April18,2023|Volume2Issue4 ChangescomingtoDiscoveryHighSchool

CamasConnectAcademyistojointhe Project-basedLearningcampusandbe managedundertheirfutureadministration.

By:AliferiaGonzalez&JackWalsh

Discovery High School (DHS) students have become aware of potential changes being made to their school, many of which they believed to have negative repercussions, and launched a campaign to prevent them from being put into place. However, the same changes they were fighting against eventually became reality.

On Monday, March 27, 2023, over 15 Discovery students—and many DHS staff members—arrived at a board meeting held by the Camas School District (CSD) with the intent to discuss the impending reduction-in-force procedure and budget cuts.

Two critical factors that drove students to participate in the board meeting and reach out to the community were the possibility of more DHS staff being removed and the potential merge between Camas Connect Academy (CCA) and Discovery—though the terms and ramifications of said merger remained murky and changed depending on the student asked.

During the board meeting, when citizens of Camas had an opportunity to provide spoken comments to the board directly,the majority of speakers were Discovery High School students and staff.Another

Varietyshowpostponedto April21,2023

Stressinstudents'everydayliveshasled toburnout.

By:ElGrimes&SophiaPerian

Discovery High school (DHS) is hosting its first ever variety show in the upcoming months.As of April 10, 2023, DHS students and teachers were invited to audition for the variety show—which would take place on April 21.

The variety show, occuring during DHS’WIN period on that Friday, will require all DHS students to attend for up to two hours and watch their fellow friends and staff, as well as a couple Odyssey Middle School (OMS) students, participate.They will showcase a variety of talents during the event in Discovery’s gallery room in front of the learning stairs.These talents and skills could range from comedy to singing or dancing to playing an instrument.

Discovery Digest got a chance to interview one of the variety shows’ organizers, DHS principal Aaron Smith, about the details and his opinion on group of spoken comments was dedicated to supporting DHS, though the speakers were not students or staff.

Prior to the public comments by members of the Camas community, the impending budget the upcoming variety show.

“[The variety show was meant to be done] before spring break, but there just wasn’t quite enough time to do it as well as we wanted—right now we have it scheduled during April 21,” said Smith.

“[The variety show has] been something that I created at Skyridge, and then I've been talking about it here,” said Smith.“I tried to do a virtual one during the pandemic as well.And I don’t know if Imogen heard I was doing it this year, but Imogen was excited about doing it as well so we put our heads together and said let's do it!”

This year’s variety show is the first one to be held at DHS.Although Smith had come up with the idea before DHS was built, with the lack of students and the pandemic hitting hard on schools, DHS had never had the chance to put on one.

“Because we didn't have, like, quite enough from Discovery [students], we decided to have OMS students—and honestly there has been so much going on [so] we decided let’s just take a deep breath and have a break,” said Smith.

The variety show had gotten pushed out quite a bit but Smith said, hopefully,April 21 is the cut was not spoken on by board members directly. Liberty Middle School’s jazz band, certain CSD members, and student committee reports.

Continued on Page 3 date of the show.The idea is for the date to not get pushed out any further.

“I'm also not a fan of first place, [the variety show is] really just an opportunity to celebrate other aspects of people that others aren't aware of,” said Smith.

The point of the show is to show diversity of the different talents or skills DHS students possess and show them to their school. It's not about who is best, it's about sharing with the DHS community. Having OMS students join the production further shows the diversity in the two schools.

HowADHDaffects adolescents

ADHDawarenessandhowadolescents experiencethedisorder.

By:AveryPerry&HayleeKohler

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in teens is more prominent now than it's ever been, with 3.3 million (13.6%) of adolescents aged 12-17 years being diagnosed before the age of 18. Regardless of age, more and more patients are being diagnosed with ADHD per year.

The National Health Interview Survey estimated the prevalence of ADHD in children ages 4-17 years to be around 6% in the 1990’s, with it climbing to 10% by 2016.

How do high school teens live with ADHD, and how does it affect everyday life? ADHD looks different in everyone. For some, it causes difficulty focusing and, in others, it causes hyperactivity.

ADHD has links to abnormal cognitive, behavioral, and motivational functioning. It can also affect the regulation of moods, emotions, and brain cell connections.This is due to the way it affects communication between different areas of the brain.

We sat down with ADHD specialist Mindy Perry to see what living with ADHD is really like and what students need to know.

Discoverystudentsfeeling burntout

Stressinstudents’everydayliveshaslead toburnoutinmanybeforeSpringbreak

By:WillowNusbaum

Student burnout is a serious issue that affects many students.At Discovery High School (DHS), some students have begun to feel burnt out from the school work they are given.

Burnout is the feeling of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion and is typically the result of long term stress.

Burnout can result in numerous issues for a student. Some of the symptoms of burnout can include exhaustion, frustration, and detachment from school and social activities. Students may also experience physical symptoms such as headaches, stomachaches, and fatigue. Burnout can also lead to anxiety and depression, which can lead to a negative impact on a student's academic performance.

One of the primary causes of stress and burnout among high school students is the pressure for them to excel academically. Many students feel the need to maintain high grades in order to get into a good college or get a good job.

The pressure to meet every deadline can lead to a constant cycle of studying and homework that

“Often people are diagnosed with anxiety and depression first, and even put on medication before they are accurately diagnosed with ADHD,” said Perry,“they have what we call a secondary psychological effect of depression or anxiety because of untreated ADHD.”

Is a project-based learning (PBL) school beneficial for students with diagnosed ADHD?

“Absolutely, I wish every school district had PBL for kids with ADHD,” said Perry.

“The reason is,ADHD is what we call a disorder of self regulation, so people with ADHD don't necessarily not pay attention but they either pay too little or too much attention… People with ADHD have interest based brains and PBL focuses on hands-on activities and keeps our brains focused and interested.”

Everything learned about ADHD is very helpful for students who have it, but how do teachers best support someone with ADHD?

Continued on Page 4 leaves little time for rest or relaxation.

“I want to finish everything up before spring break,” said DHS sophomore Nathaniel McBride. ”I don't have any assignments that persist after spring break.”

Another factor that contributes to student burnout is extracurricular activities. Involvement in clubs, sports, and other activities can be a great way to make new friends and build new skills, but they can also add to an overwhelming workload.

Continued on Page 4

Editor-in-Chief

AliferiaGonzalez

CopyChief IvanFrazee

CreativeDirectors

HayleeKohler

JackWalsh

FeatureEditors

SophiaPerian

TerrenceGillespie

NewsEditors

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BeckGummer

Arts&CultureEditors

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SocialEditors

AveryPerry ElGrimes

Varietyshowpostponedto April21,2023cont.

Amultitudeoffactorsforcedtheeventinto thebackofpeoples’heads.

By:ElGrimes&SophiaPerian

Digest asked DHS auditionee Brandon Palma about his views on the variety show.

“I think [students] would enjoy it a lot especially because of the diversity here at Discovery and people's personalities,” said Palma.

“I think both [OMS and DHS] should be there,” said Palma.“I think that middle schools don’t always get attention sometimes, and I think Discovery is a great opportunity for that. So, I think it's a good idea.

Because the auditions were being pushed back due to the recent occurrences at DHS, Palma disclosed his thoughts on the matter.

“It seems like it's not a big priority so far, because it’s an interesting decision to keep moving it back because it's a big event,” said Palma. One of the main contributors to the variety show, Imogen Jones, expressed her hopes and aspirations for the event.

“Like 11 to 12 students [have signed up] but I'm hoping more people will sign up this week,”Jones stated.“You can sign up with the QR code.”

Changescomingto DiscoveryHighSchoolcont.

ThefuturesofCHS,CCAandDHSlieinthe handsofWashingtonlegislature

By:AliferiaGonzalez&JackWalsh

DHS students were aware of the district’s budget issues before the board meeting started, but did not start mobilizing to provide input and pushback on the potential changes to Discovery until Thursday, March 23. On that day, the potential impact of the cuts was relayed to students by a fast-paced social movement—primarily supported by word-of-mouth. Before that day, DHS students were more informed about the potential changes and pushback to Hayes Freedom High School than the future of DHS.

The possibility of the merger between CCA and DHS had been confirmed and spoken about by multiple DHS staff members, though they did not supply students with any anti-district rhetoric when addressing the concerns.

Three years ago, a program at Camas High School (CHS) known as the Integrated Arts and Academics Program (IAA) was closed due to a lack of funding, low enrollment, and staffing issues.

Some IAA staff and IAA Freshman and Sophomore students were encouraged to transfer to DHS with the incentive of an arts-focused curriculum within DHS.

Jeffrey Macke was a humanities teacher who taught sophomores and seniors at IAA. Macke moved to DHS for the 2020-21 school year and onwards. Macke recalls the negative reaction from students at IAvA.

“The kids were devastated,” Macke stated. “They were so invested, and so were we, but whatever the powers that be made their decision.”

There has been lots of pessimism going around at DHS about the unclear future, but Macke remains optimistic that our goals and what we do will remain the same.

“What has been said is that it’s not going to change as a whole what we do here. So I don’t see Discovery losing the things that we have now.”

One of Macke’s firmest beliefs is that Discovery has proven how much it does for students.

“We’re getting better at what we do, we’re making gains,” said Macke. “Students are obviously invested and learning from this model. And so I think that we have to be given the ability to keep resuming that.”

As of March 30, 2023, it is unconfirmed which staff members at DHS have been removed from the program.

The district itself has stated that staff will be removed from their positions via seniority first, meaning that teachers who are newer to the district are more likely to not return next year.

On March 30, 2023, DHS principal Aaron Smith announced that he would not be returning to an administrative position at CSD’s project-based learning campus. Smith stated that the endeavor of taking on Camas Connect Academy, Odyssey Middle School