MHS Crier Issue 11. 4.20.18

Munster High School | 8808 Columbia Ave, Munster, IN 46321

Crier

issue 11 | volume 52 | april 20, 2018

INSIDE LOOK May 1 lockdown drill | page 8 Students discuss HQ | page 7 Crier reviews Marvel | page 5

Regaining balance

A

cross the nation teachers have protested for the past month calling for higher pay and appropriate compensation. In the School Town of Munster, the district general fund, which has been at a deficit since 2012, is expected to be back in black again by June, signaling a positive future for Munster teachers. Neither of these events occurred without cause.

Back in black

Nearly four years ago it was announcemed that the district deficit was $8 million, leading to approximately 70 employees throughout the district being let go in order for the district general fund to make it out of its budget crisis.

As president of MHS PTO, Mrs. Debby Flahaven has monthly meetings with the district superintendent and administrators, giving her up-to-date information about the school town.

“I have been very impressed with the way the whole thing has basically been fixed,” Mrs. Flahaven said.

When the cuts to staff were made, questions of programs being cut followed. However, throughout the past three school years, minimal extracurriculars have been cut, largely because of community support.

“For one thing, they really didn’t cut anything (student related activities),” Mrs. Flahaven said. “And the fact that not once, but two times, our school has supported a referendum. Which, unfortunately, with the way our state legislature does business is necessary for high functioning school systems like Munster that are penalized by the way our state funds public schools.”

However, Munster is not the only district that requires referendums.

“I believe a majority of schools, if not all schools, moving forward, are going to have to pass referendums to do the things that they need, to do what’s best for students,” Mr. William Melby, Assistant Director of Financial operation, said. “The reality is, if we didn’t pass this referendum, not only were we going to stay status quo, we were going have to make additional cuts.”

“In the classrooms, they (teachers) picked up the slack,” Mr. Melby said.

“When you cut people that means

UPCOMING Prom | April 28 No School | May 7 and 8

Story by Ian Brundige Editor-in-Chief

STM out of debt by June after referendums, four years of budgeting Dollars & sense

Difference in STM staff size between 2014-15 and at the start of...

2017-18 school year. District 14-15 17-18 begins to hire back staff

there’s more kids in classes.”

Less staff and more kids affected not only teachers, but also administration and non-licensed employees, like secretaries and custodians.

“We ended up reducing total salaries. The percentages were equal for administrators as they were for teachers,” Mr. Steve Tripenfeldas, Assistant Superintendent said. “The big one though is the non-certified and that is why (students) may not have seen some of it.”

The community has worked to support the staff, especially teachers.

“For example, the Teacher of Merit program was our community’s response to be supportive to the teachers and say ‘You know what, we’re going to find another way,” Mrs. Flahaven said. “It doesn’t make up for the fact that you’re not getting the pay raises that you might have gotten elsewhere, but we’re gonna do the best we can to put a little more money in your pocket.’ And it has been supported by the community.”

rs

teache

193

183

$13.4 aries million l a s l a tot

$12.2 million

11 teachers

added at the start of this school year

ration

ist admin

20

18

$2.3 alaries million total s

ertified non-c ies ar

al total s

$2.1 million

160

99

$3.9 million

$2.9 million

percent reduced

5% 8.8% 7 more will be

added next year

10%

8.8%

30% 19%

3 custodians

added at the start of this school year

“The largest group of people hit percent-wise, number of people that got cut: custodians.”

—Mr. Steve Tripenfeldas, Assistant Superintendent

source: Mr. Steve Tripenfeldas, Assistant Superintendent photo illustration by Kess Vaitkus and Robert Young

Their two cents Teachers’ protest for pay raises in other states Teacher dissatisfaction has lead to recent protests in Arizona, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Kentucky. A future with growth in pay was not ensured. Now that is not the case.

“Education has changed. When I was younger and I got into education I obviously wanted to help kids. I had a passion for teaching but I also knew there was light at the end of the tunnel for my salary,” Mr. Melby said.

Oklahoma West Virgnia Arizona Kentucky

02 news april 20, 2018

Sidenote

Winter Percussion

When: April 7 What: State Champions On April 7, Winter Percussion boarded a bus to the State finals held at Indiana State University’s Hohman Center, where they performed their tribal inspired piece and took first in the competition.

“It was probably one of the best feelings I had ever felt,” Javaughn Richards, junior, said. “We spent so much time working on it and we have just been building up year after year. We got third our first year, and second last year, and to win it made everything feel complete.”

Winter Percussion is unique from other bands like Marching Band or concert band in that the performance is centered around performers that are usually not highlighted.

“It is the only time that percussionist get to be the center of the show for the entire time,” Javaughn said.

Civics Club

When: April 11 What: Candidates running for local government speak On April 11, Civics Club hosted a forum where club members listened to and spoke with eight different candidates running for local offices.

“I thought the forum was pretty well done because it was informational and great way to introduce candidates to new young voter,” Jackie Webber, junior, said. “It allowed people, whether or not they were able to vote, to participate in campaigning and other acts to get involved in politics and increase their civic education.”

Caps for Chemo 49,600 caps collected

When: March 5- April 13 What: Caps for Chemo Why: To raise money for chemo treatments Project X started collecting plastic caps on March 5. Every 1,500 caps collected will pay for a child or adult’s chemotherapy treatment.

The drive lasted until April 13 and students and staff brought in 49,600 caps, which pays for 25 treatments.

These caps will be used to help pay for a child’s chemotherapy treatment. Jon Harris, senior, went to Indiana University Northwest over the summer for volunteer work where he found out about Caps for Chemo.

“It’s a great thing that can hopefully help children and their families,” Jonathan said.

Final 15 DECA members leave for internationals in Atlanta tomorrow through Wednesday Story by Alyssa Bass Section Editor With over 100,000 members of DECA going to internationals in Atlanta, 15 students at MHS will be among those attending.

One of my favorite parts is going to Internationals,” Vince Ivetich, senior, said. “It’s a really cool experience because I get to meet kids my age from all over the country and the world and make a bunch of new friends.”

While there, students will participate in two roleplays and one test. Roleplays are scenarios where judges give members a prompt, and students are expected to solve any problems presented.

“I do Hotel and Lodging Management, that’s my area,” Kathir Venkat, sophomore, said. “They’ll say something like ‘A customer complained about a room, present a solution to make them happy and make sure this doesn’t happen in the future.’ You then have to come up with a solution and present it to the manager of the hotel.”

Also included in the trip, that lasts from April 21-25, are guest speakers such as CEOs from different companies and entrepreneurs, according to Kathir.

“I will definitely have more experience, so I think I will definitely do better,” Kathir said. “A lot of these things that allow you to do well in these events is having knowledge of what judges like and what judges don’t like. Since I’ve been in DECA for a year now, I’ve definitely gained a lot experience and I have better test-taking strategies, and I can perform better on the roleplays.”

To make it to Internationals you have to get first, second, third or fourth at State. DECA members are scored out of 100: roleplays are out of 100 each and the test is also out of 100. Judges take 50 percent of the test and 25 percent of each role play to

Welcome to the jungle Story by Catherine Ornelas Reporter The Disney movie “Tarzan” is now becoming a school musical. Performances will be held in the auditorium on May 3-4 at 7 p.m., May 5 at 8 p.m. and May 6 at 2 p.m.

Corrections In issue 10 of Crier, on page 4 in the masthead, backtalk reporter Demetrios Fotopoulos’ name was incorrectly spelled. On page 5, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was incorrectly spelled. On page 6, in the story “Leading the way,” Meagan Thornburg’s name was misspelled. In the West Lake Issue 1, on page 8 in a caption, Matthew Manous’ name was spelled incorrectly. Also in the photo of Nicole Biel and Natalie Ostrow, the photo was taken in the fall. Crier regrets these errors.

photo by Lauren Kozy WARMING UP While at theatre Tara Layous, senior and plays Terk (Tarzan’s best friend), practices. “Theatre is such an accepting and inclusive community,” Tara said. “By the end of every production, the cast truly feels like a family. “

photo by Micala Boyd BROTHERLY LOVE After DECA Districts, Evan Dong and Vince Ivetich, seniors, wait to see their results. “I actually didn’t do amazing at districts,” Vince said. “I placed third and top six go to State, so I did well enough. Then at State I won first, so I got to go to internationals.”

How to Ace an Interview Samantha Barraza, junior, gives tips on how to do well during a job interview

Advice

Do not

You should

- go on the company’s website and look at what their core beliefs are - if you don’t know how to answer a question it’s okay to admit it

- Chew gum - Use slang

- exude confidence - you have to make a good first impression - be professional - make it feel like you want to be there -respect their time

determine the overall score.

“I’m really excited,” Samantha Barraza, junior, said. “I went last year so I know it’s a really good opportunity. Not only is it a good thing to have on your college applications, but it’s also extremely fun. It sounds extremely boring, but once you get into it and you get to dress up in your business clothes, it’s really fun.”

Theater members begins rehearsals for the spring musical, “Tarzan” The cast had auditions in February and had their first read through in the beginning of March. Overall, they had about five or six rehearsals in March. Rehearsals usually last two or three hours a day depending on what they have to work on.

“Rehearsals are good,” Jaida Beasley, freshman, said. “We started a week ago and Mr. (Ray) Palasz is impressed on how well it’s going.”

Musicals aren’t always easy to plan out and direct.

“It takes a lot,” Mr. Ray Palasz, auditorium director, said. “It takes an incredible amount of organizational skill on the part of anybody who’s in the leadership capacity.”

Everyone in a musical has roles to make sure the show is going well and everyone is doing their job.

“I say there’s a lot of moving parts to a musical which makes it very challenging,” Mr. Palasz said, “But the payoff is really great when opening night comes.”

“Tarzan,” being a Disney musical, is more than that. It touches people’s hearts according to Mr. Palasz.

“I really like the storyline behind it,” Mr. Palasz said. “As a father of a toddler and a son, some of the songs speak to me. I choke up when Kala (mother of Tarzan) is singing to her son and talking about ‘I will protect you,’ ‘I will be there,’ and ‘I will always love you.’ That’s something any parent would say to their child.”

The storyline is based around the theme of family, and makes the audience understand or able to relate to Tarzan’s family.

“The words and the music really help to pull that emotion out of people,” Mr. Palasz said. “So I think that’s what I really love about this particular show. It’s a Disney show but there’s a really great storyline.

I often joke because of all the emotional moments in the show, we will be selling Kleenex at intermission.”

The musical is different from other shows that theatre has done in the past.

“We haven’t really done a show like Tarzan before,” Jaida said. “I think it’s really special because there’s a lot of wildness. It’s just crazy.”

news 03 april 20, 2018

Tech it Tech club adds new computers to

out practice room; nationals in June

Story by Mimi Brody Managing Editor After accepting a generous anonymous donation of $10,000, eSports has invested that money into nine new gaming computers for their classroom, N103.

Before the new computers were placed in the classroom, in order to practice, members would have to sign onto a call with sponsor Mr. Nate Thompson, science teacher,

and communicate digitally. Now, communication is easier between players.

“The computers are already making a huge difference,” Mr. Thompson said. “Because we have them all in the same room during the competitions, they are able to communicate a little bit easier. So, there is better communication and it seems like they are performing better already.”

The computers have also altered

photo by Robert Young

LEVEL UP Krishna Lakshamanamurthy, sophomore, plays “Overwatch” at an eSports practice.

Ranked robots Story by Ben Ondo Reporter On April 12 the robotics team traveled to Kokomo, Ind. to compete in the State competition, an event to determine which teams qualified for the international competition, “Worlds.”

Entering ranked 16 of 62 teams, the team allied with two other schools to compete for the title of Indiana High School Robotics Champion.

Although Munster fell short at State, Robotics won the judges’ award, which was given to the team that best helped their community, school and how they’ve inspired others to get into science and technology.

The theme of this year’s competition was “Power Up”, and all the events and challenges were video game based. The competition is alliance versus alliance consisting two parts: the field event and the awards.

“In each alliance every robot plays a role,” Ava

the way Mr. Thompson is able to coach his students.

“Now I can actually be behind them telling them and instructing them what to do and what to do better,” Mr. Thompson said.

According to Mr. Thompson, communication is the main area of focus as two of their teams, Rocket League and League of Legends, head into the national competition which will take place sometime in June.

“A lot of our students play solo, so to them getting them integrated into a team is the biggest key and getting them communicating back and forth on the team to function as a team and become the best they can be,” Mr. Thompson said.

Because of how effective the computers have been already, eSports is focused on buying more computers for their room.

They have been fundraising dutifully all year, selling Krispy Kreme donuts, World’s’ Best Chocolate and popcorn.

“Recently, Mr. Thompson has had us start selling popcorn, so we do a lot of that sort of thing, just selling snacks to people,” Alejandro Flores, senior and eSports treasurer, said.

“For the most part, I think it has been working.”

The overall environment of the club is what made eSports first year of existence so successful, according to Alejandro.

“If anything, eSports just has the

wide appeal of video games in general,” Alejandro said. “They love the competitiveness or the recreation, just the act of relaxing, hanging out with friends, playing online and feeling good about yourself when you win something. It is this sense of accomplishment and togetherness, camaraderie, that you may get from more physical sports so to speak.”

?

What is

Tech club uses social media platform to gain notoriety “Twitch is an online streaming service where we can stream our games and gain national recognition. It allows us to broadcast what we are doing.”

- Mr. Nate Thompson, science teacher

“None of us (individuals) stream. We don’t like streaming because our opponents will be able to see how we play.”

- Adam Wisniewski, junior

CHECK THIS You can follow Munster eSports on Twitch under the handle MunsterHighSchool.

Robotics competed at State April 12, won Judges’ award for community work Quasney, freshman, said. “In every alliance, there is one robot with a high arm to reach up to put boxes on the lever, another robot that can put boxes on the switches, and lastly a robot that picks up the cubes to activate the power-ups­. The team with the most power cubes on the apparatus after about two minutes is considered to have control and therefore wins the match.”

The second part of the competition is the submitted awards. The team has a second program called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics designed to inspire kids to get into science and engineering.

The more notable things that FIRST robotics has done, the more points the team earns total.

“That is the part, as a coach and as an educator, I focus on more,” Mrs. Lyndee Govert, math teacher, said. “At the competition, FIRST robotics is judged on how they’ve helped their community, school, and how they’ve inspired the next generation to get into science and technology.”

219.922.GYRO (4976) 9611 Calumet Ave. Ste a Munster, in 46311

thesimplegreek.com

Reality Associates

Mary Powers (219) 682-8703 (219) 961-8178 (219) 961-8179

Cell Office Fax

photo by Elizabeth Fonseca

PART BY PART Zack Montes, senior, works on an early version of a robot for competition. “We were working on a prototype for our arm called the ’cube manipulator’,” Zack said. “We eventually pursued an aluminum version instead of scrap wood.”

The highest compliment I can receive is the referral of friends and family Thank you for your trust 1544 45th St Munster, IN 46321 Mary.powers@remax.net

04 speakout april 20, 2018

PRIVA

IC PUBL

TE

Got religion?

Column by Jack Stork Reporter

STEALING STUDIES Taking from public schools discourages the right to free education .

Editorial

Money for Knowledge Nationally, there has been a growing trend of vital decisions within the field of K-12 education being placed in the hands of those who are inexperienced and unqualified. Education funding has suffered just as much as any other area.

With Education Secretary Betsy DeVos leading the charge in the conversation around school funding, the conversation has shifted to focus more on “parent choice.”

In reality, the call for parent choice may just be a way to reduce national expenses. With the cost of infrastructure, repairs and staff among other things, maintaining a public school district is an expensive especially The voucher endeavor when compared to a system $6,000-$10,000 vouchis unfair er. Whether it’s private for public schools or the citizens a community, the schools in government is trying in every way possible to bestow that cost onto someone else. And while the idea of private institute or citizens paying for education through a referendum sounds great, the reality is problematic.

With the introduction of a strict voucher system, parents that live in public school districts that are low-performing are moving their children to more academically renowned public or private schools. While this may benefit an individual child, it is pulling money away from public schools that need the money. Not every-

Our take

Crier

Crier, Munster High School’s official student newspaper, may be reached at 8808 Columbia Ave, Munster, IN 46321, phone 219836-3200, Ext. 3443; Fax: 219-836-3202. Crier is published through the Honors Newspaper Advanced Writing and Editing classes and extra-curricular involvement.

•The newspaper serves as a public forum and two-way communication for the school and community. •Crier is a source of information, entertainment, advertising and opinion for the student body, faculty, administration and community •Published material will stress objective reporting except on the editorial page where opinion writing will be featured. All published material will stress accuracy, integrity, honesty, responsibility, objectivity, fairness and independence. Corrections, when necessary, will be published on page 2.

Opinions expressed in the newspaper do not necessarily reflect those of the School Town of Munster, faculty or administration.

Letters to the editor and reader suggestions are welcomed, but should be limited to 250 words. All letters must be signed and should be given directly to any staff member or delivered to the

one can afford to send their child to a private school even with the voucher, and switching to another public school is just as hard because students would need to be transported to the school, a luxury that some students with working parents just don’t have.

Depending on where you are, private schools can cost astronomical amounts. For example, an education at a private school in Manhattan can range from $38,000 to roughly $45,000. Even at Bishop Noll, where tuition is $8,000 a year, not all vouchers can cover the tuition in total.

Critics of the voucher system also wonder why these vouchers are going towards private and charter schools, considering the vouchers are taxpayer money that should be funding public education, not self-sustaining schools.

Taking money away from low performing public schools gives them limited options: either pass a referendum, provide sub-par education or shut down.

Munster has been lucky enough to have the support of our community resulting in the funding of three referendums. However, every school district will not receive the same support. Lower income areas, where many of the worst public schools are, are losing students and money and their citizens truly cannot afford to pass referendums to save their schools.

The direct responsibility a referendum-based system gives to the communities has strengths; however, with the moral cost on educators statewide and the lack of secure funding, the system needs to be evaluated.

Publications room, N155, one week prior to publication. Letters must not contain personal attacks against an individual. Editors reserve the right to edit for length, clarity, and grammatical errors. Crier will accept letters from anyone, provided that the content pertains to school or school issues. Feedback may also be submitted on Twitter @munstermedia.

Mailed subscriptions cost $25 per year. Ad rates and policies are available to anyone upon request. Crier is published 13 times a school year.

The Staff Editor-in-Chief Ian S. Brundige Managing Editor Mimi Brody Section Chief Joseph Bermudez People Editor Carey Scott

I take my constitutional rights to heart.

The Bill of Rights was written by our founding fathers to preserve our freedoms. One such freedom is painted out in black and white, right there in the First Amendment: the right to religious worship. MHS is a public school, run by both the federal and state governments, and thus, a student’s First Amendment rights are supposed to be protected both at school and at home. If this is so, why is Mormon.org, the official website of a peaceful and well established religion, blocked?

A hobby of mine has been to commit myself to religious studies; learning more about other religions than what is most familiar to me, Christianity. When the block was called to my attention, I went to log onto the website, only to discover that it had been blocked for one glaring reason. One simple word: religious.

Naturally, my first reaction was disappointment, and after disappointment came confusion. If you go to any blocked website, you will see an option to report an incorrect block. I rapidly filled out a form showing my displeasement, and went on my way. A few days later, nothing had changed; except for one thing.

That eye piercing word was gone, replaced with a new one: chat. Instead of addressing the issue, administration had simply changed reasons for the site being blocked.

Upon seeing this, I tried to speak with the Mr. Kurt Popovich, systems administrator, who was unfortunately unable to meet with me to discuss in depth how the blocking features work. I can attest that the only chat feature on the site is between Mormon representatives and the web user, so I can’t see why access is blocked to students..

I am not a Mormon, but how would you feel if a religious website related to you was inaccessible? Religious freedom should be protected in any institution, anywhere in the world. The idea that any religion can be suppressed in a country that is supposed to be secular is alarming, and I hope that in the future our school and our state will take better care of religious freedom.

Section Editors Erianna Sims, Alyssa Bass, Mercedez Williams, Adam Klaich Social Media Editor Alex Kojich Business Manager Micala Boyd Head Photographer Kess Vaitkus Chief Photographer Easan Venkat Photographers Moira Glowacki, Jorianna Hazel, Lauren Kozy, Melanie Powers, Megan Szymanski Adviser Ms. Sarah-Anne Lanman Reporters: Mia Adamus. Alexis Berumen, Demetrios Fotopoulos, Parkyr Guiton, Alexis Lindenmayer, Ben Ondo, Catherine Ornelas, Tiara Sparks, Jack Stork, Mia Terek

spotlight 05

april 20, 2018

n end of an era Beginning 10 years ago, Marvel Cinematic Universe’s phase three comes to an end; Crier reporters review movies Reviews by Joseph Bermudez, Alex Kojich, Demetrios Fotopoulos, Tiara Sparks

The Marvel Cinematic Universe began in

Section Chief, Social Media Manager, Reporters

2008

classic

Marvel introduced Ant-Man, the hero with a super-powered insect suit. In the movie Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) finds himself in a suit that shrinks him to the size of an ant. He uses this suit to stop the making of the Yellowjacket suit from getting into the wrong hands.

What I found best about this movie was the moments between Scott

and his daughter Cassy (Abby Ryder Fortson). They show a real father daughter relationship and, in most movies, you just do not get that type of connection.

The film shows Scott not only has to be a hero to protect the world, but to protect his daughter too.

2016 Captain America: Civil War

Iron Man exceptional

The first movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) sets a colossal bar to be surpassed.

This movie is the epitome of superhero movies for me, and is an amazing origin story. There’s just enough back story, a perfect amount of motivation and a semi-predictable, but also heartbreaking twist

exceptional

when Obadiah is revealed to be the movie’s secret antagonist.

In this film, Robert Downey Jr. defined who Tony Stark is: a genius, billionaire and philanthropist with just enough one-liners to add a touch of sass to his character.

Doctor Strange

2017

classic

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 fair

Spider-Man Homecoming

The Incredible Hulk

great

2010

unwatchable

2011

Thor average

Ant-Man

Iron Man 2 horrible

Captain America: The First Avenger good

2012

The Avengers

This movie follows the adventure of Spider-Man (Tom Holland) trying to be a real superhero after helping Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) fight against Captain America (Chris Evans) in “Captain America: Civil War.” When Peter Parker returns home from the airport battle scene in “Civil War”, he starts having trouble balancing his superhero life with his normal high school life after he discover

criminals selling alien technology on the street. Peter Parker does everything he can to stop this plot and prove himself as a real superhero.

This movie posed a really interesting message to me: don’t give up when all others have given up hope on you. Keep believing in yourself and keep being the best you can be.

good

“The Avengers” was a good film but in my opinion, it did what it was made to do: pave the way for future Marvel films.

The film introduced characters from “The Incredible Hulk”, “Iron Man”, “Iron Man 2”, “Thor” and “Captain America: The First Avenger” to one another and pitted them against

Thor The Dark World

Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the villain in “Thor” just a year before.

The movie doesn’t really give us any new characters or major developments in the lives of its characters, other than the formation of a team. For this reason, it was not the best film, but still a fun watch.

2013

Iron Man 3 fair

watchable

er,” infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. Alongside Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), and Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Cap works to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. in hopes to dissolve Hydra once and for all.

At the time of its premiere, “The Winter Soldier” was considered to be one of the MCU’s best movies, and it still is.

Guardians of the Galaxy

good

comedy show, which is a good thing.

Korg is, without a doubt, the funniest addition to the MCU ever. Not to be outdone by the now-talking Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), who also has his own handful of hysterical moments.

Overall, it is an epic movie, and breathes life into a series that was growing stale

After his first appearance in “Captain America: Civil War”, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returns to his homeland Wakanda.

In the film, T’Challa tries to keep his throne and title as king of Wakanda while Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) attempts to overthrow the him for the throne.

With its predominantly black cast and variety of female characters, the movie empowers and represents a large variety of often underserved people. Although it was a critically acclaimed movie, I personally do not

think that it was that good of a movie compared to other MCU films.

I feel that the plot was something that I had seen before: a king tries not to be overthrown. It just felt a little too mainstream for me. I also wanted more references to the MCU as a whole to be placed in the movie However, as a standalone film, it was enjoyable to watch. I had fun seeing it with my family and would go back to see the highly successful cultural phenomenon again.

opening April 27

exceptional

2015 Avengers: Age of Ultron

The hilarious opening scene where Thor fights off the evil Surtur (voiced

by Clancy Brown) establishes a good vibe for the remainder of the movie, with a few memorable punchlines and fight scenes.

When we are introduced to Thor’s cell-mate Korg (voiced by director Taika Waititi) on the planet Sakaar, the movie feels less like a piece of cinema and more like a stand-up

fair

classic

The film brings us a team of super-powered space heroes that consist of Star Lord, a.k.a. Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) who come together trying to keep an infinity stone out of the hands of Ronan.

classic

2018 Black Panther

2014 Captain America: The Winter Soldier In the movie, we Captain America (Chris Evans) attempt to reassociate himself into society after 70 years in the ice. To make things worse, he finds himself fighting his back-fromthe-dead friend, the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan).

This movie is influential and important to the MCU as we learn Hydra, the organization Cap fought in “Captain America: The First Aveng-

Thor Ragnarok

Avengers: Infinity War trailer This has to be one of my favorite movies. I think the first movies are always the best because you see how everything started. You get to see the connections between all the characters. The chemistry works amongst the perfectly casted actors.

Ten years after the “Iron Man,” we are finally given the movie that was being built up since the post-credit scene in “The Avengers.”

Described as a heist movie, the Avengers are challenged with stopping Thanos (Josh Brolin) from collecting all six Infinity Stones. If Thanos can assemble all six, he can destroy worlds with the snap of his finger.

With a total of 63 characters to appear in the movie, fans are excited to

see the outcome of the film, especially the fan who were there since the beginning in 2008.

Considered to be the end of the original MCU, it is said the direction they will take in the future will be sort of a refresh with lesser-known heroes.

It will be interesting to see what that will look like.

06 infocus april 20, 2018

Silent killer

Synthetic marijuana becoming popular, drug has severe side effects

photo illustration by Easan Venkat and Melanie Powers

KILLER K2 Although K2 may look like marijuana, the active drug is really a chemical sprayed on chopped up plant matter. The contents of the drug are unpredictable, and users do not know which of 150 mixes they are ingesting.

“Every time I used it (K2) I did not enjoy it,” Anon said.

“I used it because my friends and I were Managing Editor younger obviously and we didn’t have a lot of Right next door in Illinois, over 100 people have money and K2 was about $5 a gram. I did it just to been hospitalized for severe symptoms that stem try it. With K2 it (the high) only lasts like 30 minfrom use of synthetic marijuana, or K2. As of now, utes. You are really high though, like hallucinathree people have died in Illinois alone. tion type high.”

While there have not been any major cases in It is the intense high that deterred Anon from Munster, some MHS students report using the ilcontinuing to use the drug. legal drug before.

“I chose to stop using it because it scarred me “I started using synthetic marijuana freshman for life,” Anon said. “One time, we (friends) were year or the summer going into with another girl and we got her on K2 freshman year,” an anonymous and she fainted. She went backwards, junior, who will be referred to as like exorcism type style. I have never Anon, said. “I used ‘Scooby Snax’ (a thought of using it since then.” brand of synthetic marijuana). It is Some people are not as lucky. Ms. You do not know a different type of synthetic mariHalpin has personally treated two pawhat you are juana that is sprayed more times tients that were hospitalized due to the getting. There is with the chemicals.” effects of synthetic marijuana.

K2 is not similar to actual marno safe synthetic “What I have experienced with my paijuana in any way. In fact, it does tients was hyperemesis, which is severe marijuana. not even look like marijuana. K2 abdominal pain and vomiting that does is a chemical that gets sprayed Ms. Angela Halpin, not stop,” Ms. Halpin said. “One girl was on diced up plants to resemble hospitalized that I took care of and she registered nurse weed and attract more users. was given IV fluids for hydration because The only similarity between the she was severely dehydrated. When you drugs is that they interact with the same brain are severely dehydrated, you can lose your kidney cell receptors as THC, the active ingredient in or have kidney failure or die. Another of my patients marijuana. experienced extreme anxiety and she actually got “The main thing is that the kind of THC in syncombative from taking synthetic marijuana.” thetic marijuana is 100 times higher than reguAccording to Ms. Halpin, there are 150 different lar or pure marijuana, which is what makes it so mixtures to create synthetic marijuana. dangerous. That is what reacts to the receptor “You do not know what you are getting. There is sites,” Ms. Angela Halpin, a registered nurse, said. no safe synthetic marijuana,” Ms. Halpin said. “A According to Anon, K2 has draws that may lot of it comes from China and they want to make make it more appealing to teenagers, including money, so if they want to make money, they are availability and its effect. However, Anon did not going to want to keep selling it. It is definitely adenjoy using it and stopped soon after trying it. dictive, that is what they want.”

Story by Mimi Brody

“

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9

SCOOBY SNAX SPICE K2 is illegal in all cases CLOUD 9BLAZE SPICEstates in Illinois K2 FAKE WEEDSPIKE tested SCOOBY SNAX SPICE positive for Synthetic 10K SPIKE FAKE WEED brodifacoum, marijuana is or rat poison SPICE K2 POTTPOURRI made of: FAKE WEED CLOUD 9 Dried, chopped So far plant matter SPIKE SCOOBY SNAX people have Industrial grade 10K K2 SPICE CLOUD died in the 9 chemicals POTTPOURRI U.S. SPIKE SCOOBY SNAX SPICE Side effects CLOUD 9 BLAZE SPICE Average high is include: FAKE WEEDSPIKE K2 Kidney faliure SCOOBY SNAX SPICE Internal bleeding minutes 10K SPIKE FAKE WEED Vomiting SPICE K2 POTTPOURRI Rapid heart rate CLOUD 9 FAKE WEED Seizures SCOOBY SNAX SPIKE

50

20

30

Sources: CNN, Slate Magazine

Who has the best hair at MHS? See who voted for senior bests on May 18 The senior issue of Crier will be sold for

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infocus 07 april. 20, 2018

Story by Mia Terek Reporter HQ trivia is a live, interactive game show that is currently being played by over a million people around the world. According to our survey, 22 percent of the school consistently plays HQ and only 5.8 percent of them have won a game.

“It’s like taking a little quiz on your phone,” Becky Jones, freshman and HQ player for about four months, said.

Each game consists of 12-15 rounds that progressively get more difficult as players advance.

Each round, contestants are given ten seconds to answer a trivia question.

Running out of time or incorrectly answering the questions eliminates a player from the current game. The game is usually streamed daily at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

A signature aspect of HQ trivia is the app’s quirky hosts.

“The hosts seemed very cheesy and enthusiastic,” Hannah Bard, freshman and HQ player for about two weeks said.

The hosts present the questions and answers, they also give a small introduction to each game.

Mobile trivia game interests students due to cash prizes

The introduction usually welcomes newcomers to the HQ world and gives the rules and basics of the game. An occasional shout out or some sort game news is sometimes included in the games opening introduction.

For most people, the cash prize on HQ trivia is what continuously keeps players returning.

Prizes on the app can vary anywhere from $5,000 all the way up to $300,000. The prizes are split among all winning players and is distributed through Paypal accounts.

“I don’t understand where all the money comes from,” Dori Clousing, freshman, said.

According to HQ’s FAQs, the money is sponsored by Intermedia Labs, Inc., a startup company created by the former Vine creators Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll.

HQ, which is free to play, also receives funding from sponsored questions as well as occasional references to a company, such as Nike who promoted their Air Max Day on March 23 through the app and The Warner Brothers who promoted their new movie “Rampage.”

Savage questions

HQ has a special type of question known as a “Savage Question,” the harder that eliminate larger amounts of players

screenshots by Easan Venkat

Players and percentages

HQ CRAZE HQ goes live at 2 p.m. and 8p.m. every day of the week and is hosted by multiple people including celebrities.

Students answer questions about HQ

What was the first successfully cloned animal?

Only 7.1% of players answered this question correct. The answer was “sea urchin.”

What is the official currency of China?

The answer to this question “the Renminbi.” It eliminated 785,927 players.

The phrase “cul-de-sac” literally translates to what?

The questions answer was “bottom of the bag” and eliminated 1,199,305 players.

The Asian delicacy known as bird’s nest soup is made primarily from what?

This question’s answer was actually a bird’s nest and eliminated 1,765,281 players.

Source: Time.com

photo illustrations by Robert Young

Dance dance revolution Story by Adam Klaich Section Editor

photo by Kess Vaitkus

DANCING TO HIS OWN BEAT Sam Sanchez, senior, dances at Centennial Park. Dancing has always been a big part of his life and uses it as an escape and is also a part of his career. “I love being able to visualize what I believe the music would look like in human form,” Sam said.

Throughout the past couple years, live streaming has become a popular form of entertainment in mainstream media. Sam Sanchez, senior, has taken part in the format.

Sam discovered a video game live streaming service named twitch. tv in 2012. Since then, he has been streaming video games on his channel “wearytwo” and it has unexpectedly become a very important part of his life.

“I never thought that it would become a career because I had no viewers for a long time,” Sam said.

Twitch allows people to both live stream and watch video games.

Users are able to subscribe to their favorite streamers, but it requires a monthly subscription along with any donations they may, or may not, want to make during a live stream.

Sam usually plays games that are most popular at the time to attract a larger amount of viewers. Recently, he’s been playing games such as “Fortnite,” “Far Cry 5” and “Player Un-

source: Crier survey of 482 results on Google forms

Student adds a new twist to his regular gaming live streams

screenshot by Adam Klaich

FOOTING AND FORTNITE Sam Sanchez regularly streams every weekday starting at 8 p.m. on his twitch channel “wearytwo.”

knowns Battlegrounds.”

According to Sam, it can be hard to make money on Twitch due to the vast amount of streamers that populate the website. To attract more viewers and add a twist, Sam has added a unique feature to his live streams: dancing.

“I dance all the time,” Sam said.

“Whenever anybody donates and whenever anyone makes a subscription, which is when they will pay me $5 a month and they get to use my

face (as a sticker) in Twitch chats, but I dance to any song they request.”

Sam has been dancing since he was 11 and started to take it seriously after he saw a footworker, or a type of street performer. He then watched videos and self taught himself.

“Dancing is my escape. People only see a few videos every week, but I dance everyday,” Sam said.

To anybody looking to start streaming, Sam says, “If you have a passion, don’t listen to the nay say-

08 infocus april 20, 2018

Front page of Crier April 30, 19 99

...19 years later April 20, 1999: two students opened fire in Columbine High School in Littleton Colo.

Ten days later, a caption on the front page of Crier read: “While students feel secure in their environment the possibility of violence in

Reporting by Ian Brundige Editor-in-Chief “I don’t think we even talked about (school shootings). We did our fire drills. We did that come out in here (in the hall) for the tornado drill, but I think at that point, knowing about school shootings wasn’t really like a common thing. Now we hear about it all the time, I just wasn’t aware of it when I was a senior.”

Mrs. Katie Harris, MHS senior ‘99, now math teacher

Many teachers were also unaware of school shootings “We just didn’t hear about it a lot. Of course there’s always been procedures. They kept the doors locked—certain doors locked, like the one that weren’t the main doors… But before Columbine, it was not a big issue.”

Mr. Carl Fields, MHS art teacher since ‘91

The Emergency Preparedness Rule was first implemented July 1, 1999.

The law required schools to haves plans for hostages, guns, natural disasters and gas leaks.

“I don’t think it really change much because at the time it seemed like a very isolated event like these two kids are kind of loners... It just seemed like some weird bizarre tragedy

schools can never be removed and mainly depends on preventative measures, according to Mr. (Michael) O’Connor (Former principal).” Teachers share their experiences with Columbine as students, and teachers in 1991.

that happened way over there, like never affecting me personally. “ Mrs. Kelly Barnes, Freshman in ‘99, English teacher

“(After Parkland) kids got involved for the first time. When I was a kid, we didn’t say anything about Columbine—it didn’t affect us. We weren’t involved in that conversation at all because it wasn’t really much of a conversation. Now, we do see people getting involved and you guys definitely see yourself as a part of this and you see your safety as a concern, whereas I did not see that as a problem before.”

But as a teacher, Mrs. Dettlo had a different perspective.

“We for the first time started talking about marginalized groups in schools and bullying and the effects of bullying.

They were (media was) talking about, for the first time openly really, so many students being prescribed prescription medications for things like ADHD and depression and anxiety. It had always gone on, but no one really started talking about it.

That was a big change. “ Mrs. Jen Dettlo, First year teaching at MHS in ‘99 Spanish teacher

At the time much of the conversation was dominated by adults in education “Students weren’t talking very much about it. I think they were really kind of looking to the adults and in retrospect, I wish there would have been things we could have done differently to really open up some dialogue and it give students more voice.”

Mrs. Dettlo

However, after Parkland the national response from students was different

Mrs. Barnes

Experiencing the conversation as student, parent and now teacher Mrs. Harris finds that student’s can have a vital impact “I think it’s you guys (that can have the most effect). I think it’s your generation because my generations not doing it. My parents’ generation is not doing it now, you know, I’ll never forget watching those young men and women stand in Washington and stand in all those marches all across the country... I think the fact that it was high school kids that were affected this last time that have a voice, that can get out there and talk about it and they’re not accepting it. I think it’s gonna be that that’s going to be what’s gonna make the change. I hope so.”

Mrs. Harris

photo by Ian S. Brundige

RUN, HIDE, FIGHT At Monday’s Active Shooter Safety Presentation, Officer James Ghrist speaks to parents, community members about safety measure that can be taken in and out of school.

Don’t get ready, Stay ready May 1, school will conduct a Lockdown drill in the morning Areas/times of heightened alert lunch hours commons passing periods before/after school

1. Run 2. Hide source: Principal Mike Wells

National School Violence National infamous recording-breaking shootings often dominate the headlines however those are not the only events

April 20, 1999

Columbine 14 students killed, 23 wounded Littleton, Colo.

52 lives lost in 19 incidents April 16, 2007

Virginia Tech

Dec. 14, 2012

Sandy Hook

33 killed, 15 wounded Blacksburg, Va.

26 killed (20 children), Newtown, Conn.

Feb. 14, 2018

Marjory Stoneman Douglass 17 killed, 14 wounded Parkland, Fla.

It not necessarily the number of shootings which has increased, but the amount of news coverage DATELINE Timeline from 1999 Crier listing indictments of school violence throughout the Region.

source: USA Today, USNews, interactive.nydailynews.com

‘99 Crier opinion

SAFE NOT SORRY Cartoon from April 30, 1999 Crier. The editorial was about students’ responsibility to prevent violence. It read, “Hopefully, violence will stop in high schools.

But this depends on whether you take the responsibility to report problems. If you’ve heard a threat don’t hesitate to tell someone. After all, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.” Similar sentiments are echoed today.

Letter from the editor

The decrease in the number of school shooting victims over the past two decades is undebatably a good thing.

But it is not time to stop protesting; Do Part 3 of 3 not put down your signs or silence your Now, more than ever, Looking voice. as the media attention fades back: away, it is up to you to affect looking change.

—Ian S. Brundige,

forward

Editor-in-Chief

sports 09 april 20,2018

Stronger together

Boys’ Golf hosts Griffith today at 4 p.m.; seniors reflect on bonds created Story by Parkyr Guiton Reporter

photo by Kess Vaitkus

CHIPPING IN Last Tuesday at River Pointe Country Club Golf Course during the Hobart Best Ball Scramble, Merrick Lieser, senior, chips his ball onto the green to putt. Lieser reflects back on how he first joined the golf team four years ago. “Honestly, my freshman year I didn’t know if I’d make the baseball team. I knew golf was something I was always interested in,” Lieser said. “I kind of just fell in love with the game that summer going into freshman year.”

A changed game Story by Joseph Bermudez Section Chief The goal for Girls’ Lacrosse this season has been working on improving from last year. Megan Dedelow, junior, believes so far this season, they have been doing just that.

“We have practices way more often this season and we also have more games on our schedule, both which have really factored into helping us improve as a program,” Dedelow said.

Boys’ Golf consists of 11 members: two freshman, two sophomores, two juniors and five seniors. These five seniors have played together since freshman year and consider themselves friends on and off of the course as well.

“I think it (the bond) started in freshman year,” Easan Venkat, senior and publications member, said.

We all tried out together, and we all made the team together, and we’ve all been playing varsity since freshman year.”

Although friendships can help as the season progresses, there will always be that inevitable factor: gametime anxiety. ”Whenever I go into a match, I have a little bit of nerves going, but once I’m out there and on the course, there’s no stress. I just play the game,”

Girls’ Lacrosse works to focus on fundamentals; improve upon teamwork and dedication A problem the team had last year was the fact they were not playing as a team, according to Emilee Eggebrecht, junior. This year, however, the team has been playing more as a unified squad.

“This year, we’re more focused on our team as a whole instead of as individuals,” Eggebrecht said.

“The girls are working really hard to improve from last year. We have such a good coach who gives us guidance and direction, not only on our stick skills, but bringing us together as a team also.”

An obstacle in the team’s way has been the

Louis DalleCarbonare, senior, said.

After a bit of experience, Tony Daniels, senior, was able to eliminate those pre-game jitters and focus solely on his game.

“I handle the stress pretty well now, but last year, and probably two years before, I didn’t,” Tony Daniels, senior, said.

With Sectionals at the beginning of June, players have high hopes.

“We plan to make it out of Sectionals, and out of Regionals, and make it to State,” DalleCarbonare said.

However, the seniors are unaffected by the high expectations that come with sports. As their bonds grew stronger over the years, their scores did too.

“We started shooting mid-to high forties and then we went to like lower forties,” Venkat said. “I think that we really improved overall as a squad.

So, I think that’s really brought us together.”

distance having to travel for road games. Despite this, the team chooses to look for the silver lining.

“I think the biggest struggle is getting off that three hour cramped bus ride and having about 10 minutes to get changed and ready to play in the freezing rain,” Eggebrecht said. “But we’ve always tried to look on the positive side and I think we’re finding ways to make that part of the game a better experience for us.”

Practicing more and playing more games has allowed the team to gain experience and improve since last year. Dedelow believes the team will only get better.

“We have been competing at a higher level this season and I’m looking forward to continue winning games,” Dedelow said.

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10sports

Sidenote

april 20, 2018

Dance Who: Munster Dance What: State Finals When: March 10 Where: New Castle High School The Dance team attended State Finals. On March 10 and placed first for pom, which is dancing to a mix of songs with pom and usually a theme, and second for jazz.

“We knew we never would get first place in Jazz mainly because Lake Central has never lost, but getting second is still a big accomplishment,” Bella Buono, junior, said.

The team practiced many hours and are proud of their first place win in pom.

“We definitely need to change our style (for next year), we aren’t very hard hitting jazz lyrical dancers, we are much better at being soft,” Buono said.

photos by Megan Szymanski

GIVING IT THEIR ALL (left to right) Karolina Sroka, junior, gets in position to hit a backhand. “I’m in position to hit a topspin backhand,” Karolina Sroka, junior, said. “I keep my eye on the ball and make sure I bend my legs.

I also make sure to follow through with my stroke.” Emily Rakich and Dana Savarino, freshmen, prepare for the season by practicing on the tennis courts outside MHS.

Winter Guard What: Preliminaries When: April 7-8 Where: LaPorte High School

Raining on

their parade

Section Editor

Girl’s Tennis prepares for the season despite the unpredictable weather

Snow and bitter cold have been devastating to many spring sports. This includes Girls Tennis, who could not practice outside. The team had to adjust to play inside which is new to them all, but the team still sees the light through the blockade.

“A lot of our practices have been shorter because of the cold weather, but we do have a lot of talent here it is like we are overflowing (with talent),” Kelli Canul, senior, said. “I think this group is going to be a good match for all that good competition that we have. Our coach scheduled a lot of new matches because we’re going to probably do very well this year.”

Coach Patrick Spohr, gym teacher, has voiced his frustration for the lack of practice because of weather.

“It has been rough because of the weather we’ve hardly been able to get out,” Coach Spohr, said. “We’ve been playing a lot of indoor tournaments, which helps us, but it also hurts us because it doesn’t get used to the elements outside. So, we’re kind of grinding along right now just trying to get by playing indoors. We’re just like every other spring sport, just waiting for the weather to get better” Despite these obstacles, the team has progressed mainly through conditioning.

“The conditioning went really well, we had more

people show up compared to last year so that’s a good thing,” Canul said. “But it’s all to prepare us for the longer matches.”

Their first match was cancelled due to weather.

Although it was saddening at first, the team saw it as a chance to prepare more.

“It was a bit of a disappointment just because we were all really excited, but I feel like will be better prepared for it,” Canul said. “Now we have more time to practice for when we do play.”

With the new season, an influx of new players enter the varsity team, with many underclassmen as well, including Shalini Tallamraju, sophomore.

“It’s just atmosphere like being around people cheering me on,” Tallamraju said. “Generally (tennis is) usually a very solitary sport but you are around people who cheer you on so that makes it a great experience.”

Despite the roadblocks, Coach Spohr, like Canul has high hopes for the season.

“We have a lot of like really talented players and we did good last year, but now we have even more talented players so I think we’re going to go pretty far in the season,” Coach Spohr said.

Their next game will be against Carmel High School at Carmel High School tomorrow.

Story by Mercedez Williams

A quick overview of rules in tennis matches

5 3

2

out of of the games have to be won for an overall victory

3 games are 1 vs. 1 or “singles” 2 games are 2 vs. 2 or “doubles”

Sources: Mr. Spohr and myactivesg.com

photo by Kess Vaitkus

PERFECT PERPORMERS Winter Guard performs in the Field House with Winter Percussion on April 5.

Cheer

Rules of the court games are equal to a match

Winter Guard’s season has came to a close. The team has practiced twice a week with competitions every Saturday. For the final performance they had a two day competition on March 31 and April 1.

“It’s not really a big time constraint and the girls all do something else whether it be another sport or something outside of school,” Coach Stephanie “Millie” Peterson, French teacher, said.

The theme for the final performance was “Coming to Life.” It was a play on the scarecrow from the “Wizard of Oz.” The songs start with a robotic theme and slowly change into a melodic theme to show them becoming more human.

“We are very proud of this placement since we were promoted into this class during the season,” Coach Peterson said. “Being promoted shows that our program is progressing in skill level and performance and the judges recognize that and believe we are ready to compete at a more advanced level.”

1 point= 15 points 2 points= 30 points 3 points= 40 points 4 points= win Girls Varsity Tennis is currently 9th in state

• •

A two point lead is needed in order to win A tie of 40-40 is called a deuce, a player must score two points in a row to win

What: Tryouts When: Week of April 9, 3:30 Where: Dance room Last week Cheerleaders held their tryouts. A total of 34 girls made the team.

“There are so many new girls on the team and so many new expectations we need to meet. We are going to have to work harder than ever to be where we want or better,” Zaria Ellis, junior, said.

They will begin to preaper for their official practice on May 1 to begin practicing for both competition season and football.

“This year the JV team has the opportunity to be in more serious competitions and to even go to Disney to compete,” Esperanza Navarro, sophomore, said.

sports april 20, 2018

Whatever

it takes Story by Alexis Lindenmayer Reporter The unpredictable weather has put a strain on the opening of baseball season. The team has faced game cancellation after cancellation due to snow and rain. The weather has not exactly been easy on the practice schedule either.

“We haven’t been able to do all the things I’ve wanted to do,” Coach Bob Shinkan, math teacher, said. “In the field house, there is not much we can

Baseball practices despite numerous cancellations; start season 2-3; travel to Hobart tonight

do defensively.”

When they are able to get practices in, more is being done in an attempt to improve the team’s overall performance.

“Compared to last year, practices are going longer,” Ryan Thometz, senior, said. “We would probably get done around 5 p.m. last year. But now, we are getting done around 6 p.m. So, averaging an extra hour a day for practice is going to add up.

We are just getting out reps in and making sure we are going to be prepared.”

Despite the delays and postponements, there is

11

still high hopes for this year’s team as a whole and what it can accomplish. Much of the confidence originates from the defense and current pitching.

“What really is going to come affect us is our starting pitchers going longer into games,” Thometz said. “If they can stay consistent we have a few good closers that can seal the deal.”

With a team consisting of nine seniors, there is a lot of leadership and role models on the team.

The team is appearing to be very compatible and strong as a unit. Good team chemistry will help play a role in winning more games this year.

“Our chemistry is what is going to differentiate us from last year and this year,” Thometz said.

“The guys are a lot tighter and everyone is on the same page.”

As the weather warms up and more games are played, the team wants to keep improving and excel their playing from the previous season.

“This year we are gunning hard for conference to win first,” Thometz said. “Then we really want to win Sectionals and then head back to LaPorte for Regionals.”

After a 5-6 loss to them last night, the team travels to Hobart for a rematch today at 7 p.m.

Refuse to lose

Softball starts season 3-1, hosts Andrean Monday at 4:30 p.m.

Story by Alexis Berumen

photo by Joseph Bermudez

IN THE ZONE (top) In the 5-6 loss against Hobart yesterday, Josh Dragicevich, senior, waits for the pitch. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT (right) Before leaving for their game, Daija Williams takes a few practice swings. “I was excited for the game. Due to the weather, a bunch of our games have been canceled and there was a chance we were going to play that day,” Daija Williams, sophomore, said.

The weather was not in the softball team’s favor, as the game was canceled. ALL HANDS ON DECK (bottom) Before the game, Hailey Sullivan, freshman is cheered on by her softball team before she takes the field.

Reporter

photo by Jorianna Hazel

photo by Elizabeth Fonseca

The softball season swings into action with a winning record of 3-1.

Players have come and gone on the softball team, but it is still going strong according to the amount of wins. There are many new players on the team, many of whom are freshmen. With the seniors from last year gone from the team, it’s up to the remaining upperclassmen and freshman to carry the team to State at the end of the year.

“They (the freshmen) are really good athletes, and I believe that they can help the future of this team,” Becky Radtke, senior, said.

Many seniors and other upperclassman see potential in the new players.

It takes time and dedication to be in a sport, or any club for that matter, especially for a new player. Members on the softball team think it’s important to show interest in the game and practices, or else it will reflect on how a teammate plays.

“I feel like it’s easier to learn something when you want to learn it,” Daija Williams, sophomore, said.

Constructive criticism is important for players.

“If you, as a player, want to improve, you definitely need to learn how to take criticism. In order to get better, you need to learn new things, you can’t just stay at one level and expect to get better,” Williams said.

Getting help with something a player is not completely sure on is important in any team sport, players need to help each other out and

learn how to improve their form if they want to improve and get even better.

Along with teamwork, Softball girls work, on setting goals for themselves and the rest of the team throughout the season.

“We pretty much set the same goals. Most years, win conference then sectionals, and then just kind of go from there,” Coach Beth Raspopovich, math teacher, said.

The girls have high hopes for this season and are practicing to make it as far as possible. Many of the girls on the team are looking towards playing softball collegiately.

“If you actually love softball and want to pursue a career out of it, it will never get tiring at all,” Williams said.

Ups and Downs The fluctuating weather has had a major effect on extracurricular activities

April 11th- 50 °F April 12th- 58 °F April 13th- 50 °F April 14th- 40 °F April 15th- 34 °F April 16th- 30 °F April 17th- 35 °F April 18th- 32 °F

12 student life april 20, 2018

Story by Carey Scott, Erianna Sims People Editor, Section Editor “High School Musical (HSM) 3: Senior Year” holds a certain place in many high school student’s hearts. Coincidentally, (or not so coincidentally) the targeted viewing audience of 8 year-olds will be going to their senior year Prom ten years after the movie first aired on the Disney Channel.

Here’s your Prom court, High School Musical style:

Kess Vaitkus

What was your first reaction to being nominated?

“The funny thing is, when Mrs. (Valerie) Zemaitis (assistant principal) came in, I thought I was in trouble, but my first reaction was probably just being really surprised.”

If you could dance to any HSM song at Prom, what would it be?

“Bet On It, because I thought Troy looked pretty cool wearing an all black outfit in the desert.”

—Luciano Medina If you could take anyone to Prom who would you take?

“Andrew Garfield because he’s been my celebrity crush since forever.”

—Vanessa Pascual

If you were any character from HSM who would you be?

“Gabriella, definitely just multi talented on yearbook, dancing, singing has all the skills. Everyone wants to be her. Everyone wants to be with her Gabriella.”

—Ian Brundige What do you think the best part about Prom is?

—Carl Adindu If you could take anyone to Prom, who would you take?

If you could do any theme for Prom, what would it be?

“Michael Jackson’s ‘Off The Wall’ because that’s one of the best albums. People say ‘Thriller’s’ the best album, ‘Thriller’ is like ‘Yes, sir. I’ll have your daughter home by 10. ‘Off the Wall’ is I’ll have your daughter home when we’re done tearing up the dance floor.’”

—Kess Vaitkus If you were a king or queen, what would be your first royal decree?

“I would destroy the gas and oil lobbyists.

Keep the gas and oil, just destroy the lobbyists and then instead put the money towards research for alternative fuel sources.”

What does being on Prom court mean to you?

It means a lot to me, I am really honored to be representing my senior class.

If you could do any theme for Prom, what would it be?

“If I could have any theme it would probably be like a baseball game, because baseball is my favorite sport and the season is starting now, so it’d be cool to represent that.”

—Emma Hand

—Jimmy Forde

If your 7 year-old self planned their ideal Prom, what would it be like?

If you could wear anything to Prom, what would you wear?

“Probably just a lot of cookies and pizza, but I was really scared of girls. So there, I’d probably say no girls.”

—George Babus What’s your favorite high school dance memory?

“I did the worm at the dance and ripped part of my dress in the process.”

—Jaycee Helmer

—Olivia Foley

—Sarah Johnson

Olivia Foley

Ian Brundige

Kendal Ziel

Vanessa Pascual

“I’d probably bust out like old Power Rangers gear, or like a Star Wars costume for sure.”

—Joey Yoniles Some people think the title of Prom Queen is meaningless. how do you feel about that?

“I guess because what really makes me a queen? Nothing. People are just voting for me, it’s not like I get any powers. So I guess it’s kind of meaningless, in a sense, but it depends on who you talk to.”

Jaycee Helmer

—Alex Wright

If you were a king or queen what would be your first royal decree?

“We need to focus on school bullying and I feel like if I were queen I would make sure if someone was sitting alone at school, go talk to them, go sit with them, make sure they’re also happy too.”

Sarah Johnson

—Ryan Sonnenberg

—Kendal Ziel

“Seeing everyone at the Grand March, and seeing everyone all dressed up and really happy because everyone looks good and everyone’s super confident.

Emma Hand

Ryan Sonnenburg

“If I could take anyone in the whole world to Prom I would take Oprah Winfrey mid90s, in her prime.”

How do you think being on court will change your Prom experience?

“I just hope that I can help make it a fun dance for everyone, being on court.”

—Kalie Miles

Alex Wright

Carl Adindu

Luciano Medina

Joey Yoniles

Jimmy Forde

Kalie Miles

George Babus