Fort Outpost - December 2021

Fort Outpost December 2021

Girls Cross Country Finishes Fourth at State Championships

www.sites.google.com/trapper-times

Also in this issue: Q&A with Principal Scheidel New staff at Fort Fun things to do during Winter Break

contributors.

Isaac Dennett - Editor in Chief

advisor.

I enjoy writing fun stories and drawing. I love to share feelings through art. I enjoy reading and hearing the stories of others. I love space and cosmic events.

from the

Jennifer Fay

Welcome BACK to the Fort Outpost newspaper

T

he Fort Outpost has a long and the amazing things happening at

Don’t have time to come to a meeting every

our school. The newspaper went

week but still want to contribute? No problem,

away several years ago and now

you can email your submission (or just a great

it’s back. What was once a class is

suggestion) to jennifer.fay@vansd.org and we’ll

now a club that any Fort student

find room to print your piece.

can join to learn about the world News involves getting information into the hands of the people who want it. That can be

Now, you might be saying that you’re not a

on a worldwide scale, a national stage, or right

writer. That’s ok, there are plenty of other jobs

in your own community. Anyone who writes

integral to the production of the newspaper.

for a newspaper, works in television news, or

The six students you see to the right of this

broadcasts on the radio got a start in their high

article worked to research their topics, write

school journalism club. Don’t miss your chance

stories, and make sure appropriate photos

to join!

were available for use. They even began learning skills like design, layout, and publishing

The Journalism Club meets at 2:10pm on

software to finish the newspaper.

Thursdays in the Aerobics Room. Bring your great ideas, your enthusiasm, and your

Right now, I’m looking for students who are

Chromebooks.

interested in helping make sure the student body at Fort Vancouver High School gets the

My name is Paul, I’m a freshman. I’m a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, I love cooking and sketching and I’m always open for a chat. :)

that are happening.

storied history of chronicling all

of journalism.

Paul Lopez-Martinez - Writer

information they need to make school a better

Jennifer Fay

place by promoting all the wonderful things

Advisor - Journalism Club

Amy Nguyen - Writer I’m a first-generation Vietnamese American in my family and I like to read books for fun.

My favorite book is “A Very Large Expanse of Sea” by Tahereh Mafi.

Christian Golden - Writer I’m half black and half Japanese. I enjoy doing sports, especially track and I like being able to do new things.

Alee McQuaid - Writer When I’m not writing for the newspaper, I enjoy spending time with cats and eating Spam-flavored churros.

Jennifer Rosales-Olivas - Writer I am an avid speed knitter and love collecting stickers. My favorite cartoon character is Scooby Doo.

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inside this

issue.

social. let’s get

December 2021

Fort Four Cards

School Lunch

04.

The Fort Four is something that is talked about a lot around school but isn’t recognized by many students. Now, Fort is bringing back something for the interest of all students. It is called the Fort Four recognition ticket and they will be given to all the teachers.

How do you feel about the meals at our school? Many students are unhappy and new studies show that better food could help improve test scores at Fort!

Jordan Massinger The new Dean of Students at Fort has a lot of educational and coaching experience. Alee McQuaid stopped by to learn a little more about Mr. Massinger.

The teachers will hand these out to people when they see actions that are the definition of what the Fort Four means. When you get the card go to the security office to get a prize of a gift card and if you’re lucky, you can get picked in a raffle to get some Fort merchandise.

07.

The Fort Four includes: • Character • Community • Excellence

School Violence

08.

• Equity

School violence is a problem that Fort Vancouver High School has been dealing with for a very long time. Principal Scheidel is looking to make things better.

Fall Sports The fall season was a successful one for athletes at Fort Vancouver.

The biggest round of applause goes to our girl’s Cross Country team, which placed 4th at state!

We, (Isaac and Christian) interviewed Annie Wilkerson, the Discipline Clerk, about the Fort Four cards. She said to ask your teachers and see if they support the Fort Four cards.

Spread the word about these cards! There are many rewards you could get if you get drawn from the box of people who got a card at the end of the month. Take the card to the security office to get a chance to get drawn!

12.

Keep in touch . twitter.com/ fvhs_cis

Rest

the of the stories.

03. Fort Four Cards 06. GSA Club 09. New Staff - Part 1 10. Winter Break activities 11. Holiday recipes

03

facebook.com/ fortcis

google.com/ fortcis

pinterest.com/ fortcis

BY ISAAC DENNETT

Opinion: The Problem with School Lunch

Special thanks to: Ms. Perroni and all the lunch staff for their hard work.

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he food at schools in the Vancouver School District is not great, and some would say it’s unacceptable. The food doesn’t taste good, can be harmful and stale, and is a waste. What many people don’t know is that the substandard fare can affect student morale, may damage student health, and may do even more in the long run.

Honorable Mention Before we get into this topic, I need to say some things. The lunch ladies do so much for us! They make the food, prep breakfast, clean things up, and even cheer your day up! This food problem is NOT their fault. It’s the fault of the system. The lunch people are overworked, underpaid, and they have to prepare all the food, package it, and more in the shortest amount of time imaginable.

It’s the district’s fault for sourcing the food (finding the food for cooking).

If the rice was dry, they purchased dry rice. If your apple is too cold, that is a refrigeration problem. It’s also not their fault the school doesn’t use much money fixing equipment. Do them a favor and GIVE THEM A THANKS! They will love it.

The Food This isn’t a debate, it’s a simple criticism from the students who eat the school

meals. This can be problematic for some whose days go from amazing to awful in a matter of seconds. Many of you reading this article agree with me.

We have data from students, (https://forms. gle/HWyaard94UzpC8iL9). You can do that form if you still want to add your opinion.

An anonymous student had this to say about the food; “It sucks. I eat it cause I have to, not any reason else. And sometimes, I don’t even do that! Sometimes I just decide to throw it away. It’s not worth the suffering.”.

I respect the lunch ladies for cooking, but I wish the food was sourced better. ~Anonymous Student

Other students want more vegan and vegetarian options.

Is the food harmful?

We have seen a few cases of what appears to be mold on some of the food products that people ate during this school year. This appears to be exactly what it sounds like, a fluke. But, this issue cannot be dismissed.

At least 11 people have had moldy food, and it always comes from bread. Our school system needs to evaluate and take a look at this before it becomes harmful.

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The food is free I mean, from the points above it is not the best food out there, but how is it getting paid for? From the official vansd.org website, we have; “Free meals will be available to all VPS students learning in person at school this year thanks to the United States Department of Agriculture.” This is a grant, a gift, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, giving the ability to get free food for all students. USDA is funded through the annual Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies appropriations bill.

That means this food is being paid for by taxes. That means, even you, might be throwing away taxpayer dollars.

This is a big problem. It’s not your fault, the food is crummy, we all know. But, it’s a problem. We need a switch. We need better food that gives nutrients, improves student happiness, and fills hungry stomachs. Not the trash can. This is a problem that needs to be fixed, and you haven’t even seen the mindset part of it.

Good food could improve test scores According to www.brookings.edu; “On average, student test scores are 0.03 to 0.04 standard deviations higher (about 4 percentile points). Not only that, the test score increases are about 40 percent larger for students who qualify for reduced-price or free school lunches..”

Maybe these school lunches are good enough. But, I think they aren’t. We need higher quality food. Right now, we aren’t doing this well enough. Right now, students are throwing food in the trash (roughly 75 percent of their food), and students consistently think the food is a two-star meal.

Scores here at FVHS have the potential to be improved. Student suggestions for improving the food (and potentially test scores) include: •

A district-wide survey asking for the favorite foods

•

Higher quality

•

Varied quantities of food (some need more, some less)

•

Kids want more choices, and food diversity!

Thank you for reading. I want your help in trying to fix this problem!

If we ask enough, someone will listen. Your test scores could be on the line! Help us fix this, and let’s get higher quality food! Thanks for reading Trappers!

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Gay Straight Alliance

By Amy Nguyen A growing body of research confirms that the presence of a GSA has a positive and lasting effect on student health, wellness, and academic performance. It can also protect students from harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and improve school climates for all students in the long-term.

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he GSA is a club here at Fort Vancouver. The club advisor for GSA is Ms. Svangren, she is in room 240. GSA meets on every Tuesday after school in room 240 and on Thursday during second lunch for those who cannot meet on Tuesday.

GSA is a club welcomed for all student’s no matter their race, sexuality, and religion.

GSA’s goal is to make Fort a welcoming and safe environment for LGBTQ students.

You can join GSA by contacting Ms.Svangren.

What we discuss in GSA is how we can make Fort more welcoming for LGBTQ students.

LGBTQ Author There is a big chance that

in school you’ve never heard of James Baldwin.

You may be wondering, who is James Baldwin?

James Baldwin, whose full name is Arthur Baldwin, lived August, 2 1924 December 1, 1987, and was a Black activist and author Baldwin is known for his book Giovanni’s Room about a man torn between his love for a man and women.

Another one of Baldwin’s popular books is Notes of a Native Son which is ten essays by Baldwin, talking about racism in America and Europe.

Oldest of nine, Baldwin was raised in Harlem, New York. He spent most of his time outside of high school preaching in a small revivalist church (“James Baldwin”). Baldwin was influential because he wrote about racial issues and LGBTQ issues.

Learn more about james baldwin You should check out some of James Baldwin’s books or articles about him, it’s always nice to see other LGBTQ acitivists that are people of color.

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jordan massinger

Alee McQuaid sat down with the new Dean of Students at Fort Vancouver High School. He said he’s dedicated to helping students with whatever support they might need.

Alee McQuaid: Do you have a family?

I’m here for the students if they need, but, uh, I think we’re just working on what that process looks like.

Jordan Massinger: I’ve been married to my wife Caitlin for five years. We have two children: Clay is my one and a half year old son; Arya is my four year old daughter.

AM: Can you describe your occupation and what you do day to day?

AM: What are some things you do in your free time?

JM: I’m the Dean of Students, so my job is to support students. Whether they might need academic, behavioral or attendance related support. I call families on a daily basis. I worked together and worked for the administrative team to support their needs.

They have things that come up, but also lean on them for a lot of support when I need it, which is pretty much all day, every day, um, myself and many staff, we try to keep kids in class for the safety and also for the wellbeing of their future, because we know that it’s all about on-time graduation.

JM: My free time is pretty much spent on daddy duties. You know, yesterday, I had a full on fancy tea party with the earrings, the hairband and, uh, you know, whatever fancy clothes she bestows upon me. If I have extra free time, um, once in a while, we do the old fashioned date night; I think my wife and I have gone on two dates in the last year.

AM: What are some things that you’d want the students to know about you?

JM: This will be my 14th year working in education. I’ve taught elementary from kindergarten up to sixth grade over the last 13 years. And I’ve coached sports from fiveyear-olds up to high school, varsity basketball and others. I’m very easy going. I understand that students in high school want to feel respected and I agree with that.

So as long as we can find a mutual understanding from each other, I’m very reasonable. If any adults are on your case, I think it’s because they’re trying to do their best to help you students be successful. We don’t always remember what it’s like to be 14, 18, and we don’t always, um, you know, bring our best, most patient selves.

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Administration looking at violence at school by: Paul Lopez-Martinez School violence is a problem that Fort Vancouver High School has been dealing with for a very long time. It's a problem we all need to learn how to manage and one day stop if we want others to feel safe in Fort Vancouver High School.

Most of the students in Fort (or any high school for that matter) have not been able to adjust to high school life, most of us are still living in the middle school years and haven't learned to resolve issues without physical altercations. I find that many people are troubled due to the amount of time that they spend alone with their families. We all need to learn how to deal with our troubles in a healthy and non-physical way.

More often than not, fights on school grounds are a result of misunderstandings and problems in one's personal life. To slow the rising rate of fights in our school, we all must learn how to communicate better with one another and keep our school life and personal life separate. It can be tough but teachers and staff are here to help. You can see your counselor if you need extra support, and if you suspect a fight will happen (for any reason at all), tell someone you trust.

I took a few minutes to chat with Principal Curt Scheidel about how the administration might handle the situation at Fort Vancouver.

Q. What do you think is the best way to keep the School violence at bay?

A. They believe the best way to keep the fight down is to give our students the feeling of being wanted and comfort during these hard times (aka Covid).

because of covid. Right now this moment, we are trying to find the right needs for each student, but it’s kinda hard right now since everything feels out of place this year. Let’s keep in mind that the number of students that use violence to solve their problems is low, but the number of students that are happy to be in school this year is quite high.

Q. What do you think is the reason for all this school violence that is going on right now?

A. I think the reason for this is because most of our students are hurting because of what has happened with covid and the things that are going on at home and around them. This leaves them with a place where they need to let it go and most of the time they let it go at school. It’s something which they can’t do (or not allowed to do so) because this puts people (Staff and students) in the way of getting hurt.

Q. How do you feel about this school year?

A. I think this school year has been a bit hard since we have masks and emotions can’t really come across because our faces are covered.

Q. Is it true that most of the fights that have been happening are by freshmen/ Do you know what grade level has been causing most of the arguments?

A. To be honest we are self don’t really know what grade level causing most of the fights, but what we do know is that are Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors (Mostly F&S) haven’t really had the whole High School experience and maybe feeling a bit out of place.

Q. How do you feel about the current situation regarding school violence?

A. The last couple of weeks have been hard/stressful. We have been in school for a couple of months now, kids just got back and their minds are in a different place because of how last school year was (remote learning). Many of our students are dealing with trauma that they received during covid and

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JANET HALBERT - MS. HALBERT - ROSETTA STONE TEACHER “Many languages, One World.” - Ms. Halbert Favorite Color: Green Favorite Food: Thai Food Favorite Treat: Chocolate Ice Cream Favorite Hobby: Reading In Spanish Ms. Halbert also teaches at I-Tech 3-6 period.

Ms. Halbert teaches using the Rosetta stone program. The Rosetta stone program is a program that can help students learn a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. language!

Ms. Halbert is very excited to meet the diverse student population here, so give her a visit at room 380!

She only teaches here from 1st-2nd periods, so try to catch her then.

NEW STAFF MEMBERS - Part 1

AARON PIERCE - MR. P OR PIERCE - WELDING TEACHER

BRAN HANSEN - MR. HANSEN - ENGLISH TEACHER

“Welding is the only class where you can play with fire” - Pierce

“Literature is the lens you look at the world through” - Isaac

This is Mr. P’s 18th year teaching, but first year here. He has spent 14 years teaching at Hudson’s Bay, and 3 years in oregon.

Favorite Color: Red

Here at Fort, he teaches 9th Grade English, and Junior English. He has been teaching for 9 years now. He has taught Crime Literature, Mythology, 9th English, Juniors English, and Academy English.

Favorite Food: Ice Cream

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Hobby: Spending time with family

Favorite Food: Steak

Mr. P always wanted to become a welding teacher. He loves hands on, and feels in his element near construction. He used to do commercial construction too. According to him, his favorite thing at Fort is his shop… so why don’t some of you do welding next year! He says

Favorite Treat: Chocolate

“As long as you gotta be at school, why don’t you take the best class?”

If you go, he says to be ready to work, even though it is fun. All work, all play.

He has worked at Skyview, and he’s from Skyview. He says this year, to not sweat the small stuff.

He is the Baseball Coach here, so do that! The class he wants to come here is Crime Literature, a senior class. He says that it is by far the most interesting language class at Skyview. He also teaches in the law room, so if you want to visit him, go to room number 130!

If you want to look at the welding room and talk with Mr. P, the welding room is room number 430.

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Winter Break Activities

Do you want some recipes? We asked Mr. Finnie for some recipes, and we got the best he has! The top ones are on the next page!

When winter break starts, you might get bored without the daily grind of school.

But, we got some fun things for you to do during winter break!

• Winter Break is December 18th thru January 2nd • Organize a movie watching party with friends • Make some winter related dishes • Play some games with family • Read a book • Draw some of the special winter environment that you can only see during this season

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BANANA BREAD MUFFINS WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS Do you want to be healthy, but you want to eat chocolate too?

Same! Here is a muffin recipe, with a treat of chocolate chips!

Ingredients: 2 ripe bananas (about 1 ¼ cups) mashed with a fork 1/3 cup vegetable oil (or butter melted) 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (or white sugar) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional) 1 large egg, beaten 1 teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt 1 ½ cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup chocolate chips Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

In a medium size bowl the bananas and mash until smooth. Add in the oil (or butter), sugar, vanilla, and egg, and stir until well combined.

In a separate bowl stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the banana mixture along with the chocolate chips and stir just until combined. Do not over mix.

Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full. Top with additional chocolate chips if desired.

Bake for 15 -18 minutes or until muffin top is set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool completely before serving.

CINNAMON ROLL BISCUITS Ingredients:

Ingredients:

For the Biscuits:

For the Filling:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tbs. melted butter

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp salt 1/4 cup cold shortening or butter 3/4 cup milk Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium bowl stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Cut in the cold butter or shortening until crumbly consistency is achieved.

Add the milk all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together.

Turn out dough on a lightly-floured surface and fold the dough over four folds only. Next pin or press out the dough into an approximate 9x12-inch rectangle.

Brush the dough with the melted butter. Stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, then sprinkle evenly over the surface of the dough. Starting at one of the long sides, roll the dough into a cylinder. Score and then cut the cylinder into 8 to10 equal pieces. Next transfer to a parchment lined sheet pan.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown. Whisk together the powdered sugar and milk and drizzle the icing over the biscuits.

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Girls Soccer

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Cross Country Send-off to state meet

FALL SPORTS ROUNDUP

he Fort Cross Country team has made it to the State Championships!

After doing great in District, this cross country team has made it far.

They had 13 people sent to the state championships, and they did great! We interviewed some of the athletes on their team; Emma Cortez, Shelby Willett, And Dylan Brooks. Me (Isaac) and Paul interviewed, and we got the nice picture from their team. They are very proud of what they did.

make sure to give one of them a HIgh Five!

Swimming Recap The Trapper times got a personal statement from the swimming coach Sarah Dunn!

“The boys X-Country hasn’t had this many people go to state since 1966, so this is a huge accomplishment for us.”

We had a good state meet. We tapered last week for districts in order to qualify for state. Tapering is where your workouts get significantly easier so your body is more rested and recovered without losing any aerobic endurance & speed you’ve built over the season. Swimmers taper before a big meet to go faster times. We needed to taper for districts in order to improve our times to make state and our taper for districts was right on! Everyone went at least 1 best time, if not more, and everyone placed well. It’s hard to carry that taper into a second week like we did for state, especially if you race longer events, but everyone sprinted well at state. Our 200 free relay dropped 3 seconds overall! That’s considered a sprint because each person swims a 50 freestyle and each relay member went a season best time at state. It was exciting!

The X-Country team worked really hard this season, so if you see one of them in the hall,

I’m really proud of our Fort swimmers overall this season. We had a great group- all levels.

“Competing in state, accomplishment.”

it’s

a

huge

There are a few very special things that happened. The girls team got 4th! The top 4 get a trophy in state, and get to stand on the podium! The Athlete of the week (according to the Colombian) is Dani Buttrell, who goes to VSAA, but competes with Fort for athletics.

Her award was given at the State Meet by one of the Sports Writers; Micah Rice.

Winter sports have started register today!

Our first year swimmers (Keegan Houlten (Fr.), Julieanna Raines (Fr.), Alecia Kitchen (Fr.), Brooklyn Costanza (So.), Thalya Naone (So.), Hannah Coffey (Fr.), Molly Pendleton (So.), Nadia Phelps (Fr.)) made incredible improvements. We took 6 swimmers to districts: all of our 2nd year swimmers (Grace Peterson (Jr.), Karis Zumpano (Jr.), Quinn Perea (So.), Rebekah Cook (So.)) and three 1st year swimmers Nadia Phelps, Thalya Naone & Hannah Coffey. We had 4 swimmers go to state: Nadia Phelps (Fr.), Hannah Coffey (Fr.), Quinn Perea (So.) & Karis Zumpano (Jr.). Nadia qualified by placing in the top 5 in the 500 free at districts and received a wild card for the 200 free. Our relay was allocated by wild card as well.

Girls Soccer Recap According to coach David Schaefer, the FV Girls Soccer Team made some major accomplishments this season! Our record was 4-10, including a 1-0 win over King’s Way Christian in our first game. We were competitive in every game we played. We scored 19 goals altogether this year! We were led by a strong group of seniors, including Shirley Diaz Ramirez, Kassie Dorantes, Lizandra Hernandez, Aylin Mijares and Vanessa Villa. They will be greatly missed next year, but we are returning a big group of strong players. We can’t wait to get back on the field next year!