December 12, 2021 - North Star

N ORT H

FHNtoday.com

Francis Howell North St. Charles, MO 63303 12.15.21 | Vol 36 Issue 03

@FHNtoday

CONTENTS ENTERTAINMENT 2 Break Activities

Look at the places you can go and the books you can read over break.

5

Comics

Check out various comics made by our illustrators.

FEATURES

NEWS 9

Return of Finals

Learn more about finals coming back after years of them being canceled.

10 Snow Days

Read to find out what FHSD changed the policy for snow days.

SPORTS

OPINIONS

30 Wrestling

34 Greek Mythology

32 Photo Gallery

36 Environment

Learn how wrestling has been impacted by the pandemic.

Check out photos from different sport teams at FHN.

Do you think Greek Mythology is the best? Or is there something better?

FHN thinks of ways to better the environment.

24 The Deaf Program

Learn how the FHSD deaf program works here at FHN.

26 Transparent Learn more about a place parents of transgender kids can go to understand.

ON THE COVER

Placed in front of colorful square pieces of paper, ornaments dangle from the ceiling. Each ornament represents a story about a small business in the in depth section of this paper. (photo by Taylor Hill)

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Members from all of the publications staff here at Francis Howell North work hard for weeks to help bring you each and every edition of the paper, this one is no exception. Every writer strived to tell the unique stories of the people in the FHN community and bring you entertainment, information and education. They worked hard to write these stories to the best of their ability while maintaining accuracy and journalistic integrity. The illustrators brought some of their best work to the comic section as well as various other places in this edition, the videographers

made great work that went on the website to go along with the stories and the photographers supplied the amazing photos featured on each and every page.

In this edition, we covered everything from student-run small businesses to the deaf and hard-of-hearing program for the students in our community. None of this would have been possible to do without the support from the students and staff of the FHN community. Each and every one of you are the reason that we are able to produce the award-winning work that we do.

Editor-in-Chief, Amber Winkler

North Star | 12.15.2021

by Maya Helbig

FAST BUT FLAWED

(Photo from Shutterstock)

People around FHN express their opinions on fast fashion (Content by Maya Helbig) Getting a package on the doorstep, or going into the store to look around can both be exciting activities. Receiving a bag full of items that were sold for cheap prices and are cheaply made is a thrill that many enjoy. People on a budget seem to love these stores for their cheap prices and don’t seem to mind the quality cut, while others look into the environment that’s being affected.

These stores are considered fast fashion. They sell for low prices and push out low quality items, encouraging customers to buy and dispose of more clothing which could affect the environment greatly.

Heidi Turek, 9 “When I did [buy from fast fashion sites] it was just to keep up with trends, but then you would kind of just throw it away once the trend was gone.”

Instead of shopping at fast fashion sites like Ali Express, Shein, Forever 21 and more, try checking out these places. These online stores are more sustainable and are decent prices for better quality.

Honest BasicsThis clothing site is all about being affordable for basic articles of clothing that are sustainable.

WHERE’S SPIDER-MAN NOW A preview to the new movie Spider-Man No Way Home

Plant Faced ClothingThis website may be a little more pricey but are all about keeping it vegan and plant based.

Joe Brocksmith, Science teacher “I think some people are just like, lazy, cheap and not environmentally conscious about their choices. I’d rather pay a little bit more for clothes that are going to last a longer time and maybe even be taken to a resale shop.”

Elayna Euler, 9 “I don’t really shop at the [fast fashion] websites very often. I shopped there like once and that’s it.

It can destroy the environment and you know, we love our environment.”

TJ Stief, 12 “[I shop at] Aliexpress. Sometimes they have sales where stupid things are one cent. They can be kind of bad but it’s kind of like the lorax, someone wants something so they’re not going to stop just because you tell them it hurts the birds.”

by Morgan Phillips

CHNGEThese clothes can be a little pricey but are also more in style.

For Days These creators go by “The Dreamers” They work to create sustainable clothes in a waste free environment. They sell for a decent price and hope to eliminate waste as a whole.

Spider-Man No Way Home is coming out on Dec. 17. Many are excited with the first trailer getting 355.5 million views across all the platforms it was released on. In order to get a backstory on Spider Man, it would be beneficial to watch some of the other Marvel movies. “[I’d say watch] the other SpiderMan movies because you know [they’re important] but also I’d say it would be pretty important to watch the Doctor Strange movie,” sophomore Joshua Tueth said.

Spider-Man No Way Home begins right after Far From Home, where Spider-man’s identity is revealed by Mysterio. This messes up his family and friends’ lives and in desperation he goes to Doctor Strange asking him to erase his identity as Spider-Man which leads to a series of unfortunate events.

When new movies happen people will begin to pick it apart and theorize about what will happen in it. With this movie some theorize that the Spider-Men from the older SpiderMan movies to join Tom Holland.

Others theorize that the Sinister Six, a group of Spider-Man’s foes that he faces off against in the comics, will be included.

“My guess is that villains from across the Spider-Man comics are going to be coming to fight SpiderMan and presumably Dr. Strange as well,” Lamb said. (Story by Alex Wheadon)

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PLACES STEINBERG SKATING RINK IN FOREST PARK December 20 - after Christmas Location: Forest Park Cost: $10.00 per person Visit the largest outdoor skating rink in the midwest at Steinberg's skating rink. The rink is open every day with scheduled ice cuts. They offer open skate and new ice bumper cars.

ST. CHARLES CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS November 26 - December 24 Location: St. Charles Main Street Cost: Free This annual month-long festival celebrates the holiday season with the streets decorated in joyful light and decorations. Enjoy the Santa parade, marshmallow roast, candlelight reading of “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and more on Main Street.

SIX FLAGS HOLIDAY IN THE PARK November 20 - January 2 Location: Six Flags St. Louis Cost: Day pass - $24.99 | Season pass - $53.99 Santa on a roller coaster is a magical experience you’ll only see at Six Flags. At holidays in the park you get to see millions of lights around the park, live shows, delicious treats and ride roller coasters at the most wonderful time of the year.

BREWERY LIGHTS December 16-19, 23, 26-30 Location: Anheuser Busch Brewery Cost: $10 per person The 36th annual Brewery Lights at Anheuser-Busch is a drive-thru only experience this year, and with nearly one million lights around Pestalozzi Street you're set to be in the holiday spirit. Be sure to also grab a s’mores kit and roast marshmallows fireside.

B O O K S 02

(Content by Michaela Manfull) WHEN I WAS THE GREATEST Jason Reynolds Growing up in Bed Stuy, New York, Ali knows the dangers of getting involved in other people’s problems. He may be the only one, though, because his best friend Noodles is always getting into trouble that Ali always has to clean up. Noodles’ brother, Needles, has Tourette’s syndrome. He blurts out the most random things, but everyone who’s been around knows he doesn’t mean anything by it. They’re all doing great, until Ali, Noodles and Needles end up somewhere they never expected to be, where the people are less friendly, and even less forgiving.

“Ali boxes so he’s always there to stand up for his friends.”

-Junior Wright, 9

North Star | 12.15.2021

THE POLAR EXPRESS TRAIN RIDE November 19 - December 30 Location: St. Louis Union Station Cost: Coach $35-$60 | First class $55-$85 | Premium $55-$95 Cost varies depending on what days you attend.

Become part of one of your favorite Christmas movies with The Polar Express Train Ride at STL Union Station. Take a ride to the north pole in your most festive Christmas pajamas while enjoying hot chocolate and cookies.

FORT ZUMWALT CELEBRATION OF LIGHTS November 26 - December 30 Location: Fort Zumwalt Park Cost: Pedestrian- $5 | Car- $12 | Large van- $20 | Horse drawn carriage- $65 All tickets must be purchased in advance.

Enjoy the evening by driving through the Fort Zumwalt

celebration of lights. Each light display is created and funded by local organizations in the STL area. The drivethrough experience has been going since 1991 and has created lots of traction over the years. Drive through by vehicle or enjoy a horse-drawn carriage taking you through the park.

STL ZOO WILD LIGHTS December 15 - 23 Location: STL Zoo Cost: Members $12 | Non-members $13 Where the wild lights are at the STL Zoo is where you can tap into your wild side. Come explore through lots of light displays and themed areas, feast on holiday treats and end the night chilling with your new friends at penguin and puffin coast. (Story by Morgan Phillips)

Places to visit in the St. Louis area, books to read and wishes from students and staff before we come back to school.

(Illustrations

by Michaela Manfull)

For more information or to schedule tickets, scan here

THE SELECTION Kiera Cass For girls all over, The Selection is the best thing that could happen to them. Not for America Singer, though. She has to leave her home for a competition she doesn’t want to win. But when America meets the Prince, they start to fall for each other and she questions her plans.

“That was the first book I really got interested in and ended up finding the kind of books I like.”

-Maneka Liyanage, 11

THEY CALLED US ENEMY George Takei This nonfiction graphic novel, a Dogwood award winner, is about Takei’s personal experience with the Japanese-American internment camps during WWII. It shows the hardships Japanese-Americans faced during that time and how Takei’s family was able to survive it. Takei later became a well-known actor, playing Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek.

“A phrase I thought about a lot during the book was ‘man’s inhumanity to man.’”

- Debb McDonald, Learning Commons Para

by Michaela Manfull

WINTER BREAK

By The

FHN

COMMUNITY SWORN TO SILENCE Linda Castillo The first book in the Kate Burkholder series, Sworn to Silence follows a former Amish, Kate Burkholder. Kate grew up in Painters Mill, Ohio, and was there when the Slaughterhouse Killer struck, but not for long after. Years later, she is hired to move all the way back to Painters Mill to confront her past, but this time as the Chief of Police.

When the first body turns up, she vows to stop the killer before they can cause any more tragedy in her small town no matter the cost.

“You start off the first chapter with the murder and it’s got you hooked.”

- Lexi Lee, 9

by Michaela Manfull

THE ALCHEMYST Michael Scott Nicholas Flamel, the man who was said to have discovered the secret to eternal life, was born in 1330 and announced dead seven hundred years later in 1418. But his tomb is empty and Nicholas Flamel lives. He protects the Book of Abraham the Mage, which is the most powerful book to have ever existed. While there are many who want to get their hands on the book and use it for bad, the prophecy states only Sophie and Josh Newman have the power to stop them.

“Alchemy has always been interesting to me because it runs in my family.”

- Ashton Burnett, 11

WISHES

“My family is super family oriented on the holidays and stuff like that. It’s pretty fun to just be around them, you know? Like having time away from school and finally being able to see my extended family because it’s not a reoccurring thing and just hanging out and playing games and talking it up.”

- Vanessa Gurrero, 12 “I doubt it’ll happen because we have too many animals already. I’ve wanted a cat since I was 14, I’ve been asking for a long time.”

- Ashton Burnett, 11 “To be honest, the holidays don’t really mean much to me.

I personally don’t do that [Worship], because I kind of have a big disconnect with religion and that’s mostly a religious holiday, so it doesn’t mean much to me in terms of culture but I do value it a bit because I get to see family.”

- Julian Washington, 11 “I sleep and hide from my family. It’s easier because then you don’t have to worry about your appearance as much because everyone’s like, oh, yeah, a hoodie is good.”

- Heidi Turek, 9 “My mom for Christmas makes really good brunch food. So we eat lots of breakfast, open Gifts and then we all take naps.”

- Courtney Flamm, Arts teacher (Quotes and illustration by Ryleigh O’Donnell)

DRY Neal Shusterman In California, a drought has been going on for a while and water is only supposed to be used for necessities.

One day, the water finally runs out. Everyone in Alyssa’s hometown is fighting each other for water. Neighbors, friends and even families are doing anything they can to survive. Alyssa and her brother have to figure out how to live when their parents don’t return and their lives are being threatened.

“It was something that felt real and even though it hasn’t happened to me I can still relate.”

- Carter Houdeshell, 9

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COMICS

WELCOME TO HIGH SCHOOL

by Michaela Manfull

THE DINO TALES

by Ankita Pandurangi

BANTER

by Sam Hebisen

18p8 x 14p5

04

North Star | 12.15.2021

by Michaela Manfull

CATASTROPHES

by Ryleigh O’Donnell

19p8 x 24p8

JOME’S WACKY ADVENTURES

by Alex Wheadon

THE BRODER BROTHERS

by Maya Helbig

19p9 x 20p8 18p8 x 14p5

by Michaela Manfull

North Star | 12.15.2021

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LAST CHANCE TO CELEBRATE YOUR 2022 GRAD!

PURCHASE AN FHN YEARBOOK AD TODAY PARENTS AND FAMILY: Don’t miss this opportunity to applaud your child’s achievements and send them your love in a special way. Celebrate with photos and words of congratulations, praise and encouragement.

STUDENTS: Recognize and celebrate the relationships you’ve formed on teams, in classes, in clubs and in the hallways.

PRICES AND DETAILS: The ads will be produced in full color and designed by the trained FHN Yearbook advertising staff. You will be provided with a proof of your ad before printing. All you have to do is provide the photo(s) and message electronically.

FULL PAGE: $360 2/3 PAGE: $250 1/3 PAGE: $140

2/9 PAGE: $95 1/9 PAGE: $60

FINAL EXTENDED DEADLINE: DEC. 17 QUESTIONS? 1. Visit Balfour.com and find Francis Howell North 2. Click “yearbooks,” then “yearbook ads” 2. Select the ad size you’d like to purchase 3. Click “add to cart” and Checkout 4. Send the info, photos and message via the instructions in the Balfour email received after ad purchase

Contact Yearbook Adviser Jordyn Kiel: 636-851-5048 jordyn.kiel@fhsdschools.org

BY THE NUMBERS

The COVID-19 virus is an ever changing pandemic that can’t be fully predicted. Rules and policies have been put in place to keep people safe and prevent it from spreading. However, when the virus changes, so must the rules. As time has progressed, scientists and medical professionals have been able to learn more about the virus and what to do to prevent it. This has allowed many places, including schools, to adapt their rules and guidelines. As the first half of the first semester draws to a close, take a look at how our policies have affected our numbers and how they compare to this same time last year.

Take a look also at how our number compare to those of another district. (Content by Justin Brewer)

FHSD → 2020

*information obtained from FHSD administration

FHSD → 2021 (as of 11/30/2021)

434 2495 2256 83 7 4

total positive students students quarantined student school connected quarantines

positive staff

staff quarantines staff school connected quarantines

Masks

Masks required for all staff and students except during lunch.

No outside visitors, including volunteers, except for essential business and those that are allowed must wear a mask.

Social Distancing Desks and students spaced apart (6 feet when possible) facing same direction. Students were given assigned seats at lunch.

Contact Tracing & Notification All students who were within 6 feet for 15 or more minutes of a positive case were called down to the office and notified. An email with details (except for name of student with positive case) was sent to parents or legal guardians with prudent information regarding their students quarantine.

Quarantine In the beginning of the school year, quarantine was 14 days if the students remained symptom free. The SCCDPH would contact the family with information as well as requiring routine health screenings. Toward the end of December, students could qualify for modified quarantine. Parents were still notified.

(as of 11/30/2021)

515 1188 2968 80 29 79

positive students students quarantined close contact students

positive staff staff quarantined close contact staff

*information obtained from RSD website

by Justin Brewer

All the information to the left was found on FHSD’s website at this link:

bit.ly/NS2020protocols

FHSD - 2021 All the information to the left was found on FHSD’s website at these links:

bit.ly/NS2021protocols bit.ly/NS2021dashboard

Masks

Masks are required for all students & staff Pre-K through sixth grade, all visitors and when on the bus. Masks are strongly encouraged for students and staff for grades 7-12.

Social Distancing Buildings will work to maintain social distancing of at least 3 feet whenever possible. Assigned seating at lunch is also required.

Contact Tracing & Notification FHSD will continue to work with SCCDPH, providing contacttracing information for cases and exposure that takes place at school. Parents or legal guardians will be notified in the event of a close contact.

Quarantine There are many rules regarding quarantine this year. With the ability to get vaccinated, many students will not be quarantined as a result of a close contact at school. Students who are not vaccinated will be quarantined based off their specific contact.

Information regarding specifics of student quarantines can be found to the link at right.

*information obtained from FHSD website

RSD → 2021

FHSD - 2020

Masks

All students, staff and visitors entering a Rockwood School District building are required to wear a mask. Masks are required on all forms of public transportation, including buses, in accordance with a federal mandate. Students participating in moderate or vigorous physical activity are no required to wear a mask but must put it back on upon completion of activity.

Contact Tracing & Notification Identity of the positive case will be kept confidential and will only be shared with the necessary individuals. Public health officials, school nurses and designated contact tracers/ administrators are responsible for informing positive people of their next steps as well identifying close contacts Quarantine Contact tracing & quarantine is still in effect in the RSD and is following the same guidelines as all other districts in the area.

Vaccinated individuals are not required to quarantine but will still be notified if they are a close contact. Those who are unvaccinated will be quarantined based off their contact.

RSD - 2021

All the information to the left was found on RSD’s website at these links: bit.ly/NSRSDprotocols bit.ly/NSRSDdashboard

With the introduction of the new Omicron variant, do you forsee changes being made to any of our current COVID policies?

“They did just make changes to what’s called modified restrictive. It basically says you can choose to stay at school as long as you wear a mask for 14 days. But that is not in line with the new variant. To my knowledge, the district has not said anything about the new variant, Omicron, at this point.”

Amy Ridling, administrator

*RSD defines what positive, quarantine and close contact mean on their dashboard at the link to the right

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The FHN basketball band plays a song during a game. The game was on Dec.7 and the varsity girls basketball team took on Francis Howell High. (Photo by Sophie Stachula)

Sitting across from his counselor, junior Kevin Taylor discusses options for next year class registrations with counselor Lorraine Smith. (Photo by Amoolya Pandurangi)

What’s Playing?

The basketball band plays at every home game to cheer on the Knights.

Basketball Band has the same schedule as the basketball team during home games.

Some of the songs played by basketball band will be: Like Fire By: Katy Perry

ENROLL FOR 2023 Registration for the 202223 school year will start in January of 2022 For now, it looks like students will register for classes the same way as last year. Using Infinite Campus again to browse and ultimately pick classes for next year.

There are 2 “legs” of registration.

One is talking to your counselor about the classes that are right for you and your career path/life after high school, which will start in mid December. The other “leg” is physically registering on infinite campus.

“My job includes helping students with their academic and scheduling needs. And also helping students with personal problems or concerns that they might need help with and also helping them develop their goals for life after high school,” Ann Herman, 10th grade counselor said.

The counseling office should have more details about registration from district admin around Dec. 13.

Students should watch their email in mid December for registration information, counselors will begin talking with students about classes then. Students need 24 total credits to graduate, seven credits a year, so some can begin planning now. (Story

by Tayler Ross)

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North Star | 12.15.2021

Bad Guy By: Billie Eilish These are just a few of the songs that our FHN basketball band will be playing. To hear these songs as well as some of the others on their set, head to any of the FHN home basketball games.

PLAYS FOR THE STANDS

FHN Basketball band is a pep group whose mission is to play fun music for the spectators as well as prepare students for the future.

By Justin Brewer

justinbrewer15@gmail.com

L

ooking in the stands at an FHN basketball game, two things will stand out: rowdy fans and a band ready to hype up the stands the second that timeout whistle blows. FHN Basketball Band is an extracurricular band offered to all band students whose job is to provide music at basketball games and promote school spirit.

However, this band does more than that.

“This group might be set out because there is a lot of hype for having a good year,” FHN Band Director Rob Stegeman said. “I think it’s like that every year but I think this year especially there were a lot of kids who were virtual that are now here. So, they’re just really excited to get to do stuff like this.”

Like many bands, the Basketball Band plays a variation of music. This music requires preparation and rehearsal in order to be played at the games. What is unique about this group is that Stegeman generally only has to work with them up to a certain point, and after that they can run it on their own. He feels this is a great experience for these students as it

develops their existing skills and builds new ones. It is even more beneficial from a student’s perspective as it teaches them to be independent and how to work through things on their own.

“It kind of teaches you to have some initiative,” senior Johna Hargrove said. “[Stegeman] gives you like the bare bones and then you have to work through the small stuff on your own. So, you just have to take that initiative with yourself and do what needs to get done.

Opportunities like these are two-fold.

Students are given the opportunity to participate in a fun extra-curricular activity, play what they learn for spectators and enjoy the company of fellow band members. However, experiences like these also help in skill development as well as paves a path for a potential future in music.

“Our mission for the whole school district is basically college and career ready,” Stegeman said. “Sometimes we forget about our arts and things like that.

Are we really preparing them for college and careers? So, I like these opportunities that prepare them.”

by Tayler Ross

In FHN’s College and Career counselor, Brooke Prestidge’s office, college pennants hang all around the top portion of the room.

The pennants are from colleges that past students have gone to and local colleges in the FHN area. Prestidge helps students decide what they want to do in their near and far future. (Photo by Taylor Hill)

Using her calculator, senior Jada Brown takes a test in calculus AB in Paxton Mansell’s classroom.

This year finals are worth 10% of the final grade instead of 20% from previous years. “I think it’s great that finals aren’t as heavily weighted,” Brown said. (Photo by Amoolya Pandurangi)

Most scholarship deadlines are around the corner here are some scholarship deadlines that are coming up Dec. 31 NROTC scholarships through the Navy Jan. 15 Kiwanis Earl Collins Foundation $1,000 Scholarships Jan. 31 O’Fallon Optimist Club Essay & Oratorical contests

FINAL EXAMS RETURN

Semester finals are returning after not having them for two years be very much like they were pre-COVID,” assistant principal Erin Steep said. “So, mchairs303@g.fhsdschools.org you would have three finals on the 12th tudents here at Francis Howell and then two on the 13th and two on the North have heard of the dreaded 14th.” semester finals, however most With COVID and quarantines still going students haven’t experienced them. For those who may not know, semester finals on in the world, teachers have been given more leniency when it comes to the will be in January after students get back content of their final test. from winter break.

“Teachers have a little This year some changes more freedom in some have been made, grades of our classes,” Steep are only 10% of a student’s said. “There are district overall semester grade. finals that teachers have Also this year there will to give and they’ve been be final exemptions that told that they do not allow students not to take have to give that final. the final without hurting They can make changes their grade. Both seniors this year because with and juniors get automatic quarantines and just exemptions, seniors Scan the QR code to see the full everything still being a having three and juniors final exam schedule little bit weird.” having two. Exemptions Not only will it be the freshmen’s first can be earned if a student got a 27 or time taking a final, it will also be the first higher on their ACT, if they take the AP time for sophomores and juniors. This exam for that specific class and if they means that technically only seniors have got proficient or advanced on last year’s truly taken high school finals.

EOCs. However students can only earn “Finals weren’t all that bad,” senior Jack these exemptions if they have at least a 90% attendance rate and have an A in the Murray said. “At the time I was nervous but after I realized it wasn’t really worth class. all the hype.”

“We’re really thinking that finals would

by Morgan Chairs

S

by Morgan Chairs

Feb. 15 Future of STEM Scholars Initiative Scholarship Feb. 25 Festival of the Little Hills Scholarship Mar. 1 Associated General Contractors of Missouri Education Foundation Scholarship Mar. 12 Missouri Women’s Golf Education Association Scholarship

Scan the QR code to view FHN's scholarship help page

SAVE MONEY FOR COLLEGE

Deadlines approach for many scholarships

Now is the time many seniors are looking to help find ways to fund college and there are a variety of scholarships out there to help.

Scholarships are readily found on many websites. Brook Prestidge, the College and Career counselor explains the various websites where scholarships are publicly available to students.

“I list scholarships on my canvas page, the FHN Class of 2022 and our district also has their own college and career website,” Prestidge said. ”The two main places I tell students to look for scholarships will be their college first that they’ve applied to, and then the local scholarship that we advertise either on canvas, the district website or my scholarship central.”

The canvas page is regularly updated as Prestidge is contacted by the scholarship providers. She also makes canvas announcements for each new scholarship provided to her so students are aware of them. If the canvas does not provide enough scholarship opportunities, a website recommended by Brook Prestidge to find more scholarships is: https://myscholarshipcentral.org/ (Story by Peter Pae)

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FHN students walk in from the bus lot on a snowy day. (Photo by Allison Cavato)

Students walk to class on Nov. 17, some with masks, and some without. The mask policy in the building was changed to be optional, as compared to last year where it was required.

(Photo by Andrew Poertner)

The District...

MAKES the decision to cancel school for the entire district.

MAKES every attempt to reach a decision regarding the closing of school by 5:00 A.M. MAY dismiss early when winter weather arrives quickly and unexpectedly during the school day.

NEW COVID POLICES

Changes to the COVID policies for second semester COVID-19 policies and protocols are changing at FHN. At the November 2 board meeting, the principals found out that there will be changes in North’s handling of COVID-19, but they were not told what these changes were.

“What we were told is we know that changes are coming from the CDC especially with vaccinations going all the way down to five [years old],” associate principal Erin Steep said.

FHSD’s board of education discussed changes in COVID protocol on Nov. 18 and will discuss future changes on Dec. 16 for the second semester. Not much is known about what will come but changes are to be expected.

“There is some movement towards things lightening up a little bit,” FHN interim principal Dr. Lucas Lammers said. “What that’s going to look like three months from now, nobody really knows.”

(Story by Logan Yarnell)

QR Code leading to the November 18, 2021 Board Meeting COVID-19 Update PDF

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North Star | 12.15.2021

WILL provide communication about closures via the SchoolMessager notification system, website, and social media.

SAID seniors will be required to make up snow days one through 10 in order to meet the minimum hours of schooling.

CHANGES TO SNOW DAYS FHSD has changed the policy regarding snow days this year FHSD recently changed its policy regarding snow days in an attempt to prevent the school year from running into June. The new rule states that the first three snow days will be made up at the end of the year but the next four snow days will not have to be made up. This is due to extra instructional time already in the calendar. Although it is unlikely, if students happen to have over eight snow days, they will be added to the end of the school year. The debating factor is how this update affects students and how this

will change school plans.

“If families have made arrangements for the vacations at the end of May it could put a damper on those,” interim principal Dr. Lammers said. “It can potentially make the semesters unbalanced.”

Although there seems to be some questions about this update, many students have their own opinions.

“I kind of like the new update,” sophomore Jazlyn Jennings said. “I don’t want to stay at school until June again.”

(Story by Anna Scognamiglio)

CHURCH PARKING CONTINUES FHN students have been allowed to park at Hackmann Road Church $60 fee is required

to park at the church parking lot. Nothing more, nothing less.

JUNIORS parked in the church parking lot will be moved to the general lot.

SENIORS parked

in the general lot will be moved into PSP spots, replacing spots of seniors graduating after first semester.

Hackmann Road Church of Christ and Francis Howell North plan to continue to allow students to park at the church in order to alleviate parking reductions caused by construction at FHN. “We contacted the Church at the end of summer,” Chris Birch, assistant principal and parking supervisor said. “[Church parking] started since we had our parking lot significantly reduced due to construction.”

There are only around 20 students that park at the church. These students are mostly juniors. Despite concerns of inclement weather, Birch believes that students should be safely able to park at the church and walk to school.

“If there is inclement weather, students wouldn’t need to come to school,” Birch said. “As far as cold temperatures, we encourage students to dress appropriately, whether it’s 20 feet or 20 miles to walk somewhere. (Story by Aadhi Sathishkumar)

Senior Nila Milo gets out of her car to walk from the church to school. Due to the limited parking in FHN’s parking lot with ongoing construction, students were given permission to park there.

(Photo by Matthew Wells)

by Peter Pae

Construction crews work on the foundation for the new FHN building. As the construction has progressed, the crews have run into some setbacks. (Photo by Andrew Goffinet)

In the FHN auditorium, junior Piper Orzel rehearses a scene from the fall musical, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. (Photo by Sophia Stachula)

Other Events Solo Acts: Solo acts include monologues and single person skits Duets: During duets two people will perform a skit, solo singing, duet singing and many more acting and singing related activities.

BACK TO THESCON

FHN’s thespian troupe plans to go to Missouri Thespian Conference

Francis Howell North’s Thespian troupe 4956 is going to the Missouri Thespian Conference, or Thescon, from Jan. 19-22 at the Union Station hotel in Saint Louis. The group has been going for 35 years.

“It is so much fun,” Junior Piper Orzel said. “It’s just a bunch of theater kids together and you get to learn so much.”

After not being able to go last year,

many of the juniors and seniors are excited to go back. A lot of the freshmen and sophomores who have never had a chance to go are very excited despite not knowing what to expect.

“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again and seeing the different offers there are this time around,” Junior Aubrey Crespo said. (Brief by Logan Yarnell)

In the student council props closet at FHN on Nov. 16, senior Bree Ammons unpacks supplies for the upcoming Deck the Halls event. (Photo by Matthew Wells )

PRICED TOO HIGH

The new school building’s budget has increased

Deck The Halls Information Decorating Starts: December 1st Decorating Ends: December 13th Voting Starts: December 13th Voting Ends: December 17th

DECK THE HALLS

Student Council is hosting the Deck the Halls event again this year where groups work together to festively decorate the school In previous years STUCO has held a deck the halls event where students get to decorate the school for the holidays.

Last year many students participated but Aaron Manfull’s class came out on top. Many students including senior Claire Brockmann , a previous deck the halls winner, enjoyed working with their classmates and getting to know other students.

“It’s always super fun working with everyone on staff to help decorate,” Brockmann said. “It’s so festive in there for the next few weeks and I’m always

by Anna Scognamiglio

so sad when we take them down ” This week, wraps up the Deck the Halls event. Decorations should be done and ready for the announcement of winners on Dec. 20. Many teachers are excited to take on a win this year and see kids collaborating and working together.

“I feel sometimes the kids don’t feel connected,” Diane Fingers said. “So it’s cool how we can get students involved in something unified.” (Brief by Anna Scognamiglio)

Winners Will Be Announced: December 20th

The school board had an emergency meeting last week to discuss options for the new FHN building as cost estimates have nearly doubled due to labor shortages and an increase in cost of building materials as well as square footage being added to the design.

There has been some fluctuation in the Guaranteed Price Maximum (GPM) of the new FHN building over the years since Prop S passed in June of 2020. The latest drastic change resulted in a Board of Education meeting on Dec. 7 to address why the new GPM of the school was almost double the original estimate, from roughly $86.35 million to $146.72 million, and what the options were for how they could proceed from here.

The current options are to delay construction and rebid the remaining construction or to accept the GPM and proceed with construction. The Board will vote on this at the next Board of Education meeting on Dec. 16. Full version can be found on FHNtoday.com (Brief by Amber Winkler)

QR Code leading to the December 7, 2021 board meeting’s building cost presentation

North Star | 12.15.2021

11

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WORD BANK

A FESTIVE SEARCH Find the festive words displayed on the side of the page. Words can go in any direction (Content by Maya Helbig)

LIGHTS The holidays can be an exciting time. Many people love sleeping in, hanging out with family and especially live the food. Students around FHN share their favorite foods to eat around the holidays Banana Pudding “[My favorite part is] eating, but not too much because I’m very picky,” Cloei Evans, 9

TREE PRESENTS SNOW WINTER FIREPLACE

Ham “I mean, the food is good. Every holiday has a really good bunch of food. Like for Thanksgiving, turkey, Christmas, ham etcetera,” Sean Ireland, 11

SANTA DECEMBER ELF

Sugar Cookies “[My favorite part] is seeing family and eating good food,” Marijane Clubbs, 12

JOY WREATH CANDY CANE COOKIES STOCKINGS CANDLES HOT CHOCOLATE REINDEER SLEIGH

by Maya Helbig

North Star | 12.15.2021

13

In this section, we take a look at students and teachers at North who have ventured into the unknown and created their own small businesses. We see how they developed their business, overcame struggles and the lessons they've learned.

(Photo by Maya Helbig)

14

by McKenna Hudson and Maya Helbig

North Star | 12.15.2021

Why is Buying from Small Businesses Important?

“

It’s important so that people can add their own personal touch to their products.”

Jessica Beakley, 10

“

They are unique things and it gives people a sense of community.”

Denise Maples, Art teacher

“

I think it’s important to support small businesses small local economy’s and there is something special buying something from a small company.”

Abigail Hasheider, 9

In her spare time, sophomore Jennifer Schelfaut creates jewelry which she sells on her personal Etsy shop. Here she showcases some of the necklaces she has made. (Photo by Hannah Anderson)

FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE Students learn real world experience by beginning their small businesses in high school

by Macy Cronin

macy.cronin03@gmail.com

I

t’s not unusual for high school students to hold down a job or two while still in school, but for some students they want to go beyond just working for a business. They want to start their own.

“That experience looks good on a resume,” marketing teacher Mike Freedline said. “People want to see what you can do and not just your educational background, but what have you done that proves you are a leader.”

Running their own business gives students a chance to work for themselves and control their own hours and wages. This means students will have to learn to juggle a job, school and any other activities they may be involved with.

“It can be very stressful because they have to be able to manage their time effectively,” college and career counselor Brooke Prestidge said. “Even though their business might be their end goal, they still have to complete high school, so that is probably going to take priority a lot of times.”

The skills students learn when they run their business can help them finish high school and start strong after school.

These students are learning how to lead and work with others and become financially responsible.

“They are learning the basic soft skills that aren’t necessarily taught in school, so just how to communicate professionally with other people, how to work against a deadline,” Prestidge said. “Kind of those real world experiences that unfortunately a lot of our students don’t get if they’re not seeking it out themselves.”

by McKenna Hudson and Maya Helbig

Students can choose to further their business in a number of ways after high school. No matter if they choose to go to college and further their education or not.

“I think a lot of time those students are leaving college as an option for them, but it seems like they are already finding some success or they’re starting to realize what they want to do after high school because they’ve started their own business,” Prestidge said.

Going to college can advance their small business by learning the ins and outs of it through classes offered at the college and receiving help from willing professors. This can be helpful for those who need the extra assistance getting their business to the next level.

Not going to college and staying in the workforce can help a business in a different way. Students can now dedicate more time into helping clients and working specifically to better their business. They can get better by learning skills first hand rather than going to a class.

“A lot of them are using the skills they are going to go and use in whatever career path they choose,” Freedline said.

Learning these soft skills now rather than later can help them prosper while on their own. No matter what students choose to do after high school, the business they start now while still in school is going to change them.

“Anybody can start a business,” Freedline said. “Especially for students whether it’s something small or a little bit bigger, the experience is worth more than whether you succeed or fail. You don’t fail if you try.”

North Star | 12.15.2021

15

FOUNDER OF THE FORUM Created by senior Pavan Kolluru, ThinkUnbiased is a informative website aimed for sorting news sites into left leaning, right leaning or unbiased sources Creating a website from scratch was one of the signs of an early entrepreneur. While Pavan was developing ThinkUnbiased, another idea was starting to take shape.

Ethnic Touch, a passion project of Pavan’s, was in the t starts with an idea. One idea can inspire someone to works. create a business that works to help improve the lives of “So [Ethnic Touch] is meant to bring these local or others. It takes a person with the entrepreneurial spirit non local ethnic stores that don’t have a very big and drive to run with their idea and to make it the best it can be. Pavan Kolluru possesses the motivation that it takes customer base, bring them to the online world, give them more customers and give the customers a to run a business. Through hours of brainstorming, coding bigger range of where they can get more and development, Pavan founded the website: authentic goods,” Pavan said.

ThinkUnbiased.

While Ethnic Touch is still in development, the Starting in the fall of 2020, Pavan was thinking idea for the project has not stopped. In November, of a website, two websites. The first, to help Pavan was awarded second place for the Louis better educate the community.

S. Sachs Scholarship for submitting his business “Me and my sister would argue about politics proposal for Ethnic Touch. The Louis S Sachs all the time,” Pavan said. “And my big thing for Scholarship recognizes high school seniors in the her was I always said that she was blinded by Scan to visit St. Charles and St. Louis area who have a bright the media and she never even tried to look at ThinkUnbiased future in the world of business. Characteristics of the other perspective and that gave me the idea.” honorees include the entrepreneurial spirit, work His first site, ThinkUnbiased, was coded and ethic and dedication to their businesses and projects. designed by Pavan with help from his dad. Pavan worked Pavans sister, Lavanya, was a support system in the to make his site as accessible as possible and to create a development of both websites. design that would attract the attention of the user. After “He’s very charismatic,” Lavanya said. “He’s quick-thinking four months of work, ThinkUnbiased was published as a and hardworking, he’s very passionate and he works really political site to differentiate news sources into left leaning, hard at what he cares about. If he wants to do something, right leaning or unbiased views. One of Pavan’s teachers and he’s determined, he will do it.” noted the first time he recalled hearing about the creation For a young entrepreneur, many obstacles are in the way of ThinkUnbiased. of creating a business. But working around those obstacles “I was really impressed,” said social studies teacher Sean and creating a business aimed to help others is a sign of Fowler. “I wouldn’t even know how you would begin to do someone that has the drive and motivation to succeed. what he did, so I thought that was pretty interesting.”

“I never predict the future as a student of history,” Fowler said. “But I will say, it looks like he has a lot of opportunities and I’ll be intrigued to see what he does with his talents going forward.”

“So anytime I pitch it to someone and they say ‘that’s awesome, I have the exact problem.’ It just makes me know that I’m going on the right track and making a difference in at least one persons life,” Pavan said.

by McKenna Hudson

mhudson365@g.fhsdschools.org

I

Working on his online businesses Nov. 14, senior Pavan Kolluru works on his website in front of a wardrobe of sarees. Kolluru came up with Ethnic Touch when he saw his mom struggling to buy Indian garments online. (Photo by Ankita Pandurangi)

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North Star | 12.15.2021

Click by Click Pavan’s step-by-step process of creating a business website

1. Do your Research Identify any websites that may offer similar services and look for ways to make yours better

2. Make a Plan Figure out how you’re going to make your website. You can code a website or use website makers like WordPress

3. Use your Resources Find people around you who can help you succeed in creating your website or starting your business

by McKenna Hudson and Maya Helbig

A SIGN THAT YOU’RE HOME

Gesturing towards her wreaths, choir director Jennifer Oncken explains the process of creating them. Oncken works to customize her wreaths to fit her customers’ wants and aesthetics, but still includes her own personal preference of working with only natural-looking materials. (Photo by Avery Witherbee)

A wreath welcomes the guests to a home and also makes for an excellent side job for a teacher

by Evan Becker

ebecker066@g.fhsdschools.org

W

hether it was going to the gym or binge-watching the newest season of Grey’s Anatomy, COVID-19 developed new passion projects. For Jennifer Oncken, the choir director at FHN, it began a renewal of a project she began about six years ago. Last year, Oncken experienced an influx of orders after posting to her social media, O’s Wreaths and Florals, that helped her push through.

“With COVID I decided it was time for me to reclaim my personal life,” Oncken said. “I have a hard time sitting and I can’t have my hands be idle. It was a way for me to be creative while enjoying movies.

I was able to unplug and decompress and have a creative artistic outlet.”

It’s an intense project for her, she starts by doing research. She asks her customers what sorts of things they enjoy like colors, patterns and even materials. She then creates a pinterest board where they can paste the things they enjoy. Next, she spends hours at the store picking out the highest quality material, sparing no expense. All of this culminates with an explosive final product.

“I make them in my living room,” Oncken said. “It is quite entertaining, especially for someone who is as OCD as I am because they make a very, very large mess. It is an absolute explosion. There are times that my entire living room is just insanely covered in materials.”

While it does make a mess, Oncken has been proud of all of the work she has accomplished. She sometimes even sells her wreaths for less profit because she wants to make sure that the quality matches the artistic vision she and her customers expect. This experience leaves a lasting impact on those that have purchased from her, like Anelise Mossinghoff.

by McKenna Hudson and Maya Helbig

“Her work was just outstandingly beautiful, and so I’m like, ‘you know what, maybe I want something to spruce up my house,’” Mossinghoff said. “It’s just something very happy to see. When I walk through the doors [I think] oh that looks so nice, something beautiful to see when you walk inside.”

It has been six months since she last sold a wreath, but Oncken is not closing up shop. She doesn’t necessarily seek out customers; rather, the customers come to her as she publicizes her work. She’s glad that they search out the experiences from smaller sellers. It helps to spark more personalized designs.

“Most people have shifted so much to box stores and the great big God of Amazon,” Oncken said.

“I feel like there’s a lot of loss of creativity and inspiration, like everything is very cookie cutter. I appreciate the whole small business aspect of things because it puts people’s ability to be their own unique selves out there.”

The word of her business and the creations she made spread beyond the online social media accounts that Oncken had curated.

Oncken believes that students should be able to come to her with the work that they’re proud of just as she does them.

“The first time I heard about it was from the choir,” Ana Remolina, a senior in choir said. “You could hear [Oncken’s] excitement when she talked about the wreaths she had made.”

That excitement of seeing the final creation is mutual between the customer and Oncken as she creates projects that they love for many years to come. With many different seasons to choose from and personal tastes, the outcome is always perfect for each person.

“It’s funny because every single one of my customers has said ‘oh my gosh this is the most beautiful one you’ve ever made,’” Oncken said. “It’s funny because every single person says that every single time. The reason that they say that is because it is designed for their personal aesthetic. I take all of the things that they like [and put it into] one wreath.”

Making a Mess During the creative process of making a wreath, it also involves making a mess.

Oncken has several materials she uses when constructing her wreaths.

In her Wreaths, Oncken likes to utilize Ornaments to give her wreaths a more festive feel.

During the Christmas season, mini sleds are often added as decorative additions.

North Star | 12.15.2021

Bows also add a colorful touch to Oncken’s wreaths which come in a range of colors .

17

Polishing The Look Here are various designs of Sydnee’s with more looks on her Instagram: @Nailsbysydnee._

At her home nail salon on Nov. 11, Senior Sydnee Williams does her client’s nails. (Photo by Sophia Stachula)

NAILS BY SYDNEE Senior Sydnee Williams has a business doing people’s nails and hopes to one day turn it into her profession

by Morgan Chairs

mchairs303@g.fhsdschools.org

I

magine going to school, doing homework, participating in extracurriculars, all the average high school teen stuff. On top of that you run your own small business balancing school and work life. This is the case for senior Sydnee Williams. Williams has always had a fondness for doing nails but two years ago, she decided to practice nail design and acrylics.

“During COVID I was bored and I would always get my nails done so I decided to practice on myself with my mom,” Williams said. “I wanted to learn the technique of how to do acrylic nails and all that has to go into it.”

A year later Williams started her home based nail business, Nails By Sydnee. At first most of her customers were only close family and friends but, as she did more nails and people started sharing her work, her business grew now she takes on about 15 to 20 customers a month.

“I started with my friends so they would post on their social media when I would get their set done,” Williams said. “I started my own social media page Nails by Sydnee. I would post daily and then other people from different schools would see that too around the area. So yeah, Instagram has helped a lot.”

While Williams is a business owner she is first and foremost a high school student. Meaning she’s constantly trying to balance both her work and school life and she does that in different ways. One way she does that is by planning events ahead of time whether it’s for school or simply putting nail appointments on her calendar.

Another way she balances life is simply by trying not to overdo anything.

“I try not to overdo it because school does stress me

18

North Star | 12.15.2021

out, especially as a senior,” Williams said. “I have college applications to work on. So I don’t [do nails] a lot. But I do it pretty well. Pretty often it’s not that stressful because I get to work around my own schedule.”

One thing that does help with Wiliams’ stress is the support from her biggest fan, fellow business owner and mom Melissa Gray. Gray supports Williams in any way possible from finances and clientele to helping Williams expand her business.

“We are currently building Sydnee a lash & nail room in our basement to help her feel like she has a space of her own,” Gray said. “[a place] where she doesn’t have to find space to store all of her supplies, bringing it out and putting everything away when she is finished. It will allow her the growth I see coming.”

Sydnee is already certified in lashes and is working towards being a licensed esthetician. As of now Williams plans to get a degree in business and open up her own salon so she can follow her dreams and pursue her passions.

“I really like the different art aspects that nail designing allows me to do,” Williams said. “I feel like if you have a lot of passion and a lot of patience it pays off in the end because I’m helping somebody else. We’re having a good time together. I just enjoy making other people happy and it’s also very therapeutic for me because I get to clean up people’s nails. So I just enjoyed it.”

Senior Vrushi Patel has been friends with Sydnee since sophomore year and has seen first hand Sydnee’s passion turned into a career.

“I was one of the first people and she did my nails when I was on vacation,” Patel said. “And I already thought she was good from the beginning, but she keeps getting better.”

by McKenna Hudson and Maya Helbig

INFLUENCED BY THE BUSINESS WORLD FHN business teacher Mike Freedline has had the unique experience of being able to run a business and teach about business. He incorporates what he learned as a businessman back into teaching. sell the houses for a profit and since they bought them for cheap, the profit was usually good. justinbrewer15@gmail.com “We would buy a house for as low as possible and be able to fix it up eing a business teacher means teaching the basics of running and try to sell it for a profit,” Freedline said. “Everybody will tell you about a business, finances and all of the ins-and-outs required to their big successes, probably not their failures. We made deals where we be a successful entrepreneur. For many teachers, this may made a lot of money. We were able to get them really cheap.” be a struggle as they have no firsthand experience in the field. For Freedline has been able to incorporate what he learned in the business FHN’s business teacher Mike world back into teaching. When Freedline, teaching from Freedline was in business, he experience is like second had to learn how to successfully nature. Freedline has had the market and advertise. One unique experience of running example of this was placing his own franchise of We Buy different phone numbers on Ugly Houses. different advertisements, so they “Our model was to buy could track which was being the houses as low as you can, fix most successful and reaching them up and turn around and the most prospective clientele. sell them,” Freedline said.

These strategies along with many Freedline started out other tools he learned have been as a teacher in 1993. He helpful aids in his time back in the taught for 11 years across classroom, as he returned to teach the Francis Howell School marketing.

District and in 2004 decided “I think it’s beneficial because to try something new. He Freedline can incorporate his and 6 members of his college knowledge from his personal fraternity had always talked business into his teaching life,” about the idea of running a senior Rachel Buchanan said. business together and they Business teacher Mike Freedline helps students in a class project (Photo by Taylor Hill) Students are also beneficiaries decided to make it a reality. of his knowledge. They are given “I just had an opportunity to [run a business],” Freedline said. “My the opportunity to learn from his real life experiences and incorporate his friends and I have always said we want to have our own business. An knowledge into their work. He feels students learn better when they hear opportunity came up and we sort of weighed out the pros and cons.” the stories he tells, as he is speaking from experience rather than from a As a franchise owner, Freedline ran his own branch of the “We textbook. It makes the teaching and learning experiences alike feel much Buy Ugly Houses” corporation. He and his fellow business members more personal. flipped houses for a profit. They hired contractors, builders and other “I think they listen to the stories and they believe it more when they construction crew to tear down what needed to be and build what know you are talking from experience,” Freedline said. “Instead of just needed to be added. Freedline and his associates did some of the work saying this is how you do it, I can say this is how we did it.” but for the most part, it was completed by the crews. Finally, they would

by Justin Brewer

B

What is a Franchise?

Branching Out

According to franchise.org, a franchise is “a method of distributing products or services involving a franchisor, who establishes the brand’s trademark or trade name and a business system.”

by McKenna Hudson and Maya Helbig

How to Own a Franchise

(Info from Learn Hub)

1. Do Your Research

5. Get Funding

2. Choose a Franchise

6. Choose a Location

3. Attend a Discovery Day

7. Take the provided training

4. Review the Franchise agreement

8. Prepare for Opening Day

North Star | 12.15.2021

19

.COM PHOTO GALLERIES

COMIC CENTRAL

bit.ly/FHNComics

bit.ly/BBallFHN

SOCIAL MEDIA

INSTAGRAM

On Dec. 3, Varsity Boys Basketball faced Fort Zumwalt South.

FZS led 45-19 at the end of the first half.

The game continued at this pace, and FZS ended up winning 68-32. (Photos by Kyle Button)

instagram.com/FHNtoday FHNtoday’s Instagram has new content every day. Outstanding students and student athletes are featured and there are photos from sports games and events, as well.

LOTS OF GREAT STORIES bit.ly/WrestlingFHN

During the weekend of Dec. 4, the Varsity Wrestling team participated in the Saturday invitationals in North’s large gym.

The event began at 9:30 in the morning.

(Photos by Matthew Wells and Natasha Haverly)

TWITTER

bit.ly/FHNMusical

Francis Howell North’s drama club has been working for the past two months to produce their yearly musical, and they just finished their final show on Nov. 20.

bit.ly/ErmelingSports

On Oct. 1, senior Hannah Ermeling turned to run to first base and suddenly something popped around her knee.

But she was not about to let this injury effect her final season.

bit.ly/HockeyFHN On Nov. 20, FHN faced FZE in hockey. FZE scored a goal within the first minute of the game. FZE scored 3 goals in the last period and ended up winning 8-3. (Photos

by Kyle Button and Ankita Pandurangi)

twitter.com/FHNtoday FHNtoday’s Twitter page posts daily about current school news, information about sports, and builds a community between students and staff through weekly features about staff at North.

TIKTOK

bit.ly/FHNSnackTable Margaret Connolly, mother to senior Cat Connolly, helps run the snack table to raise money for the annual senior All Knighter. On her days off from nursing, Margaret along with her son, alumni Alex Connolly, volunteer to run the snack table.

bit.ly/StucoHalls

As a returning FHN tradition, Deck the Halls is happening this month from Dec. 1 until the 20. Deck the halls is a hallway decorating competition that many clubs in the school get involved with, the decorating starts on Dec. 1 and goes until Dec. 13.

tiktok.com/@fhntoday Our TikTok account is home to style and music opinions, random questions with people from around school, and some cool sports videos. Not only do we reach our own students, but we’ve also reached over 220,000 people from around the country in one TikTok alone.

Christian Gee makes a coffee order for a customer. (Photo by Jordan Slusser)

Sophia Zimmerman worked on her art project in Denise Maples’ class. Zimmerman was inspired by her mom to pursue art during her childhood. Photo by: Andrew Goffinet Coffee Facts Some quick trivia about the one of the most popular drinks in the world.

Coffee wasn’t always called coffee. It actually used to be called “Qahhwat albun”. When translated from Arabic that means “the wine of the bean”.

AN ARTIST IN THE MAKING A COFFEE STOP ON THE WAY

Coffee beans aren’t actually beans.

Instead, they are found inside coffee berries that grow on the coffee plant.

Sugar Beans Coffee House is a local cafe that welcomes everyone

by Stephanie Lichtenegger

Slichtenegger419@g.fhsdschools.org

S

ugar beans is a coffee stop located at 2621 Muegge Rd, St. Charles.

Their business started June 1, 2020 and they have been thriving ever since. Sugar beans is a place where people of all ages can go sit down, have a cup of coffee or a smoothie and to sit down with your friends and family. You can walk in and be greeted with a friendly face and enjoy your time there.

“I think one of the main things is that we promote kindness and that we hire anyone with disabilities and we have to expect kindness, I have promoted quite proudly and quite boldly,” Angel Ruiz, owner of Sugar Beans Coffee House, said.

Bakery items change depending on what season it is and what the in-stock fruit is. In the summer it is strawberry bread, in the fall it is pumpkin bread and in the winter it is gingerbread. However, as for the holiday drinks, they have them all year round because they know people still like pumpkin spice lattes in the summer and will drink them all year round.

“I think my favorite time at sugar beans was when I first found out it existed and

by Stephanie Lichtengger

I went with my friend and walking in and seeing all the people on their computers and how much sunlight it had and enjoyed the fact that they had a storage area for displaying the sweets and the drinks and that,” Alumni Sarah Williams said. “[I] really liked the area that they had to edit down in front of the register with the tic-tac-toe board,” Williams said.

The coffee house is open Tuesday through Sunday. They accept people of all ages, genders, orientation and they try to be as welcoming as they possibly can be. They will hire anyone that is willing to put in effort to make Sugar Beans a happy and healthy environment for people to come in. They ask that you respect their space and make it a joyful environment for everyone and anyone that comes in.

“Two drinks that are ordered the most are ‘oh dear’ and ‘hold your horses coffee’,”, Christian Gee, manager of Sugar Beans Coffee House, said.

Sugar beans is a place to go at any time of year. It might just become your favorite shop to get a coffee, smoothie, or another type of beverage. They have everything from cappuccinos. They have something for everyone even if you don’t drink coffee.

Coffee was originally chewed. Caffeine Enthusiasts used to ground coffee berries up, add animal fat, and roll up balls of coffee.

There are 95 milligrams in one cup, or about 8 fluid ounces, of coffee.

Kopi Luwak, the most expensive coffee, uses partially digested beans found in the excrement of the Asian palm civet.

One cup can cost up to $100.

Francis Howell North has been a place for artists to grow since the beginning of the program. It is a supportive community of students and teachers in the art community here at FHN. There’s plenty of room for people to grow in their natural abilities. But there is a student in particular who stands out. Sophia Zimmerman is a student in Denise Maples art class. She is in an intro to art class.

“She works hard. She keeps trying “S until she gets it the way that she wants it. She has got grit,” art teacher Denise Maples said.

She has been in art her entire life.

She often makes art that is different from a lot of people. She has been in art her entire life and plans on furthering her education in art after she gets out of high school. She mostly gears toward drawing and painting for her artwork. She as well continues to further her education in art after high school.

“I don’t really think I have a favorite piece because all my art is different and they all have different feelings,” Zimmerman said.

There are paintings and drawings of people’s artwork everywhere around the art hallway where the art teachers are located. Throughout the year the artwork is changed. Some of the pieces are oil, watercolor, drawings, and paintings. People stop and admire the artwork throughout the hallway. There is also artwork, not only in the cases but painted on the way and throughout the classrooms.

(Story by Stephanie Lichtenegger)

North Star | 12.15.2021

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What do people in the FHSD community think of the Leible’s light display?

“I love listening to the songs and watching them match up with the lights. It’s just really colorful and fun. They took the time to put this all together and it looks really cool.

I even got to meet Santa one year.”

- Alayna Lohaus Sophomore

“There’s not many radio station linked Christmas light displays around so being able to see one that’s not far from my house is really cool.”

- Jacob Bass Freshman

“Having it tied to an organization because you know your money is going to help families who had miscarriages or their child pass at stillbirth.”

- Cassie Hogkins Sophomore

“I look forward to visiting this amazing light display ever year. You never know what song you are going to listen to when you pull up which makes the display incredibly unique. Each year this FHSD family is adding new lights and features to make their display one everyone wants to visit.”

- Kelsey Koenig 3rd grade teacher

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LIGHTS TO REMEMBER

The Leible family decorates their house every year with Christmas lights to keep their son’s memory alive react to one of the songs that plays. As the entire point of the display is to raise money for Share, their mailbox becomes a designated donation box for the holiday season. aising a child is one of the greatest experiences most “All profits go to Share, we don’t keep a dime of it,” Stacy people experience in their lifetime. So, when Stacy and said.

“We work hand and hand with Share so it’s not like we Bob Leible lost their son Caleb in 2011 at birth, their just drop money off at their buildings after we’re done.” grief and shock was understandably enormous.

Understandably many people might be a bit cautious just The Leibles worked to raise awareness for families like theirs giving money for an organization they’ve never by doing things like selling chocolate in the years heard of.

Share is completely non-profit so all that followed. When their daughter began asking money donated is going towards helping families for her parents to put up a light display, Bob and who suffered from losing an infant.

Stacy used this request and created an idea that “I mean we’ve had many people raise money has stuck for the past five years. for us in many different ways but none have been “Our daughter really wanted for us to do a light quite like what Stacy and Bob are doing,” Share display and it was a great family experience so worker Sarah Lawrenz said. “It’s really awesome we thought maybe we could do a light display because who doesn’t love looking at light and raise money for Share at the same time,” Bob said. “Share is a non-profit organization that Scan this QR code to view displays during the holiday season.”

Share stresses the fact that losing a child is never Share’s website. helps families like us who lost a baby.” the parents fault. Many grieving parents often can Anyone can come visit the display fittingly named find themselves blaming the loss on themselves.

‘Seen From Above’ at the Leibles’ home at 3036 Willow Bend All the workers at Share have experienced some sort of loss Drive. It is a free show in which visitors can tune into the similar to those they’re helping so they know firsthand how radio station 88.5 FM and watch as the lights on the house people are feeling.

by Chase Pray

cpray812@g.fhsdschools.org

R

North Star | 12.15.2021

by Chase Pray

A baby sits on Santa’s lap during the Leible’s 2020 Santa Night. Children are allowed to sit on Santa’s lap to give him their Christmas lists (Photo Submitted)

MAKING HIS LIST

The Leibles invite Santa to visit their house this year

The Leible’s home all lit up during a 2020 show. Every time you visit the Leible home you can expect a different performance and new songs to listen to and enjoy. Any donations can be put into the mailbox or given to the Leibles if they are outside.

(Photo submitted)

“This is a really sad job,” Lawrenz said.

“We see people often at the lowest point in their life and that’s not easy to see 24/7. But when you know you’re helping someone overcome and get themselves out of such a low point it really is the best feeling in the world.”

Knowing they are helping others makes all the work setting things up each year a little more manageable for the Leibles.

From running all the wires to physically putting the display up it can take Bob up to 30-40 hours to have everything where he wants it to be. Programming the songs however is a full year job.

“One song takes between 20-40 hours to program,” Bob said. “You’re telling software to turn on and off every half second of a song and there’s 64 of them that you’re telling to do that so I’m listening to the same song hours on end.

by Chase Pray

I start programming in around late June and I’m very critical of my own work.

When that persons sitting in the street watching, they don’t know that light turns on a second too short but I do and I’m sitting inside thinking man, that light’s off by just a split second.”

The Leibles hope to continue doing the display for as long as physically possible.

The bringing together of people no matter their background makes the display a prime example of what the holiday season is all about. Family, helping others, love and fun.

“Looking out the window and seeing all the happy faces in the cars makes our day,” Stacy said.

“When we have people who are from similar situations like us tell us how much they like our display, words can’t describe that feeling,” Bob said.

On December 17th the Leibles will be hosting their 5th annual Santa night at their home. Their garage will be turned into Santa’s own personal home from 7-9 with anyone being able to come for free.

Kids, pets, or adults if they wish are able to take a photo with Santa.

Kids can sit on his lap and tell him about what they want for Christmas and family’s can chose to have their photos posted to the Leibles Facebook page or they can decline if privacy is an issue. COVID-19 might be an issue for certain people feeling comfortable having their children sit on Santa’s lap, the Leibles have made the entire event is as sanitary as physically possible.

Santa and the Leibles have adapted the event to make it as comfortable for everyone as they could despite the bad circumstances the world gave them.

“Santa night has grown significantly since we began,” Bob said. “We went from a few cars showing up to a entire line of cars of people just wanting to meet Santa. Santa has been such an open minded individual in these weird times. He does whatever our visitors are comfortable with so people can just drop their lists off to Santa, sit on his lap, or even just say hi to him and he’s made it work.” (Story by Chase Pray)

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Security Guard Bobby Wallace holds a basketball in the FHN gym. After finishing his career, Wallace came back to his hometown and got a job as a security officer. (Photo by Pavan Kolluru)

Freshman Jupiter Colley signs hello. Colley goes through the deaf program here at FHN. “Get more involved with deaf people, and let them be more involved in life,” Colley said. (Photo by Teegan Gonzalez)

HIDDEN PROFESSIONAL Security guard Bobby Wallace used to be a basketball player

As you walk through the halls, you may have noticed a 6’10 security guard patrolling them. His name is Bobby Wallace, and he is the supervisor of the FHN security team. He has only been with the school for a few months, but has been with the district for three years.

Before his time working for the district, he was a center basketball player, playing for 17 years. Throughout those years, he has played across the globe.

“I played 17 years in Europe and the Middle East,” Wallace said. “Out of the 17 years, I played 11 years in Israel, three years in France, a year in Spain, a year in Belgium, a year in the Netherlands, and two summers in Venezuela.”

Wallace has participated in 17 championships, winning six. However, basketball wasn’t always his ambition.

“It wasn’t my goal to play basketball, but I was tall,” Wallace said. “I dominated in high school and I got a full-ride scholarship, so why not.”

Although he has retired from playing, his love for basketball has never ended.

He gives coaching sessions at Wentzville with his assistant coach, Justin Davis.

“I would say with Bobby he’s definitely given me an opportunity to grow as a coach,” Davis said. “What he does for the basketball community and the youth is very helpful and appreciated.”

While Wallace rode along with his career of becoming a professional basketball player, this opportunity has given him a chance to experience the cultures of different countries and fulfill his dream of traveling the world.

“One of my goals was to travel,” Wallace said. “I wanted to see the world, and playing basketball gave me that opportunity. God gave me the talent, the height, and I had to work for it, but I enjoyed it.” (Story by Peter Pae)

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North Star | 12.15.21

LEARN AND ADAPT

A look inside of the FHSD Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program

by Aadhi Sathishkumar aadhikumarblue@gmail.com

H

If you would like to learn some quick sign language, scan this QR code to watch Anika Long teach some basic signs:

earing is something many people take for granted in their daily lives. How most people learn and communicate is done through hearing and speech. Freshman Jupiter Colley, who was born deaf, had to learn to adapt to a world where the sense of hearing is ingrained in everything.

“At first it changed how people viewed me, and it was harder to communicate,” Colley said through interpreter Dan Smith. “I had to be more focused on things since I couldn’t hear what people were saying, and it’s harder than hearing people out.”

For Colley, interpreters like Smith help communication between deaf and non-deaf students and staff occur. Smith is employed by the district, as with all interpreters that service FHN. “[I] facilitate communication between students and staff,” interpreter Thomas Skinner said. “Whoever the deaf student would be talking to. I’ve been interpreting for [Jupiter] since they started school at North.”

Deaf students also go through FHSD’s deaf program. The deaf program was made to help deaf students navigate through school. Depending on the student, the district may also give the them an interpreter. The district also works to have deaf students together

in one school, rather than having deaf students separated into different schools.

FHN serves as the high school most students in the district attend.

“The deaf program has been developed to develop social relationships between the deaf and hard of hearing students to help them socialize within their own groups,” Skinner said. “Normally, in the mainstream setting, the deaf student may be in the school by themselves, but our deaf programs make hubs where we group them into a centralized program.”

Outside of the classroom, Colley participates in student council, art club and gender sexuality alliance. People describe them positively, and enjoy their company.

“I think that [Jupiter] is really creative, funny, and naturally talented,” art club sponsor Denise Maples said. “I got to see a side of Jupiter that I didn’t see in the classroom, which is really cool.”

As a Freshman, Colley has yet to experience much of FHN. However, they say that the community at FHN has been welcoming, not facing much adversity.

Colley believes that people can still do more to welcome hard of hearing students and accommodate them.

“Deaf people are the same as hearing people,” Colley said. “If I don’t understand, don’t ignore it. Don’t just act like you ignore it, and not put the effort forward to communicate.”

by Aadhi Sathishkumar

Sophomore Devon Alexander Jr. and his father stand together to take a photo. His father Devon Alexander Sr. is a boxing world champion in 2 weight classes and still fights today. His last fight was on Aug. 7 2021 against Luke Santamaria. (Photo by Ankita Pandurangi) Read more about Devon Alexander’s professional career in boxing.

In English and Journalism teacher Jordyn Kiel’s second hour Pre-AP English 1 class, freshman Sagar Singh writes an essay over Of Mice And Men. (Photo by Payton Johnston)

Devon Alexander is a former world champ.

Where to Watch ESPN, ESPN2 and FS1

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Devon Alexander’s Match History: 27 wins - 7 losses - 1 draw - 14 KOS

Boxer Devon Alexander is the father of FHN sophomore Devon Alexander Jr.

by Hope Moseley

hmoseley517@g.fhsdschools.org

D

evon Alexander was born in 1987 and raised in Saint Louis with his 13 siblings. Times were tough and money was scarce for Alexander’s family.

Some nights he would go to bed without dinner.

At age 7, Alexander started going to a boxing gym to fill his time and stay out of trouble. He started competing at 8 years old and has been competing ever since. It took five things to get him where he is today; resilience, hard work, time, dedication and a lot of blood.

“You have to be consistent and want it bad enough,” Alexander said.

At 17 years old, Alexander won a match that qualified him for the Olympics.

He headed home excited, but that excitement was cut short when he learned some bad news. His father had prostate cancer. Eventually his father passed away. Later, when Alexander won his first title, it reminded him of his dad and all his hard work.

“When I won my first title my emotions bursted,” Alexander said. “It felt like God lifted me up.”

Alexander’s nickname is “Devon Alexander the Great”, referring to a Greek military general, Alexander the Great.

Alexander relates to this figurehead because he didn’t start off as “the great,” he worked his way up. He started off training with 30 other fighters and was the only one to make it to the top.

“Big time players make big time plays at big time events,” Alexander said.

Boxing became more challenging when Alexander became a father, especially

by Olivia Van Horn

when he had to go away for months at a time. His oldest son Devon Alexander Jr. is a sophomore at North. He participates in cross country and track.

“I have a dad to look up to that does big things, so it makes me want to do good, too,” Alexander Jr. said.

Alexander Jr. is following in his father’s example by also boxing. They push each other to get stronger. His father’s career has taught him many things from adversity to hard work and determination.

“His career has taught me a lot, that no matter what, don’t give up,” Alexander Jr. said. “You’re going to be doubted, but you can’t stop.”

Not only does Alexander work hard for his kids but he also works hard for other kids. He often goes to schools and talks to the kids, telling them about his story.

He describes to them a journey of finding a way out of the situation he was in at a young age. Alexander has stayed in Saint Louis all these years to advocate for kids that are experiencing the same things that he did. Eventually, Alexander wants to open up his own boxing gym and teach kids how to fight.

“My passion here is to take my butt down there to the kids that need help,” Alexander said. “I want the kids to know I was there for them.”

Alexander wants his story to inspire young athletes so that they know they can make it out of any tough situation.

From a poor kid from the city to a professional boxer, Alexander is living proof that hard work and determination pays off.

June 2011 Alexander defeated Lucas Matthysse, it was a controversial win March 2010 Alexander competed and won against twotime champion Juan Urango.

January 2011 Alexander competed against Timothy Bradley, he lost in the tenth round

Alexander has gained the Unified WBC, IBF Light and the Welterweight title.

AHEAD OF THE REST

13 year old Freshman Sagar Singh is an ambitious student with a packed schedule. He is taking many classes that include AP Psychology - BYU Independent Study, Pre-AP English Honors, and Pre-AP Chemistry Honors and more.

“I think what sets him apart from other students is his work ethic,” Jordyn Kiel said. “He is a very quick learner and takes his education very seriously.”

Singh finds many ways to motivate himself to keep taking school as seriously as he does. He finds motivation by finding something he likes in every subject, his family and friends and by being in clubs here at North. The clubs he is involved in are speech and debate, science club, future health professionals (HOSA), scholar bowl, tennis, robotics, mock trial, and a homeroom rep for STUCO. “I really love the classes I am in and just school in general,” Singh said.

Singh plans to go into the medical field or any jobs that are STEM related because that is what he really enjoys doing.

“I’d definitely want to go into medicine to become a Doctor, as I’ve always been interested in STEM and having sort of the balance between connecting with people and science,” Singh said.

Waking up at 4:30 A.M, staying on top of course work, and good time management skills are some things he is doing to accomplish his goals and keep on track. He really enjoys the challenge of being in honors or AP classes.

“I would describe Sagar as being ambitious, a very quick learner, and he really just asks the right questions to get to the correct answer,” Kiel said.

(Story by Patricia Fechter)

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FHN science teacher, Anthony Roungon, displays his passport, coins, dollars, and an old photograph of himself from when he traveled. (Photo by Taylor Hill)

Transgender people have to endure so much discrimination and fear for being themselves. Many people don’t know the feat that they have to take in order to live. For instance:

TransParent exhibited and presented at the Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference, the largest transgender health conference in the world. This free conference offers three full days of workshops and activities focused on the health and well-being of transgender people and their communities. (Photo submitted by Kim Hutton)

90% TO TRAVEL THE WORLD

While most people at school know Tony Roungon as the teacher they pass by in room 148 daily, what most don’t know is that he used to have a job that had him traveling around the world.

“I worked for this company and they needed someone to work with our international customers,” Roungon said.

“So I got a promotion and I was the international sales representative for this company.”

Roungon worked as an engineer from 1990-98. The company that he worked for produced industrial heating equipment.

“I got to see some cool things, the Great Pyramid and I got to see a lot of historical evidence from the Kuwait wars,” Roungon said.

Roungon traveled to countries spanning from the Middle East to South America. One of the reasons Roungon switched to teaching was his daughter’s birth, he wanted to spend time with his family and be in his daughter’s life rather than leave every week for work often.

He wanted a job that was like being an engineer, so he decided to be a physics teacher.

“You’re living out of a hotel room for a month at a time. I didn’t have a lot of time to go see things so, I did get to see some neat things but there wasn’t a lot of time. I spent most time working,” Roungon said.

If given the opportunity to travel again for his job Roungon wouldn’t take it. The plane rides internationally for Roungon were long and he didn’t get the best sleep. He does not travel a lot outside of the United States anymore but does visit a lot of places domestically. He has an RV with his wife, they mostly travel during the summer.

“Roungon is overall great. He really cares about his students and wants them to succeed. He turns a normally difficult class into a class everyone can enjoy,” Mason Apple said. (Story by Olivia Van Horn)

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North Star | 12.15.2021

A staggering 90% of transgender people said they faced some form of transgender based discrimination according to an Injustice at Every Turn survey.

54% Over 54% percent of trans people have experienced some form of intimate partner violence, a far greater rate than average. This type of violence can be fatal. At least 27 trans and gender nonconforming people have been violently killed in 2020 thus far, the same number of fatalities observed in 2019.

50% There is a 50% chance of attempted suicide without parental support (Kim Hutton).

20% One-fifth of survey respondents said they’d been homeless at some point. (Every Turn)

TRANSITIONS INTO THE FUTURE

TransParent organization supports families of transgender children.

by Ray Hathcock

rhathcock942@g.fhsdschools.org

H

More people around the world are becoming accepting of transgender people. A transgender (trans) person is described as a person who does not identify with their birth sex.

“I remember being four years old, and I have an older brother,” Daniel Hume, a trans FHN graduate said. “I remember that he was allowed to run around without a shirt on and I wasn’t, but in my mind I saw us as the same, but I just didn’t have the language to understand.

It wasn’t until probably junior year when I kind of was [realizing] what is going on here.”

TransParent is a national non-profit organization that started in St. Louis in 2005, and now has 25 chapters (places in which the meetings are held). Since there have been so many places, this resource has aided people like Polly Mae Phillips, a mother of a trans child.

“We could tell that this was something very emotional and something very real,” Phillips said. “And [his dad and I] made sure to stop and listen to that. To start educating ourselves to help him understand. We felt like we were doing the right thing. But sometimes, it’s nice to just hear someone else. It was nice to finally fall into a group of people.”

A huge struggle with trans people is that families may not be understanding of them. To spread more awareness to parents, TransParent has made a safe space to help out any confused or concerned parents.

“TransParent is a national support

group for parents who are raising a transgender, or what I call gender independent child of any age,” Kim Hutton, founder of TransParent, said.

“When you come into the meeting everybody sits down in a typical circle, just like what you would imagine in a support group meeting. There is a leader at the meeting who reads our confidentiality statement to ensure that the people that are in the meeting know that they’re safe and that they can say whatever they need to say. We’re all at different places in our journey with our children.”

Reasons why many parents struggle with accepting their trans child is because they may be misinformed, they’re confused, or they may even worry about how their child is going to live their life.

“The binary gender model is so ingrained in us as a parent, you start just planning out all these big happy moments that you imagine will come,” Hutton said. “It’s a problem, we have this binary gender model. We know that it’s not correct, it’s broken. I call it the ‘broken gender model’ because gender really is a spectrum.”

On the TransParent website, there are resources for chapters, trans youth healthcare, and youth visibility. This organization helps parents and their children alike.

“To parents in general who might be going through a struggle with their kids or have questions about their own kids, I think really that our biggest act of love that we can give them is to listen to them,” Phillips said.

by Olivia Van Horn

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FHN vs Washington Varsity Boys Basketball December 17th @ Washington @7:00 PM

FHN VS FZS Varsity Girls Basketball December 16th @FZS @7:00 PM

FHN vs FHC Boys Wrestling Dual Competition December 21st @FHC @7:00 PM

An FHN bowling team member watches their fellow teammate bowl their round. (Photo by Jack Miller)

WHAT YOU NEED

The ways of bowling may seem solitary, but theres much more to it. The only way to be a great bowler is to adapt to the circumstances needed to take your bowling game to the next level.

BOWLING BALL The most essential piece of equipment for bowling is the ball itself. The difference that a ball can make to a good bowler verses a great bowler is tremendous.

ARM COMPRESSION SLEEVES One very overlooked piece of bowling is the strain on your arm as you bowl. Using a sleeve when you bowl can help knockout arm swelling and pain from the continuous use.

BOWLING SHOES Almost anywhere you go to bowl, recreational or competitive will require you wear bowling shoes. These shoes allow you to slide steadly on the floor when throwing, and protect the lanes.

FHN vs FZN Swim Meet January 3rd @ St. Peters Rec-Plex @3:30 PM

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North Star | 12.15.2021

TOWEL Keeping your ball clean is a super important practice when bowling. When bowling, using a microfiber cloth can prevent the ball from getting dirty.

MORE THAN A HOBBY

How and why bowlers believe bowling is a sport

by Chase Pray

cpray812@g.fhsdschools.org

When most people think about school sports things like football, baseball and basketball usually are the first that come to their mind. However a very time consuming and surprisingly physical sport, bowling, often isn’t even mentioned. Often considered a hobby or pastime, bowing has all the qualities of any other sport.

“It’s really physically demanding,” North’s head bowling coach Aaron Mcardle explains. “Bowling three games is the same as running a mile. The kids can get scholarships for this so it’s no joke.”

Bowling seasons are as long as a high school soccer, basketball and baseball season combined. Starting in late August to early April, bowlers meet once a week for practice and then on Sundays for league bowling.

“On Sundays we meet and play three games,” Mcardle said. “Then we combine our overall score from those games or our scratch score together and the team with the highest score wins.”

From an outsider’s perspective bowling might seem like a cheap sport. This isn’t

in fact true as being a bowler does not come cheap. In order to have the best equipment, most bowlers buy their own ball which can be $75 at the cheapest.

“You’re starting out your first year with about $500 spent,” junior Payton Davis said.” It can be just as expensive or even more expensive than other sports.”

Most sports come down to four core things: endurance, teamwork, strength and focus. Bowling uses all 4 as in almost every aspect of the game. Teamwork is a very strong part of the game as everyone relies on everyone to succeed. Since she began bowling 3 years ago, Davis has had to balance all four of these aspects everytime she bowls.

“I find my joy in my teammates,” Davis said. “When we get together to bowl we have to be extremely focused the entire time. It really is an endurance and strength based sport, you are throwing about a 11-16 pound ball 30ish frames which is 2 throws if you’re not getting strikes for about 3 hours at a time. It’s mentally exhausting because if you don’t get a strike or do well after a spare you feel like you let the team down.”

by Tony Biondo

Senior and Varsity boys basketball player Trenton Oglesby regroups mid game vs SCW. (Photo by Om Nair)

After a foul, senior Makenna Davis takes a free throw shot during the game against Villa Duchesne on Nov. 30. (Photo by Avery Witherbee)

Girls Varsity Basketball Upcoming games 12/16 @ FZS 12/27 @ Rockwood Summit 1/04 @ SCH 1/07 vs Liberty 1/18 vs FZE

NEW YEAR, NEW GEAR

Varsity girls basketball use fundraisers to buy brand new jerseys for the season

by Aiden Manthey

amanthey460g.fhsdschools.org

The basketball court is about to be played on again as the Francis Howell North girls basketball season has started. With the start of every new season brings many new faces, brand new jerseys and other expenses that provide the North Knights the opportunity to compete at a high level of basketball. The money needed to cover these costs is brought in by a team fundraiser. Each player participates in it and for the past two years the team has been selling TJ’s Pizza to raise money.

“We started selling pizzas two years ago and it brought in a lot of money for the program so we just decided to stick with it,” senior and captain of the girls varsity basketball team Hannah Ermeling said. “It’s very simple and we sell them to family members, friends, neighbors or anyone that is willing to purchase them to help out.”

by Tony Biondo

Ermeling is spending her final year on the team as the captain of the team, and in all four years on the team did some sort of fundraiser. The fundraiser takes place at the beginning of the season before any games have been played and within two weeks the players raise as much money as possible selling pizzas. The money was put to good use as it gave the team such things as brand new jerseys, multiple practice uniforms and other articles of clothing such as t-shirts and jackets.

“We each have to sell a minimum of 45 pizzas,” freshman and newest member of the girls varsity basketball team Addie Butler said. “We can sell as many as we want to bring in extra money. It’s really cool to help out with the program so we can buy all these nice things that will help us in the season. The team this year is very good and we have a strong feeling that we can all be successful this season if we work hard and determination.”

SENIORS LEAD TEAM After COVID-19, the seniors are looking to make a statement about FHN Basketball

Francis Howell North Boys varsity basketball is in full action this season as the Knights look to improve their record from last season, a season plagued by COVID-19 protocols and other varying factors. This year, the program is led by the seniors including Marshall Swope and Trenton Oglesby. Coach Mark Wright is in his third year as head coach and is very pleased with the team chemistry.

“I’ve noticed this year the chemistry between this team is unmatched, even in the offseason we had the seniors being great leaders,” Wright said.

The seniors on the varsity team all played varsity last season and want to continue to improve in their last season at Francis Howell North. Not only do these seniors lead the varsity team, but they also serve as leaders for the whole program.

“Our seniors, even at tryouts, were always pushing us and making us better players,” Sophomore Nick Donato said.

“They make a big difference in our high school careers now and moving forward.” (brief by Tony Biondo)

North Star | 12.15.2021

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On Nov. 19, the wrestling team warms up for the upcoming winter season in FHN’s lower gym.

The athletes have begun hosting practices to hone and refine skills that will help them in future matches, meeting a couple hours everyday after school in the hopes of exceeding performance expectations. (Photo by Natasha Haverly)

Sophomore Everett Akers skates at the Rec-Plex after returning from his injury (Photo by Andrew Poertner)

WRESTLING PROTOCOLS

AKERS RETURNS

Sophomore Everett Akers suffered a shoulder injury that kept him away from preseason hockey tryouts

Playing two sports can be very physically demanding. Sophomore Everett Akers paid the toll while trying to participate in both football and hockey.

Akers suffered many injuries during his high school sports career with the worst being a shoulder injury that had him sidelined for the remainder of the 2021 football season and the hockey preseason.

“I have had three injuries in total,” Akers said. “One to my ankle, one to my head, and the one to my shoulder.”

A dislocated shoulder and fluid in his joints kept Akers from participating in any physical activity for a little over a month. He suffered the injury after taking a hard hit at a team practice.

During that month, the hockey team’s tryouts took place and he had to miss them.

“Everett was injured in early August at football,” Coach of the Francis Howell North hockey team Chris Peak said. “Our team started off-ice workouts in the beginning of June, and we held an onice summer camp in July and August.”

Luckily Akers was able to attend a majority of the summer camp and prove himself to the coaches before the injury.

“Based on his [Akers] work with us last year and over the summer, his injury had no impact on his chances of making the team,” Peak said. “Thankfully, our regular season started on November 5, and Everett had plenty of time to get healthy and rejoin the team prior to our start [of the season].” (Story by Max Brewer)

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North Star | 12.15.2021

Masks Coaches are no longer required to wear masks Cleaning The mats that are used are cleaned daily to ensure sanitation Feeling Sick If you feel ill, you are not allowed to participate

WRESTLERS LOOK TO RETURN TO NORMAL

The wrestling team had many obstacles to overcome due to COVID-19

by Chase Pray

cpray812@g.fhsdschools.org

Temperature Check There is no longer a temperature check before participating

Every sport has suffered due to the COVID-19 pandemic in one way or another. Whether it’s losing members or having their season canceled all together, everyone has felt the effects of the past two years. So, when arguably the most up close and personal sport, wrestling, got the green light to continue, several changes had to be made.

“In a global pandemic a sport where you’re face to face with another person definitely turned a lot of people off,” wrestling coach Chris Brown said. ”We haven’t had anyone quit the team but some of the people who said they were trying out never showed up.”

Coach Sean Fowler hasn’t had a season quite like the 2020 season in his 15 years of coaching. With coaches having to be masked and exposure to wrestlers having to be limited, changes had to be made. Athletes were put into small groups to limit contact tracing

and when coaches would show off a move, all the athletes are separated.

“This year we are continuing this policy where we prop all the doors open to allow some fresh air to flow in,” Fowler said. “When we ran tournaments we’d check temperatures as people came in to mitigate the spread of COVID.” For the 2021 season, the team is just shy of 40 athletes which is an improvement compared to last season.

The team had the now graduated Lily Steigerwald make state and even had some athletes come as close as one match from qualifying for state last year.

This year they hope to return to a bit of normalcy and send as many wrestlers as they can.

“We got some really good kids wrestling this year,” Brown said. ”We’d love to see more people come down and watch us because it’s nothing like any sport they’ve watched. Most people really enjoy it after watching.”

by Max Brewer

Winter guard coaches instruct the team during practice on Nov. 17. Students were preparing a routine for the current winter season. The members were also led by Mr Welker. (Photo by Lauren Freeman)

NEW DIRECTORS

The FHN winter guard gets an entirely new staff for the season

The transition from the fall sports season to the winter season brought some major changes for the FHN Winter Guard team. At the end of the color guard season all of their staff decided to retire from their positions. This resulted in the team gaining an entirely new staff for their current season. “[The change] was very nerve wracking at first and I was definitely nervous but I’m also excited for a change and I think we’re going to do well with it,” winter guard co-captain and junior McKenna O’Connor said.

This left all spots on the staff vacant and in need of filling from the fall

season of color guard, band director Robert Stegman was left in charge of finding the new directors for the winter guard team. He reached out to Brady Eaton and Jarred Carey to offer them positions as assistant director and director, respectively.

“I started here at North because the program has a rich history of excellence and being able to continue that forward is just important to me,” Carey said.

(Brief by Amber Winkler)

January 29 Mascoutah

Feb. 11-12

KC Regionals

March 4-6

Tulsa Regional

March 19

O’ Fallon Township

MCCGA Springfield

The FHN esports team is a good option for students who are interested in video games and meeting new people

by Max Brewer

Winter Guard Competition Dates

April 1-3

A PLACE FOR FUN FHN has an esports team which gives students the opportunity to meet new people with similar interests and put their skills to the test.

“I get to play video games with my friends and play for our team,”Junior Ethan Hicks, a player on the Smash Bros team, said.

Austin Lamb is one of the players on the Overwatch team. He believes being on the esports team gives people a chance to meet new people while also allowing them to get better in the competitive video game scene.

“Well, it gives you a chance to meet new people,” Lamb said. “ It gives you a chance to get better at games that you have a fondness for. Some of the best criticism I’ve got on my gameplay has come from this because you get other people who will really look at what

Morgan Statzer celebrates after a successful meet with teammates Hayden Puhr and Sailor Sulin. (Photo by Kyle Button)

Matthew Dalaney waits as he loads into a game of Valorant with the rest of the Esports team. (Photo by Amber Winkler)

you’re doing wrong and what you’re doing right. It really helps you improve your skills in that sense.” (Brief by Alex Wheadon)

SENIOR SEASON

Becoming a good swimmer is not something that you can master overnight. Senior Morgan Statzer works every night to try and become the best swimmer that she can be.

“My favorite part about being on the swim team is the meets,” Statzer said.

“I love the competition and talking about different strokes. We also get to encourage each other which is fun.”

One of Statzer’s biggest accomplishments while being on the swim team is that her 2019-2020 relay team got third place at the Fort Zumwalt North Invitational. Statzer has big goals for her season this year.

“My one goal for this season is for our team to have a long winning streak all season,” Statzer said.

While Statzler is a great swimmer, she also has become a great leader that younger swimmers look up to. Junior Manisha Muthukaruppan has looked up to Statzer during her time on the swim team.

“She’s very open to everyone on the team,” Muthukaruppan said.

“She makes sure that everyone feels comfortable and included. Being a junior I’ve looked up to her a lot this season because she is going through the process of college and she always answers any questions I have about applying to colleges.” (Brief by Maggie Koester)

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CAUGHT IN ACTION

As December progresses, FHN winter sports enter into the bulk of their seasons. With that comes the opportunity for photos, videos and opportunities to captire other forms of media.

Here are some of the shots of the season so far.

On Oct 19, FHN’s Boys Varsity Basketball team had their season opener against St Charles West at the Francis Howell North auditorium.

The score was very close most of the game.

FHN and SCW west were tied at halftime at 23-23 and kept that close score until the end, where SCW scored allowing them to win 47-39.

(Photos by Om Nair)

On Nov. 20, FHN faced FZE in hockey. FZE jumped to an early lead, scoring a goal within the first minute of the game. FZE scored 3 goals in the last period and ended up winning 8-3.

(Photos by Kyle Button and Ankita Pandurangi)

On Nov. 30, FHN’s Varsity Girls Basketball team went up against Villa Duchesne for their first home game. At halftime, the score was 21-15 FHN with both teams putting in lots of effort. Continuing to do so, the Knights were able to keep the lead with the game ending 54-38 FHN (Photos by Avery Witherbee)

On Dec. 2, the FHN E-Sports team gathered to practice in preparation for their future competitions that occur later this year.

The team plays multiple video games such as Super Smash Bros, Rocket League, and Valorant. (Photo

by Amber Winkler)

“I hope to get faster times at meets and swim longer distances than I did last season. i’m also excited to get to know the people who joined the team this year” Alayna Lohaus, 10 “I hope that the team walks away with a winning record and that we all put our best work on the court, we all are determined to be a great team and we think that we have the skill to do so.”

Tony Bretz, 11

Nov. 17 FHN varsity cheer team practice stunts.

Captain Shayla Dawes and Alise Simon and Bailey Scarbrough prepare their team for the first basketball game of the season. (Photos by Avery Witherbee)

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Sophomore Alayna Lohaus swims at her competition. On Dec. 6 FHN varsity girls swim team beat Duchesne 131-42.

(Photo by Kyle Button)

by Aiden Manthey

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On Dec. 1 in room 131, sophomore Addison Polsgrove sits with multiple mythology books. (Photo by Sky Hebisen)

Did You Know?

Zeus: Zeus was the king of the Greek gods and the most powerful.

He was god of the sky, lightning, thunder and justice.

Zeus was married to another god, Hera, and had many children.

Zeus was actually the youngest of his siblings.

Poseidon: Poseidon was the god of the sea, earthquakes and horses. Poseidon was brother of both Zeus and Hades.

His main weapon and symbol was a trident. He was known to have an infamous temper.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY RULES ABOVE OTHERS

Compared to other mythologies around the world, Greek mythology is favored by many and is widely considered the most popular

by Chloe Ellison

cellison944@g.fhsdschools.org

G

reek mythology has long stood above other mythologies and has long since influenced today’s world greater than any other. Mythologies such as Roman, Norse or Japanese are not nearly as known or loved as Greek mythology. The myths and morals from a Greece long past in history, still stand present in current politics and entertainment.

Percy Jackson and The Olympians, Disney’s Hercules and The Song of Achilles are all examples of the perception of Greek mythology in today’s entertainment industry. These works are all widely adored and rightfully so, they show some of the most favored stories within the Greek myths. The media pertaining to Greek mythology has shaped so many childhoods along with being continually favored throughout life. Compared to other mythologies shown in media such as Roman or Norse, Greek mythology is way more widely known and loved.

Even outside of books and movies Greek mythology continues to prevail. The international multi-sport event called the Olympics is derived from ancient Greece. The games began at Olympia and were a festival and sports competition to honor Zeus, the king of the gods. Greek myths attribute the running races to Herakles in celebration of the completion of one of his twelve labors. Ancient Greece gave us one of the most favored sports competitions of all time.

In Francis Howell North’s own mythology class, Greek mythology is the first one to be taught and is also favored by many of its students. It is the first mythology taught in the class

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since many students have some prior knowledge of the subject.

Throughout the class many other mythological stories can be connected to parts of Greek mythology and the morals shown throughout it. It can be argued that learning Greek mythology is the best since most people know of the main stories that frame the common knowledge of Greek myths. This in turn makes it more fun to learn since a student can answer questions and create an opinion early on. It also gives students a base of knowledge to relate other myths back to.

Zeus, Poseidon and Hades were the original three gods in Greek mythology and are involved in many of the major stories.

Almost 1,000 years later Roman mythology came along and at the beginning had their own deities but then came to take the attributes of the Greek deities and give them to their own gods.

So although Roman gods became largely similar to the Greek gods, Roman mythology did not come close to being as good as Greek. Roman mythology is also not nearly as well shown in entertainment so many people do not know the stories as well.

In today’s world many of the stories and psychological problems from Greek mythology are seen everywhere. The concepts of good versus evil, greed, jealousy and power were the basis of many Greek myths and yet we still see these concepts today. We can see a strive for power in the story of Prometheus who was a titan that stole fire from the gods to give to humans. He became a symbol of the human strive for greatness. These myths tie into our modern world problems and people which makes Greek mythology much better and more relatable.

Hades: Hades was the god of the underworld and the dead.

He was regarded as passive and held trial and punishment of those after death.

He abducted Persephone, his future wife, who has to spend six months every year in the underworld.

Prometheus: Prometheus was a titan who was widely known as being a trickster.

He was also very intelligent and his name actually means “Forethinker”.

Prometheus was the one who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans for which he was punished by Zeus for.

by Patricia Fechter

Senior, Natalie Meers poses for a photo illustration to highlight the importance of mental health. More than 43 million Americans struggle with mental illnesses. One in Five of our youth has or will develop a mental illness in their lifetime.

(Photo by Kylie Taliaferro)

MENTAL HEALTH IN SCHOOLS Students should learn about mental health to improve their own

Mental health is an important part of human life, and students should be taught ways that they can improve their mental health.

They should learn about mental health as early as elementary school so that they can be aware of unhealthy and healthy patterns.

To become aware of these patterns students should be able to talk about their mental health struggles easily and openly. They should have more resources and more access to help. The North community could benefit from having more counselors that can support the school’s large population.

Mental health should also be addressed in more classes. It is only lightly talked about in ninth grade health and psychology. Giving students more chances to be able to talk about mental health with other students and relate

to one another would be a big help.

One thing lots of students have in common is anxiety and depression. Anxiety and depression are ravishing the mental health of teens all across the world.

According to the Suicide and Crisis Center of North Texas, on average, 14 teens die by suicide per day.

Faculty and administration should be able to recognize signs in students before it gets to the point of suicide.

They should be able to have teaching techniques or tools they can give students to improve their mental health.

Two main factors that can improve mental health are less stress and more sleep. First of all, school starts at 7 a.m., causing students to wake up at least one to two hours before to get ready. According to the CDC, teenagers aged 13-18 should sleep eight to ten hours. Most students don’t even get eight hours of sleep causing them to be tired for at least the first two to three hours of the day. Students could benefit from school starting at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. Second of all, students are stressed. There are seven classes in a day and students have to juggle assignments and homework in every one of them. Teachers should take into consideration how much homework they give to students, after all their goal is to help students thrive.

Overall, schools could benefit from giving students the resources they need, and letting students talk about their mental health as easily as physical health is talked about. By doing this, the rate of anxiety and depression in our community could decrease. (story by Hope Moseley)

TARDY SWEEP’S EFFECT Tardy sweeps are ineffective and are not fair towards students To encourage students to get to class on time, FHN brought back tardy sweeps this year. The office staff randomly decides on a place in the building and a time for a tardy sweep. After the fiveminute passing period is up, the principal makes an announcement to that side of the building telling teachers to lock their doors. Then any students that get caught outside will be asked by the admin what they were doing. Most have a pass or a reason they are outside of the classroom, but the few that don’t receive a detention.

Tardy sweeps are enforced because the administration hopes that it helps kids be prepared for being on time in the workforce, be reliable in general and encourage kids to be on time to class.

While that sounds good in writing, in reality, it doesn’t work.

The idea of a tardy sweep is good, but when attempted it doesn’t change anything. Students that are regularly tardy to class or stay out in the hallway during class will just hurry to their classes when tardy sweeps are announced. Then,

by Justin Brewer

they will go back to their usual routine after the tardy sweep is over. This system does not take students that are normally on time into consideration. If they are unusually late to class one day, and get caught in the tardy sweep, they are issued a detention.

Overall tardy sweeps aren’t helping anything. They are just another stressor for students and give students detentions that are not deserved. When preparing students for the real world, isn’t the best lesson to give students the opportunity to choose? If they don’t make the right decision then let them face the natural consequences that come with making that decision. If you skip class every day there are consequences that come with doing that, like having built-up work to do. If you don’t do that work, you don’t get good grades. This leads to even worse consequences like not graduating or failing to get into certain colleges. In the end tardy sweeps are ineffective and just put unnecessary stress on students. (story

by Violet Newton)

Grace Schnarre rips up a tardy sweep in the butterfly hallway on Nov. 16. Tardy sweeps are called randomly and require teachers to lock their doors to catch any students who are not in class on time. If a student is caught in the hallway, then they are automatically given detention. “Tardy sweeps are pointless, some kids can’t help being tardy and it’s unfair,” said Schnarre. (Photo illustration by Addison Polsgrove)

North Star | 12.15.2021

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What can FHN students do to benefit the environment?

“Recycle. We use a lot of paper in math, so they should recycle those. That would definitely be beneficial.”

Amy Murray, Teacher

(Editorial Cartoon by Michaela Manfull)

A new club was founded this year called the Sun Club, working to better the environment through four committees: 1. Climate Talks: Talks to children in order to raise awareness to the world they’re entering.

2. Gardening and Composting: Gardening to reduce food waste. Taking leftover foods and breaking it down into reusable materials.

“Use reusable watter bottles and not plastic bottles, that would reduce plastic waste.”

Ellie Lichty, 12

3. Volunteer and Fundraising: A group to raise money for the local community and a composting machine.

4. Sunrise Movement: A national committee to try and pass legislation like the Green New Deal.

For more information on the club and its purpose:

“Some volunteer activity would be good. The more people helping the environment, the bigger the effect it has.”

Jack Engelhard, 11 (Column by Evan Becker)

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A GREEN TOMORROW A healthy world is possible if the FHN community strives for it On Behalf of the Editorial Staff fhntoday@gmail.com

T

here’s one thing that you quite literally do from the moment you are born. Something that you can sometimes control to calm yourself or exercise better. Breathing. People across the world, the FHN community no different, take advantage of the way breathing is possible. Yet in the future, that ability could be restricted, which is part of why every year the United Nations meets in a Conference of Parties (COP) to discuss the environment and our impact on it. Following the conclusion of that conference this past month it’s important to consider our community, the impact that we have on the world and why we need to push more to achieve a healthy environment for the future.

It’s commonly known that the environment isn’t perfect, after all, the warning of impending doom and gloom has been a concept repeated for generations. But the

time to act has finally come up. Our parents and their parents have failed to enact the necessary precautions, therefore we must react. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, there is a forecasted temperature rise of between 2.5 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit. This could lead to damage to the climate “that [is] likely to be significant and increase over time.”

While granted that may be true that we are leading down a path that isn’t ideal, we can still work towards keeping our breathing free of the toxins that have killed off multiple species in the past.

There’s no cure. The world that we as a community are going to inherit from our parents will be significantly different from the generation they left behind.

However, there is hope in lowering the outcome of the environmental effects.

The more that we as a student body can do to prevent carbon emissions and waste, the better we keep our environment for our children. That’s why it’s so critical to look at what we are

by Evan Becker

NORTH STAR Editor-in-Chief (Design): Macy Cronin Editor-in-Chief (Writing): Justin Brewer Editor-in-Chief (FHNToday): Amber Winkler In-Depth Editor: McKenna Hudson Features Editor: Aadhi Sathishkumar News Editor: Morgan Chairs Sports Editor: Chase Pray Opinions Editor: Evan Becker Entertainment Editor: Maya Helbig General Staff: Tony Biondo Violet Newton Max Brewer Ryleigh O’Donnell Chloe Ellison Peter Pae Patricia Fechter Morgan Phillips Ray Hathcock Tayler Ross Stephanie Lichtenegger Anna Scognamiglio Michaela Manfull Olivia Van Horn Aiden Manthey Alex Wheadon Hope Moseley Logan Yarnell

doing.

There are ample opportunities for students to address their actions.

Firstly by being more responsible with distinguishing between recycling and trash. The Environmental Defense Fund explains that Methane has “more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years.”

Landfills are the third largest producer and source of methane. Something as simple as throwing away trash instead of using recyclable materials leads to the heating of our surface. Those same disastrous effects of global warming can be mitigated by using recyclables.

Yet recycling bins are few and far between in classrooms, and a significant percentage of the population still does not recycle at homes. To better the environment and our living conditions in the future we must push for more recycling at home and school, by encouraging our friends and families to recycle.

Carbon emissions don’t just come from landfills though. The biggest producer by far of carbon emissions is the burning of fossil fuels. As our school is being constructed it has reduced the amount of parking spots available to us and forced many students to

by Evan Becker

make difficult decisions about their transportation to school. It’s hard to see the positives in this, but it’s actually small scale adjustments like this that can have a large impact. The slight reduction in drivers makes for more carpooling and more bus riders.

In turn this can actually lead to slightly reduced carbon emissions as there are fewer cars that are using fossil fuels. In future years, we as a community could reduce the amount of parking passes or even encourage the use of carpooling to play our part. If every school across the U.S. followed suit, it could have an incredible impact on our school and society.

Lastly in the Francis Howell North Community it would serve our interests to become more educated on the environment. Classes such as biology or environmental sciences are offered yet not properly utilized. To have a world that we can pass on to our grandkids, and allow them to enter the world just as we did, we must change our outlook now for the betterment of tomorrow.

Hopefully that way we can continue doing what we’ve done since birth, breathe.

Editor-in-Chief of Photography: Taylor Hill Managing Photo Editor: Sophia Stachula Sports Photography Editor: Matthew Wells Yearbook Photography Editor: Avery Witherbee Newspaper Photography Editor: Sam Hebisen General Staff: Lauren Freeman Pavan Kolluru Andrew Goffinet Amoolya Pandurangi Teegan Gonzalez Ankita Pandurangi Natasha Haverly Andrew Poertner Payton Johnston Addison Polsgrove Emma Rodriguez Kylie Taliaferro Editor-in-Chief of Video: Kyle Button Managing Editor of Video: Marina Williams Chief Editor of Video: Rhea Patel FHNgameday.com Editor: Parker Smith Podcast Storytelling Editor: Rachel Trapf Livestream Editor: Jenna Brouk Video Storytelling Editor: Madelyn Clark Video Staff: Haley Aldenderfer Aidan Neu Devon Alexander Will Perry Allison Bass Max Ramirez Jack Darling Sam Reimer Emily Gantz Freya Rieken Cailyn Hodges Hunter Van Dyne Hailey Zhang Advisers: Aaron Manfull Jordyn Kiel

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Sign up with your friends for one or more of these classes next school year and join the team.

Make friends.

Make cool stuff.

Make a difference.

JOURNALISM

Writing and Design - You can get a 1/2 credit of Comm Arts towards the 4 you need to graduate and you’ll become a better writer and designer.

It’s the class most people entering the FHN media program take.

BROADCAST JOURNALISM

Video and Podcast- You can get a 1/2 credit of Comm Arts towards the 4 you need to graduate and you’ll become a better video broadcast storyteller in the process.

DIGITAL PHOTOJOURNALISM

Photography and Multimedia - You can get a 1/2 credit of Practical Arts towards what you need to graduate and you’ll become a photographer and multimedia creator in the process.

Find out more.

FHN media www.FHNtoday.com/TellMeMore