Issue 3 - Make Your Mark

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Adviser: Jennifer Dryden Table of Contents

Design: L. Christensen

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nhs_oracle

@northhighoracle

north high oracle

@northhighoracle

Juniors: ACT is February 27 ACT Prep Days in 2411 after school from 2:50-3:50 *Science (Feb 15) *Review (Feb 22)

Home vs. Hoover 31-45 Home vs. Lincoln 18-57 Home vs. Ankeny 23-64 Away at Roosevelt 43-33 Away at Hoover 39-48 Away at WDM Valley 39-76 Away at Lincoln 48-30 Away at Ottumwa 46-57 Away at Mason City 26-84

GIIRLS BASKETBALL

Home vs. Hoover 80-65 Away at Johnston 72-68 Home vs. Lincoln 81-55 Home vs. Ankeny 103-79 Away at Roosevelt 62-49 Away at Hoover 60-70 Away at East 94-56 Away at WDM Valley 84-81 Awat at Lincoln 71-60 Home vs. Sioux City West 93-86 Away at Ottumwa 105-76 Away at Mason City 74-64

BOYS BASKETBALL

BOWLING

Overall Team Scores Home at Merle Hay 2167.00 Home at Merle Hay 2259.00 Home at Merle Hay 2206.00 Home at Merle Hay 2354.00 Away at Plaza Lanes 2356.00 Away at Champion Bowl 2082.00 Home at Merle Hay 2316.00

*The Oracle attempted to contact for wrestling scores, but was unable to get a response.

Design: L. Christensen

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Delicia Oxenreider, Reporter

As most of you may know students need 23 credits to graduate, but many students exceed that minimum by graduation. You probably have heard students talking about graduating early, and your first thought when you hear your peers say this may vary. However, from what I have heard so far when the topic is discussed, many students that are hearing this including freshmen tend to think, “Wow, that’s cool, I want to graduate early and get out of this school.”

But what many students do not know is there are benefits to not graduating early. For example, I am a freshman and will have 9 credits by the end of my freshmen year, which is already almost half of the amount of credits I need to graduate high school. Often, I am burdened with the question from many of my teachers and peers of whether or not I am going to graduate early. My teachers understand why I would not graduate early, but my peers are often confused as to why I would not get out of here as soon as possible. Graduating

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early may have some downsides too. It can be overwhelming trying to finish your graduation requirements ahead of schedule. It can also be socially isolating to be on a different path from your friends and peers.

Additionally, you will have less time to develop a competitive college application profile.

If you are taking many classes simultaneously, you may not be able to achieve grades as high as those you could achieve if you had more time to devote to individual classes. You also won’t have as much time for extracurricular activities, and you might potentially miss out on leadership opportunities. They will also miss out on many perks seniors enjoy, such as ceremonies, prom, and other opportunities for recognition. Additionally, you may not be eligible for certain awards and scholarships that are limited to graduating seniors. Lastly, you may simply not be ready—emotionally or academically—for college life. Think about it, is graduating early what you really want to do?

There are a lot of disadvantages that you might not have been aware of that are a result

of graduating early. You would have to try to hurry and this is not something that you can take back. You cannot graduate early and then decide you want to go back to high school so make your decision wisely, because it does impact your life greatly.

As you might be able to tell my point of view that I am trying to get at is that it is smarter to stay in high school all four years.

If you stay for your senior year you can take college courses that the school will pay for and you do not have to pay them back. Once you get those college courses on your resume you could very well have a higher chance of getting a scholarship for your dream school that you have always been wanting to go to. Anyways this is not my decision to make for those reading this, but just think about what you really want and the outcomes of this decision.

Ask yourself and think about it, do you want to graduate early? Do not forget that if you do want to graduate early make sure to talk to your counselors about it and make sure this is the right thing for you.

Pros: • • • • •

You can get a head start on college or work You can get the academic challenge you need Skip senioritis Get started on your career Be looked at as a very smart individual

*Note the students that graduate early are not the only smart people*

-Jayteaira Benson

Q: Are you graduating early? Why or why not?

A: Yes, I am graduating early because I don’t like high school. The high school is not...I don’t feel like it’s productive. I don’t feel I’m getting what I should be getting out of high school. So, I’m ready to move on and go start something that will help me Q: Is there a certain college that you are wanting to go to? Do you have certain plans after high school?

A: At first I wanted to get out of the house and go out of state and all that. Then I realized that stuff is kind of over-rated because I’m going to get homesick and...like I’m going to miss my mom and I’d want to be at home. So, I was thinking two years at DMACC and the next four years at Drake because they are both really walking distance if I had to do so.

Q: Is there a certain thing you wanted to study instead?

A: I want to do law. I really like to argue and i feel it is somethihng I’d be good at and I really like Law & Order.

Q: Is there anyone in your family that influenced your choice, did anyone graduate early?

A: No, but when i found out about it I was like that is the best thing ever. I can get the same degree as someone else but faster. Also can still go to college and learn the same things. Why doesn’t everyone graduate early?

Q: Were you aware of the free DMACC classes that are offered to seniors if they earn all their credits early?

A: The scholarship that I have I get like it doesn’t effect me. Yeah it’d be nice to be paid for by someone else but I want to still start early and already have scholarship money.

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Cons: • • • • •

Many high schools offer dual credit courses which means free college classes, but if you leave you do not get those opportunities College requires a mental and emotional maturity you might not have Save money Miss out on school activities and experience more senior life Leave your friends and have to live on your own sooner

-Steven Phu

Q: Are you graduating early? Why or why not?

A: No, I’m not graduating early. I am not graduating early because there are opportunities I can do as a high school student that would make me a stronger applicant when I apply to colleges as a senior. Not graduating early also gives me the opportunity to earn college credit through dual-enrolled classes for free, whereas I would have to pay tuition to attend classes in a post-secondary setting.

Q: Is there a certain college that you are wanting to go to? Do you have certain plans?

A: I’m not sure about the one college I want to go to yet, but I have a tentative list of colleges that I want to apply to.

Q: Is there a certain thing that you wanted to study instead?

A: Yes. For my undergrad I want to go the Pre-Medicine track and hopefully attend medical school after finishing undergraduate education Q: Is there anyone in your family that influenced your choice, did anyone graduate early?

A: Kind of. I think I’ve always been self-motivated pertaining to school, but my parents have always pushed me to do my best and I think that’s a big reason why I’m able to set and achieve goals for myself. They’re a big part of the reason why I strive for success Q: Were you aware of the free DMACC classes that are offered to seniors if they earn all of their credits early?

A: Yes and I try to take advantage of them as much as possible.

Design: D. Oxenreider

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Caleb Slater, Editor & Jenna Post, Reporter The subject of Net Neutrality has been a popular topic in recent months, and for good reason.

Net neutrality is a set of regulations put in place by the Obama administration in 2015. Their purpose is to keep all portions of the internet available to its users.

Without them, internet service providers (ISPs) can charge more money and restrict access to websites of their choosing.

For example, in 2012, before these regulations were put in place, AT&T blocked FaceTime for its users unless they paid extra for a higher quality data plan.

A more drastic example comes from Verizon blocking its users from donating to pro-choice fundraising campaigns, which many considered to be an overstep of boundaries as the company had no right to block the transfer of money based purely on political reasons.

The repeal of Obama’s net neutrality rules may come as a shock, but upon digging further into the decision-making process, that shock slowly disappears. The process was shrouded in secrecy and

corruption from the organization running it, much to the dismay of net neutrality supporters.

The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) set up a ‘comments period’ on their website, on which one was allowed to submit their thoughts regarding the repeal of net neutrality. The FCC’s chairman, Ajit Pai, would base his decision on whether or not to repeal the regulations in question on the outcome of the comments people left.

Over 23 million comments were written to the FCC between May 23rd and August 17th regarding this issue. Many news publications, such as The Verge, have called this amount of user input “record breaking”.

However, once the comments period ended, many reports began surfacing about identity theft; people began seeing comments with their own names and emails attached, despite having never given them.

USA Today reporter and columnist Edward Baig even turned up in this comment section, despite choosing to not involve him-

Warner Vogels, CTO of Amazon, responds to Netflix US’s statement about the repeal of net neutrality.

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The Oracle asked 100 North High students their thoughts on the repeal of net neutrality.

The majority of students surveyed ddn’t agree with the repeal. Graphic Credit: Caleb Slater

self in political issues such as these given his career as a journalist.

Recode, a news website that occasionally touches on stories in the political arena, reported that “more than 90 percent” of the comments made were “pre-written form letters, while millions were otherwise suspicious in origin.”

However, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai refuses to cooperate with investigations into the clear problems with the FCC’s inquiry. His spokesperson told reporters that these investigations were “an attempt by people who want to keep the Obama Administration’s heavy-handed Internet regulations to delay the vote.”

One may assume that public opinion has a certain portion of influence on the decision to repeal such an important regulation. Our representatives and elected officials surely wouldn’t do anything that the majority of the country opposes, right?

Not in this case.

According to a Mozilla public opinion poll released back in June of 2017, 76% of surveyed Americans opposed repealing net neutrality.

The amount of support only rose as the issue gained more attention. According to a poll released on December 12th (just two days before the FCC vote) from the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation, 83% of voters surveyed opposed repealing net neutrality.

Clearly, the American public wasn’t on board with this, so what other reasons could there be for overturning such popular legislation?

Ajit Pai and other proponents of the repeal claim that it is about creating what they believe to be a free and open internet for everyone, by getting rid of burdensome regulations. However, these regulations really have the largest impact on corporations and internet service providers---not the average American.

Some speculate that one major portion of this issue is the influence of money in politics. One may not see this when looking at Ajit Pai, the chairman of the FCC, as he is in an appointed position, and therefore doesn’t take campaign donations from donors.

However, upon taking a look at the supporters of repealing net neutrality in congress, one may agree that there is reason to suspect money as a contributing factor.

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell supports the repeal of net neutrality.

Senator McConnell also has taken $1,119,163 in campaign donations from internet service providers, who stand to benefit from the repeal of net neutrality.

One might counter this argument by pointing out that many democratic Senators have come out in support of net neutrality, despite taking large campaign donations from the same ISPs. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer has taken over $800,000 in campaign contributions from ISPs, yet is working to save net neutrality through congress.

Others see the repeal as an attempt by the Trump Administration to un-do whatever popular policies President Obama enacted, in a similar manor to last year’s attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act (which, in its own right, is nowhere near as popular as net neutrality.)

Whatever the leading cause

was, it had nothing to do with public opinion, despite the FCC welcoming it for months.

Despite having nearly no say in the matter, the American public will be largely affected by this decision. Anyone in country who uses the internet would have to pay for more expensive packages in order to have access to websites like Facebook, Twitter, or Netflix, which is just the tip of the iceberg.

ISPs would also have the power to block certain websites from everyone, regardless of how much extra consumers were willing to pay for it.

Many politicians who support the repeal of net neutrality claim that they are in support of a free and open internet. They also claim that businesses will be able

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to further thrive after the repeal.

However, the only business that will be affected positively by this are big businesses and ISPs such as the aforementioned Verizon, Google, and Comcast.

Small businesses will be disproportionately affected by the decision to repeal these regulations, as the ISPs will be able to suppress competition or businesses that they feel could harm their own revenue intake.

Unsurprisingly, many businesses that rely on the internet are fighting back. Facebook, Twitter, and Netflix are just a few of the dozens of companies that are attempting to file a lawsuit against the FCC. In addition to that, several states are doing the same, including Iowa.

These are some of the many companies in opposition to the repeal of net neutrality regulations. Graphic Credit: Jenna Post

Design: J. Post / C. Slater

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What’s The Point

Students are constantly skipping class even though it hurts them in the end, so what’s the point?

Alizia Guzman, Reporter Why do students skip class? Is there a certain thrill? A rush of adrenaline knowing that you’re missing that important test in your math class? To me what is the point of skipping class knowing you’re going to be missing that important knowledge that you need to know in order to pass that class? And, you’re going to be scrambling to make up work to get your grade up.

It personally irritates me because someone I used to be friends with in freshman year kept trying to get me to skip with her and I told her no so that entitled me to the tag “goody two shoes”. I don’t care about it at all because I care to keep my grades up.

Students skip class because it’s considered cool and if you don’t do it, you’re not cool.

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15 percent of children chronically skip class, according ot the Ney York Times.

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Some disadvantages or, as I like to call it irritations, to people who are in class when people skip most of class and chose to come in at the most important time, the teacher has to stop to get them caught up, disrupting the class so we have to stop too.

There are also some people that skip then wonder why they don’t have an A because they think they’re entitled to it without putting in any effort whatsoever. Then you just want to take off your shoe and start hitting them with it. You don’t get retakes and redos in your adult profession. People want you to do your job right the first time. For example, if you’re a surgeon and you mess up on a live operation you can’t just take it back and say “oh, my bad, I didn’t mean to make you die.”

I have sympathy for teachers on this topic to when they have everyone coming up to them at the end of the semester wondering why they have an F. No teacher is going to have sympathy for you if you were only in their class 20 percent of the time.

According to a New York times article, “15 percent of American children are chronically absent from school which harms their academics.” Don’t we want to be the generation to change that? You have to have enough motivation to sit through a class with a teacher you don’t like just to get a good grade. There’s al-

ways going to be someone that you don’t like and things you don’t want to do that’s just a part of life. So what’s the point?

Design: A. Guzman & M. Alexanader

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Sabrina Lam, Reporter According to the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization Rainn, “82 percent of minors have either been sexually harassed and or raped in the U.S. One in thirty-three men have been completely raped (meaning they weren’t just touched) in the U.S.” But for the sake of what? Getting your own way? Is tainting innocent minds with the dangerous memories give them pleasure? Some people might say “Go to the police.”

Rainn states that “out of every 1000 rapes 994 perpetrators will walk free.” So what can the police actually do to help ensure that rape becomes a thing of the past for the criminal justice system?

Let us talk about the gentlemen. Men are often overlooked when it comes to sexual harassment, but why?

Men are as equally vulnerable to the situation as women are. “One in every 10 rape victims are male,” Rainn stated. Websites and the news aren’t always correct though.

Statistics mainly consist of people that are willing to give answers and speak out.

So how many people especially men are willing to “share” their experience?

Men often are seen to b e invincible to anything and every- thing. So when a man is sexually harassed or raped they don’t say anything about i t because no o n e will believe them, or they’ll be embarrassed.

In most incidents of rape, the victim is usually criticized f o r being the one that caused it.

Why? What has the victim done

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to deserve being raped? The victim is never the one that provokes the attacker, the attacker goes out of their way to ruin the victim’s life.

When a person experiences rape it doesn’t just last one day. “94 percent of women who are raped experience PTSD two weeks after the attack,” Rainn stated. PTSD stands for post-traumatic stress disorder.

PTSD is triggered by a terrifying event. It causes flashbacks of the event, nightmares, severe anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts.

This means that the victim is constantly reminded of the horrific event over and over, and over again.

Let us put this into perspective the worst nightmare you’ve ever had then, imagine that nightmare come true and haunting you every single day of your life. That is what the victims feel like, but their nightmare did come true and now they are reminiscing it every night.

Rainn says “As of 1998 17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or complete rape.”

To put that in to perspective, 275.9 million people live in the U.S in 1998. That was more than half of the population where females were sexually harassed in 1998.

A more recent study of rape is “In 2016 there were 29.6 million cases reported.”

Stated by Statista.

“33 percent of women who are raped contemplate suicide.” Rainn states. This article isn’t about pitying men and women who have been raped.

It is to bring some light onto a subject that is most of the time cast aside. The one thing you should understand is the victim is never at fault.

We are all responsible for bringing awareness to this situation and end sexual harassment and rape.

Design: S.Lam

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Jasmine Inthabounh, Editor-in-Chief

VD Y There are enough candy hearts made each year to stretch from Valentine, Arizona to Rome, Italy, and back again. About 8 billion candy hearts are produced a year.

It wasn’t until Italian and French artists began championing the idea of romantic love that the St. Valentine heart became the symbol of love.

Valentine’s Day orginated from St. Valentine’s rebellion against the Roman Emperor Claudius II who didn’t want Roman men to marry during the war.

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Instead of overthinking the facts, why not just enjoy the little things? Valentine’s Day is one single holiday that could be taken over the top or not spent at all. It is your choice. Like everyday, it is your choice to make your day positive or a negative experience, which on this specific day many people love to take the chance to hate everyone and everything.

There is no point in hating a holiday that legitimately celebrates love, not only to your significant other but to your family or friends or heck, even yourself, which should be easy enough. It has no rules and really, Valentine’s Day is what you make it. You can eat and purchase excessive amounts of chocolates, why complain?

Celebrating and appreciating your loved ones is an act of kindness that should be done on a day-to- day basis but Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean to discourage this, it’s a day to be and feel extra loved, emphasison the extra.

It doesn’t matter if you aren’t a boyfriend or a girlfriend, there is no reason you can’t receive or give gifts of love from or to anyone in your life. Valentine’s Day is absolutely the best excuse to treat yourself as well and showing yourself self-love.

Whether you give someone nothing or receive nothing, it is not required to spend money or acknowledge the day but for those who enjoy the spirit of love, nothing’s wrong with a little chocolate and roses. All in all, it’s a simple holiday that doesn’t need to be over thought, there are no rules to it, just like love has no rules, it just happens.

Make it great, make it horrible or make it nothing. It’s totally a personal choice how you decide to spend, or not spend Valentine’s Day.

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Valentine’s Day Jenna Post, Reporter

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Valentine’s Day; AKA the time of the year when couples venture into the year’s most unpredictable weather to spend absurd amounts of money at overpriced restaurants, while singles stay home and wait for their chance to buy half-priced chocolate in a desperate attempt to remedy their loneliness.

Okay, obviously that isn’t the case for everyone, but Valentine’s Day objectively sucks.

Some people believe that those who don’t like Valentine’s Day are bitter pessimists, but all it really takes to realize that the holiday isn’t worthy of the hype that surrounds it is a look at the facts.

As you would expect, Valentine’s Day is a bad time for singles- even the ones who aren’t sad that they’re single. Being constantly bombarded with commercials that depict lovey-dovey couples exchanging expensive gifts while a cheesy love song plays in the background is enough to annoy just about any single person. To top it off, they have to deal with their friends posting pictures of their partners all day, which, last I checked, nobody signed up for. Relationships shouldn’t require an audience. That one guy you had geometry with freshman year probably doesn’t care about the oversized bear that your boyfriend bought you, and, chances are, neither does anyone else.

Now you may be thinking that single people should just get over it, but it turns out that a lot of couples don’t really like Valentine’s Day either. In fact, 39% of surveyed couples admitted that they didn’t enjoy their Valentine’s experience, and only planned a night out because they were afraid of not meeting their partner’s expectations. The holiday puts unnecessary pressure on both members of the relationship to make the night something truly specialor at least as special enough to compete with their friends’ experiences, which is part of the reason why it’s so easy to manipulate couples into spending way more money on frivolous

gifts than they should. Nearly every business raises the cost of candy, flowers, and jewelry in February because they know that the majority of consumers will buy Valentine’s gifts, even if they’re overpriced. There are even some restaurants that do it. This is obviously a problem for consumers, but the high demand for cliché presents is even worse for the environment.

When Valentine’s Day is nearing, orders for gold and flowers reach a yearly high. In order to meet the demand, several third world countries use methods that are severely harmful to the environment. In the months that lead up to the holiday, mine waste increases drastically, which brings underground toxins to the surface. Pesticides that are used to maintain the thousands of roses that will soon be shipped off to the U.S. often poison the air and water.

Considering that the roses will die within a week of being purchased, they’re definitely not worth the damage they cause. So next time you go to the store and buy your significant other some useless flowers, keep in mind that children in third-world countries might not have clean water because of your purchase. Nothing says “romance” like suffering kids.

Ultimately, Valentine’s Day isn’t good for singles, couples or the world as a whole. However, it is good for one thing: Hallmark sales.

In fact, North Americans didn’t even celebrate Valentine’s Day until Hallmark realized they could capitalize on the holiday in 1910. The company is expected to make $19.7 billion on Valentine’s cards this year alone.

This year, make the smart decision and choose to celebrate any other day of the year.

There’s no reason to wait for an overpriced holiday to show your loved one some extra appreciation- especially when that holiday was created to exploit consumers into wasting their money.

Design: J. Inthabounh

12 Laura Christensen, Managing Editor

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As high school students, we’re all guilty of going out to eat at least 1-2 times a week. Then there’s some people who go out literally every day for lunch. Each time you eat out, it’s approximately anywhere from $5-$10 depending what you get and where you eat. If you eat out just three times a week that ranges anywhere from $15-$30.

You can save a lot of money by just not going out to eat. Sure, school food may be not the best sometimes, but go home and eat instead of spending money on eating out.

2.

I know you hear this a lot, but it actually does work, save any spare change you have in a jar. It may not seem like a lot at first because you only have $0.62, but it will add up quickly. From personal experience, I’ve saved up to $40 in one month just from spare change in my car or just finding it in my room. Then, any time I collected spare change, I just put it in the jar. It added up quickly.

3.

If you have a job, this money saving plan can be done very easily. Many know it as the penny challenge.

You don’t have to start on the 1st of the year, you can start this whenever you feel like it. The first day, take one penny and put it in a jar. Then every day after that, add one penny to the last amount. For example, if you start the first day of the new year, by February 28th, you would put in $0.59 for that day and would have $17.70 by the end of February. If you did this for a whole year you would end up having $667.95.

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4.

If you have items that you don’t use anymore, such as clothes, video games or even books, try selling those. A good idea is selling your dresses from past dances that you don’t think you will wear again, post them on social media and see if anyone wants them. Make it a reasonable price, and make some money off of that especially if you know some friends are looking for a dress. Another idea would be, if you don’t wear some shoes that are still in good condition and barely worn, try selling them to another friend or putting them on social media for sale. Also, if you used to collect something that you don’t really use anymore, sell that and make some profit out of that, especially if it has some value to it now that it isn’t really available anymore.

5.

Teenagers tend to forget this one a lot, before you go to the store and think you’re going to buy something, look to see if there are any coupons available. Most stores even have an app you can download on your phone and sometimes there will be coupons on there that aren’t available anywhere else. The plus side is you don’t have to worry about losing paper coupons or remembering to grab them before you head out the door because we always have our phones. But, still do yourself a favor and check the paper in case there are some good coupons you could use because even just 20 percent off your total can help you save some extra money.

6.

This one might not be as fun to do, but everyone has a birthday, and some people celebrate holidays where you might receive some gifts. If you are really trying to save some money, try asking for some from your parents or relatives that might get you a gift, instead of asking for something or especially if you can’t think of anything you do want, ask for money. Or there is the option of telling family, or friends, for a birthday if you have a party, and ask for gift cards to places you might spend your money at in the future.

13 There was a poll taken by 100 random students at North about how they spend their money when they receive paychecks; what do they spend it on, do they put money aside, who spends more money girls or boys. Here are the results that came out from this survey. There were 37 freshmen, 18 sophomores, 19 juniors and 26 seniors that participated, 68 of them were females 27 were males and 5 chose not to specify.Â

1. If you have a job, do you put money aside each time you get a paycheck?

Yes: 54% No: 25% Depends on the paycheck: 22%

4. Do your parents have any say in how you spend your money?

Yes: 55% No: 45%

2. How much money do you spend eating out weekly?

Under $10: 38% Between $15-$20: 30% Between $20-$30: 17% Over $35: 14%

5. Do you think teenagers spend their money wisely?

No: 88% Yes: 12%

3. On average, what would you say you spend the most money on monthly?

Random Activities: 26% Clothes: 13% Eating Out: 39% Other: 22% Such as: Gas money, makeup, books and payments 6. Who spends more money, girls or guys?

Girls: 72% Guys: 28%

Design: L. Christensen

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Caleb Slater, Editor Addison Masters left Merril Middle School after a long day of student teaching, to go work his full-time job as a custodian (“custodial artist”, as he puts it, jokingly) at Roosevelt.

He recalled one of his few embarrassing stories from that job.

“Roosevelt got tee-peed, and my supervisor made us go out there and clean it up in the rain,” he said. “Right when we were cleaning up the toilet paper, some of my seventh-grade students who I was student teaching were walking down the street.”

He had tried to avoid these students, to prevent them from finding out about his full-time job. “They found out later, but it was at the beginning of the sixteen weeks of being a student teacher and working.”

He had no idea how his students would react to their student teacher being a janitor, and he had no intention of finding out their reactions this soon. “That was just the icing on the cake, I was about to quit right then and there,” he laughed, referring to the stress

of working full time and student teaching middle schoolers.

Masters grew up on the North side of Des Moines and even graduated from North High himself.

He has a wife and two kids, and enjoys biking whenever he can.

He’s halfway through his first-year teaching at North High School, but his path to a career as a teacher is a tad bit unconventional.

“If I was still in high school, and you would’ve told me that I would end up being a custodian for five years, I would’ve not said that was the plan.” But does anything ever really go according to plan? Masters says they didn’t for him.

“Right after I graduated high school, I wanted to start my own business.” Masters has an associate’s degree in business from DMACC, as he originally wanted to become an entrepreneur.

He began taking college classes for teaching out of curiosity, but decided to opt out of them early on. “I went for Intro to Education, but I dropped that class after two classes,” he recalled. “I dropped it because the teacher taught at a school during the day, and then that class during the night, and

Masters answers Joanna Espitia’s (11) questions in his AP U.S. History class. Photo credit: Cielo Castillo

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Photo credit: Cielo Castillo

she just didn’t make teaching seem that appealing.”

“I also have an associate’s degree in liberal arts,” he mentioned.

However, his brief affair with Intro to Education didn’t stop him from further pursuing teaching.

“I transferred to Grandview and received my bachelor’s degree in secondary education.”

“It’s definitely an experience,” he said, describing his first year at North. Despite having occasional challenges, he believes it’s nothing he can’t overcome. “Sometimes I hear the barrel rolling down the hallway and the custodians, and I think, ‘Man, I wish that was me,’ but other times, it’s great and I love it.”

Masters said part of his drive to becoming a teacher had to do with how he was treated as a custodian. “There were some times where teachers made some condescending remarks to me,” he said. “I didn’t need to take that from somebody.”

However, he maintains the belief that education does not determine a person’s intelligence or

worth. He further explained, “One of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met was a custodian who I worked with from Vietnam.”

“I’ve had some more intellectual conversations with some custodians than I’ve had with teachers, so I definitely wouldn’t say formal education decides intelligence level,” he said.

Finally, he described what he called a pivotal moment he’d recently experienced while watching the North basketball game at Roosevelt.

“I was laying in bed on my birthday, and I was home with my kids and stuff, streaming the basketball game at Roosevelt, and I was like, ‘You know what?

Last year, at this time, I would’ve set up that basketball game, and I would’ve been waiting for the game to be over so I could sweep up the bleachers, and I would’ve been working until midnight.

“And now, here I am in the comfort of my home, watching my own students play a game — winning by twenty points — on a court that I used to clean.”

Design: C. Slater

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Emily Dykes, Reporter Sherri Meza is a teacher that just started at North this year. She teaches foods one, housing and design, child development one and two, and sewing one and two, she also helps 4H group.

Out of this large library of classes that she teaches her favorite one is sewing. She has loved it since she was a teenager in high school. When she took the class in high school she was so ahead of her class that she was able to just sew presents for her friends and family. Students can really tell how much she enjoys it by how she talks and how she smiles when she does it.“I enjoy watching others discover that sewing it’s still cool,” Meza said.

Meza isn’t only busy at work, but she’s also a mother of two. She has two daughters Sonia who is ten years old and Gwen who is just 18 months old. It’s very hard for her to balance out her work life and home life.

She’s known as very caring person always making sure her students are doing well and acting as if she’s a counselor at times. So at the end of the day when she heads home she’s still thinking about work and her students. She goes home exhausted and ready to fall asleep the same time her children do.

In her free time though she likes to binge reality shows. “The Real Housewives is my biggest vice. I’m obsessed, it’s pathetic.”, she said.

Before she worked at North she subbed for a little bit then worked at East High School where she found her husband of three years.

Her husband actually used to coach North’s varsity soccer team, but now he’s a campus monitor at East and a soccer coach too. “He

just started showing up in my class every day,” Meza said. Every day at the last class of the day had shown up in her class to make sure everything was okay. After getting her number he asked her on dates. Meza rejected him again and again, but one day she went with him and, well, the rest is history.

“I have over 200 on a daily basis.

That’s 200 people I can make an impact on their life.”

Sherri Meza is a hard working teacher that enjoys having fun with all of her classes and takes care of all her students.

Photo Credit: Emily Dykes

Meza is indeed a women of traits. Not only does she come to work ready to teach six classes and help out with a club but she goes out of her way to make sure her students are doing well and never complains.

She goes home and raises a family. She’s a role model to her students and shows them no matter how much is going on in your life you can always help the people around you.

Sherri Meza’s, family consumer science teacher, favorite subject to teach is sewing even though she has a full plate of classes. Photo Credit: Emily Dykes

Features

Design: E.Dykes

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Senior, Shannon McGuire takes a break during one of her overnight shifts on Jan. 3. Photo Courtesy: Shannon McGuire

Features

Senior, Shannon McGuire poses during her last week at North High on Jan. 5. Photo Credit: Kenzie Schnothorst

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Kenzie Schnathorst, Editor High school student by day, CNA by night.

Shannon McGuire is a senior at North High School who has decided to graduate a semester early to get a head-start on life. McGuire said she decided to graduate early because, “I am taking a lot of unnecessary classes and I would rather spend my time working full time. This will give me more time to save up for college.”

McGuire is undecided about which college she would like to attend, but has many different options in mind. Although she does know that she wants to go into either a four-year or two-year nursing program to get her RN (Registered Nurse). She then wants to go back to school to take a two-year program to become a midwife, a woman who assists in childbirth.

McGuire started working at Broadlawns a little over a year ago, she now works as a tech (CNA) on the medical/surgical floor as of May 2017. She had become interested in a program that Broadlawns started in November of 2016, where they interviewed Des Moines Public Schools students. “I was one out of nine stu-

dents that they paid to take CNA classes and then after the classes they hired five of us to work PRN (‘pro re nata’ which is a Latin term translated to ‘As Needed’),” McGuire said.

McGuire had a very tight schedule when it comes to balancing school, work and sleep.

Her current schedule consists of going to work from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., then after getting off she goes home and gets ready for school. Luckily, she has first block release for both A and B days which helps her have enough time to get everything done before school. She then goes straight to her classes and after school gets out at 2:40pm, she then goes home and sleeps from 3 p.m. until 10 p.m. to get ready for work again. And she works anywhere from two to five days a week on overnight.

Luckily, McGuire is still able to do homework and study during her shifts because they are slower during overnight shifts. She is unable to do this work during the day and wouldn’t be able to do during day or evening shifts, which is why she works overnights. Although she is not the youngest to work at Broadlawns, she is the youngest to work overnights.

Her favorite part about working there is that she can choose whenever she works, so she is able to make her own schedule. She also chooses how many days a week and what shifts as well. McGuire said, “So that means if I have an exam or quiz coming up I can choose to not work for that week to prepare myself by studying and sleeping well.”

McGuire says the only downfall about working what she does is that she misses out on school activities, like basketball and the karaoke night that the theatre held. She has been involved in varsity tennis, advanced theatre, advanced choir and volleyball in the past, but was unable to continue all of those activities except for volleyball for her senior year due to her work schedule.

Although the road is long and hard McGuire continues to strive and make a giant leap towards her future by taking next semester to invest in college and take those next steps to adulthood.

Design: K. Schnathorst

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Melany Murillo, Reporter Maria Ruhe, wife and mother of one child, teaches Algebra 1 at North High School. Ruhe is also an academic interventionist at North, which means she only teaches on A-Days. She has also taught at Harding and Weeks Middle School. She finds it interesting how 8th grade students tend to think they are in charge of the school.

Ruhe went to IKM Consolidated School in western Iowa. She went there from kindergarten to senior year. Ruhe graduating class was only 36 students. She says that some are her best friends. One of her best friends was her bridesmaid at her wedding.

In high school, Ruhe was included in many activities. She was captain of the basketball and volleyball team. She was a percussionist for Concert Band. Also, Ruhe participated in Track, Jazz Band, Pep Band, Speech Contest, and lastly the National Honor Society.

One of the hardest classes for Ruhe was Western Civilation. This was a college class she could take for dual credit. It included a lot of reading, writing essays, and many dates or sequences of events to remember.

“Reading and comprehension didn’t come easily to me, so it took a lot of work,” Ruhe said.

After graduating high school, Ruhe went to get her bachelor’s degree at the University

Features

of Nothern Iowa. After graduating there, she went to Drake University to receive her masters degree.

Ruhe has been teaching for 10 years. When Ruhe was asked why she became a teacher, she said, “I became a teacher basically because I enjoy math and typically there is a right answer. I found pride explaining to others when they needed help.” A favorite part for Ruhe is when students who she used to teach come back to see her.

During school time, Ruhe plans throughout the day and grades student tests. When Ruhe isn’t in school teaching, she loves to be outside.

She also likes to read, camp, and even travel. Ruhe said that she reads a lot of children’s books since she has a little one named Hugo.

Ruhe feels that she is organized, has clear expectations, and has high energy, which is to motivate her students. She feels that if a teacher doesn’t have a high energy level then their students won’t have a lot of motivation for that class or subject.

One of Ruhe’s best memories is how students work so hard to understand a skill.

“It’s powerful when a student has to work really hard to understand a skill and when they are proud of themselves; that makes me feel good that they feel good when they finally understand a skill,” Ruhe said.

Ruhe emphrased high school made a lot of who she is today. “A lesson that I learned are

my choices in high school made me who I am today,” Ruhe said. Ruhe had many obstacles throughtout high school and college. Through her teenage years, Ruhe battled depression.

The cause of her depression is because she was diagnosed with hypothoridism.

Hypothoridism is when the thyroid gland, a butterfly-shaped organ located in the base of your neck, releases hormones that control metabolism—the way your body uses energy, can’t make enough thyroid hormones to keep the body running, according to the American Thyroid Association.

According to mayoclinic.org, some causes of hypothoridism in children and teens are poor growth, delayed development of permanet teeth, delayed puberty, and poor mental development.

“I think mental health is/wasn’t something talked about enough,so growing up it wasn’t addressed for me. Now that I am an adult, I can identify that’s what I struggled with in high school and college,” Ruhe said. “Knowing what I know now I wish I would have someone to talk about it with.”

Ruhe may have had some struggles growing up, but that hasn’t stopped her from being happy now. She is happily married and has one son whom she loves a lot. None of these obstacles stopped Ruhe from becoming who she is today.

19 TEACHER. Ruhe teaches Algebra I on A Days. Here, she helps freshmen in a group setting.

Photo Credit: Alyssa Manriquez

COUPLE TRAVELS. Ruhe and her husband, Paul, put traveling and outdoor adventures at the top of their hobbies list. Photo Courtesy: Maria Ruhe

MOTHER. Ruhe reads a Richard Scarry book to her one-year-old son Hugo. Photo Courtesy: Maria Ruhe

ATHLETE. Ruhe participated in running the Dam to Dam half marathon in Des Moines. Photo Courtesy: Maria Ruhe

FUN. The Ruhe family ventures out with their niece’s dog in the winter weather. Photo Courtesy: Maria Ruhe

Design: M. Murillo

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Features

21

Megan Bohall, Editor-In-Chief In the hallways of North High School Nyamal Gatluak is known as a basketball player, volleyball player, and friend to many. Along with these titles, Gatluak is also known as the president of IJAG, a class taken at North High School to help students make the transition from high school, to the real world, easier.

On November 27th to December 2nd Gatluak went to Washinton D.C. to attend a competition hosted by the National Student Leadership Academy (NSLA).

Being selected to attend the competition requires no simple application. “I had to first write an essay. Then I was selected to go to the next round to compete in the state NSLA employability skills competition. For the competition, I had to dress like I was going to an interview, prepare a resume and cover letter, and I also had to go through a mock interview,” Gatluak said.

Gatluak uses what she has learned while in IJAG to make her decision on the future. She said that IJAG has helped her discover and prepare for what her future endeavors are. “I learned how to network while in D.C. and I connected and kept in touch with people who could help me in my future career. I now know the steps I need to achieve those goals,” Gat-

luak said.

Being president of IJAG her senior year of high school, Gatluak hopes IJAG will continue to blossom. “I hope the future IJAG continues to grow and improve each year. I hope the career association gets even better, and I hope everyone in the class feels just as prepared as I do for life after high school. Some advice I’d give incoming members are to show up and participate. It’s that easy. You learn a lot, only if you’re willing to,” Gatluak said.

Although Gatluak feels prepared and ready to take the next steps of her life head on, it was not always like that. “I became a member of IJAG my junior year because I kept getting asked what I was going to do, or what college was I going to after high school. I honestly had no idea. My older sister Sebit told me about this class and how it helped her, so I decided to join IJAG,” Gatluak said.

Gatluak has learned many tools while in IJAG, tools she will continue to use in her life.

“IJAG has provided me with so much knowledge. One of the first things we learned was how to approach people and how it can open or close many doors. We’ve also learned how to network, how to prepare for an interview, create a resume, and prepare for college. They taught us a lot about leadership. What it takes to be a leader and how to show leadership. I’ll

definitely be using the skills I’ve learned for the rest of my life,” Gatluak said.

Gatluak has a support system made up of family members and teachers, who have helped her through her journey toward the future. “My parents and a few of my teachers have been my biggest supporters. They constantly push me to do better in school and expect the best out of me. They trust that I’ll do the right things to be successful and don’t limit me to what they think I can do,” Gatluak said.

Cory Jenkins, teacher of IJAG at North High School has also helped aid Gatluak on her journey. “Mr. Jenkins has been a huge supporter for me. He connected me with people to help me succeed in the NSLA competition.

He found me someone to help revise my essay, and helped me with the interviewing process.

In career association meetings, he helps push my thinking to make sure that I haven’t missed anything. In class, he makes me get out of my comfort zone and work in groups with people I normally wouldn’t work with and overall has been a great supporter/mentor for me,” Gatluak said.

Gatluak will continue to use the knowledge that she has retained from being a member and president of IJAG to help progress her into the next step in life.

Design: M.Bohall

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When: Monday, Wednesday, Friday

J it ed Cr oto Ph

en nif er N guye n

Time: After school around 3 pm Who runs it: Ms. Sarah Mieth

Kenzie Schnathorst, Editor Here are a few clubs at North High School that don’t get recognized as much as they should. These clubs are worth looking into and joining if it’s what you are interested in doing.

Book Club is on a break as of right now, but they plan to start back up in spring. If you have any further questions please find Ms. Wilson who is normally located in the Red hall.

Features

Where: Room 1424 Green

Design: K. Schnathorst

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Abbie Primrose, A&E Editor The girls soccer team has experienced impressive growth in many ways over the past couple years. Two years ago they didn’t win any games, but last year they won just under half of them. The team has already started practicing for the upcoming season.

The coach Lisa Grefe has had amazing things happen for the team over the past three years that she has been coaching at North and also experiencing, growing, and helping the girls bond as a whole.

Grefe said, “Everyone has a ton of fun, which is very important to me.”

Many teams focus on how good they are or

Sports

how many games they can win but the girls soccer team’s goal isn’t about focusing on winning.

Grefe said, “My biggest goals are about the girls improving and getting better. We are a family, and we have some high expectations because we did better last year, but we want to compete in everything. There are also a couple girls interested in playing college soccer.”

The team is hoping to win even more games this year and hopes to continue to grow the team and to get even more girls interested in joining the team to help grow and motivate players and for the girls joining to be a part of something that they will remember for the rest of their lives. For girls who are wanting to join the team Grefe said, “Try it,

we’re a great group; there is always a place for more in the program. Whether that’s JV or varsity. We train on Tuesdays and Sundays and we start playing after spring break”.

For the future Grefe said, “I hope this becomes one of the best girls sports programs that North has ever had I think there is a lot of potential and I think if girls come out and they’re excited and committed and work hard to achieve that it is possible, but you have to put in the work and be willing to make it happen”.

The team hopes for a lot more growth over the years to come and for the team to be the best that it can possibly be.

Design: A.Primrose

Arthur Sumie

Doesn’t listen to music on days of a match

Tyreke Locure Never gets a lineup on the day before or day of a game

Jaihon McCaleb

Always tapes left wrist and wears Nike compression shorts

Hailey Curtis

Listens to motivational videos and practices beats in class

Coach Baring

In high school, never wore striped socks on game day

Do you have a superstition?

Let us know! Tweet us @northhighoracle

Design: M. Alexander