she’s already seen before. She also makes goals for herself as she works, preventing her work from seeming as overwhelming or tedious.

“I make goals for myself when I’m working, so I’ll be like, ‘Okay, once I get halfway through my work, then I can take a break,’” Stevens said. “I just try and make my work as enjoyable as I can, so I watch TV while I do it for a lot of these math-based courses.”

Similarly, Johana Horvath finds that calculus is her most difficult class this year, acknowledging the fastpace and complex material the class covers. Despite the difficulty, Horvath recognizes the value of the challenge, especially in preparing for future college courses.

“I plan to major in biology and someday, I hope to become an orthodontist,” Horvath said. “So going along the pre-med, biology route, it definitely requires taking challenging science courses and challenging math courses.”

Horvath observes others struggling with putting in the extra effort and time to excel in calculus, finding that the hardest part of calculus, apart from the material itself, is keeping on track and not falling behind.

“Sometimes, people don’t realize that if you want to be good at something, you have to put in the extra work and put in the extra time,” Horvath said. “I think if 46

people find they’re falling behind or not keeping up it’s because they might not always be putting in extra time or doing all the assignments.”

For Horvath, the struggle lies in remembering to turn in her completed work into Schoology, finding it tedious to take pictures to submit it electronically, especially when it is a lengthy packet.

“It’s much easier to give it to the teacher, but obviously, they would like it to be submitted to Schoology,” Horvath said. “If I noticed that I have a missing assignment, it’s like I did it, but I just never turned it in. So, I think that that’s sometimes where I lack motivation.”

Although Horvath dedicates a lot of time to her homework, math is a subject that doesn’t come as easily to her as english and writing. However, Maneesha Mankad, CHS calculus teacher, challenges the prevalent notion of “not being a math person” and emphasizes that anyone can excel in math with the right mindset and tools.

Mankad transitioned from a career in biostatistics to becoming an educator, motivated by the desire to challenge stereotypes surrounding math, especially when coming from India, where math is held in high regard.

Mankad’s decision to pursue a master’s in education was influenced by her observation that math, unlike other subjects, often carries a negative connotation; individuals readily express an inability to grasp mathematical concepts. Drawing on decades of research, Mankad refutes the idea that there is a specific type of person inherently suited for math.

“In India, people who do math well are respected. And it’s something that is considered really good, like, ‘Oh, you’re working hard and you’re doing math and you’re doing well,’ and I found that people felt completely okay for them to say things like, ‘I just can’t do that. I’m not a math person,’” Mankad said. “I always wondered, would

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you be okay saying, ‘I can’t read, and I’m not a person who reads? Or I’m not a person who does English? We wouldn’t, but somehow it’s okay over here for us to say, ‘Oh, I’m just not a math person.’”

Instead, Mankad advocates for a shift in perspective, urging students to approach math with the same pride and enthusiasm as they would other subjects. For decades, math has been rooted in traditional-lecture based learning, but there are challenges associated with this teaching style.

“One of the most common styles of learning is lectures, which is really hard because I think in all classes, the teacher is teaching you, they need to lecture to you,” Pillote said. “It’s really hard to balance learning through a lecture and learning by working more creatively, which is what I work best with.”

Mankad recognizes these flaws and employs an inquiry-based model. This approach encourages exploration, collaboration and utilization of diverse perspectives. By framing math problems within real-world contexts, students are prompted to engage actively in problem-solving.

Mankad believes that this method fosters a collaborative and innovative learning environment, where students actively participate in discussions and share various problem-solving strategies, differing from its older counterpart.

“The whole way of teaching in mathematics has really changed to the point where some people are like, ‘Why are we having any lecture-based lessons now?’ Because here’s the thing, I completely agree,” Mankad said.

“It’s not that it won’t work for people, like there are people for whom lecturing works. And if I give you an algorithm here, step number one, step number two, step number three, step number four, do these four steps and

you will be able to solve the problem. But I did all the thinking for you. What was the value in it for you?”

Mankad wants to show students that learning something difficult is worthwhile. She hopes students are able to get to a point where they embrace the productive struggle, a fundamental part of learning, and don’t just strive for a certain grade.

“If you are taking calculus, you are giving a message to the rest of the world. I did something that was really challenging, that was college level,” Mankad said. “People could have all A’s, but if you didn’t take the most challenging classes, those A’s do not have the same value. Because did you push yourself to go and productively struggle and do something that you were uncomfortable doing?”

In the world of education, Mankad’s mission transcends conventional boundaries as she hopes to create an environment where learning is valued, as well as struggling “I’m trying to improve and grow every single day to help my students understand that what I value is their learning and their willingness to struggle and learn something that’s complex,” Mankad said. “It doesn’t matter how long it takes. There are no prizes for doing that fast. The thing is, you can learn at your own pace and that’s fine.”

To struggle is to learn — and there is joy in that.

Mankad sees students and their pride once they gain the confidence to attempt hard things and understand math.

“That is what keeps me in [teaching],” Mankad said.

“Just to see the light in everybody’s eyes when they feel like, ‘Yes, I got this and it was so hard and I had to work at it, but I’m here,’ and it makes sense to you. So, that joy is the hope.”

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BY LYDIA DEBORD

They knew they weren’t safe. The jeers, the slurs, the pure adrenaline; their tormentors were all around. And no matter how fast they ran, no matter where they hid, it wouldn’t stop. The scariest part? The horror show claimed to support them.

If Juniper Rooze had to use one word to describe their middle school experience, it would be “off-putting.” Every day was a fight, riddled with bullying that was either enabled by or ignored by teachers. The routine was so ingrained that Rooze could predict their school day before it had even started.

They would wake up at 6 a.m., carpool with their two best friends and grab a coffee on the way. The trio would arrive at school a few minutes early, seeking momentary solace on the front lawn before the day would begin.

And once the doors opened at 8 a.m., it was war. ”Wrist Check!” ”It’s the cult!” Words were thrown at Rooze like venom. The teachers would make a mild effort to put a stop to the taunts but to no avail. Rooze was mostly left to their own devices. When they would finally reach their first hour, the rush of anxiety would catch up to Rooze, often resulting in a hall pass and a panic attack in the bathroom. They were usually home before lunch.

On the occasion that they weren’t, the day wouldn’t get any better. The cafeteria was the climax of the abuse.

When Rooze would walk in, they’d be met with indescribable terror. Food was flung, words were shouted, and Rooze would just want to leave.

Despite the middle school’s claims that they were fighting bullying, Rooze couldn’t have felt less supported. Rooze admits that with post-pandemic resources, it wasn’t entirely their teachers’ fault.

“Everyone was tired,” Rooze said.

The building was short-staffed and their reach for substitutes was limited, leaving teachers in a difficult and inflexible position. That being said, Rooze found that the teachers were far from perfect. Staff wouldn’t bother chasing after Rooze’s tormentors and wouldn’t go out of their way to be friendly faces.

At times, Rooze felt conflicted. For example, in some ways, one of the teachers enabling the behavior was their favorite. While he would try to be cool and funny, he would also blatantly ignore Rooze’s 504 plan.

“He would take away my sensory headphones that I needed in his class,” Rooze said.

No matter how many conversations Rooze had with the counselor, no matter how many parental interventions, the mistreatment wouldn’t stop. At some point, this dysfunctional spiral of education wasn’t effective.

“I’d be there for around an hour and then just exhaust myself, panicking and getting overworked,” Rooze said.

So, halfway through the semester, Rooze and their family decided the best course of action would be a medical leave.

Though it was a barrier safe from direct harm, the hostility towards Rooze didn’t stop when they weren’t at school. Instead, it manifested itself in a sleeker form: gossip.

“It was really hard for me to hear what rumors were

going on, and to try and squash other rumors that were happening,” Rooze said.

The gossip spread like wildfire. With every rumor that Rooze heard, there were countless others. Eventually, not only Rooze but also their two closest friends, were fully switched to A2 Virtual Academy. While it was a temporary solution, the arrangement couldn’t go on indefinitely.

Rooze spent the summer of 2023 healing. Surrounded by their friends, they tried to leave the last school year behind. But the end of summer brought with it the looming start of high school.

Rooze knew deep down that they couldn’t stay in A2 Virtual forever. Self-paced was a tricky balance, and it wasn’t their ideal learning style. They had to go back to an in-person school. At the time, that school would be Pioneer High School. The same school all their middle school bullies would congregate at.

It was deja vu. The pointing and teasing were back.

Even at the short info gap session, Rooze knew all eyes were on them. And soon enough, the panic returned too.

Luckily, Rooze found a way out: Community High School. Rooze doesn’t know what they would have done if they hadn’t gotten in. They knew school wasn’t going to get easier overnight, but the chance for a fresh start?

That was golden.

Now, months after the transition, Rooze feels good about school, surrounded by both supportive peers and teachers. Admittedly, it wasn’t a perfectly seamless transition. Rooze is still battling anxiety surrounding school, but now they don’t feel alone.

“At the start of the year, I had more absent issues and attendance issues than I do now,” Rooze said. “It was hard for me to go to my first hour and I feel like a lot of the [CHS] staff were pushing me to go to class. But because they wanted me to succeed, and not because they didn’t want me to bring down their reputation.”

Overall, Rooze feels so much happier about not only their education but themself. They are still working on their mental journey, but are no longer riddled with setbacks at school.

“It’s definitely easier to try and build self-confidence when it’s not like a devil on your shoulder telling you you’re a failure,” Rooze said.

Not only is Rooze feeling more secure mentally, but Rooze’s performance academically is also improving. A little support can go a long way.

Rooze knows they aren’t perfect and that healing isn’t linear. But when those facts aren’t spewed in their face, achieving happiness is easier. Rooze believes that having no contact with their middle school bullies saved them.

“If you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it at all,” Rooze said. “You don’t know what another person is going through and you don’t know what could be their last straw.”

For help, please call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

Spork or Be Sporked The Spork Game is a classic Community High tradition, but how did it begin?

BY CLARA FREETH

A slowly yellowing piece of paper posted on the third-floor ledge displays the names of roughly 150 students participating in the inaugural Community High School Spork Game.

The year was 2009 and the game had only one rule: don’t let go of your spork.

A player without their spork in hand risked being “sporked” by another player who was holding their spork. Other than that, there were no rules: anything went. Once a player was sporked, they were out of the game for good.

The last player standing would be the winner.

The game started in the fall and was inspired by a similar contest at Pioneer High School, which was shut down shortly after it began. But the idea lived on as it was brought over by a split-enrolled student and was open to any CHS student who 50

wanted to participate — not solely seniors, like how the Spork Game operates nowadays. It cost $10 for freshmen and seniors alike to enter, with the winner collecting the prize pot and, of course, the bragging rights at the game’s close.

As the weeks went on, names were slowly crossed off and numbers dwindled until just three players were left, including Spencer MacDonald, a junior at the time.

For maybe a dozen weeks, it was just that trio left, never able to eliminate each other, stuck in a stalemate.

For months, MacDonald took his spork with him everywhere he went; school, sports and hanging out with friends all came with a side of spork, even as it gradually disintegrated.

His sporking eventually came in the spring at the end of a soccer game with the CHS co-ed soccer team “Gotta Catch ‘em All” — an earlier incarnation of today’s team,

“The Lads From Leeds.” For some reason MacDonald thought he was safe that day and played the game without his precious spork, immediately regretting it when the game ended and his fate was sealed. The final two participants decided shortly after to split the prize pool, leaving MacDonald just short of a Spork Game victory. “[The spork game] was just one of those Community things where somebody has an idea, and we just do it, and it’s a lot of fun,” MacDonald said.

That first year, nobody had any idea how big the spork game would become. No one knew that it would become what it is now: an iconic part of the CHS experience. The game has evolved from paper records to a digital spreadsheet and from a silly idea to a prevalent piece of CHS culture.

“The Spork Game is such a fun

FEATURE

part of being a senior at Community,” said Daniel Ging, current senior.

“My friends and I have been pretty competitive about it so far.”

After an incident in 2021 with Huron’s “Water Wars,” the three big Ann Arbor public high schools haven’t allowed students to run senior assassin-type games in recent years, which further exaggerates the spork game’s uniquity.

Fifteen years later, the game is still running strong.

Throughout second semester, seniors can be spotted carrying the plastic utensils, adorned with colorful paints, rhinestones, googly eyes and much more, everywhere — even and especially when they would otherwise be unnecessary.

“I remember the seniors in my forum being super excited about it,” said Amy Boeving, current CHS senior. “One thing that I really, really remember was seeing a video of

somebody getting chased down. So I think that was what really got me excited to [play] this year.”

The game is seen as a modern CHS rite of passage, whether playing in the game or not, students and staff alike are invested in the results.

“I think [the Spork Game] is such a cool concept. I like the battle royale concept and I like seeing my friends do well,” said Alex Schwartz, sophomore.

At its core, the premise of the game hasn’t changed: don’t let go of your spork.

However, it has developed a more complex set of rules and regulations including no sporking while driving, no breaking into people’s houses (unless you have parental consent) and no sporking at places of work.

There are also “spork-free zones,” alliances and bounties in play — friendships hang in the balance with over $1000 on the line.

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As the months roll on and players are slowly eliminated, paranoia is as big of a player a senior’s classmates.

“I’m so paranoid that somebody will be there to spork me, even if I’m in my house,” Boeving said.

Boeving does not mess around when it comes to the spork game.

Even in the safety of their own home, they went to sleep with their spork clutched tightly in their hand the night before the game began, and sporadically throughout the following weeks.

In recent years, the game has started in early to mid-February and lasted through the night of graduation, often with multiple winners crowned.

This year, the stakes are as high as ever. Bragging rights and trashtalking are at an all-time high and nobody wants to go home empty-handed. May the best sporker win.

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Navigating The Future Of Climate Change Members of the community share their hopes and plans for creating a more sustainable future as concerns for the climate become increasingly prevalent in our world today.

BY JANAKI NALLAMOTHU AND PAIGE PLAVNICK

Our World In Data is an organization focused on ensuring that resources and research regarding many topics, such as climate change, are available for the public to see and use. The graphs they created to represent climate change show that in 1950, the world emitted six billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. By 1990, the amount of carbon dioxide almost quadrupled. Today, the world emits over 35 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually. According to the World Meteorological Organization, this rapid increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere raised global temperatures dramatically, with 2023 being the warmest year on record.

Dr. Jonathan Overpeck is the Dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. Rather than focusing on changing daily habits, Overpeck has been educating the next generation of climate scientists. Overpeck has worked with the United Nations and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to convince international policymakers that taking action to protect our climate is essential.

Overpeck proposed three advances that can protect our climate from further deterioration. The first is exiting the fossil fuel era and generating our electricity and power with renewable energy, like hydroelectric, wind and solar. The next idea focuses on providing storage for renewable electricity so that it will be available in times when it otherwise wouldn’t be. Overpeck’s last step is implementing electrified mobility, which means developing zero-carbon transportation like electric vehi52

cles and planes.

“We’re already deploying all of these technologies,” Overpeck said. “The costs associated with wind and solar are below comparable fossil-fueled energy costs and prices continue to plummet.”

While Overpeck works alongside national and global efforts, many students at CHS are starting to change their everyday habits to lessen their impact on the climate on a smaller scale. Sofia Das, freshman, and Charlotte Rotenberg, junior, are incorporating composting, reduction of their meat consumption

and exploring some more environmentally friendly transportation such as the city bus and bikes into their daily routines.

Das joined the Ecology Club this year and enjoys making CHS more sustainable. The Ecology Club places compost bins in classrooms all around the building and empties them daily. Members of the club made and hung signs above each compost bin that explained what could and couldn’t be composted

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OPINION

“

It’s the little things we do and changes we make that shape the future.

and what shouldn’t. Rotenberg is also a member of the Ecology Club and helps empty out the compost bins.

Rotenberg loves to reduce, reuse and recycle. Along with participating in Ecology Club, she also creates new ways to be sustainable at home.

She finds innovative ways to reuse materials and scraps around her house. One time, she made a bag out of plastic bags that would’ve otherwise gone in the trash. By doing this, the bag was larger and more durable while also eliminating waste. Rotenberg uses fruit skins, like bananas, to help fertilize and give nutrients to her plants as well.

Das grew up around sustainable practices. For the past eight years, her family has gotten most of their electricity from solar panels on their roof. They drive their electric car regularly and Das and her sister are vegetarian.

“I never really liked meat,” Das said. “Every time I saw an animal, all I would think about was that I ate them and that was devastating because I love animals.”

In her FOS I class, Das learned more about sustainability and climate change. Her class explored new technologies around energy use, solar panels and wind farms. Courtney Kiley, CHS science teacher, ends her climate change unit with a project where students find a technological solution to mitigate or slow down climate change.

“We talked about [alternatives to] having black streets and roofs,” Kiley said. “Changing those darker colors to lighter colors to make surfaces reflect some of the infrared back

into space instead of absorbing them is a way to reduce growing temperatures.”

Kaylie Peters, a junior at CHS, had the opportunity to see some of these new and innovative ways of dealing with the climate crisis first hand.

When she visited Costa Rica during the summer, she saw how people interacted with nature.

“They saw nature as their neighbor,” Peters said. “They worked together with nature and truly coexisted, not just ruling over it because humans can’t really rule nature.”

She noticed how valued and respected nature was but also how drastic the effects of climate change on Costa Rica’s environment have been compared to Ann Arbor.

“While we’ve had a few warmer winters, there have been violent and unpredictable storms in Costa Rica,” Peters said. “Even though they have a smaller carbon footprint than the U.S. does, our actions are having larger consequences on them than us.”

Peters observed how climate change affected a different part of the world firsthand. She learned that our choices don’t just impact us but also the rest of the world.

University of Michigan Professor Jenna Munson teaches a class on natural resources, economics and the environment, which focuses on transitioning to clean energy and using mineral resources. During her class, Munson uses palm oil as an example of a resource that’s negatively impacting the environment.

“Palm oil is in about 50% of what we use,” Munson said. “It’s in laundry detergent, packaged foods and THE COMMUNICATOR

all beauty products, but it’s one of the worst things for the climate.”

Munson proposes for society to start pushing for products that typically contain palm oil to be made from ingredients that are more sustainable for the environment. She feels societal pressures, like boycotting companies, can force them to change their products if they want to continue selling items.

“Choices play a big part in our communities,” Muson said. “For example, car makers will continue to make electric vehicles if people buy them.”

Munson sees the younger generation making choices to help mitigate climate change. She believes they are more aware of climate change and have stronger motivation to learn about the issues the climate crisis brings.

“I think younger people are more keyed in on climate change than older generations give them credit for,” Munson said. “But in general, the way they live, the younger generation is a lot more sustainable than prior generations.”

Munson is working hard to familiarize students with climate science in hopes that the next generation will bring a halt to climate change.

Munson, Kiley and Overpeck hope for major changes in the future but realize that staying positive is one of the most important things we can do to help us tackle the climate crisis.

“There’s so much news that’s disheartening and depressing about our future,” Kiley said. “But it’s about the little things we do and changes we make that shape the future.”

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A huge gymnasium, designated cafeteria, a rich roster of sports teams and a large student body are the classic characteristics of a traditional high school...

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OPINION

STAFF EDITORIAL

Community High School has none of those things.

Ever since Community was established in 1972, it was coined as “the alternative” among the Ann Arbor Public Schools. But Community stands as a testament to the idea that success and greatness in education do not need to conform to traditional norms — we thrive as a unique and exceptional community, constantly challenging the conventional narrative of what a high school should be.

Although we take pride in setting ourselves apart from traditional educational models, we hope for a further diversity of opportunities to help us discover our potential, whether it be a push for more personalized curriculums — allowing students to build their own paths based on their passions — or an emphasis on the need for an environment that values innovation, student autonomy and mental health support.

CHS is known for its celebration of individuality; the Community Resource (CR) Department is a central component of our school. According to the 1972 blueprint, one of CHS’s many goals was “to provide an opportunity for a heterogeneous group of students and faculty to learn and work together and to combat prejudices based on race, sex, age, lifestyle, and school achievement” and “to foster the development of identity and responsibility.” The plan emphasized placing students of all grades in the same classes and programs, which is now manifested in our CRs and Forums, providing “home bases for counseling and cultural studies work.” The beauty of “learning beyond four walls” is that we get to choose what we want to study, as well as challenge ourselves beyond the typical high school course load.

The CR program allows us to immerse ourselves in a college environment, like the University of Michigan or Washtenaw Community College, and provides opportunities to broaden our horizons, both social and intellectual, to become a part of many different communities.

Our community is rich with resources and information, and all CHS students should participate in CRs, whether dual-enrollment style or traditional. The program should be as accessible as possible to all. The accessibilTHE COMMUNICATOR

ity of the CR program could be achieved through an online repository or book containing the contact information and specialties of past, current and future professors, helping students easily connect with experts in their fields. This fosters professional relationships and helps students explore and engage more deeply with their interests.

Our school should not just aim for our students to have a successful high school experience, but beyond, acting as a place for community engagement and practical application of knowledge. Lessons are hands-on and interactive, utilizing resources from both inside and outside the classroom, allowing students to explore varied subjects in depth. We should aim to instill a sense of community responsibility, encouraging our student body to give back and actively participate in shaping Ann Arbor.

The importance of life skills should also not be overlooked; we should have classes that extend beyond traditional subjects to include practical skills such as financial literacy, effective communication and emotional support, for our friends and for ourselves. The goal of Community should be to prepare students not just for jobs but for life — we must foster a generation of empowered and curious individuals.

High school is undoubtedly stressful with social and academic pressures at an all-time high. Stressors of grades and extracurriculars can be crushing, but we hope that we can create a learning environment where grades don’t define who you are as a learner and every student feels respected — every student wants to ask questions to further their understanding because they want to and not because they are just required to. Each student would take control of what they are learning to focus on the subjects they are passionate about.

Hopes and dreams are what drive us to excel and do better as students, friends and people. We hope for all CHS students to recognize that our school is ours.

Change can always be made and to have hope means to believe — to believe that we can be more inclusive, more engaged and more empowered.

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Facets Of Rejection Having hopes and dreams for college is an integral part of the process but having realistic expectations of college admissions is equally important.

BY AILISH KILBRIDE AND ANJALI KAKARLA

Constantly worrying about building our resumes has weighed heavy on our minds as we have prepared to apply to some of the most selective universities in the nation. Trying to cram our days with as many things as possible and never saying no comes with a price — having to sacrifice time with friends or missing out on activities that our peers are doing. During our junior years especially, an endless amount of time was spent fretting over standardized test scores and feeling like we didn’t measure up to the cookie-cutter mold of an Ivy League student.

The pressure of productivity has affected both of us. Never saying no to a single activity or person can take a toll on one both physically and mentally. Whether that be having to do homework at 10 p.m. or eating dinner alone because everyone in your family ate hours ago.

We have both learned that being told no doesn’t detract from the hard work that it took for us to achieve top grades while in high school.

Brian Williams, CHS counselor, believes that students often use the phrase “dream school” to refer to extremely prestigious universities with low acceptance rates. Although having the hope of attend56

ing one of these elite institutions can motivate students to do well in school, Williams encourages students to also aim for a more realistic dream school where the student has a good shot at getting admitted.

He acknowledges that for many this may be the first time they hear “no,” especially attending an inclusive school like CHS. “You’re gonna hear no from somebody highly selective — that’s just the way schools work right now,” Williams said. “But also there are 3000 plus universities in our country alone. And there’s kids doing great things at all of them, who love what they’re doing. So my job as a counselor is really to encourage students to balance out the schools that they’re going to apply to.”

Kamen Panayotov, CHS junior, believes that having a dream school can drive productivity in high school, but being too set on one school is unhealthy. He understands the realities of applying to highly selective universities and recognizes how low the acceptance rates are.

Knowing that being hyper-fixated on one school is not going to do him any good, he is going into the college admissions process with an open mind.

“Whatever happens happens,”

Panayotov said. “I mean, I’ve tried.

I know that what I’m doing is all I can and so if I don’t get in, no worries. I’ll get into somewhere good enough.”

Panayotov began to excel in math during middle school. His parents pushed him to continue to take advanced math courses. He began taking precalculus his freshman year, took BC Calculus his sophomore year and then completed Calculus III at Washtenaw Community College the first semester of his junior year. Panayotov is currently a teaching assistant in Calculus III and is taking Linear Algebra. In addition to this, Panayotov works at a cancer lab at the University of Michigan, where his tasks include basic genotyping and image analysis. His mindset looking forward is to focus on the things that he can control and to try not to worry about the things that he can’t.

Chasing a dream and working hard to achieve the things that you want is equally important to Izzy Stevens, senior.

Stevens has always seen the importance of working hard in the classroom and she owes that to her dad, a Princeton University graduate.

However, hard work can sometimes come with sacrifice. Stevens finds

OPINION

As I sat at my kitchen counter awaiting to open my decision regarding Yale, a dream school since I learned the word dream, my legs, hands and arms shook. I wasn’t prepared for the accumulation of emotion that would overtake me. Did all my hard work pay off? Were my essays good enough? Did I participate in enough extracurriculars? Should I have started my own company? The answer did not depend on the rejection that I would soon open. Having a dream school was a catalyst for the successes that I found myself accomplishing in high school. Knowing that I was always working towards something kept me going in the depths of the demands of trying to be a straight “A” student.

Walking into my house, I collapse onto the stairs setting down my basketball bag, golf shoes and school backpack. It’s 10:15 p.m. and my to-do list stretches over multiple pages in my planner. I reluctantly acknowledge that I will yet again be going to bed far past midnight as I attempt to tackle the hours of homework awaiting my attention. And I will wake up tomorrow and do it again, all with the hope that this chaotic lifestyle will eventually pay off when I submit college applications.

herself wishing that she had more time to do the things that she enjoys, like working out and hanging out with her friends.

“You always want to live in the present,” Stevens said. “But also don’t disregard that you have a future. Just recognize that if you want to have a future that you’ve dreamed of, you’re gonna have to work for that future.”

Both Panayotov and Stevens agree that hard work in high school is important, but you also have to enjoy the time that you have in high school because you only get to do it once. They both believe that success in high school will set you up for a good collegiate career.

The author Norman Vincent Peale famously said, “Aim for the Moon.

Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

By setting ambitious goals and aspiring to attend what some may consider a “reach school,” students can ensure that they live up to their full potential and ultimately end up studying at a school that challenges them academically. In the end, no matter which schools a student is accepted to, the successes they achieved, motivated by the hope of attending a dream school, can never be taken away.

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57

Will We Ever Learn?

“Normal” and “school shootings” are two things that should never go together.

BY ISABELLA MALDONADO

OPINION

I clearly remember Dec. 14, 2012. I had just started kindergarten and instead of sending me to school that day, my mom decided my family would go see Santa Claus.

As we stood in the long line, my mother stared down at her phone with a look of shock and fear. I had no idea that 20 kindergarteners — just like me — were shot and killed at their school.

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting shocked the nation and the United States (U.S.) into a new era where no student could ever be sure that they were completely safe at school. Ever since I can remember, we have had to run lockdown drills at school. Every time, I would scrunch up in a hidden corner, tuck my knees so far into my body that I could feel my heartbeat in my feet and try to remember that the pounding fear in my heart wasn’t rational — it wasn’t real this time. But the sad fact is, in America, the leading cause of death in children and teens is gun violence, according to Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organization that works towards gun violence prevention programs and policy making.

It is dangerous to normalize school shootings. I shouldn’t have to scroll through the news on my phone and be able to casually pass a story on the news about a new school shooting, not be able to give it more than a moment’s notice because next week, there will be another one.

“We’re normalizing behavior that shouldn’t be normalized,” said U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell.

Elliot Paloff, a CHS sophomore, has never had a point in their life where school shootings weren’t common.

For them, seeing these tragedies so often in the news has made Paloff accept the fact that the possibility of violence in your school is just something you have to expect when walking in the doors.

“As an American, I feel so desensitized to news of school shootings or mass shootings in general,” Paloff said. “School shootings are a problem, obviously its a big problem. But there’s definitely a disconnect there where it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s other people’s problem. It’s not gonna happen to me.’”

But one day it might be you, your best friend, or your sibling who is put in a situation with an active shooter at school. That is why the government needs to take action on gun reform and start giving hope to families that their kids can be safe at school again.

“I think the government has a duty to protect its citizens in a way that we’re able to feel safe at school, and we do not have that right now,” Paloff said. “The government’s just failing us in so many different ways also like with mental health treatment or mental illness treatment. There are things that people can do to prevent school shootings from happening, not giving them access to weapons and getting them treatment for mental health.”

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, over half of school shootings are committed by current students. This means that we need to look inside of schools for the root of the problem that allows for the cycle of school shootings to persist. Representative Dingell believes it is due to a mix of mental health issues as well as the extreme usage of social media by teens. To combat mental health issues, we need to invest in more counselors and psychologists in schools to give strug-

gling students the tools they need.

“Quite frankly, all of us have a responsibility to be kinder, gentler, and be aware of things that people may be going through,” Dingell said. “I think kids have a responsibility to try to be the friend that people need, and I think schools need to discourage bullying.”

We need to seriously address how we handle mental health crises and support in our schools. Especially in high schools, where many teens are sucked into an egocentric world. Teens need to be kinder, more supportive, look out for one another and encourage people to get help when they need it.

“But most of the school shootings are done by young people that have been isolated or bullied in some way,” Dingell said. “So what I want is to keep guns out of the hands of people that shouldn’t have them. I also think we all need to talk about being sensitive to people who may feel alone, isolated, pulled away and need a friend.”

According to the ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate) training website, “thinking about an active threat and violence in your school should not be a top priority, but the reality is — it needs to be.”

Teachers in Ann Arbor Public Schools have to go

“

We’re normalizing behavior that shouldn’t be normalized.

through ALICE training, which evaluates teachers’ inthe-moment decision-making skills. In 2015, Courtney Kiley, a science teacher at CHS, had to participate in one of the ALICE training drills at Skyline High School.

Kiley and the rest of the teachers attending had been shown the gruesome footage from the Columbine High School massacre before they were taken to a classroom to discuss what they had just seen. Suddenly a man, later revealed to be a police officer, walked into a room and began to shoot blanks at the teachers. Kiley chose to fight at that moment; she pushed other teachers back to safety and began to pick up chairs and fling them at the man. Some teachers froze, some hid, some cried and some fought, but the experience made Kiley realize how important it is to have ALICE training.

“It was a very traumatizing way to learn that but kind of valuable,” Kiley said. “It’s nice to know what your response would be.”

But is anything ever going to be enough to stop school shootings from happening? According to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive, more than 6,000 children and teens were injured or killed in shootings in 2022, which is a record-high number of young lives taken due to gun violence. Instead of seeing myself in the children of Sandy Hook, as I did 12 years ago, I now see myself in the teens murdered in the Oxford High School shooting just 45 miles away from my own high school, same state, same age, same fear. The pounding fear of a school shooting happening to me or my friends never leaves my brain. It will never be normal. I shouldn’t have to live in fear of going to school.

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The Complexities of Test Optional Policy Despite the controversy, standardized testing might still be a fairer measure of students’ profiles.

BY ANTHONY WANG

Sitting down on a chair, opening up the computer and navigating to the Common App portal using the keyboard, college applications can be an undeniably stressful situation to be in. GPA, standardized test scores and extracurricular activities that reflect a student’s capabilities both inside and outside of the classroom are all considered throughout the selection process. With many colleges implementing test-optional policies, students can apply to their dream schools without worrying about their test scores.

Although test-optional policies seem appealing, statistics tell a different story. According to College Vine, a recruiting network for high school students, even students who submitted scores below the 25th percentile were accepted at a rate 1.25 times higher than students who did not submit test scores. This indicates that colleges might still consider test scores to be a relatively influential factor during the application process.

Recently, Dartmouth College undergraduate admissions updated their preference for students submitting their test scores: beginning with the Class of 2029, Dartmouth will once again require applicants from high schools within the United States to submit results of either the SAT or ACT. While Dartmouth certainly can’t represent all colleges across the USA, it is a strong indicator of US colleges starting to reconsider the significance of test scores in students’ applications.

Many factors were considered when colleges started implementing test-optional policies in the first place, including the inherent bias of standardized tests, as students with more resources were able to boost their scores quickly by hiring tutors, attending preparatory lessons or accessing test preparation materials to 60

practice.

“I think there are a lot of problems with the SAT,” said Flynn Meagher, a senior who took the SAT in the 2023 school year. “For kids with fewer resources, it’ll be harder to get a better score on the SAT because there are fewer opportunities to study for it.

If you can pay for a tutor and such as I did, then it’s easier to get a better score.”

“SAT at that time was no longer a fair measure of student success,” said Kelly Maveal, CHS counselor.

“So they had no choice but to do away with it.”

However, as time has elapsed, the college admission process has become increasingly difficult with more students not submitting their test scores. In a standardized test like the SAT, students are compared with test-takers across the nation and even the entire world. Without test scores, GPA becomes the prima-

ry indicator of a student’s academic ability.

“Transcripts aren’t objective,” Maveal said. “It’s really hard to compare students. Many students get a 4.0 or 3.9, and it’s like, gosh, what is the school supposed to do compared to students who have near-perfect scores?”

Additionally, GPA varies from school to school, as courses are not standardized. It is even harder to compare students from different states.

“An A in Ann Arbor is not the same as an A in California or Florida,” Maveal said. “Even within cities with neighboring school districts, it doesn’t really mean anything. It was harder to choose to compare students and choose students. It was a shot in the dark, and they were making ill-informed decisions on their incoming class.”

Other than SAT and GPA, extracurricular activities that students

OPINION

participate in outside of school also have an impact throughout the application process. However, they can also be unfair in nature, as students with abundant resources can participate in extracurricular activities with access to better equipment, coaches, and training. Consequently, they are able to outshine those students without access to the same level of resources. Overall, the college application process in the USA is inherently biased and unfair to many students. On the other hand, standardized test scores seem to be a more equitable indicator of comparing students and demonstrating resilience.

“I acknowledge wholeheartedly that the SAT test is flawed,” Maveal said. “But I think that there is bias in every aspect of applications. Everything from legacy admissions to donor admissions, the subjective letters of recommendation to grade inflation, to the inequality in our schools. It spits out different types of students depending on where they live. That is so unfair.”

For students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, a standard-

ized testing score represents grit and resilience as it reflects to colleges the challenges they have overcome and exhibits their academic potential.

This makes them potentially eligible for scholarships and financial aid. But it is also important to consider the aspects of test-taking that cause it to be a biased indicator of a student’s full academic potential.

“You could just be having one bad day,” Meagher said. “You just didn’t do well on the test, and then you don’t get into your dream college because of that.”

For students who are not naturally gifted test-takers, the test-optional policy provides an alternative way of reflecting students’ academic ability. From exhausting the curriculum at their schools, taking a variety of classes, and showing passion, investing time and energy into what they are truly passionate about is a reflection of academic interests, persistence,and the ability to execute tasks. Test-optional policies put more weight on other aspects and provides hope for students who may not be confident test-takers.

“Colleges are looking into holisTHE COMMUNICATOR

tic measures of students’ merit,” Maveal said. “If a student is winning awards, a leader in clubs and activities, taking college classes, doing well in them, and having that strong letter of recommendation, it’s to their benefit to apply test-optional.”

In the future, most colleges’ preferences for test-optional policies are still unpredictable. It is suggested that students and advisors research the mentality and culture of the school.

Essentially, students are trying to find the college that suits them for the next four years of their academic career. It is important to consider the impacts that colleges’ preference for SATs might have on the students’ applications.

“A system without standardized tests runs the risk of reducing excellence in higher education,” Maveal said. “A system with standardized test scores runs the risk of reducing diversity. Both of them are risks, and they’re not necessarily going to happen. But that just kind of paints the picture of the hard question that’s hitting colleges right now.”

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AGREE TO

While false hope can lead to disappointment, it is a necessary ingredient for success and happiness.

BY AMELIA SANDSTROM

At some point in your life, you’ve likely gotten your hopes up, set your expectations high and been stomped on by reality, the common enemy of so many 5-year-olds around the world. This routine of overconfident anticipation turning into disappointment was a ritual for me from ages six to 10, my golden age of false hope.

I could say that I’ve experienced both false hope and having no hope, but that would be a lie. To have no hope, you must rid your brain of almost any happy thought. I have felt hopeless, but that’s it, just a feeling.

It’s more of a trick a tired mind may play on itself than an actual state of having no hope.

This is completely different from false hope, which is dangerously easy to acquire because all hope is inevitably a little irrational.

Even in times that feel hopeless, there is still hope that things will get better. This is often a false hope that this will “just happen,” with little to no effort to make things better.

Hope is the delicate and overprotective mother of dreams, greed, delusion and life itself. Without false hope, it becomes infinitely harder to have any hope, and, because hope is so vital to life, it becomes infinitely 62

harder to be a happy person.

I know the feeling of emptiness that is even the smallest amount of hopelessness. For me, Sunday nights are often the source of a lack of hope. They so often consist of exhaustion complimented by dread for the coming week.

What allows me to call these experiences less hope, rather than an absence of hope entirely, is false hope.

It’s my brain creating silly stories about how amazing my week will be, that gets me out of a hopeless mindset. Ignoring the fact that none of these scenarios will play out, they allow me to have a better attitude about my life and give my mind something to do other than think about how exhausted I am.

I may be disregarding reality, giving myself false hope, but this strategy has not only led me to have more overall hope but is also a bridge to self-reflecting. When I give myself the false hope that everything will be great, though irrational, it is also a tool for seeing my mistakes and changing my actions to become a better person.

False hope is easily integrated into any thinking, so why not use it as a tool and embrace it? If we resist false hope, we are losing out on so much ART BY GABE DEEDLER

potential, because it is something that can help us find the motivation to discover and unlock more of our capabilities.

Without false hope, I wouldn’t be as driven or passionate as I am.

I wouldn’t be as introspective, because that requires at least some recognition of needed change, and most of the time, action upon that.

It’s a difficult task to let yourself change if you have no hope. A lack of hope is a closed mind to change.

Change, though it can lead to disappointment, is healthy and lets us grow in the long run. The same is true for false hope. False hope often leads to disappointment, but that’s not the whole story. How is failure presented in nearly every classroom?

As a way to grow. False hope, when it doesn’t blossom into a more justified hope, allows you to learn.

Though, as a young child I did experience a lot of disappointment, those experiences have allowed me to become more self-aware as a teenager. In addition, they were early signs of the big dreams I had, and continue to have, some of which are arguably a little unrealistic. Still, they drive my hard work and success, so can false hope really be all that bad?

OPINION

DISAGREE

Being realistic in life and facing problems instead of hoping they will go away can help lead to success.

BY VIOLET KNYAL

What does it mean to have “no hope” compared to false hope?

In simple terms having no hope means having realistic expectations in life.

To help support my argument I asked the people in my life to see who was on the same page. Out of the 22 people I asked, 17 agreed that being realistic in life is the way to go. One of these people was Yara Martins, a freshman at Skyline High School.

“Realistic expectations are usually healthier than false hope even if it’s more fun to be delusional short term,” Martins said. “If you have an exaggerated expectation for something and it does not happen, it ends up a lot worse than it started.”

Not having false hope is very important to being successful and maintaining balanced and stable mental health.

For example, if you entered a raffle with the mindset that you were going to win but then you did not, you would be disappointed or resentful of whoever won because jealousy is a part of human nature.If you did win, winning would become an expectation and losing the next time would be even more disappointing.

On the other hand, if you ap-

proached the situation expecting not to win and then you do not, the pain of losing would be far less.

If you do win then that would be a nice surprise.

Being completely realistic in situations is very difficult and it is important to recognize that emotions are completely normal and it is pretty much impossible to block out all feelings of hope.

Day to day, feelings of hope are acceptable but you have to be able to face the fact that not everything will go the way you want it to and that the worst possible outcome could in fact be the realistic outcome.

My whole life I have been led on and frustrated by false hope.

Whether they were hopes I had for myself or the hopes of others I always seemed to be letting somebody down. After I was not able to reach these expectations I felt guilt, shame and resentment towards whoever made me feel that way.

Being a teen with ADHD and anxiety, I have struggled a lot with setting insane expectations and goals for myself that I know deep down I will never be able to achieve. An excellent example of this is schoolwork, in the past, I had always put off assignments saying, “I’ll do this THE COMMUNICATOR

next week,” or “I’ll just cram before the end of the quarter.” But putting it off and just hoping that I would be able to get it done was never enough.

On top of that, I was too scared to bring it up to teachers because of the immense amount of shame that I felt.

So I just never ended up doing much and because of that, I have lost many opportunities in life that I could have had.

At the start of 2024, I said to myself, “Violet, stop hoping and start doing,” and I changed my mindset and behaviors to be more direct and I feel powerful and proud of the work I am completing.

Even though having “no hope” sounds like a terrible feeling it has helped me grow my confidence in everyday life.

By facing challenges head on I am able to complete tasks in a timely fashion, which in turn helps to lift a heavy burden of anxiety off my heart and I can breathe more clearly.

So compared to having false hope, having no hope is by far the more successful and healthy way to think.

Who wants to be crushed by the weight of their own false expectations?

63

The American Dream DACA changed everything for undocumented migrants, but it still isn’t enough.

BY ISABELLA MALDONADO

We had the same name, but I never thought we weren’t going to have to same opportunities. Isabella and I had been neighbors and best friends since what felt like the beginning of time; we did everything the same.

Besides having the same name, we were both Latina, we wore the same clothes, we had the same favorite shows. We were inseparable until the day Isabella’s family got deported.

I had yet to realize at the age of six that my best friend was not accepted in a place I called home because her parents trying to give her and her family a better life. So within a blink of an eye, my twin from another family was sent to a country that she had no memory of.

Isabella suffered from epilepsy, a condition that caused her to have uncontrollable seizures that could only be managed by medication that was only available in the US. Sending Isabella to Mexico was essentially a death sentence. In what world is it acceptable to deport a hard-working family just trying to keep their daughter alive to a country where they would have to fight every day to piece together their lives again?

That is why Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a critical program in the United States. On June 15, 2012, DACA was launched by the Secretary of Homeland Security, it allowed for people who came to the United States as children to defer deportation action for 2 years at a time so that they could work or go to school.

According to the George W. Bush Presidential Center, “Dreamers are American in every way except their paperwork. Their citizenship status should reflect who they are.” DACA allows children of undocumented 64

families who were brought to the United States by their parents to have the chance at a life that their classmates are guaranteed from just an American birth certificate.

In her experience as a Spanish teacher over the course of the past 19 years, Laurel Landrum has seen families deeply affected by the DACA program.

In her first year of teaching, before DACA was put into action, a middle school student in Landrum’s class shared with her that his family was undocumented.

“I started to realize that he didn’t understand what being undocumented meant,” Landrum said. “Because he was undocumented his life was going to look radically different from what the life of his peers was going to look like when he got older.”

From the moment he shared his citizenship status with Landrum, her mind raced to all the ways he would never be able to live typical life because of the choice to bring him to America that was out of his control. From getting a driver’s license or getting a first job or even being able to attend college, he wasn’t going to be able to experience common milestones in the same way that his peers would.

“He was just stuck, he wasn’t gonna be able to do University in Mexico, he wasn’t gonna be able to do university in the United States.”

Landrum said. “He ended up taking some classes at Washtenaw Community College and then DACA and Dream happened and everything changed.As soon as Landrum’s student was able to apply to DACA, he did. He was able to get into the program and his future no longer hung in the balance. DACA is an essential ART BY BEE WHALEN

program to the US –- not only does DACA allow for people who don’t remember their “home country” to stay in the US, it is also an integral part of the US economy.

According to the George W. Bush Presidential Center, “Without the contributions of Dreamers— who have been able to apply for driver’s licenses, Social Security numbers, and work permits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program — the United States would lose $460.3 billion in GDP over the next decade and remove 685,000 workers from the economy.

And yet DACA does not grant Dreamers official legal status or a pathway to citizenship.”

DACA is a temporary solution to assisting undocumented families, but that’s just what it is – temporary. For a country that claims the be “the great American melting pot” its policies are not welcoming to immigrants from south of the border.

Klava Alicea, a CHS student and child of immigrants believes that America holds hope for the “American Dream” just inches away from immigrants’ fingers.

“Hope is when something is warm and welcoming and you see possibility and opportunities, but I think many immigrants aren’t welcomed with hope and hospitality,” Alicea said.

Despite that sentiment, I don’t have hope for the future of immigration in the US, though I have an expectation that the policy needs to change for the better.

The past, present and future of America is built on the backs of migrants – America must follow through on the promise of the “American Dream.”

OPINION

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65

Hope Through The Generations Students tell the stories of the difficulties and triumphs within their family’s histories, exploring how learning their own personal history has taught them the importance of holding on to hope in a tumultuous world.

BY ISABELLA JACOB AND JANAKI NALLAMOTHU

ART BY BEE WHALEN

OPINION

My Grandmama arrived in Québec in the middle of January with sandals on. She had never seen snow before.

Her saree exposed her stomach while her accent exposed her origin. She attempted to use public transportation and in the process spent the seven dollars she had to her name. Surrounded by a language she had never spoken, people she had never seen and a map she didn’t know how to navigate, the nerves ate her from the inside out.

I, Isabella Jacob, asked her what or who exactly got her through the tumultuous immigration process. She told me that throughout the bus ride she held a rosary in hand and had a singular prayer in mind. Her faith is what guided her through leaving her home for a chance at opportunity. Her faith taught her to have hope and she always says it was the only reason she survived.

Hope is passed down through generations because for some of us it wasn’t an option. For many, hope was and is a means of survival, a necessary ingredient to survive tragedy, changes and oppression. Intergenerational transmission is the passing down of stories and ideas from parents to the next generation. Not only can intergenerational transmission include trauma but resilience, morals and hope.

Connecting with your past is a way to pay homage to liberations and look forward to future redemption.

Finding the hope in these stories builds strength.

Leila Bank, CHS senior, found hope in tragedy as she listened to the voice of her great uncle, Art. As a child, Bank grew up attending her local synagogue for religious school. Every year on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Bank would learn about the genocide that took place during World War II. As she got older, she received more and more of the heavy details that were withheld from her at younger ages. Once she had her Bat Mitzvah and stopped going to religious school, Bank wanted to discover more about her family’s history and the persecution they had faced.

Sadly, many of Bank’s relatives who survived the Holocaust had passed away by the time she was old enough to understand. Fortunately, her father had preserved a little piece of her family’s history with an interview.

Bank’s father had the opportunity to interview Art, a Holocaust survivor.

Bank decided to fully transcribe and go through the interview for her freshman-year history project. While a significant portion of the interview involved Art repeatedly asking what had been asked, the remainder detailed his profession as a locksmith. This surprised Bank, but simultaneously taught her a valuable lesson on history and humanity.

“Whenever the Holocaust is talked about, the tragedy is what is focused on, which is important,” Bank said.

“But at the same time, it’s also important to notice the

humanity in the Jewish people who were in concentration camps. They wrote music and poetry and they were human people. That’s so important because if we’re only talking about the bad things that happened and how they were killed, that’s doing the same thing. It’s dehumanizing them.”

Through the commentary on locks, Art revealed that his passion was his saving grace. During the war, he was supposed to be sent to a death camp by the Nazis. Before he was sent, the guards asked the crowd if anyone had experience with locks: they were in need of a locksmith.

Due to his experience, Art was instead sent to Auschwitz to duplicate keys and work as a locksmith. For him, Auschwitz was his lifesaver.

Preserving history is important to Bank’s family. They value the significance of learning history so as not to be doomed to repeat it.

“My family and I believe it’s really important to preserve the bad parts of history so that we remember and that we don’t go back to those times even though a lot of that is still happening in many different ways,” Bank said.

It is through learning about her family’s history that Bank realized that moments from the past, present and future contain periods of suffering but also survival.

Bank is grateful that her father took the time to preserve a part of her family’s history. She recognizes the urgency of talking to Holocaust survivors and capturing their stories.

“It’s a lot scarier because the generation of people who survived the Holocaust is quickly deteriorating and diminishing,” Bank said. “My dad understood that too, and that’s why he interviewed my uncle. He knew there wouldn’t be another chance.”

As Bank listened to her great uncle’s voice, she took in the horrific details he shared as well as the small glimpses of humanity he showed when talking about his fascination with locks.

Bank came out of transcribing the interview with a greater understanding of her family’s personal history as well as a lesson on hope.

“I think a really important part of that interview was him talking about his experiences being a locksmith and how he really liked doing it,” Bank said. “Stories like that are kind of like light in the darkness.”

Learning one’s family’s history and dissecting what your loved ones have been through can often reveal the morals you carry. Just as traditions and cultures are passed down through generations, so is hope.

The echo of ancestry reverberates throughout who we are and the lessons, experiences and obstacles those before us overcame can teach us how to live our lives with a sense of resilience and hope.

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67

Inspiring Change It’s 2024, a new year full of new dreams and opportunities. What hopes does this new year bring for people of color in our school?

BY ALLEGRA BLACKWOOD

ART BY KAYLEE GADEPALLI

OPINION

For many years, there have been news stories bearing the story of a small-town shooter, an innocent man being arrested, or someone saying “I can’t breathe.” Children have heard about all of these cruel moments in the world and after hearing about that, how can we ask them to go back to playing with their unicorns and dollies?

In recent years there have been a lot of stories involving hate crimes that have to do with people of color. We hear stories of people of color either being falsely accused of being dealt a punishment that didn’t fit the crime. Winston Churchill once said, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” It is 2024, a new year, and a chance at a fresh start; but the most important question is, will we as a society learn from our history of injustice, or are we doomed to repeat it?

An important part of being the change you wish to see is speaking out, or speaking to somebody and asking them what change they would like to see.

CARL TAYLOR Every day, Carl Taylor, the daytime janitor, goes around the school talking with students, asking them how they’re doing and genuinely caring about their answers. From his office, you can hear many sounds bouncing around: cafeteria staff preparing for the upcoming lunch hour and students talking and laughing as they happily wait for lunch. But at that moment, there was only one voice that could be heard.

“I want to see us stop killing each other and start loving each other,” Taylor said. “And that’s not just Black lives. All cultures, all races.”

Taylor explained that there are so many unfair situations in this

world, and one of the worst feelings is living with the constant fear that you can’t always protect a loved one from facing harsh realities and biases. He spoke about his niece.

“I don’t want her to experience anything where she is fearing that she can’t go nowhere just because of her skin color,” Taylor said. “She’s not going to get the opportunities in life that other people get.”

In that moment, one could see a completely different side of the man who called everyone his “brother,” or his “sister,” or his “fam.” He wasn’t all smiles as he usually was, but at the same time, you could see a twinkle in his eyes. Right away, anyone could tell you that he was proud of his niece.

DATHAN AUSTIN Dathan Austin, senior, reflected on how he perceives the violence happening in the world at the moment.

“People are dying, people that look like me are dying,” Austin said. He talked about wanting to be seen as the person he is, nothing more, and nothing less.

“You see me, you have to acknowledge the fact that I’m around and keep an eye out for me like trying to keep me safe because I would do the same for you every single day,” Austin said.

Another subject that often goes unmentioned or is toned down in conversations would be the “jokes” that peers make.

“I feel like jokes can go pretty far, and often there’s not really a stopping point,” Austin said. “If things were different, how would you feel if this joke was being made, or somebody was demeaning you?”

The new year is uncharted territory. We can take the time to bring attention to issues surrounding THE COMMUNICATOR

racism, not just in Michigan, but around the world.

“You gotta think more outside of Michigan,” Austin said. “Think outside of Michigan, think bigger picture.”

LEAH EDDINS Senior Leah Eddins, a member of the BSU, added that education would play a key role in the changing of our world. Not only would education include teaching students things in the classroom, but also providing opportunities to hear about different experiences from various people.

Eddins talked about the need for more education regarding Black-onBlack crimes, school shootings and how to respond to these kinds of situations. According to Eddins, just offering more classes incorporating African American culture and having more people join the BSU would be beneficial for the school.

When it comes to what the BSU has been doing this February, there have been slides in the Forum bulletin showcasing influential people of color with facts, descriptions and photographs.

“I’m hoping that by having people see these things, especially freshman and sophomores, they’ll want to join,” Eddins said.

Keep in mind that this is a new year and there is still time for change, whether that’s changing someone’s mind, their bias or their perspective.

What we can do is take a step forward by acknowledging our mistakes and doing what it takes to learn from them.

Together, we have the power to shape the world into a place where our future generations can have a voice.

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Each day I focus on making my life 1% better, no matter what the hours bring.

BY AILISH KILBRIDE

Hopes, dreams, aspirations, these are all words that we hope become actions that will help us achieve what we want in life. We hope that they become our reality.

The van door would open and I would climb up the step, barely able to reach the handle to plop into my car seat. It was especially hard with the thumb of one hand in my mouth and the other holding my “pink blankie.”

The sky would be crisply unlit and the cool wind would pierce my uncovered ankles — only lightly covered by my Barbie pajamas. My mom would place my younger sister, Maeve, in her car seat across from me, and my brother, Finn, would climb into the front seat with chocolate milk in hand. We would soon drop my brother off at the front door. My mom would help him unload his smelly bag and stick and then, once the clock reached 6 a.m., he would be off into the artificial arctic for an hour. We walked to the same spot on the freezing cold benches that would pierce my bottom, which would become numb to the touch after an hour of sitting while watching young boys fling pucks into a net. We did this every morning from my days in Barbie pajamas to being able to drive myself to the rink to watch my brother represent Team USA in Plymouth.

Watching my brother roll out of bed at 6 a.m. every morning to go get in an extra skate before school taught me my 1%.

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Growing up in a family full of athletes, I was handed a basketball with a big red Badger on it by my dad the first time that I started walking. As I got older, and after dipping my toes into just about every sport, I found my passion: field hockey.

I started playing field hockey in second grade.

I started out playing on a Rec and Ed team with all of my best friends and our all-time favorite coach: Coach Bruce. Coach Bruce taught us to be teammates and how to play field hockey but most importantly, how to work hard. A group of us played for him until sixth grade and then joined Pinnacle, an Ann Arbor based travel field hockey team. This is where it all began.

My field hockey journey at U12 started strong. I made the A team and got to play at Disney World with all of my friends. I would continue to make the A team until I reached my seventh grade year which was the year that I decided I wanted to play collegiate field hockey at a Division I program. I was placed on the B team that year and was told that I needed to work on my leadership skills. While disappointed, it was my first opportunity to prove them wrong and show that I was a great leader and deserved to be on the A team. I went on to win that tournament with the B team and the following year got moved back up to the A team. I got 1% better each day that year until I got back up onto the team that I wantART BY BEE WHALEN

OPINION

ed to be on.

My freshman year is when my recruiting journey started — one of the most difficult journeys I have experienced thus far. Since I was little, my dream has always been to attend an Ivy League school. Naturally, that transitioned to wanting to play field hockey at one. The summer going into my freshman year was one of the most important summers of my life. I would go to Skyline High School every morning with two of my other teammates and we would play field hockey and run sprints until our muscles felt like noodles. We did this every day for three months. I would get 1% better each day that I trained. I went on to be one of three freshmen to make varsity my first year.

From there, my process got increasingly difficult.

During my sophomore year club season I was gone almost every weekend traveling for field hockey while still trying to maintain a 4.0 in the classroom. Balancing travel and school was hard but I knew that if I got 1% better each day, my path would lend itself to something I had wanted for so long. Then junior year rolled around: the biggest recruiting year and the toughest academically. I would email 25 schools before each tournament in hopes that they would come and watch my games and be impressed with what they saw. Most of the year would be spent seeing my dream school on the sidelines after half-

time because I was getting minimal minutes. That would be followed by an email a week later that they were going in another direction. It was devastating.

I tried to keep Finn in the back of my mind during each of those games and after getting dragged to the rink at 5:45 a.m. every morning for years. “Just get 1% better each day,” is all I could hear him and my dad telling me.

After countless rejections, my dream of attending an Ivy League school was slipping through my fingertips.

Come spring of my junior year, a school reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in coming to take a look at their campus because they had seen me play at a tournament and were impressed. I did some research on the school and started to get excited about what I saw.

A few months later, my mom and I flew out for my official visit to Stonehill College, a small school just outside of Boston with a Division I field hockey team. After loving every part of what I had seen, I would later commit to the school and become a Skyhawk.

My journey with school and athletics has been anything but easy. Although I am preparing to leave in July to begin my preseason and journey at Stonehill, I am brought back to my brother and dad’s voice in my head every day telling me to just get 1% better — every single day.

THE COMMUNICATOR

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Building My Way to the Future As I’ve gotten older, I’ve not only learned what I want to do in life, but also that I should stand up for what I believe in, and not let someone tell me what I can or can’t do.

BY PAIGE PLAVNICK

Panic arose within my body as the time on the clock started slipping away. I could feel sweat collecting on my hands, which I had been too distracted by my work to have noticed any earlier. We were falling behind, and it would take a miracle for us to win.

It was my first robotics competition, and I was terrified. I was alongside my team, which consisted of myself and a few of my best friends. We were tasked with the goal of stacking three blocks on top of each other. The team and I had spent the past month building, designing and learning how to control the robot we were competing with.

I loved it: the rush of adrenaline, the feeling of anticipation. When I was competing, I had hope to hold on to: that my team might actually win. Despite everything, my favorite part of the whole experience was working together with my team to achieve a common goal.

At this moment, I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. After the competition, I found joy in designing many different robots and watching them do things even humans couldn’t do.

A few months after the competition, my parents bought me a Vex kit to make robots from. I was able to turn my ideas into real life, whether that was making a slingshot or a robot that brought coffee to my dad in the mornings. I also learned how to code by running my robots through mazes made out of cardboard boxes.

Designing, building and coding robots were ways for me to grow my imagination. For the first time ever, I was eager to learn more about a topic, and apply it to random parts of my life. Through this, I was able to learn about what the future of robots holds.

As I started thinking about my future, I began to make a list of hopes and goals. I hope to get into a good college, get good grades and pursue a career I love. Behind 72

these big goals are many little things that I hope to accomplish along the way.

I’ve found it way easier to look at the smaller things I can do. I have learned that these smaller things form the bigger picture, which shapes me into the person I am today, and will keep molding me into the person I want to be in the future.

Remembering to keep in mind the smaller goals has made me so much more positive, and I have the space to be proud of myself when I accomplish the little things, like getting a good grade on a test.

School is not the only place I hope to do well in. I believe that experiencing change and different points of view helps you not only socially, but also in the workplace. This can happen in many ways, but I think that traveling is one of the best ways to have exposure to diversity and alternate ways of life. It will help me look at problems in many different ways, and teach me about different lifestyles, especially when it comes to engineering.

As I got older, I had to face the harsh realities of pursuing a career in engineering. I can remember being so proud to tell people I wanted to be an engineer. This changed one day when I was told,“Engineering is an interesting career, for a woman.”

From that point onward, I told myself that I needed to prove him wrong. I had to show him and all the other people who shared his beliefs that everyone, regardless of their gender, could manage a successful career in engineering.

It’s disheartening to watch young girls around me grow up and feel like there are jobs that they can’t do just because they are women. I hope to be able to make a change in the world and show those girls that they can pursue any career they want to.

OPINION

Indecisive Hopes I’ve had people ask me what I want to do when I’m older. I respond with a list of the many things I enjoy, but many think I’m lost. I interpret it as being passionate about many things.

BY LUCA HINESMAN

I stand there as multiple adults look at me, waiting for an answer. I stand there as my classmates stare at me due to my lack of understanding. I stand there as I watch my friends and family question my decisions. Some say they want to be a doctor, a scientist, an artist, but I stay puzzled by my lack of an answer. “What do you want to do when you’re older?” But the real question in my mind is what do I not want to do?

I’ve been asked this by many and will continue to be. I hope to do many things, see many things and experience many things. I hope to spend my life doing things that I love and to make mistakes that I learn from. I hope to laugh and love many. I hope to explore the world. I hope to meet mutuals from all different cultures and lifestyles.

I hope to connect with many and to ultimately live a fulfilling life according to my expectations.

These opportunities are what I hope for, yet I know that it is me who has to chase these dreams rather than attract them. Everyone has to take initiative about what they want. Hoping only gets you so far.

I want to learn how to live a life that means something to me. I hope to continue growing throughout my life in numerous ways. I have to and I think everyone should.

We can’t be single-minded but rather be open to many things. We all have the ability to learn, so why not continue to grow? I hope to continue to be open-minded throughout my entire life.

I want to do many things and take advantage of all my potential. I see myself being so many things, but I choose not to be single minded. Joy is what I am starting to prioritize. If I’m going to invest my time into something, it has to provide me with joy. Something that stresses me and provides no fun isn’t useful to me. We have to do tasks in our lives that we don’t always love, but a majority of the things that we spend our time on should provide joy. I’m not afraid to move on or grow.

My aspirations are all over the place: I see myself in the future being an author, journalist, theater director, screenwriter, cook, business owner, au pair, loyal friend, lover, activist — these all matter to me in many ways. I will always include writing in my life because it helps me so much in resolving the emotional issues or stress I’m experiencing. The idea of creating worlds for others to read excites me. Journalism allows me to write about the present world, which can be unique and daunting in

the same moment. Theater provides me with opportunities to shine both on stage and backstage. Meanwhile, owning a business can be fulfilling in my eyes. These all mean something to me. Maybe they will end up not working out for me in the end, but I will always try.

All of these ideas for what I want to incorporate into my life come from inspiration and experiences. Donna Tartt inspired me to become an author. Emily Wilson-Tobin inspired me to direct plays. People who have shared their travel experiences such as friends and family showed how important it is to be a part of many things.

My friend, Abbi Bachman, inspires me to be open to learning. She teaches me to listen to others as she is always willing to learn and correct herself. My family vacations inspire me to travel more, while my friends have inspired me to be loyal. These inspirations complement each other in my mind to create a big picture of me that is filled with possibilities.

I won’t choose one thing to center my life around, but rather split my time into multiple different interests that are worth my time. The reason I want to experiment so much is that so much fascinates me.

I want surprises in my life, but also consistency. I want to travel and to write. I’ll find a way to combine small, stable things with just the right amount of spontaneity.

Writing helps me practice regulating my emotions while traveling provides spontaneity.

However, hope and uncertainty come into play. My future is out of my control in some respects. Many things could get in the way. There is only so much that I can control. I hope for many things and I hope to experiment. I hope for others and strong relationships. I hope for everything until it happens. Then I run with it.

“What do you want to do when you’re older?”

“Everything that is worth my time and energy.”

THE COMMUNICATOR

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READERS WRITE Short personal narratives centered around what our staff is hopeful for.

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GABE DEEDLER When I created my first piece of art at the age of five, I didn’t know it could make someone cry.

I gripped a red Prismacolor colored pencil, flipped open a fresh sketchbook resting on the coffee table and drew. I smiled at the paper in front of me like an old friend. Even though we’d never met before, a mutual trust hung between us. I didn’t need to scream or cry to convey anything to it. The pencil became an extension of my arm and the drawing was an extension of my voice. What resulted was a mismatched mess, mangled into what could only be described as the blueprint for a winged creature.

Really, it was a common kingfisher, my mom’s “soul bird” that she regularly debated having tattooed. I couldn’t see her face behind my outstretched arms, but I knew what she was feeling. I knew that my drawing was more than a few illogical lines, and I knew how to replicate it.

From there, my view of the world shifted into focus.

A simple stroll down the beach became a gallery walk.

Waves glided across the sand and left their mark, wetting and drying the surface again and again like watercolor paints. Shells buried themselves and engraved their unique patterns into the soil. A donkey, a kidney, Mount Olympus, Jim Carrey; in the clouds, I saw things only I could see. I didn’t see a mass of water and land on the beach, but a fruitful ecosystem of harmonious life and death. The artist’s vision is a superpower, but one thing I couldn’t see was my future.

What did I want to do with my art? What was the point? On the days my imagination waned, the paper and I argued until it crumpled itself into a ball and leaped in the trash can. Pens and pencils carried the weight of tens of thousands of scrapped ideas. I thought I was doing art for myself, but I couldn’t even find pleasure in that very same art.

Then came my mom’s 50th birthday. Much older now, many sketchbooks had been plowed through, but the common kingfisher was stained in my mind, so that’s what I drew. Once again, I clutched the sketchbook in my hand and held it out for her to see. But this time, she stared back at me. I could see a tear fall down her face. I had found my hope. I hope my art can make people shed tears.

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PIPER COOKE

When I was 8 months old, myself and my family of five embarked on a journey that would define our lives in more ways than we could have imagined. Packed tightly into a grey 2008 Honda Odyssey, we set out from the familiar streets of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and headed westward to the enchanting landscapes of Boulder, Colorado — a move spanning a vast distance of 24 hours by road.

From that moment on, we lived in two worlds separated by miles of open plains, towering mountains and endless highways. Commuting between Boulder and Ann Arbor became more than just a logistical challenge; it became a testament to resilience, adaptability and the enduring bonds of family.

Twice a year, we bid farewell to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and embarked on the arduous journey back to the maize and blue of Michigan.

The monotony of highways and rest stops became familiar landmarks, while the anticipation of reuniting with friends and family fueled our spirits.

The distance between Boulder and Ann Arbor catalyzed growth, pushing us beyond the confines of our comfort zones and instilling a sense of adaptability in us. We learned to cherish the fleeting moments of togetherness, knowing that our time in each place was precious and finite.

As the odometer ticked away the miles, we found solace in the rhythm of the road. The long stretches of highway offered ample time for introspection and reflection, fostering deep conversations and shared laughter that bound us together tighter with each passing mile.

We became seasoned travelers, adept at navigating literal and metaphorical crossroads, finding strength in our collective journey. Each passing road trip reinforced that home was not confined to a single location but found in the shared experiences and memories we created. Everything is only one road trip away.

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MALCOLM LONDON

My relationship with hope is frequently and infuriatingly intertwined with my superstitious inclinations.

Here is an example.

I’ve heard before that pennies are completely useless in today’s economy.

I’ve heard that — in addition to being incredibly tedious and annoying little coins — they even cost more to produce than what they’re worth. It’s insane and impractical that they haven’t been completely phased out by now.

They’re not logical. But neither am I. I find all sorts of pennies in all sorts of places: shiny, grimy, heads, tails, floor pennies, table pennies, pocket pennies, I find them all. And they all have implicit value. I keep them in my room — not in any organized or reasonable way. Instead, they lie sprinkled around, undisciplined. I toss them and lose them and find them periodically. Between the bed frame and the wall, wedged under the mini-amp, there isn’t a nook or cranny in my room that doesn’t accommodate one of these lucky pieces.

Yes, they add to the superfluous clutter. And yes, each coin is an incessant reminder of my complete lack of focus. But one day I might reach behind the desk and grab for a dropped charger — only to find that, in my hands, is one of these metallic time capsules. A hope or dream once lost beneath the geologic build-up of junk. And I might remember what value that coin holds. What had I hoped for when this penny was cast away?

LEILA BANK Emily Dickinson said that “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers,” a winged creature that takes you to unimaginable heights. Simultaneously, I believe that hope is stationary. It tethers you to the ground, unflinching and unbreakable. It allows you to run and jump and dance, smell the flowers and harvest the fruits of work. You can imagine a beautiful future instead of remembering an awful past.

Hope, that thing with feathers, is soft and blustery and pats your head when you make a mistake. It urges you to keep going.

My thing with feathers is music.

Solange, Japanese Breakfast and Remi Wolf take dreary days and inject them with sunlight and love.

When I listen to optimistic music, I feel empowered to take on the world. This past summer at camp,

I helped my friends to paint the blacktop. It was unbelievably hot and water breaks were frequent. But when “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan came on, the work became easier. We painted, weeded and sang, even stopping to dance under the scorching sun. The hopeful music took our minds off of the struggle and the heat and helped us focus on each other.

In a twisted sense, sad music can be hopeful too. Songs like “Brutally” by Suki Waterhouse tell stories of lost loves and mourning, but remind listeners that they aren’t alone.

I adore listening to sad music for this reason: it surrounds me with a voice that understands what I’m going through.

All genres of music are electric with hope and help me see the beauty in life.

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How Much Hope Is Too Much?

“Falsettos” comes to Northwestern University and displays the importance of talking about difficult topics.

BY LEILA BANK

The Norris Louis room at Northwestern University was alight with music and chatter. Rows of chairs sat surrounding the in-the-round stage, creating an intimate performance space for both cast and audience members.

With a chess set on one side and a classic therapist’s setup — two chairs facing each other and a foot rest in between — on the other, the stage was full of anticipation. On the ground lay a giant board game full of the show’s plot points; “Exorcise a devil,” “Eat gefilte fish” and “Marry your psychiatrist” were among the ranks.

It was closing night of Northwestern’s Jewish Theatre Ensemble’s (JTE) winter show, “Falsettos,” and the audience was full.

“Falsettos” is a musical about an unconventional family in the 70s; Marvin and his ex-wife Trina co-parent their child, Jason, while Marvin is dating his new male lover, Whizzer. The already tense situation is made even more fraught by Marvin’s wish to have a “tight-knit family,” denying the changes in his family and forcing 78

Whizzer into the housewife role instead of appreciating Trina’s hard work and Whizzer’s need for freedom.

Throw in a wiry psychiatrist, a fretting 10 year-old and two lesbians from next door, and you have a full-on bonanza of struggling characters, each with their own fight.

While Act I focuses on the dynamics of Marvin’s family, Act II displays the AIDS crisis of the 80s starkly and honestly. We explore the life of Dr. Charlotte and her wife Cordelia as Dr. Charlotte continues to see young men come to the hospital with an unknown disease and leave without any answers. Dr. Charlotte explains that “something bad is happening,” but she doesn’t quite know what. Meanwhile, Trina and Marvin plan for Jason’s Bar Mitzvah, a tedious task that has the exes living on the fringes. The show continues to get darker as truths are revealed and characters become more vulnerable. The close of the show consists of Jason’s Bar Mitzvah, an emotional number in which the entire seven-person cast is onstage.

In the JTE performance, the comedic parts of the show were emphasized and the choreography was bold and emotional, helping to tell the story through not only words but movement too. JTE did a fabulous job at portraying the raw emotion of the story, obvious through the constant sniffles and quiet sobs heard throughout the room at the end of the show.

The actors, all students at Northwestern, played their respective roles in ways that made them each stand out as their own characters; Trina (Lucy Lewis) was strong yet vulnerable, Marvin (Matthew Millin) was stubborn

Photography provided by Seeger Gray Actors in Northwestern University’s Jewish Theatre Ensemble shine in the spotlight. The show, full of dark content, was a joy to put on. “The process of making a show with a group of people, no matter how difficult the subjects are, is inherently so full of joy,” said Lauren Nishi, crew member of the “Falsettos” lighting crew.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

yet tender and Dr. Charlotte (Sophie Morvillo) and Cordelia (Tessa Kim) were bold yet sweet.

Lauren Nishi, a member of lights crew for JTE’s “Falsettos,” pointed out that the whole show revolves around grief and hope in the face of adversity.

“You see this family and their friends being resilient and finding love and brightness in every situation that the story throws at them,” Nishi said. “I think the hope is always there in how the characters rely on love and the people around them to keep going throughout the musical.”

Aside from the actual show, the rehearsal process was full of hope as well.

“The process of making a show with a group of people, no matter how difficult the subjects are, is inherently so full of joy that it’s easy to not get bogged down by the content,” Nishi said. “I never left the room feeling worse than when I came in.”

Ivy Idzikowski, an avid “Falsettos’’ listener, prompts audiences to think more deeply about the role of hope in the show. Idzikowski agrees that there are hopeful moments in the show, one of them during Jason’s Bar Mitzvah, both within the celebration, when the characters finally enjoy each other’s company and find value in their relationships, and when arguments between Marvin and Trina are resolved.

“It’s hope for parenting, for becoming a better parent, for becoming a better person,” Idzikowski said.

Idzikowski also brought up the hope that Marvin and Whizzer bring for Trina; seeing the two men quarrel and

still love each other shows her that it is possible to love and be loved without the undertones of passive aggressiveness and distrust.

Idzikowski also believes that although hope is important, it’s equally crucial to let the darkness sit.

They explain that the HIV/AIDS crisis is still affecting today’s population and although we’ve brought awareness to it, we still have a long way to go for change.

“If they made it more hopeful, the theme of the musical might have been lost,” Idzikowski said.

Idzikowski is also passionate about the feminism in the show, or the lack thereof. The way that men treat Trina in the show is quite misogynistic; Marvin acts as if he has a claim on her, even though the two are divorced and seeing different people. While treating Trina like this, they also expect her to fix all of their problems.

“Trina’s arc was never resolved,” Idzikowski said. “She never got a happy ending. She expected her marriage with Mendel to fix her problems, but it didn’t. She is still unhappy because she is still treated like a tool.”

“I would just encourage everyone, every child, to understand who’s cleaning up their messes,” Idzikowski said. “Especially those who have experienced the world as a man or a boy.”

JTE’s performance of “Falsettos” captured the hardships of HIV/AIDS, the chaos of unconventional family dynamics and the heart of community in a beautiful way. Leaving the performance space, I felt enlightened; the messages of the show had been gifted to me, and I would not soon forget them.

THE COMMUNICATOR

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Mt. Joy by Mt. Joy The indie rock band, Mt. Joy, explores a range of emotions spanning different life experiences in their debut album.

BY MALLORY TOWERS

Mt. Joy’s self-titled debut album evokes the feeling of a lazy Sunday afternoon in the summertime. It is a feelgood album filled with upbeat songs and meaningful lyrics. Themes of love, nostalgia and overcoming adversity span the album’s 13 songs and under 45-minute runtime.

Falling in the genre of Indie Folk, Mt. Joy has beautiful instrumentals strewn throughout their work. The use of dynamics in “Sheep” allows Mt. Joy to emphasize their message of speaking up against inequality and hate. The song starts off very soft, with only very light guitar playing, but gradually builds in volume, eventually leading to a strong final chorus.

The opening song of the album, “I’m Your Wreck,” describes the songwriter’s own personal struggles with anxiety. The lyrics, “Every phone call I’m pacing the halls / Am I the only one that sleeps with the TV on / and ‘I’m good’ feels better than ‘I’m hanging on,’” hit close to home for a lot of people. Even though the author has fallen into a time of bad mental health, his partner is always there for him. The chorus of the song repeats the line “I’m a wreck,” which goes to show how even if he is a mess, someone is by his side to support him. The artist doesn’t have to struggle alone, but can work through things and get better because of his significant other.

Themes of love are heavy throughout numerous songs on the album. The song “Mt. Joy” uses imagery of a great mountain to relate to overcoming obstacles in a relationship, referring to the idea that no matter what he might struggle with, his partner will always be there to provide stability to their relationship. A sailor needs an anchor to keep their boat in place, just like how the author needs their partner in order to feel the excitement and passion within their relationship. In “St. George,” Mt. Joy questions the meaning of relationships, asking, “Who would you die for? / Who would you lie for? / Is she laying in your arms?”

In the last track of the album, Mt. Joy depicts what it feels like to be in a failing relationship. The song, “Younger Days,” is my personal favorite by the band.

Seeing the future of his relationship, the author knows there are only two ways it can play out. His partner “could be the flame that burns out” or “could turn and burn it down.” Along with the bittersweet situation the author is in, the song also evokes feelings of nostalgia.

He wants to escape the confinement of their sad relationship. The repetition of the phrase, “If you worry, don’t worry ‘bout me,” present in the final third of the song serves as the author’s way of reassuring his partner that she shouldn’t stay in the relationship just for him, but instead break free and be happy living her life.

Overall, I think that “Mt. Joy” is a spectacular album.

I would recommend listening to it if you like artists such as Noah Kahan, The Lumineers or Caamp.

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If He Had Been With Me An impactful novel which dives into love and grief.

BY KATE GROVES

What’s the meaning of life? This age-old question has been pondered for centuries. Could it be happiness?

Money? Or maybe success? Laura Nowlin’s “If He Had Been With Me” beautifully explores this historic perplexity, leaving us with a simple answer: love.

“If He Had Been With Me” dives deep into the plethora of emotions that come with growing up and finding love. Nowlin effectively captures the joys and simultaneous hardships that young love can bring. Sashaying between themes of love and happiness to heartbreak and loss, “If He Had Been With Me” is a beautiful novel that captivated me from the very beginning.

The story follows Autumn and her childhood best friend, Finn. Autumn and Finn have always been utterly inseparable. It’s always been the same: there’s no Autumn without Finn and no Finn without Autumn. That is, until the duo take on middle school and start finding new paths that lead away from each other.

Now in high school, the pair have found themselves in completely opposite social circles. Finn starts to associate with the sporty popular crowd while Autumn finds comfort with other art lovers. Finn wants to attend parties, but Autumn would rather stay at home and read.

Like ships passing through the night, the pair always needed different things at different times. All they could do was watch as their friendship slipped through the cracks. Now a shell of what it once was, it seems as if Finn and Autumn’s friendship has been lost forever. Is it too late to return to what it once was?

“If He Had Been With Me” holds true to the famous phrase: It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Although we grieve, we would never swap the pain for not having loved. I highly recommend Laura Nowlin’s “If He Had Been With Me” to anyone looking for a novel that will give you a good cry and send you off with the lesson to not let life pass you by.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Percy Jackson and The Olympians

BY WILSON ZHENG

After eleven years and 2 mediocre movies, the “Percy Jackson” franchise finally releases a new show — and it’s phenomenal.

I, like many others, read the well-renowned book series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” as a kid. Since then, there have been two movies made, and truthfully, they were horrible. They completely strayed from the original text, changed the characters’ personas and the acting was just so fake. So, starting the show with a bad history, I thought that the show would be alright at most, but oh boy, was I wrong.

Packed with personality and perfect book-to-screen adaption, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” mainly focuses on, well, Percy Jackson. As a 12-year-old boy who has grown up hearing the stories of Greek gods and monsters, he’s seen things others didn’t, making him think there’s something wrong with him. After a disastrous field trip, his mom, Sally, takes him to a beach where he finds out that he’s the son of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Soon after, he gets attacked by a minotaur and after barely avoiding death, he wakes up at Camp Half-Blood, a place for children like him: half god, half human and tasked with the quest of retrieving Zeus’s stolen lightning bolt with his new friends to prevent an all out war between the gods.

The show is acted out flawlessly, with the actors of Percy and his friends embodying their characters both on and off-screen. Scobell Walker perfectly executed Percy’s personality as a sassy, funny and brave main character, Leah Jeffries is Annabeth on screen and in real life with her skepticism and sarcasm and Aryan Simhadri, playing Grover, stole the show for me many times with his genuine emotions and comedic relief. The chemistry the three have is meant to be, bolstered by an amazingly skilled cast of supporting characters as well.

The visuals are stunning, the special effects, the scenery, the props, all of it. Camp Half-Blood, Percy’s new home, is crafted masterfully with its chaotic and calm parts. Each cabin, representing one of the 12 gods of Olympus, has its own unique colors and designs, which makes the cabins so appealing to look at. The environment of the show is beautiful, providing contrast between places like Medusa’s house in the forest and the bustling streets of Los Angeles.

Even though this show is catered more towards a younger audience, it was still very enjoyable. While being similar to the books, there was that little needed bit of originality. To anyone looking to watch a new show, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” is perfect, with an amount of action and fun that audiences of all ages will enjoy.

Dark A mind bending, creative and beautiful Netflix series sure to appease any science fiction fan.

BY AIDAN HSIA

Time travel is a concept that’s been explored many times, but “Dark” may just be one of the finest depictions. The series unfolds like a puzzle, with characters and the story itself woven through time in the small town of Winden. From its first to its last moments, “Dark” maintains a mysterious and thrilling tone.

The initial premise may seem similar to stories like “It” or “Stranger Things” (beginning with the disappearance of a boy), but “Dark” evolves into a complex and nuanced web of storylines, tying together several generations of four families.

Jonas Kahnwald serves as the audience’s central pathway into the story. In 2019, he’s a teenager mourning the death of his late father. But with the disappearance of a young boy and the arrival of a stranger, Jonas delves into the mysteries that have plagued the town of Winden for decades.

The strength of “Dark” lies in its writing. Plotlines perfectly weave with each other and the characters undergo great arcs. At the heart of “Dark” is its characters, especially their interactions with each other.

Conceptually, the show’s depiction THE COMMUNICATOR

of time travel is excellently written, and leaves no plot holes. Like many time travel stories, characters in “Dark” try to alter the course of history. Through this, the show explores the ideas of free will and destiny as characters question what choices will influence their futures.

The presentation is impressive to say the least. Every shot is crafted to match the era it’s set in and uses a color palette that’s pleasing to the eyes and keeps with the uncertainty and mystique. The use of symbolism connects characters and plotlines, cleverly hinting at the themes and true story behind the mysteries.

“Dark” uses a mix of original scores and licensed music, adding to the series’s eeriness.

“Dark” premiered in 2017 and is the first German Netflix series. Although it may not be as popular as “Stranger Things” or “Wednesday,” its quality is undeniable. “Dark” is full to the brim with qualities found in other great series.

If you’re looking for a thrilling science fiction series, creative and breathtaking cinematography or intricate characters, “Dark” is the perfect choice.

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One artist describes how they use their work as an emotional outlet.

GRIETA HAM

BY NINA TINNEY

Grieta Ham never uses just one material. A maximalist when it comes to their art, they will use colored pencils, highlighters, paints and more. Layering one atop the other until the paper is thick with color is a technique Ham has come to describe as “emotional layering.”

“I channel a lot of my emotions into my art,” Ham said. “Because of that, my art can be dark or imperfect, but it is always true to how I feel.”

Though they have always been a fan of art, it wasn’t until their freshman year that Ham really started to become invested. Dealing with the difficult transition from middle school to high school, Ham turned to art as an outlet; finding it to be a great way to express the feelings they couldn’t otherwise.

Every other day Ham would find themself sitting atop a stool in Steve Coron’s Beginning Drawing class. And for just a few hours out of the school day they were free to create; to paint, to draw and to pour everything out — both the good and the bad — onto the pages of their sketchbook.

“I felt like Steve’s class was a community within Community,” Ham said. “School has always been really stressful for me but that art class felt like a break from life.”

Coron let Ham know that they were at liberty to try anything. This meant experimenting with countless materials, no matter how unconventional they were. At one point in

the semester Ham even experimented with old candy. After finding a packet of Skittles at the bottom of their backpack, they soaked them in water and used the remnants, reminiscent of watercolor paint.

This freedom is something Ham has found to be crucial to their artistic process. In fact, one of the main things stopping Ham from considering art school is the lack of freedom.

In higher levels of art education there is more stress placed on deadlines and grades, something Ham fears could cause burn out. In weighing these factors they have found that freedom, like the kind they experienced in Coron’s class, is something they value far more. Whether they end up doing art on an organized level or not, this freeness to express themself is something they hope will always be a part of their life.

Ham creates best with no rules or limitations. Layering different materials, scribbling, sketching and pouring their emotions onto the paper — it leaves their pieces deeply personal. It is as if the viewer is getting a small glimpse into Ham’s brain.

“My hope with my art is for people to feel even a fraction of what I feel,” Ham said. “To understand it or to know they aren’t alone in feeling a certain way.”

So in between the layers of highlighter and marker, pen and charcoal, even Skittle derived paint, there is feeling and emotion: a kind that can only be found in Ham’s work.

Out Out Loud.

Loud.

Three albums to hear now.

BY JAKE WILLIAMS

“We Buy Diabetic Test Strips” by Armand Hammer Armand Hammer is one of the hardest-to-follow duos in modern hip-hop. Billy Woods and ELUCID’s incredibly deliberate rapping style, that borders on spoken word, paired with some of the most disorienting production in rap today makes this duo a hardto-acquire taste. “We Buy Diabetic Test Strips” is their 6th studio album and stays true to their style of weird flows, weirder beats and imagery so vivid it’s scary.

The first half of the fourth song, “When It Doesn’t Start With A Kiss,” produced by JPEGMAFIA, starts with some sporadic guitar strings before transitioning to an incredibly subtle beat composed of almost entirely bass. The way JPEGMAFIA uses the bass makes this beat feel incredibly somber, a sensation that is only heightened when he layers in small bits of woodwinds near the half point of the song. Meanwhile, ELUCID’s verse, while incredibly hard to decipher, feels as though he’s becoming more accepting of himself now as he literally says near the end of his verse “I felt more like myself.”

The song “Trauma Mic” has a beat composed of what sounds like metal being banged together while a tornado siren rings out in the background. Combined with an over-the-top amount of bass and a verse from ELUCID where it feels like he’s interrogating you, this is one of the most overwhelming songs on the record. It makes you feel like you’re drowning in the best way possible.

“The Gods Must Be Crazy” might be the most normal song on the whole album with a beat courtesy of EL-P. Skittering vocal samples, descending lines of bass and a strange yet ear-grabbing screeching noise in the background make this one of EL-P’s best beats in years. Though Woods and ELUCID use probably their most normal flows on this song, the lyrics make this one of the most hard-to-decipher songs on the album. The title is a reference to a movie in which an untouched tribe finds a Coca-Cola bottle that fell out of a passing airplane, which slowly tears the tribe apart through conflict. Woods draws comparisons between the plot of the movie and the crack epidemic with lines like “Coke out the sky, rocks big as your hand.”

Loaded front to back with lyrical density and creative yet at times off-putting beats, this is a must-listen for any fan of more experimental rap and one of the genre’s best albums of last year.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

“Heavy Heavy” by Young Fathers

“HELLMODE” by Jeff Rosenstock

Young Fathers’ sixth album, “Heavy Heavy,” expertly combines neo-soul and art pop with West African music, making an album that is equal parts over the top fun and slow angelic crescendos.

The third song, “Drum,” is one of those songs that makes your face hurt from smiling. It walks a very thin line between genuine fun and the feeling you get from “Happy” by Pharell, but it manages to be simple fun without crossing over into annoying territory. It starts with a very simple pulsating low horn but as the song progresses more elements are layered over top until it becomes unrecognizable from its beginning. By the end, the beat has added clapping, stomping, syncopated drum beats and angelic vocals ringing out in the back while all three members of Young Fathers belt the lyrics in unison.

“Tell Somebody” is the next track and it’s one of the slow-crescendoing songs on this album. Utilizing a falsetto, Young Fathers sings about a person who is struggling in life while an organ and subdued drums accompany them. Once the chorus hits and they start pleading for the person to “Tell somebody, please,” the drums break free and are paired with a shimmering sound that makes it feel like the sun has broken free from the clouds after a storm.

The very next song, “Geronimo,” is detailed by the band themselves as a song “about contrast, because life is contrast — pushing through, giving up, all at the same time.” This absolutely seeps into the lyrical content as they sing about their relationships throughout life over a beat that has the same vibe of “Tell Somebody” while feeling more uplifting than the somber organ and drums of that song.

A later track, “Holy Moly,” captures a similar vibe of “Drum” but feels like it has more of a message. Most of the lyrical content centers around how “You better take your chance,” and the instrumental features a nice groove of non-stop drums and echoes from the background vocals.

“Heavy Heavy” is an incredible album because of how it blends genres with ease and can flip the entire mood from song to song.

Some of these songs are so dense in composition that they can overwhelm you with emotion in the best way possible.

Both chaotic and catchy, Jeff Rosenstock’s “HELLMODE” boasts an incredibly consistent tracklist of indie-rock and pop-punk bangers from front to back.

After a killer opening with “WILL U STILL U,” where Rosenstock’s vocals sound like he’s placed the microphone inside his mouth, you’re thrown into “HEAD.” It opens with some incredibly fast drums and Rosenstock screaming lyrics about how Jeff Rosenstock the musician is not the same as Jeff Rosenstock the person. It’s hard treading the line between fact and fiction when it’s all presented as the same in his music. Eventually, the chorus hits and Rosenstock starts singing, “There’s a bomb inside my head and I wish that I could disconnect the threads.” The split for him is too much and he feels as if he’ll explode.

The third song, “LIKED YOU BETTER,” is, as the music video and lyrics suggest, about a toxic roommate who is driving Rosenstock insane. He sings about how this roommate is causing his heart to “beat out of time” and how he doesn’t “wanna tell [his] friends” as they might get scared off or begin to judge Rosenstock for rooming with this person. The catchy riffs and fast drumming come to the forefront during the chorus when it sounds as if a whole band is backing up Rosenstock vocally which leads to one of the catchiest parts on the album that was stuck in my head for weeks after my first listen.

Further into the album is the track “GRAVEYARD SONG.” This catchy jam is about how screwed up the world is at the moment. Rosenstock recounts how he’s become desensitized to bad things happening to the point where he can’t care anymore. His outlook on the world has become so negative that he believes people should stop “building bridges, [and should] start digging.”

The stripped-back acoustic guitar and drums, which transform into a much more lush instrumental with the addition of bells and claps, are a perfect fit for the song.

“HELLMODE” is fantastic through and through. It’s at times serious and other times downright pessimistic but it never fails to balance the two moods — not even for a second. Paired with some of the funnest instrumentation in recent rock music, this is an album you won’t be able to stop listening to.

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THE MIRROR IMAGE

EGAMI RORRIM EHT

Finn Anderson talks about how he found hope through fashion.

BY MORGAN MCCLEASE AND ADDI HINESMAN

Hope lives inside each and every one of us, presenting itself in many forms and driving individuals to continue pushing through times of adversity and uncertainty.

For Finn Anderson, fashion has been a source of inspiration, giving him the boost of hope needed to face his challenges.

At a very low point in his life, Anderson struggled to find who he was, which contributed to low self-esteem. Though his world felt very dark at the time, being in control of the clothing he decided to wear helped him see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“I knew I couldn’t control that much of my physical appearance, so I chose to focus on things I did have control over, which was the way I dressed,” Anderson said.

Fashion has always played a major role in how Anderson expresses himself, teaching him to be more accepting of who he is and allowing him to grow as a person. Anderson’s style has helped him to show people who he is without communicating anything verbally.

“It has given me hope that if I like the way I present myself, I can learn to like the way I am,” Anderson said. “Being able to express yourself

through fashion is a very empowering thing to do.”

Hope has not only stemmed from Anderson’s ability to express himself through the clothing he chooses to wear but also through representation in the media.

For years, Anderson has noticed a lack of diversity in the fashion industry with a narrow variety in styles and models, only representing a small portion of the population.

He quickly grew sick of seeing models with the same body type, skin color, conventionally attractive features and standard style of clothes, feeling as if his person did not fit into the fashion industry.

Over the years, the fashion industry has become more inclusive with their styles and the models they choose to represent their products, giving many people — including Anderson — the confidence to continue utilizing fashion as a tool of self-expression.

“I think for a lot of people seeing models that look and dress at least a little similar to them gives a great sense of belonging and inclusion.

Representation is incredibly important especially when it’s something so widespread like fashion,” Anderson said.

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Anderson is wearing a brown sweater with washed out blue jeans.

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Fashion not only helps with self-expression but also serves as an excellent tool in activism, allowing people to not only visually express their beliefs and values but also challenge and break social norms.

Anderson sees power in individuals wearing clothing with bold statements on it, openly showing others what they believe in. He finds this to be impactful as it is such an honest way to express one’s beliefs and stand up for certain rights or issues going on today, creating a valuable meaning behind the clothes they are wearing. For Anderson, this bold declaration instills hope by showing him that he’s not alone and that there are others with the same mindset and beliefs.

Anderson has also felt the same sense of hope when he finds others breaking social and gender norms through fashion.

“Other people might be too scared to dress a certain way, but seeing those people take the first step gives them hope for change,” Anderson said.

Fashion also brings a sense of community by connecting people who share similar styles and ways of expressing themselves. Having this sense of community can empower those involved, giving people

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the courage to dig deeper into their self-expression.

Seeing others who dressed similarly to Anderson helped him feel more secure in how he dressed and who he was. Anderson has always found men’s fashion to be pretty narrow and constricting, something that contrasts with the way he chooses to dress, which does not conform to gender norms.

At one point, Anderson had longer hair, causing many strangers to mistake him for a girl. Because of this, Anderson began to feel less confident in the way he dressed, questioning if his style was masculine enough. But when he began to build a community of people similar to his style and saw other guys dressing similarly, he began to feel more comfortable in who he was and how he chose to express himself.

“I felt a lot less alienated from my peers,” Anderson said.

Fashion has helped bring Anderson through challenging times in his life, helping him to figure out the puzzle of his identity and learn to express himself in the most authentic way possible.

Hope comes in many different forms for many different people, but for Anderson his hope is found through fashion.

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Marcel Proust’s questionnaire, created in 1890, featuring Charlie Rosenfeld.

W

BY RUTH SHIKANOV

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Walking to eighth grade on a cool rainy morning while listening to music. What is your greatest fear? The character suits that people wear for kids’ parties. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

My impulse to try and help or otherwise inject myself into a situation that is not mine to fix. What is the trait you most deplore in others? A lack of regard for the thoughts and feelings of others. Which living person do you most admire? Everyone has aspects of their character that I admire. What is your greatest extravagance? My cereal consumption. What is your current state of mind? Cool as a cucumber.

Or maybe as a hot pickle. What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Strength. On what occasion do you lie? When I’m feeling intimidated. What do you most dislike about your appearance?

One of my toes looks a bit funny.

Which living person do you most despise? I don’t really despise anyone, but I tend not to like people who use their opportunities and privilege to put others down. What is the quality you most like in a man? Warm-heartedness and courage. What is the quality you most like in a woman? Warm-heartedness and courage. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “In a minute.” What or who is the greatest love of your life? Cereal. When and where were you happiest? Having dinner at a Mexican restaurant with my teammates after playing

frisbee all day. Which talent would you most like to have? Being able to sing. Or dunk. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I’d like to be able to dunk. What do you consider your greatest achievement? My maintenance of self and sensibility through times of uncertainty and worry. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? A frog, maybe a stalk of corn.

Where would you most like to live?

To be honest, I quite like Ann Arbor. What is your most treasured possession? A blue zip-up hoodie I thrifted with a friend. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Feeling as though there is no escape from the circumstances you are in. What is your favorite occupation? Dog Rater. What is your most marked characteristic? Rationality.

What do you most value in your friends? Sincerity and kindness.

Who are your favorite writers? Any writer who is brave enough to share their work. Who is your hero of fiction? Bart Simpson. Which historical figure do you most identify with? I don’t have a good answer for this. Who are your heroes in real life? My parents. And Ingmar’s parents. What are your favorite names? Jenny and Zeus (my current and past dogs). What is it that you most dislike? Cruelty. What is your greatest regret? I wish I read more.

How would you like to die? In my own bed, when I decide I’m ready.

What is your motto? I’m too young to have a motto.

Photography by Ruth Shikanov Charlie Rosenfeld sits in the University of Michigan Nichols Arboretum on a cool day, wearing a completely thrifted outfit. Looks, comfort and practicality have always been Rosenfeld’s criteria when picking clothes. “I like to dress in a way that I think ‘is cool’ but never at the cost of comfortable,” Rosenfeld said. “If I can find something, generally at a thrift store, that I think looks nice and is comfort and functional, it is perfect.”

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Charlie

ROSENFELD

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CONSTANT

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

BY RUTH SHIKANOV

I only lived in Albuquerque, NM for a year, and I best remember the hot, arid days that the summer promises. My family and I lived in a small condo.

For a while, the rooms kept the blank, lifeless look. Bare without any furniture or decorations, like family pictures, it looked as if we had just moved in. Sitting criss-cross-applesauce with my sister, Eve, on the floor, we stared at the TV as “Avatar” played, eating chocolate-coated marshmallow treats or chocolate teacakes that our mom had bought us. I didn’t care about having a couch or covered walls that displayed memories. What I did care about was the food I got to share with Eve. Eve has always been one of my biggest inspirations and best friends, but it wasn’t mutual, especially not when I was a talkative, clingy 5-year-old. My mom signed us up for a one-week summer camp, full of different activities from ceramics to acting. And I absolutely loved it. I swam, painted and made friends, but my favorite part actually had nothing to do with the camp itself.

I remember one specific morning before we left for camp. After my mom smothered Eve and I in sunscreen (smudging our neon shirts in the process), we made our way to Tina, my mom’s 2006 Toyota Highlander that never lost the distinct, pristine “new car smell.” I sat alone in the back seat as my mom drove, since Eve was tall enough to sit in the passenger seat. My mom always turned on the radio, which would always be some pop top-hit, and she would wind the windows down. I felt the warm sun on my face, and I remember the soft sensation of my baby hairs against my forehead.

The landscape of New Mexico is like a smoothie — vast deserts, towering mountains and bright, vivid cloudless skies seamlessly blend together.

Although Eve and I fought a lot as kids, we never fought outside, not in nature. On the one day it would snow in the winter, we would run to get ready together and go sledding on this one hill, over and over again; weekly trips to the pool during the brutal summers were an absolute must and we played Marco Polo for hours; and we sat in the kitchen together, eating warm Khachapuri our dad made. These moments meant the world to me and even though we were going to do different activities at the camp, I still felt that same feeling, the sentiment that Eve was my person.

As I looked out the window, I felt a tap on my knee.

“Here,” Eve said, placing a lemon poppy seed muffin in my hand.

Growing up, we both loved muffins, no matter what kind. I unwrapped it, smushing the plastic wrap into a ball. And the rest of the car ride was smooth. It seems mundane, but it was such a joy; we were eating muffins, listening to our favorite songs and we didn’t have a care in the world. I hoped and wished that Eve and I would be closer once we were both older. And we are. It was my dream that we wouldn’t fight about meaningless things and I wouldn’t be coined as the annoying little sister.

Today, Eve is one of my best friends. I have never felt more comfortable with someone, expressing every single one of my emotions and sharing the tiny details of my days. We baked these lemon poppy seed muffins together and I hope that as we get older we will have more opportunities to bake, laugh, watch movies and simply be together because I feel best with them.

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Ingredients: 2¼ cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder ¼ teaspoon baking soda 2 tablespoons poppy seeds 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons lemon zest 1 cup Greek yogurt ⅓ cup whole milk ½ cup unsalted butter melted 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¼ teaspoon kosher salt Directions: 1) Preheat your oven to 425F and line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

2) In a large bowl, start with your dry ingredients and sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Also whisk in the poppy seeds and salt.

3) In another large bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest. Working with your hands, rub zest into sugar until fully combined. Add the Greek yogurt, milk, melted butter, eggs, lemon juice and vanilla.

Whisk until smooth and pour into the flour mixture and fold until combined. The batter will be thick, but add some milk if seems too thick! Divide batter evenly among paper liners.

4) Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean! Let the muffins cool for 10 minutes. Remove and finish cooling on a wire rack. Enjoy!

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Humans of Community What are you hopeful for?

BY FINA KUTCHER AND KYRIE GARWOOD

Ivy Ball “I’m hopeful that I end my junior year strong, especially with my second semester grades and especially with science. I never really cared about science until recently when I discovered that I wanted to go into wildlife biology. That involves a lot of science so I’ve been more focused on science. It’s information I’m going to need, and it’s something I need to do well in. So I’ve been more motivated to do well in that. I’ve always loved animals a lot. I used to volunteer at farms and stuff like that. I recently signed up for a trip to go to Costa Rica to volunteer at a wildlife conservation project for three weeks. I started doing more research on what wildlife conservation is, and I decided it would be something I’m interested in. I’m looking into a couple of study abroad programs to get there because I definitely learn easier through experiences than just sitting in a classroom. I’m also looking into colleges like Ohio University and a few colleges in California, but I’m also looking at studying abroad just to keep my options open. I’m hopeful for that career.”

Max Johnson “I’m hopeful to go to prom because it’s my first time being able to have a date so I’m excited. We’re going to Community’s and maybe Pioneer’s, we’re still working on that. I wouldn’t say I’m a big school dance guy. I mean, I’ll go just to hang out with friends, but I think this one’s bigger. So it’s because it’s more of a formal thing. It’s prom. You know? I have somebody to go with. It’s the first time, so I’m excited for that. I’m still working on color coordinating, I’m leaning toward blue.

Yeah, it’s gonna be cool. It’s like a big high school thing.

I guess I’ve been looking forward to it for a while. I guess I’m also looking forward to spring sports, the start of the baseball season. It’ll be my first year on varsity. I’m excited for the people and the atmosphere. It’s different from JV. Better atmosphere, better coaching, but it’s more competition too. I’ll be either pitching or playing first base. It’s gonna be fun.”

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Kennedy McDonald “Right now, I’m hopeful that I’ll pass my math class.

It’s kind of been that way for me since the fourth grade. I just didn’t get along with math last semester, so hopefully this semester will bring a new good grade.

I’m also hopeful that I’ll make the bus tomorrow on time so that I won’t be late for school. I don’t want to miss Women’s Lit with Emma! I love Community so much. Because I get a bus pass, I can take one whenever I want. Taking the bus is fun, I get to make a lot of new friends there. Being new at Community, I have to selfmotivate myself to do things and get places. No one is telling me to do my homework or not skip school. I want to take Harlem Renaissance and other literature classes, but I also hope to graduate early. I would like to take advantage of the CR program and take one or two at U of M or at some other college nearby. I’d like to take more science classes, like a more specific chemistry or biology class like botany. I would also like to continue dancing in the future. I’d like to keep dancing my whole life, especially ballet. I want to go to a college that lets me do that.”

Rebecca Westrate “I am in a time of change in my life. The thing that I am hopeful for is joy. That is coming from being more intentional about how I experienced daily life. We’re very lucky to be here in this place and in this space and with these humans. I think that it’s important for me to really remember that and to enjoy the time that I have versus being overly busy or overly worried or overly anxious. Just being like, ‘Hey, this is a great moment. Hey, this is a lot of fun. Hey, you’re an amazing person.’ I’m hoping for joy in my day, joy in my interactions with others, joy and quiet. I hope that by focusing on that for myself, that I will also be kind of creating the space for other people to have that.We talk a lot about how learning can be fun, but I really do think learning can be fun. I think being with others can be fun. I think there are amazing people here and I think when we get stuck in our own heads too much we forget that this can also be a joyful experience.”

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Nat Leventhal Regan Knapp John Scudder Linda Young & Bob Carroll Kristin McGuire Carrie Bank Linda & Bill Anderson Kate Albertini The Tirico Family Ana Baylin Jenni Lane Yun Huang Dr. Karla Blackwood Mark Newman Valerie Jo Taylor The Pellerin Family Alisse Portnoy Mark Rothstein Meghan Wernimont Noah Garfield The Freeth Family The Freiwald Family Abbie Lawrence-Jacobson & Alan Jacobson Preeti and Tim Schaden Judith and Ken DeWoskin Kerry Hulsing John & Jessica O’Neill Susan Tinney

Our Turn Staff members talk about hope.

BY AUGUSTUS KASCHUBE AND WILLIAM MILITZER

Piper Cooke “I feel like whenever I think about [my hopes for after high school] long enough, it changes. Last night I was brushing through my hair and I ripped my earring out and I had to go to the hospital for it because I tore my earlobe and it was kind of insane. But healthcare has always been a consideration of mine. ”

Jonah Klein “I hope that I can impact people in a positive way.

Whether that means working on volunteer hours, going out and helping people who need it and coming back to the community and helping teachers. A big thing I’ve also focused on recently is website design and making sure that everything is user accessible and fair and to make sure that everybody kind of has access to the same products and programs. Right now, I do not have a specific company in mind, but I have definitely looked at things like Google and LinkedIn and I just recently completed a course through Google which focused on accessibility design, and making sure that the user experience within websites is as high quality as possible.”

Ally Freiwald “I’m not fully sure yet, but I think I want to do something involving marine biology. I really like animals and just figuring out how they live. I also want to explore more animal breeds and learn more information about them. I like how they live and how they survive in the wild. And just how they overall care for themselves and protect themselves against other animals.”