Common Sense Volume 23 Issue 3 December 19, 2022

Common Sense

‘Live from Buell’

Student media to reach new heights in renovated press box

April Reiss News Editor

Millard South Media’s pregame in the past has been filled with checking the forecast to prepare to stream outside in addition to preparing to successfully call and stream the game. Fortunately, their pregame will be changing in the coming seasons because of their new spot in the renovated press box.

“We’ve had some troubles in the past with rain, wind, and other natural elements. So it’s going to be nice to be inside, have that comfort, and stream to the best of our ability,” junior Wilson Dittman said. Dittman called play by play for the football games this fall for Millard South Media. “I’m looking forward to taking our broadcast to the next level and giving students and the people back home the best experience possible,” Dittman said.

A game last year became memorable for student media because of the troubling forecast that included heavy rain for some of the game.

“In October of last year, we did a stream outside where a downpour started in the 2nd quarter,” producer senior Taylor Lewis said. “We had a tent up but it can only cover so much and it was difficult to run the stream in the 2nd half because the water pooled on top and the tent started sagging. Looking back, we probably shouldn’t have done the stream in that weather. But if we have a press box, we won’t have to monitor the weather all day to decide if we should set up or not,” he said.

Being inside won’t only improve the quality of the streams, but a different atmosphere will be provided while stationed in the press box.

“A lot of times my papers get blown away,” Dittman said. “The audio isn’t great because you can hear the wind and kids messing around behind our table. You can hear some of that on the stream. Being indoors in the new facility will help us focus on doing our job,” he said.

More things are going to be changing for the press box, not only the move-in of student media. Since the stadium hasn’t been touched in over 50 years, since 1970, it was time for some refurbishing.

“It has [Buell Stadium renovations] been on the schedule for a long time. We had some money being raised back before Covid. Covid hit so it paused the renovations. It finally came back when Dr. Sutfin put it back on the schedule again,” activities director Steve Throne said.

Previously, there were some issues with the space in the box. Now, the area will be big enough to cater to the people working the games.

“All the coaches from both teams are jammed in there [the press box]. Media, people working the game. So the space is really bad,” Throne said. “It [the press box] will widen out to the north and south ends…it’s a great upgrade, we need it.”

There are little touches, in addition to the space expansions, so the overall safety of the press box is going to improve.

“If you have ever been up there [the press box], it will be a little safer because the stairs going up there is a dangerous spot,” Brian Hull said. Hull runs the Score Vision for the football games.

The renovations on Buell Stadium’s press box and bathrooms are scheduled to conclude Aug. 1, 2023.

Student working In-Depth How Ekoe Edem “Alfred” Kangni balances school, sports, and work. Photo by Charleen Darra

District should mix the use of e-learning and snow days. Art by Anna Gurciullo

Sportsmanship and behavior for athletes and student sections under review with the NSAA. Photo by Ally Seevers

Juniors Devin Danoff, and Caeden Sievers run their own business.

Digital model for new press box set to be complete Aug. 1, 2023. Student media will move indoors and upstairs to a space designated for them and their broadcast.

Set up outside on the concourse right alongside fans, senior Taylor Lewis produces the first home football livestream of the season while juniors Jonathan Spieler and Wilson Dittman commentate.

I’m looking forward to taking our broadcast to the next level and giving students and the people back home the best experience possible.

-junior Wilson Dittman

Supt. Schwartz speaks on snow days

Ben Jackson Online Editor-in-Chief

The age of the classic carefree snow days seems to have passed in recent years with the introduction of e-learning days. In the 20182019 school year, Dr. Jim Sutfin, our former superintendent, announced the introduction of e-learning days to replace typical snow days, and we have not enjoyed a full snow day since.

Now, with the introduction of our new superintendent, Dr. John Schwartz, students, parents and staff are curious as to what the differences will be between his snow policies and Sutfin’s.

“I plan to use e-learning days and late starts and full snow days,” Dr. Schwartz said “probably in a very similar way to how you saw it with Dr. Sutfin.”

With all of that in mind, one thing that was extremely rare under Dr. Sutfin after the introduction of e-learning days was full snow days, but Dr. Schwartz has left some room for the possibility of traditional snow days.

“Generally speaking, I do not intend at this time to change that practice, but rather to assess what does an e-learning day look like and feel like? What’s the value added? What’s the cost benefit otherwise?” Dr. Schwartz commented “That has not been a strategy that was in our severe weather day calls in my prior district so it’s a great opportunity for me to gain some perspective here.”

The lines between snow day and full day have been blurred even further in recent years with the introduction of an alternate late start schedule. This allows an even greater amount of flexibility for our superintendent when he makes his decisions. This is an option that has not been afforded to Dr. Schwartz in his former superintendency. All of these options allow him to better prepare for unpredictable weather.

“There is not a perfect science. So sometimes, you’re calling it based upon weather that you’re seeing and experiencing at that moment, and it’s an undeniable need to make the decision,” Dr. Schwartz said. “And in other cases, it’s based upon a forecast where it appears as if it’s not going to be safe. And so, you know, I think when it comes to a snow day, you’re trying to assess what is the timing of the weather, what’s the magnitude of the weather that’s going to be experienced, and what impact does that have on safety for students and staff?”

Students have expressed their distaste for e-learning days in the past, and would prefer basic snow days.

“It’s nice, but you don’t get the same level of education that you need. You get so much more from in person than online,” junior Colin Ketterer said. With their passion for snow days, students can get a little out of hand when it comes to trying to convince their superintendent for one.

“There’s a difference between being unkind and having fun. Obviously, a little bit of jovial back and forth. That’s fun, you know, but generally speaking, I think most people presume positive intent,” Dr. Schwartz said. “Whether it’s me here in Millard or any of the other superintendents across the metro, they’re just trying to make the best decision they can based on the information they have and, everyone’s got their own unique set of circumstances,” he said.

In the past, Dr. Sutfin would always announce proudly on twitter his decision with a trademark “Go Day” or “Snow Day.” Dr. Schwartz may not use the exact same phrases, but he says he still

wants to focus on communication.

“It’ll be communicated multiple ways. So if we’re going to have a late start and e-learning day or a snow day, I’ll also tweet it out. But they’ll also be a district email and you get a district email or phone call,” Dr. Schwartz said. “I’ve already recorded some messages, so that when our

first snow days or late starts are e-learning days, we’re ready to push those out and communicate with folks and it’ll obviously be on TV radio.”

To follow decisions from Dr. Schwartz, follow him on Twitter @JschwartzMPS

13 musicians make select All-State ensembles

Leiting InDepth Editor

Every year in the month of November, around 745 students across the entire state of Nebraska gather to do one thing: make music. For choir, band, and orchestra students, the opportunity to participate in the All-State Music Festival is one of the biggest honors a high school musician can receive.

“It was a great learning experience and thrilling to sing with such a large group,” says senior Mikah Saub, who was one of 13 musicians from the school selected this year from the 2,000 who auditioned.

The convention is put on by the Nebraska Music Educators Association and gives an opportunity for dedicated music students to come together to perform a concert as one orchestra ensemble, jazz band ensemble, band ensemble, and choir ensemble.

Saub explained that rehearsals felt very different compared to last year’s’ practices. Last year due to Covid-19, the Nebraska Music Educators Association chose to accept fewer students, so the ensembles were significantly smaller.

“The All-State experience felt a lot less guided this year,” Saub explained, “As a two-year chorus member, last year felt a lot more structured. This year felt much less put together and last minute. [Rehearsals were] very loud and the music’s dynamics were difficult to determine due to being in such a large group,” she said.

Despite these small negative aspects of All-State,

Saub said she highly enjoyed watching and learning from the other choirs that performed at the event.

“...Watching different college choir performances had to be my favorite part. I learned more from watching other choirs than I did in the actual rehearsals. I feel as though listening to other ensembles allowed me to experience different feelings and tonalities. While participating in the choir I was chosen for, I noticed that [students] had different levels of preparedness and ability,” Saub said.

“Unlike the orchestra and band groups, the All-State choir members are selected through a quota system. The goal of the Nebraska Music Educators Association is to get students from a variety of areas within the state of Nebraska. So, they break the state up into 10 different sections and invite a certain percentage of students from each section to participate,” choir director Jason Stevens explained.

On the instrumental side of the event, orchestra student Hope Weber expressed that she had a wonderful time.

“All-State was great! It was such a good experience to be able to play in such a large orchestra with some of the top high school musicians in the state,” Weber commented.

To audition for the All-State Music Festival, students had to be not only talented but very prepared. During the audition, students only had once chance to be recorded for their audi-

tion. No second tries, no redos, and definitely no submitting multiple takes. Although most of the work to qualify for the convention had to be done by the students themselves, Stevens and choir director Amy Sweets were committed to help out.

“Choir teachers provided students with resources and gave them the music,” Stevens mentioned.

“We had a few sessions after school to kind of prep them and get them ready but for the most part, it is an individual honor and they work on their own,” he explained.

As Stevens stated, students for the most part had to work on learning the audition music on their own.

“I personally take private lessons, which really helps,” drum major Luke Meyers explained. “I also practiced a lot at home and spent months on rehearsing,” he said.

In addition to making the choice to practice frequently, Meyers also had to make the decision of what ensemble he preferred to be a part of. While auditioning for both the choir and the band, Luke chose to be in the band despite making both groups.

Typically, All-State is made up of juniors and seniors, but Weber and Caros Jacobo qualified for the honors convention as sophomores. Weber in particular showed up to alter the status quo by making the top violin section in the orchestra. Astoundingly, Weber was able to accomplish being one of only 20 people to selected for this premier group.

Leading up to the day of the concert, All-State rehearsals were the 16th, 17th, and 18th of November with students having to spend the two nights at a hotel. Musicians held full ensemble rehearsals three times a day with their director. Rehearsal times

had range of just an hour and a half to up to two hours and 30 minutes. The concert had a large turnout of family members and friends in the evening of Nov. 18 full of skillfully made music.

All State Choir members: soprano Mikah Saub, bass Nathan Fitch, tenor Aden Williams

Alexa

Art by Ella Erickson

All State Orchestra members: clarinet Hannah Kress, clarinet Chloe McBreen, violin Hope Weber, trombone Luke Meyers, trumpet Brady Jamail.

Not pictured: All State Band: baritone Carlos Jacobo, clarinet Faith Howe, bass clarinet Nolan Stewart, bass clarinet Sam Hunt.

Making strides

Juniors find their passion as ‘solemates’ in shoe business

Olivia Ellison Sports Editor

Running a business is hard enough being an adult. Imagine how much harder it would be if you were a high school student, going to school 5 days a week with 4 classes a day, with homework every night piling on top of all of that. So how do you do it?

It started with an idea thought up between juniors Devin Danoff and Caeden Sievers. The idea of reselling shoes was shared between them, but Danoff began to make that idea reality first, starting the business separate from Sievers.

“Over quarantine I got bored and wanted to make some money, so, I started sellin’ shoes,” Devin Danoff said at 13 years old, he started on Facebook Marketplace. There, he would buy shoes from people, flip them, and then sell them to others. 13 year-old Caeden then decided to join Devin, making even more money as they began to do this together. At this point, they were making quite a bit to start off.

The pair said they started this entirely on their own, without the help of any adults in their lives.

“My mom hasn’t given me a dollar,” Danoff said. All by themselves, they created something most adults can only dream of.

After a few months of running the business from their houses, a man named Anthony Kellogg, or “A.K.,” the owner of 365 Store, hit the two up, saying that he needed some resellers in his store at 1517 Farnam St. in Downtown Omaha. “We came down there with our parents and checked it out, signed some stuff, and now here we are,” Danoff said.

With this new environment, their business began to boom. People started seeing these two young entrepreneurs run their business, and it’s safe to say they were intrigued. Danoff and Sievers were getting the most business they had ever gotten. And they loved it. However, it’s important to know that the owner of the building owns and runs his business in the building, however, Danoff and Sievers sell and buy their shoes separately from that business. They use the space provided, but the money they make goes to themselves.

Now the two juniors are there every day after school and also working every weekend. As to how they handle balancing work and school, Danoff said that he “focus(es) more on the business than school.” While Sievers said that he does try to keep up with school and balance everything and that time management is key.

Overall, the number of hours they work a week is about 24. After a couple years, they’ve gotten pretty good at what they do. Their method of buying and selling shoes is relatively the same.

“Either online, we know a few people, or people just come in the store tryna sell shoes,” Sievers said. The process starts when people selling shoes on either Instagram or Facebook marketplace reach out and ask if Danoff or Sievers are interested in buying. If the two juniors believe that the shoe is able to be cleaned, fixed, or is a potential sale, they buy them. The shoes are either shipped to the

store, the seller comes to the store, or they meet the seller somewhere. At that point, they clean the shoes, replace shoelaces, etc. After this, they put the shoes out on display, or post the shoes on their own instagram or their Facebook marketplace page. When people are buying from them, usually they come to pick the shoes up in the store. There have been a few cases where people from out of the state want to buy some shoes, so they will package the shoes, put on the labels and the stickers and the stamps, and send them off.

A day at the job looks something like this, according to Danoff. “I get there, sit on the couch, wait for someone to come in, once they come in, lil’ salesman Devin comes out, [and I] try and sell ‘em a shoe.”

Their biggest struggle so far has been consistent foot traffic, or having consistent customers come in. That being said, they say they still get great business. With both of them now being 17, it’s safe to say that their future is bright and profitable. Managing full-time school with anything is difficult, but uniors Devin Danoff and Sievers have been able to do it since freshman year. For anyone wondering if making money and focusing on school is manageable, they just look at these two. They’re an inspiration for students thinking about how they can start saving and making.

Alexa Leiting InDepth Editor

Each morning after the last bell rings, a longstanding tradition of almost one hundred and thirty years occurs: The Pledge of Allegiance. A promise of loyalty and patriotism, the pledge ironically creates a division of sorts. There are students who stand for Pledge of Allegiance and those who do not.

However, standing for the Pledge is still going strong in elementary school.

“My kids have told me about high school students not standing for the pledge,” said Black Elk Elementary 2nd grade teacher Dianna Ringleb. “They say kids that do are in the minority. I was shocked, and it personally makes me sad,” she said.

In contrast to what her two high school children see at South, Ringleb has caught sight of a much different situation at the elementary school. Every morning the teacher and her second grade students rise for the pledge and speak it aloud. She said she has only had one student refuse to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in her 22 years of teaching.

“I think they all stand because that is what is normal in elementary school and what is expected of them. Whoever does the announcements says, ‘Please stand and say the pledge,’ and they all do.”

After recognizing this constant of children rising for the

tradition, Ringleb said she believes that elementary schoolers are simply too young to be influenced by any outer forces having the ability to change their minds about standing. In the future, she doesn’t forsee any change occurring for these same reasons. However, a shift begins in middle school. Brandi Haltom, an 8th grade teacher at Andersen Middle School, said she noticed a trend of sorts beginning about two years ago.

“I have a first hour class with more students than ever before not wanting to stand,” Haltom said. “Many of them don’t recite the pledge out loud as much as they did in past years. I truly feel this is a direct result of famous athletes kneeling for the national anthem; the trend seemed to begin at that time.”

In 2016, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began to famously kneel during the national anthem. He began this form of protest stating that he would not show pride for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. After this highly controversial protest, a number of athletes joined in on the movement.

High school history teacher Thomas Martin also brought up this as his belief on why some kids decide to stay seated.

“In recent years, I think that there has been more of an awareness about why a person would stay seated,” Martin said. “But the number of kids that choose to sit 10 or 20 years ago is honestly about the same that there are now in my experience as a teacher. But the shift in awareness, I think, has to do with the supercharged, hyper politicized America that we live in today. I believe

that you can pinpoint this awareness back to Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem,” Martin said.

“Fast forward a couple years later and the Black Lives Matter movement magnified the subject again. I think it is creating a sense of realization that they have really never paid attention to how some kids stand and some kids don’t. I don’t think that all of them are sitting for a grander purpose. Maybe some just don’t want to stand because they are tired, sick, or something else. Kids have gotten better in recent years about articulating their feelings on why they choose to sit and why some kids absolutely would never sit and how it is offensive to them,” Martin said.

Ever since the beginning of their sophomore year, junior Allie Bunjer has remained seated for the Pledge of Allegiance.

“It holds no sacred place in my heart. I don’t feel like mindlessly speaking some words for 10 seconds and then sitting back down if I’m not saying them whole heartedly,” Bunjer said. “I think a little daily ritual of pledging ourselves to a country I just happen to be in seems unnecessary,” they said. “I’m grateful to live in the U.S. in some ways, but not so much so I would die in the name of it. I think it is a strange tradition to hold onto. The point of keeping this tradition in place for the sake of tradition seems a little foolish. I understand it may have meaning to some, but I am not in that group,” Bunjer said.

Junior Wilson Dittman has a different outlook on the tradition and continues to stand for the pledge in high school.

“I say the Pledge of Allegiance because it’s just tradition. It is something we’ve always done throughout schooling, and I just feel like there’s no reason to not stand for it,” Dittman said. “It’s just something that we’ve always incorporated into our daily life,” he said.

Dittman explained that from a young age, he and his peers were encouraged to stand by elementary teachers, so he has remained consistent throughout his years of being a student. However, Dittman said that he does not think that the pledge should ever be mandatory.

“I think participating in the Pledge of Allegiance is one thing that can unite everybody in schools,” he said. “It shows a love for this country, and I think schools encourage people to stand for the unity of the student body.”

Entrepreneurs junior Devin Danoff and Caden Sievers wear their products to school. The duo operate their own shoe business online and out of a store front in downtown Omaha.

My kids have told me about high school students not standing for the pledge. They say kids that do are in the minority. I was shocked, and it makes me sad.

-Dianna Ringleb, Black Elk 2nd grade teacher

“

To stand or not to stand?

Pledge of Allegiance participation depends on age and beliefs

I got a hole punched in my leg

We, as a society, are terrified of cancer. And we’ve got a good reason! It kills about 33 percent of the people who have a form of it, and it’s very hard to permanently get rid of. Everyone worries about cancer, or at least I definitely do.

I realized something was wrong about a month ago. After a visit to my primary doctor (where she glared at my suspicious leg mole for an uncomfortable amount of time), I was referred to a dermatologist. It took me about two weeks to get an appointment, a time that was filled with intense anxiety. The actual appointment was both anxiety-inducing and underwhelming.

I had the rest of my skin inspected before he looked at my suspicious leg mole. He used his tiny little telescope, had his assistant use her little tiny telescope, and then told me he would be cutting the mole off. I was injected with novocaine, and then told that novocaine doesn’t always work on redheads, which was wonderful news for me, a redhead.

As soon as my leg was nice and numb, he had me lay down and close my eyes. I felt a little stab, and then it was over. I had been hole punched (quite literally). They used a punch needle, which takes a circular chunk of flesh out, exactly like a hole punch.

My leg was stitched up, a bandaid was slapped on my wound, and I was sent on my way back to school. The day after, it hurt quite a bit, because my body was mad about the square inch of flesh it was missing. The dermatologist told me they’d test the mole, and if it turns out to be a type of cancer, I’d have to go back and get more skin removed.

My experience was a little unusual. Melanoma, a type of skin cancer, is extraordinarily rare in children and teenagers, accounting for only 7 percent of all teenage cancers. Risk factors include pale or light skin, red or blonde hair, or a family history of melanoma. I’ve got all three. Every one of my grandparents has had forms of skin cancer, sometimes more than once, so this is something that will most likely follow me throughout life.

Now, I’ve gotten my results back; it’s not cancer. Even if it was, I would only have to get a little bit more skin off. But I’ve learned from this experience.

Not everything is as scary as it looks. Your family is both a blessing and a curse. Most importantly? Get regular checkups.

Prevailing in ‘The Great War’ of 2022: Fan secures Swift concert tickets

Following her last studio album, Midnights, Taylor Swift announced she was going on tour. This tour is her first tour since her Reputation tour in 2018. Like any other Taylor Swift fan, I was immediately thrilled. I started studying up on everything I needed to know about the ticketing process and how to be successful in getting my ticket. I was getting prepped for the big show, making game plans, and training for the big day.

I thought this process was going to be rather smooth. Swift is working with a popular ticket seller, Ticketmaster, to sell her tickets. There were two pre-sale options offered before general admission. The first presale was called Verified Fan. To qualify for Verified Fan, you had to register with your name, phone number, email, and what shows you were interested in going to. Verified Fan was randomly selected and not everyone received Verified Fan status. The second presale option was through Capital One. Swift is working with Capital One to sponsor her tour, and if you own a Capital One card, you are eligible for presale the day after the Verified Fan presale. I was almost certain that I would not be selected for Verified Fan, mostly because it seemed impossible with the number of fans also applying. However, I was selected for Verified Fan. I remember receiving the text during the passing period and being over the moon. Texts for Verified Fan were sent out the day before the presale, so I had to get prepared fast.

I expected the process to go with ease. Verified Fan presale happened on Nov. 15, a Tuesday, at 10 a.m. This immediately became an obstacle because I would be in school at this time. However, my preparation for this would not go to waste. I did not trust my mom to secure the tickets because she was not familiar with the Ticketmaster website. But, I was able to convince my mom to call me out after the 1st block. I was under the impression that the ticketing process would take about 15 minutes and I would only miss a sliver of my 2nd block. I was incorrect.

Prior to being called out, I got home and logged on to the Ticketmaster website at 9:41

AprilReiss News Editor

a.m. I was sent to a waiting room until the sale opened at 10 a.m. I waited anxiously, thinking back to all my preparation, and updating my mom every time a minute passed. After many minutes, or 19 minutes, I was put into an online queue. The queue basically represents a line in which you are waiting to select and check out your tickets. It is randomly selected and you could have been behind up to 2,000 people. I, once again, was lucky enough to be placed at 112th in line. The website was running smoothly and by 10:04 a.m. I was 87th in line. This all changed when I got a notification that the queue had been temporarily paused. This means that my spot in line would be saved but nobody in line would be moving. This happened because the website was getting too much traffic for it to run properly. While I was not that upset at the time, mostly because I assumed this pause would take only a couple of minutes, I was once again wrong.

The “temporary pause” ended up being a pause for three hours. I not only had been staring at a computer screen for three hours, I had missed more school than anticipated. Instead of missing a sliver of my second block, I missed my second block entirely and almost all my 3rd block. I got even more concerned because it was necessary for me to be back for my last block class for a big test. Around

Capturing life through my lens

My whole life fits through the 1x2 inch viewfinder of my Canon AE-1. From my friends by chance to the ones by choice, sunsets, stars, and everything in between, it can all be found inside the strips of film.

Ever since I was little, I have been in love with the way rays of sunshine lay softly on the face, how colors pop when it’s overcast, and the way one photo can make someone feel.

I have never really known life without a camera in my hand. By the time I was five, I was hauling around my pink and purple Discovery Kids digital camera. I remember

being so excited when I first took it to the zoo. I became the gorillas’ personal photographer that day.

As I got older, my camera grew up with me. In seventh grade, I received my first Canon: the Canon EOS Rebel T6. The first thing I did after screaming with excitement was force my sister into a photo shoot. Looking back on those photos, I can still feel the thrill I felt, holding my very own, professional camera in my hands.

Going through high school, I brought that camera to each and every game, capturing the upset to win district basketball, the winning goal that meant Coach Cooney would be back to state one last time, and so much more.

From that moment on, my love for the details blossomed into what it is today. I fell in love with capturing every moment: the heartwarming hugs after an exhilarating race, the motions the players do at the plate before the pitch, and the reactions from the bench after the thirdconsecutive 3-pointer from the sharpshooter.

I became obsessed with

12:43 p.m., after being logged on since 9:41a.m., I was feeling hopeless. I thought there was a chance I might not be able to see my favorite artist live. But, the queue finally was running again and within a minute I was 85th in line. The line slowly inched towards my turn and I was growing more anticipated as it updated. I also felt an extra pressure because I was not only buying tickets for myself, but for my best friend. Finally, it was my turn, I quickly secured the best tickets I could afford and headed to checkout. By 1:03 p.m., I had gotten two tickets to the Kansas City Taylor Swift show.

Overall, I was obviously not impressed with the way the tickets were sold. Ticketmaster sent out the presale codes to fans, meaning they could pick how many people would be on their website at a time. So I was definitely surprised when the website crashed.

I think both pre-sales were a good idea because it allows selected fans to get tickets before the sell-out. I think pre-sales on Ticketmaster could also be successful, given they are thoroughly prepared so their website works properly.

I would also like to add, this was one of my first times using Ticketmaster. This experience did not give a good impression and I am hesitant to use Ticketmaster again. It is also rather disappointing that Ticketmaster canceled the general sale of tickets because Ticketmaster sold out the tickets during the presales.

I am hoping Taylor Swift will come out and talk about the Ticketmaster issues because she has been silent through this whole ticket ordeal. While I don’t think Taylor Swift or any artist is directly responsible for the issues that occurred while tickets were being sold, I think Swift should still come out and say something because her fans are more likely to listen to her than a big ticketing company. I do think she could fix this by adding more shows to her tour, but artists should keep themselves healthy just as much as they should appease their fans. There should be a happy medium of fans having a chance to see their favorite artist and artists giving them that chance.

Editor-in-Chief

the color and depth of the photo. I found my favorite time to shoot to be when it is 65 and gloomy. The way the bright rose-red of the catcher’s gloves and apple cider-colored dirt sprinkled across the pants contrasts with the stark white of the jersey just takes my breath away. In that lighting, everything is highlighted, yet nothing is over-exposed. The combination makes for the most perfect photo.

When I have a camera in my hand, the leather strap wrapped like vines around my forearm, I feel at home. With a camera in hand, I capture every special moment, everything that I never wish to end. From photos of late nights under the stars in the trunk of my best friend’s car to flash film photography of our gooey cheese pizza at Pitch, those photos will always be a snapshot of my beautiful, crazy life.

ShelbyNeeley OpinionsEditor

AllySeevers

Senior Ally Seevers videos the student section at the season opener football game against Millard West. Photo by Taylor Sloger

Staff editorial:

E-learning is a concept that has gone from a fantasy to living in infamy among students. In the years between 2017-2019, Millard Public Schools began to roll out personal technology for every student in the district.

Elementary school students received iPads and middle and high school students received laptops in an aim to allow for an increased level of at-home elearning. In the 2018-2019 school year, Millard announced that with every student now having a personal device, there will now be e-learning days rather than snow days.

This plan to allow for students to do school work from home utilizing their devices and google classroom, predated the COVID pandemic by almost a year and allowed the district to easily transition when COVID did hit. Unfortunately, while e-learning days started as a way to keep students on track during snow days, COVID proved that there is not much to gain from e-learning.

COVID may have passed, but snow days still remain. The policy of having e-learning days rather than typical snow days seems to be staying in place, but our new superintendent Dr. Schwartz has left some room for debate.

“I do not intend at this time to change that practice(e-

District should go for wintry mix of e-learning and snow days

Department of Education, 1080 instructional hours are required for high schools. That equates to 144 full 7.5 hour school days. Millard Public Schools far surpasses that requirement with at most 178 days this year and roughly 175 every year. With about a one month gap between the required amount of time and Millard’s planned time, making up for lost hours feels unnecessary.

But then there must be a reason why we have focused on making up for hours lost to snow days. In the past, when the state would allot funding for every school district in the state, part of the formula was extra money for extra school hours. However, the most recent formula makes no mention of state aid based off of school instructional hours. This further proves the point that making up hours via elearning days serves limited purposes.

learning days), but rather to assess what does an e-learning day look like and feel like? What’s the value added? What’s the cost benefit otherwise?” Dr. Schwartz said.

If the cost of an e-learning day is a loss in valuable class time, what would the benefit be? One potential benefit of having an e-learning day would be gaining instructional hours without operating within a building. According to the Nebraska

If any, the sole purpose of an e-learning day would be to bridge the gap in learning created by a snow day. When inclement weather that cancels school falls in the middle of a week, it is more reasonable to have an e-learning day in order to keep the week from being disrupted. However, when inclement weather falls on a Monday or Friday, the benefits are nearly nonexistent. With a new superintendent, these policies are subject to change in the future. If any policy changes, giving students at least one full snow day a year or snow days when the land on the beginning or ending of weeks should be considered.

Pet stores not the best when searching for furry friend

When first thinking about “animals,” many people imagine their pets, such as their cat or dog. An image is visualized that shows their furry friend’s little faces within their most domestic moments: playing catch as their dog bounds back towards them with a stick in their mouth, questioning their cat as they start chattering while looking at a bird outside their grasp, observing their rabbit as it stomps its feet to attempt put the spotlight back on themself, etc.

Following the substantial rise of COVID-19 in 2020, there has been a steady increase in the number of households that own a pet, as shown by the American Pet Products Association where, from 2019 to 2021 alone, pet expenditures have increased by 26.5 billion dollars. However, following the growth of more people getting more pets, there has also been a surge in the spread of information regarding pets (i.e. what is right and what is wrong).

This leaves a question: What does that mean? Mostly, though it’s obvious, it means that people have begun to correct behaviors and actions that may have been ultimately hurting their pets, such as the brand of food they may have been giving them. For some, however, it means looking at the establishments surrounding them and thinking if what they do and support is something they themselves would undertake or aid.

In particular, many people turned their attention to the pet stores around them. Notoriously, pet stores have been known to treat the animals they keep in unsanitary conditions that will sooner or later harm them, and they’ve been known to spread information to potential buyers about how to care for a pet that is just simply not right in terms of what a pet actually needs. Take for example beta fish: Many pet stores preach the basic, “Beta fish

only need about a 2.5-gallon or a 3-gallon tank,” but they fail to tell customers this will only provide their fish with the basic care, it will not create an environment where that fish can particularly thrive.

And for many people, they’ve grown accustomed to brushing off how animals are treated in pet stores, but with the rise of more pet ownership, they’ve opened their eyes to legitimately use their voice to try to advocate for change as they themselves look into adopting another smaller friend. But even in spite of that, change has yet to happen because, unfortunately so, simply using your voice is not going to deter the efforts of a nationwide, multi-billionaire company.

One of the only ways to accomplish change is by affecting the company directly, namely by impacting their sales. Companies will refuse to pay attention unless it’s something that will directly impact them. Simply telling them, “Hey, you shouldn’t do that,” will not affect them. However, if you willing choose to stop shopping at that store, and you’re able to get many other people as well to stop shopping at that store to the point where their sales are affected,

Common Sense

Common Sense is the official publication of Millard South High School 14905 Q Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68137. School district guidelines determine the suitability of advertising content. To place an ad or inquire about rates, call (402)-715-8363.

Common Sense is a monthly publication produced in Room 130. Common Sense uses desktop publishing hardware and software: Apple computers, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Google word processing software. Printing by White Wolf Web in Sheldon, Iowa.

Letters to the editor are encouraged. All letters must be signed with the student’s first and last name, grade, then submitted to Mrs. Kaldahl. Unsigned letters will not be published. The staff reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, length, and clarity. Letters of profane nature or other infractions of school or district policy will not be published.

it will be a different story entirely. Although, it is important to note that being able to do that also requires making products more accessible to people, which goes beyond just the pet stores that sell the product. It means holding the companies that produce the products accountable for pricing because many overprice their product, making them inaccessible to many people. There are numerous ways to attempt to get this change, but in time it always goes back to the common denominator of people coming together on the same basis. Without that base, it is next to impossible to get the change because one single person cannot do more than a group of people in this scenario. If people can come together, change can also come together to help for the better, but it relies heavily upon the people who enact that change.

When coming together to confront a company on a large scale, it forces companies into taking accountability for their actions and implementing solutions that amend those said actions. Although, this cannot happen in one day alone. Being able to get change takes time, so it’s important to be patient and cautious as many big companies will use any opportunity to utilize tactics to break groups of people down. However, if a group can push forward against the odds, they may just find change comes quicker than they would expect it to.

Alexa Amick Photographer

Non-Stop Work

Lots

Ben Jackson Online Editor-in-Chief

In high school, a major part of a student’s everyday life can revolve around employment. In a survey of 179 Millard South students, around 52 percent of respondents said that they are employed. Generally, students have divided themselves into 5 main industries for their jobs: Retail, fast food, child care, and sports and entertainment. Additionally, respondents averaged between 11-20 hours of work per week, with only a few working above 20 hours a week.

A junior, Aleah Klopp, averages 31-35 hours per week in her job at Dunkin Donuts.

“I’m kind of independent from my parents so I like to support myself,” Klopp said, “I get all my bills. I have my own apartment. And so yeah, my own car, everything. So I like to work.”

Fast food can be overwhelming for many students due to its fast paced nature, but for Klopp, it’s no problem.

“I think the thing that I like the most about it is it’s faster pace,” Klopp added. “You don’t even think about the time. You’re just constantly working.”

Another works three average of “So I work older sister, a dance studio, mom’s friends costumes time doing Bergman Retail can when having Customer of the job Bergman, relationships help make up the difference.

“We all really enjoy our job and we have a lot And when people are gone, we usually mess around Bergman said.

When students work, they fill up their free their jobs. In turn, they can lose valuable time homework. Katherine Finger, senior who works YMCA Children’s center, has had no issue in making lost time.

“Working a job like childcare have a lot of kids or there’s nobody gives me time to actually work on I don’t find it an issue,” Finger said. Bergman, with her three jobs, upwards of 25 hours per week. This load can lead her into some issues work.

“ I do have a lot of struggles, have a study hall and I had to drop to take a study hall because I knew one,” Bergman said. “And a few years did have the study hall, but I didn’t So I was kind of nervous. But I definitely study hall and I use it for the full hour and I get all my work done for sure.”

Klopp, who also works over hours per week, hasn’t had very many issues in keeping up with her school In fact, she has maintained a 4.0 GPA for this semester despite her extensive workload.

Each grade varies in the amount of students who have a job. As a whole, about 52 percent of students have while only 20 percent of freshmen

Stice Staff Reporter

When asked to describe his experience at Millard South High School, Ekoe Edem “Alfred” Kangni gave the word, “late.” Kangni says he has spent the majority of his life “catching-up” when it comes to learning American culture and making friends, while also feeling like he doesn’t know “too much” about his own culture. But, he’s not letting this feeling of being “late,” stop him from achieving his dreams.

Kangni moved to America between the ages of 4 and 5, spending the majority of his life in the Akron, Ohio area before moving to Omaha, with his mother and younger brother, in 7th grade, attending Andersen Middle School. When arriving at Millard South High School, Alfred made it his main goal to set himself up for success, pushing himself in every aspect of his high school career.

Kangni is an AP student, works 15 to 20 hours a week, and is a member of the Track and Field team. Kangni says out of everything AP classes are what takes up his most time, saying he spends around 10 hours total for

studying and homework for classes like AP US History and AP English Language and Composition, while spending around 5 hours a week a track. All of this, combined with the 8 hours a day he spends at school, adds up to a staggering 70 hours of busy activity a week.

All this time he spends bettering himself, isn’t going to waste, though. Kangni explained that his post-high school goal is to attend medical school, and “set future generations up for success.” To reach that goal, he has been setting himself up for the most opportunities possible, whether that’s through academic scholarships, athletic scholarships, or if it’s just saving up the proper amount of money to pay for school.

When looking back on Kangni’s story, people will realize how hard he had to work and how many obstacles he had to overcome. And although he finds himself busy at work or on the track for the majority of his time, he still manages to keep school as his number one priority. And in my opinion, Kangni has the potential to be one of the future faces of our generation and what we are capable of.

of hours add up to much needed

Alfred Kangni goes from ‘late’ to ahead of the academic game

I’m kind of independent from my parents so I like to support myself.

-Junior Aleah Klopp

Dillon

Junior Alfred Kangni takes notes in Astronomy Class. When not at school, Kangni is busy with extra curriculars and his job at the restaurant Kinaara where he puts in 15 to 20 hours a week. Photo by Charleen Darra

source: Common Sense poll. 179 surveyed

On a well deserved break from her job at Old Navy, junior Nicole Bergman enjoys a near midnight snack in the staff break room. Bergman worked 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Black Friday. Photo courtesy of Nicole Bergman

needed payoff

Another junior, Nicole Bergman three jobs totalling in an of 26-30 hours per week. work at Old Navy with my sister, and then I also work at studio, which one of my step friends owns. So I bedazzle and I have a really good doing that. And I also baby sit,” said. can be a troublesome job having to deal with customers. service is the hardest part according to but workplace lot of fun. around a lot,” time with to complete works in the making up that childcare if we don’t nobody in there, it homework. So said. jobs, works This deep work with school struggles, but I do drop a class just knew I would need years before I didn’t really use it. definitely use my hour and a half sure.” over 25 many school work. GPA extensive amount whole, a job, freshmen have a

job. One such freshman is Chloe Hetrick who works at Belize Cafe in Gretna. Hetrick works primarily to support herself.

“So I can have a steady source of income because it’s kind of hard making money as a teenager. And like, I just want money,” Hetrick said.

Hetrick, Bergman, Klopp, and Finger all agreed that their main reason for having a job is to make money. Whether or not students need their money, having a job can be an amazing asset to prepare them for the real world.

Aroundthe C l kco Work

After school program SPARKs interest in childcare

Zoey Buthorne Features Editor

Formally known as Kids Network, SPARK is a childcare program run by the Millard Public School Foundation. SPARK provides before and after-school care for kids in Millard elementary schools and summer programs when school is out.

“The idea of SPARK is that it [the program] should create a spark in a way that is different and important for every child,” Millard Foundation’s Director of Operations Mark Beller said.

SPARK is different from other childcare programs because SPARK programs are located directly on-site at Millard elementary schools making it convenient for parents and eliminating the worry of transporting their child from one place to another. In addition, recently SPARK has been in the process of transitioning into more STEM (Science Technology Engineering, and Math) and enrichment heavy programming making the program stand out from many others.

The main goal of SPARK is to maintain a well organized program and a provide safe space for kids. Also, the program aims to create “a super fun place for kids while providing an education component… basically, a place where kids are learning without realizing they are learning,” Beller said.

SPARK is a big employer of high school students, for many different reasons. “I chose to work at SPARK because I went to kids network when I was younger and really enjoyed it there,” junior Avery Hinsley said. “I wanted to work at Spark because in the future I want to work in childcare and thought that SPARK would be a good intro,” junior Zoe Oehlertz said.

The hiring process at SPARK starts by either filling out an application on the Millard Foundations website where someone will reach out to arrange an interview or instead going to one of the on-site interviews that take place from 2pm-4pm every day at the Millard Foundations building.

Along with a fun work environment students enjoy other employee benefits. “I really love working with the kids and the benefits are also really good. We get four paid holidays as well as a sign on bonus,” Hinsley said.

While employees love working with the children, the children also really love being around the employees. “It’s really cool for me to see our many different staff and how they impact the kids… what makes our staff so unique is they have such a variety of interests that kids in the program can also connect to and find fun and interesting,” Beller said.

Overall SPARK is a rewarding job and it is worth considering for high school students who like children and are searching for a job.

art by Ella Erickson

art by Ella Erickson

This year I set a goal for myself. I wanted to challenge myself. Do something only few have done. I wanted to watch a movie every day in 2022. As of now, I haven't missed a day. I have been doing this since January 1st of this year. It is now November and I only have one month left. I’ve managed to keep a job, a social life, I’m staying on top of school, and I even have

a girlfriend now too. Many ask me how I do it without missing a day. We have 24 hours in a day and movies come in all different lengths. From 80 minute movies to three and a half hour long movies, It all just depends on how much time you have. People say they don’t have the time, but they do. Everyone has the time, you just need the willingness to do it. Without further

ado, welcome to Riley’s Recap.

In this column, I will be going over what movies I watched in the past week and reviewing them. This week, I watched ‘They Live’ (1988), ‘Straight Time’ (1978), ‘Frances Ha’ (2013), ‘Uncut Gems’ (2019), ‘Labyrinth’ (1986), ‘Planes, Trains, and Automobiles’ (1987), and ‘Repo Man’ (1984).

Riley Palma Entertainment Editor

‘Straight Time’ (1978) - Starring Dustin Hoffman, a personal favorite of mine, ‘Straight Time’ tells the story of Max Dembo. He’s a felon who just got out of jail. He wants to do things right this time, But his parole officer won’t let him. He keeps a close eye on Max and gets him for the smallest things. He gets a job, a place to stay, and a girlfriend. After running away from

‘They Live’ (1988) - ‘They Live’ is a Sci-fi Thriller directed by John Carpenter. Carpenter has directed many notable films such as, ‘The Thing’ (1982), ‘Halloween’ (1978), and ‘Escape From New York’ (1981). John Nada is struggling to survive in a world hurdling into a downward spiral. The rich keep getting richer and the poor get poorer. People struggle to find jobs, food, and even shelter. John gets mixed up in a conspiracy when he finds a pair of sunglasses that show the real world. Advertisements are now dull only saying “Obey”, “Marry and Reproduce”, etc. He realizes that his life is a lie and he wants to expose the hidden truth that his world is

the parole officer, Max can’t help but fall back into old habits. He turns to a life of crime for money. He reconnects with old friends that assist him with his crimes. He robs banks, makes money, and loses friends along the way. I thought this movie was really good. It has such a good cast, with Dustin Hoffman and Harry Dean Stanton. Both give great performances

‘Frances Ha’ (2013) - ‘Frances Ha’ follows Frances Halladay, a woman in her late 20’s failing to become a functioning adult in society. She isn’t making much money, she can barely afford rent, and she wants to be a dancer. She lives with her best friend Sophie and they are inseparable, until Sophie moves out. She is then left to find a new place to live and still

‘Planes, Trains, and Automobiles’ (1987)When Neal Page gets to the airport to board his flight back home to Chicago to spend thanksgiving with his family, he is shocked to see that his flight is rerouted to Kansas City due to a snow storm. Now Neal is alone, has no place to stay, and thanksgiving is in two

‘Uncut Gems’ (2019) - Directed by the Safdie brothers, ‘Uncut Gems’ weaves the story of Howard Ratner, a jeweler in New York City. He sells expensive jewelry to rich people and struggles to connect with his family. When he gets mixed up with the wrong people things go sour. With so many twists and turns

being run by aliens. I really enjoy this movie and it is one of my favorites. There are so many quotable lines. The action is very good. The story and concept of the movie are really cool as there isn’t anything like it. There is even a five minute fight scene between John and another character. The cast is great even with it being so limited. Keith David steals the show in every scene he is in. The movie is also very funny. I rated this movie 4/5 stars. It isn’t perfect but it is funny, cool, action packed, and entertaining. I have seen it a handful of times. I highly recommend it.

throughout the film. It was shot very well and the music was also really good. The story and character development were great. The heists were fun to watch. The ending was the only thing that bugged me a little bit but not enough to lower the rating. I rated this movie 5/5 stars. It was just really good with little to no flaws, a great cast, amazing acting, and a good story.

achieve her dream. I think this film is incredible. The artistic choice to have it be in black and white is really cool and it suits the film well. There are so many good shots in the movie. When Frances is running and dancing along the streets of New York. The soundtrack is really good too, ‘Modern Love’ by David Bowie, ‘Every 1’s a Winner’ by Hot Chocolate,

days. While waiting for his flight he meets an obnoxious slob of a man, Del Griffith, a shower ring salesman. Now Neal is stuck traveling all over with this annoying man. I think this movie is super funny. It is also very quotable. The dynamic between John Candy and Steve Martin is incredible. This movie is also very

‘Uncut Gems’ keeps you on the edge of your seat. A stressful, headache inducing, odyssey. I love the way it’s shot. It just looks super cool. The lighting and colors are great. The music is incredible and is definitely a highlight, it sounds like something I’ve never heard before. Oh man, that ending gets you. He got greedy

‘Labyrinth’ (1986) - Sarah is a teenage girl who thinks life just isn’t fair, Her stepmother is rude, She always has to watch her baby brother, and she just can’t catch a break. When she wishes the goblin king would take her little brother away everything goes wrong. Her brother is gone and suddenly she is in a labyrinth. She has 13 hours to save her brother from the goblin king makes him a goblin. In a race against time, she meets

these songs fit perfectly with the tone of the movie and complement it so well. This movie is just so beautiful and funny. Greta Gerwig gives an amazing performance. I rated this movie 5/5 stars and I highly recommend it. Read the ful review online on wearemillardsouth.com

sad and it makes you feel for one of the characters. The monologue that John Candy’s character gives is so good and also very iconic. This is also one of the few thanksgiving movies and boy is it good. I love this movie a lot. I rated this movie 5/5 stars and I highly recommend that everyone watch this movie.

and he flew too close to the sun. Also, the visuals at the beginning and end are really cool looking. I rated this movie 4/5 stars, I really enjoyed it and it was a wild ride.

many friends, and gets tricked along the way, making for a fun, family-friendly adventure. I really love this movie. I have seen it many times over the years. It is very nostalgic for me. Jim Henson is a master of his craft. He’s got so many cool little puppets and doodads. The setting of the movie is super well done and you feel as if you the viewer are engulfed in the Labyrinth with Sarah. The movie is just so enchanting with all the goblins and

‘Repo Man’ (1984) - Otto is a rough kid who just lost his job at the grocery store. When a man approaches him asking if he wants to make ten dollars. The man says he needs help getting his wife’s car out of a bad part of town. Otto reluctantly agrees and follows the man in what he says is his wife’s car. Before he knows it, Otto is a Repo Man. He steals cars from people who don’t pay the bills on them. He then

creatures who look very life-like. With David Bowie as the main villain he steals the show in almost every scene. The music is also really good and I enjoyed the original songs from the movie sung by David Bowie such as, ‘Magic Dance’, and ‘Chilly Down’. Overall it is a magical, fun filled, family friendly adventure. I rated this movie 4/5 stars and I highly recommend it.

gets tangled up in the life of a Repo Man and he along with all the other competing repo men are after a 1964 Chevy Malibu which is said to have four dead aliens in the trunk. I personally found this movie to be really cool. It is a perfect mix between action and science fiction. There are a lot of funny moments too. All of the characters are interesting and you feel like you could watch it forever. The movie also looks very beautiful.

The cast is great and they play the parts well. With car chases, fights, robberies, and a flying glow-in-the-dark car, ‘Repo Man’ is a hidden gem from the 80’s that I thoroughly enjoyed. I enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought the movie on Blu-ray. Anyways a super cool movie that I hold near and dear to my heart. I rated this movie 5/5 stars and it 100% deserves it. Highly recommended.

TikTok star rises to fame from song ‘Golden Hour’

Lawal Ali Social Media Editor

‘This is what ____ feels like’ is an interesting album name for the debut of upcoming Indie Pop artist JVKE. JVKE is a musician who, like other musicians, got his start on TikTok. He posted TikToks under the @jvke with the sound of his first viral song ‘this is what falling in love feels like.’

With JVKE’s debut album, there is a common theme present within the song titles. Generally, the titles have a format ‘this is what ____ feels like’. The album contains twelve tracks and does indeed showcase the potential of JVKE as a musical artist. Artists who blow up on TikTok tend to be labeled as “one-hit wonders,’’ but I think that with his debut he has shown potential and cannot be considered a one-hit wonder anymore.

The first song on the album is ‘this is what falling in love feels like,’ and it is the most popular song. As stated in the title it encompasses the feeling of romance and what falling in love is like. The majestic violin in the background and the passionate lyrics make for

a very catchy love song.

Another notable song that happens to be my favorite on this album is ‘Golden Hour.’ Where the piano in the instrumental shines, he sings about the experiences he had with his lover. “It was just two lovers sitting in the car, listening to Blonde, fallin’ for each other.” This song in particular has garnered traction on TikTok as well as JVKE using the song for his own TikToks. He really knows how to get his music out there and appeal to this generation.

Tapping into TikTok is one of the most effective ways to advertise your music with little to no money spent. With TikTok, you can make a simple video with your music in the background or as the focus, and other people will generally make posts with your sound which just multiplies the number of people that will end up liking and listening to your music.

Overall the album is definitely a high-quality debut album for an artist who got his initiation through social media alone. I’m curious to see what his next records/tracks will bring and how he’ll improve on his already substantial song creation.

‘Bones And All’ combines romance and gore

Lauren Rayner Managing Editor

Just minutes into Luca Guadagnino’s latest romantic, horrifying masterwork of a film, the viewer is greeted with the chilling sounds of flesh being thoroughly devoured– setting the stage for the rest of 2022’s “Bones and All”-- A genre-smashing flick about the lives of expelled and lonely traveling cannibals.

“Bones and All” follows the blooming relationship between Maren, played by Taylor Russell, and Lee, played by Timothée Chalamet, and their journey through the Midwest after Maren was disowned by her father. Maren meets Lee on her way to find her mother in an attempt to discover more about herself and her cannibalistic urges. Throughout the never-ending road trip, they meet a plethora of strange characters that share the same, brutal problem, helping Maren discover some hard truths about herself and Lee.

The synopsis may seem silly on paper, but with Guadagnino’s track record of creating beautiful medleys of gore, drama, and coming-of-age tales, the film turned out to be nothing but strangely beautiful and intimate. It is a story from a genre I have seen few pull off, let alone this successfully. Guadagnino blends the summer exuberance of “Call Me By Your Name” (2017), and the unnerving body horror from his 2018 “Suspiria” remake, to build a well-paced, beautifully shot, nothing but unique movie about a concept that is hard to tackle without appearing tacky. Everyone in the movie is giving it their all, with a knockout performance from Taylor Russell, who plays a difficult, challenged, often-blue character wonderfully. “Bones and All” also happens to include one of my favorite performances from Chalamet. The role of “Lee” was almost made for him, as it allows his nonchalant, weird attitude to play incredibly well. Out of all of the freaks the cannibal friends come across, which they can literally find through their sense of smell, Mark Rylance’s character “Sully”, is one of the best on-screen villains of the year. He is perfectly unsettling and captivating to the eye, as his short

but semi-frequent scenes feel so overbearing but exceptional. Chloë Sevigny’s cameo as Maren’s biological mother was one of the most eerie yet rewarding scenes in the whole film. A jump scare from her character genuinely freaked me out. Her screen presence was amazingly weird and terrifying.

Horror film ‘Barbarian’ leaves audience in awe

Zoey Buthorne Features Editor

The movie “Barbarian” is a psychological horror film, written and directed by Zach Cregger, that was released on September 9th, 2022. Despite its low budget of 4.5 million dollars the film manages to combine captivating cinematography with a disturbing and unique idea to create a movie better executed than most high-budget horror films. This wildly unpredictable movie will keep you guessing every step of the way until its conclusion, something nobody could predict, leaves you with a sense of lasting disturbance. The movie begins when Tess (Georgina Campbell) arrives, in the middle of the night, at an Airbnb she rented in a dangerous area of Detroit. She soon discovers that it has been double-booked by Keith (Bill Skarsgård), an unusual man who is already in the house when she arrives. Tess decides to stay in the house with Keith after she fails to find a hotel, and he convinces her that staying there is the best option. While Tess has a bad feeling about the situation from the get-go she soon discovers that her fears will be met with something worse than she could have ever imagined.

This movie kept me guessing and guessing wrong every step of the way. Every time I felt confident that I knew what was going to happen next, my overconfidence was humbled yet again by a new and unexpected plot twist. While the movie was not the scariest horror movie out there what it lacks in pure terror it makes up for with a storyline more well-developed and complex than is often

seen in the horror genre. To be clear when I say the movie is not the scariest I don’t mean it isn’t scary, Barbarian had many effective jumpscares and the sheer disturbingness of it had my anxiety levels through the roof throughout the entire film.

This movie does many things right. The cinematography is very well done and has the viewer captivated throughout the entire film. Also, the plot for Barbarian was a completely unique idea which was a breath of fresh air from the predictable, seen-before, and lazy horror films produced far too often. While at times it feels that the movie is trying to do too much I find that it is a much more enjoyable experience to watch as a viewer than a movie that does too little.

Barbarian is however not completely above criticism. As in most horror movies, some of the choices the main character makes will bring you out of the movie and have you yelling at the screen in an attempt to warn them of their own utter stupidity. The plot points of the movie are also so numerous that while it excels in creating a completely unpredictable and shocking movie it leaves the movie feeling unfinished with many loose ends when it’s over.

Humans’ innate fear of the unknown would make this move adrenaline-inducing for just about any viewer

and I would especially recommend it to any psychological horror fan. While the movie may not be scary enough to keep you up at night it is certainly compelling enough to keep you thinking long after the movie is finished and is definitely worth the watch.

The atmosphere of the movie is also excellent. “Bones and All” perfectly depicts the Midwest in the ‘80s and its utter dreariness. The film taking place in the 1980s doesn’t rely on that nostalgia factor and takes you to that time period gracefully. It is undeniably fun to implement such a bizarre concept like cannibalism into that kind of atmosphere, as it makes that kind of practice seem so much more believable. The setting combined with the performances and Guadagnino’s direction somehow makes humans who relish eating other humans a believable occurrence with 100% sincerity. The film has so much heart while being very pretty in its accompanying cinematography. Every shot is beautiful.

“Bones and All” has a lot to balance in its genres and tones, and it is all pulled off fantastically. Although a little long for this kind of story, clocking in at 131 minutes, there are enough chaotic scenes followed by loving moments that keep the audience engaged and perplexed about what will happen next. It is also hard to ignore the movie’s great music choices, with a handful of new wave classics and a simple yet effective score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Topping the movie off is an absolutely gutwrenching ending that makes perfect sense for what the movie is trying to say and accomplish. The film is eerily romantic. It is all about love.

“Bones and All” is gross, visceral, beautiful, and entertaining. It’s emotionally charged while still fun, embracing its absurdity in trying to make a romantic drama about cannibalism. Its plot on paper doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of how the movie symbolizes all-encompassing passion for another person in the guise of gnarly man-eating. It found a way to handle themes of isolation, self-discovery, escapism, and self-acceptance, wrapped up in gore and turmoil. It takes the viewer through a roller coaster of emotions, which is what you would want from a romance occurring in a lifeless region of the country infested with crazy, blood-smelling civilians. A film with this much body horror being as tender as it is is remarkable and is a landmark movie both body-horror and road-trip-flick fans could take something from.

War film’s quiet moments allow story, actors to shine

Dillon Stice Entertainment Editor

When many think about war films, they will think of the violence, the blood, and the jarring visual and auditory realism, and rightfully so. And even though ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ has each and every one of those characteristics, they aren’t the reason I love the film. In fact, you could argue I love the film for the exact opposite reasons.

I love the film, because of the scenes where there are none of those stereotypical characteristics of what makes a war film “great.” I love the film for the quiet and peaceful moments, where each and every character feels like a lifelong friend, and so many different emotions are provoked.

I love ‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ because it isn’t afraid to be human. To be quiet.

‘All Quiet on the Western Front,’ was released onto Netflix in late October and was directed by Edward Berger. The film is absolutely astonishing and successfully filled the shoes of the legendary book it was based off of, which was published in 1928 and written by the legendary author, Erich Maria Remarque, which changed the way the world viewed war. The book was so

popular because of the way it gave a face to the millions of men that died in World War I and wasn’t afraid to face the truth.

This was especially brought to life in the movie. Throughout the movie we are placed in fields or camps, the mostly loud and bass heavy soundtrack goes quiet, and the only noises we really hear are the characters themselves, whether it is them speaking, eating, singing, or just taking in a deep breath. These scenes, in my opinion, are where the movie thrives. It’s scenes like these where the tremendous acting from people like Felix Kammerer or Daniel Brühl truly shine. It’s scenes like these where the characters are brought to life and the audience is captured by the story. It’s these scenes that make the outcome of the story so emotionally heavy and impactful.

All together, I think this film is an absolute masterpiece in all aspects of film. The acting, cinematography, writing, directing, and soundtrack is all perfect. In my opinion, this is the best movie I’ve seen so far this year and deserves every award it gets, and more. I highly recommend this movie to everyone, whether they like war films or not. This film not only brought the all time classic book to life, it has changed the way I think about wars and conflicts as a whole. Every second of the 2 hour and 23 minute movie feels worth it.

High energy student section packs the gym this season

Dylan Wiese Sports Editor

One of the most popular things to do at high schools is take part in the student section. During the fall sports season the Patriots had one of the best student sections the school has ever seen.

The Patriots student section really set themselves apart from other school’s student sections.

“It’s just a great environment to be a part of. I’m not playing sports so I try to do my part by going and cheering on players. It’s just fun you know you get cool pictures hanging out with your friends,” senior Isaiah Rasmussen said.

“I have a lot of friends on the athletic teams so I love going out there and supporting them,” senior Max Heard said. “I have a lot of pride for the school itself as well. I really love the school and the culture that it has and I love going out there. Dressing up funny and just showing all my school pride is really fun,” he said.

“The student section is very engaged and supportive, you know, and this fall has been a perfect example of the different themes and kids buying in and dressing up and cheering loudly and supportive for the teams,” AD Steve Throne said. “Those are the games that thrive.”

What makes the Millard South Student Section so different from everyone else is how organized and involved all students are.

“I just think the overall involvement and the organization. I think our cheerleaders do a great job of organizing but we also had a couple of our senior front row group this fall has been great and organize cheers and keep everybody involved from the freshmen all the way through to seniors,” Throne said. “You know, that the big piece is how do you keep all classes cheering and coming to games and being supportive? So I think that’s what sets us apart. Just that family environment.”

However, just because we have moved on to the winter sports season does not mean

that it is the end of the student section.

It is important to continue to come out and support all Patriots, not just athletes.

“I think it’s important for students to go to all activities, not just sporting events,” Throne said.

“They need to go to plays, musical concerts and anything else going on. That’s going to get support across the board that we’re supporting all Patriots, not just athletes, but I think it’s important to get out and support your classmates and perform in different arts or activities or athletics. It’s nice to see your classmates there cheering you on and supporting you.”

Having fun is not the only reason there is a student section. It also does truly help any performer at Millard South perform to the highest level they can and raises the school spirit for every single student.

“It can make them perform at a higher level because they get that support that they need while they’re out there competing and trying their best and so I think it gives school spirit,” Throne said. “At the end of the day all this is school spirit. We want that red, white and blue pride running through everything that we do and so it’s great that they’re there to support their classmates but also show off their school spirit.”

This winter there will be music concerts, a school play, 9 boys varsity basketball games at home, 6 girls varsity basketball games at home, wrestling matches, swim and dive meets and bowling matches. There are also JV, Reserve and Freshmen matches in all these matches.

These events could all use student support. Look in the announcements or the Millard South website for dates and other information.

Patriots strike back at state

Dylan Wiese Sports Editor

Unified sports pair an athlete with special needs and a partner which allows them to compete just like any other student at the school.

The Millard South Unified Team just had a 2nd place finish trailing only district foe Millard North.

This allowed the Millard South Unified Bowling Team to qualify for the unified bowling state tournament for the second year in a row even though the first state tournament for unified bowling was just six years ago. The Patriots once again placed in the top 3 at the state tournament as they lost to runner up Columbus High Sschool as Norfolk High School took home the state unified bowling championship.

“I decided to do unified bowling again, because I’ve been involved in unified activities since middle school and have been bowling my whole life, so it was a good fit,” junior Grayson Martin said.

“We made it to state last year and it was a really fun experience and it also helps to prepare me for the high school bowling season,” junior Neko Manna said. “I wanted to do Unified this year because last year we made it to state and hope to take us there again this year and it was just a really good experience,” junior Isaac Kirby said.

Having unified sports is very important as it brings about inclusion in both school and athletic activities.

“Unified sports is important because of the inclusion and special needs students being involved and the school seeing them as regular students and giving them the ability to compete is really important,” Unified Bowling Coach David Stalling said.

“I think that having a unified team is a really good thing because it pairs special needs students with other students which doesn’t happen very often,” junior Isaac Kirby said.

There is another important aspect of unified sports and that is giving all students a chance to have fun and compete against other schools.

“The best part is definitely the interactions with the athletes because they are usually really excited and into the game but they also joke around so it is a really good mix,” junior Neko Manna said.

“My favorite part of unified is celebrating with the athletes when they are doing well,” junior Grayson Martin said.

“It has to be the athletes. Working with those kids and competing with the partners is a lot of fun,” Head Coach David Stallings said.

All in all, unified sports and unified bowling in particular truly adds to the school in a meaningful way.

The Patriot student section celebrates after a huge jump shot from junior Will Cooper to put the Pats up by 2 points with 6.3 seconds left in the game against Lincoln North Star. Photo by Ally Seevers

Millard South Unified Bowling team prepares for the state tournament at Sun Valley Lanes in Lincoln. Left to right: Coach Monica Bachman, Jerome Woolworth, Brayden Schmieding, Brayden Nielsen, Neko Manna, Grayson Martin, Coach David Stalling. The Patriots went on to finish 3rd. Photo courtesy of Millard South Activities

Taking home the hardware

Millard South unified coach wins coach of the year

Dylan Wiese Sports Editor

Many Millard South activities receive citywide and statewide attention. However, for the first time you can add unified track and field to the list of things Millard South is known for.

“I do a unified sport because my brother has an intellectual disability,” senior Andrea Foreman said. “I tried to find a unified activity that is something I like to do on my own time, and I like to run so I naturally went to track,” she said.

Unified Track and Field Coach David Stalling has been named the NFHS NSAA State Coach of the Year for his work with the Unified Track and Field Team.

“I would say Coach Stalling’s ability to help us all really want to do our best and succeed is what makes Millard South Unified Track so successful,” senior Andrea Foreman said. “Also his leadership is really important and he made sure that everybody on the team knew what they were supposed to do,” she said.

However, it is not just the coaches that make the Unified Track and Field Team so special, it is also the athletes that compete on this team that makes this team so special.

“As of right now the thing that makes us special is our athletes. We have the two fastest runners in the state,” Stalling said. “The other athletes really gather around them and set the bar higher for themselves is what makes the team so special,” he said.

However, unified track is truly all about the athletes and giving them a fair opportunity to compete just like any other athlete.

Wrestling:

Ally Seevers Editor-in-Chief

Two years following the sanctioning of girls wrestling, the athletic activity has now become the fastest-growing sport in the state of Nebraska. With over 125 programs in high schools across the state, girls wrestling has built a welcoming community for girls who are interested in trying something new.

For senior Jenah Jacobson who began wrestling for South before girls were given their own team, the growth has brought her a second home.

“Looking from my sophomore year to now, the sport has grown so much. It means something special, watching more and more girls take the risk to try something new,” Jacobson said. “As someone who had to wrestle with the boys, it’s just an amazing experience to go from having one other girl to a whole team by your side. We’ve grown to become a family,” she said.

After watching girls like Jacobson and

junior Stormy Hampton, who became the first female wrestler to compete at state for the Patriots, many girls took the risk to try out for the team.

“I was definitely nervous to join at first,” junior Lauren Corey said. “I was scared that I was going to be by myself and that everyone was going to do their own thing. But looking back, I’m glad I joined. All of the girls are so supportive and we’ve gotten super close.”

For girls who grew up wrestling against the boys, the sanctioning of the sports brings new opportunities.

“Growing up, wrestling on a boys team, it was different,” freshman Millie Jensen said. “It was definitely harder. There was more competition and the guys were a lot bigger than me. So coming into high school and having this group of girls, it’s exciting.”

The sport shows no sign of slowing down, building a foundation for girls like Jensen to come.

“I love seeing all the girls taking that leap of faith and having fun,” Jacobson said.

“Having each other every step of the way, we’ve all helped each other gain confidence and become better wrestlers.”

“I love track and I also love working with our ACP students and seeing them involved and them being recognized for what they do and what they can do. That is really fun,” Stalling said.

Unified athletes earning recognition for what they do is a very important part of any unified sport.

Overall, the NFHS NSAA State Coach of the Year David Stalling and all the athletes and partners involved with Unified Track and Field is what makes the Millard South Unified Track and Field team so special.

Girls wrestling builds a strong foundation for years to come

Having each other every step of the way, we’ve all helped each other gain confidence and become better wrestlers.

-Senior Jenah Jacobson ”

Sophomore Brianna Hernandez wrestles in the the Council Bluffs Classic. The girls team finished 6th in the tournament with 5 girls placing. Photo by Ally Seevers

I love track and I also love working with our ACP students and seeing them involved and them being recognized for what they do and what they can do.

-Head Coach David Stalling ”

Coach David Stalling wins NFHS NSAA State Coach of the year. He coaches Unified Track and Field as well as the unified bowling team.

Bye Bye Backflips

NSAA bans wrestlers from backflipping

Ally Seevers Editor-in-Chief

SPORTS OPINION

For the love of the game

Ally Seevers Editor-in-Chief

In cross country, you will find some of the nicest girls you will ever meet. Girls that are wish you good luck on the line, cheer you on when you are both struggling in a race, and stand at the finish line after they just won to give each competitor a fist bump. But then there are girls who will elbow you in the stomach, speed up and move in front of you as you try to pass them, all so they can run 2 seconds faster than you. In cross country, there’s no officials watching your every move, throwing a yellow piece of cloth up every 5 seconds. It’s just you and your competitors out in the middle of nowhere, racing to beat the clock and the girl in front of you.

Similarly, no official stands over the court in high school tennis. There is no one to call lines or keep athletes accountable. Players are left to call their own lines, leaving them responsible for scoring and the outcome of the match. During a match at the Millard West Invite, I called a ball out, watching it bounce into the doubles alley. From my vantage point, 5 feet away from where it touched the ground, it looked out, but somehow, my opponent on the other side of the court saw it land in. She began pestering me about my call, making me feel small and telling me I was wrong. I ended up giving her the benefit of the doubt, even though I saw it go out, all because I wanted her to stop yelling at me.

Through sports journalism coverage, I sit on the sidelines at every game, inches from the playing field and all the action. From that spot, I hear all that’s said on the court or field. I hear the yells after a big sack, the “and one!” after a drive to the hoop, and the not-always-nice conversations between the players.

Unsportsmanlike behavior has become an ever-growing problem within sports, especially in high schools sports here in Nebraska. The Nebraska School Athletics Associations’ decision to ban backflips is a step in the right direction. However, the backflips aren’t always a problem, nor are they the only problem.

If an athlete backflips after a match, it’s usually because they just won a state championship title: something that is worthy of a backflip. They backflip because they just accomplished something they’ve dreamed of since they were a little kid.

It’s the things wrestlers do just before and right after a backflip that have gotten out of hand. From mimicking motions to shushing the crowd, some have taken their excitement too far. It is actions like these that should be called and penalized, not a simple backflip.

A backflip isn’t all that different from a big dunk in basketball. Both are showboating, and yes, maybe even a little bit taunting, yet only one is considered unsportsmanlike conduct. Same with players celebrating after a big sack in football or a single point celebration in volleyball. That is celebrating, just like you would celebrate after you just won a state title match, so why can they celebrate but wrestlers can’t?

Sportsmanship is something that does need to be regulated. Sports should bring people together, not pit people against each other. But at the end of the day, these are high school students: teenagers who are still growing, maturing, and learning each and every day. They’re just kids playing the sport they love. They should be allowed to celebrate, show off a little, and just have fun.

The state wrestling finals will look a little different this year as the NSAA announced that starting this season, backflips following the conclusion of a match will be considered a penalty.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Millard South head boys wrestling coach Nate Olson said. “It was getting out of control, not just in wrestling and Class A, but in every sport. We try to teach to kids the expectation of going out there and winning. If you’re expected to win, you expected to win with integrity and show class and sportsmanship.”

Unsportsmanlike behavior has become a growing problem in sports across the state, something the NSAA looks to address.

“Unsportsmanlike behavior, not only in the state of Nebraska, but across the nation and sportsmanship is becoming a major issue in all sporting activities, not just at high school level,” NSAA Assistant Director Ron Higdon said. “Our parent company, NFHS, which is National Federation of State High School Associations, they have made that a point of emphasis for all state associations to address sportsmanship and to look at ways that we can better educate, people, kids, coaches, and parents. And by doing that, hopefully, we’re going to get some better results with how people act on and off the playing field, the court, the mat, whatever.”

After the state final match, many of the state champions will flip, dance, flex, all motions to express the rush of excitement they experience. For wrestlers like senior Joel Adams and junior Miles Anderson, who both look to repeat a state title they won last year, they will have to be careful when celebrating.

“Last year, I backflipped after my match,” Anderson said. “I was pretty excited, I had just won my first state title. I had no idea it was going to end up being considered taunting.”

“It’s hard,” Adams said. “Wrestlers like to backflip and

celebrate. But at the same time, I understand why sportsmanship is a critical part of high school sports. Younger athletes look up to us, and we need to teach them young that sportsmanship is important and requires a lot of character and restraint. I’m am a big believer in that you should go out there and celebrate like you expected to win. I think that true champions can show sportsmanship and sacrifice doing a backflip,” Adams said.

In many other sports such as football or basketball, players will celebrate after a big sack or a buzzer beater, something that isn’t typically called unsportsmanlike conduct.

“I think that celebration is one thing,” Higdon said. “Celebration at the cost of taunting someone else is something different,” he said. “For example, you score a soccer goal and you run all the way over to the opponents. And show yourself like, well, here I am, that’s unsportsmanlike, because you’re taunting. There is a fine line there. You can celebrate without being disrespectful. You have to have some respect for the game, for the contest, for the opponent, for the officials. For the other fans, coaches, you have to have respect. And that’s a lot of what unsportsmanlike is about. It’s about respect,” Higdon said.

“I think wrestling is setting itself apart, and that’s what the NSAA and Ron Higdon is trying to do,” Olson said. “He’s trying to put wrestling in a positive light. I think it was directed at the state tournament where a lot of people will show up to watch, so he wants us to be seen in a positive light. I don’t think wrestling thinks that they’re getting cheated. It’s just another rule that we have to follow and we’ll do the best as coaches and athletes that we can to make sure we abide by those rules,” Olson said.

The NSAA looks to continue to address the growing problem of unsportsmanlike behavior. They plan to better educate those involved to create the best environment possible.

“Sportsmanship has always a topic of discussion,” Higdon said. “We are doing things to address it and showing people that we’re educated. We send out information on social media when we do those presentations and other things of that nature. So if we talk about it enough and we keep it in the forefront, hopefully people will be better educated about it,” he said.

Students have power to change the game

Ally Seevers Editor-in-Chief

Student sections have the power to change the tide of the game. With 1 minute left on the clock and a 3 point ball game, the crowd can build confidence in a player or knock them down.

“Student sections can really change a game,” senior Grant Renken said, “especially in basketball, because they are right on top of the court. When the students get loud and yell ‘Defense,’ it gives motivation to their time, while making it hard for the opponents to hear each other. They can give a lot of momentum,” he said.

But often times, students will end up cheering against the other team rather than their own. While an opposing player takes a shot at the line, students will scream and make noise, something that may be annoying, but is ultimately harmless. Other times, student sections will call out names or say things to get in the head of the opposing players, something that will not be tolerated.

“The challenge for us is that kids sometimes forget to

cheer for their team,” Activities Director Steve Throne said. “We just need to stay focused on cheering for your squad, being loud, making noise, but doing it in a positive way. The negative stuff doesn’t build up until after the game when you can have students and players going at each other. We just need to stay positive so it’s not personal.”

For seniors who lead the student section, it comes down to their seniority to keep the students in check.

“A lot of the times, it’s seniors in the front row who are leading the student section,” senior Jake Meyer said. “As long as the younger guys listen, I think we can keep it safe and composed.”

While student sections can sometimes get out of hand, Throne said he believes they are the key to a great season.

“I think it builds a great atmosphere,” he said. “When you have two student sections going back and forth, having some fun with each other, I think that’s great but it’s what makes players perform at a higher level. It just makes the game better, so we need student sections, but we just need positive student sections cheering for our school and our players,” Throne said.

Senior Joel Adams celebrates his second state championship title in the 2022 State Wrestling Championships. Adams, along with former Bellevue West wrestler and 4x state champ, Garrett Grice, were among many of the state champions to bask in the glory. Photos by Ally Seevers