April 2021: Rewired

Central Focus Francis Howell Central HS Volume 24, Issue 4: April Issue

Rewired

Students and teachers must change their perspectives to improve mental health

STAFF

From the Editors

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF CENTRAL FOCUS: Kayla Reyes and Natalie Walsh FHCTODAY: Tea Perez EDITORS COPY EDITOR: Essy Ingram PHOTO: Rhyen Standridge & Amelia Vohsen SOCIAL MEDIA: Keaton Frye VIDEO: Hannah Bernard & Paige Fann

F

or decades, mental health has been a touchy subject; something swept under

the rug and spoken about in hushed tones.

It has slowly made its way into the spotlight over the past few years. A once foreign topic

STAFF REPORTERS Anna Baranowski, Faith Beckmann, Elisa Carter, Sophie Delaney, Faith Jacoby, Maddy Mabray, Olivia McCary, Tea Perez, Isaiah Salin, Sydney Tran

has become more familiar, especially among

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Maya Culian, Samantha Jaramillo Castille, Cole Maxwell, Avery Ott, Chloe Schwab, Aniya Sparrow, Riley Wania, Leanna WelchHerring, Halie Young

learning how to address them. In this issue,

ADVISER: Matthew Schott

younger generations. High schoolers have started recognizing what mental health concerns look like, and they have begun we take these actions one step further. By exploring what mental health looks like at FHC, we offer options for students battling mental health issues and we relay stories from their peers to help them feel less alone in their journey with mental health. The

THOUGHTS?

Have a letter for the editor or a question for us?

If something we wrote demands your voice, please e-mail us at fhcpub@gmail.com or drop your handwritten letter off with Mr. Schott in Room 139. We can also be reached via snail mail at 5199 State Highway N, St Charles, MO 63304. The Central Focus staff will print the entirety of your letter, providing it meets the standards of publication laid out in the FHC Publications editorial policy, which is available in Room 139 or at www.fhctoday.com for your perusal.

goal of this issue is not to provide solutions for every problem teenagers face regarding mental health, but rather to provide them with the resources necessary to begin taking steps toward getting the help they need.

SINCERELY, Kayla Reyes & Natalie Walsh

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Battling Low Battery: Our staff reflects on mental health awareness.

Recognizing the Roots... 14: The origin of mental health issues.

Managing Mental Illness...

15: How to fight your mental demons.

Mental Illness, Meds and Me...

16-17: Sydney Tran’s experience with getting help.

Mental Health and Wellness...

18-19: How Mr. Radigan creates safe spaces for students in stress.

Helping Students Thrive... 20-21: Where you can go at school to recharge.

Get Connected Follow our social media to stay in the loop about all things FHC

Instagram: @FHCToday

2 ABOUT

Twitter: @FHCToday

Facebook: @FHCPublications

Spotify: @FHCPublications

TikTok: @FHCPublications

Page by Natalie Walsh

DISCOVER

4

The Promlem: Prom cancellation causes disappointment Simply Living by Living Simply...

6-7: How a zero waste lifestlye can change your carbon footprint.

Masked Up...

8: How new COVID-19 procedures make sense.

FEATURE

9

Posting Positivity: Student-run Instagram account seeks to lift up Spartans during difficult year.

Schoolhouse Rock... 10-11: The Spotlight Players prepare this year’s spring musical.

A Huggable Lifeline... 12: E Lanterman’s service dog helps them find focus during their school day.

Double uty: Teachers who coach are following their passions, but there are benefits and costs to doing both.

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Page by Natalie Walsh

MOVE

4 22

The Prom-lem: Frustrations run high with cancellation of this month’s Prom.

Swinging From Coach to Classroom: Finding the balance between spotrs and school Caf-fiending...

24: How caffeine affects the users body throughout the day.

ENTERTAIN

26

Queue the Classics: Faith Jacoby extols the virtues of reading the classics.

Meet the Planets... 27: Essy Ingram shares her thoughts on which planets have which personality traits.

VOICE

Asian Enough?...

28: Tea Perez shares the struggles she’s had as a biracial child.

26

Dear Coronavirus: Natalie Walsh writes to COVID-19 about the lessons it has taught her.

Unwired and Unable to Learn...

30: How Olivia McCary copes with ADHD during a pandemic.

Restoring Circles... 31: How our school’s attempt at adressing mental health can be improved.

CONTENT

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MASK-UERADE: A girl in her prom dress leaving behind a mask instead of a shoe. After this year, the only thing the seniors will remember is the virus that stopped them from going to a ball.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY AMELIA VOHSEN

The

-lem

Widespread disappointment throughout the school due to the second cancellation of prom

4 DISCOVER

Page by Sydney Tran

By Sydney Tran Staff Reporter

Like many students in the FHC community, junior class treasurer Sarah Percy was distraught with the outcome of this year’s fight for prom.

“When the news came out that prom wasn’t happening, I was devastated. I remember when we were all sitting in the room with Mrs. Dennigmann when they told us. And I remember questioning ‘why?’ We couldn’t understand why we couldn’t give the seniors anything, not even the memory of a prom,” Percy said.

For many high school students, prom is a rite of passage. This annual event is something that has been popularized by students because it’s their time to celebrate. It’s a milestone that many generations have gotten to enjoy, and this year, the tradition has been broken. Due to COVID-19, plans have been cancelled, and prom will not be happening due to safety issues concerning the spread of the pandemic.

This decision wasn’t made lightly, though. The sponsor of the junior class officers Stacey Dennigmann says the superintendent had the final say, not the principals.

“After considering all viable options, the principals met with Dr. [Nathan] Hoven, the superintendent. They shared their recommendations and ultimately Dr. Hoven made the official decision to cancel prom,” Mrs. Dennigmann said.

According to Percy, the outcome wasn’t ideal despite many suggestions on another way to celebrate.

“Obviously prom being cancelled is not ideal for anyone, especially the seniors, but the Francis Howell administration didn’t see any way they could safely hold a prom for everyone,” Percy said.

The school district was required to follow the St. Charles County Health Department safety guidelines for prom, which after review did not seem plausible.

“We would be required to socially distance at prom and be able to contact trace, requiring seating charts,” Mrs. Dennigmann said. “But, contact tracing would be impossible to do if our students were dancing… So it was decided we would not be able to have dancing at our prom.”

Overall, the regular sit down dinner

Page by Sydney Tran

in the St. Charles Convention Center’s Grand Ballroom would not be as fun as a regular prom since there is so much under scrutiny when planning such a complicated event in this circumstance.

“How would students react if the number of tickets allowed to be sold would not allow the entire senior class to attend, or even less than 75 percent of the senior class to attend? What if you didn’t get a table with your friend group? Would you stay at your table and only your table the entire time? The administration team believed that students would not enjoy themselves in such a restrictive environment,” Mrs. Dennigmann said.

Many ideas were pitched by Mrs. Dennigmann according to Percy, but none were considered safe enough for the students.

“She provided them with many alternatives such as a socially distanced picnic on the football fields or a contact traced sit down dinner, but in the end, they decided that none of our available options could be safely executed.” Percy said.

Since many of the options Mrs. Dennigmann had pitched were outside for safety, weather also became another factor in the decision.

“Whenever you hold an outside event, the weather is always a deciding factor,” Mrs. Dennigmann said. “Traditionally, spring in Missouri is very wet and rainy.”

Even though most students understand that this pandemic precedes prom, it is still a disappointment because they have been waiting so long for this special night.

Senior Kami Eslinger agrees that although this cancellation was upsetting, being under the circumstances we are in, the ends justify the means.

“Of course I’m still disappointed that I will never get to really experience prom, but considering the circumstances, I think it’s 100 percent understandable,” Eslinger said.

For Eslinger, prom being cancelled was more disappointing than when homecoming was cancelled earlier this year. The timing was so imperfect that seniors now will never get a proper prom.

“I think it was for sure more of a disappointment than homecoming because I was able to attend homecoming

but prom was something I never got to experience both my junior and senior year,” Eslinger said.

Yet, another aspect of prom is the exclusivity of the event. since it is for upperclassmen, this cancellation even more frustrating for senior Connor Phillips.

“Homecoming is one of those things everyone goes to, while prom is very exclusive, it means more especially since it’s made just for upperclassmen,” Phillips said.

“It’s more rewarding in another sense.”

But for Phillips, the disappointment stemmed from the break in the chain of a long tradition of prom dances. Prom was more than a dance, it was tradition.

“Prom is one of those things you grow up around, watching your favorite TV stars or seeing old pictures of family members having a great time at prom, ” Phillips said. “It’s the traditional aspect that we don’t get to carry on.”

For Phillips, the most frustrating part is knowing that, in future years, other students will get to pick up where they left off, while the class of 2021 will not get the gratification of a prom.

“Being a senior, I was never given the opportunity whereas my fellow upperclassmen and lowerclassmen get to salvage one year,” Phillips said. “It’s a tough pill to swallow.”

However, seniors such as Eslinger and Phillips still are planning to make the best out of the situation, through making the infamous “prom pictures” more “COVID-friendly” by keeping large gatherings to a minimum.

“I thought dressing up with a small group of friends and taking pictures while following the COVID guidelines would be a fun way to have a ‘prom feel’ while being safe,” Eslinger said.

Percy suggests that seniors take part in one of the activities that were pitched to the district that was meant to replace prom.

“Of course the seniors can always do something on their own like a picnic or a drive in movie, but COVID is a thing that we should all still remember and be aware of,” Percy said. “Hopefully, next year we can have a more normal prom for everyone and finally get back to our usual senior festivities.”

DISCOVER

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Simply Living by Living Simply

By Faith Beckmann

The importance of switching to a zero-waste lifestyle to protect our planet

and living zero-waste.

“When you recycle or even just cut Rising tides. Forest fires. Extreme heat. down on plastic consumption, you are All of these have sadly become such only reducing your impact rather than regular occurrences in our world today that completely bringing it to zero,” Skelly we think little of them. However, they are commented. “Certain materials can only prime examples of a real problem plaguing be recycled a few times, so it ends up being our world as we speak: climate change. waste in the end anyways.”

The primary cause of climate change Environmental science teacher Mrs. is the increase of carbon emissions Kellie Staback mentioned how zerointo the atmosphere due to agriculture, waste living as opposed to a simple act like transportation, and several large industries recycling can be more beneficial in the fight across the globe, warping the polar vortex to save our planet. and causing cold air to “Zero waste means head south while warm air preventing the problem *Carbon Footprint: the heads north. To combat before it happens rather amount of greenhouse this, people on the internet than trying to clean it up gases put into the have started movements of later on,” Mrs. Staback atmosphere by a person, reshaping their lifestyles to said. “Recycling is a clean place, or organization as a become more sustainable up method but if we can result of their activities. and reduce their carbon stop the problem before it *Hyperconsumerism: footprint*. One of the most happens we will save time, a societal state-of-mind prevalent of these is the money and protect the where there is a pressure to zero-waste movement. As it environment.” overconsume goods for the states in its name, the main With the amount of hypersake of one’s identity. focus of this movement is consumerism existent in to live your life producing today’s society, trying to buy almost no waste so that your items often are associated impact on the world and therefore climate with fads contributes to a lot of our waste. is practically nonexistent. Sophomore Allie People have a tendency to buy these items in Raines, the co-president of the Francis bulk, only to throw them out less than a year Howell Central’s Environmental Club, later. In addition, the rise of online shopping described how society currently treats waste and websites like Amazon have contributed when it comes to disposal and how the to the rise of hyperconsumerism*. Raines movement of zero-waste is trying to fight it. discussed how online shopping has “Right now we live in a linear system,” influenced our consumption rates.

Raines said. “We buy, we use, we send “People in general… are most likely held [waste] to the landfill. Both [zero-waste and back [from sustainable lifestyles] by the ease other sustainable lifestyles] want to change of the generation,” Raines discussed. “You it to a circular system, where we limit or click a button and you receive a package eliminate the landfill.” less than 24 hours later. This means people A common misconception that many don’t think of what they buy, [leading] to people make is that we can create change to unnecessary purchases that are never fully the environment without having to sacrifice used, and ultimately, thrown out. Not only any aspects of our current lives by doing is the product going to a landfill, it wasn’t simple acts like recycling. Though recycling used to its full potential either.” does make a difference, it can only do so The increase in cheaply made products to an extent. Senior and other co-president to promote trends is one example of of the Environmental Club, Sarah Skelly, hyperconsumerism in modern society explained the difference between recycling contributing to a major portion of our Staff Reporter

6 DISCOVER

waste, especially among adolescents.

Not only has this hyperconsumerism contributed to waste, but also a change in society’s mindset towards how much money should be spent on certain products and how much of an item one should possess.

This ideology has been what a lot of major contributors to the zero-waste lifestyle movement have been trying to fight against.

With that being said, sometimes aspects of zero-waste are just not attainable for students.

Some students are not able to save up to buy zero-waste alternatives because they have to use their money for other needs. For some it is just not accessible due to lack of internet or stores selling products. Raines mentioned how for adolescents especially, going zerowaste is difficult as they often do not have a say in the products their household uses.

“It is hard to control your own life,” Raines said. “The food you eat is bought by the people you live with, the house groceries too. You can not control the amount of plastic that enters your home.

If your family members refuse to recycle, there is not much you can do about it.”

Even though the goal of zero-waste is simple, the majority of people will never be able to fully achieve living completely-waste free for a variety of reasons. However, a major difference could be made in our environment if people would just make small changes in attainable areas of their lives. Even if it is simply using a reusable water bottle instead of a plastic bottle, that’s still plastic being saved from landfills.

“A lot of people think it is an all or nothing concept,” Mrs. Staback described.

“Yet if you can make one positive change towards a zero-waste lifestyle, this is a step that matters. We have gotten so comfortable with the way things are that we are afraid to make changes. I think people just need to try it, and if it is just baby steps at first, then that is better than nothing.”

If everyone comes together to change at least one part of their life to produce less waste, whether that be thrifting your clothes or buying a bamboo toothbrush, we may actually be able to save our planet.

Page by Faith Beckmann

What Can We Do? • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Shop for zero-waste alternatives to plastic products on websites like Etsy or in specialty stores.

Look for alternatives to plastic at big chain stores like Walmart or Target.

Use current non-sustainable products up to their full lifespan before replacing them.

Reuse what can be reused and donate what can be donated.

Buy products in paper or glass packaging, and avoid stickers.

Shop at resale shops, thrift stores, and antique stores for items such as clothing, room decor, and books.

Opt for reusuable bags and food containers over plastic shopping bags and sandwich bags.

Try growing produce instead of buying at the store. Many places sell produce with lots of unneccesary plastic packaging.

Save leftover food instead of throwing it out.

Reduce the amount of times you eat fast food during the week to reduce packaging waste and to lower the consumption of meat and dairy.

Use bars of soap when bathing instead of body wash sold in plastic bottles.

Hang clothing to dry instead of using a dryer to both conserve energy and to preserve clothing longer.

Try making your own household necessities such as cleaners and soap.

The Truth About Climate Change

Due to human activities, the planet’s average surface temperature has risen by 2.12 degrees fahrenheit since the nineteenth century.

In 2020, atmospeheric CO2 levels were up an average 48% above pre-industrial levels and 3% above atomospheric CO2 levels in 2015.

The EPA estimates 42% of carbon emissions are caused by the use and production of consumer goods.

Sources: www.carbonbrief.org, climate.nasa.gov, www.torontoenvironment.org GRAPHIC BY FAITH BECKMANN AND SYDNEY TRAN

Page by Faith Beckmann

DISCOVER

7

BUY YOUR BOOK

Name: _________________________________________ Grade: ____

Date:________

Cash: ____

Check#_____

RECEIPT

All checks must be made payable to FHC Publications The last day of school is the FINAL day to purchase your yearbook.

Book price in 2021 is $65.

Staff signature: ____________________

RECEIPT

Reserve your copy of the 202021 yearbook in Room 139 with cash or check.

Cost of the book is now $65.

You can also order the book online: www.yearbookforever.com

Posting Positivity

An Instagram account spreads love at FHC

By Anna Baranowski Staff Reporter

Since March of 2020, an Instagram account known as FHC Student Community (@ fhc_student_community) has been spreading positivity online. The account, run by an FHC student, accepts and anonymously posts submitted compliments about members of the school population.

The goal, according to the account’s owner, is to help bring our student body together.

“It really just came from a place of needing positivity in my own life, and figuring that if I needed it, other people probably needed it too,” the student, who prefers to remain anonymous, said. “Putting good out into the world really gave me something positive to focus on, and it made me feel better about myself and the world in general.”

They cited the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst to the realization that our school needed unity.

“It was kind of a way for us to bond together from our homes when we couldn’t be together at school, too, to create that community online,” the student said. “I wanted it to spread positivity in general, of course, but because of the circumstances we were all [facing], I felt like it became even more important. I wanted people to know they weren’t alone.”

The student says the account was inspired by a similar account run by students at Francis Howell High School.

“Their Instagram [account] started sometime last year, and I heard about it from some friends that go there,” the student said. “I saw how happy it made them to get a compliment, and it made me really like the idea and want to make that happen at FHC.” The idea was expanded beyond just posting anonymous compliments, and the account evolved into a way to just spread positivity.

“This account does more stuff on our stories, like posting uplifting messages or posts, and asking students how they are feeling with question boxes and polls and such,” the student said.

The student has also used the account to promote certain causes at FHC, namely English teacher Mrs. LaRue’s class wishlist.

Page by Anna Baranowski

“Mrs. LaRue… had posted on her Instagram that she made an Amazon wishlist for her classroom of things that she needed for the year,” the student said. “Since we’re really big on helping our school community, and it would help not just her, but all of the students in her classes, we posted about it on our story and put the link in our bio to help her out and support her.”

The account has also promoted causes in the FHC community that don’t directly relate to school itself, such as when a former student raised money for racial justice.

“We’ve also done something similar to support other efforts in the community, like when an FHC student was selling art he had made and donating proceeds to charity,” the student said.

“In the future, there might be other causes that we support, too.”

An important component in the account’s ability to spread positivity is the anonymity at its heart: no one knows who sends in the submissions, and no one knows who posts them, either.

“I chose to stay anonymous because, honestly, this account is really not about me,” the student said. “It’s about all of us coming together and being kind and doing something to encourage others and make our community stronger.”

Besides taking the focus off any one individual, anonymity also puts students more at ease to submit compliments they might not give publicly.

“It feels really nice to do something good without others knowing, which is part of the reason I decided to keep submissions anonymous also,” the student said. “So people can just do something nice for the heck of it without praise or judgment.”

They assured that the account will continue to spread positivity for as long as possible.

“I am not a senior this year, so the account will be run by me for a while still,” the student said. “I haven’t really decided exactly what will happen when I graduate yet, but I do know that I don’t want this account to die just because the person who started it is gone. I feel like the impact it has on our school community is really important, so I’d love to… pass the account on to someone in one of the grades below me to continue the mission of spreading kindness.”

FEATURE

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Looking for Ways to

‘Rock’

The Spotlight Players plan “Schoolhouse Rock Live” despite pandemic

By Elisa Carter Staff Reporter

They dance on the stage. Their singing is muffled, with masks over their faces, performing their hearts out as the FHC cast of “Schoolhouse Rock Live”.

“The story is about Tom, a brand new teacher that is nervous about being in the classroom for the first time. Figments of his imagination and childhood come to life

and remind him that he has everything he needs to teach his students from the music of Schoolhouse Rock, which he watched when he was young,” Theatre director Cori Stallard said. In an attempt to make the year more normal, Ms. Stallard, the officers of the FHC Spotlight players, Elizabeth Baird, and Melissa Dumas, were all a part of the decision to put on this

production.

“We were trying and striving to make it as close to a ‘normal’ year as possible,” Ms. Stallard said.

Junior and Student Tech Director Jenna Woelfel explain how this show will work in the world of a pandemic.

“We’re super diligent about masking up, and we don’t even have to tell people

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: The cast of the spring musical dances on the stage in the auditorium. Due to limited time to work together, the cast tries to make the best use of the time they are allowed to have to rehearse for the show. PHOTO COURTESY OF SAMANTHA REISE

10FEATURE

REHEARSAL: Crew members for “Schoolhouse Rock Live” move large pieces of wood around back stage. PHOTO COURTESY OF SAMANTHA REISE

Page by Elisa Carter

to put their masks back on, which I think Sophomore Joseph Hornberger gives we should take pride in! We also have less his perspective as a cast member on what it people on crews, and a smaller cast this is like being a part of this production with show,” Woelfel said. the virus continuing to spread.

Ms. Stallard also explained “Singing can be hard how people will be viewing because of the mask, I get the show with COVID-19 winded and muffled quite “The goal of being an issue. frequently [and] there are theatre is to “The streaming will be other restrictions such as April 30 and May 1, there where we can perform, entertain, will be no live audience for which also can be hard to get so without the performance. We will be around,” Hornberger said. streaming the performance.

Woelfel has been a part of this integral So they can watch it multiple school productions piece, it’s comfortably in their own and she explains how she house,”Ms. Stallard said. misses live audiences at shows difficult to Rehearsals for this show and how adapting has been a adapt.” will also be different to struggle for her.

- Jenna avoid spreading the virus as “We have traditions that much as possible. Instead we look forward to on show Woelfel, of normal years where all nights that we now have junior cast rehearsals are in person to modify. Yet I think the there will be about two biggest change is the fact that weeks that are virtual. Crew we aren’t allowed to have rehearsals, however, will not change from an audience. The goal of theatre is to previous year, they will be all in-person, entertain, so without this integral piece, it’s everyday from 2:30 to 4:30. difficult to adapt,” Woelfel said.

Other than the numerous changes due to COVID-19, the environment of the show is as normal as ever. Hornberger tells us what he feels the environment is like on cast.

“Because the musical we are producing has almost no [dialogue ], we almost always practice singing,” Hornberger said. “ [And] everyone is very accepting and willing to help which is very encouraging,” Hornberger said.

As a member of the production staff, Woelfel explains how being a part of that team truly broadens her responsibilities.

“Instead of just being in charge of one crew, you’re now making substantial design decisions that will affect the outcome of the major vision of the show,” Woelfel said.

Woelfel focuses on her favorite pieces of this show including the incredible music, set, and atmosphere of the show.

“The bright colors, and the 70s style of the show is my favorite part,” Woelfel said.

“All of the songs are so nostalgic for me because I grew up on Schoolhouse Rock.”

Enjoy watching the FHC Spotlight players performing “Schoolhouse Rock Live” April 30 and May 1.

WORKING: Zoe Michals sits in the tech booth of the auditorium working on a computer. She is working on the spring muscial that will be shown in late April and early May “Schoolhouse Rock.” PHOTO COURTESY OF SAMANTHA REISE

Page by Elisa Carter

FEATURE

11

A Huggable Lifeline Service dog helps Lanterman through her struggles

By Maddy Mabray Staff Reporter

Freshman E Lanterman walks through the hallway, a few minutes remaining before the bell rings. As they arrive at their next class, just like any other student, they eventually find their seat and begin their work as the bell rings. Beside the desk sits a dog, happily waiting for her cue to offer help.

“There’s a big difference between a medical dog and a [normal] dog….my dog is medical equipment,” Lanterman said.

Service dogs are typically given a minimum of 150 hours of training, covering basic task and obedience training, as well as specialized services and public access. That’s over half a year of training at the least. Lanterman’s previous dog, Piper, was a shar-pei pit mix, commonly used for their high sensitivity to emotions, and was the first dog to gain public access.

Unfortunately, while in her trial period, the newness of the job and environment caused her to ‘wash out,’ and be returned home to her previous family.

Piper was a psychiatric service dog, used less for aid for physical needs and disabilities, and more to help alert the owner to specific situations and provide clarity amidst panic attacks.

“A dog is ...the barrier between me saying ‘Just ignore it’...[It’s] a massive label, not only to [me], but to everyone around [me] that there’s a problem,” Lanterman said.

Piper was specifically trained to help

12 FEATURE

with Lanterman’s struggles with severe panic and anxiety disorders, OCD, PTSD, and agoraphobia, whether it came in the form of helping lower their blood pressure, interrupting traumatic flashbacks, and grounding Lanterman through particularly intimidating moments.

Despite the constant presence of service dogs, they are trained to stay out of the way and work in any environment they may be in.

“My dog is literally trained to stay out of the way in all situations. She learns to sit under lunch tables, under desks, on top of my book bag ... we sit in the back of classrooms or near the door ... if she’s in your way, it’s because I’m in your way,” Lanterman said.

When you do see a service dog, it is important to remember that they should not be pet or touched without explicit permission from the owner.

“A vest should be treated like an invisibility cloak, ” Lanterman said.

Furthermore, if you have questions about service dogs and what is or is not allowed, ask the owner. Interfering with service animals in any way can be considered a misdemeanor and even felony, so it’s important to obtain permission and instruction when regarding service animals.

“Service dogs are a lifeline, and when you interrupt them, you break that lifeline,” Lanterman said.

Overall, Lanterman hopes to be able to reach out and clarify confusion and stigmas

A MEDICAL LIFE-LINE: E Lanterman smiles as she holds her new service dog, Piper. For them, a service dog aids in supporting mental health and comfort. PHOTO COURTESY OF E LANTERMAN

surrounding service dogs and disabilities. “[I] very quickly learned how to be different and sort [my] way through a society that tells you to be black and white.

But you know, we’re a box of crayons.

Some people are gonna hate certain colors.

You can’t change people’s feelings. You can just try and educate. So that’s what I do,” Lanterman said.

Page by Maddy Mabray

Battling Low Battery Students struggle to stay mentally charged

T

CHARGING UP: A dead phone sits plugged into a charger. The phone represents mental health, which must stay energized to keep a person from mentally crashing. PHOTO BY RHYEN STANDRIDGE

Page by Natalie Walsh & Kayla Reyes

here are several obstacles we face that drain us.

Our homework load, jobs, sports, and activities name a few.

We charge ourselves through sleep where we obtain the energy to surge through the upcoming days.

Sometimes, sleeping isn’t enough.

Our mental batteries have to be charged too. But instead of getting the help we need, we push ourselves as far as we can go. We run on one percent, attempting to act as though we are fine when we are everything but. And when we acknowledge our need for help, it’s too late.

We crash.

Professionals, coping mechanisms, trusted adults, and several other soulutions can help you face your mental health. It doesn’t matter what outlet you choose to plug into, what matters is that you find what works for you. What matters is that you get charged and stay charged.

FOCUS

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SOURCE OF SADNESS: A teenage girl basked in blue light stands with a stoic expression cast onto her face. Above her, a thought bubble floats; it encompasses the causes of her mental distress: relationship and communication issues, home troubles and overwhelming school work. All are examples of potential factors that affect mental health. PHOTO BY RHYEN STANDRIDGE

Recognizing the Roots An important part of a mental health journey is understanding sources of issues

By Kayla Reyes

Print Co-Editor-in-Chief

From an early age, senior Nathan Shaver knew all too well the struggles of battling mental illness. Ranging from social anxiety and sensory issues to depression and manic episodes, Shaver has dealt with mental health issues for what seems like his entire life. Shaver’s earliest recollection of emotional troubles began in early childhood, around the age of two or three years old. Unlike tantrums typical of his peers, Shaver suffered such extreme inability to process his emotions that he was often completely unable to function.

By age seven, Shaver had his first of numerous suicide attempts.

At this point, his parents knew he was in need of psychological care only a professional could offer, so he began the journey of receiving help for his emotional wellbeing.

Because of his extensive experiences with mental health, Shaver knows the importance of finding the roots of issues. As a child, however, he struggled with recognizing why he faced the emotions and situations he went through on a daily basis.

“Before having this knowledge [about the causes of my mental health issues,] I was unaware of the cause for my mental or social problems and thought there was nothing to do to be able to move past them,” Shaver said. “I also had numerous things stacking [on] top of the depression including severe, and at the time, undiagnosed ADHD [and] sensory issues. I generally just felt bad about myself and thought that that was how life was supposed to be forever.”

Shaver’s process with discovering the sources of his mental health issues began in therapy, where he received diagnoses, medications, and counseling.

“I got put [on] meds, and was honest about how they made me feel… [I] regularly saw a therapist, who took time to find as they weren’t the first one I spoke with… When my father took me to a mental hospital… [I realized this] isn’t something that is solved by committing suicide but by working on the issues. In short, I guess it was when I realized the problems I was having weren’t normal,” Shaver said.

For senior Katie White, the situation surrounding the causes

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of her mental health battle is completely different. Before White’s freshman year, she experienced the losses of two family members with whom she was very close.

“I think the cause of this was from my grandma and aunt passing away in the span of three months, and I was just entering high school which was also kind of scary,” White said.

Among dealing with the loss of her loved ones, strain on her relationships with her immediate family members and loneliness from the pandemic, White was eventually unable to cope on her own.

“After running away from my home and constantly fighting with everyone in my family, I accepted the fact that deep down, I wasn’t happy and needed to talk to someone,” White said. “My mom was understanding about me struggling… [and] got me a therapist and I have been talking to her for about a year.”

Rather than being a specific event or stressor in Shaver’s life, he deems the mental illnesses themselves as the cause for his emotional turmoil.

“I’ve got pretty severe ADHD, but I also go through regular spouts of chronic depression and just generally have some heavy anxiety about certain things. I think that in my case… it is just something that is rather than something with a direct cause,” Shaver said.

Though Shaver doesn’t attribute his mental health struggles to one specific factor, he does stress the importance of identifying the elements that contribute to emotional unwellness, whether they be literal stressors or underlying mental health conditions.

“Without knowing why, it’s difficult and even impossible to know what to do to change and alleviate some of the problems you might be facing,” Shaver said.

Shaver adds that, without understanding the origins of mental troubles, it is significantly harder to remove or reduce their presence in your life. Shaver’s advice is to reach out to a loved one, even if you’re not quite sure what specifically is troubling you.

“People need breaks from stressors. If you need help, ask,” Shaver said. “Regardless of what type of issue or severity of your issues or problems or struggles, everybody needs somebody sometimes.”

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Managing Mental Illness Destigmatizing emotional troubles is the first step in understanding it

By Maddy Mabray Staff Reporter

Mental health has long been surrounded by a stigma of fear and shame, but in recent years, the recognition and knowledge about the subject has considerably opened up. The ideas that once surrounded issues of mental health seemed to fade. With the new wave of awareness, people grew skeptical of the sudden ‘problems’ people had when they reached out, and were accused of being fake. It was seen as an easy path for attention when no one could prove or disprove their claim. Those who struggled regressed into hesitancy and doubt again, captive to their own mind in a battle for legitimacy. Suddenly, caught between the two pulling tides, the silent victims were again tossed aside in the clashing world of conflicting stigmas and doubts, and because of the recent movements and attention brought to the subject of mental health, those who struggle find it harder to access help as they now face two stigmas: one of being fake, and the other of being feared.

Amidst this, their voices still need to be heard. The silence doesn’t mean they’re better. If anything, they need more support than ever. And they shouldn’t have to wait until they feel broken to get help. None of us should.

We need to normalize asking for help, not just for those who’s struggle is visible, but for anyone who wants to reach out at any time. We shouldn’t have to fight mental illness alone until it gets ‘bad enough’ to seek help. We shouldn’t have to wait for an opportunity where we can go see a counselor in quiet and shame.

Educational and Support Counselor Shannon Harting helps eliminate the barriers between mental, social, and emotional health and academic

success. For her, the stereotypes and stigmas surrounding mental health are nothing new, and she understands the hesitancy students may face when reaching out.

“If you notice that you have a change in enjoying activities, or being engaged in life, or really able to connect and focus to the goals that you have. That’s when you’re like ‘okay I need someone to bounce ideas off of and help with’... if there’s a significant problem that you’re encountering that you just need some help kind of figuring out how to navigate, that’s kind of the time to go,” Harting said.

The stigma of fear surrounding mental health stems from a lack of understanding and false portrayal. As our knowledge about mental health increases, so does our ability to open up about the subject.

“If you have some need where you need a therapist or where you need, let’s say an antidepressant, [people might] think that that is going to be like the rest of [their] life...that it’s forever.

And I even see that with parents...a lot of concern about putting a student on a medication is because they don’t want them to have to have that forever, [but] that’s not really accurate anymore,” Harting said.

Overcoming the stigma surrounding mental health will start with an understanding of the topic and help us all better reach out when we want help. No one should have to wait to feel broken to help take care of themselves. “[Mental health] is a part of physical health, no different than taking care of your body, and it needs to be an active intentional thing you do to take care of your mind and your emotions so that you can achieve exactly what you want and be who you want to be,” Harting said.

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EMOTIONALLY EMPTY: An adolescent girl stands, her face emotionless. The drained battery plastered onto her temple represents the lack of mental energy caused by mental issues.

PHOTO BY RHYEN STANDRIDGE

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Mental Illness, Meds and Me Sydney Tran shares her story about mental health

By Sydney Tran Staff Reporter

The hardest part isn’t the mental illness, the hardest part is stepping out of your comfort zone to fight it. It took me years to get help because it was easier to talk to friends than my parents.

But, the difference between friends and parents is: your friends don’t sign consent forms for therapy.

My mom always believed that mental illness is the direct road to the insane asylum, which led to a preconceived notion that if I had mental illness I too would be committed to a hospital. Even today she still says, “You are normal.”

But, with everything I’ve been through, I know I am not. From my skin picking disorder to my lack of a will to live, I knew something was wrong and I haven’t been “myself ” in a long time.

I had seen four therapists.

The first, I cannot remember her name, was a family therapist and I loved her. But when she told my mom, “Rosie if you believe in God then why do you try to play God by controlling your children?”, my mom completely disliked her immediately. This woman was the first person who

ran T y e Sydn ac Proz

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heard me, and after that appointment, I never got to see her again.

The next therapist was Randy, our family’s second therapist. Randy was okay, I don’t really like him because he had insinuated my own self harm issues were an act of rebellion against my parents, which was out of line. It was only my first visit with him, and after that, I never saw him again.

Then there was Kathryn.

I had spilled my heart out to her, I had been going through so many self harm issues I couldn’t take the weight anymore. But, I had only gotten to see her once.

And then she never answered my messages after COVID. But now I have Alex, and she is everything I could ever want. I see her once a week and fill her in on what is going on. The best part is she tailors the sessions to my interests. We do lots of drawing for therapy, and honestly, after the first two sessions, I had felt like my life was the same. After the third, I felt like it was getting pointless. But I realized as I saw her more and more I felt better. I got to experience different activities that helped me visualize and get in touch with my emotions.

Such as playing with “trauma sand” to visualize the overstimulation I experience in school. Trauma sand is just sand in a box. But, then add certain objects such as animals, plants, people to represent how you feel. You just think it’s just objects in the sand but then you start to notice the hidden meanings and symbolism that help you become “one with your emotions”.

And the more I talked I realized I started opening up more in my social life.

I remember saying, “For a long time I felt like I was better off alone, but it was really just me cutting off the world because it felt like the world was cutting me off.”

That was how my depression felt.

The reason I love therapy so much and strongly advocate for everyone to see a therapist at least once in their life is because it provides time for you. Once a week for an hour I get time to look after my mental health and talk about what has been putting me down for years. It’s my time to let go, and find myself.

But, as you can see, it takes time to find someone who works for you. For a lot of people, many factors go

PROZAC PRESCRIPTION: Tran’s first medication for her depression was Prozac. Antidepressants and other medications can be useful for those struggling withmental health.

ILLUSTRATION B Y KAYLA REYES

Page by Natalie Walsh & Kayla Reyes

LITTLE PILL: Tran was started on a baseline dosage of Prozac, but her therapist later changed her dose. Altering medications and doses helps find the perfect combination for a patient.

ILLUSTRATION B Y KAYLA REYES

into finding the therapist for them. Flexibility, chemistry, availability, and money are all crucial for a good fit. Money was a big one for me, and thanks to the resources offered by the behavioral support specialist, I was able to find a free therapist. But there is more than talk therapy for people with mental illness, there’s also medication.

Before I had started seeing Alex, I had met with a psychiatrist to get a step in the door and during my first session she said I was at risk for a personality disorder. I had to take the medication and the therapy seriously if I wanted things to get better.

And that was the first time someone other than myself has told me that. Because in reality, I had to be serious about what I was going through, and determined to find help, or else I wouldn’t have had a psychiatrist or therapist.

I first started with Prozac at a baseline dose. It came in a teal green capsule and I picked up the prescription the day she prescribed it because I wanted to start as soon as I could. The weird thing was, I was actually losing sleep at first and I couldn’t shake the feeling of being in my skin.

I would be sitting in school, and it would feel like there was a suit on me, and it was constricting me but it was just my skin.

After two weeks of Prozac, I had missed almost a week

of school because I couldn’t get up. I thought about going to school but my body said “No, stay here.” I was so frustrated, it wasn’t as simple as walking out the door for me. My parents were furious; they were expecting me to get better immediately after three therapy sessions and a few weeks of meds.

It took a long time to get used to the medication but coupled with therapy, it helped me a lot. I found myself outside of the house more, and my skin picking happened relatively less frequently. The next thing I knew, I was back at the psychiatrist’s office, and my meds were upped. The pills went from green capsules to half white and half green capsules. After a week, I felt overwhelmed. My head felt like it was being twisted and turned upside down with a blanket of headache on me.

I feel it the worst in Spanish class. The class is loud, which usually didn’t bother me, until all of a sudden I felt suffocated by everyone’s conversation. It was like I had super hearing and heard what everyone in their pod were talking about, and I couldn’t take it. I had to open a window and stick my head out to feel a release from the chokehold of overstimulation.

For the most part, I now experience overstimulation and headaches.

But, overstimulation is the worst.

It’s hard coming to school every day on time when I

know I didn’t want to. I feel the pressure to get better faster and sometimes crack.

Still, I see the progress I’ve made. I see that I get out of bed with more confidence in the morning. I see that I am getting out of the house instead of hiding in my room.

I see I finally turned in some of my homework assignments that I used to ignore. But most importantly I start to see more of myself when I look in the mirror, and she’s not the girl I used to know. She’s the girl I want to know and I know I have to push through it to find her. I worked so hard to get into therapy and I want it to pay off.

So if you are considering getting help, from a mentally ill person doing the work, do it. Don’t put it off. And when you decide to, understand it’s hard, and it takes time to truly get in the rhythm of the treatment, the highs and the lows you experience.

It’s important to know that it takes time, even years. It sounds daunting, but once you get started the challenge isn’t going to be where to begin, it’s going to be figuring out how to keep going. And once you keep trudging along the bad days where getting out of bed seems impossible and the days where it seems like there is nothing else, you start to see who you can be. Someone who is strong enough to fight for you, loves you, and is truly you. It’s not about fixing you, it’s about finding you.

TRAUMA SAND SNAKE: Tran’s therapist had her participate in an acitvity including trauma sand. Little figurines and toys are thrown into a bucket of sand to represent a patient’s mental health troubles.

ILLUSTRATION B Y KAYLA REYES

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MENTAL Health and Wellness Coach Radigan creates a safe space for students in his classes

By Sophie Delaney Staff Reporter

Walking into class, I was feeling down. Life was difficult. There had been lots of overwhelming factors I could not control. Hours of homework, two-and-a-half hour sports practice every day, work four days a week, drowning in scholarship applications, prepping for graduation, and the inevitable fear of having to leave my family for college. It all seemed to be too much, taking a toll on my mental health. It felt as though no one valued me for doing what I did every day.

I sat down at my desk with a few friends and waited for class to start as I was in a vivid haze thinking about my situation. I heard the door open and in walked my teacher, Mr. Radigan. I heard, “Good morning everyone! Identity statement let’s go…” and I glanced up at the board saying, “I am somebody, I am loved, I am valued, I am respected.”

Radigan responds, “And don’t you forget it.” Instantly, I began to feel a little bit better. Like I had a bit more value than what I was feeling deep down. I realized somebody knew me, and my situation, and held value within me. It felt inspiring.

Mental health is a huge problem among our youth and the CDC says one in five children suffer from a mental illness.

Figuring out how to solve this issue is an additional problem. When does a kid know when to get help? How do they get help? How can adults support youth?

Coach Malach Radigan makes sure to create a safe space for students and their mental health. Especially through his Teen Health and Wellness class, Radigan

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advocates for the importance of being vulnerable about how you’re feeling and the value of each of his students.

“So I share with my kids the Teen Health and Wellness class is a journey and discovery of who you are? How did you get where you are today? Who do you want to become? And how do you get there?” Radigan said. “I really want my kids to walk out of that classroom a better version of themselves mentally and emotionally.”

Coach Radigan’s classroom contains a curriculum based on the value of a student and how they can tell their story.

“Our curriculum centers around that we work on the process of emotions, the process of storytelling, the process of memory imprints as far back as we can remember, and the process of how decision making affects us and our brains,” Coach Radigan said. “My biggest goal is for my students to delve deep into the processing information like how do they make decisions, what are their values, and explore that by doing a lot of reflective work.”

In order to get his students to be vulnerable and open up about their mental health, Coach Radigan creates a safe environment with a personal relation to his kids.

“I am very transparent on how I am as a teacher coming from a really broken

INSPIRATION PREPARATION: Mr. Malach Radigan stands at the front of his class, showing a presentation to his students. His Teen Health and Wellness class is focused on giving teenagers a safe space, but even in the other courses he teaches, he strives to uplift and support his students. PHOTO BY KEATON FRYE

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background and coming from a lifestyle itself. society puts value into you based on your almost leading me into prison,” Coach “The Identity statement is really job title.” Radigan said.

Radigan said. nice. I love the energy it brings into Radigan makes an active effort in making Senior Beth Wilkerson feels Radigan the classroom,” Harper said. “Hearing sure kids understand they are more than a sharing his own life story is extremely everyone saying it and hearing myself say grade on a paper or a job description. impactful to the classroom setting. it makes me realize Radigan really cares “I really try to let kids know no matter “Sharing his story is proof that just about his students.” what happens in the world I hope when because you’re on a bad path does you come into my classroom you not mean you can’t straighten feel one of the four things in the yourself up and become truly identity statement.” Radigan happy with life.” said.

Coach Radigan relates to his Upon seeing his students students using his own personal become truly vulnerable in front trauma and mental struggles from of each other, Radigan has had his childhood and throughout his fair share of emotions. his time growing up. Growing up “There have been times where with a father who was in and out I have been drawn to tears of the picture, a mom working because of watching these true two jobs to keep things afloat and deeper friendships develop from older brothers not being the best these kids being true, real, deep, influences for him are all parts of and bold,” Radigan said. “There his story he shares with his students is an overwhelming joy when I in hopes to get them to see he has walk in and I am seeing the class trauma just like them. interact without me having to He hopes that they will begin to prompt them.” see how everyone has trauma and Harper and Crass use Radigan’s causes of negative mental health, classroom as an opportunity for a and in hopes to see sharing their mental health release. trauma can help improve their “Everyone is so nice to each mental health the way it has for other and it is like a big group himself. therapy session every day.”

“They see a side of me that shows Harper said, “While sharing realness and struggle and how that about my depression and happens,” Radigan said. “Typically explaining I have had to go to the with sharing my story, kids will hospital everyone was willing to either open up to me a lot more or be like ‘Hey I’m proud of you.’ they respect my story a lot and they And no one really understands choose to open up through their how much those words mean.” assignments.”

Crass agrees with Harper that Senior Emily Crass felt she Radigan’s class is set up to be a was able to share her own family great mental health outlet for experiences, with a very positive students with positive interaction. reaction from peers, after being “It is always safe. I always feel able to hear Coach Radigan’s. respected with what I share and “Talking about my childhood and open up about.” Crass said. the stuff me and my family have “I always make an effort to be been through, everyone in the class respectful when someone else was super respectful,” Crass said. is talking about what they have “Even after I got feedback from the been through in class.”

I-DENTITY : Coach Radigan starts each class period by having his students repeat the identity statement. It is a series of “I” statements to make students aware of how they students around me.”

Radigan’s biggest goal is to see are cherished. ILLUSTRATION BY KAYLA REYES In addition to sharing his own his students feel they are able to stories, Coach Radigan created a be vulnerable about their mental daily statement to make sure his health and trauma within his kids feel loved the second they walk into Kids today feel endless amounts of stress created safe space. his classroom. from the nature of school and the future.

“The most rewarding thing is seeing “I always start with the identity Many students feel their value is based on breakthroughs for students and seeing statement,” Coach Radigan said. “The how their achievement within the school a kid grow from the first week we did a identity statement is ‘I am somebody, I am and what their plan is past high school project to the end really doing the work,” loved, I am valued, I am accepted.” education, resulting in their feeling of a Radigan said. “Seeing kids having these Senior Ella Harper agrees that Coach lesser value. relationships with me and their peers in Radigan’s identity statement reassures her “Unfortunately, our education system this environment and being vulnerable is value as a student and in the classroom puts value in kids based on their GPA and the most rewarding thing.”

I am somebody I am loved

I am valued

I am accepted

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Helping Students

THRIVE

Behavioral specialist offers comfort to struggling adolescents

By Tea Perez

Web Editor-in-Chief

When walking into the Thrive Room, one is met with an ambiance unlike any other seen on the rest of campus. Lights are dimmed, while sensory lights emit a soft blue glow. Mrs. Kalinda Dixon is there ready to welcome any student who stops by. Miss Dixon is the behavior support specialist that works in the Thrive Room, located near the main office, a specialized room designed to be an oasis for those in need of an escape from the stressors of school. “[The purpose of the room is] to come back to the reality of what’s going on, instead of veering off into those life stressors, or getting really tied up in a tornado effect spiraling out of control,” Mrs. Dixon said. In order to go about contacting her and becoming a regular to the Thrive Room, one must go through their counselor first.

“If [a student] needs support then, by all means, come,” Mrs. Dixon said.

“But, eventually, I’m going to have to get them to their counselor. I can’t work with them on a daily basis until they get referred.”

In the hierarchy of mental health outlets, the Thrive Room is one of the first places to go. For students struggling with surface-level anxiety or stress, Mrs. Dixon provides the tools to cope with those issues.

“I’m more of a skills coach for teaching coping skills… I guide [students] through mindfulness or through breathing techniques,” Mrs. Dixon explained.

When a student comes into the Thrive Room they sign-in and fill out a questionnaire, then they have time to sit and get settled before jumping into a discussion with Mrs. Dixon. She works with these students and problem solves through their unique situations, figuring out what techniques that student is using to cope, and from there trying to implement one more technique to get through whatever hardship they may be facing.

While not intended to help those in crisis situations, the Thrive Room is a

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place where students can unwind and find solace in their mind-numbingly hectic days. Mrs. Dixon is there to listen and help any student struggling with their mental health.

“This is a no-judgment zone,” Mrs. Dixon said. “There’s no ‘I don’t know,’ ‘You can’t say this,’ ‘You can’t say that.’

It’s on the table.”

When looking for mental health outlets at school, the counselor’s office is what most think of first. There is a stigma surrounding the counselor’s office in that it is simply a place to get a schedule changed or to obtain a transcript, but each counselor is properly trained in dealing with mental health issues all across the board. Counselor Mr. Kris Miller finds that many students do indeed seek help from their counselor.

“We do spend a lot of time on the mental health needs of students, so we’ve seen that growing over the course of the last decade,” Mr. Miller said. “It’s not many days and not many weeks go by where I don’t have a crisis [to deal with].”

There are many ways to go about contacting a counselor, such as using the QR codes posted around the building or even just stopping in during passing periods. Someone will always be available to help. A majority of the staff in the counselor’s office is equipped to handle the many situations that may arise in regards to a student’s mental health.

“We’ve all had some training, but different members of our team have different varying levels of that background,” Mr. Miller said. “About half of us come from mental health backgrounds, a couple of people in our department are licensed therapists and licensed clinical social workers.”

Mr. Miller himself was a mental health counselor who worked with adolescents dealing with drug and alcohol problems. However, there does come a point where the school-provided counselors are unable to assist with a student’s problems, such as when that student is in danger of harm, or if what

the counselor is providing is simply not enough.

“We are not therapists, I can sit and help a student periodically… but anything beyond the occasional checkin, we’re probably going to be limited, just because of the amount of other things we have to do,” Mr. Miller said.

Beyond the school resources, there are many things a student can do to reach out and get help. There are hotlines, online resources, and therapists that are all readily available to the public.

Licensed professional counselor, Celeste Daiber, explains how one can go about finding the right therapist.

“It will depend on a lot of factors… like insurance and availability and personal preferences,” Daiber said.

“PsychologyToday.com has an excellent find a therapist search engine that might be very helpful, especially if you have to work within insurance constraints.”

For those in immediate crisis situations, she recommends a multitude of hotlines, such as the Youth Connection hotlines, the SAMSA National Health hotlines, and the Disaster Distress Helpline.

Sometimes hotlines are the only means of aid one can receive at the moment.

“I prefer face-to-face [therapy], but sometimes that’s not feasible,” Daiber said. “If you feel as though you’re in danger, like immediate danger, getting yourself in front of professionals ASAP is going to be the first step.”

There is a wide range of therapists available, each often specializes in a specific area.

“There are different modalities of therapy that will treat different issues… [for example] there are therapists that specialize in eating disorders… there’s a lot of different ways to go about presenting in therapy or therapy modalities,” Daiber said.

Daiber personally specializes in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy), which is therapy specifically for trauma situations. Through these different avenues of issues, there are different avenues of assistance.

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PEACE AND QUIET: A soft blue glow shrouds the Thrive Room in an aura of calm.

The Thrive Room, or Behavioral Specialist Room, is a place where students can go to destress in times of mental anguish, as well as receive resources for mental health troubles. PHOTO BY RHYEN STANDRIDGE

“Education is a part of therapy very often… it depends on the person and their style of learning,” Daiber said. “I do a lot with hands-on, physicalizing things, we work on a lot of coping tools.

There’s no wrong way to go about [seeking help]... the only wrong way is to not do anything,” Daiber said.

Whether speaking to the school counselors, spending an hour in the Thrive room, or contacting a professional therapist, seeking help for mental health is an incredibly important

step. With as many outlets and resources as there are available to students, they should never feel lost in where to go.

“We really want to help these kids, we want them to have somebody to listen to them,” Mr. Miller said. “I always tell my students that if they have nowhere else to turn in the building… or get support from, come to me.”

Students should know that it’s always okay to reach out for help.

“I know [students] probably hear this a lot, but it’s okay if you’re struggling to

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be vulnerable, to be transparent,” Mrs. Dixon said. “If you’re not able to cope with whatever it is that you’re dealing with by yourself, there’s always help, my doors are always open.”

Students should never feel as though their mental health should come second.

“It’s not like you’re weak [or] you’re dramatic, you know the labels that adults want to put on adolescents,” Daiber said. “You don’t need to be fixed.

You need to be heard.”

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Swinging from to

Coach Classroom

Coaching and teaching affects teachers more than students realize

SWITCHING ROLES: Coach Hayley Leake teaching her students and coaching her players. Many teachers who play both roles have difficulty in finding the right balance between the many aspects of their lives. PHOTO BY KEATON FRYE

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Page by Sophie Delaney

By Sophie Delaney Staff Reporter

From the time she leaves practice until the time she gets home, Coach Hayley Leake has about three minutes of processing time. Intentionally reminding herself that her full attention and presence is the least she can bring to her family, who sacrifice so much for her to be able to coach. Walking through the door, she places all her things down to swoop up whichever kid she can catch first. While playing with her kids before either bedtime, she visits with her wife Suzanne to try and catch up on each other’s crazy days with much of their time overlapping between dinner cleanup, making night time bottles, or cleaning up toys.

After her kids and wife go to bed for the evening, Coach Leake begins her personal work. From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. every night consists of neverending lesson planning, film clipping, scout working, basketball social media updating, and practice planning for the next day.

“If someone were to ask me the ‘why’ or the ‘how’ behind this, my answer would be simple,” Leake said. “There is no other way. You must give everything, everyday.”

Sacrifices like these are ones teachers and coaches make every day to be able to work with their athletes and students. This never-ending schedule is the daily life of a teacher who also coaches a sport.

Most students don’t understand the commitment coaching and teaching take.

Hours upon hours go into a singular practice plan alone so imagine what it looks like after an entire day of teaching, coaching, and then going home to take care of kids.

Coach Leake finds the most difficult part of the combination to be balancing time evenly between all aspects of life.

“You have to know this job is a constant balancing act and true life balance in this is inaccurate,” Mrs. Leake said. “I think one phase of your life or one time of the year requires you to be there for a certain group or certain someone during the time.”

Agreeing with Coach Leake, baseball coach and AP Government teacher Nick Beckmann feels the hardest part about participating in both jobs is missing out on some of his kids’ activities.

“My son has practice four nights a week and a neighbor or my brother will drive him and my wife picks up a lot of slack,” Beckmann said. “You have no social life

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COACHING UP: Boys baseball Coach Nick Beckmann shouts instructions to a player from just outside the dugout during the team’s game on April 6. Coaches for all sports put in a lot of time to help make their athletes and teams successful. PHOTO BY MADI HERMEYER

because every extra minute is spent with your family.”

There is so much additional prep that goes into a coaches job description that goes unnoticed. Little things like filling water bottles, scouting other teams, planning fundraisers all are additional aspects of coaching no one takes into account upon first discussion of what it means to be a coach.

“Practice planning, scouting, event planning, scheduling, feeder program development, social media trying to represent the team in an honest way, and additional player conversations take a lot of time,” Leake said.

Gameday prep especially is a huge factor for coaches across all sports. Things like clipping film and prepping a scouting report can keep a coach up as late as one in the morning when they have to teach the entire next day or cause them to sacrifice their plan period in order to get the film done.

Girls volleyball coach and social studies teacher Julie Gronek says gameday prep consumes a lot of her time.

“I do a lot throughout the school day for prep,” Gronek said. “I watch film during plan periods, or I watch film late at night when my kids are no longer awake. I would say at least 25 hours a week are put into

coaching outside of the regular practice times.”

Although there comes lots of stress with the combination of coaching and teaching, it does create a lot of joy for the coaches and teachers. The combination is able to create lasting relationships within the classroom and on the designated sports field.

Coach Gronek says teaching and coaching has created relationships between her and her former students. She even has a former student who works as her nanny.

“Gerica, my student manager from when I was coaching basketball, is my nanny now, so she helps out with my kids,” Gronek said. “It is someone you develop trust and a relationship with and trusting them to take care of your kids is pretty significant.”

Additionally, Coach Leake says relationships are a huge part of why she continues to coach and teach.

“The most rewarding thing about creating these relationships is seeing how each person is able to see how the other has interjected or put little things into their life that has made them happier or has allowed them to open their eyes to a new view on life,” Leake said.

Overall, teaching and coaching presents some incredible achievements for all coaches and teachers across the board, and this feeling of satisfaction despite their difficult day-to-day.

“The most rewarding thing about coaching and teaching is just seeing kids grow as a person,” Gronek said. “In the volleyball program in particular we have some outstanding young ladies who are very bright academically and getting to see and hear what their future plans are as long as influences we have had on them is exciting.”

Seeing student and athlete achievement is one of the biggest pushes for why these coaches and teachers do what they do.

The achievement piece is also something teachers themselves try to do.

They try to do the best they can whilst balancing work, practice, and personal aspects of their lives. Through sacrificing time for others in lieu of their own needs, teachers hope to create a better version of themselves each and every day.

“I constantly want to be better for my kids, but I also want to be a better parent, mom, and wife,” Leake said. “You must ask yourself who is in front of me and what do they need in the moment.”

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COFFEE CRAZE: A coffee cup sits at the corner of a table. For many teenagers, coffee or other forms of caffeeine are a staple in keeping them alert throughout the day. PHOTO BY RHYEN STANDRIDGE

Caf-fiending

How caffeine affects the user’s body throughout the day

By Kayla Reyes

Print Co-Editor-in-Chief

As high schoolers, many of us struggle to find time for our many committments: clubs, sports, jobs, homework, a social life. With so many other activities, our sleep often suffers. Caffeine is a solution for many; it keeps the body and mind alert and allows teenagers to cram in all of their work into a 24 hour time period.

Though it seems like an easy fix, caffeine is not a perfect choice. This graphic gives a rundown of how caffeine affects the body throughout the day, as well as long-term. Though it seems like a good temporary answer to a teenager’s exhaustion, it is important to understand the adverse effects caffeine may have.

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Page by Kayla Reyes

30-60 minutes

after consumption:

Effects are in peak performance. User may feel jittery, energized and anxious. user may experience increased urination due to diuretic qualities of caffeine.

1-3 hours after consumption:

Caffeine may cuase heartburn, nausea and upset stomach due to caffeine’s acidic nature. Energy effects start to wear off.

4-6 hours after consumption:

Energy typicall wear off completely. Caffeine consumers may still feel heartburn and upset stomach, but energy levels are back to normal.

12-24 hours after consumption:

Heavy users may feel withdrawal symptoms. They may have headaches, feel fatigued, and act irritable or anxious. Users may also have trouble sleeping.

Long-term

effects:

Consistent caffeine consumers may experience life-long symptoms such as anxiety, difficulty sleeping, weakness, fatigue and rapid heart rate.

Page by Kayla Reyes

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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER: A cluster of classic books sit in front of a globe, radiating wisdom . PHOTO BY CHLOE SCHWAB

Queue the Classics

Classic novels don’t have to be painfully boring

By Faith Jacoby Staff Reporter

With 21st century technology and modern problems all around us, reading is at the very bottom of the list of priorities.

In this day and age, people rarely have time to read, especially teens. The young developing minds of adolescents crave more knowledge, and reading nourishes the seeds planted in the fields of the mind.

For those who don’t read regularly, finding a book or even a genre to start with can be challenging. When you don’t know what you’re looking for, some books can be a shot in the dark.

And no matter how many times people say ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ it’s impossible not to.

When we think of classic novels, we think of books like “Pride and Prejudice” or “A Tale of Two Cities” resting on a shelf in an antique mall untouched and collecting dust. Or maybe we think of English class, sitting at an uncomfortable desk as our teacher preaches about literary devices in “The Catcher in the Rye” or “The Great Gatsby.” In reality, very little of this generation likes to read these books for their enjoyment, but rather because they have to.

But the truth is, these books are referred to as classics for a reason; they have captivated millions of people for generations.

These beloved stories have been read, reviewed, and brought to the big screen numerous different times. These stories motivate us and provide endless lessons, enchanting more and more readers as time goes on.

Many people who like classics start with the gem that is “Pride and Prejudice,” published in 1813 by the legendary author Jane Austen. This timeless story surrounding the Bennet sisters and their romances has lured readers for years upon years, and it’s a great book to get your hands on if you’re looking to start reading classics, or just want a great book to read in general. The tale of Mr. Darcy and Lizzie has undeniably inspired many, many people, as it has been brought to the silver screen at least 17 different times since 1938, and has had several prequels created surrounding the original novel.

Another easy classic to start with is the 1868 novel “Little

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Women” by Louisa May Alcott. Oddly enough, this story also closely follows the lives of sisters in the 19th century, the only difference being that there are four March sisters and five Bennet sisters. Nonetheless, the March sisters are just as interesting. The book consists of little stories about the March sisters and their adventures while also focusing on a larger plot overall. Unlike some classic novels we read with ancient text and puzzling words or phrases, “Little Women” is easy to follow and understand, making it ten times more enjoyable.

Unlike the classics mentioned before, “To Kill a Mockingbird”

by Harper Lee was not published in the 19th century but rather in 1960. The book revolves around Atticus Finch, a lawyer who is asked to defend Tom Robinson, a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman. Finch bravely takes on the case despite the town believing he has little hope of winning. The book was published in a very racially tense America, with the Civil Rights Movement reaching its peak and gaining momentum. This story is full of lessons that have moved generations.

Another easy-to-read classic is “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. With only 218 pages, this book surrounding the Jazz Age on Long Island is a pretty fast read with a wellrounded plot. It has been considered a romance and a tragedy, yet most consider it a tragedy. The story revolves around Nick Carraway and his mysterious neighbor Jay Gatsby, who is in love with Nick’s cousin, Daisy Buchanan. While Gatsby and Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s husband, make passive-aggressive remarks towards each other, Nick watches as their feud slowly catches fire.

In short, not all classic books are painfully boring or impossible to read with ancient narratives. As touched on before, these books are called classics for a reason. They have shaped generations upon generations, inspiring and charming millions. These legendary novels have been carefully studied and passed down for years, their lessons and wisdom being spread like wildfire.

While they can be hard to grasp at times, their text holds true greatness. The morals and messages presented in these novels will forever hold a special place in the hearts of many.

Page by Faith Jacoby

Meet The Planets A guide to the faces of the solar system

By Essy Ingram

AIRHEADS: Due to the gaseous nature of the four largest planets in the solar system, (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) Earthlings will most likely never be able to explore the planets beneath their

Copy Editor

Mercury is rarely found in the spotlight among his fellow orbiters, but he doesn’t seem to mind at all. He diligently completes his orbit in a mere 88 days, quicker than any other planet. Mercury is the spitting image of independence and dedication. However, with temperatures ranging from 801 degrees Fahrenheit during the day to -279 degrees Fahrenheit at night, his demeanor can come across as a bit dramatic.

As the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter’s presence is one that’s impossible to ignore. One should not be surprised to find themselves drawn in by his powerful magnetic field where they would find 79 moons equally as tethered by his gravity. However, much like Venus, this planet is best admired from a distance as a result of the unyielding surface windstorms that rage across his surface at around 385 miles per hour.

Having been christened after the Greek god of beauty and passion, it was Venus’s birthright to live up to the intensity that her title suggests. Although she is almost as large as her sister planet, Earth, she couldn’t be more different. Past her thick and poisonous sulfuric atmosphere, she suffers from no shortage of active volcanoes and toxic greenhouse gases. In order to avoid a most gruesome death, one would be best suited to enjoy Venus's beauty from afar.

Gorgeously studded with ice and rock, Saturn’s seven rings are enough to put Ariana Grande to shame. Saturn tends to lead a more lavish life than most, and he isn’t afraid to show it. However, although his ostentatious exterior is eye-catching, his closest friends admit that he can be a bit of an airhead, as he consists mostly of hydrogen and helium. Despite his unfortunate lack of basic intellect, he bears an enormous heart for the people in his life.

Out of all the planets, Earth is the most compassionate. Her perfect orientation with the sun allows a myriad of creatures to call this planet home. Her wholehearted kindness is unmatched; from oceanic bottoms to prairie hilltops, she gracefully yields her resources to her fellow inhabitants. Interestingly enough, she is also the only planet known to have pizza. If there’s one planet to befriend, it’s Planet Earth.

Uranus causes the average gaseous planet to pale in comparison to the pungent rotten-egg scent of his atmosphere. Combined with methane, he makes for one lethal air-freshener.

After being sent to the outskirts of the solar system to exist in stinky tranquility, he’s learned to love himself for his flaws and embrace his naturally eccentric self.

To this day, he can be found spinning in contented solitude.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ESSY INGRAM

Mars, arguably the most curious planet in the solar system, holds a strange charm that enthralls many human inhabitants of Earth. Her polar ice caps allude to a past life where microorganisms thrived on her surface, allowing Earthlings to entertain the possibility of colonizing this red planet. However, despite many missions to her surface, much of her cold, desertlike habitat remains shrouded in mystery.

Filled with unbridled angst towards the universe and beyond, Neptune spends her days hissing a fit far away from the rest of the crew. With winds as fast as 1,500 miles an hour, she has the most intense temper tantrums in the solar system. Intolerance for her rather eccentric and smelly, blue neighbor only fuels the fiery depth of her hatred. This is a planet best left to her own devices.

Page by Essy Esther Ingram Ingram

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As

h? g

n E ou n ia

THE MISSING PIECE: The symbol of the South Korean Flag fills in a blank spot of a puzzle.

Identity is composed of many pieces, and cultural identity can be a large part of what makes someone’s puzzle complete.

ILLUSTRATION BY TEA PEREZ

ce den nfi

ing Learn

to emb race

ty with co i t n e d I n a e r o K y m

By Tea Perez

Web Editor-in-Chief

What is your ethnicity? Please circle all that apply.

It seems like such a simple request, and yet I find myself pondering it longer than I should have to. My mother was born in South Korea, she was adopted as a baby and raised in a multicultural household, with her dad (my grandpa) being Mexican, and her mom (my grandma) being some variation of White. My father, on the other hand, was born in Missouri and was raised by a White family. Thus making me half Korean and half-White. If someone were to ask me my race, I’d tell them I’m Korean.

Yet sometimes it feels like a lie.

I went through my whole childhood never second-guessing the fact that I’m Asian, but as I got older I started wondering if I’m Asian enough. As I said before, my mother was adopted, she didn’t grow up celebrating Korean holidays or eating traditional Korean food, so as a result, neither did I. A large part of ethnic identity is a connection to the culture, and I have zero connection.

I see the celebrations of holidays like Lunar New Year and can do nothing more than stand on the outside looking in. Of course, there’s nothing stopping me from creating new household traditions and incorporating aspects of Korean culture in my family life, but it feels too late. The closest I’ve gotten to experiencing real Korean culture is the occasional consumption of kimchi. There’s definitely an added

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insecurity with being half white as well, not only am I completely ignorant of my culture, but I’m not even fully Korean. Is it even still my culture? Was it ever?

There’s also something to be said about the white-washing of Asian people. I’ve seen people claim Asian people aren’t people of color. The “model minority” myth is still prevalent and remains a harmful stereotype to this day. Racist remarks made towards Asian people are so often overlooked and are “just a joke, calm down,” as if it being a joke makes it any better.

There’s been a surge in Asian hate crimes since the start of COVID-19, and there’s been a lot of awareness about it. Yet I’m reluctant to get involved in this dialogue and defend Asian-Americans because I don’t feel like I have the right to speak as one. I don’t feel like I am Asian enough to stand up and say “Hey, I’m Asian, and I think that’s wrong.”

I don’t look Korean either. If I told you I was Korean you could probably see it, but without the label, I remain racially ambiguous. My own father has even tried diminishing my Korean identity by saying I don’t look the part when we were in an argument. It’s a real insecurity I deal with, a lack of confidence in my own racial and

ethnic identification. It’s something I want to be more confident about, it’s something I long to fully embrace.

I want to learn the Korean language, I want to start celebrating Korean holidays, I want to learn the traditions and be a part of the culture. I posed the idea of going back to my mom’s old orphanage in Seoul and visiting South Korea one day, my mom was all for the idea. I want to be able to be a good representation of Korean culture and I want to know without a shadow of a doubt who I am. As we venture into adulthood we make decisions that build onto our identity, who we are in the world, and I want my culture to be a defining peice of me. There’s much to be learnt as we grow to discover who we are, the things we participate in, the people we surround ourselves with, our beliefs, these are all things that make up our identity. We are but one giant puzzle with different pieces creating a whole, and I want to be whole.

Page by Tea Perez

Dear Coronavirus,

By Natalie Walsh

Print Co-Editor-in-Chief

This isn’t the first time I have written to you, and it probably won’t be the last. And as much as I want to stop giving you the attention you don’t deserve, I can’t seem to escape the way you’ve changed everything.

I made a list, a list of all the things you took away from me and every other high schooler. You took away not just one of my proms, but two. You ended my junior year soccer season before it even started. You made me quarantine twice, forcing me to scramble day and night to catch up in school.

This list doesn’t end here. I sometimes go to bed thinking about all the things I am missing out on. After four years of hard work in highschool, all these enjoyable moments are suddenly a lot harder to enjoy. Going to finals in Speech and Debate isn’t the same on a computer screen and tweeting about Nov. 11 doesn’t even compare to setting up the Veterans Day breakfast in person. Not to mention missing homecoming, student sections at football games, sitting with more than five friends at lunch, and study sessions in the library after school.

And the more I add to this list, the more I get angry with myself. Here I am, upset about missing out on the adventures of highschool, while there are people suffering from you, Coronavirus. I feel like Kim Kardashian after she lost her diamond earring in the ocean and Kourtney responds, “Kim, there’s people that are dying.”

A lot of people are dying. To be exact, President Joe Biden just announced that 527,726 Americans have died in his speech on March 11 which marked one year after you tore your way across our world. He noted that it’s “more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and 9/11 combined.” That number doesn’t even include the deaths outside of America.

But I’m still upset about prom.

It makes me feel better to know I’m not the only one. Every senior has expressed sorrow to all the end-of-year activities being cancelled or modified to fit CDC guidelines. But has every senior taken a step back and realized how blessed we are?

I hadn’t. Not until recently. The last time I wrote to you, Coronavirus, the first line of my letter was, “You have taken so much away from me.” And as true as that statement was, I was focused on all the wrong things. I was too busy adding to my list of sorrows to realize there was a different list I should have been making: a blessings list.

Mine starts with the fact that you’ve stayed away from me, Coronavirus. I haven’t gotten sick and neither has my family. I’m blessed that my grandparents have gotten the first part of the vaccine and that every adult will soon be eligible for theirs.

I’m blessed that we even have in-person school right now. Blessed for free lunches and stimulus checks. Blessed for having a job and a roof over my head and not having to worry about where my next meal comes from.

I guess what I’ve learned over the past year filled with surgical masks and hand sanitizer is that it’s okay to be upset about whatever is going on in my life (whether it be a bad test grade or a deadly pandemic) so long as I acknowledge everything I have to be thankful for too.

So yes, you have ruined so many proms, graduations, educations, jobs, and lives, but you’ve also provided some valuable lessons along the way.

But feel free to take the next one-way space trip outta here as soon as possible.

Worst Regards, Natalie Walsh JOURNAL ENTRIES: A journal lays open, pen touching the paper, as thoughts surrounding COVID-19 spill on to the page. PHOTO BY RHYEN STANDRIDGE

Page by Natalie Walsh

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Unwired and Unable to Learn The struggle of ADHD and at home virtual learning

By Olivia McCary Staff Reporter

I noticed it in quarantine. There were times where I would struggle to complete the most basic assignments, to a point where it would take me all day to do a single worksheet. I’m not someone to give up easily. I tried multiple things like listening to music, talking to myself as I attempted the assignment, and sitting in different spots around my room to focus.

The only thing that worked was sitting at the dining room table as my dad forced my brother and I to focus. After school ended, I began to wonder, was anyone else my age having this problem?

When we came back in the fall, I had a friend who said she could not focus because of her ADHD and thus decided to come to school in person. I thought back to my brother with ADHD not being able to sit still and focus. But the dots didn’t connect until my counselor said there was a possibility that I might have inattentive ADHD, previously named ADD. This doesn’t just affect me. In fact, according to the CDC’s most recent survey

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in 2016, 6.1 million (or 9.4%) of children in the U.S. have ADHD. Much like my experience, virtual learning is hard for most with ADHD mainly due to the self-paced environment. That makes staying organized a struggle. Reducing visual clutter helps me; however, many spaces get easily messy again and overwhelming to clean up. Using another space like the dining room table instead of a bedroom also helps. Taking medication also helps many, but is not always an option for everyone.

Having a parent to help keep someone on task really helps. During my summer, my father would do his work while supervising my brother and I at the dining room table.

Unfortunately, some parents are not able to do this, due to having a demanding schedule or other various reasons. Different people have different experiences and different resources. For instance, my parents are behavioural analysts, so they are well equipped to deal with three ADHD children. My friend’s parents; however, don’t believe in mental illness so she cannot get the councelling she needs.

A disorder does not define. It merely

explains why one may have trouble. It is easy for the label to become a block, preventing someone from growing. It is worth noting that everybody has their own experience and own combination of symptoms with different intensities, or even a different combination of disorders. Experimenting with different solutions will yield different results for different people; what works for one, may not work for another. Personally, I find that I work best with music playing lightly, but my sister needs a tv show or loud music.

For many with ADHD, they find themselves unable to work at home, and many do not realise this. Calling attention to this can increase a better understanding in educators and can help make accommodations for students who do really struggle in this way.

Everyone is different, and has different needs. Obviously, we can not make the absolute perfect learning environment for every child, but general groups of people should be taken into consideration when making these decisions.

DISTRACTED: A bottle of pills sits in front of a TV. For many people with ADHD, distractions can be found anywhere, from televisions to thoughts. ILLUSTRATION BY OLIVIA MCCARY

Page by Olivia McCary

SCHOOL CIRCLE: Four girls sit in a circle, replicating seminar discussions. Restorative circles have received mixed responses, but there are ways to improve them. PHOTO BY AMELIA VOHSEN

FROM THE STAFF:

Restoring Circles

Improving seminar discussions will foster mental health awareness In middle school, we learned of three quintessential aspects of health, pillars of our well-being: physical, social and mental. We trained our physical health in school-required gym classes, sports and intramurals. We learned how to deal with our social health while learning to make friends in the swarm of highschool classes.

It wasn’t until recently that our school and district decided to acknowledge students’ mental health.

In an attempt to promote students’ wellbeing, the school district created Seminar Circles. They serve a much broader purpose of community building and cultural appreciation but also make sure to dive into the personal dilemmas each individual faces. With required participation, every student is given the opportunity to share as little or as much as they are comfortable with. Every student is given the opportunity to be heard.

The only problem is students aren’t actually being heard.

Instead, we are judging. Mocking.

Avoiding the opportunity to be vulnerable with those we interact with on the daily.

For some seminar classes, the discussion is helpful. Some start with an inclusive icebreaker followed by raw conversation about things students would never have the opportunity to share elsewhere. Some circle leaders awkwardly stand in the front of the room trying to get their peers’ attention off their phones and on the activity.

Some don’t try the seminar circles at all.

Oftentimes it is the students’ initiatives to not follow through with the planned restorative circles, and other times it’s teachers who assume that students would rather use seminar time to finish homework or study for a test.

And in many cases, that assumption would be correct. Students who are unwilling to share their own or listen to their classmates’ feelings would likely rather work on Calculus homework than participate in a restorative circle.

The initial intention of the restorative circles was in good spirit, but the general execution of these circles is getting a wide range of responses. The attitudes our students and teachers alike have surrounding these circles are unfortunately conflicting.

What can we do better? Who is at fault?

It is nearly impossible to accommodate the needs of all students, but that doesn’t mean we should ditch mental health awareness entirely and let teenagers run themselves into the ground.

We could make seminar circles studentwritten. Essentially, allowing students to write curriculum for restorative circles with oversight from mental health professionals and school administrators. This would make the circles more appealing, more relevant to what high schoolers are actually going through, but it still won’t fix the unwillingness of some to participate. We could make seminar circles voluntary, allow students to meet in the gym or cafeteria and

Page by Natalie Walsh & Kayla Reyes

engage at their own discretion. But then there will be students who are too nervous to get that help on their own. We could take polls of students’ and teachers’ thoughts on restorative circles to get a better idea of where they fall short.

In the end, we don’t know the perfect solution, and maybe there isn’t one. But regardless, we can do better. We must do better. Like a dying phone battery, students’ mental energy is draining. School, work, home life, genetic disposition: all are factors which play into teenagers’ mental health, and coupled with the stress of a pandemic, they deplete the battery life of students until it’s almost too late. They’re ignoring the 20 and 10 percent warnings, hovering at one percent and scrambling to find a charger - teenagers are putting off getting help for their mental health until they desperately need it.

It is the responsibility of schools to do the most they can to keep their students safe.

This includes mental wellbeing. It is not a school’s job to have all their answers for every student’s issues with mental health, but it is a school’s job to make students feel comfortable enough to ask for help.

Whether this be improved restorative circles or one-on-one mental health sessions with counselors or surveys about how students feel, our school must start somewhere.

Administrators aren’t completely ignoring mental health, but they aren’t giving it the immense attention it begs for. Mental health needs to be a priority, not an afterthought.

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Touch the Sky

[

[

Junior Lucas Matz launches himself over the bar at his first meet of the year. On Saturday, March 27, the track and field team attended a varsity meet at Fort Zumwalt West. Matz was only pole FINAL the vaulter competing FRAME from FHC. “This season has

By Madi started a bit slow Hermeyer because we missed Staff last year’s, but Photographer I’m confident the team is going to finish the season on a high note,” Matz said.

I like this picture mostly because the background is the sky instead of the ground. I also like that you can see his whole face and it almost looks like he’s looking at the camera.

His shoes also pop because they’re sharp and in focus. This was my first outdoor event of the year and I’m really happy with how it turned out.

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Page by Madi Hermeyer