After 26 years of teaching, Social Studies Teacher Martha Rush announced that she will be leaving Mounds View at the end of this school year. Since accepting her position in 1997, Rush has left a profound impact on the Mounds View community.
Despite her established career as an educator, Rush did not always want to go into teaching. She started in journalism as an education reporter for local Kansas paper the Wichita Eagle, which gave her the opportunity to student-teach in 1993. From there, Rush realized her love for teaching, so she resigned from her reporting position. She then began teaching the courses U.S. History and Civil Liberties and eventually moved to macroeconomics, microeconomics and psychology. She also advised The Viewer for 17 years and Mounds View’s Economics Club for 13 years.
Now, Rush has accepted a new job with the College Board, where she will design the curriculum for a new AP course — AP Business Principles. This course
will involve aspects of business, entrepreneurship and marketing. Rush previously worked for the College Board as a consultant for AP Macroeconomics and Microeconomics and designed curriculum for UrbanPlan and other economic classes. Along with her passion for curriculum development, Rush looks forward to the new flexibility that this job will bring.
Despite this enthusiasm, Rush will miss the connections she made at Mounds View. “A lot of people I called when I got [my new job] were former students who I just know now, which is really cool because there [are] so many good people out there who were students here,” said Rush. These connections have also helped Rush realize the impact she has left on students, which she believes is the most rewarding part of teaching.
Even now, Rush makes her students feel at ease with her kindness and relatability. “She’ll actually make confessions herself and say ‘Oh yeah, it took me five years to understand this concept as well,’ so she’s just so empathetic and it just creates such a great learning environment,” said junior Katie Schneider.
Sophomore Amaris Tu agrees, adding that Rush makes her classes extremely engaging by incorporating practice problems, experiments, stories and jokes into her lessons. “She’s the perfect balance of everything. Like some teachers are really funny, but they can’t seem to get to the learning aspect, but other teachers
only do the learning and lack the funny part,” said Tu. In addition to her engagement in the classroom, Rush also served as a very reliable and supportive advisor for Economics Challenge, according to Matteo Meyer, senior and captain of the team. “She always has another person I can reach out to and set up a team practice with,” said Meyer. “She always has more materials and always has awesome stories to share about her old teams and how they did things.” Meyer also went on a trip with Rush and a few other students to Germany last fall to attend the Young Economic Summit program (YES!). He especially remembers eating hamburgers in Hamburg together. Through experiences like these, Rush has left a lasting impression on students, both then and now.
Even after leaving Mounds View, she wants to continue to help students with a $1,000 scholarship for a senior who demonstrates commitment to Econ Club and wants to pursue economics. “I really want people to continue being excited about and motivated by econ, so it’ll be nice to leave that as a little legacy,” Rush explained. The Outstanding Economics Student scholarship will start this year and continue every year going forward. Rush has left a lasting legacy in Mounds View, which will live on through the hundreds of students and teachers she has impacted. However, she believes that her time at Mounds View has impacted her as well. “I’m going to miss all of you guys, I’m going to miss all these students and the energy of [Mounds View],” said Rush.
On Dec. 30, 2022, Minneapolis announced the closing of a homeless encampment near Quarry shopping center in northeast Minneapolis. The closure, while controversial, had been planned for multiple weeks.
According to Kare 11, notices were posted on Dec. 21 and 26 to the inhabitants of the encampment; however, the occupants felt there still was not enough time to move. The encampment was initially planned to be closed on Dec. 28, but was delayed due to potential resistance from residents, according to.
When officials arrived, six unsheltered homeless people were present and refused to be transported to the Catholic Charities’ Opportunity Center. Two others did request to be transported to other locations. During the move, Minneapolis police had chaplains available to help these people with any additional support needed.
This was not the first time an event like this has happened. Since 2020, St. Paul has closed more than 60 homeless encampments, according to the city of St. Paul. This includes once in October, where two people were arrested on obstruction charges.
These events have sparked strong opinions in Mounds View students. “I think it’s okay if you can provide some sort of shelter,” said senior Abe Dunford.
Maya Betti
Tyler Quattrin
Maya Betti, Tyler Quattrin
Sarafina Dillon
Michael Wang
Others think it’s never okay. “No, because people deserve a safe place for their kids and elders to stay in,” said senior Zeinab Rashed.
Freshman Antonio Dragich believes that the moving was unjust. “There’s scenarios where it’s fine but there should be better measures to relocate,” said Dragich. He explained how homeless people have trouble finding jobs because it is hard to be presentable to get a job. It creates a dilemma of trying to become presentable, but not having the ability to because of the
people move into permanent homes. In an interview with CBS, Mayor Jacob Frey sees Avivo as a resounding success and believes it will continue to be.
Homelessness has been the subject of many controversial events. From the closing of encampments to the relocation of the homeless, these actions have sparked a backlash from the homeless and outsiders alike. However, programs such as Avivo have shown the community’s persistence to improve the homelessness crisis.
Homelessness is a problem existing across the world, and the Twin Cities is no exception. New plans are being made to try to fix the problem such as the Avivo Village, a homeless shelter in Minneapolis. Avivo Village has been successful enough to help over 100
ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ONLINE MANAGING COPY EDITOR
ONLINE EDITORS
STAFF REPORTERS
Ariana Eschenbacher, Rachel Zou
Maya Gjelhaug, Rachel Zou
Morghan Larson
Sarafina Dillon Iris Ren
Shivam Vashishtha
Michael Wang
Sarafina Dillon, Ariana Eschenbacher, Morghan Larson
Khadra Abdulahi, Khalid Abdullahi, Nolan Anderson, Graydon Bandt, Alex
Bi, Luke Daigle, Ava Dempster, David Golridge, Ruthie Hottinger, Megan Jaros, Jonathan Jones, Charlotte Krum, Nikhil Kulangaroth, Isabella Kunc,
Isabel Li, Gloria Liu, CeCe Maves, Alaina Pundsack, Mary Schmidt, Owen Schwalm, Ahmed Sharara, Ava Surface, Gao Zhong Thao, Mika Tuerk, Isaiah Wallerstedt, Faith Yang, Kia Yang
“She’s just so empathetic and it just creates such a great learning environment”
Katie Schneider, ‘24
“There’s scenarios where [closing encampments] is fine but there should be better measures to relocate”
Antonio Dragich, ‘26
by Ava Dempster staff reporter
The pleasures of parenthood start during pregnancy with the mother’s constant aches and pains and the father’s inability to resolve them. Obviously, planning a party now to “keep up with the Joneses” would be the perfect way to celebrate something as important as gender, a construct invented to repress an individual’s expression because of things they cannot control nor necessarily feel comfortable with. For parents looking to up the “wow” factor of gender reveal parties, dangerous fireworks and explosives are usually a safe bet. These extreme parties may end in fire and destruction as well as numerous police responses to noise complaints, but that is alright as long as they amaze the guests.
In addition to fires, gender reveal parties have also tampered with water. One party in Brazil spiraled out of control when parents dyed the Cachoeira QueimaPé waterfall blue, effectively polluting the waters. The state environmental agency took action by taking samples of the affected waters to analyze for contaminants. Luckily, no physical changes or wildlife were harmed in the long term according to the Washington Post. However, this does not discount the harm of gender reveal parties on the environment and only further proves the potential risk of environmental contamination if laws are ignored.
Harm from gender reveals does not end with environmental destruction, as it can also harm the baby’s parents. One expecting parent, Chris Peckney from New York, died in his garage while testing a gender reveal explosive. Officials say no sabotage appeared to have been done to the device, ruling the death accidental. Now, this man’s baby will grow up fatherless because of his desire to entertain guests.
tablishes these rigid gender roles around the age 10 or 11 according to CNN. Enforcing these categories can bring shame and embarrassment to kids for pursuing their interests, causing life-long mental health risks. It is important for parents to denounce rigid gender stereotypes and allow children to fully express themselves to build a more accepting future.
Parents looking to counteract the damage of gender reveal parties can still celebrate the birth of their child by opting for gender-neutral and safer options. Parents could change the premise of the party into a baby name reveal or focus it on supplying the expecting parent with resources to help them care for their new child, skipping potentially dangerous activities. Make a cake, do arts and crafts or just hang out with friends and family. By creating a more inclusive baby shower, parents can reject rigid gender stereotypes while loving and celebrating their child no matter the sex.
Law enforcement is not the only group who disapproves of gender reveal parties — Mother Nature hates them too. Innovative ways to announce gender at parties often have negative impacts within the surrounding area, occasionally resulting in severe wildfires. For example, the 2017 Arizona Sawmill Fire began when a combustible target for a gender reveal was shot, sparking a wildfire that spanned over 46,000 acres in just 11 days. Another occurred in El Dorado, California when a family used a smoke grenade to reveal the gender. This ignited a fire that lasted 13 days and spanned 20,000 acres. The drastic fire even killed a firefighter on duty, confirming the destructive capabilities of these parties.
Arguably the most detrimental and widespread consequence of gender reveal parties is how they promote an unhealthy binary system. Often, these parties enforce customs like “boys are blue and girls are pink,” which limits the baby’s identity before they are even introduced to the world. It is unfair for parents to form their child’s personality based on what’s in their pants.
According to The National Post, companies do not seem to help gender-stereotyping issues. Clothing retailers often depict cars, planes and rockets only on boy clothes while girls clothes typically contain images of makeup, flowers and cell phones. Limiting gender into boxes supports false and unfair assumptions that boys are a certain way and girls are another way.
There may even be psychological consequences to the promotion of gender stereotypes. A child’s brain es-
Surely, the obesity problem in the United States is getting out of hand. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, out of the U.S. adult population, 41.9% are considered obese, with 9.2% considered severely obese.
while uplifting those with marginalized bodies. However, some argue that the body positivity movement only promotes unhealthy lifestyles and obesity acceptance. To be fair, obesity has greatly increased from the beginning of the body positivity movement. In 2012, 34.9% of the adult American population was considered obese. Today, that amount has increased by seven percentage points, which shows a possible correlation between the birth of body positivity and obesity. However, correlation does not always equal causation. In fact, the obesity rate had been steadily rising prior to the body positivity movement as well, increasing from 30.5% in 2000 to 34.9% in 2012. Body positivity is absolutely not the singular culprit of the rising obesity levels, and it has a minimal effect on obesity if
any.
Truly, there are far more substantial explanations for America’s obesity issue, including the typical American diet. In some cultures, such as in France, a normal dessert might consist of cheese and fruit. However, in American culture, foods with high concentrations of sugar and carbohydrates – which can cause obesity if consumed in high amounts – are favored when it comes to having a “sweet treat.” For example, according to the National Institutes of Health, while 63% of Americans drink more than one sugary beverage in a day, that number is only 30% for the French population.
In recent years, people have been quick to blame body positivity, or the acceptance of all bodies and body types, as the culprit of the growing obesity rates. While body positivity, or so called “fat acceptance,” may be partially to blame for the obesity epidemic in the U.S., it is certainly not the greatest culprit, and claiming that it is ignores the underlying causes of obesity that are too often unaccounted for.
“...the obesity rate had been steadily rising prior to the body positivity movement as well, increasing from 30.5% in 2000 to 34.9% in 2012.” information by
The body positivity movement began in 2012 through a series of viral Instagram posts and has since become much more popular. The purpose of the movement was to challenge mainstream beauty standards
Department of Health and Human Services
The COVID-19 pandemic may have caused an increase in obesity as well, as more people stayed home and likely did not exercise as much as they might have otherwise. From 2019 to 2021, obesity increased by three percentage points according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Because people were encouraged to remain in their homes during the pandemic, people were likely getting less daily exercise than they would have prior to the pandemic, causing obesity rates to rise.
Body positivity may have a small effect on the obesity rates in America, but there are more pressing issues that need to be addressed before trying to fix something that has not been proven to affect obesity levels.
“A child’s brain establishes these rigid gender roles around the age 10 or 11 according to CNN.”
Teachers at Mounds View have seen generations of students come and go, watching them grow up and even teaching their siblings and children. However, the honor of the teacher who has done this the longest goes to Laura Rivers, world language teacher. She started teaching at Mounds View right out of college in 1990, making this her 33rd year teaching Spanish.
Before she was a teacher at Mounds View, Rivers attended the College of Saint Benedict, where she
“I feel really proud and excited when I hear that a student is studying abroad in college or that they’ve just traveled to their dream destination that we talked about in class.”
Laura Rivers, world language teacher
received her undergraduate degree in 1989. Ironically, she was not solely focused on Spanish, originally majoring in chemistry until her junior year, in which she decided to double major in chemistry and Spanish. In high school, Rivers spent a lot of her time studying abroad to learn about foreign cultures. “Then finally I kind of woke up my junior year and I was a junior and I’d already studied abroad and I was like maybe I should do something with Spanish because that’s what I really love. And so I just kind of on a whim said… I’d be a Spanish teacher and was able to at my college, it’s like a minor,” said Rivers.
Rivers has enjoyed her time teaching at Mounds View, one reason being the students she gets to teach.
“I feel lucky that I get to work with students that are choosing to be in my class or in Spanish,” she said.
The most exciting part about teaching, to Rivers, is genuinely catching the attention of students and keeping them engaged in the lesson. “I feel really proud and excited when I hear that a student is studying abroad in college or that they’ve just traveled to their dream destination that we talked about in class,” said Rivers. Crossing over that challenge of trying to
“I had kids smiling and kids laughing and I had kids, mostly happy to be here. That’s a successful day.”
Laura Rivers, world language teacher
get students to connect is one of her biggest achievements as a teacher, as well as spreading that culture and excitement through her lessons and sparking a passion for learning.
“I’ve probably forgotten over the years but, I just
look at what happened today. Well, I had kids smiling and kids laughing and I had kids, mostly happy to be here. That’s a successful day,” said Rivers. The teacher creates this learning environment; therefore, it’s not just the learning environment itself that might encourage students to participate in the class.
With the many impacts Rivers makes on Mounds View, she is most proud of creating a positive educational environment and motivating many students to pursue careers in teaching and other fields. After 33 years of impactful teaching, she can proudly call Mounds View her home.
The Korean Culture Club, also known as Kculture Club, is a relatively new club that was started in 2020.The club gives students the opportunity to expand their knowledge on Korean culture, partake in popular Korean activities and spend time with friends. Although the club started in 2020, they had a
Parker Walton joined for different reasons. “My friends were coming here as a joke, and I was like, ‘yeah sure, I’ll show up,’” he said. However, after the first meeting, he became interested in the community that had been built. He notes the welcoming attitude of the other members, even if he initially did not have any knowledge of Korean culture. Since then, his opinions have changed. “You know, I wouldn’t miss a day,” Walton said.
For junior Evan Zumbolo, a student who lived in China, K-culture Club was a way to learn about other Asian cultures. “I look forward to learning more about Korean culture because I know a lot about China, Chinese culture, but I don’t know a lot about Korean culture,” he said. “I just think it’s a lot of fun and it’s a good experience to learn and broaden your perspective.”
rough start due to COVID-19 and distance learning. Meetings were online and many students did not get the chance to attend. Since they started holding meetings in person, they have grown to over 20 members this year with hopes to continue expanding. With regular meetings every Thursday, the club is able to share the different aspects of Korean culture. “This week, it’s a Korean holiday and the club members are able to experience a couple of different activities within the holiday,” said junior Christine Yim. Members have also learned how to make origami, how to write in the Korean alphabet and worked together on other group activities.
Members joined the club for a variety of reasons, both playful and informative. Yim, who is co-founder, wanted to be able to celebrate and share her Korean heritage. “I wanted to be able to spread my culture and my experience with others and [allow] others to have fun with it too,” she said.
The importance of cherishing her own culture, while sharing it with others, is not lost on Yim. As the legacy of the club continues, Yim hopes that more people will continue to join. “It’s a new way to experience a new culture,” she said. Expanding other’s world views is a key part of what makes this club whole and having meetings dedicated to her culture allows her to share her culture and experiences with others.
The K-culture Club is a fun and valuable re
“I wanted to be able to spread my culture and my experience with others and [allow] others to have fun with it too.”
Christine Yim, ‘24
source for students who are interested in learning about Korean culture. The club provides a welcoming and inclusive space where all students can come together to learn, share and celebrate Korean culture and traditions.
Junior Victor Cai, who goes by @backyard_bird_ spotting on Instagram, has been posting pictures of birds for over a year after taking up photography as a hobby.
His interest in bird spotting started with Science Olympiad as he found ornithology to be an enjoyable event. “I liked taking ornithology,” said Cai. “You have to memorize what birds look like and sound like.”
Since then, Cai’s interest in ornithology compelled him to make his first purchase regarding his hobby. “I got a pair of binoculars that I could attach my phone to which I would use to take pictures of birds,” said Cai.
However, there was a learning curve when it came to taking the photos. “[When] you have a phone, you can just point and shoot, but you need skill,” said Cai. “You need skill to take good photos that have good composition and are interesting and have meaning be hind [them].” Different things such as lighting, back ground images and motion all play a factor into this.
Attention to minute details, such as wing colors and size, are essential in forming a good bird watcher.
and their attitudes,” he said. Bird watching, paired with his love of photography, go hand-in-hand for him. While Cai continued taking photos for many reasons, he found that photography inspired him in more ways than one. “Photography is one of the ways that you can capture your moments because… you can freeze a moment in time which you can enjoy later in the future,” he said. For him, going back and seeing those special moments helped insure that he remembered and cherished things he might’ve forgotten otherwise, such as times with friends and
As well, Cai plans to create a club for photography in which people can explore the technical skills that come with the hobby. He believes that photography is a form of art in which people can then express themselves with new perspectives. “I created Photography Club to help others find their passion in photography, because photography is one of the lesser used arts in society because everyone has a phone camera,” he said. He hopes to use this form of art to teach others expression and individuality.
Since starting photography, Victor has taken roughly 17,000 pictures. As he continues to increase that number, he hopes to help others also discover a passion in photography whether it be birds or something completely different.
Cai’s ability to notice and identify these distinct characteristics feeds into his excitement for his hobby. “There’s such a wide variety of birds. And they’re so pretty. And they’re so common. Anywhere you go, you can find birds. And each bird is special and unique and their attributes
After becoming more experienced, Cai found that photography can offer a completely new perspective on everyday life. “It helps change the way you see things because you start to see things from a completely new perspective, such as lights, shapes, colors, textures, people, buildings, trees, flowers, everything around you looks different, and you’ll be able to notice the finer details in life,” said Cai. Cai hopes to spread his passion for photography and bird watching with others. This school year, he started The Bird Watching Club for others to learn about birds and their natural environments. One of the activities done in this club is making bird feeders for members to attract their own feathery friends to their houses.
While there are several new clubs revolving around healthcare services at Mounds View, the Dental and Nursing Club has become increasingly active in the community. The club, led by juniors Jeeyoon Kwon and Keziah Soto, offers high schoolers a look into the world of dentistry and nursing and connects them to local projects.
“We were inspired by the idea that there were no healthcare related clubs and wanted to create one that has volunteering and fundraising activities,” said Kwon, in reference to what spurred the unique idea. Kwon and her colleague hoped to share the passion they both had with students who were looking for
experiences often not had in high school.
As a new club, there are many expectations they set for themselves to be successful. Soto and Kwon explain that while their main goal is to let students at Mounds View explore the healthcare career field, creating impactful projects for their community is also important. “We also hope that through the opportunities we offer, many will further grow their interest and passion for either of these fields,” said Soto. In the end, the two hope that their club is fun, as they want to prove that learning about healthcare is fun.
Since its founding this year, the club certainly has been busy. With regular meetings every Friday and several active members, the club works diligently to inform its members about different opportunities in healthcare through volunteer work and guest speakers. “I wanted to provide those interested in these fields opportunities to grow their experiences,” said Soto. These activities and projects are not only meant to be fun and educational, but to give members the resources to go into the community and make a difference.
Recently, the club became synonymously associated with homemade boba in light of their boba fundraiser. The fundraiser, which was the club’s first
activity, was set in place in order to raise money for a local assisted living resident who was in need of denture implants. Club members came together to buy, make and sell their very own hand-made boba. After a week of fundraising, and dozens of drinks sold, they raised approximately $630 for their patient.
However, the club doesn’t want to stop there. Future fundraisers they have planned already, including donations of oral-care items to the Give Kids a Smile fundraisers held by the Minnesota Dental Association. As the Dental and Nursing Club moves forward, they hope to continue creating more opportunities for students that are interested in the fields and help more patients get the dental care they need.
“Photography is one of the ways that you can capture your moments because… you can freeze a moment in time which you can enjoy later in the future.”
Victor Cai, ‘24
by Gao Zhong Thao
reporterimage courtesy by Twinkl
“We also hope that through the opportunities we offer, many will further grow their interest and passion for either of these fields.”
Keziah Soto, ‘24
AI has been around for over half a century, and at frst, ChatGPT may seem no diferent than any of its predecessors. What makes ChatGPT so diferent from other AI programs is that ChatGPT provides seem ingly limitless possibilities. There are many uses for ChatGPT that range from asking simple questions, and homework help, to writing computer programs
Students and teachers have mixed opinions of whether or not use of the AI constitutes academic dis honesty. “The AI isn’t taking from someone else’s writing so in terms of academic dishonesty, it is not cheating, but it’s also not doing the thinking and work yourself as a student,” said Principal Robert Reetz. Reetz fears that kids may not develop the ability to think critically and write if they rely solely on ChatGPT.
While ChatGPT has seemingly infnite capa bilities, it still has much room for improvement.
One issue surrounding the AI is its apparent ra cial bias. When ChatGPT was asked to write a pro gram about “which airline travelers present a secu rity risk,” it produced a program for calculating an individual’s “risk score,” which increased if the trav eler was from North Korea, Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan.
The “risk score” program ChatGPT wrote also refects the racial bias of a diferent program it was prompted to write. Steven Piantadosi of the UC Berkeley Computation Lab asked ChatGPT to write a program that determined who to torture based on country of origin. The program specifcally estab lishes individuals from North Korea, Iran, Syria or Sudan as people to torture, and returns “no” for indi viduals from all other countries. It also created a pro gram to determine whether or not a scientist is “good” based on their gender and race, returning white and male as a “good” scientist and all others as “bad.”
The origin of this apparent bias reveals another faw of the chat bot. ChatGPT scans a dataset of mil lions of documents from the internet, which gives it the ability to answer a wide array of questions. These documents came from various places across the inter net; however, these sources cannot be traced and are not necessarily reliable. Biased sources produce bi ased results, as seen in the “risk score” program de veloped by ChatGPT. Therefore, not only does Chat GPT produce racially biased information, students using ChatGPT for research may fnd that the chat bot may produce results that are entirely inaccurate. Furthermore, ChatGPT users will fnd that they are not entirely protected from plagiarism detec tion. To combat cheating, Edward Tian, from Princ eton University, created an AI to detect essays cre ated by ChatGPT. His AI, GPTZero, uses perplexity and “burstiness” to determine whether or not an ex cerpt is written by an AI. If GPTZero is perplexed by an excerpt, it’s most likely that a human wrote it because it has more complexity. Burstiness measures the length of sentences and the variation in syntax. If an excerpt contains sentences with the same length,
reporter
reporter
“The AI isn’t taking from someone else’s writing so in terms of academic dishonesty, it is not cheating, but it’s also not doing the thinking and work yourself as a student.”
Robert Reetz, principal
“[ChatGPT] created a program to determine whether or not a scientist is ‘good’ based on their gender and race, returning white and male as a ‘good’ scientist and all others as ‘bad.’”
“The chatbot can complete codes when given prompts and fnd errors in unfnished programs. It can also be used to teach programming by translating code to a more accessible language.”
by Alaina Pundsack staf reporter
fact, OpenAI has already launched a more advanced version of the chatbot: ChatGPT3. It is very similar to ChatGPT, but ChatGPT3 aims to help individuals simplify day-to-day tasks. For one, it can provide personalized recommendations and routines for people based on their preferences. It can be used for things like creating a workout routine or a grocery list, and it has the ability to make personalized virtual calendars and schedule appointments. ChatGPT3 will simplify otherwise tedious tasks and arguably even improve users’ quality of life. ChatGPT’s seemingly limitless capabilities can seem like a threat to the learning environment, yet educators are looking for ways to coexist with the chatbot while still recognizing the importance of students developing their own writing and critical thinking skills.
ogy, and he’s like, you know, ‘I’m gonna have it write my syllabus, I’m going to have it write these things that take lots of time that aren’t really meaningful,’” said Justin Benolkin, social studies teacher. Rather than fearing AI, there is opportunity to embrace it and prioritize student learning rather than the other tedious tasks that come with teaching.
“[AI is] slowly replacing humans because they are so much better at computing things and, like, getting the answers. So at some point, we may be irrelevant.”
Luke Murray, ‘23Surely, AI is bound to reconstruct the current job landscape, and students will have to adapt to the everchanging work environment. “I think it just kind of is gonna change what jobs are and what people are doing. I don’t think it will get rid of those jobs. They’ll just look diferent,” said Angela Griswold, math teacher. For example, when COVID-19 hit, some grocery stores began ofering drive-side pick up. This service has employees doing the shopping for the customer which then limits employee availability to run checkout lines. If AI were to run those checkout lines, it would allow the employees to focus on the shopping, redefning the responsibilities of the job.
With all these possibilities, no one truly knows what the future holds for AI. “I guess it’s a fun tool to play around with, but I guess in the wrong hands it can really be dangerous,” said senior Jackie Lee.
“A friend [I have] who worked in college admissions is predicting that they will bring back the SAT essay section and that colleges will require it — in other words, no longer be ‘test optional.’”
Martha Rush, social studies teacher
in education.
Can AI and evereducation coex- ist? Or will the two engage in a never ending arms race? In this spread, we will explorecurrentthe andpabilitiescalimits of ChatGPT, as well as what the future holds for AI
While many hold fears that ChatGPT will disrupt the learning environment, it is important to acknowledge that the chatbot ofers both challenges and benefts to schools, and educators will have to continue to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of AI.
Image created using DALL·E 2 with the prompt - “painting of humanoid robot writing an essay”
Many students know the pain of pulling an all-nighter: the excessive caffeine, the dry eyes and most importantly, the stress that fills their hearts as the clock ticks closer and closer to that godforsaken due date. Needless to say, deadlines are instilled with thoughts of anxiety and stress.
While many students have faced deadlines throughout their schooling, it assuredly has had an overall negative impact on their attitude and academic proficiency. Under the constant stress of balancing their school work and social life, it is guaranteed that some students will fall behind or miss deadlines that ruin their grade.
There are many ways that deadlines are built against the modern high schooler. One prominent example can be seen in the way missing a due date permanently affects a student for the rest of the year even though the rest of their classmates have moved on. If a student misses a large project at the beginning of the semester, which lowers their grade drastically, it leaves them playing the game of catch-up while their grades continue to fall. This toxic, yet redundant, case of spiraling can lead students to a feeling of hopelessness regarding their grades and deter them from other academic pursuits.
The typical deadline, which denies any chance of credit or meekly offers reduced scoring, imprints in the student a distinct impression of failure once missed. If deadlines were to be done away with, students would be able to benefit by being able to make up past work without fear of less than satisfactory grades, thereby making a lack of deadlines create better grades for students in the long run.
As well, a disposal of current deadline policy could be an effective approach to the mental health crisis, which worsened significantly during the pandemic. According to a national survey from CrossRiverTherapy, a company that specializes in psychology of children and students, 61% of teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 feel stress over producing satisfactory grades. This stress, while common, is certainly unneeded when it comes to basic assignments. If balancing students’ mental health is a priority for teachers and school administration alike, considering a revaluation of fixed deadlines is necessary, especially in light of the nation’s decreasing mental health status.
And while mental health is a significant reason for people to continue to advocate for the abolishment, it must be acknowledged that students can fall behind for many reasons. Difficult home life, poor economic status, declining physical health and much else go unknown to teachers in the life of their students. For example, in the state of Minnesota alone, one in 10 school-aged children live in poverty according to the Minnesota Compass, a nonprofit research group. It goes without saying that a student in poverty has different time dedications than a student who is not. Deadlines, while approachable for some, may not be approachable for all, hence increasing the inequity between the social classes.
There are current solutions that have been implemented that show promise for students. Many teachers already have stopped penalizing students for turning in work late while just asking for alert emails, which is already an amazing thing that helps many students throughout the school. Another thing that would help students would be allowing them to choose deadlines themselves. This could allow students who feel they need more time or don’t have time at the moment to have expanded dates that suit their needs.
Students all have different reasons for needing to turn in late work. It should show that cutting away the deadlines of work would give students relief from the stress of deadlines, the ability to catch up if falling behind and the ability to get better overall grades.
From elementary school to college and beyond, deadlines have always been an essential aspect of building a work ethic. For high schoolers who experience a great number of deadlines in the form of homework and projects, they can help make sure a student is on track, held accountable and prepared for a future of success.
It must first be considered that students are not the sole benefactors of deadlines. When teachers assign deadlines for homework, projects and other assignments, they do it for themselves too. The removal of deadlines would also harm the teacher, as teachers have lives outside of school and cannot sit idle in hopes a student finds the urge to submit a missing assignment.
Another issue with the loss of deadlines, especially for high schoolers, is that they will most likely fall behind in their school work, as they would not have a reason to push themselves forward. By implementing these deadlines, students are able to feel the need to do their homework rather than if it was not there. As many know, high schoolers are perfect procrastinators and, if given too little instruction, often divert from what is needed. Deadlines create an incentive for students to complete their work, thus making them more efficient.
Deadlines are also beneficial for students in the long run. For example, people who decide to work in journalism, accounting, law, engineering, education, for example, will be faced with heavy deadlines. For those without any experience with such fixed deadlines, approaching jobs like this would be intimidating and leave them feeling ill-equipped. However, for high schoolers who have valuable skills like time management and self-motivation, their new-found responsibilities would suddenly seem a lot more plausible. Deadlines are more than just homework due dates. They also contribute to a student’s future life and how they are able to cope with greater workloads under stressful situations.
Many people may associate deadlines with stress and pressure, especially academic pressure, which plays a huge role in a high schooler’s journey. But they are actually important driving factors for students to get work done. Discovered in 1908, psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson found a correlation between the electric shocks that motivated rats and their performances. From their experiments, they came up with the Yerkes-Dodson law, which states that an optimal amount of stress can help someone focus on a task easier. For example, if a basketball player is under the stress of making a shot, it will allow their senses to be enhanced, increasing their chance of scoring. Without this pressure weighing on students’ minds in the form of deadlines, they could effectively, for lack of better words, “miss their shot.”
In addition to this, a case study on an experiment conducted by Steffen Altmann, Christian Traxler and Philipp Weinschenk proved that deadlines and their lengths have an effect on people. In their experiment, participants were able to receive a reward if they reached out to a dentist one to three weeks after the appointment. However, other participants were given a much longer range of time to contact the dentist, ranging from six to ten. After the conclusion of the experiment, researchers concluded that stricter deadlines were optimal as “almost all survey participants indicated that they perceived deadlines as helpful to avoid problems related to ‘postponing and forgetting’.” It is evident that deadlines are a huge factor in how productive and responsible a person is.
Due dates, whether for a simple homework assignment or a massive longterm project, are key factors in managing how efficiently work will flow. It is distinctively in human nature to put off unwanted work until it slips from memory. Having a system in place that tracks student progress not only benefits students, but teachers, as they work efficiently towards a common goal: becoming a wellrounded, responsible individual.
Preparing for medical school may seem difficult, but these tips will help you prepare for the rigor of med school and also allow you to stand out on college applications.
1. Take challenging STEM classes
Students who enter the healthcare industry are typically well-rounded with high GPAs. The path through college, medical school and residency to become a healthcare professional is long and difficult. Therefore, it is important to prepare yourself for the trials you may face later on by taking challenging courses throughout high school.
2. Join school healthcare clubs
Joining healthcarerelated clubs and activities is a great way to introduce yourself to the healthcare industry. Mounds View offers three healthcare -related clubs: Future Healthcare Professionals Club (HOSA), Healthcare Club and Nursing and Dental Club.
3. Join a summer medical program
Summer medical programs are immersive experiences that expose students to a diverse array of careers in the medical field. These programs are a great way to explore different healthcare careers. Saint Paul College offers the threeday-long “Scrubs Camp” for grades 9-12. Students who attend this camp receive hands-on experience in medicine and learn about the growing opportunities of the medical field.
With so many course options to choose from, it can be difficult to select classes for the upcoming school year. However, sometimes hearing from other students can help overwhelmed students select classes that will interest them. In an effort to discover the most popular courses at Mounds View, the Viewer polled 147 sophomores, juniors and seniors about their favorite classes. AP Psychology, Art and Psychology Through Literature beat out all other classes, being voted the top three favorite classes by students.
AP Psychology, taught by Carolynne Ladd and Martha Rush, is a class that focuses on the study of people and how they interact with their environment. The course covers 14 units, including Ladd’s favorite, social psychology. In this particular unit, students learn about people and why they interact with others the way they do. Besides interesting topics, the class offers lots of application work. This includes a project where students take
into. It’s going to be useful because you are going to work with people the rest of your life,” said Ladd.
Another favorite amongst Mounds View students is art in all its variations. Art Teacher Jim Bias, who teaches AP Art and Design, Introduction to High School Art, 2D Art and 3D Art, explains that art is different from other classes students might take. “It’s a lot of, like, really thinking things through and being good at visual problem solving, which is different than other problem solving because it’s like planning how visual elements work together,” said Bias. Art, in comparison to the standard core classes, offers a chance for a student to develop their personal style within each project or assignment, making it a unique addition to anyone’s schedule.
The classes Bias teaches provide a mixed variety of content involving the different categories of art. What a student wants to participate is up to their personal preference. For people drawn to painting, drawing or printmaking, 2D Art offers a way to grow those abilities. For those who want to throw some pottery or create hyper-realistic cardboard sculptures, 3D Art would be the way to go. However, for those who are just looking for a way to try art for the first time, Introduction to High School Art offers a lowstress environment to learn basic art skills and techniques.
ogy Through Literature, or more commonly known as Psych Through Lit, students sample psychological theorists and theories and learn to apply them through various texts.
The class, taught by Beth Baxley and Ashley Walter, is unfortunately only offered every other school year. However, from the vitalizing discussions to the self-reflective conversation, it certainly does not stop the class from being a student favorite. “[I have had] students who have graduated, you know, a year [or] five years [or] seven years ago, [who] will still email me and say, ‘that book is stayed with me’ or ‘I remember when we talked about this, and I still apply at my life,’” said Walter.
an advanced topic, such as the brain or sensation and perception, and create something that would be understandable to an elementary-school child in the form of a book, a movie or a game.
She notes that students gain work experience through lessons like this as they begin to understand the fundamentals of human interaction. “It doesn’t matter what job you go
In high school, some students may be tempted to stack their schedule with AP classes with rigorous workloads. For the many who take art, art stands as a way to escape other parts of their life and focus on themselves, according to Bias. “It’s a way for kids to use other parts of their brain they don’t usually use,” said Bias.
Another top pick for students is Psychology Through Literature. In Psychol-
In the class, students are encouraged to form their own opinions regarding works of literature like “Lord of the Flies,” “Man’s Search for Meaning,” “Little Fires Everywhere” and “Fahrenheit 451.” Baxley notes “Man’s Search for Meaning” is especially interactive for students to read. “The context of the novel and the setting of the novel is very similar to Mounds View High School in our community… so it usually inspires a lot of interesting conversations because of the parallels,” she said.
Truly, all classes at Mounds View are sure to be enjoyed by some students. However, students feeling indecisive should definitely consider signing up for one of these three options to learn topics not covered in the typical high school schedule.
As one of the fastest growing industries in the world, healthcare is a highly advantageous field to go into. Navigating the complexity of the medical field may seem intimidating to some, but there are many resources that aim to prepare students for a career in this ever-expanding industry.
Learning about healthcare does not have to wait until graduation, as there are many opportunities to learn about the medical field while in high school. “High school is a good time to explore a range of careers and start to identify those you are interested in and those you are not,” said University of Minnesota Pre-Health Student Resource Director Tricia Todd.
Most high schools, including Mounds View, offer many options for students preparing for healthcare careers. “I would recommend getting involved in some higher level or PSEO courses that are more geared towards healthcare, so that you can explore what it really feels like learning about topics that might interest you and your future,” said Madison Hendrickson, career and college coordinator. Psychology, Calculus, Biology and Chemistry are a few of the courses at Mounds View that provide information useful for a healthcare career.
Students can also take courses through Northeast Metro 916 and Spring Lake Park High School related to specific medical careers like dentistry, nursing, emergency
medical technicians (EMT) and firefighting. Many schools, such as St. Cloud State University, Minnesota State University Moorhead and Winona State University, also have summer medical programs that expose high school students to the medicine industry.
Not only can students take classes to learn more about healthcare, clubs are also an option. Mounds View offers three health care related clubs: Future Healthcare Professionals Club (HOSA), Healthcare Club and Nursing and Dental Club.
Students can also visit the Career and College Center to learn more about health careers. “The Career and College Center hosts job fairs and career visits where healthcare professionals come to our school and talk about what it’s like working in that field,” said Hendrickson.
Outside of school there are just as many opportunities. “Some students train to get a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) or EMT
certification,” said Todd. “Some students try to shadow a health professional or even conduct an informational interview.”
Students can even get jobs related to healthcare while they are still in highschool.
High schoolers can become certified nursing assistants, dietary service aides, home health aides and patient care assistants at medical facilities like A&E Pharmacy, Allina Health, Regions Hospital and local senior living residencies. These jobs can be applied for online and most do not require prior experience.
There are numerous routes that students can take after high school to pursue a career in health care. College is a great option for those who wish to continue their schooling; however, there are still opportunities to pursue a healthcare career without higher education. A few jobs in medicine that don’t require a degree include medical record specialist, medical assistant, phlebotomist and pharmacy technician.
Students considering a career in medicine should explore their interests and learn as much as they can about working in healthcare while reflecting on their own values, career priorities and personal goals. “The strongest applicants to any health profession know themselves well, pursue experiences that reflect their interest and passion and use their own personal gifts to help others,” said Todd. For those who want to improve lives by helping others, healthcare is a great career option.
Charlotte Krum staff reporter
“[Art]’s a lot of, like, really thinking things through and being good at visual problem solving.”
Jim Bias, art teacher
“[Psychology]’s going to be useful because you are going to work with people the rest of your life.”
Carolynne Ladd, social studies teacher
Conveyor belt sushi, or kaitenzushi, is a common but novel occurrence in Japan that has been slowly moving West since the ‘50s. Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, a newly opened restaurant in the Mall of America, provides this experience to eager sushi lovers for only $3.50 a plate.
In kaitenzushi, guests are served from a conveyor belt that surrounds the restaurant. The food, typically nigiri or rolls, is put on the belt by the sushi chef to be picked up by guests as it rotates past them. Once a guest has finished their dish of choice, they can place the plate into a slot that counts the number of dishes eaten and adds it to the bill.
more challenging item to perfect because it can get very tough if prepared incorrectly. The squid was less tender than it could have been, but the flavors were on point.
Finally, I ordered the uni (sea urchin). In my experience, this is the most hit-or-miss item to try when going out to sushi because many sea urchins harvested are attached to rubber while alive and taste like tires. However, the uni at Kura was perfect taste-wise. The texture was softer than usual, but when eaten over rice, it balanced out just fine.
Overall, my experience at Kura Conveyor Belt Sushi was enjoyable, and I would recommend the experience to anyone. Those wanting to try this new establishment should make it their first stop after arriving at the Mall of America, and be ready to wait.
by Ariana Eschenbacher features editorThe first thing I noticed once in Kura was all the activity. Every table was filled and there is a wait time of almost three hours to sit down on an average weekday. Unfortunately, the restaurant does not allow guests to make reservations ahead of time.
For beverages, there is a screen to order from, along with several specialty kitchen meals. Once ready, a server will bring what was ordered. However, past that, the other components of the meal are up to the customer.
I got the hotate (scallops) first. Perfectly flavored, they melted in my mouth. They tasted delicious with the slight tang of wasabi and the provided ponzu —a mixture of soy sauce, lemon juice and sugar.
After that, I got the ika (squid), a
Can Can Wonderland is an arcade and mini golf course in St. Paul that offers hundreds of vintage pinball machines, skeeball, racing games, foosball and other arcade staples. Built into an old 1889 canning factory, Can Can has a unique atmosphere. They pride themselves in being Minnesota’s first art-based public benefit corporation, which means Can Can gives back to the local Minneapolis-St. Paul community through their profits. Because of this, local artists’ creations are sprinkled around the building, including a stage with a coral-themed backdrop and artfilled mini golf where various local artists have designed one-of-a-kind holes.
Before I even entered the stairwell maze leading to Can Can, I had to find a place to park. The parking lots can be confusing because the lot in front of the building is for authorized vehicles only. Thankfully, on their website, they share directions on how to drive to their underground parking garage with an attached stairwell that has direct access to Can Can.
When I first walked into Can Can Wonderland, I was met by a friendly staff member who gave me an entry wristband after paying their $12 entry fee, which granted me unlimited free access to their arcade games. Walking around the perimeter of the mini golf course, I was led past their food court before entering a hoard of pinball machines lined up against the walls. I quickly found a 1970s pinball machine and just as quickly realized I was not very good at it, so I moved along, finding more and more pockets of games.
Can Can has many different food
and drink options, including their unique cereal milkshakes with actual cereal mixed in. I ordered the Cocoa Puff chocolate milkshake for around $8. It was okay, similar to an average milkshake, but with the texture of ground-up cereal inside. I also ordered a hamburger and fries for $15. The burger could have been better, and I recommend going to Can Can for the games, atmosphere and drinks – not the food.
The mini golf course is the highlight of Can Can, which I recommend experiencing at least once. It costs $15 for 18 holes decorated by local artists to fit different themes. Each hole has a crazy concept that I have never seen before, including a pink and blue polkadotted mastodon, a live waterfall where you have to get your ball through in
time, and one that’s even designed to be a grandma’s living room.
If you are planning on going to Can Can Wonderland, expect to spend at least 1-2 hours there if you are only going to get food and play games. I recommend the mini golf course because of its uniqueness and fanciful art decor, even though it costs $15 per person to do it. Can Can is an enjoyable experience that I recommend going to at least once, but staying away from the food.
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” directed by James Cameron, which was released this past December, has been a strongly anticipated sequel to the first “Avatar.”
The plot of “Avatar: The Way of Water” held to a similar theme as the original movie, as both contained heavy themes of war and greed. The conflict, caused by human’s desire for the alien planet’s natural resources, pits the native inhabitants against their returning enemy, the “sky people,” or the Na’vi phrase for humans. The main characters, Jake Sully and his family, have to find a way to save themselves and their people, facing many obstacles along the way.
For me, emotion was a big factor in this movie. This movie, compared to the first, gives its audience more of a connection to the Na’vi people and the animals that reside on their planet. The expressive facial motions depicted by the CGI paired with amazing acting performances by the main leads mix perfectly together as the beautiful story of family and home unfolds. An action film that creates an emotional connection is a very difficult thing to do, and this movie did that.
However, while the CGI effects in this movie have definitely improved since the first, there were some flaws. For one, the fire and smoke effects in the beginning half of the movie were a little rough, if not overdone. It is almost as though they made it so realistic it did not blend anymore. Yet, the details of the naturistic beauty, such as the animals and people, certainly made up for it.
A detail that stuck out to me is, of course, the water. The majority of this movie was underwater or surrounded by water, which called for some heavy effects. However, this was able to be pulled off splendidly. Everything, from the way the water splashed to the way the water flowed, was perfect. The small, intrinsic details often forgotten in CGI water were present in every scene, battle or not.
In conclusion, this move to me was much more exciting than the first. The first movie was definitely needed to create the plot but I wouldn’t rewatch it the way I would “Avatar: The Way of Water.” This movie was just much better with action shots and emotional vulnerability. It was almost perfect, however there are just a few things that could have been perfected, especially since the movie took 13 years to make.
The wrestling team has started their season off strong with an undefeated record so far. With promising members of all ages in the program, the team is optimistic that they have a high chance of winning the state tournament this year.
Head coach of 20 years, Daniel
Q: How and when did your passion start?
A: My passion for hockey started in my backyard on my pond with my older brother, Willy.
Q: What is your favorite thing about hockey?
A: Having fun with the boys everyday and also the grind that comes with it.
Q: What is the most difficult part of this sport?
A: The amount of time off you get is very little, and you are usually playing two to three games a week.
Q: Do you do anything after the game, successful or not?
A: After a game, I usually chill out and go out with the team for food.
Q: What do you do to prepare for a game?
A:I usually roll out and use the massage gun and then get dialed.
Q:What does your season look like?
A:A lot of close games against tough competition where the little details matter greatly.
Engebreston, explains that hard work has been the key to their success.“My guys work pretty hard. They work offseason and go to camps and weight train,” he said. “They’re weight training all spring and fall to get ready along with everyone being the right weight and being healthy,” he said.
Every player has their individual routine to keep up their athleticism. “During the offseason I usually try to lift five times a week and go to club practices, and try to run to keep up my cardio,” said senior Jacob ‘Jroc’ Solheim. “Some factors [that contribute] into competing at a higher level is your work ethic and how much effort you put into yourself during the days you have off.”
For other members of the team, like sophomore Joey Muhlstein, other factors contribute to their success. “The number one thing is technique and being able to focus at practice. Going 100% will never fail
you,” he said.
However, other players hone in one factor. For junior Quinlan Morgan, the mental aspect is the most important. “Always wrestle harder than your opponent. It’s a mental game,” said Morgan.
Year-round training is inspired by many goals, both for the team and individu-
most importantly, place high.
While vigorous lifting and training is important, team bonding also plays an important role in their performance. “They’re pretty much together all the time. They’re on the same club teams and all the offseason stuff they do together,” said Enbregston.
Not just in the wrestling season, but even offseason bonding helps their performance. “Our team has a great bond, hanging out a lot, going to camps in the summer and just having fun when we can. It definitely helps at tournaments because guys just rally around each other,” says Muhlstein.
ally. However, for many, getting the team to state is the end goal. At state, athletes such as Morgan hope to beat the pin record and,
It is evident that the wrestling team’s passion has already taken them far this season. With many odds in their favor, they hope to take home the state title for Mounds View this March.
The Mounds View Irondale gymnastics team is working hard towards a successful season this year. They continue to persevere and endure challenges to accomplish both their individual and team goals.
Gymnastics requires a lot of physical exertion involving balance, strength, flexibility, agility and more. The gymnasts work on these skills every day, but it is not the only thing that occupies their time. They also learn how to set goals and prepare their minds for what’s coming next. “I know one team goal is to make it as a team to state and one of my personal goals is to throw my layout on the floor,” said sopho-
more Eva Rodriguez.
Sophomore Aubrey Henke keeps a positive mindset when improving skills
the mindset just knowing that with hard work you can get through and do it,” she said.
Injuries are not uncommon in Gymnastics and they can be unpredictable and inconvenient. However, when dealing with an injury, perseverance is necessary. Senior team captain Kelsey O’Connell is just one example. “I’ve been injured for the last few
Kressen Anderson, assistant coach
and competing. “I try and go for new skills, and also be as safe as possible. And with
seasons with my knee, so I haven’t been able to practice that much,” she explains. “But when I’m able to practice, my mindset is to not be super hard on myself, but to make sure that I’m trying to get that 1% better each day.”
After a long day of practice and competition, the girls often get together for quality time. The girls believe that time spent together helps them become a better team overall. “Some things that we do is we have team sleepovers after [meets] to celebrate or we go to Chick-fil-A sometimes and we hang out in the locker room after [meets],” said O’Connell.
The Mounds View Irondale gymnastics team has come far this season with a current record of 2-3 so far. They hope to continue improving to end the year strong.
“We have some incredible leaders stepping up this season.”
“Our team has a great bond”
Daniel Enbresgston, head coach
“Going 100% will never fail you.
Joey Muhlstein, ‘25
Faith Yang staff reporter
“Im trying to get that 1% better each day.”
KelseyO’Connell, ‘22 photo courtesy of Brett Swenson photo courtesy of Kelsey O’Connell
Across
1. Teacher leaving MV
4. Animal that Victor Cai takes pictures of
5. Acronym for Google’s language-learning AI
8. Kura Revolving Sushi Bar is located in ____
9. The wrestling team’s current record
10. Johnny Conlin’s featured sport
13. Can Can Wonderland was built into an old _______ factory
15. Teacher who has taught at MV the longest Down
2. High school that offers healthcare-related courses
3. Fire in this California city caused by gender reveal
6. Day of the week that the K-Culture Club meets
7. Man who created a program to detect ChatGPT essays
11. Captain of the MVI gymnastics team
12. Co-leader of Dental and Nursing Club along with Soto
14. Homeless shelter in Minneapolis
Scan QR code to access The Viewer’s website:
First five students to finish both puzzles and DM @mvviewer on Instagram with a picture of completion win free coffee from Mustang Mocha.
