Vol. XII Issue II
The Lobo Legend
Printing a new copy
April 2019
Printing in action | Senior Jackson Hale prints out an essay with the new PaperCut system. While the system is intended to prevent unnecessary print jobs and protect school resources, there have been various responses and outcries from students and staff. “I don’t think we should have to pay for the paper. Teachers make students do the school work, and pay for the copies,” Hale said. Photo by Zoe Watts
By Elijah Davidson
Nearly all students print something at school. Now, that system is a little different. Conifer has just implemented a new initiative for printing around the school that is being put in place across Jefferson County. This program, called PaperCut, makes changes that may affect how some use the printers at school, for better or for worse. Students will be able to print from more computers, and to more locations around the school, but at a cost. “The purpose was twofold,” teach-
er Eric Halingstad, who is in charge of establishing the program here at Conifer, said. “The primary purpose was to allow all students and staff to print from a Chromebook or Chromebox. The secondary purpose is to hopefully educate people to the cost of printing so that they would think about alternative methods of turning in their classwork without printing.” This new program may make printing more convenient, because it allows printing to nearly any of the large Konica BizHub printers around the school,
such as those in the flex area. However, Chromebooks and Chromeboxes can still only print to the BizHubs and in black and white, which should change in the future. “So, we do know that a lot of people just hit print blindly and never went and picked up their print jobs, because they didn’t know where it printed. Now what they’ll do is if they’re in a classroom that has a printer obviously the print job comes straight out. [The students] can’t print to the Toshiba [printers], but they can print to the Konica BizHubs, and there are right
now five of those throughout the building the student can use. … They print to the ‘find me’ cloud, then they can go find a BizHub and log in to release the print job,” Halingstad said. This is designed to cut down on unused print jobs, because the BizHubs now require a student login before they print jobs that have been sent. This forces the student to pick up the paper, rather than let it be wasted. However, printing now has a Cont. on page 3...
Overview of the DECA Season They mean business By Ava Dalton
DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) is the largest club at Conifer High School. It is a club where some of the most competitive students in the school interested in business go to compete. Members spend most of the year prepping their plans for districts, if qualified, go to state, followed by ICDC (Interna-
tional Career Development Conference), which takes place in Orlando, FL this year. To be a member of Varsity DECA the student must be enrolled in a business class with Mrs. Hall, the head of Conifer’s DECA program. These classes consist of Entrepreneurship, Personal Finance, etc. If a member is not enrolled in a class, they
are in JV DECA. Every member has to participate in role play events at Districts. To prepare for this the club held mock role plays held at school with volunteer judges to help the members practice for the real deal. In these role plays, members prepare their proposal to present in front of judges, and there are problems that need to be fixed
with the performance indicators given. Before each of these roleplays competitors are given a short amount of time to prep what they are going to say based on if the individual is solo or apart of a team. Many of DECA’s members got to go to state with their written events that they spend the entire year writing. This is Cont. on page 2...
Mile High Jazz Fest Conifer Jazz band attends first jazz fest in years
Lobos snatch back-to-back League titles Lobos win League but lose first round of playoffs for State
Making school a smash How Justin Stephens’ love for Smash Bros. shaped who he is
Kingdom review A breath of fresh air that reanimates the decaying genre of the undead
In this issue
News
2
Onika Benson accepted into the Air Force Academy
By Elijah Davidson
By Ava Dalton
going to let her hard work come to a halt after high school. “At the academy I am majoring in political science with a focus in international relations. Although I’m currently undecided, I am hoping to either fly fighter jets or go into foreign intelligence.” Benson is also wishing to be part of many extra-curricular activities at the academy, along with focusing on her studies. “I am hoping to ski race, join the debate team, study Arabic, join the sky diving team, and maybe even try boxing,” she said. Benson is a great example to students everywhere who want to work hard and see results.
In addition to her plans of entering the Air Force, Benson hopes to improve herself in multiple areas now that she’s almost at the end of her high school career, from learning new languages to practicing boxing. Photo courtesy of Carson Kennedy
where they present their International Business Plans, Chapter of Excellence, Start-Up Plans, Buying and Merchandising, Financial Services Team Decision Making, Integrated Marketing Campaigns, and Personal Financial Literacy. DECA had 50 membwers go to state this year. Of these 50 members that went to state, 12 got the opportunity to move forward to internationals. While this is not as good as DECA has done in years past, it is still a great accomplishment. The following members qualified for ICDC and placed at State: 1st place in Financial Services Team Decision Making-Austin Mandl and Alexander Larson 2nd place in chapter of excellence-Tabitha Fritts and Hannah Bartlett 2nd place in Person Financial Literacy-Gian Meyer
3rd place in Integrated Marketing Campaign-Product-Alexis Hall and Jacob Russell 4th place in Financial Services Team Decision Making-Casey Sadowski and Brian Sherry 6th place in Buying and Merchandising Team-Kelly Powers and Nicole Renaud Amazing Accomplishments for our High School: Nicole Renaud was elected to serve as the DECA State District 5 Officer for this next year. Adam Westfall completed an outstanding 1 year term as the 2018-19 DECA State District 5 Officer. The Conifer Chapter received overall Achievement Awards for District 5 Most Food and Money Donated.
Mile High Jazz Fest Conifer Jazz band attends first jazz fest in years By Riley Patton
The two Conifer jazz ensembles competed in the Mile High Jazz festival on February 14 at Mackey Auditorium on the CU Boulder campus. The two ensembles performed three songs, each with improvised solos added in. “Performing on the stage, a change from our normal setup, added a more colorful sound and produced an adrenaline rush,” freshman Caedon Kelly said. Two ensembles, the combo (a small student led group) and the band (the full class), competed, and they both received two “Excellent”’s and one “Superior” from the three judges in overall performance. The Mile High Jazz Festival is the first festival Conifer has attended in the past four years, and seniors were ready to compete for the first time in a jazz setting. “I’m excited to see what jazz festivals are like; I’m really excited for the clinic after we perform, and for the jazz combo
to perform,” senior Mark Wilkinson said. Eight students won Outstanding Musician Awards: • Seniors Mark Wilkinson, Camden Gruchow, and Ellen Wight • Junior Riley Patton • Sophomores Cameron Paul and Charlie Cence • Freshmen Jacob Reyes and Caedon Kelly “This is a fantastic starting point to build from and definitely an impressive showing, considering this is the first festival Conifer Jazz has attended in over five years. I know the students really enjoyed performing in the famed Mackey Auditorium, as well as working with some of the top jazz educators in the state during their clinics,” Instrumental Music Director Sean Cartner said.
On Thursday, February 7, Jefferson County made a rare decision: to cancel school. For many, a snow day in Jefferson County was a shock: the school system has seen fewer than five in as many years, despite large amounts of snow that some deemed unsafe. School closures have been a rarity for many years, which is why the closure was a shock for some. The closure disrupted teachers’ plans, especially for teachers who had tests. “[The students] were lucky, because they had a test that day, and they had a little more time to study. However, my green day and silver day classes are now backwards, which is frustrating to a teacher,” Ms. Lines, AP US History teacher, said.
The snow day policy has drawn criticism from students and teachers alike, who say that the infrequent snow days may put lives at risk. “If I could change the snow day policy, I think they need to recognize that mountain schools need a different policy than the schools down in town. There are times where we get a whole lot more snow, and they fail to recognize that. It is unsafe,” Lines said. School wasn’t the only thing cancelled. February 6 had all after-school activities cancelled, including after-school care at the elementary schools, which put some parents in a difficult situation. Many students noted that decisions like these could put their peers at risk. “It would be a lot safer if we could
start school later more often, and have the younger, less experienced drivers go when the roads have been plowed and sanded, but the way it is currently is, for some reason, it’s the ill-equipped, not experienced drivers driving early in the morning,” sophomore Charlie Toppin said. Does the snow day represent a larger change in Jeffco’s policies? That seems unlikely. Jefferson County officially says that snow days are rare because of disruptions to the schedules of families, the cost of shutdowns, and the expectation of preparation by Colorado families through snow tires, winter gear, and more. However, this snow day may show that Jeffco is changing for public opinion. “There were days the week before
where the snow and roads were a lot worse, and we still had to come to school on time, not even delayed. That compared to the snow day last week, which had very doable road conditions, it felt almost like a makeup,” said Toppin. While the snow day was the cause for much debate, many students were able to take the opportunity to relax, even while questioning the reasoning behind the closure. “I definitely don’t think it was necessary. I think we deserved snow days during the year. We have had two days where we had multiple feet at my house. We didn’t need the snow day, but we did deserve it, and I enjoyed it,” sophomore Aramis Pond said.
cost associated with it. Many students have noticed the PaperCut logins on the school computers. This is an account that tracks print jobs, and deducts from a $10 balance students get each semester. The costs are relatively small, but those who print frequently may need to take notice. “On a Konica printer, it is two point three cents for black and white and six cents for color. So just about three times as much for color. Still a lot cheaper than the library, which is like 25 or 50 cents a page [for their color printer]. … The HP printer doesn’t have the same duty cycle as a copier. So their life expectancy is a whole lot shorter. You have to factor in the cost of the printer into the price per page, and right now we’re going to charge about three times as much. So six cents for black
and white on an HP and 18 cents for color on the HP,” Halingstad said. However, not all students may receive a $10 credit if they haven’t paid their tech fee from the start of the year. The $20 fee, which Halingstad noted has often gone unpaid, will give students a $10 balance for PaperCut each semester. “There will be those that have not paid the tech fee that will not have printing. They will have the option to go in the library and say, ‘Oh, I need 25 cents worth of pages today,’ and give them 25 cents and have 25 cents added to their account,” Halingstad said. Since PaperCut’s launch, the program has seen some changes. Teachers and students can now use a 6-digit ID found on the PaperCut website, meaning teachers can allow students to print without giving
login information. Those with unpaid tech fees (except free and reduced lunch) have had their balances removed, though printing is not yet being restricted for those with negative balances. Library printing has switched entirely to the much cheaper BizHub printer, all of which have a 10page maximum page count per print job. Some students are seeing the new program as positive, because it still can be more cost effective than printing at home may be. “I think it’s good, because sometimes you don’t want to have to pay for your own printer ink to be able to print, because that stuff’s expensive. So if you’re able to print for six cents for a color copy, I feel like that’s definitely worth it. You’re obligated to pay your tech fee at the beginning of the school year, so it might as well go
towards something you can actually use,” sophomore Nolan Bly said. Other students think that these changes may have some drawbacks, especially for upperclassmen. “This will mostly negatively affect seniors and stuff, like the [higher-level] classes where you turn in paper copies of lots of writing, like AP Lit and AP Lang,” sophomore Aramis Pond said. While some may think of PaperCut as being costly or negative, Halingstad and some students think that PaperCut will help more than it hurts. “[PaperCut is] more to allow every device in this building to be able to print. If a person needs to print, they can print. That’s kind of the whole reason behind it,” Halingstad said.
Printing a new copy cont.
Overview of the DECA season cont.
Outside by the lake at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, the DECA State competitors gather after lunch in the ballroom. The competition gave students the opportunity to utilize the skills they’ve been refining all year. Photo courtesy of Wesley Paxton
School with snow Rare shutdown may show changing Jeffco
Taking inner light to a whole new height To be appointed to the AFA (Air Force Academy) it takes good moral character, high leadership, academic, physical, and medical standards. Primarily only A students are accepted into the academy, with a gpa of 3.88 on the 4.0 scale. They have an 11.9% acceptance rate; last year only 1,216 applicants out of 10,202 were accepted. The competetiveness to get in is extremely high, and only the best receive acceptance letters. Senior Onika Benson was recently welcomed into the AFA class of ‘23. “It took four years of incredibly hard work in academics, athletics, community service, and interviews to get accepted,” Benson said. Benson has high goals that she hopes to pursue while at the academy, and isn’t
News
3
Senior Mark Wilkinson plays a soprano saxophone solo as the jazz band plays backgrounds behind him. Photo courtesy of Paul Basile
Features
4
HELP WANTED
5
FINDING YOUR PERFECT FIRST JOB By Ava Dalton
Feline Fridays
Reuben the cat joins the Challenge program every Friday
By Parker Jones
Most students walk by the Challenge Program’s room every day, but never actually see the inside during their time at Conifer. Likely to many students’ surprise, the room houses a cat named Reuben every Friday. Every Friday, teacher Diana Baker-Low brings Reuben the cat to the Challenge Program room for the day. Although he’s only nine months old not old enough to be a certified therapy cat - he has become a characteristic part of the program. “I just started bringing him in at the beginning of the year, and the kids told Mr. Paxton what a wonderful thing it was,” Baker-Low said. “I was like, ‘I’ll just bring him in for one day,’ but then the kids just loved him, and parents started calling me and saying it’s a really cool idea.” The students in the program quickly got used to having Reuben at the school once a week, and many of them now look forward to the days when he’s visiting. “A couple parents have said the only reason their kids come to school is to see Reuben,” Baker-Low said. “They won’t want to get out of bed, but then they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s a Reuben day.’” When students are having a hard day, Reuben is often there to cheer them up and even sometimes motivate them to work. “A student was crying and didn’t want to work, and I said, ‘Well, I think Reuben wants you to read,’’’ Baker-Low said. “He said, ‘Okay, I’ll read for Reuben.’ A little while later I looked over and I asked what he was doing, and he goes, ‘I’m teaching Reuben to read.’ It was so cute, he was holding the book up so Reuben could see the words. Then he stopped crying.” Some students around the school have learned about Reuben’s weekly presence, and they’ll often go in to visit, especially when they need something to cheer them up. “Even some of the kids in General Ed that don’t have special needs will come in saying, ‘I just need a fix, I’m really upset, my boyfriend just dumped me, can I hold Reuben?’ He’s an awesome kitty,” Baker-Low said. Reuben always brings a touch of joy to the Challenge Program, along with other students throughout the school. “Reuben is the awesomest cat and he likes to snuggle with you,” senior Maddie Koskinen, a member of the Challenge Program, said. “It gives me something to look forward to every Friday. It makes me happier and motivates me to do my work.”
Finding a first job can be a very stressful experience. It can be difficult to find the right fit, especially with zero experience. There are so many different jobs from entertainment to the food industry, so here are seven tips that should help you find the job of your dreams - even if it’s entry-level.
1 2 3 Pressure on students 4 5 6 7 Students are under more pressure than ever By Zoe Watts and Zoey Melton
It’s no mystery that teenagers have little to no time to relax. From homework to social media, students face various sources of stress in their day to day lives that pile on the pressure. That pressure is hurting the students in more ways than most think. The modern teenager has a million things to think about each second of the day: what homework they need to do, what people are posting on Instagram, or even what trends they feel they need to follow. Teenagers are having a hard time making room for what they love, and they aren’t sure what to do about it. It’s become a constant struggle in this day and age. Some argue that technology has made life way too easy for students, but there is data for both sides of the argument. Before the internet, school looked very different. Teachers gave out all of the physical work or instructions. Everything that needed to be done could be found in the classroom, or local library. Things are very different now. The curriculum has evolved, adding more difficult concepts and work for younger classes. Teachers have multiple websites, each one with a new assignment and different structures, and many seem to update at different times. Some students have to check upwards of 12 websites each night. Students don’t have as many breaks like the previous generations because teachers can still give them work outside of the classroom. Even when students are out of the classroom, they get notifications for assignments that are due, or are going
to be due sometime soon. “Technology is supposed to make studying easier, but since teachers have so many websites to check, it makes it harder than just getting a worksheet,” freshman Ashley O’Neal, a student taking honors and AP courses, stated. Teenagers are reporting much higher levels of stress than is considered healthy according to the American Psychological Association (APA). The APA did a study on teenagers over the course of a month. The study took place in Washington, DC, and 1,018 teens contributed. The data recovered from the study showed that 74% of teens reported more than one symptom of stress. The average stress level reported by teenage girls was equal to the levels reported by full grown adults; the boys reported slightly lower stress levels, but not by much. About 35% reported that stress caused them to lie awake at night. School was the biggest source of stress of 83% of the kids. In the last 20 years or so, statistics have shown that anxiety and depression in students is steadily increasing. In 2015, studies showed that at least 80% of students were diagnosed with anxiety, and 60% of students could be diagnosed with depression, but don’t receive help. Students who suffer with anxiety are more likely to suffer with depression as well. Another few obstacles teens may face, due to pressures to succeed in school, are Anorexia, Bulimia, or Binge Eating disorder. Roughly 5.4% (2.2 million adoles-
cents) of children between 13 and 18 will suffer from these eating disorders. “Stress affects my determination to go to school. I just end up hating it,” freshman Kira Alley said. In a small poll among CHS freshmen, it was found that it takes an average of 2 hours to complete after school homework. Students also reported that they have almost no time for things they actually like to do. Even when students have the time, their minds are still occupied by the work they have to do, so free time is hard to come by. “In my 20 years of teaching, I have noticed an increase of stress in students through the years. AP classes have more demands, which I think contribute. It’s not necessarily honors classes that have more stress than the normal classes, it’s just different stress or different reasons for stress, I would say. I think tech has an effect on the students, but not for school per se. Everyone is so connected, it’s constantly pulling on them. Students can’t concentrate in class because they’ve got all their things beeping at them, [and] adults can be, and are just as bad,” English teacher Eric Kragel said. With increasing levels of stress, pressure, and anxiety, kids have come to resent school more and more. If any change were to happen, the effects would be unpredictable.
Graphs by Elijah Davidson
Studying Up on the Legal Requirements
In the state of Colorado, no minor under the age of 16 is permitted to work between 9:30 pm and 5:00 am on a school night. Minors are also not allowed to work more than eight hours in a 24 hour period or more than 40 hours a week unless there is a business emergency. This is important, due to it being a Colorado state law. Make sure your ideal job meets these requirements.
Checking Local Job Boards
There are typically job ideas in the hallway outside of the counselor’s office on a bulletin board. You can also go online and search where help is wanted around the Conifer area. There is usually a bulletin board with help wanted signs at King Soopers. If you want to start out with something simpler, it never hurts to ask your neighbors for any odd jobs or babysitting opportunities.
Knowing Your Interests
It will make working ten times easier if you are passionate about what you do. This way it won’t feel like a job, but rather more like a hobby that you get paid to do. For example, if you are interested in horses, it would make sense to try and find work at a ranch. Or, if you love interior design, you could apply at a retail store that’s always changing their displays.
Knowing Your Schedule
It’s handy to go into a job knowing what the hours look like. If you are a busy person, you will more than likely need to find work somewhere that has flexible hours that work for you. It is a good idea to tell your employer what dates you need off before they hire you, so they understand your needs beforehand.
Know What You’re Getting Into
It is important to understand before you get the job you are wanting that you know what you’re signing up for. You are going to have a lot less free time, so your time management skills will need to be strong. This will give you less time for homework, extracurricular activities, and/or a social life.
Know What Employers Are Looking For
Have an idea of what type of person your employer is looking for based on what job you are chasing. If the job is one where you interact with people constantly, you should be as positive and friendly as possible. Try your hardest to fit the part, showing your employer you are a promising worker.
Work For the Experience
It’s key to go into the job after you’ve been hired with the right mindset. You have to remember that no one has a great salary in their first job. Go in wanting to learn what it’s like to be in a working environment, and try to improve yourself and your resume for the next job you want.
Features
Making school a smash How Justin Stephens’ love for Smash Bros. has shaped who he is
By Riley Patton and Tag Speck
A projector light illuminates a whiteboard with the light reflecting off onto a small group of people huddled around the cart. The whirring of the game console’s fan can’t be heard over the sound of the group’s chattering. The match has ended, but another is about to begin. Junior Justin Stephens has been playing one of Nintendo’s flagship series, Super Smash Brothers, for as long as he can remember. As soon as he entered high school, his love for the game hit a new level. As he got more and more serious about how he played and when he played, he built connections with people at Conifer, such as English teacher Gabe Watson, who plays Smash nearly every day in his classroom. “The community at Conifer is amazing, and I’ve met a couple of new people through it, Stephens said. “Just having their input and knowing how they play and how it interacts with my playing is enough to make everybody see how to improve. Mr. Watson has a crazy good understanding of the game, so being able to play against him is amazing,” Stephens said. Stephens doesn’t exclusively play Smash at school, though; he practices nearly every day at home with friends and family. He’s able to avoid burnout by doing other things such as theater and band. “Smash is a very easy game to get burnt out on, so just like everything else, you have to be very very dedicated to be good at it or to want to do it so much to be competitive. You have to love the game to be really competitive with it,” Stephens said. Watson has been a big help in boosting Stephens’ confidence with a controller, no matter what edition of Smash they’re playing. “What’s nice about Justin as a player, is the attention that he pays when other people are playing. You don’t grow in a vacuum; you grow by seeing where your skills are in relation to others,” Watson said.
Opinions
Through ADHD Eyes
6
The Lobo Legend Staff
My journey with the most well-known learning disorder By Zoe Watts
I walk into school, and notice everything all at once. The clock ticking, the groups laughing and talking, the crinkle of the new posters someone is leaning against, and another student has a speaker in their bag playing a new song. Everything hits me at once. When I finally reach period one, I’m five minutes late and I get in trouble. When I sit down, they put a worksheet in front of me, but I can’t stop fidgeting- it’s hard to work in a silence this big. I get in trouble again. I try to focus on the paper. I can see the words and questions, but none of it’s registering in my head. The clock seems louder and louder. I put my head in my hands, trying to block it out, but I only hear more. People whispering, the teacher typing, a pen being bounced on a desk. The teacher tells me to get back to work but I can’t force myself to do it and I don’t even know why. And once again, I get in trouble. In elementary school, teachers always said I was smart, but I couldn’t show it through my work. My test scores were ahead of my grade level, but I almost never got an A on anything. I couldn’t figure out why this was happening to me, and why the work came so easily to my classmates. The timed multiplication sheets with a hundred problems were basically my enemy. When I entered the 5th grade, it became more of a problem because we no longer could rely on the teachers to structure our day; we had to do it ourselves. I remember one parent-teacher meeting that really bothered me. My teacher pulled out a folder from my desk. It was where I had stuffed every worksheet, scrap, or notes. I didn’t mean to, I wanted to put everything where it belonged, but I guess I just didn’t. He mimicked my elementary teachers and talked about how my test scores were great, but my grades simply weren’t reflecting that. I changed schools shortly after for unrelated reasons, but I had the same problem. In 6th grade, things changed a little bit, but not enough. The work we did in class was always fine and I could do it. The trouble was the homework they gave us; it was difficult to force myself to get it done.
Memes are the modern Shakespeare Why memes are more than Grumpy Cat and Bad Luck Brian By Parker Jones
Parker Jones - Editor in Chief Elijah Davidson - Managing Editor Riley Patton - Design Nathaniel Allem Cecilia Brockman Ava Dalton Luca Gorla Daniel Main Zoey Melton Anna Nelson Hunter Sanders Tag Speck Zoe Watts The staff of the Lobo Legend has selected an open forum under which to write. Articles will be printed according to ths policy.
Photo illustration by Zoe Watts I passed that year with D’s and C’s. My teachers in seventh grade were mad at me often. I was nearly always in trouble for talking, going off topic, or zoning out. I was mad at myself. I wasn’t good enough and I couldn’t reach the standards everyone else could. Halfway through the year, my mom decided to see a psychologist concerning me. I remember sitting in the doctor’s office, bouncing my leg and looking at the shades on her window. They made a weird shadow on the floor. It kinda looked like a ladder, and the shadow her flower vase added made it look like there was some tiny person climbing it. She asked me a bunch of questions, some of which I couldn’t even really answer. She prescribed me Adderall and officially diagnosed me with ADHD. My mom, sister, and brother all had it as well, so it wasn’t a surprise.
Kingdom Review
In just the first week of taking medication, there was a noticeable change in my grades. Even my backpack was more organized. That summer, the math teacher even selected me to be in Algebra 1 instead of just eighth grade math. Eighth grade was one of the best years for me because I could finally keep up with the other kids. But a new problem arose, as they always tend to do. The Adderall was affecting my appetite. It caused me to never be hungry and feel full when I wasn’t. My weight dropped to an unhealthy level. Soon, I started getting dizzy at school, nearly blacking out every time. My mom took me to a cardiologist. He explained that due to my weight, I had developed a heart condition called Vasovagal Syncope. I still have the condition to this day. It doesn’t really affect my day to day life,
and I would even go as far as to say it’s better than having to deal with my ADHD in school. Friends and strangers alike have asked me one specific question that I didn’t know the answer to for a very long time. “Would you get rid of ADHD if you could?” And no. I wouldn’t. Despite its effects on me at school, it’s a part of who I am now. ADHD is the reason I became so dedicated to art because it was the one thing I could work on for a long period of time. It forced me to think outside the box in order to get through the world like everyone else. Despite the challenges it brings me, I like the way it makes me think. So no, if by some miracle I was offered a chance to get rid of my disorder, I wouldn’t.
A breath of fresh air that reanimates the decaying genre of the undead
By Luca Gorla
A corrupt royal family. An exiled crown prince. A mysterious plague ripping Korea from the inside out. Kingdom, a new Netflix original brings a breath of fresh air to the dull genre of the undead. From characters you either love or hate, to plot twists that will make your jaw drop,
Opinions
7
Kingdom perfectly balances fear with a story, a fear that slowly finds its way up your spine and gives you chills. The beautiful scenery in Kingdom is one of the many aspects that makes the show so great, as you join the main protagonist, The Crown Prince, played by
Photo courtesy of Netflix
Ju Ji-hoon, in his travels across the nation of Korea. Each scene has a unique feel and look, and keeps the viewer gripped and interested. However, with each scene being just as beautiful as the last, the looming presence of the infected is apparent throughout and leaves the viewer always expecting the unexpected. The story line isn’t the cliché zombie film; it involves so much personality and doesn’t just revolve around zombies. The corrupt government that adds some much-needed drama and the royal family that adds the needed hate all blend perfectly in the polished result of Kingdom. The excellent story-line makes each unique character either loved or hated; the story is also able to, surprisingly, include humour. The dark humour that pops up here and there is able to keep the mood light and not too dull. After watching the first season of Kingdom, it’s difficult to think of any
negatives. It’s painful to have to wait for the next season to release. Netflix has already renewed the license, and season two will most likely be released late this year or early next year. I was so blown away by how charismatic the characters were, and how gripped I was by the amazing story-line. Each episode left me wanting more, and I was never disappointed. From the plot twists to the heroic scenes, I can confidently say that Kingdom is now a personal favorite. With the direction modern day TV shows are going, Kingdom nails all the points that so many other shows have failed to get right. If you have Netflix, I strongly suggest you watch this incredible show. The show is violent and isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you do crave a little violence or horror here and there, then this show may be the one for you.
The purpose of the Lobo Legend is to inform, entertain, and educate school readers as well as readers in the community and give students’ opinions on local, state, and national issues. The staff will take full responsibility to thoroughly investigate and report all sides of all published stories with an unbiased and objective viewpoint. The material, ideas, and opinions expressed in the Lobo Legend do not necessarily reflect those of the adviser, administration, or individual staff members. They are the sole product of the paper’s staff. The Lobo Legend staff will refuse to print an article with material containing libel, obscenity, writings that promote self destructive behavior, or that which promotes the material disruption of the school process. Letters to the editor are encouraged and may be dropped off in the high school office or sent to the newsroom.
If you find an error with a story, fact, graphic, or a point needing further clarification, please contact the staff at: Lobo Legend Staff c/o Conifer High School 10441 Hwy 73 Conifer, CO 80433
Memes are often cast off by older generations as a useless side product of millennials and Gen Z, just fleetingly funny pictures that lack taste. While memes are commonly as mindless and childish as their critics may claim, I wholeheartedly believe they reflect the modern state of mankind. A meme can be defined as an image, video, or piece of text that is rapidly spread throughout the Internet via imitation or slight variation of the original subject matter. Over time, humans have expressed themselves in a multitude of ways, through literature, film, theatre, poetry, and art. While these mediums continue to be used into the modern day, memes are simply the most recent addition to this conglomeration of human creation. A photoshopped picture of Shaggy from Scooby Doo hardly compares to Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Shakespeare’s plays, but it similarly reflects the culture of the time. Shakespeare’s plays may use elegant, flowery language, but this simply reflects the culture of Shakespeare’s day. Today’s generation shouldn’t be expected to recreate the complex soliloquies and monologues of yore, especially in today’s fast-paced world. Memes are quick, punchy, and largely humorous, meant to grab your attention among the tornado of distractions that cloud our lives. They’re supposed to grab your eye as you scroll through Instagram, or produce a quick laugh as you wait in a doctor’s office. Hardly anyone of this generation is willing to take the time to read a novel or poem - memes are the modern medium for humor, satire, dismay, and all of the emotions that writers like Shakespeare and poets like Edgar Allan Poe similarly
tagline
Cartoon by Anna Nelson tried to convey. Now, this is not to say that memes should be held in as high a regard as classic works that took months or even years of dedication and true talent. Anyone with a screen can easily make a meme. But that’s what makes them special. Anyone can make them. In the “olden days,” people would tirelessly work their entire lives to get their writing into one newspaper column or get one book published, but memes give a platform to us all. Any of us can be the Shakespeare of someone’s day. A meme about Shaggy from the kid’s show Scooby Doo recently blew up. Within a day of its conception, millions of people around the world were reposting, creating, and sharing Shaggy memes that portrayed the cartoon character as a sort of god. People were comparing him to Chuck Norris, photoshopping him into biblical pictures, and claiming that this obscure character from our childhoods was the new leader of the human race. To any reasonable adult, this sounds ridiculous, like just a stupid Gen Z inside joke they’ll never understand. And truthfully, it is pretty ridiculous. However, I think the Shaggy meme goes deeper. So, the meme most likely started to go viral as a result of its relatability. People remembered Shaggy from their childhoods and got a kick out of the meme’s obscure nature. As it continued to snowball across more and more phone screens, people quickly hopped on the bandwagon, realizing that Shaggy was potentially the next big thing. Meme-makers across the world started banging out their own renditions of the meme, each trying to outdo the next with an even more outrageous representation of the character. It’s not the content of the meme itself
that matters - as much as I would like to say that Shaggy’s godliness has some deep emotional meaning - rather, it’s the way that memes are started, produced, and spread. Even celebrities were reacting to the meme and sharing it on their social media - some strange concept that randomly took off and became a viral sensation. Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, who coined the term meme in 1976, brought some meaning to the term far before memes cluttered our screens. He described them as an idea, belief, or pattern of behavior that is “hosted” in the mind of one or more individuals and “jumps” from person to person. While this definition could lead to far more complex theses, it demonstrates how the meme is an example of cultural evolution. Memes could be compared to trends throughout history. As an example, Chinese foot-binding was a seemingly ridiculous and nonsensical trend circa 600 China where women would break their bones repeatedly in order to change the shape of their foot. Doing so would elevate their social status and make them more appealing to suitors, even though they were literally giving themselves a disability. While this trend made zero practical sense, it spread like wildfire through China, bouncing from person to person. This could be considered a meme according to Richard Dawkins’ definition - an idea that spontaneously takes over the masses like a sort of disease. Admittedly, memes on Instagram aren’t nearly as drastic as footbinding, but they have many things in common. Memes are ridiculous, obscure, and seemingly pointless ideas that quickly pick up and quickly come to an end. As soon as China entered its period of Westernization, foot binding disappeared, just like how memes can become irrelevant as quickly as they picked up. They show humanity’s need to constantly move on to the next thing and to follow the herd. As culture changes and evolves, so do the memes, or trends, of the day. While the memes we know, like Shaggy or the egg that got 53 million likes, are nothing in comparison to classic works or incredibly influential trends like footbinding, they are simply one of the latest ways that humanity expresses itself. For that, I think they deserve more respect.
Food reviews by Tag Speck, a professional food eater The yellow onion is a staple cooking ingredient, whose distinct flavor is easily recognizable and extremely widespread. Most people’s experience with onions is in a cooked dish, with other ingredients to complement and lessen the innately strong flavor of root vegetables. As a self proclaimed advocate for the onion I figured that there must be a good reason as to why onions are almost always cooked before consumption. There was. At first glance, eating the onions seems unpleasant but certainly do-able. However, upon taking the first bite, it became abundantly clear as to why onions are consistently cooked. A raw mouthful of onion gives a sensation that
can only be described as edible regret. A mixture of pungent onion taste and a piercing spicy flavor is instantly present and extremely overwhelming. Any subtle flavors the onion might have had are completely lost in the wave of oral and mental suffering inflicted upon me. Additionally, the already difficult-to-finish onion is made worse by the paper-like peel that naturally sticks to teeth and other smooth surfaces in the mouth. The onion itself breaks most - if not all - of the rules
of a good meal, with its awful texture, unpleasant taste, and unappealing presentation. Onions serves as a great addition to most dishes bringing a mild spicy undertone and a crunchy texture all its own, but as a main course meal, uncooked and untouched by any spices or seasonings the onion fails on almost every level leaving nothing but a bad taste in your mouth and the heavy weight of regret on your mind.
3/10 Tag points - worse than expected and exceedingly unpleasant
Sports
On January 17th, Elijah Cook led the team with 18 points as he calls a play to beat the defense. Photo courtesy of Laurel Ainsworth
Lobos snatch back-to-back League titles Lobos win League but lose first round of playoffs for State By Luca Gorla
The gym is silent, and the courts are vacant. Yet the echoes of the celebration and loss are still loud as ever. With another year stitched to the brand new “league champions” banner, the Lobos have moved past the title of underdogs and now are the alpha of the pack. The Lobos retained the title of League Champions as they fended off the Wolverines from Skyview, and with a final score of 50-30, the Lobos blew out Skyview and won League right here at home. The Lobos started out average, never going on a long streak of wins, but after the break, the Lobos looked like a completely different team. Chemistry started to click, they began to win consistently, and they soon raced up the leaderboards for league. The Lobos’ longest winning streak was eight wins, which made up most of their games. The most impressive thing was how quickly the players were able to adapt to the Varsity level, as 10 of the 12 players
were JV or Level 3. Sophomore Alex Ainsworth played his first year on Varsity this season. “I was a little nervous playing Varsity, but after a few games I got used to it. We were really disappointed after losing in the first round, however, we were happy to win the league championship but we’re not satisfied with how we ended. Next year everybody is gonna come out hungry wanting to make a big run at the state tournament,” Ainsworth said. Junior Landon Wallace, who is a captain on varsity and has been since he’s been a freshman, led the team in points, assists, and steals, with 10.2 ppg (points per game), 10.3 assists per game, and 6.6 steals per game. Ocean Hageman led the team in rebounds, with 7.4 rebounds per game. “This season was one of the more fun years of playing basketball. It was the first year where I could enjoy the game with my peers who I’ve been with since eighth
grade. Being able to see our team succeed and reach our goal together is better than any personal stat I could’ve ever achieved. Winning league just made everything a bit sweeter in the end,” Wallace said. After winning back-to-back league championships, the seniors this year will unfortunately be going off to college soon. With how much Mikey Stein and Wil Ratzer have contributed to the team, their presence on and off the court will be missed. Many players regarded Mikey Stein to be a leader on the team. “Everyone’s a leader one way or another, not one specifically. At any point anybody on the team could step up and impact the team,” The season has once again come to an end in what seemed like a week. From a somewhat shaky start to a movie-like finish, the tenacious Lobos were able to buckle down and win the league once again. The past two years for Conifer, regarding the basketball program, have
been completely flipped. Once the Lobos were at the bottom of the league and now the top dogs of the league. Coach Eric Valerio has been with the team since 2013. The Lobos are more than ready to take on whatever the league throws at them, a group of talented individuals that can hold their own at the varsity level and compete with the entire league. However, just because of how far they have come, the Lobos have to think of how far they can fall now as well. The entire league is gunning after them now, and they’ll have to work just as hard as they did when they started, if not harder. Two more years have been stitched, and now, the Lobos are already hungry for a third. “We’re going to come back better than ever and take any losses as an opportunity to reevaluate our goals,” junior Cody Jacobson said.
BRIEFS Swimming
Conifer High’s JV Girls Swim Team competed in the state swimming championships this season. “This season’s been pretty good. We’ve won five to eight races. The team is full of a great group of people. I didn’t make state, but I am really excited to see how the rest of the team does,” freshman Carolanne Adams said. The team’s strong results marked the end of the season with enthusiasm and pride in their results at competition. On January 25, the girls set off against Evergreen. In diving, freshman Paige Naku had some of the highest scores in the meet. On January 31, Megan Wilkins made a time of 25.36. Then again, on February 2, she had the top scores in three categories, and E. Debrunner, J. Ley, R. Ley, M.Wilkins, did well in the 200 Free Relay with times of 1:48.75 .
Girls Basketball
Swimmer Rachel Lay, a homeschooled member of the team performs a breaststroke on January 25. Photo courtesy of Laurel Ainsworth
This year’s girls’ basketball season had a rocky start, but the team’s hard work and diligence made it a year of growth and improvement. The Lady Lobos started with a string of losses, and often lost by a significant number of points despite their best efforts. However, the team soon hit their stride. They lost by much closer margins and improved more and more until their first win on December 19th. This win set a trend for the rest of the season, as the Lobos won more games while still suffering some losses. They concluded their season with a slew of wins, but were unable to secure a victory in either of their tournaments at the end of the season. Juniors Jordyn West and Sierra Hayes earned the most points on average throughout the season, each scoring approximately 7.8 points per game.
Junior Jordyn West guards the ball from a Riverdale opponent on January 29; the Lady Lobos lost the game 58-60. Photo courtesy of Laurel Ainsworth