Orange & Black March 2020 Special Issue

Not Such a Frayed CONNECTION In this special issue, O&B showcases people at GJHS and the stories that tie us together

table of contents

INTERTWINED

THREADS

Be The Change You Want To See Two seniors reveal their personal encounters with discrimination and their plans to change it | page 8

Merlin Raleigh Carlton makes his passion for printmaking into an award-winning clothing brand| page 7

Get Your Game On Sophomore Dean Withers is a “Fortnite� streamer and an online influencer |page 11

Behind the Scenes Genisis Allen shares her experience in theatre tech, stage makeup and chorus | page 14

Vietnam to Grand Junction How Krystal Hoang stays connected with her Vietnam roots after moving to America| page 12

Unique Knick Knacks Students find comfort in items close to their heart|page 18

TikTok Star on the Rise|page 19

The Man in Black Logan Martin dives into what his daily attire means to him | page 27

United We Stand GJHS freshman leads GSA| page 20 Banding Together Students from Fruita Monument High School make a name for themselves in local music | page 23

11

graphics by carson pope

TIES

To New Beginnings Maddy Alonzo shares her story about becoming a teenage mom at the beginning of her junior year | page 4 For Dale Memories of an uncommon friendship linger and inspire| page 17 Change is Coming Students are tackling politics through GVSU| page 20 Home on the Range Ronalee Massey describes life on the ranch| page 22 More Than a Face in the Hallways Super Senior by choice, Jacob Miller has made a mark on GJHS| page 28 Through the Lens GJHS head custodian Andrew Bigler talks custodial life and love for photography| page 29

STRANDS

Moving On and Moving Forward A student shares her experiences overcoming adversity from mental health issues and drug addiction| pages 5-6 Not Only a Passion but a Lifestyle Jonas Bercume talks skateboarding and how it’s not just a passion but a lifestyle| page 13 Finding Sootsey Taking a walk in a homeless student’s past | pages 15-16 Into the Mind of Anthony Booth Senior Anthony Booth shares his experience as a high school student | page 24 Going Above and Beyond Able Martinez takes college level classes and is not your average student| page 25 Studio Time GJHS Senior Ron Mai Dao elaborates on his life and future in the art studio | page 26 Passing On Strength Sophomore Claudia Eggers expresses how hard it is to lose a loved one | page 30 2

A letter from the editors...

Generations of students come through GJHS without being noticed.

This school is filled with people who are so incredibly unique and they deserve to be showcased.

The Orange and Black decided to introduce just a few of these people to our fellow students. We believe that there is more to a person than just a name or how they look. We want GJHS to take a deeper look and get to know the people who share these hallways with.

Our society has become so engaged in technology that we forget to take the time to meet those around us. After reading the Orange and Black’s special edition, we hope that you feel like you have met a few new people in your life.

These unique individuals have all had experiences that make them stand out. GJHS has students filled with all kinds of talent. The students that stood out to us range from a student who has developed their own unique sense of style to students going through major life-changing challenges.

As journalists, we sought these students out to tell their stories and ask the questions you have. The Orange and Black is here to answer

The Orange & Black Staff Editors-in-Chief Delaney Kidd Madi Martinez

them.

We’d like to thank everyone who has been willing to talk to us. These students have been kind enough to share their stories, so our staff is kindly asking to respect these people’s privacy. It took a huge amount of courage to share such personal journeys, so remember they are human alike to everyone else, so we should treat them that way.

We’d also like to thank our talented reporters, photographers and editors for sticking with this issue. The amount of effort the staff puts into making a great issue amazes us every time.

These student journalists are real journalists, who just happen to be balancing school at the same time.

As our staff continues to grow, we would love to hear about the students who we missed in this issue. The Orange and Black has set a goal to always better ourselves so hearing your advice will be greatly beneficial.

We enjoy learning new students and sharing these unique people with our readers. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us and tell us other fellow students who stand out at GJHS.

Page Editors Jared Hanks Callie Shea McKenna Bryant

Online Editor Sophie Middlemas

Promotions Director Zach Shettler

Reporters Annika Sisac Ashley Guddat Bre Kircher Alyssa Williams Elise Fero Riley Pope Claudia Eggers Izzy Cornelison

Photography Editor Bree Peet

Photographers Nick Rojas

Graphic Artists Carson Pope Bree Kircher

Madi Martinez and Delaney Kidd

Adviser Megan Fromm

Policy The Orange & Black, a legally recognized public forum for student expression, is published four to six times a year by the digital publishing and news magazine class for students of Grand Junction High School. Expression made by students in the exercise of the freedom of speech or freedom of press is not an expression of District 51 school board policy. The views expressed in The Orange & Black do not necessarily represent the views of the entire staff, adviser, GJHS administration or the School District 51 administration. Board policy regarding student publications (JICE, JICE-R) is available in the journalism room (Rooms 140-141) or in the principal’s office.

Letters to the Editor The Orange & Black welcomes and encourages 3

letters to the editors. This is a chance to express your viewpoint on important issues. Letters should be limited to 250 words.

They will be edited for space and legal considerations, but not for inaccuracies, grammar or spelling. Letters must contain information pertinent to the students of GJHS. The staff retains the right to not publish any letter not meeting these requirements. Unsigned letters will not be published. Please submit typed letters in person to Room 140-141 or via mail or to megan.fromm@d51schools.org Cost Single copies free. Where available, additional copies of this paper are available for purchase for 50 cents each. Contact The Orange & Black for more information. Taking more than one copy of this paper with the intent to prevent other individuals from reading this edition of the paper is prohibited

(C.R.S. 18-4-419). Violators, subject to prosecution and penalty under C.R.S. 13-21-123, will be prosecuted.

Contact The Orange & Black, Grand Junction High School, 1400 N. Fifth St., Grand Junction, CO 81501.

Phone: 970-254-6929. FAX: 970-254-6973.

Website: OandBnews.com.

Adviser e-mail: megan.fromm@d51schools.org Some material courtesy of American Society of Newspaper Editors/MCT Campus High School Newspaper Service. © 2020 The Orange and Black Grand Junction High School. All rights reserved.

Cover photo by Bree Peet Back photo by Bree Peet

22

To New Beginnings Maddy Alonzo shares her life story about becoming a teenage mom at the beginning of her junior year photo used with permission by jamie mckee

by madi martinez

S

he is resilient. She is determined.

She has goals. She is loving. She is a teenage mom. There is so much more to Maddy Alonzo than being a teenage mom. She is a smart woman who began her journey into becoming an adult.

Maddy is a mom who has developed such a strong love for someone.

“My favorite part about being a mom is the love. The unconditional love,” Alonzo said.

The sight of Alonzo’s face when she talked about her and her daughters relationship was truly enlightening. It was as if there was a beam of sunshine coming through her smile. Her life has truly “changed for the better,” Alonzo said.

Going from an average day of a teenager to the next day being responsible for another human can completely change your life. This is what happened to Alonzo within the past two years.

“This has been hard. Being a cheerleader for Junction and then becoming a mom was such a big change. Everyone around me can see that I have changed,” Alonzo said.

She was frightened at first about how her family would react, but she knew that they had to be told eventually. As she took a pregnancy test, surrounded by her friends with worried faces, they waited.

Immediately in tears, Alonzo called her mom.

“We are going to get through this together,” Kerry Wells, Alonzo’s mother said.

Others in her life had the opposite reaction. They began to neglect Alonzo, leaving her with a small support system.

Alonzo persevered. She was ready to take on motherhood. She now has a beautiful 9 month old daughter named Elleena.

“Maddy is a wonderful mom. She is so loving with her baby, and she just knows what to do, and if she doesn’t know, she isn’t afraid to ask,” Wells said. “Being a teen mom is hard, one of the hardest things ever, but Maddy has handled it with grace and ease.”

Being a mom is a full time job. Putting a full time job along with school and work becomes incredibly challenging. Alonzo works part time at Zoup and she graduated from Goal Academy. She has plans to continue her education at college in order to provide for Elleena. Alonzo puts her daughter before everything, even herself.

“From the moment I open my eyes I am working, I am a mother, so I am always busy,” Alonzo said.

This pregnancy journey has not only impacted Alonzo, but it has for her mom as well. Alonzo and her mother’s relationship has become much closer. They have gone through so much together, so they can talk about anything. With the stigma surrounding teenage pregnancy they have faced a lot of judgment, yet they have not let it get to them.

“I think there is always a stigma around teen pregnancy. People assume things that aren’t always true. There is also a lot of

parents who kick their teens out of the house when they are pregnant. None of that is true in our case,” Wells said. “I love my daughter and would do anything for her.”

Still, Alonzo wants fellow teenagers to understand that unprotected sex has lifechanging consequences. Having a child will completely take a toll on one’s life. Alonzo’s advice to those her age is to be aware of your actions and to take safe precautions.

“Use protection at all times. Get on birth control and use condoms,” Alonzo said.

Alonzo’s pregnancy affected the family in a lot of ways. It was very stressful at first, Alonzo didn’t have a driver’s license when she was pregnant and there was some complications with the pregnancy that required a lot of appointments, so Well’s had to take time off of work. After Alonzo had the baby her mom took several weeks off so that she could be home with her to help. The pregnancy caused a lot of stress and arguing between the family.

“Her dad was mad at me and blamed me for it, her older brother was mad. But eventually everyone got over it,” Wells said.

Wells did feel judged. In the beginning she was embarrassed to tell people because she was afraid of what they would think or say, but then she had the realization that there is nothing to be ashamed of.

“I am proud of my daughter and all that she has accomplished, and I love my granddaughter more than anything in the world,” Wells said. “I hope that I give her the emotional support that she needs to learn to be a good mom.”

4

Moving on and moving forward A student shares her experiences overcoming adversity from mental health issues and drug addiction photo by bree peet

by zach shettler

L

ucy Foley* did not get the stereotypical high school helped me get up and go to school and things like that.” experience portrayed in books, movies, and TV. Foley During freshman year of high school, Foley was enrolled at has fought for her personal success amidst mental health Palisade High School and was part of the IB Program. The stress of complications and addiction. larger workloads and coping with mental illness presented a new Her education began hitting bumps in the road during third grade, challenge for Foley. She again turned to self-medicating in order to when she was diagnosed with anxiety. focus and complete her school work.

“I would vomit before school because I didn’t want to go. I would “Originally, my intentions were to do better in school. I had get so nervous I would literally throw up,” Foley, senior, said. a lot of work so I would be focused and I have always been a After her anxiety diagnosis, Foley was diagnosed with ADHD in wound-up person, so I would try and calm down. That is how things fifth grade and then Borderline Personality progressed,” Foley said.

Disorder and Reactive Attachment Disorder her Foley was found to be predisposed to “It is hard for me freshman year of high school. addiction which escalated her attempts to focus to move forward “I’ve been on medication for [anxiety and and do well in school.

ADHD] since elementary school, and then in “I think a big misconception people have is sometimes. Actions middle school I still experienced pretty bad that I was just addicted to drugs, which is true, but do speak louder than anxiety,” Foley said.

I think that there was a lot more depth than just According to the Mayo Clinic website, being addicted to drugs,” Foley said. “I think that words, and I really do both Borderline Personality Disorder and it was a struggle with the mental health stuff which believe that with all my Reactive Attachment Disorder have symptoms brought along the addiction, but then the addiction that cause separation anxiety like issues as is what started to make me do a lot of things that heart.” well as problems communicating and holding were extremely selfish and inappropriate for Lucy Foley, senior relationships with others. me to be doing such as lying, stealing, and other “[Reactive Attachment Disorder and things like that which really screwed with all of my Borderline Personality Disorder] makes relationships with family and friends.” somebody sensitive and wound-up. Reactive attachment is when you Addiction was yet another bump in the road for Foley to do not want someone to leave you. I still get wound-up if I am in a overcome. She said the complications stemming from Borderline fight with somebody I love,” Foley said.

Personality Disorder and Reactive Attachment Disorder combined Foley said middle school brought her first experiences of being with coping with addiction caused ripples in her social and family life. surrounded by others who used drugs. Foley describes herself as “When I was high, I would raise hell. I was kind of a ticking time impulsive, which led to her trying marijuana. Foley then began selfbomb. If someone said something even unintentionally that I did not medicating with marijuana because it helped settle her anxiety. like I would go off or get defensive,” Foley said.

“Marijuana really helped with anxiety,” Foley said. “[It] really Foley has a twin brother who attends Palisade High School. Her

*Editor’s Note: Upon her own choice, and after notifying her family, Lucy ultimately chose to keep her name in the story because 5 she does not want to shy away from her past. She wants to own everything she has done so that she can rise above it.

tendencies to cause issues created a tough environment at home. focused on volunteering for groups such as Girls on the Run, making “I really feel bad because I have a twin brother who is really amends with friends and family, and even speaking at churches and smart, and I made his environment really other gatherings for her past rehab company. Foley hard. I feel like I made it really hard for my said that she does not want to be secretive about her brother to have a space to learn and grow. story and that she wants to tell it for others to hear, “That whole moment I think that was really unfair of me to do,” especially if they need help. told me if I keep down Foley said.

Throughout therapy, she learned to be honest Along with causing problems with her to everybody, herself included. She now spends this path it would brother, Foley also said she had to work time making phone calls and writing letters to those dehumanize myself. I through many issues with her mother. Foley she hurt. She acknowledges every detail of any look back and stay up explained how a small part of the issues wrongs or inappropriate actions she committed and stemmed from her mother strongly pushing apologizes profusely for them. at night thinking about Foley and her brother to succeed because After arriving home, Foley decided to reconnect all the stuff I have done, with her childhood friend, Kate Hayde. The two she wanted the best for them. For Foley, the pressure affected her anxiety. friends experienced troubles the first couple years of and I do not want any “She pushed us very hard but I do not high school. more of that on my think it is her fault. She was trying her “[Lucy and I] decided to meet up and talk things best. Parenting styles work different. That out,” Kate Hayde, senior, said. “I was definitely conscience.” parenting style works great for my brother nervous to see her again, but as soon as we did meet Lucy Foley, senior but it did not work for me at all. It is not her I realized how much I had missed having her in my fault,” Foley said. life. We had been inseparable growing up and I did Foley’s father died when she was 2 not realize how much I had missed her.” years old and Foley said her mother is amazing and that she is very Hayde still views Foley as a trusted confidant regardless of past strong as a single mother. Foley’s trouble with Reactive Attachment issues. They were able to work through their past together. While Disorder made confrontations with her mother hard. The end result Hayde said she had some frustrations to work through, she still cared has created many regrets for Foley. about Foley and was happy that Foley reached out to her.

“I was extremely disrespectful to her for almost no reason other Foley wants to move forward from her past and pursue her future. than just because I was high,” Foley said.

Foley is resilient against false labels such as “crackhead” and rumors Foley’s self-described impulsive nature created problems in her about her life. Foley has learned to own her past and pursue ways to social life, as well. Foley said she has emotionally hurt many people. be better and create a future for herself.

Her nature compounded with her mental health issues and addiction “[Lucy] has always been a fighter,” Hayde said. “I have no doubt led to legal issues which landed her at a wilderness therapy that she will continue to fight to get her life back on track.” program.

Foley is expected to graduate on schedule and will be looking to Foley stayed at the wilderness therapy program for 16 weeks. enter trade school after graduation. Foley does not want to enter The tough program included hiking 12 miles a day from campsite to college because she wants to protect her mental health. Everyday campsite. Foley received elective credits because of the grueling 12 Foley makes choices to protect herself and ensure she does not fall mile long hikes during which Foley spent time reflecting on her life. down a dark path. Foley now attends Grand Junction High School Modern luxuries, such as showers, were limited. Participants also had after deciding to start fresh. She is working to make decisions that to cook their own food, build their own tents, and learn how to build ensure her safety and that protect those she loves. Foley is currently their own fire. working to begin her adult life built on the foundations of honesty, “We got the grossest food,” Foley said. “It was so bad.” positive actions, and helping others.

Therapists would travel to the different campsites and held group “I am not proud of my past, but at the same time I do not know if I and personal sessions. There would also be different weekends would completely change it,” Foley said. “My hope now is that I can where parents were allowed to travel up so that participants could help other people who need help.” have therapy with their parents.

“I think it scared the s*** out of me and it really shut me up,” Foley said. “It also gave me a sense of capability. After I graduated from the program, I felt so proud of myself.”

If you or a friend are struggling with After leaving the wilderness program, Foley entered a more substance abuse or mental health these conventional rehab. She was able to take some classes and earn resources can help you. the right to visit home. She did not exhibit bad behavioral issues like other participants of the rehab, so she said she was able to Colorado Crisis Hotline fly under the radar. This led to her smuggling contraband into the (844)-493-8255 or text TALK to 38255 rehab center. Other patients were caught with the contraband, and Foley lied to one of the employees she cared about. She soon had a Mental Health or Substance Abuse Questions change of heart and ended up telling the truth.

(844)-493-8255 “That whole moment told me if I keep down this path it would dehumanize myself. I look back and stay up at night thinking about Mind Springs 24/7 Hotline all the stuff I have done, and I do not want any more of that on my (888) 207-4004 conscience,” Foley said.

After Foley graduated from her second program and came home, she joined a 12-step narcotics anonymous group. Since then, she has

6

photo by annika sisac

Raleigh Carlton turns his passion for printmaking into an award-winning clothing brand by mckenna bryant

7

Approximately two years ago, Senior Raleigh Carlton founded Merlin, a brand of functional ‘’clothing for various shenanigans’’, inspired by the culture of outdoor athletics.

“It kind of built itself around this culture of people that did mountain biking and other sports, and just did crazy stuff,” Carlton said. “I’ve been into art a lot in the last few years. So, [Merlin is] just kind of a next step in my art work.”

After deciding to pursue screen-printing, Carlton became inspired after sketching in a class. He made up his mind that his company should be named after his grandpa, Merlin.

“I was drawing wizards in a math class, you know, I was bored doodling wizards. Then I thought, ‘my grandpa was named Merlin’ and ‘what a strange name to name someone,” Carlton said. “I thought it was weird and different, and that’s why I liked it.”

Carlton first discovered his passion for art in an elective class in middle school. After taking the elective again freshman year, he decided to create small art projects outside of school. As time went on, Carlton acquired a screen-printing press, and began printing his own drawings onto shirts.

Carlton’s printing takes place in his home garage and

involves a screen, frame, and ink. Each print is Carlton’s own customized design.

“The whole brand is mostly built around my group of friends, and the whole culture of what we do over the summer or on the weekend, like skiing or mountain biking” Carlton said. “ The shirts are kind of like a reflection.”

While Carlton is heavily supported by his friends and family, he admits the successes of Merlin did not come easy.

“It’s just hard,” Carlton said. “When you get done with school you don’t have energy to go home and then work for 4 hours on graphics and stuff.”

Carlton soon plans to expand his merchandise beyond shirts and try to print onto other articles of clothing, such as hoodies, pants, and shorts.

“I’d love to do lots of other stuff. I just do shirts right now because they’re easy,” Carlton said. “Right now I’m working on a hoodie. It’s hard to [screenprint on] pants and stuff, but I’d love to.”

Merlin products can be bought on his website, merlin. bigcartel.com, and are also available downtown at High Desert Authentiques retailer. For his creative work, Carlton has received a textile award, and most recently, a scholastic art award.

graphics by bre kircher

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE

Two seniors reveal their personal encounters with discrimination and how they plan to change it by delaney kidd

F

or many students, high school is not a home. Feeling unwelcome and misrepresented is common, especially for students who are a race minority in a town that the majority is white.

“I have to be here because I have to get an education but I don’t feel welcomed,” Kya Hutton, senior, said.

Hutton and Ayriana Ward, senior, notice things every day at Grand Junction High School that creates a toxic culture for themselves and other minorities.

“Any talk about slavery, any talk about civil rights, they’re all going to stare at you,” Hutton said.

Walking through the halls, the same derogatory word can be heard thrown around over and over again.

“Just today, we were walking in the hallway and a white boy yelled the n word because he was mad,” Ward said.

Earlier this year, Hutton and Ward started Diversity League, a club to promote tolerance and diversity at Grand Junction High School. To them, education is the most important part in shutting down recurring racism and discrimination for all minorities.

“It’s always going to be a hard topic but the more you educate yourself in or out of the classroom can help,” Hutton said.

Both Hutton and Ward grew up in predominantly white towns, and are used to racist behavior. According to datausa, Grand Junction has a 78.3 percent white population. For Hutton, her first experience with racism in Grand Junction dates back to middle school when she met a friend’s dad.

“I walked in and introduced myself

to her dad and he didn’t even look at me and told me I needed to go back to where I came from,” Hutton said. Later, Hutton realized she had left a pair of leggings at that friend’s house and went to retrieve them. Once she had left, the dad told his daughter that Hutton had stolen a pair of leggings from her.

“After that both of my friends didn’t like me and had said maybe black people were as bad as they seem,” Hutton said. “They pushed me and my chair and everything I had at lunch one day by the trashcan and said black people deserve less than we do.”

Hutton and Ward took ethnic studies with Christine Spillane and had their eyes opened to the reality that they were facing. That’s when the idea of diversity league came in.

“When I was growing up, my dad used to tell me and my sister, don’t put yourself out there. No one is going to believe the black person. Now, I have chosen to speak up,” Ward said.

Because of recurring issues at school, they knew a change had to be made.

“We had an hour meeting with Mrs. Roenicke and we all agreed that the culture at GJHS needs to change,” Hutton said.

Now, Hutton and Ward believe that they have empowered themselves through the club and their voice.

“I feel more proud of my ethnicity and race because I’m able to talk about it more openly and not let everything that has happened to me affect me,” Ward said.

“I wouldn’t change anything I’ve gone through because it’s made me who I am today and I’m okay with that,” Hutton added.

photos by bree peet

8

Saenz of the

Sixties

Junior Dahlia Saenz talks about why she loves fashion and where her inspiration comes from by sophie middlemas

9

photos by bree peet

T

he halls of GJHS are full of current fashion trends ranging from leggings to ripped jeans, but among all of the ordinary color palettes one person in particular stands out with her colorful wardrobe and loud personality.

“I was really obsessed with the Beatles but I think my main inspiration is the 60’s,” junior Dahlia Saenz said about her fashion. “The subculture that was going on, like hippies and rock and roll, and how it was so rebellious to be swinging your hips around and to be a rockstar. I love that energy when people are screaming and having a good time.”

Saenz’s interest in music extends its influence on fashion.

Saenz currently plays the electric guitar for GJHS’s jazz band and had her own band for a short period of time. “[The band] didn’t work out,” Saenz said. “Me and another member had really different tastes in music. But I do still jam out with some of my friends, like Charles and Mirena. Mirena plays bass so we still do that.”

“I have known Dahlia for about 14 years and [Dahlia] has shown an interest in fashion for as long as I have known her,” said Mirena Moreno, one of Dahlia’s closest friends. “Over the years her style has developed and changed quite a bit.”

Saenz has experimented with everything from tutus and zebra stripe pants in elementary school to dressing like Twiggy in middle school to finding her latest inspiration in 60’s France and 60’s American music subculture when it comes to fashion.

“I would love to be a “Beatle” in the late sixties with the psychedelic prints,” Saenz said. Saenz loves how outrageous the fashion trends of the 60’s and 70’s rock and roll subculture was.

“I would say the other side of my fashion choices all come from 60’s French influences. I love berets and little ties and scarves. My main style inspirations would be John Lennon, George Harrison, David Bowie, and Alexa Chung.” Saenz said.

When it comes to shopping for her unique clothing, Saenz tends to turn towards thrift stores and the internet. “Most of my clothes I thrift, either locally, at Goodwill or Fashion Junkie, or I source a lot of my clothes from either Depop or Poshmark. I’ve found a lot of cool stuff that way,” said Saenz. “I have to find a lot of my clothes on the internet or from really weird brands that some people have probably never even heard of.”

Saenz hopes to continue exploring her fashion sense in the future but doesn’t think she wants to pursue higher education. “I feel like if I were to go to college it wouldn’t be worth it,” said Saenz. “I would have to construct my own work environment after college anyway, so, why not start constructing that environment right after high school. No matter what, I’m going to have to find my own path. I don’t see myself being hired by some corporation and becoming a CEO. I kind of want to David Thoreau it and move to the woods and join like a hippy commune, but, that probably won’t happen because my parents wouldn’t allow it. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.”

Saenz shows off her fun spirits, electric guitar, and her outfit inspired by the 60’s

9

10

ON

GET

YOUR GAME

photos by callie shea

Sophomore Dean Withers is a “Fortnite” streamer and an online influencer by callie shea “You are very good,” his Instagram followers wrote. “Grind, don’t give up this is just the start.”

Dean Withers, sophomore, has been gaming for the past five years. He has dedicated most of his time and energy to that lifestyle.

“I started on Xbox 360 playing “Just Dance.” Then, I got into Call of Duty big time, then competitively and made some money,” Withers said.

Growing up he had his goals set high on making a living off gaming. His family has come to support those goals, but that was not the case at the start of his dreams.

“Both my mom and my dad didn’t really support it,” Withers said. “I feel like I’ve made it more into a career and I’ve started to make money off of it. They’ve started to support me more. They’ve seen it as a viable solution for what I want to do in the future.”

At the moment he is keeping gaming as a side hobby but has hopes that it can be something more as he gets older.

Over the years he has begun to share

11

his abilities with the public and gathered a following on multiple social media platforms.

Withers has collectively over 212K followers on two Instagram accounts.

“I started posting regular videos of me playing fortnite on my Instagram. It eventually took off and I started gaining some popularity,” Withers said.

His drive to constantly post videos and photos on these platforms has made him very successful. This is the source of his motivation to keep doing what he is doing. It is the ultimate gratification to him when he receives love and support from his fans.

“As you grow over time, you learn some tricks. It’s just posting and keeping up with your fanbase, keeping them engaged and bringing more of a personality to the account rather than just clips of me playing video games,” Withers said. As of the beginning of February his videos were receiving over 4,000 views on Instagram.

While maintaining successful social media pages, and excelling in the actual game itself, Withers has taken a liking to computer

science.

“I personally built my own computer. It’s a very high end, high powered processing machine,” Withers said.

In middle school, he found himself enjoying the mechanics and general nature of computers. His interests in them have grown over time along with gaming.

“I feel like they go side by side. I’m keeping up with the technology and computers as well as keeping up with the gaming itself,” Withers said. His technology is roughly worth $10,000.

While gaming has become a big part of Withers’ life, he said he sometimes receives rude comments and backlash from students at GJHS. His reaction is nothing less than graceful.

“I don’t get the best feedback from people at school. I get called ‘gay’ and ‘egotistical.’

For the most part I just disregard [the comments] because I know it’s what I like to do,” Withers said.

Vietnam

a

Grand Junction by ashley guddat

How Krystal Hoang stays connected with her Vietnam roots after moving to America Safety, independence, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, good education. All things we get to enjoy daily yet we often take for granted. Krystal Hoang, however, knows what it’s like to not have these things. She immigrated from Vietnam to the U.S. with her family when she was in third grade.

“My parents wanted us to have a better education, and my grandma sponsored us to move here,” Hoang said.

She first moved to Anaheim, CA, before moving to Grand Junction. Although America is a country with many benefits and opportunities, the move wasn’t easy.

“It was hard because I didn’t speak English and it took a long time for me to learn it,” Hoang said. Luckily, a girl at her school spoke Vietnamese and was able to help translate for her until she became proficient in English.

Hoang has since then assimilated into American society relatively easily, but not without the stigma and assumptions her nationality comes with.

“They think all Asians are smart or we are all good in math or we all have perfect scores on things,” Hoang said.

She also said people talk to her in gibberish, pretending it is Vietnamese and saying it is a joke, but she knows it’s not. Hoang doesn’t let it bother her though. In fact, she has gotten used to it.

Hoang is not alone. There is a small expatriate community of Asian families in GJ who talk and support each other including her cousin Thinh Nguyen, a sophomore at GJHS, and his family. She’s also carried some traditions from Vietnam to America, such as lunar new years.

“We clean all our house to make sure all of the bad luck is away for the new year,” Hoang said. In addition to cleaning the house, her family also does lucky money which is money given to the younger generation from the older generation in a red envelope, to bring good luck.

Her family cooks traditional Vietnamese food instead of American food as well.

“I like banh canh- it’s kind of like this thick noodle… it has shrimp and also fried fish on it and it’s like, super good,” Hoang said.

Hoang said that America has given her a sense of security, a better education, and is full of opportunities for her future, but her immigration from Vietnam has helped her gain a unique perspective on life.

“Honestly, like it makes me appreciate things more, like I’m thankful to be here,” Hoang said.

photo by bree peet

12

Not Only a Passion, but a Lifestyle Jonas Bercume, junior, shares his love of skateboarding. by jared hanks He drops into the bowl, the wheels gripping the gritty concrete as the wind blusters through his coarse hair. Grabbing the skateboard at the apex of his jump, he glides over the rim of the bowl. GJHS junior Jonas Bercume is a skateboarder who has a drive for the sport and you can always catch him at the skatepark.

Bercume has been skateboarding for only seven years, since he was 10 years old. Kids spend hours and hours on end at the skatepark trying to recreate and perfect tricks seen on t.v by their favorite skateboarders. At one point he used to be one of those kids.

Growing up Bercume was always around the skate park with people he looked up to and admired. People who helped him get to where he is now as an individual and as a skateboarder have been his biggest influencers.

“A lot of my family skates, My bigger brother and my uncle got me into it. My good friend Jared inspired me the most because he was always pushing me to do better,” Bercume said.

Bercume is a humble, well-known skateboarder in the valley who a lot of other

13

skateboarders look up to.

Jonah Kelly is a fellow skateboarder and friend of Bercume, who has known him for quite some time. “He’s open to everyone, he doesn’t choose sides. He’s a neutral positive person,” Kelly said. “I’ve learned how to skate better from him.”

Bercume is sponsored by Beyond Generic and Terror Corp, two local skateboarding companies in Grand Junction.

It’s very rare to see such a young skateboarder wield an achievement like being sponsored.

Being a sponsored athlete is an amazing achievement. Being sponsored means you have a company or group that supplies you with money or merchandise to represent their brand.

“I’ve been sponsored for two, almost three years,” Bercume said.

Bercume is not quite certain what his future with skateboarding will look like. “I haven’t really gotten to the point where I feel I want to have skateboarding as a career but it’ll be with me as a hobby for the rest of my life,” he said.

graphic by bre kircher

Behind the Scenes

photo by bree peet and Nick Rojas

Genisis Allen shares her experience in theatre tech, stage makeup and chorus. by izzy cornelison

Imagine a completely empty stage.

Actors describing scenes that don’t exist, their faces barely visible without makeup.

No mics, no lights, no props.

Tech plays a major part in all theatrical productions. Would you want to see a show without tech?

Genisis Allen, who was a sophomore chorus member for Little Shop Of Horrors, loves to be creative. Being a part of tech in school productions is a great way for her to do that. A chorus member’s job is to be a background character and sing background vocals for the group songs. But she also helps out with the tech work when needed.

“I love tech because you get to be hands on and creative,” Allen said.

Allen has always been interested in theater, but last year’s production of Puffs was her first experience being part of a production.

“Acting is pretty scary, and being on stage gives me stage fright, so being a chorus member is the best of both worlds, I get to help tech and be on stage,” Allen said.

For Puffs, Allen did all of the makeup, one of her many passions.

“I would like to do more special effects makeup. For the shows we do we usually just have stage makeup,” Allen said.

Allen likes to do special effects makeup on herself, usually cuts or scars.

“I use latex, cotton balls, sometimes glue sticks, all kinds of paint, and fake blood of course,” Allen said, referring to her makeup supplies.

Allen hopes to pursue this as a career in the future.

“In five years I want to be beginning to do apprenticeships, maybe doing small movies,” Allen said.

Allen would like to continue doing theatre throughout highschool and would like to continue tech as well.

“I love tech, I loved it when I was in puffs, and I even love it now when i’m in chorus,” Allen said.

Allen is also very crafty with paper and other common materials. She made the golden egg in puffs completely out of paper. Allen believes that tech is an underrated part of the theatre department.

“If there was no tech crew there would be no show,” Allen said.

Allen holds fake teeth she made for the production of Little Shop of Horrors

14

Finding

Sootsey

Taking a walk in a homeless student’s past by annika sisac

212 days sleeping in a tent on the frigid, hard, desert ground.

547 days sleeping in an RV where the cold seeped through the broken windows.

152 days living without their beloved cat who was part of the family.

730 days in an apartment with their own room and a door.

After moving from Oklahoma, one thing

was certain, their* mom’s pay would be better, but what this family didn’t know was if they could find shelter in this new town.

For the first part of their journey to Grand Junction, the family took up residence in the desert, camping in tents and using piles of blankets for warmth. The outdoors, only separated by the thin nylon wall of their tent, became their home.

“We had U Haul that was full of a bed or two and just mattresses. We didn’t have a lot of furniture. We gave away our microwave and toasters. We would put our stuff in a storage unit,” they said.

The family kept their clothes in pillow cases that they put in the back of their car, and they only had a small box of knick knacks they kept on them.

“It was during Spring Break, during my middle school years, when we first moved here,” they said. “It was freezing.”

Months on end they cooked on a campfire, eating the same three flavors of soup for every meal: tomato, chicken noodle and vegetable.

“My mom probably starved more than we did. We moved out here, which she did for us because the schools back in Oklahoma were

15

cutting down on extra curricular activities and she didn’t want to make us feel limited,” they said.

“I felt bad because I feel like we did this to her. Like she was losing weight and not eating as much because of us.”

If they had a chance to wash their dishes they could pour the soup into a pot to warm it up, but otherwise they set the opened can on the fire to let it boil.

“We had a rusty grill thing that we put over our fire,” they said.

At night they felt exposed. Everything was pitch black, except if the moon was out.

“I lived in a tent alone for the majority of the time we were in the desert, so I felt paranoid and scared,” they said.

They love to draw super natural and

“I almost cried when we finally got an apartment. It was nice to be able to sleep in a bed again.” unearthly beings. They think their time living in the desert may have spurred some of their creative ideas which are reflected in their art. They have always enjoyed sketching, oil pastels and oil paints. They usually focus

on more grotesque art but often they draw nature and animals as well.

“You can only live in the middle of nowhere for so long without waking up to strange noises in the middle of the night, or feeling like something is watching you,” they said.

Soon the family found an RV park that was willing to take them in. They stayed in their tents until the man who owned the park gave them a broken down RV to stay in. The fridge had mold in it so it was unusable. Instead they would use the other residents’ refrigerators.

“It had electricity, like we could plug it in, but we didn’t have AC or anything,” they said.

“It was better when you were in the RV, but some of the windows were broken, and we didn’t have heat.”

They were able to shower once every two weeks, and in the meantime they would use wet wipes and dry shampoo to stay clean.

Because they weren’t paying to stay at the RV park, they only were permitted to use the showers sometimes. Otherwise they went to a friend’s house to borrow their shower.

“My friends always had places to go, and I could go to their house, but I couldn’t invite them to my house to hang out. I felt bad socially standing,” they said. I felt like I couldn’t tell my friends that I was homeless.

*this student asked to remain anonymous

Or that we would have to cook our food on a fire and stuff. I’d be really embarrassed if they found out. I feel like they would see me different because I lived without a roof over my head for so long. They would be like, ‘wow you went so long without washing, that’s pretty gross.’”

The family ended up moving back to the desert with the RV after some time. They set up their tents next to the RV and made their home there.

After a couple of months they found out about the Housing Authority, which supplies safe housing arrangements for low income families.

“We got an apartment, which took awhile because they had to go through a lot of inspections. The Housing Authority is really strict about stuff.”

In order for the family to move in, the Housing Authority had to make sure the AC and heat was working, and that there wasn’t a trace of lead paint in the old apartment under the house.

But even this new place, that was stationary, in a real neighborhood, with actual walls, had some issues of its own.

The apartment was built under the house so sometimes the AC and heat wouldn’t work.

When the seasons changed and the family needed the AC on they had to call a mechanic to get the air to start working. They couldn’t

just go back and forth between heating and AC so sometimes the temperature was very uncomfortable. Their plumbing wasn’t very reliable. The toilet doesn’t drain properly and fills up. But with all the issues it was better than their living situation before.

“Living with my three brothers I didn’t have any privacy. It was the first time that I’d gotten a room of my own since we moved [from Oklahoma]. I almost cried when we finally got an apartment. It was nice to be able to sleep in a bed again,” they said.

Their door, that they could shut and open as they pleased, was the biggest highlight. No more kicking their brothers out of the RV to change, no more trying to work on homework in a single cramped space. The small things, like being able to put away their belongings is what mattered most.

“Back when we were in the RV in the desert, we didn’t have most of our things because it would be in the storage unit. So now that I have all of my things I really enjoy having a place to put them and know where they are, instead of having to ask my mom to drive me out [to the storage unit] and dig through a bunch of boxes.”

Many people often take their valuables for granted. You can always count on that one shirt you love hanging in your closet, or that necklace your grandma gave you, safely hanging by your bed. But they never knew

exactly where their valuables were at a given time and most everything they owned they had to share it with their brothers. Except for their cat.

“We got her as a kitten. My mom unloads trucks for a living and she was in the back of the truck and my mom brought her home,” they said.

The all black kitten named “Sootsey” meant so much to them. It wasn’t just a kitten but a friend through these hard times.

“I’ve never really had a pet of my own before,” they said, “I’ve always just shared with my brothers.”

Because of their living situation it was hard to take care of another mouth to feed. Their family ended up giving the cat to an animal shelter. It seemed like they would never see their cat again, the beautiful gift that so miraculously showed up in the night.

“When we got a house we were talking to our old friends from the RV park and they had recently adopted a cat. We found out that it was actually our cat [Sootsey] and we got it back,” they said.

Being able to bring their cat home meant the world to them. Giving up Sootsey was a hardship all on its own.

“She was just like another family member, you know. Giving her up because we were just low on money just seemed not fair,” they said.

graphics by bre kircher

16

For Dale by elise fero

Memories of an uncommon friendship linger and inspire

Grand Junction High School Sophomore Alex Butler first introduced her story in poetry club when she read her own written slam poem, leaving her peers in bittersweet tears over the passing of her homeless friend Dale.

Her older brother had been part of the school’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Club, a group that makes lunches and delivers them to people in need. He had started introducing her when she was 14 to the homeless people he had met through the club.

“And at first, I didn’t really like, ya know, being in that sorta scene but then turns out they were actually really really nice guys,” Butler said.

It didn’t take long before she said hi to them every day at Sherwood Park on her way to and from school.

“I actually enjoyed being their friend,” she said.

But it was a man in his 60s named Dale with whom she was closest.

“He was maybe 6’3, taller than me for sure. He had this big ol’ beard; it wasn’t like that at first. He had this really scruffy face and after awhile he really grew it out,” said, mimicking his beard with her hands on her chin.

The two had become the best of friends, and seeing each other was like a reunion every day.

“I would walk by the bathroom that he lived by, and the gazebo, and go like, ‘DALE!’ And he’s like ‘ALEX!’ and then we walk towards each other and give each other a big hug,” she said, smiling and laughing. “We had this really cool handshake and we tried to teach the other homeless guys but they didn’t get it.”

Unlike most, Alex had made the effort to befriend him. She brought him and the other homeless people food from home, bandages, whatever she could.

“He was really happy all the time. He was really happy to see me, because normally when people walked by him, they scowled at him,” she said.

She recalled witnessing two people walking their dog in the rain and throwing Dale’s things in a trashcan while he was sleeping.

“I had three choices: I could walk away, yell at them or go get his stuff out of the trashcan, and I didn’t really feel like yelling, so I got his stuff out of the trashcan photos by callie shea and elise fero and didn’t wake him up or bother him or anything,” she said. “There’s just awful people out there who just don’t see the good in them, and they’re really good people.”

Dale told her about his life, of being in the military, having three kids he never saw anymore and being divorced because of his drinking problem.

“He actually lived in Nevada for a long time and he couldn’t stand being there, being around all the addictions that are there. So he came here in hopes to stop doing that sort of stuff,” Butler said.

She said she could see how hard he was trying, and was proud of him for his efforts.

“I feel like I’ve also helped him in some way because he did drink a lot, but whenever I saw him he would stop, like he’d put it down, put it away, because he knows I don’t like that stuff and he really cared for me,” she said. The two helped each other just by being each other’s friend.

17

After a few months, Alex had noticed Dale hadn’t been at Sherwood Park for awhile.

“I was really really worried… they didn’t tell me they were leaving,” she said. “But because it was winter and there was this homeless shelter by here, it gave me some kind of hope that he was ok.”

One of Dale’s friends had come into a large amount of money and a couple of the homeless, including Dale, were moving with him to Florida to get a good home. Butler had no idea until some of the others told her. And a bit later, there was news.

It was with her friend Dave, who lived in his car and was giving her a ride, that she found out.

“On the way there, he let me know that Dale had passed,” she said.

Alex was told it was a heart attack.

“I didn’t get to say goodbye, and for about two weeks, I didn’t feel together at all,” she said.

She then responded by doing the only thing she could think of: to write.

“I just had to. As soon as I heard about that, I went home I just got on my phone and started typing.”

She shared her works with the GJHS poetry club after his passing, receiving many compliments from her peers. But they hadn’t been the only ones to compliment her poetry-- for Dale had greatly supported her before his passing.

“I had won a first place medal at Speech and Debate and he gave me this huge hug and told me he was proud of me and said there was no doubt in his mind that I’d win first place, and that was actually the last time I saw him,” she said.

Even after his passing, Butler continues her friendships with the other homeless people she knows.

“I learned that even if bad things happen to you and when everything seems to be going wrong, that if you still have faith, you can get through that kind of stuff,” she said. “And if you’re passionate about what you love and the people that you love, there’s still going to be happiness in your heart.”

Unique Knick Knacks

story and illustrations by annika sisac

Students find comfort in items close to their heart.

Dannon Yake, junior

“I have most everything in my [soccer] bag. I’ve just kept collecting things. People have just come to expect it from me. I ‘mom’ them. Probably the stuff most often used is band aides, hand sanitizer, scissors. I also have a lot of random things including eye drops, ice packs, pre-rap, all sports of stuff really. I couple braces in there. One time someone was like, I have dirt in my eye, and I was like, oh my gosh, I have eye drops, lemme help you.”

Ellie Dohm, junior “My mom had it in her car for a while but then she had to get rid of it. It’s really important to her because she’s Christian. I put it in my car, and it keeps me safe. I know some people don’t really believe that. It broke and all of this stuff started happening to my truck. It’s an angel to protect me.”

Jordan Hanzl, sophomore “[I have] trail maps for ski resorts [in my bag.] I’m obsessed with snowboarding in every way. I love to learn everything I can about all the resorts I go to, and half the time I have the trail map memorized before I even get there. I usually have two or three trail maps in my back pack for Telluride, Crested Butte and Monarch.”

Lauren Gufstason, junior “[In my travel bag] I have an emergency bag kind of thing, its in their too.

There’s one in my car, I keep one by my bed. I have a few by my makeup stuff. Kind of just around. They’re everywhere. I can just usually look through my bag and can find like four. My mom just buys a lot of Burt’s Bees and keeps them in her drawer and I’m like, oh that ones new.”

18

TIKTOK TIKTOK TIKTOK

photos by bree peet by riley pope

star on the rise

19

Most highschoolers have TikTok, an app for short mobile videos, downloaded on their phone and spend hours scrolling through the “for you” page. Only some post videos and one particular senior at GJHS could make it a career.

Joey SantaMaria is commonly known for his love of theater and he portrays this through his TikToks.

“It all started because we had a competition to see who could become TikTok famous first and he won obviously,” Sydney Chitwood, senior, and SantaMaria’s girlfriend said.

SantaMaria loves to post about day-today life.

“A lot of the stuff that I post is centered around theater and my friends and everything like that,” SantaMaria said. SantaMaria likes to have fun while making TikToks.

“We all have a good time laughing at each other, making them together, dance and whatever it may be, it’s just a fun time,” SantaMaria said.

As most know, social media in general has hate and peoples comments on others videos displays that. However, SantaMaria doesn’t let it affect him.

“You’re always gonna get hate no matter what you post,” SantaMaria said. “You can either choose to listen to it or you can just choose to ignore it.”

SantaMaria watches other famous TikTokers such as Sam Andrews, Max Dressler and Adam the trio to get inspiration for his own videos. He scrolls through the “for you” page as well to see what everyone else is doing so he can put his own spin on it.

Ironically, SantaMaria’s most famous video was filmed inside the walls of GJHS. “The most famous video is the one

actually in the choir room, we hid from Mr. Hirsh and he came back, he was out doing something and we all hid from him and that’s at I think 6.3 million views,” SantaMaria said.

SantaMaria’s amount of followers and likes are continuing to grow.

SantaMaria is “currently at 79,000 [followers], just about 80,000.”

On Thursday, January 16th, SantaMaria said he got a promotional offer and is creating a dance video with Sam Lee. Lee is the person who created the choreography for 21 Chump Street, a GJHS acting class production.

“All around, [Santamaria is] just a fun guy to work on projects with and just hangout with in general,” Lee said.

Currently SantaMaria and Lee are creating a [choreographed] piece to a song that was licensed out to Joey for a paid promotion he is doing.

He also has an artist in LA contact him about him doing a video for them. If he chose to continue with the opportunity in LA he would be moving to LA for college to continue with TikTok. Chitwood said, “I’m really proud of him and I am going to support him either way, like it’s sad for me, but I want him to do great things, especially with what he has going on so I’m gonna support him”.

SantaMaria loves making TikToks and always talks about it. Chitwood said she sometimes gets annoyed by TikTok when SantaMaria is constantly saying, “I need to make a TikTok, I need to make a TikTok...all the time”.

As SantaMaria enters a new chapter in his life, he will always have Lee’s support, “He’s going to do great in whatever he chooses to do.”

United We Stand GJHS freshman leads GSA

by izzy cornelison “We are real people, too,” Jaden Phillips, said.

Phillips, a freshman and club president of gay straight alliance (or GSA) speaks out on the way members of the LGBTQ+ community are usually treated as not human and less than everyone else.

“The target audience of our club is everybody, we’re looking for both allies and people inside the [LGBTQ+] community. [And] we strive to create a safe space for everybody,” Phillips said.

The club is full of all different types of people coming together for one common goal. A normal meeting will start by going around the table to do check-ins. Then, Phillips will share any announcements that they may have. After that, the club discusses amongst themselves ideas related to the topic of the meeting. As president, Phillips leads all of the meetings.

“Everyone calls me mom, and so I feel like it was a place where I could really put that mom title to the test,” Phillips said.

Phillips takes an active role in everything the club does, while also planning and organizing most of the activities they do. The usual activities include club discussions, coming up with ideas for ways to better the club, and opportunities to let their club voice be heard, such as other school GSAs and classes that welcome guest speakers.

Besides GSA, Phillips is a member of poetry club, sources of

photo by bree peet strength, and speech and debate. Phillips also takes a role in bettering the community around them, making it a better world for others.

“I just want to be part of something bigger than myself,” Phillips said.

Phillips identifies as non-binary, and uses the/them pronuns.

This means they are not associated with a gender, just themselves.

Phillips originally joined GSA to make new friends and to better the community. But it quickly turned into something they love and treat as a job.

GSA is holding a bake sale and jewelry sale March 30 through April 3, after school. They are raising money for Camp OUTdoors, a camp in Arizona for people of the LGBTQ+ community to meet new people and get more comfortable with their identities.

Change is Coming Students are tackling politics through GVSU

by elise fero At Grand Junction High School, senior Ava Severs is learning how to voice her opinion and organize events from firsthand experience with a student lead organization.

Grand Valley Students United (GVSU), works to inform the community and work toward a better future. While many students recognize the organization from its participation and organization of Grand Valley March for Our Lives or Climate Strike, many don’t realize what the organization really does.

“We have a really great team of students that, yeah, organize a lot of these events by themselves with the help of GVSU,” Severs said.

GVSU provides a way for students to voice their opinions and express the changes they want to see, and work to make those changes.

Severs especially found emphasis within making her voice heard.

“Voicing your opinion on things can actually affect what’s happening in our country,” Severs said.

GVSU gives students opportunities to make speeches or statements and express their belief simply by being heard. Severs recently made a statement through the organization about the 4A Bond.

“Even still, now that I’m 18 and can vote,

it’s still just raising awareness for people that can change things and have a voice in what they want in politics,” she said. GVSU doesn’t avoid politics; they address it.

“We’ve become so divided in America today that it’s more so if you’re a Republican or if you’re a Democrat,” said Severs. But political parties don’t matter to GVSU. What matters is students wanting to make a change with those politics and the world.

“It’s really great for that and coming together no matter really what side you are on in the political spectrum,” Severs said.

With over 50 members estimated to be in the organization, the students are heard loud and proud throughout the valley in each of the high schools. And while Ava goes to GJHS, she’s made friends from Palisade, Central and Fruita High Schools through GVSU. “Any students can join,” Severs said. “It’s a good connection with all the schools.”

So for students who are thinking of becoming involved the process is easy.

“We do have an email and a Facebook page,” Severs said. “Just reach out to the club and we’re really open to anyone.”

graphic by carson pope

20

21

Home on the Range Ronalee Massey describes life on the ranch Students are so used to the easy life. We wake up to an alarm, we go to school, then head home, going about our ordinary days as individuals. We complain about having to take out the trash or having to clean our room.

Some of us hate doing chores but we still do them, if we had the chance to take a path that was labor free most of us would take it in a heartbeat.

Senior Ronalee Massey is the exact opposite.

She and her family are ranchers, a lifestyle that comes with many hardships and rewards.

Massey’s family have been residents of the Grand Valley for 150 years. In these years her family has all been ranchers, which makes her a 6th generation rancher.

Massey’s favorite part about ranching is the springtime when hundreds of baby cows roam the fields. It gets hard when you have to put down a dog or a pony, or have to help a cow give birth to a dead calf, Massey said.

Ranching is a topic that is often misunderstood by many.

“Ranching by basic definition is raising grazing livestock. There’s multiple kinds of ranching depending on what species of animal you run,” Massey said. “We run beef in a cow calf operation, which means we own momma cows that birth in the spring then raise those calves to sell for beef in the fall,” Massey said. “As a family we run about 1,000 head of mothering cows.”

photo from janice massey by jared hanks

Growing up, many kids are used to having their parents do everything while they sit and play video games. Growing up in a ranching family is a complete 180 degree shift.

“Growing up in a ranching family definitely makes it hard to understand other kids and how they live. There isn’t a single second dad didn’t have us outside growing up,” Massey said. “If we weren’t riding we were working cows or playing cowboys in the backyard.”

Massey’s older brother, Justin, also embraces the ranching lifestyle and helps the family.

“We do chores and make sure all the animals are fed,” Justin Massey said. ““Ranching is a lot, and I don’t want to do that when I get older.”

Ranching isn’t always butterflies and rainbows.

It’s also not always about the gruesome sweltering days or the horrid brisk days ranching cattle. For Massey, ranching is a lifestyle that she would never give up.

“Ranching has had a huge impact in my life, and I just can’t see myself doing anything else,” Massey said.

With huge impacts comes many life lessons, life lessons that will define who you are because not everyday is going to be perfect.

“Appreciate the little things even if it is just the sun shinin’ for a few minutes on a cold day, impotence of a good horse, or even a small rain that just might help a little grass to grow,” Massey said.

22

BANDING TOGETHER by delaney kidd

photo by jeremy rice

When the band was first formed four years ago, they were stuck between two names. Truvail and Serene were the band’s top two picks until Carlee Allen, lead vocalist and guitarist, stumbled upon a movie called “SingStreet”.

“I remember watching it and thinking ‘that’s what I’m going to do.

That’s so cool,” Allen said.

The movie follows Irish school boys in their journey to forming a band in order for the lead singer to get closer to his love interest.

After watching the movie over and over again the band settled on the name “Cosmo” which is the name the lead singer’s love interest gives to him.

Although Cosmo isn’t made up of Irish school boys and were formed out of their love for music rather than a love interest, they have created their own journey in becoming a well known band for local music followers.

The band started four years ago with Allen and two other members. Later that year a band member invited Faith Truitt to join.

“At first I was like, no, why do we need a ukulele player? But she turned out to be the best thing to happen,” Allen said.

Their freshman year of highschool, the two other band members left the band leaving Allen and Truitt as the only two remaining band members.

“It was really hard for a little. I was transitioning from ukulele to bass and it was just Carlee and I,” Truitt said.

Then, the band found Christian Janusz who was in Fruita Monument High Schools percussion with Allen and played the drums. The three have been playing together ever since.

“We’re definitely platonic soulmates,” Allen said.

In May of 2018 the group started playing variety shows at the Cavalcade, a venue center, in Fruita. About a year later, Cosmo played their first show at a climate change march.

Now, Cosmo has grown their platform and have turned themselves into local sensations and have played many local shows including a two hour set at Powderhorn Ski Resort and at the 2020 Grand Junction Women’s march.

It’s hard to believe that the trio are only juniors in highschool but they assure others that that’s just what they are.

“School is probably the place we talk about our music the least,” Truitt said.

The group explained how they don’t want to come off as bragging and that although they appreciate the support they receive from fellow students they’re trying to create their own brand and platform.

“We tend to procrastinate things. We tend to practice a few days before or a day before a performance,” Janusz said.

“It’s just the highschooler mentality,” Allen added.

23

Students from Fruita Monument High School make a name for themselves in local music

The hardest part for the three is knowing where to go next.

“Sometimes it feels like we stop growing for long periods of time and it worries me because it feels like the end,” Truitt said. “We don’t know how to move forward. Besides creating new music, we don’t know where else to play or get more recognition.”

After highschool, the band plans on staying together after highschool and moving to a place where they have the ability to

grow their band.

“We all have this common thought that we should go to college but we don’t really want to. We just want to try,” Truitt said.

Currently, Cosmo is working on creating their own music and recording it. “We need a record of what we’re doing. Because we can say we’ve played shows, but we need another place where people can hear us,” Truitt said.

When asked to describe their music, they collectively agreed that they had no idea.

“It’s closest to what we listen to which is sort of a mix of indie and alternative,” Allen said.

The band takes inspiration from some of their favorite artists including Billie Marten, Declan McKenna, Frank Ocean, and Conan Gray.

“Declan McKenna influenced us when we were first starting. Carlee and I went to see him and we had this moment of ‘I want to do that so bad’,” Truitt said.

Reflecting on the past four years of creating a journey for themselves and Cosmo, finding each other has meant the most to them.

“I feel like I’ve found people that I will value so much for a very long time. They’re my favorite people in the world,” Truitt said.

“It has sort of felt like a fever dream,” Janusz added.

INTO THE MIND OF ANTHONY BOOTH photo and story by bree For some students school is life, but for senior Anthony Booth life is school. It is sometimes easier for students to learn at school but for Booth it is easier to learn at home.

“School is not where you learn, school is where you simply figure out how to not learn anything because school has not become about education,’’ he said. “It’s simply a question of can I do what the teacher wants me to do, can I pass a test.”

Booth gets home from school usually around 6:00 p.m. because he’s on the Academic Team till 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays. Then he spends a couple hours not doing anything, he might eat a snack and sometimes tries to eat dinner. After, he might get to homework, but generally his homework gets done in the morning.

Between 10-11 p.m. he tries to not stress about much so he usually reads a book just for fun or plays a video game. Then he goes to bed and wakes up when he’s no longer tired, usually around 3 or 4 a.m. He doesn’t use an alarm. He just wakes up and gets to homework for a couple hours. Booth said he has spent about 38 hours this semester staring at blank word documents trying to convince himself to actually start typing.

Since freshman year, Booth has told himself that he’s not a good student simply because he feels like he puts off his homework and lazes his way through classes including AP exams.

“I’m not a good student, but I do know how to learn,” he said he likes to re-read and write lists to help him learn in a more frequent way. “ Making a list just helps me organize things better, ‘’ he said.

Booth likes to read a wide variety of materials. He has reread Hamlet eight times and read a book called Get The Truth. It was written by a group of former CIA interrogators and it’s about an enhanced interrogation.

In Booth’s spare time he likes to watch a lot of presidential debates because he thinks it’s interesting to learn about now and the past and how they differ.

Booth said he feels like he gets treated a little differently because of the different vocabulary he uses. He said he gets looks from people typically after he makes a comment about something they didn’t like, but he’s not always sure how to interpret what these looks mean.

When Booth is done with high school he plans on going to college to get in the field of law. His top choice is the University of Chicago, but he’s still deciding.

Booth admires Richard Nixon because he was very intelligent, and was a dedicated individual who stood by what he believed was right.

Booth thinks Nixon was an honest person and sometimes that got him into trouble, but he still managed to make a life for himself. Nixon refused to give up on anything and he would move on to find something else he also worked at the office of tireratoining at the beginning of WW2. Nixon is really important to Booth because they share some of the same values and devotions.

One of Booth’s favorite quotes by Nixon is “I’d rather be a single term president who stood for what I believe than be a two time president who sucked up to a party.”

Booth developed his passion for Nixon outside of school, reading books and taking his time to research him.

“I’m not a good student, whether or not you learn is not immaterial. I doubt one could ever learn sufficiently in their time to fit every situation they can encounter. I will never know enough.” said Booth.

24

Going above and beyond

Able Martinez is not your average student, as a sophomore he is taking college level classes by madi martinez On an average day as a high schooler, you may pass certain classes and think to yourself “Wow, I could never be in a classroom like that.

Those students are so smart.” There are many students who have reached the level of taking AP calculus or AP Physics, and there still are a select few that are taking even harder classes.

And then there is Able Martinez.

Martinez is not your average student. Since the age of 11 he has been challenged by setting his standards high and expecting nothing less of himself.

“I am taking AP chemistry without taking normal chemistry, and I am taking calculus three at the college and honors ten,” Martinez, sophomore said. “I can basically do whatever I want. I just have to try hard.”

To maintain his incredible grades, Martinez does the homework the night it is assigned and by avoiding procrastination. He has learned to prioritize his more difficult classes before the others. Martinez has made the decision to make high school something worth more than what the average student would make of it.

“I don’t want high school to be a joke because I would just find it a whole lot easier if I were taking normal classes which wouldn’t

be fun, so instead I like to make it a challenge instead and do something that I think would be cool and fill up my ego,” Martinez said.

He has been taking upper level classes since the 6th grade. Martinez would go to GJHS for certain classes because he needed more of a challenge. Now he is a sophomore who is attending CMU for math.

“When I was in middle school, I was with high school kids and that was the most stressful time because that was the first time I have done it. But now it is pretty simple to be with college students,” Martinez said. “College kids are just normal people at any age, so it is not too bad.”

When he was a young kid, his parents taught him that he was capable of doing so much more in his academics. They made him want more.

After it was brought to Martinez’s attention that he was not an average kid, he began to believe in himself.

“I thought since I was seeking higher level classes I would be cooler. I was just a little kid, so it made me feel like I could do anything I wanted,” Martinez said.

Since he was clearly not like those around him, he began to see a change in his life. He began to see a clear separation between him and his friends, and it made him feel like he could not talk about some of his achievements because he did

not want to come off as bragging. At times he would feel as if he were missing out on some projects in school that his friends got to do.

During these times when Martinez was upset that he may be missing out on certain events, he reminds himself of his goals.

“I am the one who demands the demanding classes, so I can just do whatever I want. I can ask for any class that I want, I can even graduate my junior year if I really wanted to, but I don’t want to do that, I would rather wrestle,” Martinez said.

To add onto Martinez’s challenging life, he is a varsity wrestler for GJHS. He spends a lot of time at home practicing and drilling for his upcoming matches. His strong determined mentality transfers over to his athletics as well.

He has plans on what classes he wants to take the rest of high school to reach his overall goal. He wishes to take abstract algebra, which requires two semester long classes before taking the class. Martinez plans on attending Colorado School of Mines and becoming a physicist or an engineer.

Martinez also listens to his favorite things to get him motivated, like his favorite songs at the moment or his favorite video games.

“I feel like I get filled with a power and I could do almost anything. Like, I can run 10 times as fast, I can write faster than ever, I can think of anything,” Martinez said.

photo by bre

e peet

25

Studio Time GJHS Senior Ron Mai Dao elaborates on his life and future in the art studio by alyssa williams Finding something that you are truly passionate about and can make a career out of is tough.

Society often pushes the ideas of technological or medical careers as best, and pushes aside the idea of a hobby being a hirable skill set.

Art teacher Sean Henry believes that art is a great skill to have in the future.

“In a report by the World Economic Forum in 2012, of the top 10 employable skills you need, six of those are things that you can learn and practice in every single art class that we have,” Henry said.

Senior Ron Mai Dao has extreme talent in the art department and wants to pursue art as a career in the future.

He has found his calling and is outstanding at what he does.

Dao decided to start doing art because of his dad.

“He was actually a really good artist, so I was inspired by him,” Dao said.

Dao’s art teacher, Henry, believes that he has real talent and is a great student.

“He’s eager to learn, he’s always trying new stuff,” Henry said.

Practicing his art has helped Dao in many ways.

“It makes me think outside the box and become more creative on what I do and what I can do,” Dao said.

Dao’s family does not see art the way he does.

“They don’t see art as a good job, but I want to do art as a career so I can enjoy what I do,” Dao said. He believes his art will impact his family by showing them what he is doing is just as important as being a doctor or other jobs.

His favorite medium is oil painting. He has painted landscapes and portraits.

Dao believes his art has helped him by making him become more creative.

“I think it also boosted my confidence by interacting with other people and asking for their advice,” he said.

Dao’s favorite piece is his replica of a Salvator Mundi oil painting, an original piece by Leonardo Da Vinci.

“It’s something new, and I put a lot of effort into it,” he said.

Sometimes starting something new can be scary, but art can be a great new opportunity. Learning from someone else’s experience can help you make a decision. Dao encourages others to pursue art and find their calling.

“Just interact and have fun,” he said.

photos by jared hanks

26

THE MAN IN BLACK

Logan Martin dives into what his daily attire means to him by mckenna bryant While some students wear vintage fashion like mom jeans or overalls, no one admires old-fashioned clothing quite like sophomore Logan Martin, who has been wearing a three-piece suit every day since the beginning of middle school.

“I am never not wearing a suit. I sleep in a suit,” Martin said. “I wear suits everyday.”

Martin’s favorite accessory to his clothing ensemble is an 80s tie.

“It’s slim all the way down, and it doesn’t widen up at the end. And I just like the slimmer style ties.”

Martin is involved in multiple extracurricular activities, yet the suit stays on.

“I’m in hockey and theater. I was in marching band, choir, and orchestra,” Martin said. “I also ski, I ski in a 3-piece suit. Yes, in a 3-piece suit.”

Like every routine, Martin gradually developed his signature style.

“I started off small, like with a shirt, vest, and tie.

Then I just grew beyond there, and I can’t imagine myself without suits today,” he said.

Martin believes some may be surprised that his personality and sense of humor do not match his elegant, classy outfit of the everyday.

“A lot of people think I’m fancy or well behaved,” Martin said. “and they get to know me and are like [he acts the opposite]”.

However extreme in today’s society, Martin’s routine clothing choice is not a fashion statement.

“I just like the style, it’s kind of old-fashioned,” Martin said. “And you don’t really see anyone dressing up anymore.”

graphic by carson pope

27

FACE by riley pope

Super Senior by choice, Jacob Miller has made a mark on GJHS

You don’t realize who you won’t meet when you don’t look around or make an effort to get to know someone. When there are kids crammed in the halls of Grand Junction High School, and loud noises all around you, it makes it easy to miss out on seeing a kid who has a cool story.

One kid in particular, who wears sweatpants and snow boots each day and is constantly carrying more paper and notebooks than any other student, has lots of interests. Jacob Miller is a 19 year old “super senior” who chooses to be at GJHS every day. Miller has special learning needs so he qualifies to be part of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) that allows students like him to receive free, public education up through the age of 21. “[Miller] has already..met all of his graduation requirements but he’s continuing his education here at Grand Junction High School,” teacher Lori Holloway said. By staying at GJHS longer, Miller has the chance to take course work that is interesting and fun to him that could potentially be applied to his future and career.

This decision about continuing at GJHS is a big decision for his future. Miller had a meeting about his IEP to discuss his options, including whether to stay another year and he has decided to stay for the next school year 2020-2021. As Miller weighed his options, he realized there are a lot of things you have to do after you graduate.

“Just because you graduate, doesn’t mean that you can be exactly free or do whatever you want,” Miller said.

Miller is right. After you graduate, you become an adult, and adulting is hard and something not everyone is ready for.

Another reason to continue schooling at GJHS is because there is more stuff to do at school than at home.

“Being at home, I’m just on my computer a lot and sometimes it does get boring,” Miller said.

Aside from staying at GJHS longer to expand his education, it gave Miller the chance to continue with clubs at GJHS. “I do Interact club...it’s fun hanging out with people and doing stuff with them,” Miller said.

Miller has gone to the Soup Kitchen with Interact Club and volunteered there.

Miller is very involved with the community as well. He works with Ariel, a program that provides services to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. With Ariel, they have a growing program with Special Olympics of Colorado, and Miller plays basketball and swims at this event. Holloway said she remembers seeing Miller one summer with lots of metals dangling on his neck from competing in swimming.

Miller is also interested in drawing. He loves to draw and always carries around something to draw. He draws graphics from video games such as Green Hill from Sonic the Hedgehog.

“When it comes to drawing I just like, I look at a picture from the internet and then draw it and eventually once it’s in my memory, I can draw it,” Miller said.

Holloway said that Miller also drew an elaborate map of Las Vegas, with streets and some buildings and she was very impressed with it.

“He’s very good at illustrations,” Holloway said.

Teachers from Miller’s middle school agree. They still have artwork that he gave them back in middle school.

Miller definitely has made an impact on teachers, students and administration at GJHS, significantly Holloway, who hopes he’ll take what he learned at GJHS to his future. “[He] can handle whatever life throws your way [with all the] support and love from home and people here in this building,” Holloway said about her hopes for Miller.

Miller has enjoyed his experience here at GJHS and loves being around his teachers and fellow students each day.

“I think they’re all great,” Miller said.

photo by bree peet

Through The Lens photos by andrew bigler

GJHS head custodian Andrew Bigler talks custodial life and love for photography by ashley guddat

Andrew Bigler, custodian at GJHS, goes to work at t3 p.m. At work, he sweeps and mops the floor, cleans up trash, and gets the gyms ready for the next day. Bigler gets off of work at 11:30 p.m. and goes to the gym to work out before heading to bed at 2 or 3 a.m. But Bigler is more than just a janitor.

Bigler has worked at GJHS for over twelve years. He graduated from GJHS in 2007 and the following year he became one of the nine night custodians. He was recently promoted to lead custodian and now works during the school day.

“There is always something different everyday… there is always a new challenge going on,” Bigler said. He said he also loves the interactions with students and teachers throughout the day. Librarian Pam Middlemas said that although he was originally a night janitor and she doesnt know him that well, she has noticed his sincerity and earnestness to do his job.

“Rearranging these bookshelves is really hard, and every time I would call for help he was right there ready to help, eager to do a good job, which I super appreciate,” Middlemas said. “He wants to help, he seems like a really gentle person… and I know I’ve heard a lot of other teachers say they really enjoy having Andrew as their night custodian.”

Although Bigler loves his job, he has a talent for photography and hopes to start his own photography business someday.

“I am just trying to work on my skills cause it’s more than just clicking to take a picture. I spend my free time practicing different styles of photography and just getting better before I actually do client work,” Bigler said. But Bigler has already got his foot in the door.

“I have already had a client work with me before, and that was a great experience for me. I did some family portraits for a close friend of mine,” he said. He also has a passion for hip hop music.

Bigler recalls supporting his friend who was a rapper by going to his shows.

“And I used to go to concerts all the time with my brother.” Bigler wants to merge his talent for photography and his passion for hip hop

29

music by photographing musical concerts and events.

“It was actually in high school, I took a photography class back before it was digital… and ever since then I’ve been hooked on photography,” said Bigler. Although there is not much time to devote to photography during the school week, he often goes out on the weekend to take pictures. “[In January] I went out to the desert and took some pictures of Mt. Garfield and the Mesa in the background,” Bigler said.

He hopes to devote more time to his photography in the future eventually officially establishing his own photography side business.

PASSING ON STRENGTH Sophomore Claudia Eggers expresses how hard it is to lose a loved one by claudia eggers There are certain things that remind you of someone.

Maybe it’s a song, a smell, a color. How would life feel to see those things in your daily life knowing that the person you’re thinking of is no longer there? It’s hard to cope when all you have left of someone is a token they gave you and the fading memories you have left of them.

I remember as a kid thinking that when I was 16 I would have everything figured out and a big group of friends who threw parties every week. I used to think about visiting my mom when I was in college and talking to my dad about how I was doing in school and gossiping about my friends whose names he never remembered. Not only did none of that become a reality, but a part of my life as a whole was shattered.

If there was one moment in my life that I will never forget, it would be my mom’s face when she told me that my dad died. I remembered all the days we spent together.

I remembered that hour when we talked about how to properly cook blueberry waffles. I remember when he taught me how to climb the monkey bars. I remember the one and only time he tried to help me with my math homework but told me he couldn’t help because the system changed from when he was in school. I also remember when he told me he failed math in high school and that was the real reason he could never help me with my school work.

That father and that person deserved to see his kids grow up, drive for the first time, graduate, pack and leave for college, and get married. These life milestones that everyone looks forward to are now altered and different. It feels like everything that I thought would happen was cursed and now I have to live life with a spell that has no cure.

That wasn’t the worst part. Guilt in a situation that was out of my control was what I struggled with the most. I always thought I should’ve been a better daughter or I should’ve been more concerned about his already existing health problems. I thought I should’ve talked to him more and listened a little more. I thought that I wasn’t good enough as a person, so I had to change myself in order to save him.

Sometimes there isn’t more to do. There is no way to fix it or prevent it. Death will take anyone, no matter their race, gender, sexuality, or beliefs. Those people in our lives who have passed are gone. No accomplishment or however much I offer to fate will change that. It’s a hard feeling to deal with that many never get over properly.

It’s the elephant in the room that no one is comfortable talking about. A death in the family is never an easy thing.

Each and every person who has gone through a loss will never cope with it the same way, but just because you are an individual in something does not mean you are alone.

I don’t think I could go through anything worse than this.

My father will never see my first house on my own and help me go grocery shopping, see me at my first dance, or my first car. Those are memories we will never get to share. He did help me learn how to ride a bike. He helped me find my independence from others and find my confidence.

My father helped me so much in my life with the time that we had together. We made so many happy memories, and I think that’s all that matters. I loved him and he loved me, through thick and thin and every argument we had.

We always cared about each other. That’s all that has ever mattered.

photos by claudia eggers 30