The ECHO, Dec. 2022

The unintended impacts of Welcome To East

By Fareeda Malik & Reese Weddendorf Staff Writers

No one knows what’s going to be posted next. While some people laugh at Welcome To East’s posts, others are targeted by the joke.

Welcome To East is a student contribution Instagram page, created in Dec. 2020 with posts ranging as far back as Oct. 21, 2021. It posts photos and videos of East that vary from bathroom “art” to school fights, and has over 1,000 followers.

“[Welcome To East] was created to document all the random things that happen around East, whether it be the graffiti or the good things that happened,” the creator of Welcome To East said in an anonymous interview.

However, Welcome To East has elicited mixed responses

from the East community, as attention from the page can come with negative effects.

“I think the Welcome To East page is funny, but sometimes it goes a little too far. Sometimes [it posts] people minding their own business,” junior Alex Arrasmith said. “I would count this as cyberbullying.”

Posts have featured a student being arrested, a student being pantsed and a student picking his nose, all of which have since been deleted.

According to Welcome To East’s creator, this was not the page’s intent.

“We’re not trying to make anyone feel bad or get bullied,” the creator said. “I’ve always tried to keep it like, ‘You DM me, and I’ll deal with the problem.’”

But regardless of intent, there have been damaging consequences that have come

from Welcome To East’s posts.

In May 2021, a photo of Dominic Koplar was posted on the page. Koplar is an East civics teacher and lacrosse coach, who was in the middle of helping a student when the photo was taken from behind. After the first, at least five other photos of Koplar were posted that are still up today, although others have been deleted.

“It felt like harassment,” Koplar said. “To be sarcastically sexualized just felt like a step out of bounds, a step too far.”

Koplar implemented a nophones policy in his classroom, but the photos didn’t stop there. Photos taken of him on his lunch break, from balconies and windows, also appeared on the page.

“It was disappointing for me to see and have to read the comments that other people in this building made to be edgy,

to get internet laughs, to pick fun. These were people who I knew… people who I felt like, quite honestly, were better than that.”

And despite Welcome To East’s policy that people are able to message the page for the removal of any photos, Koplar

was not able to get the posts taken down. It was only after a group of students messaged the account that some of the photos were removed.

“I had reached out to the creators from an account… to basically tell them that this was cyberbullying and

Avery Tortora/The ECHO

harassment… that they didn’t have a right to my person’s right to my image, my likeness. I asked them to take all of the posts that featured me down and they neither responded nor took those down.”

Continued on page 5

50-floor grading policy sparks mixed reactions among teachers

By Graham Jones & Will Pazzula Staff Writers

A week before the end of the first quarter, the CHCCS Board of Education met for a regularly scheduled meeting Oct. 20. The Board discussed Policy 3400, CHCCS’s grading policy. This discussion centered around reiterating the “50-floor” and the miscommunication surrounding it.

The 50-floor, a grading policy established by the Board in March 2021, is intended as a “fair and equitable” districtwide safety net for students by establishing the lowest grade on all assignments as 50 percent.

The miscommunication

stemmed from the central administration’s interpretation of the Board’s decision as temporary and thinking that it would expire at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. This led the administration to develop the quarterly 50-floor grading policy present in the first quarter. The 50-floor from 2021 has been active all year, but schools have not been following it due to the administration telling schools to follow the quarterly grading policy.

The quarterly 50-floor policy makes it so that the lowest quarter grade a student can

get is a 50; in comparison, the 50-floor established in 2021 makes the minimum grade you can get on an assignment a 50.

The Board shared the sentiment that while teachers need to be considered in the decision, especially with the end of the first quarter ending a week after the meeting, student equity is paramount. The Board didn’t want students to be negatively impacted by the quarterly floor by receiving a failing grade, especially when it was the unintentional product of miscommunication. The

decision to reiterate the 50-floor was unanimous among the present Board members.

“The timing of it was very poor, being at the end of the quarter,” said science teacher Erin Shindledecker. “I had to go back and change a lot of grades to make sure that nobody was given less than a 50. To be clear, I actually support the idea of a 50-floor for the [first semester]. But I think a missing assignment should go in as a zero. A kid who didn’t do the assignment shouldn’t get the same grade as a kid who did the assignment, [but got a grade

below a 50 percent].”

The opinion that students who don’t turn in assignments should get a zero is one that is fairly common among East teachers. Since the introduction of the 50-floor in 2021, teachers have expressed their frustration with students not turning in work.

“It’s harming our students because it is not holding them accountable for doing their work,”

Shindledecker said. “Kids aren’t dumb; they’ve figured out pretty quickly that they can get by doing one or two assignments

over the course of the quarter, which ultimately reduces the chances that they’re going to learn the material.”

The studentry of East have varying opinions on the grading policy and how it affects them. But it seems like some students have found a new found comfort in the raised floor.

“I think [the 50-floor has] been a good change, my friends seem less stressed because there is [less fear] of failure. If they miss an assignment they can still make a good grade,” an anonymous sophomore said. “I don’t think it’s making us learn less, it’s just understanding that we [as students] have limits.”

Continued on page 4

please, care enough

do something

school a safer place for queer students.”

“A kid who didn’t do the assignment shouldn’t get the same grade as a kid who did the assignment.”

“The encouragement to know that you can make something up, for me, was imperative.”

OPINIONS

ECHO Dear PrIncIPal casey, Here’s an idea.

Proposed Rules for PCQs:

Our Staff

co-eDItors-In-chIef

Helen Katz

Hammond Cole Sherouse

staff WrIters

Jessica Boston

Daniel Cefalo

Ananya Cox

Emmanuel Dapaah

Gabe Deel

Cameron Forbes

Jordan Huang

Graham Jones

Jane Kim

Linda Li

Richard Li

Keira McArthur

Fareeda Malik

Corrin Mitchell

Ben Parry

Will Pazzula

Avery Tortora

Reese Weddendorf

Max Winzelberg

Andrew Xu

aDVIser

Neal Morgan ntmorgan@chccs.k12.nc.us

Our Address

500 Weaver Dairy Road Chapel Hill, NC 27514 919-969-2482 ext. 27260

The ECHO is a forum for student debate. We invite you to submit any opinions, op-ed pieces or responses to anything published in the ECHO. Please send letters or comments to echhsecho@gmail.com

View our full op-ed policy:

The ECHO is published by the students at East Chapel Hill High School for the student body and is supported by the school. Letters are encouraged but must be signed by the writer to be considered for publication. Names may be withheld from publication upon request.

The ECHO staff reserves the right to edit letters for length, clarity and for other ethical and legal considerations.

As we’re sure you’re well aware, East students complain. A lot. Everything from e-hallpass to the school’s website design to the way Quad A smells seems to incur the studentry’s infinite ire. We, the ECHO, are perhaps the biggest complainers of them all.

But much of this constant grumbling stems mainly from one unfortunate fact: The student body lacks an effective avenue to channel their concerns about the school. Although there are many aspects of school that students hope to change, there seems to be a deficit of direct communication between the student body and the administration.

The ECHO’s November Student Survey found that only 25.3 percent of 171 respondents think the administration values student feedback on its policies. Since students feel that nothing will ever be done to redress their woes, they succumb to a cycle of never-ending misery and complaints.

Of course, certain processes exist for students to direct their concerns. There are

organizations like the Student Council and School Improvement Team. There are assistant principals, an associate principal and a principal whose duties and stated goals include representing student interests.

So, when a student has a matter they want to bring attention to, it seems like there’s no shortage of ways to go about it. Unfortunately, these channels for studentadministration communication are so decentralized that it’s hard to know which, if any, might allow for the possibility of real change.

The administrators themselves are often so busy that attempts at direct communication prove fruitless. The Student Council and SIT operate so slowly, bureaucratically and with such separation from the student body that they become inaccessible to the average student.

That’s why we’d like to propose a remedy of our own: a centralized, accessible way to facilitate direct communication between the studentry and the

administration.

Once a month, we propose that an event be held during lunch or after school in the library, auditorium, Slant Room or another appropriate venue. This event would be open to all students who wish to attend and would be heavily advertised ahead of time.

At this event, which we’ll call Principal Casey’s Questions (PCQs), students would be given the chance to directly ask you, Principal Casey, any questions they may have, with an immediate, public answer guaranteed.

Of course, due to legal, ethical or other considerations, it is quite possible that the answer to a particular question might simply be “I can’t tell you.” Even in such a case, it would be far better to hear that directly and decisively than to stew in uncertainty and confusion.

Rules and procedures could be refined over time, but as a proof of concept, we have included a set of basic guidelines that could ensure orderly and effective communication.

Taste-Testing Paper: A definitive review

1) Each student will be allowed to ask one question during each round of questioning.

2) A new round of questioning will begin when each student in attendance has either asked a question or waived their right to ask a question.

3) Principal Casey will be given a maximum of four minutes to answer each question.

4) Should the questioner be dissatisfied with Principal Casey’s answer, they may ask one follow-up question.

5) Principal Casey will reserve the right to not answer any particular question for any reason.

6) PCQs will extend no longer than an hour. Any questions left unasked can be brought up at the next event.

PCQs could foster a sense of actual dialogue and respect between the administration and the students. Instead of having to filter concerns through representative bodies or private correspondence, students would be able to effectively air those concerns at PCQs.

Aside from achieving the goal of addressing more student feedback, PCQs could also benefit your administration by bolstering school morale. If students knew their concerns were actually being listened

to, they would feel like more valued members of the East community.

East’s official theme this year is “Loved, Respected & Connected,” and a policy like this could go a long way toward actualizing those values.

We hope you will consider this proposal and at least give it a try. If it works, it could usher in a new era of greater studentadministration collaboration and help make East a place students can be proud of helping to shape.

sIncerely,

The ECHO Staff

By Andrew Xu Staff Writer

Whether you’re looking for a new snack addiction, attempting to establish a food industry monopoly, or just bored after finishing a test early, we definitely do not have a new, delicious treat for you to explore. This is because most paper products are not FDA approved (yet), and we do not condone ingesting it unless specified as edible.

Printer paper: Like most other types of paper, printer

paper is tasteless. It quickly dissolves to a degree, then feels like very hard beef after a short while of munching, except with even less elasticity. Most of it disintegrates after some time in the mouth and therefore becomes easy to swallow. However, a small piece that has been folded by the tongue always takes much longer to dissolve and requires being chewed into small pieces to swallow.

★★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆

Wax paper: The texture is somewhat similar to seaweed sheets. Smooth and with no firmness, wax paper is unique as it cannot be dissolved by saliva at all. When condensed, wax paper becomes unmalleable and tough to chew, and resembles one solid-shaped piece that is extremely difficult to break apart. Although mildly pleasant at first, it becomes difficult to proceed

with the ingestion process unless one decides to swallow the piece in whole.

★★★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Tissue paper: Soft, but not malleable until disintegration. Thin at first but becomes relatively thick upon condensing. Disintegrates easily in large chunks at first, and accelerated by friction from the tongue and by chewing. However, after most material is disintegrated, the center of the condensed matter becomes stiff and extremely difficult to break apart. ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Edible icing paper: Icing paper is a weird combination of an extremely slight sweet flavor if bitten, thick turkey bacon-like feel and texture that somehow still resembles ordinary paper. It dissolves completely after entering the mouth, but is

resistant to tearing by biting. A subtle yet noticeable trace of the signature paper flavor and an almost powdery feel appears at the brief moment that icing paper is fully dissolved or swallowed. To me, it has an uncanny resemblance to both some sort of food product and ordinary paper, unsure of which category it seeks to belong in. It is clearly not designed to be a standalone food product like other types of paper, and the presence of rich and unique character in other types of paper is nowhere to be found, instead replaced by a pathetic and strange taste. Ironically, the two FDA approved products in this review have been determined to be the worst-tasting type of paper, authoritatively and empirically.

a solid, inelastic body. After intensive chewing, a subtle, strange, and indescribable flavor occasionally emerges, accompanied by an occasional bitterness. After further chewing and when the paper begins to disintegrate and disfigure, the taste intensifies but is still slight. Does not disintegrate gradually, rather softens gradually then all breaks apart upon chewing. Craft paper is relatively difficult to get through, but a rewarding and unique experience upon doing so. Granted, the flavor probably comes from the coloring, not the paper itself. But it happens to evoke the deepest sentimentalities of man. A state of beauty that exists through sourness and ugliness. Reminiscent of an excruciating ecstasy... and a thrilling agony...

Colored craft paper: Thick, slow to dissolve, initially condenses together to become

Release liner (the paper that you peel stickers off of): I’m pretty sure I just ate plastic.

aDVIce: Pick someone to observe

By Helen Katz Co-Editor-in-Chief

“Let’s say hypothetically you were talking to this person for like two months maybe, you went to HoCo with them, etc. You kinda break up with them but you don’t know why and you regret it. You still like them but you’re just friends now, what do you do?”

Dear Regretful,

You should tell them how you feel. But also realize that most people won’t want to be with someone who dumped them. That doesn’t mean you’re a bad person or don’t deserve to get back together with them, it’s just that the other person may think it’s likely that you will hurt them again. Still, if you really like this person it is 100 percent worth telling them that you’re sorry and want to get back together because you’ll never know until you try. And if you get rejected, at least you were the one that did the dumping first! ;)

“My problem is that the author of an advice column I read is unqualified to run an advice column. Her life is a mess. How do I tell her? How do I make it so she stops making her newspaper into a rag?”

Dear I know who you are, Perhaps you should realize that the author of the advice column is the Co-Editor-inChief of the ECHO. So think about that the next time you say her life is a mess.

“How do I know if someone wants to date me? I don’t want to date, but I don’t want to give anyone the wrong impression and hurt their feelings. Aside from telling everyone I’m not into them, I am not sure what to do.”

Dear Hot Stuff,

Sounds like your problem is that too many people want to date you? Boohoo, sounds really hard. Kidding! In all seriousness, it sounds like you are a really nice person who

What do you think about East?

doesn’t want to hurt others. Sometimes being honest will inevitably still hurt someone, though, no matter how nicely you tell them. Unless you want to be dating everyone in the school, you have to learn that it’s OK to reject someone. Just do it in the nicest way possible.

“How should I make the last 20 minutes of seventh period pass more quickly?”

Dear Restless,

We all struggle with this one. Here’s a little game I’ve made up to help myself with this exact problem. Twenty minutes before the end of seventh period, pick one person in the class to observe. This might sound creepy, but hear me out… Count how many times they look at other people in the class and chances are you can figure out who they like in 20 minutes or less. OK, nevermind, it definitely is as creepy as it sounds. Still, it’s also the surest way to make 20 minutes feel like 20 seconds.

Student Council is as good as it’ll get

everything from prioritizing mental health to bridging the achievement gap. However unrealistic, overstated campaigning is a requirement because if you do not provide the school with any idea of what you stand for, you’re at an automatic disadvantage.

Is East a good school? Do you approve of Principal Casey’s administration? How often should the school host spirit weeks? Share your perspective on these and other socially relevant issues with the new ECHO Monthly Student Survey

November’s results, from 171 responses:

Do you approve of the 50 percent grade floor?

Do you feel represented by the Student Council?

How can East make students feel more loved, respected and/or connected?

“East could be more attentive to student opinions.”

“Hire more counselors.”

“By having better transparency.”

“Either remove PAC or make PAC more about connecting with the group.”

Do you think the school administration values student feedback on its policies?

“We need more opportunities and events to make us feel connected and loved. The staff needs to show us that they truly care about us. We’re teenagers, we shouldn’t be stressed out of our minds.”

Communication through canvassing

Council, they are both organized by the administration, which allows students to truly work in conjunction with the administration. These clubs help in fulfilling higher goals and are explicitly designed to provide a platform for student voice.

By Jordan Huang Staff Writer

“Why would you want to run for Student Council? Do they even do anything?”

As a member of the Student Council, I encounter a wide range of views regarding the elected student representatives and executive council as a whole. Some believe that our Student Council legitimately serves a prominent role, but most see it as a gimmick, or nothing more than college application padding. I don’t fully disagree with either sentiment. While the Student Council has the potential to slightly influence certain outcomes within our school, overall, it will never serve the purpose or execute the ideas that candidates advertise.

During campaign time, candidates pushed broad ideas of improvement, including

The Student Council simply doesn’t have any chance at doing much about any of those issues. The realistic deliverables cannot compare with those proposed by candidates, yet big, far-fetched ideas sound a lot better than “I will organize a great school dance.” I won’t claim to be different; I’m just as guilty of doing this as all others.

I won’t disagree that the Student Council is a great means to organize school events and happenings, give students an opportunity to practice leadership skills and boost school morale and spirit. However, expecting much more is misguided at best.

From personal experience, I’ve found that, in terms of influencing any sort of real change, being a part of the Student Equity Ambassadors or School Improvement Team provides a much better opportunity. Unlike Student

Despite what some think, Student Council isn’t even in the same league. Student Council is not meant to truly govern, which is exactly why its name was changed from “Student Government” to “Student Council” last year.

In my eyes, our Student Council is about as good as it’ll get. Although some think that the Student Council should have more true power and more of a meaningful say in school policy, it’s right where it needs to be. Regardless of how high achieving they are, almost every school district leaves administrative duties up to the true leadership, as it should. I’m completely satisfied just making announcements and organizing events and baseline initiatives.

While I’ll always be an advocate for student representation and voice, it’s clear to me that Student Council was never designed to be the main driver of that.

By Ananya Cox Staff Writer

I never expected to talk to a felon smoking marijuana on the Sunday before Election Day.

Most of my local political work had been phone-banking and letter-writing as I was working at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that meant that I never got to fully experience what it meant to canvas and connect.

I had always wondered about the real differences in the impacts between canvassing and phone banking, and that turned out to be the existence of a real connection with people.

In a last ditch effort to turn out a few votes, I went out to canvas for N.C. House candidate Ricky Hurtado two days before Election Day.

It was very nerve-wracking at first because I didn’t want

to make anyone mad or be confrontational, but I soon realized that the in-person conversations I was having with people made a real impact. Talking with someone in front of you doesn’t give them an opportunity to just hang up the phone and get on with their life.

Many people didn’t know how to vote, didn’t know where to vote, or just needed information.

One afternoon, my friends and I were walking to the next apartment block at our location when we heard yelling from two men in the parking lot, asking what we were handing out.

We quickly replied that it was voting information. They said they wanted some and we headed over.

These were two 30-ish-yearold men, leaning against a bright red sedan and smoking joints. They had big smiles on their faces as we handed them information cards and asked us which party we were working for. “A Democrat,” we said. They shook their heads and said they were both Republicans.

But then, one of my friends quickly jumped in.

“But you know [Hurtado’s]

going to try to legalize marijuana,” he said.

The men were both still a little out of it and repeating their words a lot, but now said they would definitely vote for Rep. Hurtado.

We went on to discuss what they wanted in a candidate and learned that they cared about gas prices and the economy, but didn’t think anyone would do anything about those issues. We went through some candidates with them and gave them the information to make their own decisions.

They also told us that only one of them could vote (because the other was a felon), but that they didn’t know what their candidates stood for before then.

Moments like that prompt me to continue. Even though it’s a situation I laugh about now, we did give a few people information that I would like to think they acted on.

Talking to strangers can be very difficult, but is ultimately rewarding, as a face-to-face conversation gets more done than anything in front of a screen. Real connection will always be more impactful than anything else.

FEATURES

LGBTQ+ students express safety concerns about East’s new club policies

By Max Winzelberg & Ananya Cox Staff Writers

A new identifying club policy, put in place at the start of the school year, has sparked concern among members of the QueerStraight Alliance club (QSA), a group intended to provide a safe and welcoming environment for all East students, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. The new policy, requiring students to have visible stickers on their student IDs to indicate club participation, is used to admit students into classrooms for lunch meetings.

Club leadership and members worry that the new club identifiers could expose attendees who wish to remain anonymous for safety and personal reasons, and could

lead to violence against them.

QSA co-leader Phoebe Reed says that not all East QSA members feel safe in the environment created by the new administration’s policies.

“The idea of having a sticker that identifies you as someone who goes to this club and is most likely queer is just a really terrible concept in general,” Reed said. “Especially if there are other students who know that the sticker exists, can see that and recognize, ‘Oh, this student is going to QSA, they might be gay, they might be trans.’ That’s just terrible.”

Reed emphasizes that distress about privacy for LGBTQ+

students at school has increased after the passage of Florida State House Bill 1557, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, with many worrying the N.C. state legislature will attempt to pass something similar.

The Florida bill requires educators to inform parents about “critical decisions affecting a student’s mental, emotional, physical health or wellbeing,” which can include information about sexual orientation or gender identity. Reed points out how a similar law, combined with East’s new club policies, could jeopardize QSA members.

“There are definitely several

members of the club who are worried about [the] school being able to track students, which could require a situation where the school might legally be required to tell a parent, which can be something that is very dangerous for members who don’t have accepting parents at home,” Reed said. “I am lucky enough to have supporting parents, to be out at school and not be in a directly unsafe environment. But, I feel extremely empathetic for the several students I know who don’t have all these privileges… who are seriously worried that they can get kicked out of their house, beat up or worse by their parents if information is revealed.”

QSA adviser Jenny Marie Al Sheikhli feels that club member

anonymity is necessary for the safety and purpose of the group. As a result, she keeps no records about the members of the QSA.

“I, officially as their adviser, don’t have a list [of members], and that is for safety reasons, so I can’t be coerced into handing over a list, [so] students can’t find a list somewhere or uncover it,” Sheikhli said. “[For] some students it’s a matter of safety for themselves, for their friends… and I think for obvious reasons, it needs to be anonymous.”

Associate Principal Tiffany Best says that policies are ultimately in place to provide greater school safety through preventative measures, and that knowledge of club membership is restricted.

“Club Stickers allow teachers on Lunch Duty to

ensure students…are not roaming through the building unsupervised. A lack of supervision can result in mishaps occurring that could’ve been prevented,” Best explained in an email to the ECHO. “Members lists are needed so that we staff will know where students are in case of emergency… Only Administration, other members of the club, and the Faculty Advisor are privy to know who members of the club are. Club membership [and] rosters are not public information.”

Reed understands that East’s administration is concerned about safety, but pleads for more understanding from officials.

“Just please, care enough to do something to make the school a safer place for queer students. Because right now it isn’t.”

What is Restorative Practice and how is East using it? 50-floor teacher reactions

By Gabe Deel Staff Writer

The last two years, East has started incorporating Restorative Practice (RP) within the school structure as part of a district-wide initiative. Officials hope RP will change the social atmosphere of the school and the way conflict is dealt with within the school.

RP’s goal is to strengthen relationships between individuals as well as build social connections within communities. The fundamental hypothesis of RP is that people are happier, more cooperative and likelier to make positive changes in behavior when those in authority do things with them rather than to them.

At a meeting in November, Principal Jesse Casey told attendees that he had positive experiences with RP. When Casey implemented RP in his previous high school, the Academy at Virginia Randolph, he said there was a 54.5 percent decrease in discipline infractions, and a 74 percent decrease in out-of-school suspensions. There was also a marked decrease in second suspensions when students participated in a Restorative Circle after returning to school from suspension.

“I think [RP] is a really great mindset and approach to building community among

people and also repairing harm,” said Melissa Breaden, a social worker at East who has been trained in RP.

One of the fundamental tools of RP is the Restorative Circle.

In a Restorative Circle, people form a physical circle to discuss something. Restorative Circles can be used to help resolve a conflict, but also to proactively build community.

“I’ve been to some powerful Restorative Circles,” said William Vincent, an engineering teacher also trained in restorative practices. East is implementing Restorative Circles through Wildcat PAC. In PAC, teachers are instructed to lead a circle where students can share their thoughts and emotions.

“I think the idea of PAC is to have an opportunity to connect with others in a non-academic way,” Breaden said. “If you have a strong community and people feel close to each other, connected to each other, [and] they care about each other, then there is less chance that anybody is going to do harm to each other. PAC definitely builds into that overall framework.”

However, RP does not have to be only implemented in a non-academic setting. RP can be used during instructional time as well.

“I’ve also incorporated circle activities in my instruction,”

Vincent said. “We’ve had projects, and as a reflective component, I had my students get together in a circle, and they were able to articulate what were some of the things they enjoyed about it, what gave them the most trouble, what did they learn most, and this was a way to have that shared experience through that project in a reflective way.”

A common assumption of RP is that it is simply an alternative method of discipline. While this is a part of RP, it is not the main use of RP. Restorative Practice is more proactive than just reacting to conflict or poor behavior.

“When people talk about [RP], I think there is an initial feeling that they’re only used for trying to correct some conflict or resolve some conflict,” Vincent said. “That is something they can be used for, but I think what’s more important is the proactive things that RP can do as far as community building and relationship building… using it proactively to build that community, to build those relationships will in many ways head off or eliminate the conflicts because you’ve built community.”

RP is focused on building a tight-knit community so that there will be fewer opportunities for negative situations and events to occur.

“The idea is you should be doing 80 percent proactive community building, and that leaves only 20 percent of your time or less that is going to be reactive,” Breaden said. “Things are going to happen sometimes, but if you have a strong community that’s tight, and cares about each other, there’s less chance for harm to happen.”

However, there are potential drawbacks and concerns about RP. RP is an alternative to the Zero-Tolerance Policy (a school discipline policy that mandates severe consequences in response to student misbehavior) so it may not provide substantial consequences for severe misbehavior. RP also relies on cooperation between the parties involved in the conflict. A Restorative Circle can only take place if both parties want to do it. If one party does not want to participate, then Restorative Circles cannot be effective.

“There’s been instances here [at East] where I wanted to do a Restorative Circle between two students and one student didn’t want to, and I had to honor that,” said Casey at the November meeting. “This is not at all a fix for everything.”

Fully implementing and seeing the results of RP will take years, but the district hopes it will build a strong community within East and other schools.

Continued from page 1

The Board agreed that having 60 points of the 100-point grading scale reserved for failure was too steep to climb out of, saying that raising the floor would make students more inclined to make up work and participate in class if they know they can succeed.

“As a student, the encouragement to know that you can make something up, for me, was imperative to even graduating,” said Board Chair Deon Temne. “[I knew] that if I settled down and focused I could get through it; I could pass.”

The Board says the 50-floor is designed to raise the floor of failure and engage students in schoolwork, but some say the policy is being taken advantage of by some students and having an adverse effect on their participation, creating more challenges for teachers.

“I [could] see that once my students found out about the [50-floor] the motivation of the students in my standard classes decreased,” said math teacher Shannon McGinnis. “It’s hard for me to get them to focus, to pay attention, to do work. I seriously blame it on this change in grading policy.”

McGinnis says she already had equitable grading practices in place called “Student Contracts,” personalized ag-

reements between teachers and students to increase quarter grades if a student shows improvement in work.

“They start recognizing, ‘Oh, if I work and do my work and do my homework… I’m going to be successful.’ They end up seeing that their work [can achieve something],” McGinnis said.

Having teachers implement their own equity policies is something the Board supports, but it is not something they can rely on for overall equity within schools. While some students may get a teacher like McGinnis, others will not.

“We are a school system, and we as policy makers need to set some guidelines that will work for our students,” said Board member Dr. George Griffin. “We can’t leave it to the point where it is just luck of the draw who you get to be a teacher… The reality is sometimes you hit the jackpot [with a teacher] and sometimes things don’t go so well… I would like to see a policy where [a teacher’s] options are how to make every student successful, end of discussion… not how to hold someone back.”

The Board says they will continue to gather data and discuss the 50-floor and equitable grading. The Board plans on meeting every month and taking a final vote on the grading policy in March 2023.

“For obvious reasons, it needs to be anonymous.”

Exchange students share their experiences

By Linda Li & Keira McArthur Staff Writers

Imagine going to an entirely new country with a completely different language and culture, all by yourself. Exchange students at East who come from different countries already have to confront this reality by navigating the cultural subtleties of teenage life in America.

Laura Crespo Reche is a junior from Valencia, Spain; Sayongoo Sandui is a junior from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. They both arrived here in August and plan to stay for 10 months with their host families.

“I wanted to come here because I want to experience American high school, and I also wanted to improve my English level,” Crespo Reche said. “Besides that, I feel like going abroad in general helps you to be mature and face things that you wouldn’t have faced if you stay at home and in your comfort zone.”

While Crespo Reche came here through an agency, Sandui obtained a scholarship funded by the U.S. Department of State.

“Everything is free. But the application process was pretty hard, there were a lot of essays,” Sandui said. “[My placement organization] is called BFF [Borderless Friends Forever]. And they try to find the perfect match for you depending on your application.”

According to senior Gabby Sielken, whose family is

hosting Crespo Reche, they faced some cultural and personal differences, so they strengthened their relationship by communicating through sports.

“Sometimes we’ll come home and we play basketball together, and it’s just really great to spend time together and have one-on-one conversations,” Sielken said.

For these students, America and their home countries are different in various ways.

“My [old] school, where I’ve been studying for my whole life, is pretty small [with] 600 students. It doesn’t have as many classes or teachers like here. Everything’s bigger,” Crespo Reche said. “There are not as many opportunities to play sports [in Spain]. Sports here are such a big deal, but in Spain there are only two sports all year long.”

According to Sandui, the teaching style in Mongolia is very different from that in the

The controversy of affirmative action

By Ananya Cox, Jane Kim & Richard Li Staff Writers

From the span of time between midnight and 6:00 a.m., Reddit’s “r/chanceme” subreddit bursts with desperate seniors (and tryhard juniors) asking strangers on the internet about their chances of getting into colleges A, B and C and any ways to strengthen their already aggressively fantastic résumé.

Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.

SFFA is suing on different grounds in these lawsuits to target affirmative action in public and private institutions.

a student who just immigrated from Botswana, the school can consider that. That seems kind of arbitrary,” Atwood said.

U.S.

“The first thing I noticed was the relationship between the students and the teachers, because they talked about everything as if they were friends,” Sandui said. “But in Mongolia, you have to be really respectful to the teacher, [and] be mindful of your words.”

The exchange students also noted that they are also facing a lot of struggles.

“I found you are out of your comfort zone 24/7. And you have to find ways to be seen and to make things that matter. So you have to like trying to stand out,” Crespo Reche said.

Even though there are struggles, they both say they are gaining something from this experience.

“At first I thought that I was going to be homesick. I miss things, for sure, but I don’t feel like I want to go back, and it’s not like something makes me sad. I’m just grateful for [this place],” Crespo Reche said.

Unintended impacts of Welcome to East

Continued from page 1

According to Koplar, the impacts of the posts on Welcome To East stretched into the educational environment as well.

“Classrooms are supposed to be open, safe, free spaces to express a dialogue [and] to workshop ideas. And when you have to constantly… think, ‘Is this going to get captured and broadcast to the world in a mocking and picking way?’ [It] had a negative influence on myself, but also I think the classroom in general,” Koplar said. “For

that to live in the back of your head and [to] feel like you can’t engage with students who genuinely need help… was really disheartening.”

Beyond personal experiences, some worry that Welcome To East may also be impacting school reputation.

“I think that it shows what the school doesn’t want people to see, but it also only shows those things, so it doesn’t give a full view of the school,” junior Abby Arbuckle said.

Photos of police cars and fights have appeared on the page. A story about the events

Especially in recent years, applying to universities has become an increasingly difficult process, with students scrounging for strong extracurriculars and leadership opportunities to set them apart from the rest. It’s safe to say that competition has never been more harsh.

As competition increases, more questions have been asked about the application process. Specifically, the implementation of racebased positive discrimination, more commonly known as affirmative action, has arose heated controversy concerning its effects. Under this policy, high education universities are expected to give acceptances to underrepresented races in order to promote diversity and remedy past discrimination in education and employment.

AP Government teacher Sam Atwood has continued to cover affirmative action cases in his classes to educate his students on the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

of May 5, 2022, features a slide talking about a gun being drawn on school grounds, which did not happen. A Nov. 22 post shows a cigarette on bathroom floor with the hashtag “#ciggarettsaftersex” and pictures of bathroom destruction and phallic graffiti are common.

The publicity that comes from being posted on Welcome To East impacts the people it features. What some see as joking comments, others see as damaging mockery.

“What you lift up and give a voice to matters in this day and age. It can be as simple as double clicking a picture to like it, but you’re giving it traction,” Koplar said.

In the Students v. Harvard case, SFFA asserts that “discriminating against Asian American applicants in favor of white applicants” disregards Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits exclusion or discrimination due to race, color, or national origin “under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

On the other hand, in SFFA v. University of North Carolina, the petitioner is suing on the basis that racebased affirmative action admissions processes violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause.

Some of the history behind the case involves previous precedent set in the 2003 Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger. In a 5-4 decision, the justices voted to uphold affirmative action in student admissions for now. Moderate conservatives pushed for a 25-year window, making the policy temporary. As the 25 years comes to a close, the debate rages on.

“The overall argument for supporting affirmative action is, if admissions were race bound, and schools did not know the race of students, most elite schools would be a lot less diverse than they are currently,” Atwood said. “The opposing side [of the argument] would be that race is something that is out of a student’s control… and any government system who treats people differently because of their race is not okay, even if the end goal is diversity.”

After nearly a decade of redirecting to different levels of state courts, this January, the Supreme Court accepted two cases concerning affirmative action: Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. University of North Carolina and Students for Fair

Khang Tran, a third year computer science major at UNC of Vietnamese descent, is supportive of affirmative action.

“The main idea of affirmative action is to have more people from low income families getting into college,” Tran said. “If [affirmative action is removed], we might see less people from different races, thus less diversity”

While SFFA accused UNC and Harvard of discriminating again Asian students, Tran disagreed.

“The lawsuit suggests that Harvard and UNC are discriminating against Asian students—I believe that’s not the case at all,” Tran said. “I think universities just want to make sure everyone has an equal chance of getting in.”

Tran also elaborated on Harvard, and why affirmative action is also necessary in private universities by tackling the topic of legacies.

“If your parents are Harvard alumni, you are more likely to get in. That’s just an unfair advantage.”

Unlike many other cases that the court hears, the affirmative action dispute isn’t necessarily divided along party lines. Some minorities disapprove of affirmative action because the practice hurts their chances of getting into university despite high performance, while others believe it is for the greater good, despite its faults.

One of the concerns raised against SFFA was the precedent set by the possibility of getting rid of affirmative action. This could cause an extreme change in college applications and how they are viewed by admissions officers. Based on recordings from the SCOTUS hearings so far, schools could allow immigration status of students, but not race.

“If there’s a Black student applying to UNC from North Carolina, the school can’t consider that, but if you have

According to the New York Times and admissions websites, the legacy admission rate can reach as high as 14 percent with around 36 percent of the Harvard Class of 2022 claiming relation to a past student.

If affirmative action is ended by the Supreme Court decision, one way to increase diversity without relying on race is through socioeconomic filters, a policy Atwood acknowledges.

“In theory, you could go off of socioeconomic background, and that would be a raceneutral way to do it. I don’t know if that would benefit just poor white students, or also poor Black students…but I think it could potentially be a way to do it,” Atwood said.

A decision from the conservative-majority court is expected in the late spring or early summer of 2023.

“The lawsuit suggests that Harvard and UNC are discriminating against Asian students—I believe that’s not the case at all.”

Left to Right: Laura Crespo Reche, Sayongoo Sandui Courtesy of Crespo Reche & Sandui

“What you lift up and give a voice to matters.”

teacher ProfIle:

Maureen Galvin, luminary

Club Spotlight: ASL, comics & documentaries

By Avery Tortora & Reese Weddendorf Staff Writers

Have you ever wanted to learn sign language, make a documentary or draw a comic?

This issue of the East Club Spotlight features three clubs at East: the Sign Language Club, the Documentary Club and the Comic Club.

By Jane Kim Staff Writer

“What a wonderful teacher and human being she is,” civics teacher Brian Link said. “She is an East institution. I’m thrilled she’s able to retire.”

Sitting in her high school American History class, eagerly listening to her peculiar teacher’s storytelling, 17-yearold Maureen Galvin realized her love for history.

In 1993, she started her teaching career in Greensboro before moving to East Chapel Hill High School in the 19992000 school year. Unlike at other schools, at East she had the opportunity to work with diverse students and colleagues.

At last, Galvin felt like she “chose the right path.”

Kelly Allen, Galvin’s longtime colleague, began working at East the same year as her.

“She liked to tease me,” Allen said. “We were so young [back then].”

Galvin dove into leadership right away. In 2009, she assumed the daunting task of organizing the Presidential Inauguration field trip to witness the inauguration of our country’s first AfricanAmerican president.

“Ms. Galvin has more integrity than any teacher I know—and that’s saying a lot,” said Allen, beaming over her coworker. “She cares deeply that her students become thinking members of our democracy, and she holds all of her students to an extremely high level of expectations. I’m so grateful to have learned from Ms. Galvin and to call her my friend.”

Galvin has taught thousands of students, some even furthering their social studies

interests by pursuing politics. Allen Buansi, current North Carolina State Representative for District 56, was a former student of Galvin’s.

In a May 2022 interview with the ECHO, Buansi mentioned Galvin’s dedication to educating the youth about American democracy.

“I always thought of history as a static thing where it was inevitable that ‘X’ would happen; it was inevitable that the Civil War would be fought and that Black people would be given freedom, it was inevitable that Jim Crow would end— when in reality, it wasn’t,” Buansi said. “[Ms. Galvin] taught us to challenge that mindset that it was inevitable that we would advance towards equality. It wasn’t. It took a lot of sacrifice. It took folks, even in the bleakest, darkest moments, having the faith and courage to demonstrate something different about the kind of country that we could be.”

When asked about him, Galvin said, “I’m very proud of him. He was in my APUSH class, just like you. I remember him very well, such a hard worker… It doesn’t surprise me at all that this is the path he’s taken.”

Throughout her entire career, Galvin has allowed her students to rise up to their potential, pushing them to love what they learn.

Nov. 30 was Galvin’s last day of her 30-year teaching career.

“I’ll really miss seeing her around and being able to say hi to her when I walk by her classroom,” senior Gabby Sielken said. “I’ll really miss having her here as someone I know I can count on.”

The Sign Language Club has promoted the goal of increasing communication between deaf and hearing people for the past two years. At club meetings, president Elizabeth Willock, who is hard of hearing, teaches American Sign Language (ASL) and encourages members to communicate using ASL.

“[I want to] bring equality for deaf people… communication really matters to me,” said Willock, a junior. “I thought, ‘Why not set up an American Sign Language Club for people to understand what it’s like to be deaf, or how [they can] advocate for someone who’s deaf or hard of hearing, and how [they] can communicate with them.’”

The Sign Language Club meets every three weeks on Thursday in the CIC at lunch.

On a Thursday afternoon, kids gather around the whiteboard drawing any comic characters that come to mind. With both drawing and writing departments, members of the Comic Club began gathering ideas and establishing characters for their first comic.

“We’re coming together to make one comic at a time,” said Comic Club President junior

Bana Alhassan.

The Comic Club meets at lunch every Thursday in Room 186 in Lower Quad C.

The Documentary Club is a new club to East, wherein members focus on making documentaries to participate in the National C-Span Documentary Competition.

“C-Span is this documentary competition where students in middle school and high school make videos to focus on a social issue,” said sophomore Teresa

Fang, founder and president of the club. “It was really good for us, because it led us to engage more with our local community.”

The workload that comes with participating in the competition can be considerable, but members looking for a more casual experience can also participate in making vlogs which are posted on the club’s YouTube.

The Documentary Club meets at lunch monthly in Room 238 in Upper Quad B.

Extraordinary opportunities

By Graham Jones Staff Writer

Where do students go after high school? Some may go to college straight away, others may take a gap year, get a job or even study abroad. Where do students with special needs go after high school? For a lot of these students the answer is much more complicated. Extraordinary Ventures is working to make the answer more clear.

Extraordinary Ventures is a non-profit organization based in Chapel Hill that provides job opportunities for people with Intellectual and Developmental Disorders (IDD), such as those on the autism spectrum. People with IDD are consistently turned away from jobs because of the stigma that they cannot work.

Lisa Kaylie, the executive director of Extraordinary Ventures, is working to spread the message of “universal design” to the community. Universal design is the idea that jobs can be designed

to be accessible to people, regardless of age, disability or other factors.

“[You] know people with disabilities at school, you see them all around. Then they disappear after school because all of the supports that people get in schools are gone when you graduate,” Kaylie said. “A lot of times [employers] don’t want to employ them and [they] just end up hanging out at their parents’ house all the time. It’s sad because everybody needs purpose; everybody wants to be part of the community somehow.”

The way a majority of current jobs are structured can be alienating for adults on the spectrum, to the point that 79 percent of adults on the spectrum are unemployed. Extraordinary Ventures is working to close the employment gap by sparking systemic change and spreading their message that everyone is employable to small businesses. So far, Extraordinary Ventures has provided over 200,000 hours

of work and paid over $1.2 million in wages over 15 years, have held routine gift markets promoting local businesses that are run by and/or hire employees with IDD and continue to educate people on the importance of inclusive jobs.

After leaving the environment of the school system, which has built in supports for students with special needs, adults with IDD and autism fall off the cliff into adulthood. These adults suddenly lack the services, structure and social interaction that they received in school. Extraordinary Ventures has made it their mission to expand these supports into adult life.

“We want to show that everyone is employable; we [employ] people who are nonverbal, who are really great employees,” Kaylie said. “Everybody just needs the right job, so our mission is to provide meaningful job opportunities with the philosophy that everybody is employable. I always tell

people that there’s this great movement for diversity, equity and inclusion in all businesses, [and] we are the inclusion.”

Extraordinary Ventures’ jobs include a laundry service at UNC, candle making, dog walking, bulk mailing, and even cleaning the Chapel Hill Transit buses.

“It’s just an amazing overlooked workforce. So many employers are saying, ‘Oh, we can’t find anybody to do these jobs,’ [so] we’re trying to spread the word that these people are there,” Kaylie said. “You just have to change the way you do things, and give them the opportunity to do the work because they’ll be great.”

Kaylie emphasized that having employers change the way they hire and what they ask of their employees benefits everyone, not just people on the spectrum.

“Making jobs more accessible by structuring them around the employee and their needs makes it [possible] for many different people to do a job.”

Left: Sign Language Club president Elizabeth Willock, Top Right: Comic Club, Bottom Right: Documentary Club Avery Tortora & Reese Weddendorf/The ECHO

Courtesy of Ryan Ellefsen

ARTS & CULTURE

The overlooked history of Chapel Hill’s local music scene

By Ananya Cox Staff Writer

Immersed in the big stop tours and radio classic rock of South Florida in the 1970s, Mac McCaughan thought he was being relocated to a place that would strip him of the true musical experience when he moved to Durham at age 13.

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, we’re moving to this place where there’s going to be no bands playing’… and when you think about it now, North Carolina versus South Florida, which is the more cultural wasteland? Definitely South Florida.”

McCaughan’s career as the lead singer of local band Superchunk and founding partner of Merge Records with Superchunk bassist Laura Ballance provides him a unique perspective on local music.

“Some time in ninth or 10th grade [at Jordan High School] I started hanging out with people who were listening to…college radio stations [like] WXYC [in Chapel Hill] and WXDU in Durham.”

Through the 80s, 90s and recent years, college radio has supported varying music and helped to spotlight community musicians.

“Listening to WXYC always gives me something new to put on my playlist,” McCaughan said. “[There are] songs that are interesting but that you’ve probably never heard before… I started being exposed to other kinds of music than just what was on the ‘top 40’ or ‘Album Rock Radio.’ College radio is what really opened my eyes.”

UNC’s student-run radio station, WXYC, is known for its wide variety of genres and spotlight on local artists since the 1970s and being the first radio station in the world to stream audio on the internet. East alumnus and current UNC student Molly Horan is a WXYC general manager and DJ with an inside look into how the station runs.

“We play anything and everything all day… we really emphasize for our DJs to play a wide range of things… We use only physical media, so all CD

and vinyl,” Horan said. “We’ve got this huge library; it’s got over 70,000 physical pieces of music, so we basically encourage our DJs to look around and play stuff they haven’t heard before.” WXYC attempts to get an inside look at local music through student DJs in bands and connections with the town.

“Any connection to [W]XYC clearly gets like a little boost… [but] in general, [we try] to reach out to local record labels and keep our relationship with the local scene really strong,” Horan said.

East senior Jake Brown is part of an East jazz band ensemble and seeks out local concerts along with playing and writing music outside of school.

“I feel like I can express myself a lot in playing music and writing songs. It’s just a way to meet new friends and form new bonds,” Brown said.

As a young artist, Brown looks up to Superchunk and their success in the Chapel Hill community.

“It’s kind of a goal for me and my own bands and people I play

Decades later, Iron Maiden still rocking

By Ananya Cox Staff Writer

On the way to Greensboro, Oct. 25, I wasn’t sure what to expect from a band who had been playing for almost 50 years, but they delivered a performance I never could have imagined on the “Legacy of the Beast” (“LOTB”) world tour.

Iron Maiden is a well-known heavy metal rock band known for their dynamic performances featuring giant monsters on stilts and references to the devil himself. They have an updated version of their mascot and monster “Eddie” for new albums, but the original comes back on T-shirts and posters frequently.

Iron Maiden’s unique world tours are known for intricate props, vigor and actually going further than the U.S. and Canada. The band consistently visits Asia and South America to be met with packed stadiums of fans used to being ignored by the music industry for their location.

I’ve seen many concerts before, but I hadn’t ever seen

something so distinctive to one group as this. The skill level was absolutely off the charts and the performers seemed happy to be there, something that makes every show so much better.

The nearly sold out stadium was full of dedicated fans wearing Iron Maiden T-shirts full of graphic designs and the number of the beast. Spooky.

Iron Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson started off the show by saying the band hadn’t been to Greensboro since 1987 but was excited to get back to rocking.

The iconic song “Blood Brothers” was played with a preface that every member of the crowd was joined together through their love of music. It has become a unifying anthem for fans since its release in 2000.

Toward the middle of the show, during “Flight of Icarus,” flames erupted from the bottom of the stage and Dickinson ran around with a flamethrower. At the end, indoor fireworks were released from the ceiling while a giant prop of Icarus was raised behind the stage and crumbled

Superchunk Feb. 26, 2022, at Cat’s Cradle Ananya Cox/The ECHO

with to kind of get to that level [and] have that impact on people around town,” Brown said.

This local impact is what distinguishes Chapel Hill’s evolving music scene from that of bigger cities like New York or Los Angeles. McCaughan has experienced this sense of community through his involvement in Superchunk and Merge Records.

“College radio is still really great here, [the] Cat’s Cradle, clubs in Durham that didn’t exist when we started… Those elements are what really make a music scene and allow bands to thrive,” McCaughan said. “I think that the difference between

Chapel Hill and a place like Los Angeles is that… you can just make the art that you want to make, and not feel the pressure to get big.”

Brown agrees that while there may be more chances for success in larger cities, the community aspect of Chapel Hill acts as a net positive to music produced here.

“I think it’s great,” Brown said. “I think there’s a lot of opportunities for young people to play music and meet people and start playing gigs around town. I’ve met a lot of people through the local music scene and just going to shows.”

Chapel Hill has become a known location for up-and-

coming bands and new styles of music. Much of this success can be attributed to long-standing local venues and artists.

“I think that the Cat’s Cradle being here, and Frank [the owner of the Cat’s Cradle] being someone who is treating bands fairly… and maybe taking chances on bands that wouldn’t be booked otherwise, really built it into a place,” McCaughan said. “And if you meet other bands and they go, ‘Oh, you’ve got to play this place, and when you play there, you should get soand-so to open for you,’ that’s a really important element of building that scene.”

“This Night, This Moment” concert dazzles

By Richard Li Staff Writer

to the ground after the last note.

Dickinson’s specialized tone and recognizable vocal style rang throughout the stadium as fans cheered until they lost their voices. Every party was devoted in the fullest respect. Whether fans were jumping up and down in the pit or in the nosebleeds, the audience was fully entranced by the unique experience they were getting.

Iron Maiden is still bringing their A-game even after decades of their career; they don’t ever stray less than their best for their fans. This concert was incredible.

As the house lights went up in Moeser Auditorium at UNC, I joined my classmates in a standing ovation, in awe of the music I had just heard. A reception was held to celebrate Prof. Allen Anderson, the composer of all of the evening’s works. As a high schooler, I am very honored to be one of Anderon’s last composition students during his 26 years teaching at Carolina.

This concert was a tribute to him, as the university recognizes his commitment to renovating the music department. The intriguing program featured seven of Anderson’s works, four of which are world premieres, with performers from all across North Carolina.

The concert opened with a solo piano piece “3 Alessandras with Lullaby.” In these sets of fanciful variations of a lullaby he wrote for the birth of his grandniece, Anderson utilizes the piano to its full capacity through dazzling arpeggiations,

perfectly executed by pianist Robert Buxton. The next piece, “Evidence of Signs,” was written to celebrate flutist Brooks de Wetter-Smith’s birthday with thematic material eventually bending into a cryptogrammatic passage that embeds his initials.

Teachers and students are usually said to harbor a “mutualistic relationship,” as they inspire each other. This relationship is reflected in “In Your Narrowing Dark Hours” for voice and piano, which derived from a demo he wrote for his Theory III class that I’m a part of. This one is also written for a musician at UNC— Julia Holoman, who along with Mimi Soloman, puts on a performance that presents the melancholy lyricism of the piece at its best.

The second half is set in motion with the audience immersed in visuals created by artist Tama Hochbaum, Anderson’s wife, for his electronic piece “cym bow lick garden.” The title, which sounds much like “symbolic garden,”

refers to Hochbaum’s video content based in her backyard. The main ingredients of the audio include cymbals, bowed cello, and electric guitar.

In “Think That’s You,” a piano toccata written for Clara Yang, Anderson explores the fundamental question of the relationship between music and technology as he uses harmony to navigate through kaleidoscopic textures.

The concert concludes with “This Night, This Moment,” commissioned by the department to be played at graduations. It has been brought to life by the phenomenal UNC Chamber Singers.

“There is a cool thing about music, and Allen Anderson is listening, teaching, and composing in search of it,” wrote Andrea Bohlman in the concert’s program note.

Indeed, he always seems to be guiding us to discover the “cool thing” in music during my time studying with him. And after that night and that moment, a new search seems to have just begun.

Ananya Cox/The ECHO

A look at East’s three a cappella groups

By Andrew Xu Staff Writer

Last December, 14 boys at East gathered to practice every day after school for their upcoming choral performance at the North Carolina Executive Mansion. After two weeks of restless preparation, the date was finally nearing.

“Everybody showed up and everybody was wearing their uniforms, everybody had their little scarves on and their music, and everything went great,” said their leader, now-senior Zane Buckner. “I went from having done nothing all year to doing the greatest performance of my entire life.”

East has three a cappella groups: the Alley Cats, the Chiefs of Staff and the Scattertones; all-female, all-male and mixedgender extracurricular choral ensembles, respectively. They comprise 11-15 members who arrange and perform popular music without instrumental accompaniment. Despite being closely associated, the groups work separately.

The ensembles perform about once a month, such as at school chorus concerts, the Cat’s Cradle, joint concerts with UNC

a cappella groups. In addition, the groups participate in informal community gigs, even including street performances on Franklin Street.

Each a cappella group regularly meets twice per week: once at lunch, and once at an off-campus rehearsal. They are student-run, with indirect involvement from DavisOmburo, who oversees them and deals with administrative tasks such as event organization.

“[A cappella is] very different from doing music by yourself or even doing music in a class... because all our groups are student-run,” said Cece Harrison, the co-president of the Scattertones. “If you are serious about music, and if you want to learn how to be a good leader... you can get a lot of useful skills…. It takes a good work ethic to be a part of a group of people who share a common goal of creating a final product that... we can all be proud of.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ensembles were unable to perform or meet in person until last year. Instead, they held online meetings and recorded performances.

Nonetheless, senior Micah Hughes, president of the Alley

Junk fooD for thought

The review column about whatever it’s about

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” review

Cats, says the musicians’ devotion to the group never wavered.

“Since the pandemic, we really got closer as a group. We have more of a love for performing now,” Hughes said. “Nothing’s different from before, but I think we’ve realized now that a chance to perform is not always a given, so we never took advantage of it as much. I think that we truly understand how important in-person performance is, now that we haven’t [had one] for a year.”

Similarly, the Chiefs underwent significant reorganization and required extensive recruitment upon return from quarantine. However, Buckner said that its cohesiveness has been restored this year, and their sense of community has made the experience enjoyable.

“I get to do it with all my guy friends, just in a unique space. Literally nothing else can compare to being there with 13 of my best friends and just singing something that I enjoy singing, because you’re singing but you’re also putting on a show and having fun,” Buckner said.

By Hammond Cole Sherouse Co-Editor-in-Chief

It’s often been said that the average person spends a third of their lifetime sleeping. I don’t know how much truth there is to that aphorism, but I know it certainly doesn’t apply to me. At least for my high school years, I’ve spent only about a fifth of my time sleeping, and the other 80 percent wishing I were asleep.

All that to say, when I stumbled upon Robert Wyatt’s 1997 album “Shleep,” its sleepless vignettes and notquite-dreamy vibe spoke to me on a personal level.

The album is the product of collaboration between Wyatt and numerous other musicians from various genres, including Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera and Wyatt’s wife, Alfreda Benge. But for all the variety between its 11 tracks, “Shleep” coheres thanks to its pervasive sense of insomnia.

I like to view the album as telling the story of one unsleeping night, exploring

By Jessica Boston Staff Writer

This article contains minor spoilers for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” released in theaters Nov. 10, is an absolute ride of a movie. I don’t know what I admire more about the film: the compelling character setup of Dominique Thorne’s Riri Williams, or the superb character development of Letitia Wright’s Shuri.

With Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda costume design (credit to Oscarwinning costume designer Ruth E. Carter) and multiple plot twists that leave the audience in bewilderment, this film is truly a masterpiece.

One particular detail that I noticed about this movie was the stark tonal contrast compared to previous Marvel films. This shift was made evident in the opening scene: T’Challa’s death.

With the passing of the actor Chadwick Boseman Aug. 28, 2020, the filmmakers had to go a different route with the sequel. Rather than

all the different corners of the world to which the singer’s mind drifts as the hours pass.

The opening track “Heaps of Sheeps” sets the scene with whimsical synths and lyrics about counting sheep gone wrong.

“Each sheep where it landed / Refusing to exit, remained,” Wyatt sings, “Creating a vast writhing heap / Growing quickly on one side.”

From there, the album takes a meandering tour of insomnialand, each song capturing a different aspect of the singer’s restless mind. There’s the rambling aposiopesis of “The Duchess,” the hatchet-unburying angst of “Was a Friend” and the transoceanic longing of “Maryan,” each turbulent thought cascading like a sheep into the heap.

The album then folds inward with “Free Will and Testament,” where philosophical musings on determinism gradually morph into introspective despair. Here, in the midst of the thought-spiral, the weight of exhaustion finally catches

Just like her older brother, Shuri must be chosen for the titular role.

Although the main hero of “Wakanda Forever” is Shuri’s Black Panther, I’m excited to say, there is another hero introduced.

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

recasting him, they chose to kill the king off-screen.

We see Shuri, previously known to viewers as the bubbly, energetic younger sister, burrow into a darker and more somber person as she grieves the death of her brother. T’Challa’s death is not grazed over or put aside. He is mourned and ached over. “Wakanda Forever” is a clear tribute to Boseman.

Throughout the movie we see as Shuri hesitates, how she questions if she is worthy to become the next Black Panther and it goes to show just how crucial it is that one must be exceptional to take on the mantle of Black Panther. It is not a title that can be easily obtained.

up with the singer:

“Had I been free, I could have chosen not to be me / Demented forces push me madly round a treadmill / Let me off please, I am so tired.”

Then, the album takes once more to the air with the avine trilogy of “September the Ninth,” “Alien” and “Out of Season.” At this point, the singer seems to slip in and out of dreams. These are the record’s most delirious tracks, with droning, mournful instrumentation and lyrics full of soaring imagery.

Then comes “A Sunday in Madrid,” with its airy but furtive visit to the “city of the closed doors.” At the song’s end, its protagonist at long last “closes the door of his inner chamber, and sleeps.”

With the advent of sleep comes the album’s best track: “Blues in Bob Minor.” It’s a paranoid homage to Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” which manages to one-up the original both musically and lyrically.

Organ, piano, drums and electric guitar all come together

Thorne’s first scene as Riri Williams shows an intelligent Black woman trying to make the most of her education at MIT when her plans are interrupted by the news of the apparent death warrant on her head.

Within her first 15 minutes on screen she reveals a robotic suit she has been working on. Her armor resembles a previous hero, not unknown to the MCU, Iron Man. This likeness is intentional because Riri Williams, known as Ironheart in the comics, is actually going to be the successor to Iron Man.

Much to the delight of Riri Williams’ fans, Dominique Thorne will be getting her own TV series, “Ironheart” on Disney+, in late 2023.

Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is a definite must-watch.

beautifully to create a sense of oncoming kinetic dread. The lyrics bleed into each other, tugging the listener along with dense wordplay and allusions.

Here is the epitome of all the simultaneous whimsy and foreboding that characterize “Shleep.” In asleepness Wyatt and his collaborators let loose, creating something of a masterpiece.

Even if you don’t check out the full album, “Blues in Bob Minor” is worth a listen in and of itself. It’s a near-perfect track that works both on its own and as the triumphant destination of the insomnious odyssey that is “Shleep.”

The album concludes with a short instrumental called “The Whole Point of No Return.” After all the chaos of the previous track, it’s a wellearned palate cleanser, easing into the dreamless oblivion of truly peaceful sleep.

Equal parts soothing and off-putting, “Shleep” is the perfect anti-lullaby for the sleep-deprived high schooler.

“Shleep” takes a delirious tour of insomnialand

“Shleep” (1997) album cover Courtesy of Hannibal Records

crossWorD: “Happy Holidays” Graham Jones

By Graham Jones Staff Writer

ACROSS

1. Back talk

4. Nerd

9. Hit BBC sitcom staring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley, colloquially

14. Santa ___ winds

15. Beaded calculators

16. Home of Appalachian State

17. Adam Sandler holiday hit

20. Superman’s real name

21. “You can’t make me!”

22. Vogue rival

23. Native of Portland

26. Used to be

29. Red, Black, or Caribbean

30. Country which got its independence

Jan. 1, 1804

31. Corn holders

32. Host of “Top

This issue’s answers

Scan the QR code to see the answers to visit the Puzzles & Answers page of our website.

Contact Co-Editor-inChief Hammond Cole Sherouse with any puzzlerelated comments or concerns.

oVerhearD at east

Various utterances caught in passing

“It’s ‘soccer’ now. We beat England.”

“My cat literally feeds my dog steak.”

“I just feel so bad for everyone in the world that is not a woman.”

“It’s not a Ponzi scheme, it’s government!”

“I should just join a convent.”

“Why’re you wearing a mask?

I thought you were an antimasker?”

“I don’t want to be king of Korea. I don’t even speak Korean.”

“Orange is not a color.”

“You ever just see a diseased fish?”

“I haven’t been to PAC in like two months.”

“You should apply to Florida Tech right now. You’ll probably get in.”

“My wife has never even seen my chin.”

“It’s because I was left-handed at the time.”

“Pythagorean Theorem is wrong!”

“Your Honor, I am sad now.”

Chef,” ___ Lakshmi

33. Evening party

35. Holiday gift game

38. Franklin of soul

39. The Gem State

40. “___ bing ___ boom”

41. ___ Arabia

42. Cup with a handle

45. Dungeons & Dragons genre, abr.

46. Spirit-raising gathering?

48. Lady of Spain

49. Shirley of “Goldfinger”

51. Sharpshooter Oakley

52. Dickens holiday classic about a miserable man who is visited by three spirits

57. Gospel group

58. Pond scum

59. Demon from Japanese folklore

60. Roman robes

61. Distorts, as data

62. Top-left key on a laptop

Box o’ Letters spelling puzzle

1. Form words by connecting letters.

2. No two letters on the same side of the square may be connected.

3. One letter may be used multiple times, but not consecutively.

4. Each word must begin with the last letter of the previous word.

5. Aim to use all letters in as few words as possible.

6. No proper nouns or naughty words. Don’t you dare!

DOWN

1. Hanukkah pancakes

2. Take a breath

3. Spanish rice dish

4. Author Roald

5. Fighter’s org.

6. Suffix with Caesar

7. Old French coin

8. Revealing swimsuit

9. Detest

10. Capital of Mass. with to letters missing?

11. Well-trodden, as a path

12. ___ Arbor

13. Plead

18. Bee follower?

19. Shock and ___

23. Tyler Perry persona

24. “Je t’___”

25. Popular blend of seasoning

27. Aid and ___

28. U-turn from NNW

30. “Hell ___ no fury like a woman scorned”

31. Sicilian goodbye

32. Gyro bread

33. Garden shovel

34. “I did not hit her, I did not, ___ Mark”

35. “That’s a ___!”

36. Sonic animal

37. Schooling, abr.

38. Word shortener; for a hint, see the end of 37D and 45A

41. Seasonal mall employees

42. “The Seven Year Itch” lead, Marilyn

43. Workers’ protectors

44. Irish language

46. Mixes

47. Lip balm brand

48. Genetic stuff

50. Opera solo

51. Top cards

52. Charade

53. Comedian Margaret

54. “I have a dream” inits.

55. It’s just a number

56. Tool with teeth

East designated a “wellness control group”

By Hammond Cole Sherouse Co-Editor-in-Chief

A recent document leak reveals that the CHCCS Board of Education has been withholding resources and sabotaging programs at East for several years as part of a secret research initiative.

While implementing student supports and promoting general wellbeing at the district’s other high schools, CHCCS has deliberately stifled all efforts at improving and reforming East in order to maintain its status as a “wellness control group.”

“East has to remain in such a sorry state so that we can compare the conditions of that school against the rest of the district,” said district spokesperson Ulysses Alberry at a press conference Dec. 10. “That way we can specifically measure the impact of new policies at the other schools.”

In order to pull off this project, CHCCS signed a 10-

year contract with educational research company Lyrnamid Sciencing. Lyrnamid’s head researcher Dr. Sy Innsman took a keen interest in the case.

“I thought that there was major potential there,” Innsman said. “CHCCS was willing to sacrifice the wellbeing of an entire school for the sake of collecting this data. It was a bold step, and one most people wouldn’t be willing to take.”

East was an obvious choice for the control group, as it had “no distinguishing qualities” that would distort the experimental conditions.

Upon selecting East, strict measures were imposed to prevent the school from allowing any real improvement to occur. Only the most superficial and unhelpful wellness-oriented programs were permitted to go into effect.

“We let East implement something called PAC,” Innsman said. “It was actually really helpful, since it gave

Quad C corpse finally retires

By Will Pazzula Staff Writer

East is currently mourning the loss of Anna Garcia, who announced her retirement last Tuesday. The employee is best known as the dead body in the Quad C stairwell.

“It’s been a good run,” Garcia said. “But it’s time for me to move onto what’s beyond. I’ll always hold East close to my cold little heart, but I’ve decided to try and reach for the stars.”

Garcia’s departure has caused a wave of despair to wash over the students at East, many of whom looked up to her.

“She’s always been an inspiration for me,” said senior Morty Shen. “She helped me apply to colleges and inspired me to major in Corpseology.”

Garcia started out at East as a janitor, but when an unfortunate accident with a set of cleaning chemicals happened, it jumpstarted her career to what it is today.

“It was honestly a miracle

the appearance of emotional support without providing any actual benefits that would skew the data.”

Though Innsman and his team say their experiment has not yet produced definitive results, certain trends do emerge from the data.

“For one thing, we found that at the schools where they had supports in place for students, the students actually felt much more supported than in the control group,” Innsman said. Innsman and Alberry both say that if it can withstand the document leak scandal, the experiment will continue. After all, it has survived other recent challenges.

“We thought that this new principal would throw a wrench in the works, what with the new school color and the safety initiatives,” Innsman said. “But thankfully none of Mr. Casey’s policies have had any measurable effect on student wellness.”

College emails provide priceless information

By Jane Kim Staff Writer

As a senior looking to attend college in the near future, I receive a lot of spam emails from various D-list universities. Below is a real email I received Oct. 14:

DISCOVER REAL HAPPINESS* & DON'T MISS OUT ON A PLACE UNLIKE NO OTHER

Jane Kim residing at [my actual latitude and longitude coordinates down to the minute and second],

Dearest compliments, your ACT/SAT score was simply off! the! charts!

A small, humble, legitimate university like ours would be so grateful to accept a student like yourself.

Helpful PAC schedule guide

when she first died,’’ said biomed teacher Patty Berge.

“I was explaining how to determine causes of death, when we walked out on her just laying there cold! It was a wonderful teaching moment and she’s been helping me ever since.”

Yet even through her rich history with the school, Garcia still has some hang-ups about working at East.

“A driving issue for me was definitely the pay,” Garcia said.

“I mean, I’ve been poisoned, drugged, irradiated and electrocuted, yet I can’t even afford to pay rent. I have to sleep at the school most nights and it’s really dispiriting.”

Though she’s leaving East behind, Garcia has big dreams for her future career.

“I’ve been getting into acting recently,” Garcia said.

“Apparently they’re making a live action version of ‘The Corpse Bride,’ and my agent was able to land me an audition, so I’m definitely excited for that.”

By Hammond Cole Sherouse Co-Editor-in-Chief

This year, Wildcat PAC takes place between second and third period on the first and third Mondays of each month, except during the first month of the school year, when it took

place every day before first period for the first week.

This comes as a change from last year, when PAC took place between second and third period every Wednesday, except when it didn’t.

To clear up any lingering confusion, the ECHO has created this helpful infographic:

Although our tuition fee may make you financially unstable, you can be rest assured that it will make us financially stable. Our salaries are indebted to mooching off the wages, application fees, and student loans of 17-year-olds and their parents. And for that, we are so grateful for your cooperation.

We have such a beautiful campus. It is so big. And beautiful. Just so vast and totally not a sham. We are definitely not a virtual school pretending to be Princeton.

We are pleased to announce our new and improved 15-minute undergraduate admission application, a minuscule $5** entrance fee. Click here to sign up for an Our Acceptance Rate is 100 Percent Campus Tour***!

*Real happiness not guaranteed **Prices may vary, $10k and up ***Virtual tours starting at $75, on-campus tours unavailable

Courtesy of Harshil.Shan

In this picture, which is certainly our photograph, you can see our beautiful North Quad building.

This email was sent to jkim@students.chccs.k12. nc.us

You may not unsubscribe.

East upset by lack of fights

By Graham Jones Staff Writer

Dozens of freshmen are reporting major disappointment at the lack of violence this year at East. The former eighth graders were eagerly awaiting their time at East, not for the academics or social aspects, but for the “free MMA fights once a week.”

“I was expecting some ‘Cobra Kai’ crap,” said freshman Jennifer Convertibles. “But now I’m left with an empty feeling in my heart, a feeling that can only be filled by watching high schoolers slap each other like beached seals over an Instagram Live.”

It’s not just freshmen feeling discontent; upperclassmen have reported feeling emptier than usual this school year. Without an outlet to sate East students’ lust for violence, school morale has been at an all-time low.

If you enjoyed this image, be sure to check out the ECHO’s equally helpful guides to securing an excused absence, acquiring a club pass and, of course, applying to college.

“Not having lockdowns every month or police cars

outside the school makes the days feel so slow, they all just blend together,” said junior Jaycee Penney. “I’m not saying the fights made East better, but they made East special. It feels like we’re missing a part of ourselves this year.”

After weeks of dreariness, students have found another outlet for their violence, fighting inanimate objects during lunch. Piñatas, balloons, and even chromebooks were targets of the student body’s wrath. East is getting it’s groove back.

Since then, the student body has started to commit violence on trash cans, urinals and have even been reported destroying drywall with TI-84s, which are now more commonly used as blunt weaponry than math devices.

“It’s starting to feel like East again,” Penney said. “If we keep this up into the second semester, we’ll be ready for an even better Cinco de Mayo.”

*The stories on this Satire page are works of fiction, intended as commentary on events and issues at East. The quotes and details are entirely made up.

“A driving issue for me was definitely the pay.”

SPORTS

Eastside Story: Game attendance & student responsibility

By Ananya Cox Staff Writer

“EASTSIDE BEST SIDE!” is something East students have been hearing at football games for years. The big question this year is whether or not students are going to be hearing that anywhere else.

Last year, the leaders of Eastside, a group focused on school spirit at games, decided to appoint rising seniors they thought would do well instead of continuing to go through the application process that was in place in previous years. This decision has left some studentathletes feeling excluded and concerned about allegedly inconsistent game attendance.

“In the past, there have been more Eastside members, and just people, at our games, than this year,” said one anonymous senior athlete.

Zuri Trice, a senior volleyball player and swimmer, has

firsthand experience with Eastside as a multi-sport athlete. She was also initially chosen as an Eastside leader, however she later declined due to her experience and other commitments.

“I really had little intention of being on Eastside, and…the week before school, I got a text [saying] ‘This is the Eastside for next year.’...[and] that felt a little exclusive to me,” Trice said.

After the fall sports season and Eastside participation began, Trice noticed what she believed to be preferences for which sporting events Eastside attends. Trice was understanding about implicit biases of wanting to support friends and teammates with their sports, but also wanted to emphasize equity.

“It would be impossible to not be more inclined to go watch your friends play than people you don’t know,”

Trice said. “[But] I think that’s a responsibility that comes along with being on Eastside, rejecting those initial biases.”

Athletic Director Randy Trumbower has a different perspective of the school spirit group as an attendee and coordinator for many East sporting events. He praised Eastside for their presence at games so far this year.

“Everybody’s been, like usual, outstanding,” Trumbower said. “We set [attendance] up to be somewhat consistent, but I think they [Eastside leaders] have gone above and beyond to make sure we have representation, not only at our home games, but also our away games.”

Caroline Karczewski, a senior and one of nine Eastside leaders this year, disputes any claims of favoritism and asks for understanding of many seniors’ current workloads and college applications.

“I don’t think it can be held against us when we don’t find three hours in our schedule to go to the games consistently,” Karczewski said.

Athletes like Caroline Whitaker, a senior goalie and four-year field hockey player, understand the time restraints on Eastside members, but would value more of their support. Considering the fact

Student-athletes discuss their mental health

By Ben Parry Staff Writer

In a world where society has begun to emphasize mental health, student-athletes are given a heavy load to carry, both physically and mentally.

Mental health is extremely important to the success of a student-athlete. To be able to balance practice, competition, success in the classroom and a social life, an athlete must avoid becoming overwhelmed, which is harder than it may seem.

Mental health issues, not just in the sports world, are often brushed off by society until it’s too late.

When athletes aren’t given the resources they need to seek help, their situation can spiral out into an unfixable problem.

In many cases, the pressures of being a student-athlete have proven too onerous, as suicide represented 35 of 477 deaths among NCAA studentathletes over a nine-year period according to a 2015 study by the National Library of Medicine.

An easy area to blame for student-athlete mental health issues is a lack of

resources. Three-sport varsity athlete Linda Wang, a senior competing in field hockey, indoor and outdoor track, highlighted this deficit.

“The resources we have for athletes could always be better; coaches and programs could be doing better jobs addressing the stress of balancing school and sports… especially with underclassmen,” Wang said.

Wang noted that she has managed the high stress student-athlete lifestyle by keeping her priorities straight.

“Prioritizing my school life is extremely important; I have to get my work done before I worry about anything else… I can’t be a successful athlete without being a successful student first,” Wang said.

Time management is very important for a student athlete to avoid feeling overwhelmed. A 2021 NCAA study found 30 percent of surveyed athletes feeling extremely overwhelmed.

Having routines and structure were brought up multiple times when it comes to how student athletes balance the extra stress without becoming overwhelmed.

A student athlete has a lot

on their schedule each day. Say for example an athlete has an away game on a given day, what does that look like? They will have to make sure they’re eating good full meals to perform at a high level, plow through any and all schoolwork from their day and then get on a bus to go play in their game, starting around dinner time mostly, and returning to home late in the night with homework to be done to keep up in their classes.

Whether it be a home or an away game, or even a practice day, athletes have an extended schedule that consistently plagues them with late nights at their desks.

Dillon McCafferty, a senior and four year varsity basketball athlete, emphasized the importance of a good schedule.

“Having structure is very important to me and all athletes really… getting the right sleep, eating the right food, making sure you get all your work done… You have to be good with your time management and realize what’s best for your future,” McCafferty said.

Staying focused on one thing at a time is seen by many as a recipe for success,

and when you’re a studentathlete, it’s important to keep the student and athlete separate from each other.

Junior Abi Stone, who plays for the girls’ basketball team, emphasized the importance of this separation.

“I find that keeping my sports and my education separate is very important… When I’m in school or doing my work I focus all my energy on school. If I think about practice or our next game, then my mind starts spinning and I don’t get anything done,” Stone said.

The struggles of being a student-athlete don’t have to be labeled as a negative. Stone said that she has learned a lot from having a heavier schedule.

“Being a student-athlete isn’t always easy; there’s definitely lots of struggles that come with it, but I feel like it builds discipline and makes you a better student and person,” Stone said.

Student-athletes carry a larger load than the average student, and the burden of adding to an already busy schedule also adds on a bigger need for mental health focus.

that the field hockey team has done so well in this and previous seasons with a 32-7 overall record from 2021-2022, Whitaker is disappointed by the small, parent-heavy crowds that show up along with the lack of consistent presence from Eastside.

“It’s probably 20 people in the stands but it’s just everyone’s mom,’’ Whitaker

said. “Probably two people [Eastside leaders] have shown up with a flag… If they [Eastside members] come, more people will come [with them].”

Linda Wang, another Eastside leader, explained the value of the group for athletes and fans.

“We bring a lot of energy.” Wang said. “I think that our presence there is very uplifting.”

Ben Parry/The ECHO

Abi Stone & Dillon McCafferty Ben Parry/The ECHO

gallery: The best of East’s winter sports

Owen Stout Indoor Track & Field

The track and field team is among East’s largest, so when coach Jon Beyle naturally isn’t able to oversee everything, senior Owen Stout steps up as a leader.

“I give tips and tricks that work for me during practice and meets, and continually try to make my teammates better,” Stout said.

Throughout last season

Stout was consistently one of East’s best-performing sprinters and hopes to continue his success on the track this year.

“I’ve always had a desire to get better as an athlete… and seeing forward progress brings me a sense of accomplishment,” he said.

By Jordan Huang

athlete sPotlIghts

Isabel Berge Swimming & Diving

The “Watercats” have had a strong start to their winter season, defeating both Northern Durham and East’s rival, Jordan High, with record-breaking times.

Senior Isabel Berge, team cocaptain, has been a leader in and out of the pool by encouraging spirit weeks and rallying team support on social media.

“Swimming is not an easy sport, but my teammates and coaches really make sure that we are always in a supportive, fun-loving environment,” Berge said. “I have no greater pride than being able to captain a team I love so deeply.”

Berge is now in her fourth year of high school swim, a reliable captain and an accomplished athlete.

By Jane Kim

Joshua Resnick Wrestling

For senior Joshua Resnick, co-captain of the wrestling team, wrestling is more than just a sport.

“I started wrestling because I liked the idea [of] knowing how to defend myself,” Resnick said. Resnick has been wrestling at East since his freshman year and is hoping to compete in the state championships this year.

According to Resnick, there are many more people joining the wrestling team this year, and he is glad he is able to serve as captain to guide them.

“I feel great about the team this

year. Last year we were building our team so now we have a strong foundation,” Resnick said. Currently his record is 5-1 this year, and he won second place in the boys 152 lb. division at the Red Wolf invitational.

“Before you start a match… you get nervous and you start overthinking,” Resnick said. “But once the whistle blows, instincts kick in [and] you just start. You start doing what you’ve been practicing and you feel comfortable and confident.”

After wrestling for four years, Resnick hopes to continue after high school.

By Linda Li & Avery Tortora

Dillon McCafferty

Boys’ basketball

Dillon McCafferty is a senior combo guard who is committed to play basketball at Skidmore College next year.

As the season progresses, McCafferty continues to expand his game in new ways.

“I’ve made a big emphasis on improving my defense… I wasn’t happy with my defense last year, so I spent the offseason getting stronger and getting better on that side of the ball,” McCafferty said.

McCafferty has been on the varsity team for three seasons, and this season marks his second year as a team captain.

“We have a pretty big team so keeping everyone motivated and bringing the energy every day is a big part of my role,” he said.

By Ben Parry

Abi Stone

Girls’ basketball

Abi Stone is working to build a strong foundation for girls’ basketball.

“We lost a lot of seniors last year and we really felt the impact,” the junior said. “The thing I’ve talked to my team a lot about is… basketball is my favorite thing to do, I live for it, I breathe for it.”

Stone wants to make the team, having only two upperclassmen, enjoyable for new players.

“[I] just tell them, buy into the season,” she said. “If you’re going to spend the time here, if you’re going to be practicing, going to games, taking a large chunk of your time, you might as well commit and put in as much effort as you can… go above and beyond to make it fun.”

By Ananya Cox

Girls’ basketball, girls’ swimming, boys’ basketball & Signing Day Ananya Cox, Ben Parry & Max Winzelberg/The ECHO; Signing Day courtesy of Phil Stapleton

Courtesy of Owen Stout Ananya Cox/The ECHO

Ben Parry/The ECHO Max Winzelberg/The ECHO

Courtesy of Phil Stapleton