North Star Sept. 23, 2015

contents NEWS CHOOSING CHINESE 3

North offers a new Mandaring Chinese class to students this year.

FALL PLAY 5 FHN prepares to put on a production of “Arsenic and Old Lace.”

FEATURES FALL IT YOURSELF 9

Easy DIY recipes to bring a little bite of fall into your own home.

17

St. Charles local leads a tour around Main Street about its haunted history.

GHOST TOURS

SPORTS

Global Awareness Club International Global Awareness club held its first meeting on Aug. 25. The club hopes to hold meetings every other Tuesday in room 201.

“Everything has an international reach these days,” co-founder Chris St. Aubin said. “To be able to be globally aware will help everyone out in the end.”

Members learn about other cultures with the goal of becoming more tolerant and understanding of people with different backgrounds. They will participate in service projects and promote different world holidays. (Brief by Noah Slaughter)

government. Students also visit historic sites throughout D.C. and met President Obama. (Brief

by Noah Slaughter)

New Men’s Concert Choir

This year, FHN is introducing an all new Men’s Concert Choir.

Men’s Concert Choir meets during third hour, and there are currently 22 students enrolled.

Senior Chris Bounds decided to join the class when choir teacher Lorraine Smith held a recruitment breakfast for those who were recommended by other students to join.

“I expect to better myself as a singer Senior Mensur Koso attended Boys and get better stage Nation in Washington D.C. from July 17-24. practice,” Bounds He was one of two people from Missouri said. in men’s concert choir practice during class. selected out of 983 people at Boys State. Students He believes that (Photo by Kristen Pike) Koso is the first person ever to attend from this class will be FHN. beneficial for the students who are enrolled.

“It showed me that you really should push “It helps us focus,” Bounds said. “[We] won’t yourself to the highest that you can,” Koso said. have to show off for girls so [we’ll] be more Boys Nation is a highly prestigious student-run comfortable.” (Brief by Deidre Dinkins)

Senior to Boys Nation

RHE’NEZE GALTNEY 33 A senior already has 12 scholarship offers to play football in college.

FLETCHER DIETRICH 37

Dietrich transitions from being a basketball player to a soccer goalie.

OPINIONS STUMP THE TRUMP 41

Donald Trump is the GOP front runner, despite the fact he isn’t well liked.

on the cover Since the failure of Prop Y, there has been much discussion about the future of FHSD. A look at what has already happened and what’s coming next. (Pages 23-30)

letters to the editor Have an opinion on something in this month’s paper? Send us a letter in 026 or an email to youfhn@fhntoday.com.

Distributed for free to FHN by the North Star Staff Providing an open forum since 1986

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FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY SAMI SCHMID

09.23.15

Foreign Exchange Student Comes to FHN Junior Ilona Soininen comes to learn what it’s like being a US student Junior Ilona Soininen has come from 13 hours and a half hours away to learn what it is like to be a student in America. Soininen is from Tampere, Finland, and she came as part of the foreign exchange program, which allows foreign students to come the US for one year, and stay with a host family while attending American school before returning home with a wealth of new experiences.

“Having someone in your house broadens your view of outside the country and shows the cultural difference and how day to day life is different in other places,” host mom Erin Bell said.

Soininen first met her host family over facetime back in March so she then could get to know who she would be staying with for the next year. Soininen then flew into Chicago on Aug. 13 and stayed overnight. In the morning she flew to St. Louis, where she went to an orientation camp to meet other exchange students and her host family. Soininen will stay with her host family for the next year before returning to Finland in June. While here, she will learn about life in America and the cultural differences between the US and Finland before returning home.

“I like it so far and it was a good decision to come,” Soininen said. (brief by Ethan Slaughter)

Junior Ilona Soininen stands with Finland’s national flag.

Soininen is in the US for a year. (Photo by Amanda Eckhard)

STL Cars And Coffee Cars and Coffee, the name given to gatherings of car enthusiasts and supercar owners have flourished in the past few years, with hundreds taking place across the country each year.

One of these gathering takes place every month at the STL Motorcars dealership in Chesterfield. Free coffee at exotic car meets have almost become a tradition, earning their name.

“If you like cars, you’re going to have a good time,” sophomore Luke Floyd said.

The next Cars and Coffee events at the dealership will take place on Sept.

26 and Oct. 24 starting at 8 a.m., both of which will be open to the public and will feature the newest supercars out of Europe – Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins, Porsches and many more. (brief

by Martin Groves)

WATCH

Follow the link http://goo.gl/gPKKh1 to learn more about STL Cars and Coffee.

The orange exige lotus sits on display among a series of different types of cars at the cars and coffee event at STL Motorcars in Chesterfield. (Photo by Alex Lane)

Upcoming Events A quick overview on some of the major events and activities coming up in the next month at FHN Morning announcements reinstated through popular request Assistant principal Erin Steep reinstated morning announcements this year hoping clubs will be able to broadcast information more effectively and students will be more aware of school events. The decision was made after parents and students repeatedly requested it.

“Hopefully, people will pay attention to them and kind of learn about things they didn’t know we had here at North,” Steep said.

According to sophomore Emily Hardin, announcements are an improvement over the old system in which parents were emailed the news.

“Sometimes your parents forget about things, so it’s nice to hear it over the announcements instead of relying on your parents,” Hardin said.

Starting again in second semester, seniors may enter a drawing to read announcements.

Announcers are already picked for first semester, but Steep did not receive as many entries as she would like. Seniors that are picked will read the announcements over the intercom for one month. (brief by Noah Slaughter)

Oct. 22

Oct. 2

Oct. 7-8

On Oct. 22, students can join Geman Club in their annual celebration of Octoberfest.

Octoberfest will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Oct. 22 in the Commons.

All are welcome to attend.

Octoberfest is an annual celebration and they highly encourage any who are interested in having a good time and good food to attend if they can.

The FHN Learning Commons will bring back their pumpkin spice latte, to be sold on Friday mornings, on Oct. 2. The latte will be available to students up through Thanksgiving.

The Learning Commons sells coffee almost every Friday morning from 6:45 a.m. to 7:20 a.m. for $2 a cup. The coffee is available at the Learning Commons front desk.

On Oct. 7 and 8, parents have the chance to meet with their childrens’ teachers at parent-teacher conferences.

Parent teacher conferences will last from 4 to 7:30 and will take place in the gym. Parents are encouraged to attend and will have the chance to talk with teachers about their student’s acheivements in the school year so far.

Oct. 12-19 From Oct. 12 to Oct. 19 of this year, students get a break from school during Fall. Although fall break is the same, many other breaks have been restructured this year. The end of the school year has been pushed back as well.

To learn more about this break restructuring, read the shortened school year story on page 6 of this edition of the paper.

FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY SAMI SCHMID

09.23.15

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Teacher Wan-Tzu Chen teaches in front of her Mandarin Chinese class. This is the first year Mandarin Chinese has been offered in FHSD. Chen teaches all of the classes offered in the district. (Photo by Jared Kinnard)

Adding Another Alphabet A new language has emerged as the global business front-runner and is now being offered to students at FHN

BY DAVID BODDEN

davidbodd@gmail.com • @davbodden

Every weekday, new Mandarin Chinese teacher Wan-Tzu Chen comes to FHN for one hour to teach Mandarin Chinese I. Chen teaches in room 222 for first hour and then goes and teaches at three other schools in the district for the rest of the day.

“I knew it was the most spoken language and I want to go into international business so I knew it would be really helpful,” Jamie Sneed, a sophomore currently enrolled in Mandarin Chinese I, said.

A fact unknown to many, Mandarin Chinese is actually the number one most spoken language in the world. It is Follow the link a little different than the other three foreign languages http://goo.gl/aP69zx to see the importance of teaching offered at FHN: French, Spanish and German. Mandarin the language.

Chinese uses a different alphabet and is known as a tonal language, which means that the tone a person says a word in could completely change the word. Chen understands how these things are confusing, but believes that after a certain point, students will feel like it’s not too hard.

“I only encourage them to spend like 15 minutes a day after school to review what they learned in the class, and preview the lesson as well,” Chen said.

“That’s it. I don’t ask them to spend a lot of time doing anything. Just 15 minutes a day should be enough.”

WATCH

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FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY JAMIE HETLAGE

09.23.15

The class is similar in many ways to any foreign language class. According to Sneed, the students are just learning the basics. She says they’ve learned the alphabet, the numbers, the four different tones and the symbols. As with learning any new language, or even in any high school class, it can be challenging, but Sneed says that she would recommend it to other students so far and enjoys the new class. For her, the benefits of knowing such an useful business language outweigh the challenges.

“As we prepare students for career and college readiness, one of the business languages that was emerging was Mandarin Chinese,” Chris Greiner, FHSD Director of Student Learning said about the class. “So, in order for many new graduates to be prepared for being competitive in the international market, a language like Mandarin Chinese is becoming more prevalent.”

Mandarin Chinese is becoming more useful for those interested in global business, like Sneed. Currently, Mandarin I is offered at all three high schools and at Bryan Middle School. It is the intention of the district to offer Mandarin II next year and eventually all five classes at FHSD in the coming years if students continue enrolling.

“Learning a language is not just about the language itself,” Chen said. “It is also about the cultural stuff. So, sometimes students just feel so fascinated by the cultural stuff, so this year I am enjoying the most [of all of my years teaching.]”

Words to Know In Mandarin Chinese English

Chinese

English

Hello

Chinese language

Goodbye

Food

I love you

Water

How are you?

Knights

High School

Phone

Things To Know About This New Class •

The students call Ms. Chen ‘ Chen Laoshi’.

•

Ms. Chen is originally from Taiwan.

•

The Mandarin Chinese language has two alphabets. Ms Chen teaches both and lets students choose which they prefer.

•

To learn the Mandarin Chinese Alphabet students sing children’’s songs and have to sing the songs together. Students then get graded on this.

•

In this language there are tonal marks, meaning there are marks above certain letters to make them sound differently.

•

In the class so far students have learned the alphabet and how to count to 99.

•

Students learn the cultures of all people who speak Mandarin. (Chinese, Tiawanese, etc.)

•

There are symbols for every single word in Mandarin Chinese.

Chinese

More Options, Diverse Cultures With Mandarin Chinese being offered as a class at FHN, the other languages lose some incoming students

BY BENNETT SMALLWOOD

smallwood.bennett@gmail.com • @bsmallwood20

Registration comes around and students sign up for Spanish or French just because they know that many colleges require two years of the same foreign language. For some students it truly is a path they choose to understand the culture of other countries while others just randomly selected a class for credits. According to Spanish teacher Anelise Mossinghoff, learning new languages provides more value than just meeting requirements for universities.

“With the Internet everything is so instant,” Mossinghoff said. “We are a global society and I definitely think it’s really an important thing to have. So definitely anytime we can encourage that, it’s great.”

While Mandarin Chinese will be stealing some of the incoming students for the first year classes, Mossinghoff believes that this is alright as they will be taking some sort of language class. Nathan Sermersheim, a former Spanish student, believes that learning any language is beneficial for any

student.

“Languages are important because it gives kids the ability to learn more about other cultures and learning the other language could be useful for studying abroad,” Sermersheim said.

Currently only the first year of the class is available, this doesn’t drop the hopes of other kids who want to grow in the language along teachers who want to watch these students expand their knowledge. Mossinghoff believes that you cannot go on to do much with a single year of a language.

She wishes for the class to continue beyond its current state and see the success of the class as a whole.

“The first year is really just a basic ‘kind of set the tone foundation’ year and it takes a few years,” Mossinghoff said. “The first step you are putting in those building blocks. We will do the kids a disservice if we stop it right now. Because the kids who started it, what are they going to do? They need to have more if they truly want to be able to use the language.”

FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY JAMIE HETLAGE

09.23.15

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TWEETS

Want to see your tweet here? Tag tweets about school with

#FHNnews

@erin__stock

@kiarrastillmann

Labor Day: a day to honor the working people of America/ an extra day to do the homework I haven’t started

left my car running in the school parking lot... officer had to turn it off why am I so stupid Erin Stock

Kiarra Stillman

“Arsenic and Old Lace” Comes to FHN Students prepare for the annual fall play which will tells the story of Mortimer Brewster, his eccentric aunts and brothers and the adventures that ensue when they all come together

BY ALY DOTY

alydoty02@gmail.com@gmail.com • @alydoty02

FHN’s annual fall play will take place on Nov. 6-7 and Nov. 12-13 in the auditorium. The show will start at 7 p.m. and tickets will be sold for $5 to $10, depending on when they are purchased. The play is called “Arsenic and Old Lace” and is about two elderly ladies who run a bed and breakfast, and the men who stay there always seem to die. “‘Arsenic and Old Lace” is an old, classic play, people will definitely recognize it,” Director and drama teacher Kim Sulzner said. “People’s parents will probably see it and be like ‘Oh, I was in that when I was in school.’ It’s just sort of a murder mystery and everybody’s trying to figure out what’s going on. It’s not dark and heavy like last year’s ‘Bad Seed’, it’s a lot more tongue-in-cheek funny.”

Auditions for the show were Sept. 9 where students had to prepare a one-minute monologue and perform it in front of a panel of judges, which is made up of teachers, administrators and sometimes former students.

The judges then judge and score the students performances. The numeric scores are then put in order from highest to lowest, and the people with the top scores come back for callbacks. Callbacks were held on Sept. 10 where students had to perform cold readings; “Arsenic and reading aloud from the play’s script with little to no Old Lace” rehearsal.

“I thought my audition went well,” junior Zac November Cary said. “It was a fun experience to apply 6, 7, 12, & 13 what I learned at Missouri Fine Arts Academy Doors open 7 into my audition. Personally, this show is a great experience for me. Last year, in ‘Bad Seed’, I played p.m. a psychopath. In ‘Anything Goes’, I was the big and Tickets $6 over the top character of Moonface Martin. With ‘Arsenic and Old Lace, both character types are very prominent, sometimes even in the same character. I’m excited to try and combine the two styles I performed at FHN last year into one show.”

Rehearsals started Sept. 11. Most rehearsals last around two hours each, but many have lasted longer, due to Sulzner’s split schedule. Sulzner is currently directing two plays at once: Arsenic and Old Lace for both FHN and Hollenbeck. This means rehearsals are only 3-4 days a week, rather than the usual 5 days a week, so the rehearsals last longer.

“Everybody’s just going to have to be flexible this time since I have to direct two plays at once,” Sulzner said.

Sulzner is looking forward to giving students opportunities to do things they can’t do in class and seeing the whole play fall into place. One of the things she’s most excited about is the huge set that goes along with the play.

“The set is really complicated this time, and we built a really complicated set for the last play ‘Anything Goes’ so I know we have it in us,” Sulzner said. “It’s going to be a huge set with multiple levels and lots of doors. I’m excited to see how it all comes together.”

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FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY DAN BORRELLI

09.23.15

Senior Megan Thielbar performs her audition monologue for this year’s fall play. Thielbar was cast as Abby Brewster in “Arsenic and Old Lace.” (Photo by Lauren Price)

@NicolasSavala1

@Lyss_Smith_

@katieleut

@Blake_Lodde7

I don’t know what aesthetic means... And at this point I’m too afraid to ask

My goal for senior year is to have one of my tweets in the newspaper.

if we’re the Knights, then why aren’t we called Francis Howell North

At least I scored my first touchdown of the season

Nic Savala

Katie Leuthauser

Alyssa Smith

Blake Lodde

Shortened Year Brings Changes To Schedule A new academic calendar this year means a shorter spring break and an earlier last day of school

BY EMILY WILSON itsemilywilson@gmail.com

Students walk out of the building towards their cars and buses after school. (Photo by Aleah Riley)

For students who are finally adjusting to the daily grind that is getting up at 6 a.m. every morning, the light at the end of the tunnel got a little bit closer this year.

Over the course of several meetings last year, a Calendar Task Force met to set the calendar for the upcoming two school years. Starting with this year, spring break has been shortened from 10 days to six days, and school gets out four days earlier, on May 17, instead of the usual May 21.

“There were lots of little issues here and there,” math teacher Pam Stratton said, who was a part of the task force. “One was the snow days. If you had snow days then you couldn’t plan anything during those days off, that was just ridiculous. We had some PD days that we had to put in. You learn very quickly that by being on the committee that you cannot make everybody happy.”

AP Economics teacher Melissa Trochim believes that

having more face time with students before exams will be more beneficial than in previous years when spring break was two weeks long. However, student opinions are mixed. Senior Nicole Morse doesn’t like the shortened spring break, as it will affect practices for track and field. Morse is also worried about balancing practices with prom and studying for AP exams in April and May, which this year will overlap with finals at the end of the year.

“I like being able to have sports practices during spring break when we have spring sports, because you can focus more on the sport instead of being stressed out about the school day beforehand,” Morse said.

Having a shorter spring break and earlier last day is more similar to the schedules set by many colleges.

Some students, like junior Yuri Takenaka, don’t mind the change as much, and believe that it’s best to power through until the end of the year regardless of the schedule.

“During spring break, it would be kind of annoying to have less days off, but it would be worth it at the end,” Takenaka said.

For the next year, the band field will be under construction. Marching band performs at every home football game and uses the field to practice their show before the games and their competitions. (Photo by Sarah Garrelts)

And I’m Fielding Good Work is being done on the marching band field to help fix problems and make it ready for next year’s practices

BY DEIDRE DINKINS deidreskye@gmail.com

The district is funding a renovation for the Marching Band field because of injuries to marching band members caused by holes and erosion in previous years.

It will take a full year for the grass to grow back

and strengthen. Until then, practices will be held on the field behind the football stadium. Band teacher Jeffrey Moorman says it is just barely big enough for the Marching Band to practice on.

“It’s kind of a cluster,” he said. “It doesn’t have tons of holes though, so it’s a positive.”

WATCH

Follow the link http://goo.gl/fGK84B to learn more about the marching band field renovation.

FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY DAN BORRELLI

09.23.15

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Fall-It-Yourself

Ideas for do-it-yourself fall foods, including a pumpkin pie filling recipe from popular southern chef Paula Deen

MINI PUMPKIN PIE Ingredients 1. 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 2. 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed 3. 1 cup sugar 4. 1/4 teaspoon salt 5. 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten 6. 1 cup half-and-half 7. 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter 8. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 9. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 10. 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional 11. 2 pieces of pre-made pie dough 12. Whipped cream, for topping Preheat oven to 425. Cut 12 circles four inches in diameter out of the pie crust. Spray a cupcake tin with baking spray and line tray with crust and pinch any edges that folded in.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and

WATCH

Follow the link http://goo.gl/ignsAl to see how to create these DIY mini pimpkin pies.

melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour filling into all 12 crusts almost to the edge. Once filled bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until knife inserted comes out clean. Once they are out of the oven let cool for 30 minutes so filling can set. Top with whipped cream and enjoy.

Pin It!

Check out this link to see the pins on this page plus more. http://goo.gl/2bZDlU

What’s Your Favorite Fall Food?

“Pumpkin pie and candy corn. It reminds me of Halloween, family, friends and awesome weather.”

“Apple cider because I love the taste of it and I only get to have it in the fall so I get to look forward to it.”

“Pumpkin Spice Latte because it tastes like fall. When you drink it you think of fall.”

“Apple pie because my mom makes it every fall.”

Isabella Schneider, 9

Rachel Pirrone, 10

Paige Highfill, 11

Kailyn Bowman, 12

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FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY ERIKA PAAR

09.23.15

Senior Andrew Stoker performs at Picasso’s on Sept. 3. Picasso’s hosts an open mic night, at which a few students from FHN have performed. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Picasso’s has live music which are sometimes scheduled singers. Picasso’s also offers a variety of foods such as sandwiches, salads, soups, pastries and coffee. “I think it [performing at Picasso’s] has made me more outgoing because it is in front of people I don’t know,” Stoker said. (Photo by Hannah Medlin)

Performing at Picasso’s FHN students express themselves through performing original pieces at Picasso’s open mic night

BY BREE WILLIAMS williamsbreighen@gmail.com

There are people running around and others sitting at the metal tables at Picasso’s coffee house on Main Street. Live music fills the shop, making the room feel warm. People fill the streets with even more music as they practice their acts outside. As the white board counts down to junior Chloe Smith’s name, she starts to get nervous. Before she knows it, she’s standing in front of the crowd of people enjoying their coffee.

“It’s kind of like you go all week and it’s just kind of school and work, then it’s Thursday and it’s Picasso’s and you always look forward to it because it’s not like anything else that you would do,” Smith said.

Picasso’s open mics are every Thursday night at Picasso’s coffee house. They are hosted by Rick Gray, who says performers from ages of 14 to about 65, “get their feet wet” in a music or performance based career. Acts at open mic include singing something they wrote or playing a cover to their favorite song, although some choose acts like dance or comedy.

Some performers do poetry or read out stories they have written.

“Sometimes it’s someone’s first time ever performing and playing their creation, first time in front of any body,” Ryan Svoboda, an audience member said “When something’s really fresh, when someone finished a song that afternoon and they come and debut it, it’s pretty raw.”

During an open mic, 15 to 20 performers do their performances from 7 p.m. to around midnight. Each group or soloist has 15 minutes to perform. As groups of performers go up in front of the crowd, senior Marissa Meyers describes feeling “an adrenaline rush” while performing.

“Usually, during performances, people will clap along as we perform,” said junior Kristen Pike. “It makes me really happy.”

After the act is done, performers are greeted with applause and high-fives as they walk back to their seat to see their loved one or friends who give them even more praise. The acts continue until the end of the night.

“It’s great when you do something that inspires yourself, ” Gray said. “If you’re excited about it, and you go out and do it in front of people and get a great reaction, it kind of validates what you’re doing.”

Junior Kristen Pike plays her ukulele on Sept. 3 at Picasso’s open mic night with Andrew Stoker. (Photo by Hannah Medlin).

FHNTODAY.COM

PAGE BY MCKAYLA BOGDA

09.23.15

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Grunge Elle Redel, Savannah Rose, and Savannah Hart show off popular grunge styles of 2015 STORY BY SASHA KAGANOV, PHOTOS BY MADI GRAVES sashakaganov17@gmail.com

G

runge. A term that has been diversely used over the past twenty years. Originating from just a genre of music, it has become one of the top fashion musts of the past couple decades. Some may wonder how grunge, a six letter word meaning grime, filth and dirt, became a genre of COM music, aFHNTODAY. fashion statement and one of the most influential categories in pop BY 90s, SASHAthe KAGANOV culture.PAGE In the term “grunge” symbolized music like Nirvana, Red Hot 09.23.15 Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, but it has branched out to numerous categories.

Faded jeans, flannels, chokers, and Doc Martens are examples of today’s

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representation of “grunge fashion.” Although unfortunately the music aspect isn’t as a part of it as much as it used to be, the fashion is beginning to expand and be a part of most trends in fashion today. The term grunge has changed many times through the course of the years, but the same basics have always stuck. After the 90s, the fashion trends seemed to slowly decrease in popularity but later climaxed back up. Although the grunge trend has had its ups and downs, it has been and will continue to be a fashion rage.

Savannah Rose Q: What is your favorite fashion piece?

A: “My favorite fashion piece would have to be my overalls because they are comfortable and cute and they go with pretty much everything.”

Q: Is there anyone you look up to when it comes to fashion?

A: “I look up to a lot of things. Mostly Audrey Hepburn right now but it’s a lot of mixes between pictures I’ve seen of different fashion and pictures I’ve seen on the Internet of different makeup and clothing articles. It’s not a specific person I necessarily look up to but Audrey Hepburn is definitely a big inspiration.”

Elle Redel Q: How would you describe your style?

A: “My style is a mix of things. It’s a mix of the 70s and 90s with a little bit of girly glam in there too.”

Q: What are your favorite trends this season?

A: “This season I really like midi dresses and boyfriend jeans, like ripped light jeans and ribbed tops.”

Q: What is your number one go-to item?

A: “My number one go to item would definitely have to be striped t-shirts, I own four. They’re simple and go with many things.”

Savannah Hart Q: What stores do you shop at?

A: “I usually shop in thrift stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army because they’re cheap and you can find good quality things.”

Q: How do you think your style is different from others?

A: “I think my style is different from others because it doesn’t look all the same and I try to put effort into it everyday.”

Q: What is your favorite pair of shoes?

A: “My favorite pair of shoes is my combat boots because they are sturdy and they stay clean pretty easily.”

FHNTODAY.COM

SPREAD BY SASHA KAGANOV

09.23.15

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Emoji Poll

1

What is your favorite emoji?

Laughing Crying

Other 41% 9%

The Only Bass Trombone Player Fionna Pillow explains what it is like being the only one to play a certain instrument

BY MCKAYLA BOGDA mckayla5bogda@gmail.com

The FHN Symphonic Band has five trombones, but one of them is a little different. Junior Fionna Pillow is the lone bass trombone, and she often plays parts all by herself.

“We always look for the best person for the position because without it there’s no depth to the music,” band director Jeff Moorman said.

Pillow started playing tenor trombone in sixth grade, but her freshman year she was asked to switch to bass trombone. When she agreed she ended up finding her passion in music. Once she switched, she was more driven to practice and really enjoyed playing.

“I found my niche in terms of musicality and when you find something you are passionate for music wise it just really locks in,” Pillow said.

After Pillow switched she became less timid because she was the only one playing her part most of the time. According to Pillow, sometimes playing by herself is a challenge, but she has been driven to push through and be the best she can be.

“I’d say a bass trombone is always needed in music, because just like a flute or a tuba, or any other instrument,” Rachel Kehoe, sophomore tenor trombone player, said. “It has its own part that’s different from the other sections.”

The bass trombone has a lower darker timbre than a tenor trombone. It depends on the piece of music if there is a bass trombone part or not. They are usually needed for jazz bands, orchestral works, some brass choir works and bandworks grade four and up. The music is a lot of long notes, harmonizing and it usually is a tie between trombone and tuba parts.

“Everybody is an individual, if you are the only one you’ve got to work harder and that is what is better about being the only one,” Pillow said. “You get to work harder and it shows through faster than if you are with

everybody else.”

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FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY KARIS SKAGGS

09.23.15

10% 13%

Heart

5%

?

Heart Eyes

"Peace sign, it's always how I say 'bye.'"

Kiss Smile

Arnie Russel, 11

What emoji do you think best describes you?

2

Other

Sly Face

Heart Eyes 20% 4% Smile

20% 17% 28%

?

"Soccer ball because I play soccer and that's all I do."

Richie Taylor, 10

Wink with tongue out

11%

Laughing crying face

What emoji do you think is most used?

3

Other Smile

76%

Heart Eyes

6% 5%

Heart

7%

?

“Laughing/Crying face because instead of using it once, people use it like 100 times."

Ashley Zylka, 12

Laughing Crying

6%

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Senior Zoe Willott plays her piano in the living room of her home. Willott, along with playing the piano, is a drum major for FHN’s Knightpride Marching Band for this fall season. (Photo by Emily Floyd)

Pianist Paves Way for Her Future After playing piano for almost a decade, Senior Zoe Willott plans on furthering her musical studies in college

BY CAROLYNN GONZALEZ carolynnnn.182@gmail.com

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ingertips graze white ivory keys, playing the notes written hundreds of years ago. The piano resonates throughout the house, creating beautiful sounds for her family to hear. In front of the piano is where senior Zoe Willott spends her free time, practicing the audition music that holds her future.

Zoe began playing piano when she was eight, going from simple songs to Beethoven’s pieces in only 10 years. As her interest in music grew, she also learned to play the saxophone and is currently Knightpride Marching Band’s drum major.

“At a birthday party, people were playing ‘Ode to Joy’ on a piano and I played it back without music,” Willott said, explaining what sparked her interest in piano and music. “I asked for lessons for my birthday.”

According to Steve Willott, Zoe’s father, Zoe has always been hardworking, practicing for hours at a time before doing anything else that day.

“Shortly after she started taking lessons, she broke her wrist while ice skating but continued to practice with one hand,” Steve said. “She still got a medal in [a piano] competition that next summer.”

Though she is still growing as a musician, Zoe has many accomplishments, from playing with college students, to earning multiple I ratings at the state level. According to Zoe’s piano teacher of four years, Alla Voskoboynikova, the Director of Keyboard Studies at University of Missouri-Saint Louis, Zoe is very self-motivated, shows good consistency in practice habits and displays great dedication toward music.

“Even for talented musicians, if they lack motivation, they won’t progress,” Voskoboynikova said.

Zoe describes piano as a stress reliever that pushes her. Studying it has taught her self-responsibility and discipline, qualities that Steve claims have transferred to school. Her playing is defined by others as mature, expressive and lyrical.

“She’s able to give her audience a vivid experience when she plays,” senior Daycia Cameron, Zoe’s friend, said.

Zoe’s friends, family and piano teacher are all very supportive of her decision to study music in college. Studying music improves attention to detail and other qualities that can be applied to life. Although a profession in music was not originally Zoe’s plan, with encouragement from Voskoboynikova, Zoe took it into consideration.

“Nothing else interested me as much as music to make a career out of it,” Zoe said. “I enjoy it too, which is important.”

Zoe is considering five schools in which she will study music. Along with her application, Zoe has to include an audition for each school in order to be accepted. There are different audition requirements for each school and she must learn and master six pieces by January, describing the process of preparing them as tedious. Zoe is still unsure of what career will become her own, though she knows she will continue to play and perform no matter what.

A bright future lies ahead for the senior, where a great pianist hopes to become even better.

“I would be happy playing piano for the rest of my life even if I didn’t make a lot of money,” Zoe said.

FHNTODAY.COM

PAGE BY CAROLYNN GONZALEZ

09.23.15

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Michael Henry gives an overview of the upcoming tour to the group before the tour goes the first destination on the tour. Henry offers tours on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m and at midnight, if there is enough demand. The tour meets in front of the St. Charles County Historical Society on Main Street. Henry has been doing the tours for nine years, since 2006. Henry has also written a book about the ghosts in St. Charles called “The Ghosts of St. Charles.” (Photo by Abby Temper)

The Ghosts Of St. Charles’ Past

Citizens and visitors of attend the Ghost Tour given by Michael Henry to get a glimpse of Main Street’s haunted history

BY KYLIE MOSER

kylie.moser@gmail.com • @kyliemoser14

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group gathers outside The St. Charles County Historical Society building, eagerly awaiting the beginning of Michael Henry’s St. Charles Ghost Tour of Main Street. Henry has been administering the tour every weekend for almost 10 years and has lived in St. Charles for most of his life.

“I always call it an under exploited location,” Henry said.

“People don’t realize really cool things have happened here and how old the area is. Going back to Native Americans, there have been people here for at least 3,000 years, probably more.”

The Bloodstain

One of the first stops on the tour is the site of Sheriff Ebenezer Curtis’ suicide. Curtis was called upon to execute

17

FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY ALY DOTY

09.23.15

two criminals, Charles May and John Taylor. The two men were executed on April 17, 1904, upon the gallows. Curtis, afflicted by the horrific deed, shot himself in his apartment a few months later. Curtis managed to drag himself down the stairs and into the alleyway leading to the apartment before he finally died. His body was found the next morning. In the alleyway, a large bloodstain can still be found over 100 years later, with the aid of an ultraviolet flashlight. The bloodstain remains due to a mixture of chlorine and ammonia used to clean the area after a colony of bats took up residence there.

“The power wash, every time it hits that, it recharges it.” Henry said. “It actually creates a chemical that is very similar to the chemical that is in the butt of a firefly or a glowstick. It’ll be there another hundred years if they continue to clean it up every six or eight weeks.”

Many tour goers found the bloodstain to be very interesting and were amazed the spot could be seen after

all this time.

“I thought the most interesting [part of the tour], were those bloodstains on the wall in there,” Camela Perkins, a tour participant, said. “That blood spot was really cool.”

The tour proceeds to the rebuilt Borromeo Church, where the apparition of the Lady in White is frequently seen.

“It’s so dark and kind of off the road,” John Blair, a tour participant, said. “ It’s quiet and secluded. I could see people getting spooked out there.”

Top Halloween Attractions to Hit This Fall The Darkness: The Zombies and the Undead (St. Louis) First opens Sept. 18 & 19

The Lady in White

The Church was once a cemetery, but the bodies have since been relocated.

The Lady in White was buried in the former cemetery. The woman’s name and exact location of her grave have been lost to history. A letter written by Hiram Berry to his family in 1822, reveals more about the mysterious apparition. The woman was 23 and had given birth to a baby boy, before she died of what was suspected to be cholera. The woman had been poor, and was buried in her wedding dress- the only outfit she owned fit for a burial.

“This is the second place we find a full manifestation,” Henry said. “Several times a year, people will be standing down at the entrance of the cemetery looking up this way about sunset, and right about here they will see a woman standing in a long white dress, standing quietly, perhaps praying. They approach her, she moves behind the building and can’t be found.”

Lewis and Clark’s Dogs

One of the last stops on the tour is the Blanchette House.

At the beginning of the tour, the participants were provided electromagnetic field (EMF) detectors. EMF detectors pick up on changes in electromagnetic energy, a common sign of paranormal activity. Several tour goers had readings on the EMF detectors in the street across from Blanchette House. This is where the manifestation of Lewis and Clark’s dogs is experienced. During their expedition, Lewis and Clark stopped at Blanchette House.

Two of their dogs died and were buried somewhere in the area.

Workers on Main Street occasionally report hearing dogs playing in the street, or will distinctively smell wet dog.

Most tour goers are believers in the paranormal with previous experiences, although some are skeptics. The tour covers a large amount of St. Charles’ history, making it an interesting event for skeptics and believers alike.

“Have an open mind.” Blair said. “It’s a great historical reference, especially for us not being from here. We got to learn a little bit about the city we live in now.”

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St. Charles Ghost Tour of Main Street Every Friday and Saturday in October

Times vary from 7 p.m.-9:30 p.m, and midnight if there is enough demand $20 a person

FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY ALY DOTY

09.23.15

18

Arata dances in the first part of her performance at half time at the varsity football game on Sept. 4. Arata has a dance solo for the first section of the perfromance of “The Good Wife’s Guide” for marching band.

Spinning Her Way Through High School Senior Lauren Arata has been doing color guard for the past four years for Francis Howell North. As a senior she has taken on a leadership role, along with Elizabeth Jansen and Mackenzie Schlogl.

This past summer Arata marched in the Drum Corps with the Colts.

She left early from school on May 17 and returned home on August 8.

“We’re gone all summer and we’re traveling the country, and all we do, all day every day is band and guard,” Arata said. Arata began doing color guard her freshman year. Her mom is a coach at Eureka High School and her sister performed on the color guard there as well. Her sister now spins for Pride at Missouri State University. “I have a lot of people in my family that do color guard,” Arata said.

(Photo story by Amanda Eckhard)

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09.23.15

Arata practices on the field behind the football stadium in preparation for a performance at half time at a varsity football game.

Arata throws her rifle into the air during a practice before the football game on Sept. 4. Arata performs along with the rest of color guard and marching band at every home football game. Marching band satarted competing for the fall season on Sept. 12.

Arata applies her makeup before changing into her performance outfit. She is one of three seniors on the team. As a leader on the team, Arata has taken on more responsibility and is accountable for everyone else on the team.

Arata holds her rifle after tossing it in the air and catching it. She uses her rifle, sabre, and also a feather duster throughout her performance along with a dance solo at the beginning.

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Arata stands in a huddle with the rest of the guard as they prepare themselves for their performance.

The team always huddles before each perfomance to take a deep breath. The girls practice by the entrance to the field before half time to squeeze in a little more practice time.

Arata sits on the sideline at the end of their performance. Arate hopes to go to Missouri State and spin with the Pride color guard. When she’s olders she plans on coaching her own color guard like her mom.

Arata poses for a group picture with the rest of the team before their performance. Arata is close with another senior on the team, Elizabeth Jansen. “Elizabeth is my best friend.” Arata said, “We started together on guard freshman year and we didn’t become as close as we are until the winter season of my sophomore year.”

FHNTODAY.COM

PAGE BY ALYSSA SAVAGE

09.23.15

21

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The tax increase proposition in August was shot down by a 2:1 ratio. The Board of Education hopes to learn from its mistakes and plans to put another propostion on the ballot in 2016

The basics of proposition y Over the summer, a bill to raise taxes for homeowners in the FHSD was rejected by the taxpayers.

BY JAMIE HETLAGE

it. At the same time many people were protesting and campaigning against Prop Y saying that it would cost more than just 90 cents a day depending on how much a house costs.

Proposition Y has been dividing the FHSD community. According to the Board, “It’s kind of split [the community],” McEvoy said. “We have people coming to this was a way to raise the quality of education and keep it there for many years board meetings really upset that it didn’t pass and that are really proud of this disto come. This provided an $18 million solution with challenging times upon the trict, that think we should be spending every dime we can for education. We have school district coming, caused by a decrease in the national funding and the fact other people who love this district and want to spend all we can for education but property values have been going down for several years around the district. say ‘Wait a second what are you going to do with this money? We felt like you did “We have an amazing district, and while no one wants to pay more, we don’t this very behind the scenes like it was during the summer.’ They said ‘If we are want less,” mother of children in the district, Michelle Walker said. out of money then why did we spend $250,000 on an election?”

However, Prop Y was defeated by 66 percent of voters. Passage of Prop Y would Starting last December, the Board of Education decided to hire a company to have meant raising taxes around 90 cents for every $100 of the give out a survey to the public about a tax initiative due to rising assessed value of a household, meaning $20 million additional expenses. People could be randomly picked, could go online as a “In the next year or so revenue to the district. community member, or were chosen from the employees within we are going to see the district. This survey included questions from the qualities of the “It would have kept status quo [for the school],” board memsome cuts. It’s going to ber, Amy McEvoy said. “It would have kept everything in place. It schools, varying from how clean they are to how safe their children hurt the community, the would’ve kept all programs, teacher salaries, and everything else.” feel when going to school. Some questions even asked people how students, the parents Some taxpayers opposed Prop Y because of how high the tax rate and people who don’t they would feel about a certain price for a tax initiative to be put into place. The survey provided favorable results to something like was. Some citizens felt it was a wrong decision since many people even have kids.” would not know about it with school not being in session at the - Michelle Walker Prop Y. One question asked if an election were held today how time. Putting Prop Y onto the August ballot cost the district around would they vote. The people who were randomly called favored it $250,000 causing some voters to be skeptical about Prop Y. The by 58 percent, the people who went online to take the survey by 62 percent, and the employees in the district by 81 percent.

Board ultimately wanted to push this out before school started to gain back the “We took some time to evaluate what we heard from the community in the 40 teachers they cut this year along with the many more possible cuts to come.

“I felt my stomach drop when it didn’t pass,” mother of children in the district, survey,” school board vice president, Rene Cope said. “ We put it on the August Amy Borrelli said. “I knew it would be good for the district. I knew that a bond had ballot in an effort to save staff positions and limit the impact to our students. It was important.” expired maybe the year before and that their was less money in the budget. This Since Prop Y failed, administrators and the Board made decisions regarding next would have brought it back up. I knew if it didn’t pass that there were going to have to be some pretty drastic cuts to be made. I really did feel sick. I was really semester and the 2016-17 school year. At the School Board meeting on Sept. 17, the surprised.” board decided to place another tax increase on the ballot in the next April election and make no further cuts this current fiscal year.

To spread the word about Prop Y this summer the families that approved of “The way it is, I don’t think it would pass again,” Borrelli said. “Really, the people Prop Y had knocked door to door, posted signs all over the district and even made voted and the residents said they did not want that sort of tax increase or bond. I phone calls to other family friends to let them know about the bill. The district had think maybe if it was less money it would pass.” to maintain an objective side to things and to only provide the information about jamiehetlage3251@gmail.com • @jamesneutron

FHN Takes on a Ten Percent Budget Reduction

Numerous cuts and reductions have been made to FHN in order to maintain a balanced budget

BY PRISCILLA JOEL

pjchristo16@gmail.com • @JCPjchristo

After the expiration of the Special Purpose levy, FHSD has made $8.2 million worth of cuts to the district thus far in an effort to balance the budget. At FHN alone, many major and minor reductions have been made to reduce the building budget by 10 percent.

“We knew that we were going to begin to experience some deficit spending and so the long-term that was not going to be sustainable obviously, so we began with a retreat,” FHSD Superintendent Pamela Sloan said.

Unfortunately, the $8.2 million cuts that were made at the end of last year alone are not sufficient for a balanced budget for FHSD. A total of approximately $11 million must be cut from the FHSD budget by the fiscal year 2016-17 in order to balance the budget. The School Board has been meeting for the past couple of weeks to make decisions on the most suitable cuts for FHSD in the near future. However, the School Board made the decision last Thursday to make no further cuts for this current fiscal year.

Of the cuts that have already been made, before and after school tutoring for all subjects have been eliminated completely and there has been a reduction in staff members, supplies and materials for curriculum development. Furthermore, the allocation of funds for the new technological equipment that is replaced every few years has been put on hold as of press time.

“I think that it’s important that you’re truly thinking

it out and I know that our Board of Education takes their jobs very seriously and I think that it makes sense to carefully think out what you’re doing,” FHN Principal Andy Downs said. “You don’t want to be hasty in the decision, you want to make the best possible decision that is supported by as much information and research that you can possibly do.”

One of the most immediate effects of eliminating tutoring are less opportunities for students to receive additional instruction on their homework. Additionally, in the future, if the total enrollment of students at FHN increased, there would be an increase in class sizes due to the reduction of staff members.

“I think that we’re trying to get our school district back to a point where the funding matches the programs that we have in place,” FHSD Chief Financial Officer Kevin Supple said. “And I don’t think that our programs are overblown, but I do think they provide our kids with the best opportunities to be successful once they leave the Francis Howell School District.”

While the school year of 2015-16 is well under-way, FHN will still be facing additional cuts in the years to come. The School Board also voted to place another tax increase on the upcoming April ballot, so it is only a matter of time before more changes can be expected around FHN. “I believe I responded to what the cut list represented and that simply was items that least impacted the classroom directly,” School Board President Mark Lafata said. “Although each item has an impact, we are trying to preserve the academic program currently in place.”

Go to http://goo.gl/tclveF for information on the detailed agenda of each past and future board meetings, and dates of these meetings. Policies of the school district along with mission, values and vision statements are located on the page.

The next School Board meetings, for those who wish to attend at the drstrict building are: -Oct. 8 -Nov. 19

why not y A look at why Proposition Y faced so much opposition

BY ZOE LAWSON zkl131@gmail.com • @zkl131

When Prop Y was first placed on the ballot in August, it was, itself, new. A tax levy, though, was not. Over the past year, FHSD hired consultants from Patron Insight to measure community support of a proposed tax levy before the measure was introduced officially. Most expected the proposition to come onto the ballot in April.

However, the results of the polls conducted by these consultants, while favorable, came in too late to place Prop Y on the April ballot according to Superintendent Pam Sloan.

“Their polling sample was very small,” Steve Johnson, an FHSD community member who organized a campaign against Prop Y, said. “There were approximately 400 people. It was going to be very close according to the poll and I don’t believe they asked the right people, obviously, since there were 10,000 people who showed up and voted no.”

The April ballot is generally full of measures from a variety of organizations -66% voted NO and government -34% voted YES entities, and so these groups share the costs of fronting an election and distributing the ballots.

If FHSD had placed Prop Y on the ballot in April, it would have cost them about $500. However, by waiting for August, the school district ran into two major issues. First of all, summer votes are generally populated by those who vote all the time, which are older people with less vested interest in FHSD and a fixed income, meaning they were less likely to be able to afford the 90 cent tax increase.

Additionally, the August ballot left the entire cost of the election on the shoulders of FHSD, costing them almost a quarter of a million dollars more than an April vote would have. According to superintendent Pam Sloan, it would not have been possible to place Prop Y on the April ballot, but there was little to no discussion on the issue of the cost of the election.

“They knew that this was coming,” social studies teacher Sean Fowler said. “They spent a whole year studying it, they paid for consultants who consulted them to put it as 90 cents in August, which is a very suspect decision. If you understand politics at all it seems like the worst possible time. They talked about this for over a year, they saw this coming but there was no, from what I understand, public discussion about it. It just seems either ill-conceived or intentionally deceptive.”

Still others had issues with the idea of a tax levy in the first place. FHSD awarded teachers raises just a few years ago, while knowing they needed

Results of Prop Y vote:

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deficit spending and would likely not be able to afford the raises in the long term. Since the board waited so long to post a ballot issue, many voters were hesitant when the board asked for money.

“We had projections that told us where our finances were going,” board member Sandra Ferguson said. “We were told, ‘Don’t wait til you’ve done all this other stuff to put a ballot issue on.

Put the ballot issue on first and then go forward with the higher issues, like teacher salary,’ an idea I think the public and the patrons of this district would support. But we did it backwards.”

According to school board member Rene Cope, the biggest reason Prop Y did not pass was because of efforts mounted by community members like Steve Johnson, who tried to convince voters to vote no on Y. Cope, along with other board members, and supportive voters attempted to demonstrate to the community what the risks of not passing Prop Y would be, only to be met with, Cope said, accusations of the use of scare tactics and shock factor.

“Communication was our biggest issue, getting a strong positive story out,” Cope said. “Our goal was to strongly communicate to the community how wonderful our schools are, and how we’ve had decreased income and therefore a need for the tax increase. We soon discovered that one of the challenges we were facing that people didn’t understand this was actually going to mean cuts.

They didn’t get that we were trying to avoid cuts.”

Many community members simply didn’t support a 90 cent tax increase, or didn’t understand why such a large increase was necessary.

“I think the amount was too large to not be better explained and I think the insufficient explanation to support the 17 percent increase just didn’t go over well,” Richard Taylor, who spoke at the Sept. 3 board meeting, said. “I think they’ve proven that they can, well , perhaps not as well as they want, but they’ve proven they can live on about half that tax increase. I talked to about a couple hundred people who have told me they would have voted for a 45 or 50 cent levy increase. Nobody explained to them why 90 cents was needed so they voted no.”

Overall, there was no one cause behind the failure of Prop Y. Most had their own reasons for voting the way they did.

“This is a tough situation and I understand why people were on both sides,” Fowler said. “I understand why people were against the tax hike, especially because of the size of it and the manner that it was done is questionable. At the same time, we as a community, need to realize that this district has done a very good job of teaching their student and you don’t want to lose your best teacher. It’s an issue with no easy answer.”

big numbers bring big changes Changes in the amount of funding FHSD is receiving will bring about district cuts over the next couple of years. Some are already in place in an attempt to save money and get back on budget.

BY CLAIRE BOENITZ claire.boenitz@gmail.com

Money is often considered a daunting topic, especially when discussing rather large amounts. The FHSD school board members do not shy away from working with and making decisions about millions of dollars on a regular basis. Since the expiration of a Special Purpose tax levy in 2014 that provided the district with $4 million a year, the school board turned to Prop Y to help take care of the costs of a district striving for growth.

The Board of Education estimated that the tax levy, which called for 90 cents to be paid per every $100 of assessed value of taxpayers’ property, would have provided approximately $20 million of revenue for the district, but since it did not pass, the school board must look for other ways to maintain financial stability within FHSD. This deficit is a cause for debate of whether the district has a funding issue or a spending issue.

“I believe we are very judicious about the expenditures that we incur,” Superintendent Pam Sloan said. “So I would not attribute [the deficit] to a spending problem.”

While the funding for the district is consistently brought in from two major levels, local and state, the amounts fluctuate quite a bit. The district receives about 24% of funding from the state, according to Chief Financial Officer Kevin Supple. State-level funding has been reduced by $11-$25 million in the past few years, which is a blow to the district’s budget. Funding on the local level is derived from property values within the district and accounts for the majority of the school’s funding. Though property

values are beginning to climb again after their plummet in 2008, they still aren’t sufficient to support the increasing expenditures of maintaining and bettering FHSD, according to Supple. These dwindling sources of revenue were the inspiration for Prop Y and led to it being brought to the table, despite being a relatively large tax levy.

“The school budget is basically like nailing Jello to a wall,” school board treasurer Cynthia Bice said at the Aug. 20 board meeting. “You don’t know all the income coming in all the time.”

According to Sloan, the district has made budget reductions in anticipation of a deficit budget in the coming years. The budget for the 2015-2016 school year was cut by roughly $8.2 million, $4.2 of which was in personnel cuts, as salary and benefits for staff make up for roughly 80% of the budget. The other $4 million of non-personnel cuts includes supplies, tutoring, and curriculum development. Despite the huge amount of money saved, the district still had to cut approximately $11 million more in order to return to a balanced budget by the end of the 2016-2017 school year.

However, they made the decision at the board meeting last Thursday to hold off on making any other cuts for this current fiscal year.

“I hope that the community recognizes that the education that the students are receiving lead to greater opportunities for them once they leave Francis Howell School District,” Supple said. “I would hope the the community would want to make an investment in that because they’re really investing in the future of this country and, more specifically, the future of the students in Francis Howell School District.”

New tax increase Proposal planned for April 2016 Ballot That’s not all that happened on Sept. 17. The superintendent announced her retirement and the Board voted on 2015-2016 cuts.

BY SAMI SCHMID saminicole102@gmail.com

The 2015-16 school year has already faced numerous cuts and many more changes can be expected for the 2016-17 school year.

For starters, FHSD will have a new superintendent.

During the closed portion of the Sept. 17 Board meeting, Superintendent Pam Sloan asked the board to accept her retirement. In an official announcement on the district website, she stated that she wished to retire at the end of the year to spend more time with her family.

In addition to this announcement, the School Board decided during their open session, with a 4-3 vote, to not make any additional cuts for this current fiscal year, and instead, to place another tax increase measure on the ballot in April 2016.

“We’ve talked about cutting into skin and now we’re cutting into muscle and if we’re not careful we’re going to cut into bone,” School Board Member Amy McEvoy said at the Sept. 17 School Board meeting.

McEvoy suggested that the next tax increase should be proposed at 45 cents, however the actual amount has not yet been decided. One of the most frequently discussed possibilities for cuts this year was reducing transportation by not providing buses to students who lived within a 3.5 mile radius from their respective school.

There have been many possible scenarios as to how this could happen including one option that considered charging families $250 a year for bussing.

“I truly believe that cutting busses actually is more

hurtful to students and parents than say taking a few elementary teachers, I know that’s gonna sound awful but if you think of the entire district, taking 10 elementary teachers out,” McEvoy said. “That’s the entire district every school has, about 30 elementary teachers. So that would only be increasing classroom sizes by one or two children. So, it’s not increasing them by 10 kids per classroom. I think one or two per classroom is not ideal by any means but it’s something we have to grin and bear it. I think that is more plausible than say having children cross Highway 94 at Central School Road to get to Central Elementary.”

Another one of the cuts that was considered earlier this year was the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) program, but after the vote on this year’s budget, no changes will be made to the program.

“Here’s the thing about PLTW,” Science Teacher, Matthew Riffee said. “You cannot have some without having all, so in Biomed we cannot offer the first two classes without offering the next two, so it’s either all or none situation.”

FHSD currently has two out of the four courses available. According to PLTW guidelines, when schools implement Biomedical Science classes, they must offer students a minimum of three courses within a three-year time span. Both of these proposals, however, failed and neither will be reduced or cut for this current fiscal year.

However, if the tax increase proposal does not pass, then the Board must make cuts to the 2016-17 fiscal year.

“This is not about a budget,” Rene Cope stated at the Sept. 17 meeting. “This is about kids.”

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SENIORS WIN SECOND YEAR IN A ROW

Senior Maddie Paige runs for a touchdown while junior Kat Gosbee tries to catch up and grab her flag on Sept. 12. The seniors won 147-70. This was the second year in a row that the seniors won. (Photo by Kyra Peper) Crowd pleasers play leapfrog to entertain the crowd as part of their cheers. The crowd pleasers perormed at the half time as well. (Photo by Madi Graves)

The juniors form a crowd on the bleachers during the game to cheer on their classmates. The powder puff players practiced after school to improve their plays. (Photo by Riley McCrackin) Junior Sasha Kaganov stands on the sideline during the game to cheer her team members on. (Photo by Lucas Tabaka)

FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY ALYSSA SAVAGE

09.23.15

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Rhe’Neze Galtney stands in front of the Knights score board. Galtney’s positions on the team are a linebacker and a tight end. Last year Rhe’Neze had a recorded of 56 tackles, three sacks and two fumble recoveries. (portrait by Alyssa Savage)

One Million Dollars, 12 Scholarships, One Student Senior Rhe’Neze Galtney faces the struggle of choosing between the 12 colleges fighting for him to play on their team

BY ERIN LEVINS

erlevins013@gmail.com @itslevins

33

FHNTODAY.COM

PAGE BY ANTHONY KRISTENSEN

09.23.15

As senior linebacker, Rhe’Neze Galtney sprints down the field towards an opposing player, his proud mother can be heard whistling loudly in the stands along with his coach who is yelling his name. He focuses in on the play, but it isn’t just football that’s consuming his thoughts anymore. In the back of his mind Galtney knows he’ll have to make a tough decision soon. With 12 eager colleges constantly messaging and calling him, he knows he just has to focus on the game.

Growing up, Galtney played for multiple teams.

He started playing at age six but played up on a team of 9 year olds because he was so big for his age. His mother knew he was going to be successful after his first year of playing. He showed his knowledge and motivation to get better instantly.

“He never wanted to leave the field, he understood commitment at such a young age that I just knew he would become something big,” mother Rita Griffin said.

Galtney always knew he wanted to play football. He showed the passion and dedication needed to play such a rigorous sport. He began eating healthier, working out consistently before and after games and focusing on being a team player. He knew this was the sport he wanted to continue with for years to come. With such a strong parental background, he became unstoppable.

“I was nervous about him playing because I feared he would get hurt playing with older kids, but after observing him and seeing him be determined about the game, I supported him,” Griffin said.

When Galtney started playing for FHN, his parents weren’t the only ones that noticed his potential. Being around 6’2” and 210 lbs, Galtney is hard to miss on the field. He is notorious for his hard tackles and dynamic plays. But when he’s not playing, he’s focusing hard on his studies.

“When looking for players, we have high standards on and off the field, and Rhe’Neze does well with both,” FHN Head Coach Brandon Gregory said.

Galtney always dreamed of playing on a college team, what he didn’t realized was how many college teams dreamt of him playing with them too. So far, some of his offers include Southeastern and Missouri State University, University of Central Arkansas and University of Nebraska have given him full rides to play football. These colleges call and message him daily on Twitter, even though he isn’t expected to make his decision until February.

“He needs to choose a college that is well rounded and ultimately makes him happy,” Griffin said. “My husband and I have been working tirelessly to find a school that has a great football program and one that will also carry him far with his schooling.”

Galtney is also interested in studying business and entrepreneurship and medicine. Hi parents encourage him to choose a school that is rigorous

in athletics as well as academics.

“Rhe’Neze has worked so hard for his position on the team, and the college scouts noticed,” Gregory said. “They saw his dedication and now he’s reaping the benefits.”

Galtney’s college submission video was what caught the eye of many teams. It shows him tackling an opponent so hard that his helmet came clean off; this amount of force in a tackle is very difficult to achieve. Currently, Galteny’s top picks are North Dakota State, Western and Southern Illinois University and Indiana State.

“We’re expecting for him to receive even more offers,” Griffin said. “With the talent that he has, more are sure to come,” Griffin said.

Galtney and his parents envision him playing in the NFL one day, but for now he wishes to enjoy the rest of his senior year and play his hardest for the Knights.

“I am very blessed and thankful for all of the support and success I’ve received,” Galtney said. “I aim to work hard and play my best for college.”

FHNTODAY.COM

PAGE BY ANTHONY KRISTENSEN

09.23.15

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Softball

Hits

New Bullpens, New Year

Softball Team Stats Austin Pauley

12

13

14

16

23

Courtney Laughlin

Emma Pardo

12

23

Sahaura Pauley

Elizabeth Davis

Megan Seigler

Rest of Team

As of press time

TEAM HITS LEADERS Hits

Team Hits Leaders Hits

Austin Pauley

Courtney Laughlin

Emma Pardo

23

12

13

14

16

23

Elizabeth Davis

14

16

Austin Pauley

13

Rest of Team

23

Sahaura Pauley Megan Seigler

12

Courtney Laughlin

Emma Pardo

12

The softball teams, especially the pitchers will benefit from the newly built bullpens. They will provide an area for pitchers to warm up before a game, which is an alternative to running up the hill by the field, according to junior Austyn Rowan.

“I think they’re a great idea,” Rowan said. “It’s an easy way to warm up and still be close the game instead of having to run up the hill at last minute.” (Brief

by Anthony Kristensen)

Elizabeth Davis

12

23

Sahaura Pauley Megan Seigler

TEAM HITS LEADERS Rest of Team

TEAM HITS LEADERS

Volleyball

Three Times the Luck The varsity girls’ volleyball team is “setting” up for their new season after being joined by a total of three new coaches to help the team succeed this year.

“The new coaches have been positive for our team,” senior Megan Mitchell said. “They have taught us a lot and pushed us to succeed.”

Head Coach Kaitlyn Early uses her experiences from playing Division I volleyball at Illinois State University to bring the best out of the girls.

“I wanted to stay involved with the sport and pass along some of the things that I’ve learned throughout the years,” Early said.

The girls and the coaches are working hard to prepare for their upcoming games, with a record of 3-4 at the time of publication.

“Our team is looking really strong,” Early said. “This should be a great season.” (Brief by Dan Borrelli)

On Friday, Sept. 4, Junior Austyn Rowan throws a pitch to a Fort Zumwalt South Bulldog. The Lady Knights came through with a victory against the Bulldogs in the sixth inning with a score of 15-4.

(Photo by Abby Temper)

Austine Pauley Sahaura Pauley

Courtney Laughlin Allison Murphy

Audrey Baker Emma Pardo

The Fantastic Four

Rest of Team

Strikeouts by Top Players Austine Pauley

Courtney Laughlin

Audrey Baker

Austyn Rowan Elizabeth Davis Austine Pauley Courtney Laughlin Audrey Baker Sahaura Pauley Allison Murphy Emma Pardo Create infographics Sahaura Pauley Allison Murphy Emma Pardo Rest of Team Rest of Team

Austyn Rowan Austyn Rowan

Elizabeth Davis Elizabeth Davis

Create infographics Create infographics (Inforgraphic

by Dan Borelli)

35

FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY RILEY KAMPFF

09.23.15

The boys’ swim team has never been a large group, and this year they’re smaller than ever, with only four swimmers: junior Avery Bond, junior Ryan Fischer, junior Dan Kuhn, and sophomore Nathan Dennigmann “I think we don’t have a large swim team because people don’t like the practice hours,” junior Avery NEXT MEET: Bond said. “Some people might not even know that we have a swim 9/28- FHC/ team.”

HAZELWOOD This brings quite a change from 4:00 P.M. last year, when 8 total swimmers were on the team. The size of this Away year’s team can bring many challenges to the swimmers.

“We might not have a chance of winning or even competing in meets,” sophomore Nathan Dennigmann said.

The swimmers are still excited for a good season this year, especially after winning 9 races at one of their meets, yet hopeful for a bigger team next year.

“If someone was considering on joining the team I would say go for it,” Bond said. “Even if you’re a bad swimmer we can teach you.” (Brief by Dan Borrelli) During the Knights first swim meet of the season, sophomore Peter Lucido dives off the diving board.

Lucido received first place in diving, Avery Bond received first place in swimming the 500 free and 200 free, and Nathan Dennigman took first in the 100 backstroke. (Photos by Lucas Tabaka)

XC GIRLS

XC BOYS

Injuries or recovery

What’s in the bag?

Everything that a cross country runner brings to a meet helps them prepare to run their race well. “[On the day of a meet I have] a water bottle so I can stay hydrated throughout the day,” junior Ethan Adams said.

Along with his water bottle, Adams always brings snack food, a change of clothes and tennis shoes in his bag.

Head coach Kim Martin said that every racer should have their uniform and spikes. “[The most important thing for a runner to have in a meet is] a good mental attitude, you’ve gotta be mentally tough to run a race,” Martin said. (Brief

by Karis Skaggs)

Varsity Runners: As of Press Time Chase Powelson Brenden Mollitt Jake Oppenborn Andrew Brissitte Bryan Chac Tyler Beach Cameron Landers

Junior Kiana Fabian races against a Hazelwood West student on Aug. 28 at McNair Park. The Varsity boys ended the meet in third place and were only three points from first place. (Photo by Ashton Stegman)

Two of the varsity level runners on girls’ cross country Heidi Hauptman and Erin Stock have been injured before districts this season.

Cross country coach, Kimberly Martin is hoping they heal before districts and that the team can prevent any further injuries to have a successful season.

“Ideally we’re going to be trying to hype some other people up,” Martin said. “We have a couple holes and we need some people to step up.”

Hauptman has a stress fracture and cannot currently run with team.

“It bothers me [because] I’ve been really sad that I can’t be a part of the team because it’s going to be a great season,” Hauptman said.

Until Heidi is healed, she plans to help coaches at practices, cross train and swim to stay in shape.

“I’m super nervous because districts this season is a big goal of mine,” Hauptman said. (Brief by Deidre Dinkins)

Upcoming Events and Games The upcoming event dates for football, soccer, volleyball and softball this fall season Tennis

Closer than Before After having to go through with cuts earlier this year, the FHN girl’s tennis team has become very close and will help them in the upcoming GAC’s, sectionals, and districts.

“We are so much better this year because we are so much closer,” Senior Lauren Bartram said. “We just relate to each other a lot better now.”

The closeness of the team this year has also included the juniors who, according to Bartram are helping the team out this year.

“Our star-players are juniors and I feel like they really lead the underclassmen and really set an example for them,” Bartram said.

After playing over 20 matches they are ready to go into GAC’s, sectionals and districts as a very strong and united team.

(Brief by Bennett Smallwood)

“I think we’re going to have a winning season this year, because the team chemistry has improved a lot.”

-Kyle Springli: Guard on Varsity Football

“My expectation is for the team to play as best as we possibly can this entire season. If we do this, we can easily show how good of a team we are.”

-Jake Beckmann: Defender on Varsity Soccer

“I’m most looking forward to getting to play with all the upperclassmen and getting to learn from them.”

-Sarah Zimmerman: Freshman on the Varsity Team

“I am looking forward to getting better at softball and learning more about the game, and being with my team.”

-Jessica Gardner:Junior on the JV Softball

Varsity

Varsity

Varsity

Varsity

9/26 against Troy Buchanan @ Troy

9/24 against Marquette Sr. HS @ Marquette

9/24 against Troy Buchanan @ Troy

9/24 against Howell @ North

Press Time Record: 3-4

Press Time Record: 7-7

Press Time Record: 1-3

Press Time Record: 2-5-1

JV Team

JV Team

JV Team

JV Team

9/28 against Troy Buchanan @ North

9/24 against Troy Buchanan @ Troy

9/24 against Troy Buchanan @ Troy

9/22 against Central @ North

FHNTODAY.COM

PAGE BY GARRET GRIFFIN

09.23.15

36

Junior Fletcher Dietrich holds up his hands as if he was trying to catch a ball. Dietrich has played basketball for the majority of his life. He began playing as a goal keeper becauset the team was in need of a goalie. (Photo by Sam Alexander)

Moving From The Hardwood To The Pitch

Fletcher Dietrich transitions from a lifetime of basketball to playing one of the toughest positions in soccer

BY JACOB LINTNER

lintner.jacob@gmail.com • @TheJacobLintner

He stands with his knees bent and arms hanging to his sides. What lies behind him can change his fate forever. What lies before him is hurtling just to his right. A swift dive and extended arms are all it takes to silence his team before the cheering begins.

It’s only a practice, but Fletcher Dietrich has shown that his skills from a lifetime of basketball make him a force to be reckoned with when standing guard at the soccer goal.

“The ball comes at you a lot quicker,” Dietrich said on the difference between basketball and soccer. “I’ve really never played soccer before, so coming in at the varsity level is really hard to do.”

This year’s soccer season is the first season of organized soccer that Dietrich has ever played. He chose to join the team this year because of the team’s lack of a goalie, and the union of these two has been a match made in heaven since day one.

“It’s awesome,” head coach Larry Scheller said. “We knew we needed a goalie. We tapped into some resources and called up the basketball coach, and his name came up. When I talked to him on the phone, he seemed excited and motivated. We’re excited to see him out there. I’m sure he’ll work hard on his craft and keep helping the team and making the team better.”

37

FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY KYLIE MOSER

09.23.15

Scheller is not the only one praising Dietrich’s excitement and motivation for the game to get better. Coaches and teammates alike are spouting their love for Dietrich’s work ethic and commitment, but no one could be more proud of Dietrich than the one who knows him best- his father.

“I was shocked [at first] because he never played formal soccer before but I was excited,” father Todd Dietrich said. “His excitement level, regardless of the outcome, has been awesome. As long as he’s excited and positive, it’ll be a good outcome.”

There have been hurdles along the way, though. The skill sets between basketball don’t completely line up. Soccer, on the whole, requires more agility and focus, while basketball calls for more lateral motion and strength.

“I need to be a lot quicker,” Dietrich said. “My hands have gotten a lot better, and my talking skills because soccer helps with communication.”

Dietrich has cleared these hurdles in practice and game simulations, and he, like most involved with the team, is looking forward to a great season on an improving team with a young core. They may have begun the season with a 1-0 loss to CBC on a goal that looked like illegal contact with the Knights’ keeper, but that Dietrich allowed just one goal to such a high-powered offense is a great sign for him moving forward in the season.

“The team’s excited to have him in goal,” Scheller said. “His work ethic is contagious.

The team is looking good. We have great potential, and Fletcher’s a big part of that.”

No Competition for School Spirit Instead of competing at regionals, the varsity cheer squad will focus on the their routines

BY GARRETT GRIFFIN ggriifin@gmail.com

Although the FHN varsity cheer squad will not be competing in cheer competitions this year, Captains Kenzie Allen, Kaley McCarthy and Lexi Baker believe it is not a matter of disappointment but a chance to work on new routines without the stress of competing.

“Not competing has allowed us to grow closer as a team and focus on our school spirit,” McCarthy said.”

Gaining a new head coach and having late tryout dates has affected the team and why they didn’t compete in their first regionals competition this year, which is usually held at the end of June. With the new team, they didn’t want to be unprepared for a regional competition.

“I think they are okay with it,” Allen said. “We didn’t really get a choice this year of whether we wanted to or not. However, it makes me kind of disappointed because it’s my senior year and competing is my favorite part.”

Since they will not be competing in regionals or the state competition, they have been preparing their routine for school events like football games, soccer games and pep assemblies.

“I’m really excited for pep assemblies because we worked really hard all summer on this routine,” Allen said. “I’m also excited because I got to choreograph a lot of the routine and make the music and that was my first chance to do it this year since I’m captain.”

McCarthy believes that the team this year has been the most skilled and hard-working since the past three years on varsity. They hope that the bond that they share will show while they are cheering for the Knights.

“I am both happy and sad that we aren’t competing,” Baker said. “I’m sad because it’s my senior year and I would have liked to compete. Especially with this team, the group of girls are amazing and we have a special bond that I don’t think I’ve had with any of the other teams here and it would be nice to share that experience with everybody.”

Senior Abby Day and her other teammates hold up Casey Baker on the Sept. 4 football game againt FZS. The Knights lost to the Bulldogs with a score of 21-22 (Photo by Lauren Price)

Striving to Make it to State

The FHN Girls Golf team hopes to one-up last year’s record going into their new season this year

BY PRISCILLA JOEL

pjchristo16@gmail.com @JCPjchristo

With the new season underway, the FHN Girls’ Golf team has been practicing to bypass their achievements last year. The team had five players who advanced to Districts who then advanced to Sectionals.

“I would hope that we get top five at Districts this year,” sophomore Jessica Quan said.

This year, the Girl’s Golf team has six varisty players. The team hopes to send all six players to State, however, regardless of the outcome, they enjoy just being a part of the team and playing the sport.

“I just enjoy playing a sport,” junior Taylor Johnson said. “[And I enjoy] getting out there and having fun with my team.”

Taylor Johnson puts during the Sept.

3 match against Timberland. (Photo by Alyssa Savage)

On Sept 3, junior Hannah Willett putts her golf ball during the Timberland match. At the end of the match, the score was 211-193. The Knights next game is Sept. 24 against IWA at Bogey Hills. (Photo by Kristen Pike)

On Spet 9, Taylor Sheridan hits her ball during the match against FHC. (Photo by Hannah Medlin)

FHNTODAY.COM

PAGE BY ERIN LEVINS

09.23.15

38

25th Annual ST. CHARLES REGIONAL

Representatives from nearly 100 colleges will be on hand!

THANKS TO ST. CHARLES COMMUNITY COLLEGE, YOUR SEARCH FOR THE NEXT STEP JUST GOT A LOT EASIER.

6-8 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 30 College Center SCC Campus stchas.edu/collegefair

For more information, call 636-922-8226 or email mgrimm@stchas.edu.

Stump the Trump All of the reasons you shouldn’t vote for Donald Trump in the GOP primaries on March 15

BY ANTHONY KRISTENSEN

anthony.kristensen17@gmail.com • @anthonyk17slsg

It’s June 16. A man with an ego the size of Mount Everest takes the stage in his campaign headcourters in New York to announce his presidential campaign. Fast forward to today, after countless boneheaded statements and scandals, somehow this man is leading the GOP national polls.

This man, of course, is businessman and presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Trump has been leading in the GOP polls for quite some time, even though he has no political experience and doesn’t even have a conservative background. He has been leading recently over Dr. Ben Carson and over a dozen other candidates that actually have political backgrounds and know what they’re doing.

Trump has changed his political views more than Kim Kardashian has changed husbands. In the past, Trump has continually stated that he aligns more with Democrats, that the economy works better under Democrats and has made numerous donations to Democrats. He also has been childish because he hasn’t stopped complaining about Fox News debate moderator Megyn Kelly for tough questions during the first GOP Debate when she asked him when he became a Republican. Did you hear Ohio Governor John Kasich complain when asked what he would say to one of his daughters if one of them were to come out as gay due to his stance against gay marriage?

No, you didn’t. Trump needs to grow up a bit if he can honestly complain about tough questions.

While Trump has not only played flip flop on all of the issues, he’s also made numerous sexist remarks against women. Most notably, when criticizing Kelly for some questions directed at Trump during the first GOP Debate, Trump said that Kelly “had blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her -- wherever,” leading many to believe that he was referring to a woman’s menstruation period. He then tried to refute these allegations, by stating that by “wherever” he meant Kelly’s “ears and/or nose.” This is not the first time Trump has been accused of sexist comments, as he has called Arianna Huffington “unattractive both inside and out,” calling Rosie O’Donnell “disgusting both inside and out,” basically calling Republican candidate Carly Fiorina ugly by saying “look at that face.” These aren’t the only times Trump has been on record saying things like this.

Trump also claims to have evidence that the Mexican government has been sending illegal immigrants that are bringing drugs, crime and that “they’re rapists,” even though most illegal immigrants aren’t drug lords, criminals or rapists. Also, Trump also doesn’t seem to understand that most illegal immigrants are coming from countries south of Mexico, such as Guatemala and El Salvador. When asked to present this evidence at the GOP Debate in Cleveland, he froze like deer in headlights and dodged the question like he was the last player alive in a game of dodgeball. He also doesn’t seem to grasp the fact that illegal immigration has been on a sharp decline since the 2007 climax.

Trump has been praised by his supporters for his skills as a businessman, as they say that he is the candidate that is best equiped to lead the country out of the massive $18 trillion debt faced by the U.S,

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FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY ALY DOTY

09.23.15

(Photo from Helga Esteb/shutterstock.com)

Trump’s skills as a businessman can’t be denied, but these supporters don’t seem to grasp the fact that Trump’s business has been bankrupted four times. All he could say in his defense was that he used the laws of the land to his advantage, which has been widely criticized.

Trump has also maintained his lead even after attacking one of America’s most beloved war heroes, Arizona Senator John McCain, by saying that “he’s a war hero because he was captured,” and that he likes people that weren’t captured. Trump can disagree with Senator McCain’s policies all he wants, if he disagrees with the U.S.’s involvement in Vietnam, he can do that all he wants, but as soon as Trump attacks someone’s service when he himself dodged the draft, Trump should lose any respect that anyone has for him.

Let’s face it, Trump isn’t worth the attention he’s been receiving.

From his racist comments to his constantly bankrupted company, this overgrown five-year-old deserves nothing he has attained since he began his campaign. As he insults his competitors, journalists and anyone else that stands in his way with every fiber in his being while his supporters go along with it, his supporters need to wake up and take a look for a candidate that has a clue of what they’re doing.

The Hot Topic Of. . .

Streaming vs. Buying Music Recently, more and more people have been taking a distinct side on which kind of music source they like getting their music from: streaming services like Spotify or purchasing off sites like iTunes

BY MICHAL BASFORD

BY DANIEL BORRELLI

Music surrounds us everywhere we look. We can even carry it around in our pockets and phones. It can be listened to anywhere whether it be radio, iTunes or Spotify. As a person who constantly has headphones in, I adore having music available right at my fingertips.

For those who don’t like every song an artist produces, streaming music allows for more variety. More genres, more artists, more of everything.

Pandora or Spotify allow for more variety based on what you like and what stations or playlists you create. This allows for more songs you’ve never heard before to be listened to, songs which you may not have listened to otherwise, exposing you to more songs and artists.

Most streaming apps have a free option available which makes it easy to create and keep an account for as long as you’d like. While this may not give much money back to the artist for their work, music shouldn’t be about the money. It should be about being heard, and the more an artist is listened to, the more popular they become.

At random times, I will get a craving to listen to a specific song, and usually, it’s a song I’ve heard on Pandora that I had not heard before I’d heard it on a streaming service. I will go out of my way to find on YouTube and listen to it as many times as I want. While buying physical copies of the albums is beneficial to the artist, streaming is easier and much cheaper. On iTunes, most albums are $10. Spotify, Pandora and other apps like them are free with more music than just one album, letting anyone listen to whatever they want.

Even before I got my first iPod back in 5th grade, I’ve always been a fan of buying music. I was raised in a musical family; learning to play instruments at a young age and hearing music being played all around the house. Shelves would be filled with CDs and boxes would be filled with seemingly ancient vinyl records.

Trips to the mall would turn into special trips to buy albums for me, which would be played on repeat in the car and in the stereo at home.

Since our childhood, a lot has changed in the way music can be found and listened to. In middle school, all my money would be spent on iTunes gift cards, so I could load up my device with the best music money could buy. I still enjoyed having physical copies of music, but I wouldn’t dare to give up the convenience of iTunes and downloadable songs. Having offline music on your phone always should be cherished, yet has been ignored recently.

Recently, with the growth of YouTube, Spotify, and SoundCloud, the accessibility of music is at an all-time high. It’s great having an infinite number of songs at my fingertips, but there’s something missing in that. There is pride in having a sense of ownership over the songs, knowing that you are helping the artist and being a dedicated fan. Maybe someday, music will be available for free for everyone, but for now the right thing to do is support the artists who work tirelessly to present you with an art form that has complete power over your emotions. If you want to party, there’s music for that. If you want to cry, there’s music for that. If you want to feel deep and contemplative, there’s music for that too. Money spent toward music is money well spent.

danielborreilli1@gmail.com

michal.basford13@gmail.com

Streaming the Right Way

The Halloweenies THANKS FOR COMING TO THE PARTY GUS! LIKE WHAT?

NO PROB! BY THE WAY THERE ARE A FEW WEIRD THINGS GOING ON AROUND HERE...

Money Well Spent

(Comic by Riley Kampff)

FIRST OF ALL, NESSIE IS SO HUGE SHE TOOK UP THE WHOLE POOL

HA! UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, YOU HAVE NO “BODY” TO PLAY WITH! HAHA!

THEN EVERYONE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO USE MUMMY TO T.P. A TREE...

YOU KNOW WHAT TERRY, I’M JUST GOING TO GO. I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN THAT

NOW GRIM IS DESTROYING ALL OF THE FOOD BECAUSE HE HAS NO DIGESTIVE SYSTEM

FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY ETHAN SLAUGHTER

09.23.15

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No Ordinary Visit to Grandma’s

M. Night Shyamalan makes his return to form with a disturbing take on two children’s trip to see their grandparents

BY JACOB LINTNER

lintner.jacob@gmail.com @TheJacobLintner

M

anoj Shyamalan, know to most as M. Night Shyamalan, is one of the most well-known film directors of our generation, and he has written another one of his signature mind-bending horror films in “The Visit.” His previous successes in the genre include unforgettable works like “The Sixth Sense” and “The Village,” and there is a reason why these works are unforgettable. They’re not all the best-written or the scariest, but they all touch audiences in the deep, dark places they do not wish to explore.

This is what makes Shyamalan resonate so much with audiences. He holds up a mirror to the audience and makes them face their deepest, darkest fears, all the while keeping a certain air of comedy and mystery to the film.

Prior to this year’s debut of “The Visit,” Shyamalan was seeming to take a short hiatus from his signature disturbing brand of horror to venture into the realms of science fiction, creating such films as “The Last Airbender,” which was based on the television series “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” and “After Earth,” which starred Will and Jaden Smith in a post-apocalyptic society. Thus, “The Visit” is being hailed as Shyamalan’s return to form in his cinematic writings. This is a great way for him to reestablish himself with a new generation of fans. His first hit, “The Sixth Sense,” was released the same year as I was North Star Rates born, so much of the movie-going 8/10 youth today may not know him for his origin style, making “The Visit” a smart business maneuver as well as a smartly-written movie.

It begins innocently enough, with a mother about to send her two children off to visit their grandparents, whom they have never met, for a week. The mother discusses the why the children have never met their grandparents in the form of an interview in a documentary that her daughter is making.

The film continues in the same way, as the daughter and son make a documentary about their first time meeting their grandparents in an attempt to help their mother find closure about her past. It begins extremely humorously as well with the typical bickering between siblings and the silliness that old people naturally bring to situations, especially uncomfortable ones, but once the children reach their grandparents’ house, things take a turn for the disturbed. In addition to this, there is, of course, a massive plot twist that caught this writer and a few of his constituents completely off guard.

“I thought the movie was really entertaining,” junior Sean Rhomberg said.

“It was a super good mixture of horror and comedy. It did a good job of grabbing your attention and keeping it, and it had a really good plot twist that you didn’t see coming.”

Mr. Rhomberg could not be more right. I am not ashamed to admit that I am still trying to wrap my head around the movie as a whole, but from what I do understand of it, it was an excellent film. Shyamalan did a remarkable job at fusing terrifying scenes with comedic relief, and it served as a truly unforgettable throwback to his success of the early 2000s. By crossing genres and hitting so close to home with the setting of Grandma’s House, this move far surpassed my expectations, and it well over performed the its

PG-13

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FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY NOAH SLAUGHTER

09.23.15

62 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Needless to say, this movie should come with a mandatory bathroom break right before Shyamalan takes you on one of his infamous 180-degree plot twists, and it made me a little nervous to visit my grandma any time in the near future. Taking this all into account, I give M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit” a confident 8/10. It is a very well-written comedy/horror movie that will take you to every emotional state from laughter to depression to fearful urination.

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Top Eight on Netf lix With a huge variety of television shows to stream on Netflix, it is very hard to decide what to watch. Here are eight shows that you won’t be able to stop binge-watching Bennett Smallwood

smallwood.bennett@gmail.com @bsmallwood20

1. The Office

The Office is the show that got me into television. I trace back my love for the small screen back to this simple Mockumentary about a simple paper company. While it may be hard to get into for some viewers, it is definitely worth it to stay around because the lovable characters and crazy predicaments will keep you around. This ranges from simply getting a new printer to having Dwight Schrute burn the office down.

5. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia If a casual television viewer were ever wondering if they were a bad person this is the show to watch.

If you laugh a single time during any of the shows 10 seasons and counting the answer is yes. The show makes the audience hate the main characters with a burning passion and love each one of them more than anything. Danny Devito is at his best in this simple show about a bar.

Post-Apocalyptic Racing A new video game introduces racing and combat in an Armageddon.

BY RILEY KAMPFF kampffriley@gmail.com

2. Lost

6. Breaking Bad

3. Futurama

7. Parks and Recreatrion

4. Arrested Development

8. House of Cards

This show started as a simple plane crash in one of the greatest TV pilots ever to have aired. Most viewers back in 2004 would have never expected the show to travel as it did. While at times it may of had low points, the show kept pushing new material and plot twists that will keep the audience on the edge of their seat til the epic and stunning finale. While many fans did not like the ending, I feel it wrapped the show up perfectly.

The pilot introduces you to the dysfunctional delivery team consisting of the stupid and hilarious Philip J. Fry who gets frozen in the year 2000 and sent to the future. With his is the strong-willed captain, Turanga Leela, and mischievous robot, Bender Bending Rodriguez. The characters go on adventures much larger the simple deliveries and meet a great variety of characters including Fry’s distantnephew who is a mad-scientist.

A show that’s comedy is almost completely based on miscommunication and a very complex version of the pronoun game seems as if it would get annoying very fast. However the Bluth Company keeps this show afloat. Michael tries to keep this disorganized and ignorant family together while having to also worry about himself and his son. The trouble they get in together is worth the watch.

Ranking in at #3 at IMDB’s top 250, Breaking Bad is the drama to watch.

One of the most critically-acclaimed shows of our generation starts with our anti-hero, Walter White, discovering he has lung cancer. He goes on to sell and cook crystal meth with a former student, known as Jesse Pinkman, to support his family after he is gone.

In the show you watch a man drift towards madness while the opposite occurs for Jesse.

Leslie Knope is one of the most energetic and caring characters on TV. The rest of her department is so diverse and it is amazing to see how the characters blend together. There is April Ludgate who can be the most pessimistic, yet outgoing person, and Ron Swanson, who is a simple and straight-forward man who wants the best out of everyone he cares about.

Every character has outstanding character development.

Kevin Spacey’s excellence is shown again in Netflix’s original series about the Majority House Whip, Francis Underwood, as he climbs to the top as a powerful political leader.

Kevin Spacey puts on one of his best performances since the iconic serial killer in “Se7en” and his role in the “Usual Suspects”. The show will continue upcoming January, but fans of Spacey’s who have not watched yet need to jump aboard right away.

@batrilena

The new “Mad Max” video game is an exhilarating race in the vast post-apocalyptic wasteland based on the hit movie series. You play as the famous Road Warrior, the main protagonist, Max Rockatansky, in this third-person game, you are bombarded with obstacles such as finding food, upgrades, and trying to reach your stolen, precious, and valued contraption, ‘The Inceptor’, with the help of allies and a game plan.

While I am playing, more than half of the combat style is vehicle based.

You use an unfinished car constructed by ally and experienced mechanic, Chumbucket, who you meet at the beginning of the game and tags along with you for the rest of the time. Driving through the game in the ‘Magnum Opus’ as a temporary replacement car, you face an immense amount of enemies that are plotting to blow up the vehicle and ‘stop you in your tracks.” You are able to upgrade your ride by attaching spikes so enemies do not pounce onto it, weapons to defend you while on the road, and more mechanics to increase the features of your automobile.

One of the best features of this remarkable game is how fast paced, combative and strategic the game is while playing it, while at the same time becoming a legendary road warrior yourself. This is definitely a game to experience if you enjoy racing, fighting and a unique story.

FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY DAVID BODDEN

09.23.15

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Student Take:

“People should be involved in the community because it’s important that people aren’t clueless about things happening.”

Caleb Shannon, 9

“I think people should get involved in the community and government because it allows our voice to be heard. If more people get involved, then we’ll have a better community because not just a few people are involved.”

Colin Levins, 10

North Star Take: Get Involved

People of this generation should start getting involved in their communities by staying educated and voting on issues on the local, state and national levels ON BEHALF OF THE EDITORIAL STAFF yourfhn@fhntoday.com • @fhntoday

“It’s important for any citizen to be involved in the community and understand that their voice can potentially have an impact on what their world looks like.”

Andy Downs, Principal

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O

ver the summer, the vote on FHSD’s Proposition Y took place in hopes to raise the district’s funding to avoid budget cuts by raising a property tax. The people of St. Charles County took to the polls on Aug. 4, deciding on an overwhelming “no” on Prop Y. Out of the estimated 243,000 registered voters of St. Charles County, only 19,728 voted on the issue of Prop Y. That accounts for only about 12.3 percent of the registered voters in the county.

While that low number may seem shocking, the most shocking thing is that, according to FHN Head Principal Andy Downs, the 12 percent of voters that voted on Prop Y is actually an increase in the number of voters compared to other local issues that the community has voted on. This lack of participation is a growing problem in modern society, as fewer and fewer people

FHNTODAY.COM PAGE BY EMILY WILSON

09.23.15

participate in government on the local, state and national levels.

If you were to look in an American government textbook, one of the first things you’d find is that one of the biggest threats to democracy is limited participation in government, yet 93 percent of Americans say that democracy is the best form of government. Why is it that 93 percent of people say that democracy is the best form of government, but then only 12 percent or less participate in the form of government that they say is the best?

So, why is that number so low? Why aren’t people going to the polls on election day? According to Missouri state Representative Bryan Spencer, there is a variety of different reasons why people don’t go out to vote, all the way from not having enough time to not even caring. So the question has to be asked, why should people be getting out to vote?

Maybe some people don’t vote because they just don’t care.

They don’t care who will be making the decisions for their

N

S Editors-in-Chief: Priscilla Joel Bennett Smallwood Business Manager: Austin Ferguson Business: Brandon McCarty Editors: Sports Editor: Garret Griffin Opinions Editor: Anthony Kristensen Copy Editor: Zoe Lawson Design Editor: Erika Paar Content Editor: Jamie Hetlage General Staff: David Bodden Erin Levins Claire Boenitz Joe Luley McKayla Bodga Kylie Moser Dan Borrelli Samantha Schmid Deidre Dinkins Karis Skaggs Aly Doty Ethan Slaughter Carolynn Gonzalez Noah Slaughter Sasha Kaganov Breighen Williams Riley Kampff Emily Wilson Editor in Chief of Photography: Alyssa Savage Photo Editors: Photo Essay Editor: Abby Temper Newspaper Photo Editor: Amanda Eckhard Yearbook Photo Editor: Ashton Stegman Sports Photo Editor: Lauren Price Portrait Editor: Madi Graves

(Cartoon by Joe Luley)

community, their state, or their country. Maybe some people take it as a joke and that’s why Donald Trump is leading in all of the Republican polls. Maybe people are too lazy to get up and go to the polls to decide what happens in their community, their state, or their country. Maybe, just maybe, it’s time people start getting involved in the elections on all levels, from the local community all the way to Washington D.C. You may ask yourself if your vote even matters.

You may be asking yourself “does my vote even count for anything?” The simple answer to that question is yes. There have been a number of elections that have come down to an extremely small number of votes, such as the 1960 presidential vote in Hawaii, in which the voters decided by a margin of only 115 votes that saw John F. Kennedy take the state over Richard Nixon. Also, in the 1916 presidential election, Woodrow Wilson won the state of New Hampshire over Charles Evans Hughes by a margin of 56 votes, or 0.0628317 percent, to win the 13 electoral points that would prove to be pivotal in his run for reelection. So before you tell yourself that your vote doesn’t matter, remember that history proves you wrong on a large amount of occasions.

Maybe people don’t vote because they don’t have time due to the short hours that voting booths are

left open. This is a growing problem that we as a community need to work towards getting fixed, as polls remain open only for a few hours on Election Day. There needs to be a change here so more people have time so they can get involved in the community, as said

by FHN government teacher William Crow. The hours that polls are open need to be increased, not only on a local level, but on the state and national levels as well. Would this have changed the outcome of Prop Y? Who knows, maybe more people that supported the proposition could have made it to the voting booths and the district wouldn’t be facing the massive cuts and uncertainty that we face now.

Whatever the reason may be, the number of people that vote on issues needs to be drastically increased.

People need to get involved. How, you may ask? By getting educated on the issues that we face as a community, state and nation. By getting educated on the issues, you can then go on to educate others on why they should vote the way that you’re going to vote. Then, on Election Day, go to the polls. Encourage your friends to go to the polls. So, get out there and stay involved. Don’t take democracy for granted, in other places around the world, people are treated like pigs going to slaughter and have no say in the government, which is why you need to get involved.

Photographers: Samantha Alexander Hannah Medlin Ashleigh Barlow Kyra Peper Jessie Define Kristen Pike Emily Floyd Aleah Riley Sarah Gerrelts Alexis Rowe Jared Kinnard Lucas Tabaka Alex Lane Tristan Tainter Riley McCrackin Katie Warsham

FHNTODAY STAFF Web Editors: Webmaster: Chase Meyer Online Sports Editor: Garret Griffin Web Staff: Michal Basford Martin Groves Josh Cage Jacob Lintner Tristan Chenoweth Joe Luley Zach Mills Editor-in-Chief of Video: Autumn Todd Video Editors: Kyle Cuppy Brayton Larson Video Staff: Alyssa Barber Joseph Samuels Laraya Griffith Taylor Sheridan Destiny King Ilona Soininen Ben Moxley Sydney Weber Adam Quigley Kamila Zendran Advisers: Aaron Manfull Jordyn Kiel

FHNTODAY.COM

PAGE BY EMILY WILSON

09.23.15

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#FHNHOCO15: Pep Assembly

Studline performs during the annual pep assembly.

Studline wored on their routine for two weeks. “My favorite part about Studline is performing with all the guys and showing our school what we have been working on for two weeks,� Kristina McKay said. (Photo by Alyssa Savage) Senior McKenzie Allen kisses a pig during the pep assembly on Sept 17.

The cheerleaders raised money for their sport. The cheerleader that raised the most money had to kiss a pig. (Photo by Alyssa Savage) Sophomore Madison Owens stands in an extension during the varsity cheer performence.

The varsity cheerleaders performed after the ping pong mini game. After the cheerleaders performed, homecoming court was announced. (Photo by Amanda Eckhard)

Cody Majesky, Emily Zerbonia, Dan Borrelli, and Kristen Pike pose for a picture after they were announced junior homecoming court. (Photo by Riley McCrackin) Senior Courtney Laughin participates during a mini game.

The goal of the mini game was to get as many ping pon balls out of the kleenex box within a few minutes. The seniors won and beat the juniors by one ball. (Photo by Amanda Eckhard)