Common Sense Volume 23 Issue 5 March 31, 2023

Common Sense Millard South High School • 14905 Q St. • Omaha, Neb., 68137

March 31, 2023

Volume 23 Issue 5

A fairy tale ending Millard South ends season on top Ally Seevers Editor-In-Chief

Senior Cora Olsen waves the net around in celebration after a dominating win.

The Patriots defeated Lincoln High 72-60 to bring home the program’s first state title since 1996. Photo by Ally Seevers

A storybook ending for girls basketball as the team finds a way past the semifinals to defeat Lincoln High 72-60 and bring home the program’s first state championship title since 1996.

“It meant a lot,” senior Khloe Lemon said. “In previous years, we fell short. Finally coming together as a team and all having the same end goal, I felt like that really helped us win.”

To get to the state final game, the team first had to beat Lincoln Southwest, a team that upset the Patriots in the semifinals last season.

“It was definitely a revenge game,” senior Cora Olsen said. “It felt really good to beat them after losing to them last year.”

The team sailed past the Silverhawks, winning 74-58 to make it back to the semis. After falling short in the semifinals the last three years, the seven seniors knew what they needed to do to get past the Thunderbirds in the teams’ “rubber match.”

“Going into the game, we knew what we had to do,” senior Juliana Jones said. “We had really good defense and felt really good as a team.”

Senior Mya Babbitt led the team with 28 points and eight three-pointers, setting the all-class state tournament record for threes in a game.

“The whole experience was just crazy,” Babbitt said. “We knew we had to come out and make a lot of points if we wanted to win. We kept making our shots, and I think that’s what really set us apart.”

When the final buzzer rang and a spot in the state championship final was secured, a sense of relief washed over the Patriots.

“We knew falling short was not an option this year,” Lemon said. “After everything we’ve been through, to be able to have the opportunity to play in the championship game with my team really meant a lot.”

In that final game, the #3 seed Lincoln High was up 17-10 after the first quarter. Being down, Millard South knew they had to up their intensity if they wanted to cut down the nets at PBA. “Everyone knew we had to stay positive,” Olsen said. “It was a one-and-done kind of game, so we knew we had to get our energy up if we wanted to win.”

As soon as the second quarter started, the Patriots took the lead and never looked back.

“The crowd really got us going,” senior Lexi Finkenbiner said. “They gave us the energy we needed to get the job done.”

As the final minute counted down and the scoreboard read 72-60 Millard South, the teams dreams of finally winning a state championship title became a reality.

“It was a weight lifted off my shoulders, watching the clock come down and seeing we were on top,” senior Grace Prucha said. “When the buzzer rang and we all stormed the court, it was like a storybook ending.”

“I’m just so grateful for this team,” Finkenbiner said. “I wouldn’t want to win a state title with anyone else.”

Cheers to Success: Patriots reclaim state title Olivia Ellison Sports Editor A year-long’s dedication and hard work paid off, as Millard South’s varsity cheerleading squad won state for the first time since 2020. With practice every day plus performances at basketball games, showcases with other schools, and even former varsity cheerleaders coming to critique, this state win made it all worth it.

Junior Kinsley Shed, “I stayed motivated by thinking about how I wanted to do this not only for myself, but for my teammates, aka, my best friends.”

A few Millard South Varsity Cheerleaders came and critiqued the team throughout the year. With returners Mckenzie Sonier, Sydney Gerace, Kylie Beadle Carter, Pyper Thompson, Kaylee Mccdermott, Tori Tevelde, and Mallory Childers coming back and giving their input. One thing that really stuck with the varsity team, and left a feeling of empowerment and hope, was all of the alumni coming back and saying, “This routine could definitely win state. You just need to keep the energy up. The choreography is cute and original. I think it looks good, it’s just little things.” Almost all of the alumni for the most part, said the same thing. Keep

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Dance Team takes first nationally in hiphop. Photo by Lydia Bruckner

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up the energy. So that’s what they did.

This varsity cheer squad worked hard, with their seven seniors and eight underclassmen. All of these girls spent more than 100 hours to nail down and perfect their routine, all for first place in their division of non-building, non-tumbling, traditional.

Senior Allison Kilzer was definitely one of the more involved students not only on the team, but inside and outside of school as well. With AP classes, being a DECA president, being a manager at UrbanAir, keeping straight A’s, doing baton outside of school, and being a 3-year Varsity Cheerleader, Kilzer had made many sacrifices in between all of that. “To be honest, I don’t know how I did it, but I enjoyed everything I did, so like, it never felt like a drag to do anything.” Kilzer found a way to balance all of these opportunities, and still won state. She had to skip some practices for baton in place for cheer. She worked later into the nights, and sometimes right after a 3 hour cheer practice.

It wasn’t just Allison who made sacrifices for the squad.

There were many sacrifices made between all of the members of this team.

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Stage One celebrates its last performance on Night of the Stars. Photo by Jamison Hanway

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Junior Savana Sonier uses the iconic megaphone to prove how she won state as a first-year member of varsity. Photo by Lydia Bruckner

Meet the candidates for Mean Girls themed Mr. Millard South Pageant.

Art by Ella Erickson

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CTRL Coffee and Cereal Bar combines games with cereal.

Art by Cruz Carrillo

News 3 • 31• 2023

2 Cheer continued from page 1 They had to shorten work schedules and quit jobs that didn’t allow for the cheerleaders to prioritize cheer over everything. Many of the squad members had to give up spending time with family, friends, and boyfriends, for early morning Saturday practices, and after school practices every day except Fridays. Coming home late was expected, as Shari would make them stay later if she didn’t feel the routine had been perfected enough that day. As the time was coming closer to state, however, the team had some more sacrifices to be made.

“Well I would have to say I was very stressed out at first and started crying, but then I took a deep breath and told myself I could do it. And then we won!” Junior Brittany Huseth stated, after finding out, the day of state, that a flag that they had added to the routine was left at Millard South.

This wasn’t the only issue either. Senior Marybeth Meiyer, Ella Helm, and Junior Olivia Ellison, were all injured with strained or pulled muscles the day of state.When Helm was asked how she felt about herself being injured day of state, Performing the state award-winning routine, senior Ella Helm shows the crowd at senior night why their performance earned top honors. Photo

by Lydia Bruckner

Senator suggests moment of silence for students’ sake Hilary Lawson Staff Reporter Students may be starting each school day next year with a moment of silence if their district used the guidelines created with the help of Senator Tom Briese. Briese introduced legislative bill 141, titled “Require the State Department of Education to provide guidance to school districts relating to a moment of silence in schools.” It basically means that students, staff, and faculty members would have a moment of silence at some point during the school day, if their district adopted a policy for one.

“Studies have shown that a moment of quiet reflection during the school day has numerous benefits for students, including reductions in bullying, more self-discipline, and better behavior,” Briese said in an email interview. “I believe that the guidelines which could come from the department of education would be good for school districts to have, to ensure that nobody feels that a district’s moment of silence would come close to encouraging prayer.”

Briese added, “I do not necessarily believe that a moment of silence should be mandatory,” and “it would still be left up to individual districts to choose to adopt a moment of silence policy.”

Junior Dalton Heller, who frequently delivers the school announcements over the intercom, said he felt that the bill wasn’t needed.

“People would rather get on with their day than have a moment of silence,” Heller said. “I feel like it would be awkward and people wouldn’t exactly care for it,” he added.

“I think for some it could be beneficial, but I feel like a lot of kids would probably be distracted and use it for other things rather than actually using it for a moment of silence,” junior Ariel Mass said.

Patriot yoga instructor Meryl Zadina presented a different perspective on LB 141.

“Not everyone would use it, but many would,” she said. “Taking moments to stop and breathe, whether this be a meditation practice, breathwork, or a silent prayer, is healthy and beneficial to our brains,” Zadina

said. “Moments of intentional silence allows our sympathetic nervous system to calm down. Over time, practicing quiet and stillness will increase our memory, attention, and emotional control.”

The meditation specialist explained how having some practice similar to the bill’s provisions would have benefited her in her earlier years.

“I didn’t learn mindfulness practices until I sought them out in adulthood,” Zadina said. “I believe that I would have experienced much less mental and emotional suffering in my past if I had known as a young person how to help myself in the ways that I do now.”

Zadina also described how her students and learning environment could be affected if the bill were to pass.

“I think that this would allow students a moment to regulate themselves. They would be given an opportunity to focus on whatever is on their mind, and this intentional mental processing time will help them to cognitively work through stress and emotions,” she said. “Students are expected to be “on” all day at school; they could feel fresh and ready for learning throughout the day if they were given an opportunity to reset at some point.” She added, “I can’t help but think that this could potentially reduce behavioral issues in the classroom, as there would be less emotional outbreaks or reactions from people who had time to become aware of their feelings.”

If the bill were passed, the issue of getting students to actually participate in the moment of silence would have to be resolved.

Heller stated that if the moment of silence was implemented into a school day, “students would just start talking.”

Zadina shared similar feelings.

“It would be completely pointless and a waste of our valuable learning time during the school day if people ignored it or got on their phones during this time,” she said. “It has to be intentional and supported by all to get the full value of it.”

Mass also added, “It’s beneficial in theory, but I feel like if we implemented it, it would be hard.”

she replied: “I was frustrated and worried day, a team that holds each other accountmy jumps weren’t gonna be good, but I able and works hard, is team best fit for a made sure to take care of myself to speed state title. up the healing process, and then everyThere is no doubt that the 2023 thing was fine and we won at the end.” championships for Millard South have “With the help of the athletic training been stacking up for multiple sports staff, support from Shari, and A LOT of and activities for the school. With wins Icy Hot, I was able to push through every for the varsity cheer squad, girl’s varsity time we performed.” Senior Marybeth basketball, boys state wrestling with seven Meiyer. individual state champs, dance team, and “I was in pain. It hurt to even walk, but more to come. The pride in every Millard I didn’t wanna let the team down. So I South Patriot should be skyrocketing right took 2 giant pain meds, put a heating pad on my leg, and prayed. The adrenaline I got from being on the mat made me forget that I was even in pain. I literally didn’t feel it. It was crazy!” Junior Olivia Ellison.

Of course, this couldn’t have been possible without their varsity cheer coach, Shari Burrus. Burrus put her faith in the varsity squad of msvc With a 91.20 out of 100 point state-winning routine, ‘23, and rightfully so. “I senior Peyton Hizer hits the crowd with her Patriot knew when I saw the pride and smile. Photo by Lydia Bruckner girls perform at Millard West that they had what it takes to be now. This is a school with many awards, state champions.” Shari has definitely had and many reasons as to why students her patience tested, but at the end of the should be proud to be a Patriot.

29 years sums it up for math department head Charleen Darra Staff Reporter

go on is the most rewarding part of teaching.

Twenty nine years does seem long, but she says she does not regret teaching.

“I do not ever regret being a teacher,” Warneke said. “It’s one of the most fulfilling jobs a person can have. Each day, your bucket is filled.

I have met so many students and it is very satisfying knowing that I have played a role in their life,” she said.

When leaving a job you love, you will always have those memories you made with people stick with you. Warneke says that she will miss the daily interactions with students, teachers, and administration.

“Our math department is a fantastic group of teachers,” Warneke said. “We had a lot of fun with each other both at school and outside of school,” she said.

All good things have to come to an end, but why should they come to an end?

“It is time for a change,” Warneke said. “I need to start slowing down with life. I still plan on teaching a class or two at Metro CC and/ or UNO, but won’t have all of the other tasks that have been on my plate for the last 29 years,” she said.

Warneke says that she would like to spend more time just relaxing, playing pickleball, and traveling with family.

“Teaching at Millard South is not a place I ‘work’ at but the place where I have had the pleasure and opportunity to spend the last 29 years,” Warneke said.

How many years can you dedicate to something you love after knowing it is time to stop and rest? Twenty-nine years may seem enough.

After this semester, math teacher and department head Cami Warneke will retire.

Teaching school, especially high school, has its moments. Warneke shared some of her favorite teaching moments, one being sponsoring the Math and Science Club.

“Preparing students to participate in math competitions was so much fun,” Warneke said.

She also shared that starting AP Statistics class in 1997 and the Math Club in 2007 was impactful for her.

“I love this class [AP Stats] because it draws on a subject I really enjoyed college,” Warneke said.

Along with the happy moments, there were some sad ones, Warneke said. She recalled reading to the class about how the World Trade Center towers were being hit by a plane on 9/11 and also the school shooting here at Millard South in 2011.

“Both were difficult times seeing students and teachers being impacted by what happened,” Warneke said.

There is a Plan B to everything. Warneke shared that if she weren’t a teacher she would be an actuary. An actuary analyzes the financial costs of risk and uncertainty, but for right now she will stick with being a teacher.

“My initial college degree was in math with a minor in actuarial science. After college, I worked for CIGNA in Connecticut as an actuary pricing health care plans,” Warneke said.

Warneke left the corporation and started teaching in the fall of 1994.

“I like having the chance to share my love and knowledge of math with students,” she said.

Cami Warneke teaches geometry to sophomores Bernie Anderson Warneke shares and Alyse Aschebrook. Photo by Charleen Darra that seeing a student’s light bulb

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Dance Team hip hops to the top Jamison Hanway Staff Reporter Millard South’s Dance team’s perseverance, determination, and hard work has paid off, by bringing home the gold and winning their hip hop competition at the state contest in Grand Island.

Millard South’s Dance Team has competed at a high level in previous years as well and was ranked 6th in the nation for small varsity hip hop and 7th in the nation for small varsity pom in 2021.

With a year-long season, practices are a must, but it’s the bond the team shares that drives their success.

“Since our season is almost a whole year long, we start in the summer with mostly conditioning practices,” senior Lauren Linn said. “And once we learn our dances in August is when we really start working for our competition season,” she said. “Our first performance of our competition dances is normally early November, and we normally have 4-5 days of practice a week leading up to competitions. Once we have a big competition coming up we normally have longer practices on the weekends, and although those are some of the worst, they are the reason we are so good, and why we work so hard for the results we want at competitions.

With this much practice and training, along with traveling with each other, they create lasting friendships. The team works hard and builds each other up creating an amazing group filled with long lasting friendships.

“I met some of my best friends and people I would never have been around if I didn’t join dance team,” Linn said. “The bond that all the girls on dance team build together is unbreakable. We travel together, we cry together, we spend most of our high school years together,” she said.

These friendships are forged under hard work and

sportsmanship in a supportive environment. When joining, Linn said she knew it was going to be difficult but she shined in success with her fellow teammates.

“I decided to join dance team because I always saw the older girls when I was little dancing and smiling at all school events, and I always wanted to be involved at my school, so I thought it would be a good challenge Dance team does one final encouragment chant before their final showing of their state-winning for me,” Linn said. Although routine. Photo by Lydia Bruckner it wasn’t the easiest road to get to where I am, as a senior leaving this team, I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything,” Linn said.

“I think it’s really important to have a relationship with your team, because it just makes the team stronger as a whole,” freshman Keira Parks said.

Being a senior this year, Linn and her fellow teammates stepped up and mentored the incoming freshmen, becoming a role model and better teammates.

“We had five seniors this year on our team and five new incoming freshmen joined our team as well. We are a super close team and that was a big thing for us seniors was to create that bond and mentorship between the underclassmen,” Linn said. The senior leadership within the Dance Team shined through and helped form this award winning team.

“They just really give us motivation and help us when we need it,” Parks said.

The dance team is a hard working and dedicated Dance team gives their routine one last run at spring pep rally. (Far left: Reese group that really shines because of the senior leaderDriscoll. Front Left: Sam Padilla. Back Right: Lauren Ottemann. Far Right: ship that mentores the underclassmen.

Makenna Mcandrews) Photo by Lydia Bruckner

A new test-amant: The rise of test optional admissions April Reiss News Editor While March celebrates the beginning of spring, the days getting longer, and students getting one step closer to summer, March also represents the most important test for juniors around the nation.

But colleges are indicating that the ACT might not be as important as we think.

In recent years, it has been a growing pattern for some colleges to not require the submission of an ACT score for admission. While the trend started through the COVID year because most test dates were cancelled for quarantine, the trend has continued through the recent school years. Colleges are now starting to question whether an ACT score shows how well a kid will do in college and are making their school ‘test optional’.

Senior Larissa Johnson has seen this first hand. She applied to about 10 colleges but “maybe 3” actually required ACT scores for the application, she said.

‘Test optional’ might have a negative connotation in a student’s mind when it comes to things like motivation, but the idea isn’t all bad.

“Tests can be really expensive to send, so it’s not fair to people that either aren’t confident in their score or don’t have the money because it’s about 30 dollars to send per school,” Johnson said..

Colleges are less likely to base your skills on your score, but there are still reasons why a student would want to do well on the ACT. “Now, a lot of colleges are looking at ACT for scholarship and money purposes not so much as admissions,” assistant principal Michaela Wragge said. “That’s really what I try to encourage. If you put a little bit of effort into it, you can get free money. Like at state schools, a 25 will get you free money.”

“People are taking literally the words ‘test optional’ when they should be taking those words literally if they’re excited to pay full price, but if they want a scholarship they should be preparing hard and doing the best they can,” OnToCollege founder John Baylor said.

While it has become more popular for colleges to not find ACT scores essential for admissions, there has also been a decline in composite scores. According to the Nebraska Department of Education, Nebraska’s average 2022 composite score was 19.4. This score is down from 20.0 in 2021.

“I think a big piece of it is that students are concentrating on other things because colleges are still looking at activities, they’re looking at GPAs, so the test isn’t as heavily focused on. I would have to say there’s a correlation,” Wragge said.

On to College founder John Baylor emphasizes the importance of the ACT score when it comes to earning scholarships to avoid college debt. Photo

by Jamison Hanway

“ People are taking literally

the words ‘test optional’ when they should be taking those words literally if they’re excited to pay full price.

”

-John Baylor, Founder of On to College

Students focus on John Baylor as he lectures about the science portion of the ACT. Baylor said the science section is more about data interpretation than about knowing science concepts. Photo By Jamison Hanway

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South Off Stage Behind the curtains, into the life of Show Choir member Aspyn Christie said. and everyone is so loving to new people. Crew, band, and show With the balance between fun and work, the team isn’t the only choir, no matter what thing you’re in, everyone is very close with ones having fun, sometimes it’s the directors. Jaymie Argotsinger each other,” Martin said. coaches South on Stage and Maddie Pressler coaches Stage One. With an inclusive community such as Millard South’s South on When most people think of show choir, they think of the singRyan Jansen is the assistant coach for both groups.

Stage and Stage One, it shows how much these students worked ing, dancing and the spirit fingers.

“Directors are there to critique us and give us direction, which and dedicated their year.

A lot of people don’t see the hard work and dedication these improves the show choir as a whole,” sophomore Stage One mem“It’s like a family,” freshman South on Stage member Grace students in Millard South’s Show Choirs South on Stage and Stage ber Finn Tauchman said. “Directors also motivate us and encourPerkins said. “It’s definitely a community, so we work really well as One have. age us to be better and always help when we need it,” Tauchman a team,” she said.

“Our season starts at the end of July where we get our chosaid. reography, and the The coaches competition season are there for the goes from January team creating an to March,” freshman environment where South on Stage mempeople can improve ber Mae Martin said. and help others With this long improve. season, hard work “Everyone gets and dedication are along and we needed at every bounce ideas off practice to form these each other. Our intricate shows. In directors are incluone of their practices, sive to new ideas, they go through the and senior leaderparts of the show and ship really brings the songs, clean them it in and helps us up, and get things get better at each perfect. At the end rehearsal,” Martin Freshman Natalya McCarthy performs alongside her of practice, they try said. “Some of the Stage One friends during the Night of Stars. Photo by to run through the seniors will host Jamison Hanway whole show. bondings at their “Practices are very important in your success in show choir, and houses, and that really got us closer I think the directors do a very good job at getting work done while at the beginning of the season. Later keeping it fun,” freshman Stage One member Abi Charity said. in the season, we went to restaurants Hard work isn’t the only thing going on in these practices; jokes like Buffalo Wild Wings. I feel like and laughter fill the room as much as the songs. bondings helped us grow as a group.

“We make a lot of stupid jokes and work with each other on get- I wish that people know that show South on Stage enjoys its final dance as they go for the gold at the Night of Stars ting better at our dances or checking notes,” freshman Stage One choir is a very inclusive community Jamison Hanway Staff Reporter

event. Photo by Jamison Hanway

The kids aren’t all right CDC report on mental health causes concern among counselors and students

Infographic by Shelby Neeley

Shelby Neeley Opinions Editor

Source: CDC

The mental health of teenagers has always been a worry of adults, but has recently become an even more concerning topic. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently released the Youth Risk Behaviour Survey Data, an 89-page report on the trends of youth behavior. The results have been concerning and have shown that a mental health crisis has emerged among teenagers.

The CDC tracked substance abuse, violence, sexual behavior, and mental health from 2011 to 2021. Almost every trend was in the wrong direction, but mental health was considered most concerning. The CDC defines mental health as “emotional, psychological, and social well-being,” and says that it affects “how we think, feel, and act” while also determining how we handle our emotions and stress.

In regards to teenagers’ mental health, things seem to be rapidly going downhill.

The survey shows that 42 percent of teenagers had “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2021,” around 14 percent more than in 2011. Far more concerning is the suicide attempt rate. In 2021, 10 percent of teenagers attempted suicide, while 3 percent of teenagers were injured in a suicide attempt. Out of the teenagers who attempted suicide, girls were almost twice as likely to as boys. Boys’ suicide attempt rate has stayed mostly stagnant since 2011, while girls’ has increased by 3 percent.

Some students at Millard South have noticed similar trends. Junior Cherry Bear says that “Compared to the last [couple] years, it feels like everyone is giving up on school and things that are important [to them].“ Counselors, too, are noting the trend. “[We’re seeing] students with more mental health issues, absolutely. The counseling office is one thousand percent worried about that,” counselor Lisa Olsen said. “We feel like we’re spending more time counseling students, which of course takes away from

other things. But students’ mental health needs are of course our top priority right now, but that reduces the amount of time we have for college planning or career planning or even meeting with students about grades, which is tough for us,” she said.

Classroom teachers are also seeing and hearing about students’ mental health struggles.

“You can just tell that [students have] more challenging issues that they’re struggling with, or a higher percentage of students have very serious challenges that they’re facing,” German teacher Tim Seeger said. “Some will share bits and pieces and you’ll overhear it,” he said.

What the CDC study does not indicate is what has caused the upward trend of reporting mental health struggles.

“I think the pandemic certainly has a piece in it, but I don’t think that it’s entirely because of the pandemic,” Olsen said.

“Because prior to the pandemic, we were certainly seeing students with mental health problems. It’s worse with freshmen, [and] I think a part of it is their middle school experience. It was very interrupted with the pandemic and them being out of school…. some of the social emotional skills that would naturally be worked on and developed in those middle school years were interrupted,” she said.

“The pandemic was more of a catalyst than anything,” junior Cosmos Peterick said.

“I was still sad before then, but I felt way worse after.”

Some also attribute the crisis to social media.

“I partially think that social media has something to do with it,” junior Marrissa Gergan said. “A five year old told me he thought he was depressed just because the people he sees on social media were depressed,” she said.

Counterwise, junior Neko Manna said he thinks that there may be another reason for the increasing depression rate. “It’s

probably because no one wanted to admit it [in the past] because they couldn’t get help- Now there’s all sorts of help and a lot more people can talk about it and not feel ridiculed.”

Ironically, the mental health crisis seems to be causing even more stress for some teens.

“I’ve been getting increasingly more concerned, and I’ve been getting increasingly more worried about society in general,” Bear said.

“I would say it’s really concerning to me,” junior Kylie Scott said. “That’s nothing I want my brother to go through- nothing I want for younger generations. Everything feels hopeless, and it’s nothing we can stop, but I wish I could shield people from it, “she said.

People have different ideas on how to help, too.

Olsen said she thinks the solution is more counselors.

“In my ideal world, we would hire more counselors and social workers and we would lower class sizes to help teachers build relationships,” Olsen said.

Students also see value in adding more counselors.

“I think it would be nice to have counselors that are dedicated specifically to therapy and not other student stuff,” Scott said.

Senior Alex Daughtridge has an entirely different perspective on how mental health challenges teenagers.

“You’re never taught that your brain works differently from others,” he said.

“You never understand that you’re not the baseline, so you don’t notice the thought loops you get caught in. It’s a big issue. I first noticed I was really sad in sixth grade, but I didn’t know that being sad was something wrong with my brain. I thought it was something wrong with my life,” he said.

For many teens, Daughtridge said, “Being alive is just hard right now.”

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Staff editorial: If wifi won’t work, we should work where it will Coming back from a long break from school to a building filled with blank, lagging laptops can be an aggravating experience, to put it simply. Recently, a good 15 to 20 minutes of every class was experiencing internet issues. Instructional time was spent restarting laptops, taking trips to the tech office, and watching the wheel spin as kids clicked through their available network options. This wasted time could have easily been avoided if students were able to stay home and work. Even in the rare instance where a few students’ internet connections began to work, the rest of the class was left stressed out and struggling, trying to catch up with students who got that head start from pure luck. It is not fun being a part of that cluster in class shutting down their computers for the millionth time, knowing that the one assignment they are being handed could be finished in 20 minutes at a place with a solid internet status.

With student chatter and teachers struggling to adjust their lesson plans, it begins to feel like the school day is being wasted, with absolutely nothing for students and teachers to do but wait and hope for a connection strong enough for one to enter Google Classroom. During the school days riddled with technology issues, it’s only natural for someone to wonder how much easier it would be to be able to go home, open up their laptop, and complete their assignments without any hassle. If the place you are supposed to be learning in isn’t allowing you to learn, why shouldn’t you be able to complete your homework somewhere else?

E-Learning days are no longer a foreign, once-in-a-snow-day concept to most students. It goes without saying that COVID-19

students and teachers know what to do and know what is expected of online learning at this point, which should be taken advantage of.

In a day in age where most assignments are to be completed online, there is no harm in granting elearning days to students who at most will be missing in-person lectures that they can catch up on when returning to school. In the grand scheme of things, a few school days a semester being moved to students’ homes wouldn’t affect their understanding of the material.

Being away from school could also be beneficial to the staff working hard to fix the Wi-Fi problems. There wouldn’t be a massive student body scrambling to get into a half-broken network, and fewer people complaining and sending their laptops down for help in irritation.

Giving E-learning days on bad Wi-Fi days gives tech employees the time and effort they need to take care of the issue that is preventing any typical education from ensuing.

A majority of students sat around, refreshing their browsers, and even trying their stagnant cellphones for entire class periods, having to complete their work later at home anyway. If a whole school day was given to do that remotely, that work wouldn’t have had to become homework and could’ve been completed a lot sooner.

Art by Shelby Neeley The speed, effectiveness, and convenience all prove remote learning to be a great solution to days with slow, taught students how to participate in Zoom calls, work on overworked school Wi-Fi. A day away from the physical Google Doc assignments, and directly communicate with their classroom can be more beneficial than harmful for students lookteachers from the comfort of their own homes. Being allowed ing to get their work done. Without the distraction of deterioratto head home for the day and work on assignments quickly and ing internet connectivity, and class outrage, school days could efficiently, instead of hanging around the internet-barren school be productive once more from people’s reliable, Wi-Fi servicing corridors, would make teachers’ and students’ lives easier. Both living rooms.

High school politics: A social minefield In today’s politically charged society, it seems like everything is up for debate. From the smallest comment to the biggest decisions, politics infiltrates every aspect of our lives. As a high school student, I’ve seen firsthand how this division affects our daily interactions.

While most students seem to fall on one side of the political spectrum, the ideological makeup of high schoolers is far more diverse than it may seem. Unfortunately, fear often prevents students from expressing their true beliefs.

In a world where cancel culture and political correctness reign supreme, voicing an unpopular opinion can be social suicide.

For many, the safest option is to stay quiet and avoid the conversation altogether. But for me, I’ve never been able to keep my mouth shut, and that has provided me with some of the biggest learning opportunities of my life despite the vapid prejudices that come along with being a conservative in high school.

For many conservative students, they fear the backlash and the labels that will be attached to them: Nazi, bigot, racist, homophobe, and all the -ists and -phobics you can think of. These fears are warranted as through my four years as an outspoken conservative and the president of the Millard South High School Republicans, I’ve heard them all. Most strikingly, I’ve heard them from students that have never even spoken to me. There seems to be a pattern of the less someone knows me, the more likely they are to believe these labels. Frequently, when political topics arise and I give my honest opinion, these students

are surprised that I’m not teacher that hears someactually a Nazi. However, thing through the grapevine. many of the students who As I have moved through believe these labels will high school, the run-ins that never hear my true beliefs I have had with antagonizand will continue to view ing teachers have become me as such. increasingly contentious.

Not only do conservaReflecting on my high tive students face social school years, I realize that pressures from their peers, my political views had a but also from positions of more significant impact on authority. While my overall my relationships with teachexperience within Millard ers than I had anticipated.

Public Schools has been During freshman year, I was Ben Jackson positive, there have been not vocal about my opinOnline Editor-in-Chief some instances of politiions, but as the 2020 eleccal discrimination. Most tion approached, I found teachers do an amazing job myself in more confrontaand are able to hide their political bias, but all tions. However, it was not until my sophomore conservative students know to be cautious or year, when I ran for student council, that I silent around others who might not share their faced the most significant backlash. beliefs.

As a part of my campaign for student counI have experienced trouble only a few cil, I created a poster modeled after the iconic times in my career. Most of the experiences Obama “Hope” posters. This proved to be that I can point to are small occurrences that controversial in the teacher’s lounge as many wouldn’t raise many eyebrows, but certainly of the teachers I was close with began to warn they were enough to give me a reputation. I me that the poster might not be well-received. admire my social studies teachers for chalLater, after the campaign, I gifted a poster to lenging my ideas and making me think about one of my favorite teachers. However, this my positions, but this challenge tends to teacher was strong-armed into taking the come only towards conservative perspectives. poster down to avoid further confrontation.

Liberal student opinions are more readily Some teachers were upset that I had used an accepted during class discussions. The more Obama style poster when I clearly was not an egregious instances happen outside of the ‘Obama fan. This was surprising to me because classroom with teachers who don’t have me in while I wasn’t an Obama supporter, I certainly a class. Such as for clubs, the hallway, or any wasn’t a die hard Obama hater either. I find it

unfortunate that some teachers would be so caught up in political division that they would deem a seemingly innocuous poster dangerous due to the conflicting views of the student and the political figure who used it.

As a result, in my junior and senior years, I learned to be more cautious about expressing my political beliefs to certain teachers.

Some educators seemed to hold grudges or biases against students who did not share their political ideology. While I respect the right of teachers to have their own opinions, I think it is unfair and unprofessional to let those opinions affect their treatment of students.

High school should be a place where students can learn to think critically, explore diverse perspectives, and develop their own voices, without fear of retaliation.

My experience has not been all doom and gloom though. In fact, I have had numerous positive conversations with teachers and students in and around Millard South, where we have managed to find common ground and understanding. This has taught me a valuable lesson about the real world: not everyone will agree with you. I have also learned how to adapt my thoughts and ideas to different audiences, as well as appreciate diverse perspectives. While some students may not share my views, I have successfully made friends with those who hold opposing viewpoints, which has allowed me to broaden my understanding of the world.

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.

Editor-in-Chief Ally Seevers

Features Editor Zoey Buthorne

Managing Editor Lauren Rayner

InDepth Editor Alexa Leiting

Online Editor-In-Chief Ben Jackson

Opinions Editor Shelby Neeley

News Editor April Reiss

Entertainment Editors Riley Palma

Sports Editors Dylan Wiese Olivia Ellison

Distribution Manager Hilary Lawson

Staff Secretary & Social Event Coordinator Zoey Buthorne Graphic Designers Kevin Oregon Faith Wehrspann Staff Illustrators Ella Erickson Anna Gurciullo

Photographers Alexa Amick Charleen Darra Staff Reporters Hilary Lawson Charlene Darra Anna Gurciullo Jamison Hanway Mason Steinhoff Adviser Christine Kaldahl

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Will “Best Option” Cameron Why did you apply to Mr. Millard South? “‘Cause I like performing on stage, which I’ve done throughout all of high school. Also, I think it’d just be funny to be able to get up there and do something stupid.”

Favorite song from the early 2000s and why?

“I don’t listen to that era. Probably some Green Day song.

Yeah. Just ‘cause that overlaps with the music I listen to now.”

What do you want the people to know about Will Cameron?

“I’m quite possibly the best option for Mr. Millard South.

Yeah. That’s all. I’m the best option.”

News 9 • •2023

Matthew “The Underdog” Quals

Why did you apply to Mr. Millard South?

“While originally a ginger was pushing me to apply and I wasn’t b the last second I decided that would be a really fun thing. Totally Also, I thought that I’d have great chemistry and work really wel guys. I just wanted to get better at getting out of my comfort zone myself out there.”

Why do you think you should be Mr. Millard South?

“I should be Mr. Millard South for the same reason that Jacob Su crowned by Joel Adams; he was the fan-favorite homecoming kin underdog. I mean, all the contestants are great guys, but I think t bring a level of uniqueness to the stage. My performance will be s that the crowd has never seen before.”

Favorite song from the early 2000s and why?

“I got to go with 2008 ‘Coldplay’s Viva la Vida’. It’s a song that mo to keep moving forward while also being a song that makes me re the past.”

Ty “Father Nature” Leriger

S

Why did you apply to Mr. Millard South?

“To be honest, at first I just applied because my pride time teacher and a friend told me that I could be shirtless in front of an audience, but then as I learned more, I just wanted to win.”

Favorite song from the early 2000s and why? “‘Pump it Harder’ by Black Eyed Peas or ‘Hey Ya’ by OutKast.”

What do you want the people to know about Ty Leriger?

“Everyone that knows me knows pretty much everything about me because I’m a pretty open book.

But if you don’t know me, Hi, I’m Ty, but you can call me Mr. Millard South or Father Nature. A good thing to know about me is I’m a happy person that always wants to have fun. And, if you just need someone to talk to, hit me up, I got you.”

Aiden “Most Effort” Robertson Why do you think you should be Mr. Millard South?

“Because I can be Mr. Millard South. I will put the most effort into it. I will put my body on the line, okay?”

Favorite song from the early 2000s and why? “‘Fireflies’ by Owl City is a good song because it talks about sleeping. I like sleeping.”

What do you want the people to know about Aiden Robertson?

“Look, I got the dog inside me.”

Will “Superior Man” Vargas

Why did you apply to Mr. Millard South?

“You see, there comes a time in a man’s life where he needs glory, where he needs power, where he needs to feel superior. So, I feel like being a part of a male beauty pageant and winning, that’s something I could do.”

Why do you think you should be Mr. Millard South?

“I think I should be Mr. Millard South for a variety of reasons. For starters, my stunning good looks. Also, my strength and power as a man. I’m just better than other people, you know? I have that energy to me that just makes me better than the rest of the candidates.”

What do you want the people to know about Will Vargas?

“I want people to know that Will Vargas isn’t just a name, but it’s a lifestyle.

You know, doing hard work. You see I’m a day laborer, being a man and taking advantage of the moment, and being a star. That’s what I think Will Vargas means.”

Mr. Millard South is a mock beauty pageant that encourages the spirited and exuberant to compete for a final high school opportunity: being dubbed Mr. Millard South.

The purpose of the event is to fundraise scholarships that will go to Millard South students.

Despite the common assumption and the “Mr.,” all genders are allowed to participate in the contest. Mr. Millard South is set on finding the most outwardly confident contestant. The winner should be a senior, have a prominent comical sense, a unique talent, and most importantly, be willing to do pretty much anything to earn the title.

Contestants must go through a series of challenges including formal wear modeling, a swimsuit show, a performance of their unique talent, a video of the “Craziest Thing” the contestant would do to win, and finally, the Q&A session. In order to participate in the pageant, students must fill out an application. Then teachers decide who makes the cut of the usual 10 participants. Lastly, a panel of teacher judges alongside the previous year’s winner add up each score from every section of the pageant. The contestant with the highest number of total points is crowned “Mr. Millard South” of the year.

Allyssa “Karen” Kloucek

What contestant are you rooting for to be your new plastic and why?

“Regina said Ty right? Definitely Ty then.”

Any drama you want to share?

“Did you hear what Regina said about me? I can’t repeat it I promised Gretchen I wouldn’t tell anyone that she is the one who told me. I’m glad Gretchen told me cause Regina wanted to hang out. I’m a good actress though. I was sick. Guess what? I wasn’t actually sick. Neat right?”

News 9 • 30 • 2021

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Sam “Young Padawan” Hunt Why did you apply to Mr. Millard South “I applied for Mr. Millard South because of Travis Cloyd. Last year, he kind of raised me. It was kind of like a Yoda and Luke Skywalker type of thing. He did Mr. Millard South, and I wanted to follow his footsteps and be just like my dad, Travis Cloyd. “ Why do you think you should be Mr. Millard South?

“I should be Mr. Millard South because nobody knows The Patriot Way like I do. I have that thing memorized. If you ask any of the other Mr. Millard South candidates, do you think they could recite the Patriot Way? No, I don’t think so. I absolutely do not think so. “ Favorite song from the 2000s and why? “‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna. She performed at the Super Bowl and it was just- it was just too much for me. I had to turn it off actually, cause it was too good.”

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James “Band Kid” Benson

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What are you involved in at MSHS? “I am currently involved in every single type of music thing you can think of, and some of them you can’t think of. Like, I understand that like you can’t even comprehend all the music things that I’m in, but I am drum major for the Millard South marching band. So, I’m basically the leader of that and I’m also in every other little band section that was ever created. I was there, and I’ve been there the entire time.”

Why did you apply to Mr. Millard South?

“I applied to Mr. Millard South to show off my creative ability and to show how hot I can be while performing some of my greatest hits.”

What do you want the people to know about James Benson?

“What I want people to know about me is that I am going for that title and I don’t think anyone is going to stop me.

And, I think that I’m gonna put on the greatest show out there.”

@ 7: 00 P.M.

Tranq “Clueless” Queral

What are you involved in at MSHS? “I’m involved in show choir and drama. Not the good kind, though. I spread rumors for fun.”

Why did you apply to Mr. Millard South?

“Uh, I applied because I thought we were actually getting married to the school. I found out, sadly, that that is not what this is for.”

What do you want the people to know about Tranq Queral?

“I want the people to know that I’m allergic to peanuts.”

Wesley “BIG Plans” Earhart

What are you involved in at MSHS? “I’m the coolest guy in Congressional Debate. Don’t write that down. Also, I’m SCB vice president, that’s senior class board, for the uninitiated. Cut that out, that makes me sound rude.”

Why do you think you should be Mr. Millard South?

“Because I’m a whimsical little guy through and through. Frankly, I think my whimsiness, silliness, and wackiness are really gonna carry me to the top.

Huge untapped real estate of potential here.”

What do you want the people to know about Wesley Earhart?

“You know, you should go see Mr. Millard South. The haters will try to sabotage me, but I have BIG plans, all right? I was told that several of my wacky ideas were ‘unethical’ and ‘too dangerous to be performed’. So I had to tweak my schemes, and now they are better than ever before. For Mr. Millard South, I’m gonna carry out my silly goofy plans. At end of the day, they just can’t keep a guy like me down. You know, ‘cause I’m 6’3.”

Ben “Regina” Jackson

What contestant are you rooting for to be your new plastic and why?

“You know the one I’m rooting for is really gonna be Ty whatever his last name is. I can’t pronounce it.

Ty’s just got that aura about him and he’s like a little bowling ball. I love him.”

Any drama you want to share?

“I just don’t like how Gretchen says fetch all the time.

I don’t know what that means. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was like some dog whistle or something. It’s really scary and, like, I feel really bad for her when she does that.”

Mikah “Gretchen” Saub

What contestant are you rooting for to be your new plastic and why?

“Definitely not Matthew. He got in my way in the hallway and I had to smack him with my bag. Honestly, I wouldn’t pick any of them. None of them are fetch enough.”

Any drama you want to share?

“Did you see that pink shirt that Regina was wearing? Oh my God, it was so ugly.

I could never tell her to her face because she would rip my head off but OMG!”

TH

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S E CE

Entertainment 3 • 31 • 2023

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‘Stop Making Sense’ enters a new age Riley Palma Entertainment Editor In December of 1983, in promotion of their new album “Speaking in Tongues,” the band ‘Talking Heads’ put on a concert at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles. The concert was put on for three nights and it was filmed by director Jonathan Demme. It was then spliced together to create the greatest concert film of all time.

The concert kicks off with a unique rendition of their hit song “Psycho Killer.” The lead singer, David Byrne, walks out on the stage alone with nothing but a tape player and a guitar. He shows off some wacky moves on the empty stage. As the songs go on, a new band member walks out onto the stage one at a time.

Slowly the band grows, each member bringing something different to the table.

The energy in this concert is palpable. The music has this incredible sound to it that when mixed with the onstage shenanigans makes for a wild ride. During the song “Life During Wartime,” (which I think has the best live performance) the lead singer, David Byrne, runs laps around the stage and jogs in place throughout the entire song. Everyone is dancing or moving for the duration of the concert.

You’ll find yourself tapping your foot along to the music. It’s so addictive. I watched it for the first time in August of last year. Three days later I watched it two times in one day. Then again the next day. I have seen it eight times total since my first viewing.

The lineup of songs is absolutely incredible. The live concert is better than all of their other albums. Each song they sing in the movie sounds better than the original studio recording.

My personal favorite song from the movie is

“Crosseyed and Painless.” It is the final song from the film, and in my opinion, the most energetic. The opening of the song starts with a beautiful catchy guitar with a synthesizer in the background and suddenly switches to a funky fast paced jam. During the song “Girlfriend is Better” David Byrne walks on stage sporting a giant, oversized gray suit that he wears for the rest of the concert. Each song is so catchy and unique. The song “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)”, is performed in the latter half of the concert after some high energy songs.

This song is a soft, sweet love song. The lyrics are so beautiful and the synth rhythm flowing throughout the song makes it perfect.

It’s not as high energy as the others, but it is easily one of the best. With strange imagery projected on the back of the stage and a lamp in the center that David Byrne dances with, it’s a both strange and beautiful, tender ballad.

Other notable performances include some of their most popular songs “Burning Down The House.”, which really gets the show going with this crazy energy and sets the stage for the rest of the show. “Once In a Lifetime.” is full of crazy moves from David Byrne, and at one point he ends up on the floor.

“Stop Making Sense” is celebrating its 40th

anniversary this year and I was recently going to see it in theaters on March 20 at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, but the showing was canceled. I later found out this happened because A24 had acquired the rights. Saddened and disheartened, I reluctantly refunded me and my girlfriend’s tickets. A few days later I came across a new post from Talking Heads instagram page. They had posted a promo for “Stop Making Sense” with the exciting news that they will be re-releasing it in theaters sometime this year. Along with the theatrical re-release they also announced a vinyl release of the complete concert for the first time ever. There could also potentially be a physical release of the movie, which I am hoping for.

Oscar season plays it safe Lauren Rayner Managing Editor With every year comes the inescapable Academy Awards ceremony, intended to celebrate each year’s films and honor the cast and crew that made the movies we saw possible. The 95th Oscars ceremony, which occurred Sunday, March 12th, had to play it safer this year, smartly, in order to avoid another infamous “slap” or Twitter mob making fun of the Oscars’ unnecessary in-between actual awards “bits” that dragged the show on for over 3 hours.

Hosted by a familiar face, Jimmy Kimmel, who still played his usual shtick, this year’s Oscars still ended up with mixed results in an otherwise straightforward, tame awards environment.

The projected winner for most awards was Daniels’ “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, which had a great night and ended up winning the highly sought after Best Picture award. Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the movie and probably gave the most heartfelt and endearing speech of the night. His acclaim and support for his part in “Everything Everywhere” is well-deserved, as the film would simply not carry the emotional weight it did without his place in it. For the counterpart, Best Supporting Actress, however, it is hard to say the same. Controversially, and rather comically, Jamie Lee Curtis took the award for her part in the same movie. Out of the nominees, Jamie was probably the least expected to win, as her role in the movie was small, and was not a very significant or special performance in general.

It was an odd choice for a winner in a diverse set of nominees too. Angela Bassett received praise for her performance in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, and Stephanie Hsu had a much considerable major role and exceptional performance in “Everything Everywhere” as well. It was most likely given to Curtis due to Academy members feeling she was indebted to an Oscar at this point in her career, regardless of the performance, which is typical of the Oscars and a bit frustrating when looking at the other nominees’ stellar jobs on their respective films.

For Best Animated Feature it went to “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” which was expected. The fan-favorite to win however was Dreamworks’ “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”, which may have been

unlikely, but had achieved a cult following rooting for it nevertheless. Personally speaking, “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”’ was my favorite out of the nominees, and was cool to see a nomination for even though it stood no chance.

“All Quiet on the Western Front” ended up taking Best Original Score, Best International Feature Film, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design, over some deserving and underrepresented nominees. In my Oscars watch-party experience, hearing the tedious, blaring score for the film blast from the TV with every win became frustrating when more original stories were being

overshadowed by a technically impressive but unoriginal film.

Best Original Score had the opportunity to award Babylon, a mixed-reviewed 3-hour epic, for its interesting and memorable score, or another John Williams’ staple for “The Fabelmans”, a sentimental and moving Spielberg flick that got absolutely no recognition by the Academy this year, even with its solid screenplay and story-structure. Best International Feature Film was guaran-

teed to go to “All Quiet” but would’ve been great to see go to “EO”, a disheartening and visually exciting drama about a donkey’s life journey.

A lack of variety in films awarded became apparent, with just a few films in the lead receiving heaps of awards. My favorite movie of the year, “TÁR” walked away with nothing, despite its fantastic cinematography, screenplay, and direction from Todd Field.

Another critically acclaimed and film-fan pick, “The Banshees of Inisherin”, had a spectacular screenplay with career-defining performances from Colin Farrell and cast alike. Although it unfortunately didn’t have a great awards season, it didn’t win a single Oscar either.

On the subject of screenplays, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” won Best Original Screenplay, and Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” won for Adapted Screenplay, alongside nominees like “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”, and “Top Gun: Maverick.” As for some more technical award snubs, “The Batman” received nothing for its great sound and effects, and even “Elvis”, a movie I happened to honestly enjoy a lot, received nothing, being nominated for Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Picture and more.

As for Best Actor and Actress, Michelle Yeoh added another “Everything Everywhere” trophy to the pile for her performance in the flick. Alongside Ke Huy Quan, Michelle was incredible in the movie, so it is an understandable and respectable pick. She became the first Asian actress to win the award, which is monumental. Brendan Fraser had his Oscar in the bag for his role in “The Whale”, a deeply harrowing and tough-towatch performance in the Darren Aronofsky film. Both decisions here were pretty obvious ones, but are still commendable nonetheless.

With an “Everything Everywhere All At Once” sweep, The 2023 Oscars proved themselves to be simultaneously entertaining, overlong, and cautious. Although a lot of amazing films were nominated, most could not override the popularity and all-around love for Daniels’ Best Picture-winning movie. With some ups and downs, and run-of-the-mill winning picks, this year’s Oscars overall showed that while excellence in filmmaking is still celebrated, the influence of popular appeal cannot be denied.

Entertainment 3 • 31 • 2023

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Flake Out CTRL Coffee & Cereal Bar is cereal-sly great Zoey Buthorne Features Editor For cereal lovers, coffee connoisseurs, and retro game enthusiasts, CTRL Coffee and Cereal Bar is a must. Located off of South 10th and Pacific, this local gem resides just south of the heart of downtown Omaha.

Upon arrival, the outside of the building is nothing to write home about, but the inside is a whole different story. When you first enter the building you are met with a variety of retro decor as well as playable vintage video game systems such as Sega, NES, SNES, and Pac-Man. If video games aren’t your forte there is also a small bookshelf for those who prefer winding down with a good book.

Moving onto the cereal bar, when putting together your cereal you can pick three kinds of cereal, two toppings, and your choice of milk.

For people with dietary restrictions, there are gluten and dairy-free options. The overall portion size is pretty impressive, and for five dol-

lars it is definitely worth the money even if just for the experience. When I went, I ordered and would recommend ordering, Captain Crunch, Coco Puffs, and Frosted Flakes with banana slices and chocolate syrup on top.

Another draw are the drinks. For fans of the classics, CTRL has all the coffee shop staples at relatively reasonable prices. They also have specialty drinks named after influential celebrities. A fun touch to the specialty drinks is they come with the celebrities’ faces printed onto the lattes. I’m not a big coffee drinker myself, so I got the Selena, which is a chai with caramel, white chocolate, and cinnamon. It was delicious. I recommend it to any fellow chai lovers.

If you’re looking for a more colorful drink, they have Lotus energy drinks that are named after classic Nintendo characters, as well as flavored lemonade.

CTRL is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Friday through Sunday. They are closed on Monday. The busiest times are mid-morning

M3GAN is fun but not much else Alexa Amick Staff Reporter As technology has advanced over the years, there has always been the looming thought in many people’s minds of the possibilities of sentient technology. That is to say, technology that can have a mind of its own and feel emotions in a human sense.

Up to this point, technology has increasingly become more advanced day by day as humans have worked to create technology that can replace everyday tasks and jobs, albeit at the expense of humans who need to work for a living. However, many people, especially those with technophobia, view this in the sense of technology becoming so advanced that it can potentially hurt people.

M3GAN, released January 6, 2023, takes this concept and expands upon it in a horror setting. It utilizes the concept of sentient technology, in this case, a sentient robot whose purpose is to befriend a little girl, to display the possibilities of what can happen if a robot becomes too sentient.

The story starts off with the tragic death of the parents of one of the main characters, Cady. While driving in a winter storm, Cady and her parents get into a crash that, unfortunately, ends the lives of her parents. In the aftermath of this, Cady is put into the care of Gemma, her aunt, who is not quite cut

out to be a parental figure. With the looming threat of CPS potentially taking Cady away from Gemma, Gemma being heavily engrossed in her work at a toy company, and Cady regularly going to therapy to cope with the death of her parents, all parties involved are largely stressed and devoid of any open emotion.

Noticing that Cady still isn’t feeling better with therapy, Gemma continues to work on her newest project that has been in the works for months at the toy company: a sentient robot named M3GAN who can actively respond to emotion and act as a stand-in guardian when needed. With the motivation of finishing M3GAN with the intent of her helping Cady, Gemma and her team finish the robot in a couple of weeks. Almost immediately, upon being introduced, Cady grows attached to M3GAN and M3GAN becomes extremely protective of Cady, however, that protection is so extreme, that it gets increasingly violent as the movie progresses.

In general, though categorized as a horror movie, M3GAN really isn’t that much of a horror movie compared to other movies such as The Conjuring series. It does feature a lot of gore and graphic imagery, but not necessarily in the scary sense, more so in the “this is what you would expect” sense.

Generally speaking, more so than being scary, it’s more of a tragedy movie where you simply feel bad for the little girl a majority of the time. Although, it can be argued it is the smallest bit of comedy as parts of it, thought very cringy, is just ironic because you know what is going to happen at almost every scene.

However, though it has its downfalls, M3GAN still is a decent movie, though just definitely not one of the best out there. Its pacing is, generally speaking, pretty good, so it doesn’t feel like it’s droning on a majority of the time. A lot of what happens is easily predictable, but not to the point, it becomes so overly redundant. And, at its core, it’s a movie that, excluding its downfalls, it is an acceptable movie that utilizes the common trope of sentient robots in a more fun way.

It has both its ups and downs, but it’s a fun movie to watch if you’re looking for a “scary” movie that has little gore and little actual scariness.

art by Cruz Carrillo

Saturday and Sunday, so if you want to avoid large crowds, I would recommend either going really early or later in the day on weekends.

Overall the experience, drinks, and of course

cereals, makes CTRL a place that I am already planning my next trip to. It’s a place I recommend everyone in Omaha visit at least once.

Viewers find new treasure in the Outer Banks Anna Gurciullo Staff Reporter Outer Banks season 3 was nowhere near a let down. We were promised new relationships and more mystery and we got exactly that. This season changed the storyline for the season to come.

Off the bat, the most drastic and awaited thing to happen this season was the new relationship between Kiara and JJ. TikTok started shipping the two characters together from season one. Although Kiara went from John B., to Pope, and now JJ, most are finally at peace that she chose JJ. Another relationship was between the Pope and Cleo.

When Cleo came in it was assumed she was brought in to bring the Pope some happiness. With the friend-zone from Kiara, he needed some joy and he got exactly that. Pope is known to be one of the most underrated characters in the show, he did get more screen time this season, but not as much as I would have hoped for.

John B. once again got the light shone on him this season. One being the tumble of his relationship with Sarah. This relationship ending was needed if the show was going to continue. Not only because in the show, the two characters already had much to process, in real life, they do as well with going through a recent breakup.

Another significant occurrence in this season was the big debut of Big John, or known as John B.’s father. He got a lot of backlash for taking up many points in the show. I agree on this because he didn’t quite change things for the story, more so of showing us what kind of person he is. It showed that he was in it for the

treasure, and dismissed John B.’s wanting for time together because he was too invested in the location of the treasure.

One thing that never disappointed, was the action that was shown. From beginning with a dramatic plane crash episode one, kidnapping, and many life or death scenarios. Kie was found to be in the most actioninclined scenes, when usually it’s John B. and Sarah. We were shown a new side of her by going in depth with her family life, and personality.

Sarah was once again in the action as well. She went through a boatload with the death of her dad, becoming homeless, and all the drama with Topper. We all know that her relationship with her dad has always been rocky, but this season Ward showed a sweeter side and wanted to regain the relationship back with his daughter.

Going on with Topper, we continued having love triangles involving him, Sarah, and John B. I thought this season we would see more of who he is as a person, but we saw a selfish guy wanting Sarah to himself. Again he showed Sarah that he loved the idea of having her and not loving her. Although we did see a snippet of him and her in high school which showed to me how he may have always loved her, but he never knew how to show it.

This season was by far the best of the three with loads of action, igniting love, and a more thrilling treasure hunt. Although they didn’t end up securing the mass amounts of gold, they got to the cave when no one else could manage too. Nevertheless, the pogues always have each other.

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Senior Khloe Lemon hoists up the state championship trophy as the Patriots celebrate a 7260 victory over Lincoln High. Photo by Ally Seevers Senior Mya Babbitt nails a three pointer in state semifinal matchup against Bellevue West. This three pointer broke the record for most 3 pointers made in a girls state basketball game. Photo by Ally Seevers

Senior Lexi Finkenbiner brings the ball up the court in the state championship game against Lincoln High. Photo by Ally Seevers

Redemption Varsity girls basketball leaves no doubt who is the top team in Nebraska Senior JJ Jones cheers on her team after a 3-point basket from Mya Babbitt. Photo

by Ally Seevers

NFL: Live action or scripted television?

The National Football League (NFL) has been around for more than one hundred years. It was first known as the American Professional Sports Association back in 1920 and is now known as the NFL of course. Its history speaks for itself. The NFL has given me entertainment for a lifetime.

Throughout the leagues successes, however, also bring questions from those within the NFL universe.

Theories of the National Football League being scripted have been brought to light in the past months.

Former NFL running back Arian Foster started tossing around the idea and went as far to say that players receive “scripts” during training camps and then have to practice them. My thoughts on that-I think that is absurd. If this were true, I believe these ideas would’ve been talked about years back. I just cannot bring

myself to think that all of that blood, sweat, and those tears shred back in high school and college would not pay off once players get to the pros.

Back in February of this year, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 after what I thought was a weak holding call by officials in Super Bowl 57. Because of this call by referees, fans were outraged and disappointed with the late game decision. The call also, and once again, ignited people to talk about how the league may be scripted.

One Twitter user stated, “I never believed in the ‘scripted’ NFL conspiracy theory until this Super Bowl.”

Look, referees have a really tough job taking the heat from coaches, players, and fans. I can

see how this call had people theories floating around. questioning a lot of things.

“Smh, I might show the I’ll admit, I wondered too. script from the playoffs!!,” It just wouldn’t make sense he said. if it were factual though. It Let’s face reality would be a huge let down if in all seriousness though. the rumor came to be true, An opportunity like the and that’s why it’s not.

NFL requires everything At first I seriously from an athlete wishing to considered that this league be there. That is why the possibly could have lines to league is not scripted. You follow after watching Super and I can make jokes with Bowl 57. Though that was the idea all we want. But just because of my dislike when it comes down to of the Kansas City Chiefs in solemnity, this league was Mason Steinhoff a normal, friendly, fan-like created to raise standards Staff Reporter way. I joked around with within American football the scripted idea and so did in all ways possible. It’s an players in the league. experience like no other, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons for us as fans, and for the players who grind it gave a funny response on Twitter about these out each and every day.

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Staff crushes students again Students lose 52-65 to staff in 18th straight loss Dylan Wiese Sports Editor

experience,” she said. “To get ready for the game, I practiced in my driveway and before the game we did some drills both on the Despite a first half comeback, and a back and forth second half offensive and defensive end,” she the students were unable to pull off what would have been said. their first victory in the staff vs student basketball game. The Teachers also spent time staff extended their record to eighteen wins with zero losses. preparing for the event.

“I felt very confident that the staff would win the game,” “We had staff ‘exercise’ stations math teacher Brett Keim said. “We have plenty of staff that during PT Advisement Conferences used to play basketball and some who even still play now. I week where one station was playing knew our experience was a weapon as well. So even when we ‘HORSE’ in the gym,” Keim said. “I were down late I knew we all could rally together to find a way chose to participate in that station to win the game.” so I could get some shots up before To prepare for the game, senior Drew Locum said, “I played the big game.” some games at the local YMCA just to sharpen my skills a little Things did not start well for the bit for the game, and then in gym class played basketball.” students as the staff jumped out Senior Ally Seevers also prepared for the game. to an early 9 point lead in the first “I played basketball when I was little so I already had some quarter. However, things improved the students as they managed to pull within 3 Senior Amari Lang takes a jumpshot over the extended arm of social studies teacher points at halftime.

After halftime, Trevor Wiegert attempting to block the shot. Photo by Dylan Wiese the staff had regained year to have the proceeds go to a charity of their choice. their dominance and gained a seven point lead in “It’s really for a great cause,” senior Izzy Escobar said, who the third quarter. The students came soaring back led in organizing the event. “This time it was for the Lydia however as they gained a 50-46 lead with just five House and in past years it has been for minutes left in the the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the game. food bank and other causes. So all the “I felt proceeds go there and it’s just a really really good about fun thing for the staff and students to our chances I just think it’s a fun get together.” because we all “I just think it’s a fun event every had a very athletic event every year and year and it’s just a fun event for the background, so we students to be a part of,” Locum said. had a really good it’s just a fun event “I wanted to play because it was shot,” Seevers said. the first that I didn’t have anything for the students to be going andyear However, it just seemed like a lot of eight straight points fun,” librarian Jennifer Prasch said. a part of. for the staff gave “It was definitely a little more them the lead and rushed than in previous years,” Escobar they never gave -Senior Drew Locum said. “But I feel like with the time we had it back as when it, it was a great success.” the final buzzer The students will still be looking sounded the staff had emerged with a 65-52 victory. for their first ever victory when the game takes place next year.

Despite the loss for the students the game Senior Drew Locum drives the ball into the basket against social proved to be a success for both sides as the game studies teacher Jacob Battaglia. was put on by DECA who puts on the game each Photo by Dylan Wiese

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Leuschen earns 100 career wins “To get to celebrate with the group was special because a lot of times we didn’t get to celebrate a lot this season,” Leuschen said. “We were on the short For the Millard South boys basketball team, walking side of a lot of games and had a ton of injuries. To see into the locker room after a win is always a special these guys go through all that and continue to compete feeling, but following the win at Bellevue East 71-29, through the year, to be able to celebrate with them, it the team had a little more to made it really special.” celebrate. The game marked Now after 20 years of the one-hundredth career coaching at Millard South, win for head coach Tim last nine years as head Coach is one of those the Leuschen. coach, Leuschen has made “It means a lot,” Leuschen such an impact on this individuals who said. “I have had a great program and this school. coaching staff who have been “Coach is one of those makes the people with me for all these years, individuals who makes and just so many great kids the people around him around him better and players over the years.” better whether they are “Going into the game, his players or his coaching -Assistant Coach Matthew we didn’t really know that it staff,” assistant coach Turner could be the one-hundredth Matthew Turner said. “To win,” junior Will Cooper have a guy who’s been at said, “so winning that game Millard South for so long and knowing that it was and celebrating was just really and really puts the kids first, this program and this special.” school is so fortunate to have him,” he said.

This season, the team faced a tough schedule with “His tempo and the way he gets on us, he wants us many injuries. Nine of their 15 losses in the season to be the best athletes and people you can be,” senior were lost by fewer than 10 points, making the oneLance Rucker said. hundredth win extra sweet.

Ally Seevers Editor-in-Chief

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Head Coach TIm Leuschen talks to his team in the game against Millard North. Photo by Ally Seevers

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Masters of the Mat Patriots clinch fifth consecutive state title, break scoring record Ally Seevers Editor-In-Chief The dynasty continues for Patriot wrestling as the team earned their 5th consecutive state championship title, breaking the all class team point total record with 260.5 points.

“It’s a testament to the kids and all the hard work they’ve put in,” head coach Nate Olson said.

“It’s good to send the seniors out on top and set our name in the record book.”

With nine wrestlers qualifying for the gold Senior and Michigan commit Joel Adams takes in the moment before his final high school match. Adams medal match, finished the season undefeated to win his third straight state championship title. Photo by Ally Seevers the Patriots finished with seven individual “It’s a brotherhood,” Olson said. state champions, “Nobody wants to let the next guy tying the record down, so they always wrestle their for the number hardest and help the team out the of individual best they can.”

-Sophomore Logan Glynn champions in The success of this team and one state tournathis program stems from the ment. legacy of Antrell Taylor and Tyler Dylan Wiese “It’s definitely a high standard,” sophomore Antoniak. With this year’s win, seniors Joel Adams Sports Editor Logan Glynn said. “We all want to be the best we and Aiden Robertson join the pair as members of can be, so it’s no surprise we had that many in the four consecutive state championship team titles. finals.”

“I’m very grateful to be here and to be a part Success in athletics is very hard work and is very rarely done The team, however, wouldn’t have been able of this family,” Robertson said. “ it will be hard not right away as it often takes years to achieve. That was not the case to break the record without the help of the whole to be able to see these guys every day.” for freshman Kiernan Meink, however, as he managed to have a lineup. Freshman Brady Danze placed fifth at 120, “It feels very rewarding to be a part of such 48-5 record through the season and capture the state championsenior Gino Rettele placed 6th at 132 and senior an outstanding team,” Adams said. “To play a ship title at 106 pounds.

Brock Dyer (285), Tristan Williams (220) and junior small part and contribute to the best team Ne“It was a great feeling,” Meink said. “It was fun being there with Tanner Fuller (182) all qualified for the tournabraska has ever seen means a lot. I couldn’t have all my teammates and I was feeling very excited for the biggest ment. imagined a better ending.” tournament of my season,” he said.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do this withHowever, this achievement was not accomplished without hard out all of us being there,” Dyer said. “That whole work, dedication, and even a little help from his brother Korbin, family dynamic, that’s probably the best who was a 4 time state champion in wrestling and is currently the part. All of us being there together and compethead coach of the Iowa Western wrestling team. ing: it’s something special,” he said.

“Kiernan is always hard working,” head coach Nate Olson said. “Going to state he practiced and prepared like he had all year so he avoided wrestling nervous like many other freshmen,” he said.

“I would get all the nerves out before the match and get ready to wrestle and compete at my best ability,” Meink said.

-Freshman Kiernan Meink 152-pounder, junior Josiah Aburumuh, celEven with ebrates his thrilling gold medal win at the state everything that went tournament. Photo by Ally Seevers into getting ready to wrestle Meink would not have an easy path to the state title as he would be competing against 15 others at 106 pounds from all across the state.

Meink dominated through the first three matches of the state tournament as he won all three of his first three matches with a pin.

“Going into the last match, he was in the zone and confident and received help from his brother who had been in that situation Sophomore Logan Glynn holds up #1 after he before,” Olson said. defeats his opponent for the state championThe last match would not be easy for Meink as he prepared to ship title. Photo by Ally Seevers face Abdiraham Unle of Omaha Bryan who stood at a record of 47 wins and 4 losses. However, one of those losses was to Meink when they had wrestled earlier in the season.

The match proved to be difficult as Meink trailed early in the match.

Kiernan Meink 106 1st “At first I was a little worried because I was down a lot of points,” Isaac Ekdahl 113 2nd Meink said.

Brady Danze 120 5th However, Meink did not stay down long as he came rushing Miles Anderson 126 1st back and grabbed a 9-8 lead late in the match. He never gave back Gino Rettele 132 6th the lead as when time ran out Meink had won the match and state Logan Glynn 138 1st championship 13-8.

Joel Adams 145 1st “I don’t remember winning,” Meink said. “The adrenaline rush Josiah Aburumuh 152 1st was crazy. I don’t even remember the match. It was all so sudden,” Henry Reily 160 2nd he said.

Aiden Robertson 170 1st The journey is not over for Meink since he is only a freshman Tanner Fuller 182 Qualifier so he will seek to become just the 37th 4-time state champion in Junior Caeden Olin looks out to his family after Caeden Olin 195 1st Nebraska state wrestling history.

“ It’s definitely a

high standard. We all want to be the best we can be.

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Freshman Phenom Meink dominates Class A to win title

“ The adrenaline

rush was crazy. I don’t even remember the match. It was all so sudden.

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Tournament Results

Tristan Williams Brock Dyer

220 285

Qualifier Qualifier

his state championship win at 195. Photo by Ally Seevers