Some things stay the same: families turn to traditions during 2020 pg. 5
December 21, 2020 | Vol. 17 | Issue 6 | Lee’s Summit West High School 2600 SW Ward Road | Lee’s Summit, Missouri
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Cover
Lee’s Summit’s “Magic Tree” Photo by Madeline Cantrell
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CONTENTS
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Titans’ take on holiday traditions in a pandemic
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Natalee Still’s tutorial on her three favorite winter treats
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Winter sports season have stepped into the spotlight FOLLOW US:
Click here Check out the latest Titan TV to watch this duo compete in a gingerbread decorating contest.
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Editorial Policy
Editor in Chief: Anna Long Associate Editor: Anna Eulinger Design Editor/Web Director: Madeline Cantrell Photography Editor: Vanesa Nhotharack Chief Copy Editor: Ella Skelsey Advertising and Billing Manager: Christina Jarvis Sports Editor/Web Director: Josh Wood Social Media Manager: Natalee Still Copy Editors: Emily Gerhart Mia Guidolin Hayden Peters Staff Artist: McKenna Bell Campus Photographer: Sarah Hall Sports Staff: Ian McDonald Keaghan McDaniel Social Media: Haleigh Davis Meghan Cox Lily Salmond Reporters: Victoria Newman Caroline True Publications Adviser: Carol Ullery Business Adviser: Karrie Smythia
Titan Scroll is a student publication of Lee’s Summit West High School. The Titan Scroll is a practicing public forum for student expression. We welcome all letters to the editor, but reserve the right to edit for libel and for space. No unsigned letters will be printed. Letters may be emailed to the editor, dropped off in room 2048 or mailed to 2600 SW Ward Road, Lee’s Summit, Mo. 64082. Volume 17 of the Titan Scroll is published twice each month during the 2020-2021 school year. Student editors make all content decisions. The opinions contained do not in any way represent the Lee’s Summit West faculty, administration, or the R-7 school district administration or school board.
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Staff Editorial
A decade’s worth of events in 365 days 12 months have crept by, but 2021 is finally in sight. Let’s take a look at a basic timeline of events from this year sent from hell. Literally. The year began with Australia on fire as 47,000 acres of land were burned and an estimated 3 million animals tragically died. The entire globe is battling a deadly pandemic. We went into lock down. We were isolated from our friends and family. Our daily routine fell apart. We quit going to school. But worst of all, people are dying. It feels like we are locked inside clear boxes watching the world fall apart without any capability of stopping it. The legend, Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna lost their lives in a helicopter crash along with seven other victims. The nation watched as police officers took the life of George Floyd. The civil rights movement swept the nation and protests broke out right here in Lee’s Summit. People refused to be silenced and used their voices to stand up for racial inequality. By the way, remember when we found out there were murder hornets in the U.S.? These invasive insects can be two inches long and scientists feared their presence would devastate bee populations. At the age of only 43, Chadwick Boseman, the lead in Black Panther passed away from colon cancer. Natural disasters continued, California has been in flames all year. According to California Fire, there have been about 8,056 wildfires this year alone. An estimated 1,409,907 acres has been destroyed. The trailblazer, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on Sept. 18. She spent her 87 years fighting for gender equality and was the second woman ever to be on the Supreme Court. Our nation divided into two sides. Trump or Biden? The election caused anxiety. Everyone watched as Biden became the president-elect. The finger pointing has not halted. Now the news is flooded with accusations of voter fraud.
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So yeah, those are just a few events that we all went through this year. What gives? This year was hard. We faced trials that we never could have imagined or planned for. I’m sure most of those January 2020 new year’s resolutions were complete flops. Right now, we are making history. We are practically the stars of a horror movie. We didn’t do this alone. And 2020 wasn’t all bad. Scientists responded to a pandemic with incredible speed. Vaccines are being made to prevent COVID-19. People stepped up as volunteers to take the vaccine to speed up the trial period. We learned to connect from a distance. Young and old became pro Zoom callers. A new found appreciation for human contact was born. Health care workers and first responders received the respect that they deserved. These people selflessly served and risked their lives for others. The LGBTQIA+ community is finally getting more protection from the Supreme Court. A law was passed that no one can be fired for being gay or transgender. NASA launched SpaceX. This was huge because it was a U.S. made rocket instead of one with Russian technology. This Florida launch pad hadn’t been used in nearly a decade. In quarantine, more people began to support small businesses struggling due to the pandemic. Curbside is practically better than dining in. Oh and, the Kansas City Chiefs are Super Bowl Champions, and are still finding success and have the best record in the league. If 2021 doesn’t bring another trophy, at least KC can look forward to the birth of Patrick Mahomes’ first born. A new year is around the corner. And we can confidently say that we lived through 2020. We made it. A new calendar year may not fix everything, but there is still hope that the worst is behind us.
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Staff Commentary
Views From the Bench Have yourself a Calvinball Christmas Josh Wood Calvinball is a fictional game invented by the main character of the famous cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes. The rules are simple; there are none. No rule can be used in two different games (except for this one), and any play you make in one game can’t be made in the next. There’s something about Calvinball that has always fascinated me. It’s a fictional game, made by a fictional 10-year-old kid and his stuffed tiger. Maybe it’s the metaphorical resonance of a game never being played the same way, but always going by the same name is what does it for me, but I just love it. And this year, of all years, I think is the perfect time to use that philosophy in real life. While everyone has their own holiday traditions, beit what your tree is made of, when presents get opened, or what movies you watch, everybody has their own way of doing things, with the people most important to them. For many the holidays are a time to be with all your family and friends, practice the same traditions every year and relive the best moments of the year. Which, I hope everyone reading this knows, you shouldn’t be doing this year because, well, *gestures broadly*. But I don’t think that means the holidays this year, can’t be the happiest time of the year. I say we throw out the playbook. No more holiday rules this year. It’s Calvinball Christmas. No rules New Years. No more stuffy clothes to impress your strict
grandma, no more pretending to like your aunt’s terrible fruit cake. For one year, just make it up as you go along, and next year, it can be totally different from this year. For me, this idea started at Thanksgiving this year. Normally every year we go down to our cousin’s house in Texas for Thanksgiving. Our grandparents live there, so we hang out with their family friends and just catch up during some of the best five days of the year. This year obviously was very different. We couldn’t do any of our traditions, so my aunt organized a family Zoom meeting on Thanksgiving day where we could talk and catch up. Sure it was fun to see them for a bit, but deep down I just couldn’t escape the idea that it just wasn’t the same. Even though I could see them and talk to them, it just made me feel worse that things weren’t safe for us. That’s when it hit me. Why are we trying to force normalcy into this year? 2020 has been nothing but chaos, so why not embrace that? If you’ve known me long enough, you may know that I’m not the type of person to immediately celebrate Christmas once the turkey is off the table on Thanksgiving. I’m no Scrooge, but I just don’t get as invested into the holiday like many others do. This year though? I’m turning up the Christmas tunes, I’m decorating cookies, hanging up the stockings; everything. Wearing Christmas pajamas all day? Sure! I’ve got nowhere to be anyways.
This time of year I normally find myself rewatching old comedy specials or movies that I always revisit. Now I’m challenging myself to find new stuff to watch. I’ve seen Dave Chappel’s stand up specials countless times, so now I’m getting into show’s I’ve told myself I wanted to watch but never did. Anything I normally do, I’m challenging myself to do new things. This isn’t some weird self improvement journey I’m on, motivated by some desire to better myself and the world. If I’m honest I think that, like many, this has been the hardest year of my life. It would be great if I could fall into these habits I’ve formed over the years to comfort myself from the dread that almost everything has caused this year. Deep down though, I just know it would taint it. I don’t want future years where we are past the insanity of this year to have scars of 2020. If I did everything I normally would this time of year, I know that next year the memories of this year would just come back to haunt it. I don’t want that. I don’t think anyone would. Have yourself a Calvinball Christmas. Be weird with it! Buy that board game you’ve been wanting to play for a long time, make that recipe you saw a while back that looked good, you can do anything you want! Have Chinese takeout for Christmas dinner if you want to, I won’t tell anyone. Just embrace it.
Review: Superstore
Josh Wood Debuting in 2015, “Superstore” has been a comedic force in NBC’s Thursday night sitcom rotation. Airing alongside hits like “The Good Place”, “Will and Grace”, and “Brooklyn-99”, the show has stood out for many reasons. Not only is it uproariously funny and incredibly bingeable, it also is one of the most important shows on television. The show follows Jonah, Amy, Mateo, Dina and a whole cast of misfits and oddballs as they work in a Walmart-esque superstore called Cloud-9. Jonah, played by Ben Feldman, is essentially the audience’s liaison character, particularly in the early episodes, comparable to Jim, from “The Office”, or Ben, from “Parks and Recreation”. Amy, portrayed by America Ferrera, is the floor supervisor and a very serious, but likable character, who plays a motherly role to the insanity that is the rest of the cast. Mateo, the comically hard working perfectionist; Dina, the security obsessed, self absorbed assistant manager and Garrett, clever but lazy goof off round out the rest of the main cast. The early seasons are great explorations of what working at a big box department store is like, albeit with hilariously ridiculous scenarios all throughout. From working on Black Friday, to organizing a strike, to friends transferring to other stores, it does a good job of showing many real aspects of that lifestyle. The show also has many heartwarming moments as well. My personal favorite episode from the first two seasons was the finale of season two, where the lovable but slow manager Glenn is forced to lay off ten percent of his employees, but a massive tornado forces the employees that were just fired to stay bunkered in the store. The episode ends with the tornado destroying the store, but the forced in nature of the disaster brings everyone closer together, making for some very heartfelt scenes. The later seasons take a bit of a different approach, but this is in my opinion where the show shines the most. The cast itself is incredibly diverse, but seasons
three to six are where the writers really use it to their advantage. This show has almost any type of representation you could think of. People who are disabled, LGBTQ+, refugees, undocumented immigrants, single parents, step parents, Latinx, Asian, African American, or anything in between are all featured somewhere in the cast. One of the most emotional arcs of the show is Mateo’s fight with ICE to not be deported in seasons four and five, even though he has lived and worked in the U.S. for years. A later recurring plot point is the push for the Cloud-9 employees to unionize. Jonah’s original straight-man character dissolves away as we see him become more and more intense as a leader for unionization of the store. The show doesn’t shy away from the harsh realities of low level employee union fights either. From mass layoffs, to contract negotiations and corporate misdoings. Superstore is fantastic at showing some of the darker sides of corporate-employee relations, and it is so refreshing to watch. As the show enters its sixth and final season, it’s not lacking for social commentary to make. The first episode back was a sort of look back at everything that happened in the United States since the end of filming its fifth season in March. From the beginnings of the
pandemic and the confusion on safety measures, to protests resulting in looting of the store and much more, the first episode captured what it felt like living through the first half of this year very well, and was a bit surreal to remember and catch references to things I had forgotten about. While I am very sad to see NBC call the show quits after this season, I understand. While the quality of the show has remained consistently hilarious and thoughtful, ratings have dropped season to season, and the story line does feel like it’s at a place it can end things well. I am very excited to see how the show wraps up, and I wholeheartedly recommend getting caught up on Hulu.
Superstore is entering it’s final season with COVID-19 playing a heavy focus on it’s story. New episodes are on NBC and are available to stream on Hulu. Photo courtesy of NBC.
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Celebrating differences together Students celebrate during winter break
Ella Skelsey Winter break can evoke opposing feelings; sadness in missing friends from school, joy in reconnecting with family; stress from searching for the perfect gift, bliss with a break from the everyday toil of school. This year students, like junior Taylor Robinson, are having to adapt their normal celebrations, leaving some to cherish their winter break and time spent with close family. Junior Darelle Wabo said her family celebrates Christmas but they also tie in some traditions from her parent’s home country of Cameroon in Africa. One specific tradition is “a ritual ceremony of prayer to humble ourselves and give thanks to our ancestors for paving the way for us. It is spoken in both French and Patois— which is our tribal dialect from Baham, Cameroon,” Wabo said. Looking back, Wabo said her favorite memory of winter break was when they shared their traditional Cameroonian meal of “roasted fish, roasted chicken, ribs, fried plantains, and steamed fermented cassava wrapped in banana leaves” with new friends. “There’s a particular Christmas that my family and I treasure. At that time my dad had just befriended a senior couple from his work and later invited them over for Christmas dinner. It was both exhilarating and touching to see Americans enjoy our traditional food,” Wabo said. Because Wabo’s parents are immigrants and most of her extended family lives in Cameroon, Christmas time is usually a close family affair that has been exacerbated by COVID-19. Wabo said, “Our holidays are generally more intimate compared to other Cameroonians since we live here in the USA and away from extended family. However, COVID-19 has made it even more isolating, naturally, as we are no longer able to celebrate with our family friends that have become our home away from home.” Overall, Wabo said her winter break will include “a lot
of eating, singing, praying, and dancing.” Similarly, senior Braden Rains said he won’t be seeing his extended family this winter holiday season. Rains said his family is also Christian and will celebrate this Christmas with a virtual Christmas Eve service. “We aren’t able to see our grandparents and go to church in person this year but we are traveling to Colorado to go skiing this year ‘cause it’s a way for us to stay social[ly] distanced and be able to have fun at the same time,” Rains said. According to Rains, attending his church’s Christmas Eve service is a tradition that has had to be altered for the first time in years for his family. “We do it every year ‘cause it’s something that has been a part of our family every year, and it’s a way for us to celebrate a life that let us live the life we do today, and give thanks to Him,” Rains said. Although his church service has been pushed online, Rains said he’ll enjoy going skiing since he hasn’t been able to ski for a while, as well as just enjoying close family connections. “My favorite memories are being able to open our pajama presents on Christmas Eve and just being able to spend time with my family and watch Christmas movies all day,” Rains said. Junior Hana Elkishawi will also—hopefully—be enjoying the snow. Elkishawi said she and her family are Muslim, so they celebrate two Eids and Ramadan, none of which occur over the district’s winter break. Elkishawi said she typically spends her winter break just enjoying the cold weather. “I always looked forward to the possibility of snow over winter break because I’m someone who loves cold weather. I also love ice skating during winter break and just being able to do whatever I wanted to without the stress of schoolwork,” Elkishawi said. Her family does have a winter tradition of their own though; “My family and I do go see city Christmas lights
for fun pretty much every year.” They went to see the lights this year, but she and her sister’s plans to visit family in Canada were derailed with the rising numbers of COVID-19 cases. Sophomore Nate Moore’s plans may also change gears due to COVID-19. Moore said his family typically enjoys eating out over winter break “which could change based on the current restrictions…” Moore said he thinks his break will look different than past years overall, but especially because of the changes to the wrestling team. “I think it will look a lot different with things like sports changing and having to cram more into our wrestling schedule than usual,” Moore said. As he’s grown, Moore said his hobbies over break have changed from “snowboarding when it snowed and getting to hang out with my friends…” to “enjoy[ing] the cold weather and shoveling driveways for money.” Robinson said her favorite winter break activity is an annual gift exchange between her siblings, and in past years friends. “Every year, me and my siblings draw names and so a secret Santa together. It adds fun to the holidays, and makes it so I don’t have to buy gifts for all four of them,” Robinson said. Robinson and her family are Catholic and have celebrated Christmas every year. This year the celebrations continue, just spread out. Robinson said, “We probably aren’t going to see my cousin[s] and grandparents this year, which is really sad, but safety comes first, obviously.” This mentality is one that many Americans have taken up for this holiday season, stressing the importance of socially distancing and mask wearing while still connecting with family and traditions. Although friends and families may be spread apart, they can be connected by the hope and joy of a winter break and the upcoming new year.
Many are having to change their winter break traditions to fit COVID-19 regulations, but people are still finding ways to support one another. Junior Taylor Robinson said she was looking forward to joining her siblings for their annual secret Santa, and sad but understanding that she wasn’t able to connect with extended family. Photo by Ella Skelsey
Have a happy and healthy break!
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“Happiest Season” offers a fresh take
Hayden Peters “Happiest Season,” a new film this year, introduced a modern take on going home for the holidays. Kristen Stewart stars as Abby, a lesbian who plans to propose to her girlfriend Harper (Mackenzie Davis) at her family’s Christmas. Although the holidays are hard for Abby due to the loss of her parents, she makes an exception to prove her love. Everything is seemingly going according to plan until Harper admits that her family has no idea she is gay. During the holiday season, many people in the LGBTQ+ community experience the same struggle of introducing a new partner to their family. For some, coming out of the closet is part of the process like it is for Harper in the movie. Abby agrees to act as though she is straight to save Harper from the stress of coming out to her family; with that, Harper introduces Abby as her orphaned roommate. As the week-long trip continues, it becomes difficult for Abby to stay quiet about her relationship with Harper. With intense sibling rivalries and a competitive family dynamic, Harper becomes more and more insecure about her true sexuality in an effort to maintain her “golden child” image. Spoiler Alert: Harper continues to deny her sexuality to her parents, but ultimately ends up proving to Abby that she isn’t worthy of her love if she can’t come clean to her family and be her true self. Beneath the manicured holiday facade, there is a message to be seen for straight people’s preference for smiling silence. The movie finds a way to discuss the decision queer people face when they mold themselves to straight expectations, told by a lesbian filmmaker working in a stereotypically heterosexual genre — the Christmas romantic comedy.
Junior Grace Gard is bi-sexual. She said that she appreciates the representation that the movie includes. “I feel like the more exposure that LGBTQIA+ storylines get, the more normalized the community will become. When we become a part of mainstream media, people will begin to feel more accepted, more seen,” Gard said. Gard said that she is happy to see a modern take on a romantic Christmas movie because it shows how modern film-making is becoming progressively more accepting. “I think that representation in this genre would be amazing because Christmas movies are so widespread,” Gard said.
Junior Amari Smith identifies as non-binary. They said they agree that the depiction of a gay couple in a major film is important, however, it needs to be done right. “The majority of LGBTQ+ films are always about hardships, toxic relationships, and struggling. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a happy-go-lucky LGBTQ+ movie,” Smith said. “Even with the little POC representation, I love LGBTQ+ movies. However, I don’t think I’d be watching the movie if it doesn’t have fair representation. I’ve seen white-girl fem love. I want to see POC, masculine, trans love. More of the love that I can relate to,” Smith said.
Holiday Baking Recipes Hot Chocolate Dip 7.5 ounces marshmallow fluff 8 ounces Cool Whip thawed 1/3 cup hot chocolate mix 3 .85-ounce packets To serve: Animal crackers or graham crackers For garnish: mini marshmallows
Click here to watch Natalee Still make these holiday treats.
Peppermint Fudge 2 cups white chocolate chips 6 oz sweetened condensed milk 2 cups crushed candy canes
Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies 1 Cup. Butter 2 Eggs 3/4 Cup Sugar 3 C. Flour 3/4 Cup Brown Sugar 1 tsp. Baking Soda 2 tsp. Vanilla 1 tsp. Salt
1 Bag of Chocolate Chips (12 ounces) 1 Bag of Holiday M&M’s