Bringing the good noise

10/2021

Vol. 37, Issue 2

IN THIS ISSUE…

04 Terrace Events Calendar Stay current with school and community events in October and November.

05 News Update Our staff picks for what you need to know in the world, nation and state.

06 OP/ED: Life in the Pacific Op/Ed Editor Rachel Davis shares her knowledge about the creatures inhabiting the Pacific Ocean.

07 Altering lunch, altering lives Lunch overcrowding has changed students daily social routines and schedules.

08 OP/ED: Too little distancing? Are the measures being taken by the school to maintain social distancing working?

09 Controversial conversion A challenge to the Washington State conversion therapy ban gets people talking.

10 OP/ED: Strife with gender Co-Editor-in-Chief Nico Francois details their struggles with gender dysphoria.

12 Overcrowding post-COVID The return to in-person school has presented unforeseen challenges for all.

13 The return to school tradition MTHS brings back age-old homecoming traditions with a bit of post-COVID flare.

14 What’s after high school? As college application season is beginning, high school seniors are debating on what to do once they graduate.

15 Life as a national champion National archery champion Tsu Sasai recounts her archery journey.

16 Fall sports return to normalcy Fall sports athletes once again begin playing games in front of an audience. 17 Fall Sports Schedule Fall sports makes a comeback after over a year of shutdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

18 Creative writing contribution The creative writing club features their best work through a compilation of two short stories.

19 Daily dose of thought Do you have what it takes? Solve this logic puzzle to find out.

C ON THE COVER Cheerleader Mckenna Gifford helps lead the crowd during the freshman homecoming pep assembly in the

Terraceum.

02 Bringing the good noise The Pep Band played music to hype students up at each of the homecoming assemblies.

PHOTOS BY CAROLINE SHYNSHYN | HAWKEYE

Letter from the Editor INCLUSION MUST BE THE NORM

Hello there, MTHS. It’s Ritika, and for this issue, we’re talking about self-awareness. But, before we go any further on the topic, I should mention that, just in case I haven’t made it blatantly obvious to everyone within a one-mile radius of me by smacking them with my cane as I walk down the hallway, I am blind. I don’t mean the “I have bad vision that is fixed by glasses” kind of blind. No, I’m talking about the “we don’t have a cure for you so you’re stuck seeing exclusively light and shadow” kind of blind.

Some might be wondering what my vision issues have to do with the MTHS community. Well, first of all, to steal the sentiment from a comedian by the name of Lost Voice Guy, if there is ever a fire drill and you want to get out without any bruised shins from being whacked by my cane, it might be a good idea to not be anywhere near me as you rush out.

More importantly though, living with a visual impairment has taught me a thing or two about what it feels like to not be accepted or included, and how advocating can make all the difference. It’s taught me how the little things we do and say to another person can make a world of difference, and thanks to this paper, I get to share my thoughts and experiences.

As our society experiences constant change and continues to diversify, we all have a lot to learn about being more inclusive in everything we do. There will be situations that will be easier for some to adapt to more than others. Our personal experiences fuel how we handle situations, and sometimes, it can be hard to understand where others are coming from.

For example, I don’t expect anyone who has been sighted all their life to understand all the struggles of being blind. Most people just haven’t experienced what it’s like, and have never had to think about the challenges that come with living without sight. For me, basic navigation from one location to another has always been challenging, and if I ever want to go somewhere, there is always a huge weight of anxiety looming on my shoulders.

“Oh no, there isn’t anyone I can ask for help to get to the next location. What do I do now? Would I be bothering this person if I asked them to help get me somewhere?”

To some degree, most people can understand this struggle, especially if they’ve had to ask for a ride from someone else when they’re unable to drive. However, navigating from one room of the building to another seems to come pretty naturally to most people, making it difficult to grasp my particular situation completely. However, I’ve had people in my life who have shown me that, even if we don’t understand each other’s situations exactly, we can always find the things we have in common, learn about what we don’t understand and be the best ally possible.

Throughout my educational career, I’ve always been told

“we’re here for you and we will work with you.” While it’s nice to hear that, the countless number of uncompromising situations I’ve been placed in has made me hesitant to believe those words. However, during my first two years of high school, I had an opportunity to work with two particularly fantastic teachers who changed my perspective. Despite being expected to work with over 160 students every day, both of them took the time to learn about what I needed to thrive in the classroom environment. Then, without any prompting, they did everything in their power to make sure that I had everything I needed for their respective classes. Ritika Khanal CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF The sentiment was never, “What are you going to do to make this class work for you?” Rather, it was, “What are we going to do to make this work?” They both told me they would be there for me and would work with me, but even better than that, they proved it time and again through their actions, and still do. Did they fully grasp the challenges I was facing? I could be wrong, but I don’t think either of them regularly walk around with their eyes shut and use robotic screen readers every day, so no, they probably couldn’t grasp my situation completely. That didn’t matter though, because they took the time to learn what they could and adapted in every way possible to make sure I was included and a part of their class. My experience with them made me more confident in my other classes. They showed me what true inclusion could look like, and I was able to go into all of my other classes with an idea of what to look for. Now, even though I’ve had my fair share of unique experiences, struggling with gender identity is something I can’t fully understand, because I’ve never had that experience. Yet, in the past few years, I’ve had two close friends go through struggles concerning their gender, leading to several conversations about how I can be a better ally to them. In having these conversations, I’ve been reminded that we don’t have to fully understand each other’s struggles. In fact, that’s impossible, because we are all different people with different backgrounds, experiences and identities. However, what we can do is learn as much as we can about each other’s struggles, and do our best to accept and include everyone. I may not fully understand my friend’s gender identity struggles, but I can listen to their experiences, learn about what they’re going through and accept them for who they are, just as so many have done for me. Only we can make this world more inclusive. Taking the time to be aware of the those around us and our own inclusive actions can make all the difference. Claiming that we support the LGBTQIA+ community exclusively during pride month isn’t enough. Teaching kids about different kinds of disabilities and discussing how to create a more inclusive community just during disability awareness month isn’t enough. We must advocate for inclusion and acceptance every single day, and take it upon ourselves to be there for the community around us, even when it doesn’t impact us directly. H

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The HAWKEYE

The Hawkeye’s mission is to provide the MTHS community with quality, thought-provoking student produced publications. Since September 1960, we have faithfully served our audience and community as a designated open public forum where student editors make all decisions. In policy and in practice, the Hawkeye will always be a designated open forum publication.

Co-Editors-in-Chief

Nico Francois & Ritika Khanal

Editorial

News Editors: Nathaniel Reyes & Karen Ghobrial Sports Editor: Cecilia Negash Op/Ed Editor: Rachel Davis Lifestyle Editors: Maggie O’Hara & Isabelle Froyalde Data Manager: Lin Miyamoto Business

General Manager: Phuong Lam Travel & Event Coordinator: Denise Muñoz Distribution Manager: To be named Outreach Manager: To be named

Visual

Graphics Editor: Nico Francois Photo Editors: Caroline Shynshyn & Hunter Michaelson Design Editor: Sovanrom Sot

Online/Digital

Online Manager: Justin Barsness

Contributing Staff

Khe Bach, Rod Budden, Katrina Bushman, Casey Carpenter, Terina Papatu, Tsu Sasai, Kim Bahn, Annabelle Westby, Robert Mize, Kaylee Miyamoto, Jakob Nacanaynay, Camryn Thornton, Theresa Van, Savanah Coco-Barrett, Arabella Devera Jaimee Wacker, Cleo Williams, Anabelle Sumera-Decoret, Penelope Goodwin, Kimberly Nguyen, Virginia AlseptBeaty, Kit Blake, Sean Brouwer, Seras Bryner, Ezra Fenwick, Jonah Paulsene, Maria Gaviola, Sarvinoz Rakhmatova, Aiden Gilchrist, Elio Isley, Nicholas Iwuoha

Name in bold indicates staff member of the month as selected by the Editorial Board.

Support

Adviser: Vincent F. DeMiero, CTE, CJE Journalist-in-Residence: Samantha Pak Teacher Candidate: Carrie Lee FANs Coordinators: To be named Printer: Pacific Publishing Member of: MTHS ASB, JEA/WJEA, NSPA, SPLC, ESD CTE, FAPFA Policies

Editorial Policy The editorial section of the Hawkeye, including editorial cartoons, serves as a forum for well-written, thoughtful, longer forms of expression. Signed editorials represent the opinions of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the opinion of the Hawkeye Editorial Board. Views printed herein are meant to be opinionated and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Hawkeye staff, student body, faculty, administration or school board. The Hawkeye will print submitted guest editorials as space allows and requests that all contributors include their name, signature and position relative to the editorial. The Hawkeye will edit all submissions for accuracy, spelling and grammar. We reserve the right to refuse to print any submission. Letters to the Editor Policy Readers are encouraged to voice their opinions in the Opinion section, a public forum for the expression of varying viewpoints on relevant topics. The Hawkeye will print as many letters as space allows. Letters must include the author’s name, signature and class or position relative to the letter. E-mailed, typed or legible, hand written letters are acceptable, but should not exceed 200 words. The Hawkeye will edit all letters for accuracy, spelling and grammar. We reserve the right to refuse to print any letter. Advertising Policy The Hawkeye will not accept any advertising that the Editorial Board deems to be: factually inaccurate; designed to mislead, deceive or defraud; containing malicious, vindictive or unsubstantiated attacks; offering goods and/ or services illegal for teens to possess, buy or use; libelous; obscene; or creating imminent danger or disruption to school. The Hawkeye reserves the right to refuse any advertising, solicited or unsolicited. Advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views or endorsements of the Hawkeye staff, student body, faculty, administration or school board.

Complete policies are available at www.thehawkeye.org/about-2/mission-policies/ Cover photo by Caroline Shynshyn