March 23rd, 24th, 30th and 31st at 7pm in the FAB: Footloose evening shows
March 25th at 2pm in the FAB: Footloose matinee
April 10th-14th: Spring Break
April 28th: end of Term 5
Want to advertise or buy a mail subscription to the Pepperbox? Email Business Managers Astreya and Jasmine McKnight at pepperbox@nohum.k12. ca.us!
Madelyn Conley: Editor-in-Chief
Dylan Berman: Editor-in-Chief
Zoe Macknicki: Managing Editor
Seneca Turechek: Feature Editor
Finn Clark: Feature Editor
Ilana Maclay: News Editor
Julian Wan: Online Editor
Ell Franklin: Opinion Editor
Morgan Ford: Sports Editor
Sagen Sarchett: Sports Editor
Emma Kaber: A&E Editor
Astreya McKnight: Business Manager
Jasmine McKnight: Business Manager
Anthony Vasek: Photo Editor
Ossian Briarr-Bonpane: Photo Editor
Ella Newman: Guest Writer
Alex Phelan: Art Director
Toni Diaz: Copy Editor
Sadie Cronin
Urijah Horne
Laura Laux
Jaimeanne O’Donnell
Dominic Previde
Raymi Sharp
Alauna Thompson
Mariah Weekly
Lucia Hernandez
Questions regarding editorial content of the Pepperbox should be directed toward its editors. Opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of Arcata High School.
The Pepperbox would like to thank Western Web, based in Samoa, for printing at-cost. Western Web supports student journalism throughout Humboldt County and has made publications like the Pepperbox possible for decades. We appreciate their dedication to keeping print media alive.
The Northern Humboldt Union High School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, ancestry, gender, gender identity, gender expression, immigration status, religion, sexual orientation, association with a person or a group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics, or age in its hiring practices or its programs and activities.
Danielle WittenSport’s are usually in the limelight at school, and while they are important, equally important are creative ventures like theater, art, and music.
For this issue we wanted to give a backstage look at a process most students probably have never thought about: preparing a high school musical. Seeing the passion and talent in our Arcata Arts Institute theater department was inspiring, and we wanted to give everyone a glimpse into what goes on before the curtains open.
To us, that’s really what journalism, especially student journalism, is all about. It’s about sharing the perspectives of students that many don’t see, about digging deeper, and getting the behind the scene scoop on every part of campus life.
For this issue our reporters dug into issues like discussion of intradistrict transfers on a district level, our schools policy on contacting the police, and new classes being added for next school year. We hope you enjoy.
“Do you want a dead body or a quiz?”
- Matthew Scott about kids not wanting to go on the cadaver field trip
-Jennifer Rosebrook on how Grease shaped her expectations on love
- Aubrey Deuel asking what generation Moore thinks he is in
- Adam Pinkerton in response
- Adam Pinkerton to his AP Government class
“I’m blaming pretty much my whole first marriage on the movie Grease.”
“There’s always the good and the bad, and I like to focus on the bad.”
“What does Mr. Moore think he is?”
“I don’t know, Italian?”
“I’m not trying to have things squirt on me.”- Nadia Smith talking about the chicken dissection in Human Anatomy
In response to the increasing enrollment disparity between Arcata and Mckinleyville high schools, the District established the Enrollment Task Force (ETF).
The task force met for the first time on February 10th with the stated purpose to “understand the impact on teaching and learning due to enrollment disparity.”
The ETF consists of students, parents, staff, and members of the administration from both MHS and AHS.
“The district’s idea [was] to get a whole bunch of people together from all different parts of the district and help look at what we can do to make the schools more even, and to see why so many kids are not going to Mckinleyville High,” Maureen Kiritsy, an Arcata High teacher and member of the task force, said.
The district is divided into two zones of enrollment. High school students who live south of Orick to the Mad River are zoned to attend MHS, while students who live south of the Mad River to Jacoby Creek (extending into areas like Sunny Brae) are zoned to attend AHS.
Intradistrict transfers are required for students who want to attend a school outside their enrollment zone.
According to data from adminitration and from the first meetings of the ETF, 36% of AHS’s population are transfer students--21% intradistrict, and 15% interdistrict (from outside of the district.) 5.7% of MHS’s population are transfer students--3% intradistrict and 2.7% interdistrict.
AHS is now nearly twice the size of MHS.
According to the same data, since 2017, AHS’ student popu-
lation increased by 163 students, growing from 889 to 1,052, while MHS’ population has stayed the same, growing by one, from 555 students to 556.
The increasing disparity in school populations and intradistrict transfer students is the main reason why the district has created the ETF.
“I think because the disparity is getting a little more extreme and there are issues at both schools that aren’t great for teaching and learning that are happening, and so the board asked me to look into it,” Superintendent Roger Macdonald said.
Too much growth comes with growing pains. The disparity has become a problem for both AHS and MHS. MHS wants more students, and AHS, whose population increased by 46 students this school year, feels overcrowded.
In “AHS enrollment and concerns,” from the Pepperbox’s October issue, students and staff reported overcrowding, limited classroom space, larger classes, and overtaxed staff.
“Some teachers have to share their classrooms, which never used to happen. Last year, I had to share my classroom with another teacher during prep. To clear out of your classroom and not have a place for prep is really hard,” Kay Wozniak, an AHS math teacher, said. “The impact is there. There’s a shortage of classrooms for sure.”
Kiritsy explained that part of the ETF’s goal was to figure out what student population is right for AHS.
They’re looking to find a “sweetspot number” where all of the classes are full but the school isn’t overcrowded.
Many students choose AHS because of programs not available at MHS.
“We kind of know a lot of the
reasons. There are a lot of programs like music and AAI and stuff, but it’s like a catch 22,” Kiritsy said.
“We have all these great programs because we have more kids. We want Mckinleyville High to be able to have all those good programs so that kids will want to go there, but there’s not enough kids going there right now so you can’t offer those. It’s like this vicious cycle right? How do we fix that?” she said.
The task force is also analyzing elementary and middle schools in the district and which high schools they feed into as a potential factor in the disparity.
Many intradistrict transfer students at AHS cite their K-8 school location as the reason for their transfer.
“I’ve always been with Arcata schools,” senior and intradistrict transfer student at AHS, Sean Shermer said. “I went to Arcata High because I was already in the district.”
Shermer attended Jacoby Creek School.
“The educational understanding at JCS was very unique, it wasn’t anything like Morris or anywhere else you could go,” he said.
Other intra district transfer students felt similarly.
“I went to middle school in Arcata,” senior and intradistrict transfer student at AHS Cal Tucker said, explaining his decision to transfer. “My parents put me and my brother [in Arcata K-8 schools] because they thought we would get a better education.”
Tucker said the idea of going to a high school in Mckinleyville after middle school in Arcata would have made the transition difficult.
“If I went to middle school in Mckinleyville and then to high school in Mckinleyville then it would be fun. If I had to go now,
it would probably be fine but I would definitely not enjoy it,” he said.
The ETF is looking to interview a variety of students and families to understand why people choose the high schools they do.
Macdonald referred to this step of the process as “empathy interviews.”
The ETF has compiled data on the percentage of economically disadvantaged students enrolled at both high schools, the percentage of students of color, percentage of special education, and the percentage of homeless students at both high schools.
MHS has a significantly higher percentage of economically disadvantaged, POC, and special education students.
According to Macdonald the task force will first examine the raw numbers and data regarding intradistrict transfers. The next step will be to examine the causes of intradistrict transfers, and then examine the impact of enrollment disparity.
The EFT will present their findings to the school board sometime in mid-late spring.
The school board will then make a decision about a potential policy change. Students currently applying for an intradistrict transfer to attend AHS next year have been placed on a waiting list.
Macdonald said that students and families will be notified late in the spring semester about the ETF’s findings, and whether or not their intradistrict transfer has been accepted.
“If the board were to ask me to make any big changes, we’d want those big changes to be made on data, we’d wanna understand the issue really well,” Macdonald said.
Arcata High School will be offering a new dance course next school year. This course is expected to satisfy both a fine art credit and the second year physical education requirement.
“It will be an introduction to dance that will encompass the basics of latin, jazz, and contemporary; depending on the teacher that we hire and their specialties,” Fine Arts Department Chair, Johanna Mauro, said.
Mauro introduced the idea of this new program to Physical Education Department Chair, Mitchell Kane, and eventually put a proposal together and went before the school board.
“I really like the idea because a lot of kids don’t like team sports
and don’t do well in PE necessarily, so it gives another nice option for them to take a course outside of the gym,” Kane said.
Not all students thrive in the traditional PE classes and many would prefer an alternative.
“PE is a lot like people forcing you to do stuff, and you’re really unenthusiastic about it and you’re not actually doing anything.
[Dance is] more inclusive to people who don’t want to do a running sport or something,” freshman and dancer at Trillium Dance Studios, Mia Nannizzi, said.
A major reason this new dance course will be offered is due to California Proposition 28, Art and Music K-12 Education Funding Initiative (2022).
“Because of Proposition 28, some more money is coming in for the arts, and we have the opportuni-
ty to offer some additional opportunities for the students. [...] The state of California is putting its money where its mouth is at and is fostering more arts and more opportunities for students and so we have these courses on the books and if that’s where the interest of the students lies, we’ll offer those sections,” Principal Ron Perry said.
Essentially, Prop. 28 provides a percentage of the state budget as additional funding for arts and music education in California public schools.
“Every public school in the state gets a chunk of money that we have to spend on the arts. So we’ve decided to spend some of our money on dance,” Mauro said.
Our school’s existing Fine Arts Building is also already perfectly equipped for this new course.
“When the Fine Arts Building
was built, which was about seven years ago, we planned to have a dance studio in it, and it has a sprung floor, and we’ve been hoping to have a dance class for all these years, and so we’re really excited that finally we get to make it happen,” Mauro said.
Overall, AHS faculty and staff members are excited to offer a new and more diverse fine art course and alternative for second year PE.
“I think that anytime that we can provide opportunities to do something different it’s a good thing,” Kane said.
Since course requests for the 2023-24 school year have already been submitted, any students interested in the new dance course should make an appointment with their academic counselors using the QR codes posted around campus.
Students at Arcata High School, McKinleyville High School, and Six Rivers Charter School all had a fantastic opportunity to visit Quebec, Canada.
Over Presidents Week, several students had the chance to be able to go on a trip. Taylor Nada, a junior at Arcata high is one of many students who went on the Quebec trip.
“I think most of all I am looking forward to just kind of being immersed into French culture and getting to hear the language in its entirety,” Nada said before the trip.
Getting closer to the trip, Nada was very excited. She was looking forward to various activities but one she was especially looking forward to was going dog sledding in Quebec. The trip started on February 20th and ended on 25th of February.
As students came back from the trip, they all created many memories and experienced a variety of things.
Many students learned and were able to see parts of another
culture. Some students expressed their favorite parts of the trip and what they enjoyed, and how the dialect was different.
“It was really interesting how different the dialect was in Quebec
versus what I have heard spoken in France, and in the classroom,” Nada said.
Junior Hannalee Hayes had a memorable experience. She explained how all her days in Quebec were filled with fun events.
“We got to walk around old Quebec and really get immersed in the culture. We also got to speak French which was a really great opportunity, “ she said.
Hayes and Nada both did many fun activities and one of their absolute favorites was being able to go dog sledding. They also had a few other activities that were enjoyed like Circus training. “We learn how to do trampoline tricks, unicycling, and trapeze,” Nada said
These fun activities made students be able to enjoy their time in Quebec.
Overall, the trip seemed to be a hit. Many students made a variety of memories and had a great experience.
On a sunny day at Arcata High you can find students spread out over the whole campus, on the senior lawn or under the trees of the parking lot.
But since we’re in Humboldt County, there are many days where it rains a lot. What are our options on rainy days?
Between 2 to 10 people can fit at our tables depending on the bench size.
We have seating outside on campus for about 220 students.
However, only 10% of those seats are places that are sheltered from rain.
The campus doesn’t have enough seating for the entire student body.
We don’t have a High School Musical-like cafeteria where we can sit down (and suddenly all students start to dance and sing).
The Tiger Café has a few tables but there is no way that more than 50 students can fit there, even if they were to actually use the space. Nobody sits there “because it’s so small, and it’s always super crowded,” freshman Taylor Hines said.
”There are only a couple of seats you can actually sit down in,” Hines said.
If we were to have a cafeteria, it is unclear how many students would use it since we have off-campus lunch and the weather varies.
“Basically, it [would] just be for the freshmen and the sophomores who can’t drive,” junior Ella Ivan said.
Off-campus lunch gives us the option to go somewhere else and sit down there.
Wildberries, Los Bagels, and Northtown Coffee all have places to sit inside.
But if you’re not one of the lucky ones who already has their driver’s license and the money to spend every day eating out, by the time you walk all the way there youare soaking wet and cold.
Depending on Humboldt’s weather, that can even happen if you just walk to your car.
Student drivers also choose to eat in their vehicles. With heater and music, lunch in the car can be a comfy choice.
Joining clubs is another option or finding an unlocked classroom.
“You go to a teacher that lets you in. You go to like Madame [Bagnall], she usually lets you eat in there. Ms. Kell, Ms. Zapper, they are all fairly nice about letting you eat in their classrooms,” Ivan said.
According to a recent bulletin notice, students are not allowed to eat in the library anymore because they haven’t been respectful.
“The custodial staff cut short and they asked me to. I don’t have time to clean up after school. Last time students left a mess, books were damaged and the trash cans were overflowing,” Librarian Jennifer Berube said.
“The library is no cafeteria,” Berube said.
However, some students disagree.
“I think that the library is a great option for lunch on rainy days. I understand that it is carpeted and high schoolers are not responsible enough to not make a mess,” junior Erika Homan said.
Although right now there are no food or drinks allowed in the library, some students think they should be able to bring food with some restrictions.
“You should have some parameters on the foods that you can’t eat but still be able to eat in there. Just like how you can have water but you don’t like soda or sticky juice to get on the carpet,” Ivan said.
In the past, the administration opened the Fine Arts Building on rainy days as an alternative to a cafeteria.
“We can only do it if we have an admin ready to come in and sit because it’s really important to respect the facility,” principal Ron Perry said.
“It’s not a set system, but we had a lot of really, really cold days,” Perry said.
If the FAB is open students need to be respectful and follow the rules to not risk any damage to the stage.
Students will be informed if the FAB is open for lunch when it is rainy and cold.
“I’ve been walking around and
been telling everybody in the lunch line,” Perry said.
He said the school is not equipped to open the FAB everyday.
“We believe in taking care of our students to the best of our ability.” Perry said.
“If it works, then great. If it doesn’t, then we’ll have to find some other solution,” he said.
Have you ever witnessed illegal activity during school hours?
You may have wondered what you would do in this situation, and who you would ask for help.
When the occasional physical fight occurs or a threat is made the initial reaction of most would be to call the police.
Students have reported concerns about safety on campus. Discussion has sparked over whether the school administration should cooperate with law enforcement to make the campus a safer environment.
However, when threats occur they are handled by administra-
tion on a case by case basis, leading to the police only being called upon in certain circumstances.
At what point should the administration call the police?
According to administration, some indicators to administration that police should be contacted is if it was an assault where one person was being attacked and the other didn’t fight back, if more than two people were involved, or if the situation becomes overly complicated and additional guidance is needed.
Assistant Principal Tahnia Campbell said, “We will call the police if there is great bodily harm, if someone is severely injured. It really all depends on the level of fighting, how bad it is, how many people are involved. Sometimes the parents will call the police.”
Campbell recommends to “try not to participate in activities that lead to conflict” because “fighting is a very dangerous way to solve problems.”
However, students and parents are also allowed to call the police and file an incident report at any time, but, even if the school is the one to report it, there is no guarantee action will occur.
At times, the involvement of law enforcement on campus could make school a safer environment.
However, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, many school districts with active duty officers on campus practice “harmful and discriminatory” policing practices where marginalized students are targeted.
In schools with police presence
Black students were arrested 7.4 times higher than schools without police present, Hispanic students 6.9 times higher, and students with disabilities 4.6 times higher. These students often face harsher consequences.
According to Campbell, if you are involved in a fight or witnessed one, calling 9-1-1 is permitted, if not recommended, to put an end to the altercation.
Campbell said, “Our number one job is to make students feel safe, and we take that job very seriously.”
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Over President’s week, the coast of Humboldt County was hit with a surprise two to three inches of snow, giving the county an exciting winter wonderland makeover. But while it only snowed a few inches in Arcata, in areas higher and further inland like Willow Creek and Kneeland the snow continued into March.
For Arcata High School students in these areas, this has been a struggle.
“The weather has been pretty bad recently,” AHS senior and Kneeland resident June Lancaster said. “I’ve had to drive to Arcata in the snow a couple of times and ended up getting stuck twice.”
Lancaster was late to school once and missed three classes due to the weather. She has also had
to stay in Arcata for long periods of time to avoid being trapped in Kneeland.
“The snow is both exciting and annoying. It’s definitely very beautiful but also a pain to drive in,” she said.
Lancaster is fairly used to snow, living in Kneeland her whole life, but the past few weeks have been difficult.
“This is my first winter with my driver’s license,” she said. “So it’s definitely a little more stressful.”
Students in Willow Creek are also struggling.
“I live five minutes outside of Willow Creek proper. With the recent weather it’s made a lot of things more difficult, especially the commute to and from the school,” AHS senior and Willow Creek resident Phoenix Jones said.
She explained that most students in Willow Creek rely on
public transportation to get them to school, and the snow has interfered with the morning bus.
“Over the last couple of weeks it’s failed to arrive in the mornings on multiple occasions and broke down mid drive on another,” she said.
Like Lancaster, Jones has been staying in Arcata for multiple weeks to avoid getting stuck due to weather.
The weather hasn’t just affected students. Teacher Susan Clark-Luera also lives in Willow Creek.
“It has been snowing non stop for two weeks,” she said. “I was snowed in for a week. I had to wait for the county roads to get plowed, and then our neighbor to plow our driver. I had to shovel my car out of four feet of snow.”
Similar to Lancaster and Jones who are staying on the coast to avoid the weather, Clark-Luera is staying with her mom at the Tim-
ber Ridge assisted living home to make sure she can come to work.
“Otherwise I’d still be snowed in. I would’ve been out of school for two weeks for sure,” she said. According to Clark-Luera, this level of snow is a lot more than normal for Willow Creek. She’s still not sure when she can return home.
She said that over the past few years the AHS population of students from Willow Creek has grown a lot, making weather like this a more serious problem for the student body.
As a creative writing teacher, she described the snow beautifully.
“There’s something so transcendental and beautiful about it, that quiet that envelopes everything, but when it becomes an emergency, that’s different than tranquility,” Luera said.
John Gerving. A man of many names. You may know him as John. Or Johnny. Some even call him by his full name, John Gerving. Occasionally people call him “Johnny Magic Hands,” one of his nicknames that originated during his freshman year due to his insane piano skills. Although John is a jazz pianist, he actually started out with violin and classical piano.
“I started playing violin and piano when I was four, and I was classically trained. I now only play piano, but from a young age my family went to fiddle camps, and it was a big part of my musical journey. I have a lot of fond memories of that and that was how I really got into piano, to some extent it was like through accompanying fiddle,” Gerving said.
John is fond of both classical and jazz, but he eventually made the switch to jazz because it was “groovier.”
“Eventually, I started taking jazz piano in addition to classical piano lessons. Jazz was where I really found my passion in music,” Gerv-
His love for jazz would take him to higher level repertoire and ensembles.
Recently, I watched the Cal Poly Humboldt Jazz Orchestra live on February 25th with Mr. Gerving himself. John is the pianist for the Cal Poly Humboldt Jazz Orchestra, however, he did not play with them that night due to rehearsal conflicts with All-State and NorCal Jazz Festivals. Nevertheless, his fellow jazz cats were excited to see him back and ready for their weekly rehearsals.
Dan Aldag, the director of the ensemble, also congratulated him about making it into All-State.
In a big band jazz ensemble, piano is one of the most prestigious positions because there is only one spot, which makes it very competitive and daunting.
John described the rigorous audition process for the All-State Jazz Band.
“I probably spent two weeks preparing for my audition, and there were four required pieces, two of which included ‘Pure Imagination’ and ‘Days of Wine and Roses,’’’ Gerving said.
After being accepted as the pianist for the All-State Jazz Band, John, along with Emma Kaber, Nadia Weise, and Abigail Issa who made it to All-State SSAA Choir, went to Fresno where the festival was held.
“We got there Wednesday and we rehearsed for two days and had our performance in the Williams Saroyan Theatre Friday night,” Gerving said.
His favorite piece that he performed with the All-State Jazz Band was their opener, “Magic Flea” by Count Basie but he also enjoyed their last piece “Off the Cuff” because it was “rhythmically complex and it was a good chal-
lenge.”
“It was really cool being there among people who are passionate about jazz and getting to work under our director, Curtis Gaesser,” Gerving said.
After making it to All-State, John aims to keep improving his skills and to meet people in the jazz community. He will also continue to play with the ArMack Orchestra and the Cal Poly Humboldt Jazz Orchestra.
“I’m very excited that [the ArMack Orchestra is] playing “Rhapsody in Blue.” It’s one of my favorite pieces, and it’s been a dream of mine to play that,” Gerving said.
The use of slang is essential to the way we have navigated our daily interactions with peers since the beginning of time, particularly as young people.
But with the years passing and the once-youthful growing old, certain jargon has begun to fall out of style.
The most current slang is sort of like a secret, interconnected web that is constantly changing. As a result, a wedge not at all unlike a language barrier is driven between the young and the aged of the English-speaking world.
The best part of slang is how it functions as a cryptographic form of communication, shrouding the true meaning from potential evesdroppers who don’t understand the nuances of “dissing” and “piping up.”
But have you ever heard a teacher drop a “yeet” mid-lecture? For many, this can be quite a concerning experience.
Thus, many of us are left wondering, “Which slang words are still safe to be blurted out with no reprucussion, and which ones have teachers finally begun to catch on to?”
As I learned in integrated Math III, any question possible can be solved with the simple help of statistics. So, I sent a digital survey to the faculty of Arcata High.
Here are some of their most (and least) accurate responses when asked to give a definition for each of the following terms:
drip
/drɪp/ n.
1 Cardi B's lambos (even if she can't drive).
2 Sexy thang!
3 Cup of coffee.
4 Loser?
In a sentence: "Mr. Moore has drip. He's 'drippy'!"
poggers (also; pog, pogchamp) /pɔɡ • ɚs/ adj.
1 A guava juice with mango.
2 People addicted to their phones.
3 A hopscotch champ.
4 A tik tok thing?
In a sentence: “That LOL combo was poggers!“
L /ɛl/ n.
1 L, or l, is the twelfth letter of the modern English alphabet.
2 To lean back... As in, to recline?
3 Love?
In a sentence: "Varsity basketball in last year'splayoffs."
sus
/sʌs/ a.
1 This survey.
2 Students who stand in front of the door a few minutes before the bell rings.
3 Sister.
4 To suss something out is to doubt the whole truth is being presented.
In a sentence: "As in, 'they were acting kind of sus during that test.'" stan
/stæn/ v./n.
1 That's my uncles names!
2 Like stand without the d.
3 Like super extra or excited?
4 An old man.
In a sentence: "Stan is a pleasant fellow, about 5'11, brown hair, thin. He likes chocolate milkshakes, baseball, and walks on the beach."
simp /sɪmp/ n.
1 Someone that doesn't read a lot.
2 Someone who is always in their feels.
3 Someone's little b****.
4 A male seen to be submissive to women.
In a sentence: "Don't be a simp."
Most Slang Proficient: Mr. Kell!
100% on multi-choice!
100% on written definition!
Most Willing to Learn:
Ms. Giangregorio!
91% on multi-choice
57% on written definition
Ms. Rosebrook!
72% on multi-choice
0% on written portion
If you or a loved one would like to refine your slang knowledge, please visit this quizlet: https://quizlet.com/_cvopcl?x=1jqt&i=34aoig
We haven’t done a musical in a few years, so I wanted to bring that back but with a new cast.
So, when deciding the show for this year, I was thinking aout something that vocally not super complex. I was also looking for something more contemporary, especially because of the gender stereotypes in many classical musicals. The Wedding Singer was the other option, but age-wise this one was more appropriate for the cast and the audience.
Oh, my poor children-they have to listen to these soundtracks over and over in the car. While I’m listening, little pieces will pop into my head and I’ll go, “Yeah! I wanna put that in there!” There’s also a lot of time spent just dancing in the living room by myself.
Sometimes, I’ll look at old videos for inspiration. There’s not a lot for Footloose where I want to do that, though,
The whole cast is really stepping into the play and bringing it together.
Stuff like the set, costumes, choreography. But this is where we always are and I think it’s really stressful for the people who haven’t done this before. It’s not terrible, but it’s manageable; it’s kind of like this every year.
I’m excited to bring a full musical back to the stage, with a 45-kid crew. It’s been a while since I worked with a full cast, I’m really excited to finish what we started. Last time we did a musical, we had it ready but then... [pandemic].
Bodhi Jennings: I’ve watched both versions. The one with Kevin Bacon and the new version.
Riley Ellyson: I watched the first ten minutes and fell asleep. I got to [the part] where Ariel stands in between two cars.
Raven Alvarez: As soon as I figured out my part, I was like, I have to watch Footloose. I hadn’t done so beforehand and I was like, “I gotta do that now.”
Mars Andersen: It’s a really good movie, I love it. Everyone should watch it!
Small town similarities?
Taylor Nada: It’s sometimes difficult to feel like you can achieve huge success if you come from a small town like this, so I think it’s a very inspiring story.
Owen Petersen: It’s a little ironic, but also a little different we’re definitely more liberal here than Bomont. Raven Alvarez: I wouldn’t call Arcata a too small of a town.
I do think it’s funny listening to Footloose because I’ve been to some small towns. Word definitely does get around and somebody’s eyes are definitely watching. How’s it going?
Mars Andersen: I think we’re doing pretty well with the finale and everybody seems to be harmonizing well in the songs.
Arianna McLeod: For me, it’s just kinda stressful and it feels like there’s a lot of choreography to memorize. It can be really hard to remember both that and the vocals at the same time.
Aubrey Deuel: The stress of the show is definitely coming up. Right now, it’s just about getting the show to run smoothly.
Leo Balmongkol: I am looking forward to it but I’m definitely scared, I don’t know how it’s gonna turn out but I have a lot of faith in everyone.
should watch the horrible costumes.
daughter. - Riley
You should come cause girlfriend [playing]
Everyone should come watch it for the horribleawesomely 80s costumes. should come because my girlfriend is [playing] my daughter.
Riley Ellyson
Jack ate 15 granola bars during the first rehearsal.
It’s coming down crunchto time.
- Bodhi Jennings- Carolyn
VanMantgem
- Rowan Magnuson
I get to exercise being a dictator.
- RileyEllyson BODHI JENNINGS AND CAROLYN VAN MANTGEM REHEARSE THEIR LEADING ROLLS RILEY ELLYSON AND TAYLOR NADA PRACTICE BEING STERN PARENTS
Astreya McKnight Business Manager
Many students are familiar with the
their own zodiac signs, but what do your teachers’ star signs say about them?
Aries: Davena Bagnall
Aries are known to be bold and ambitious. They are natural and enthusiastic leaders who don’t shy from competition.
Taurus: Jeff Mielke
This sign is drawn to beauty and fulfillment.
Tauruses take a practical approach to life and hold strong value in comfort and security.
Gemini: Kelly Miller
Geminis are driven by curiosity. They are spontaneous and easily adapt to whatever life throws at them. This sign is known for being playful and quick-witted.
Cancer: Adam Pinkerton
Cancers are highly intuitive and place a strong value on trust. Although they are often shy, this sign is known to be very amiable and loving.
Leo: Jennifer Coriell
This sign is known to be passionate and loyal. Leos naturally attract the attention of others and do not shy from the
Libra: Luis Cervantes
Libras are known to be well-rounded, gentle, and compassionate. This sign seeks balance and strives to establish equi-
Sagittarius: Kay Wozniak
This sign seeks adventure in all parts of life. Sagittariuses are impulsive free spirits who love to travel and gain new experiences.
Capricorn: Matthew Scott
Capricorns are hardworking and ambitious. They are known to be patient, dedicated, and realistic, making them dependable leaders. Capricorns tend to be overachievers who make success look effortless.
Aquarius: Troy Ghisetti
Aquarius is the most humanitarian astrological sign. They are kind and compassionate individualists who are known for being broad-minded and inventive.
Aquarians are fueled by mental stimulation and without it become easily uninterested.
Pisces: Will Bagnall
Mark Sahlberg
Virgos are logical, practical, and organized. They strive to improve their skills through diligent and consistent practice.
Eileen Klima
Scorpios and very intuitive. They are passionately protective of what is theirs, but are also known to be equally generous.
Pisces are selfless and intuitive. They are known to be very compassionate and hold strong importance to their connections with others. This sign is said to be very in tune with their own feelings and the feelings of those around them. Their need to please others can potentially overwhelm the people around them.
As college acceptances and rejections begin to come out, seniors at Arcata High are feeling the pressure to decide what to do with their lives after high school.
Being a senior myself, I understand the stress that comes with applying to college, deciding what kind of field I want to go into, being rejected and accepted from colleges, and having to find and apply to scholarships.
This can be so overwhelming on its own but on top of still being in high school, it can cause a lot of stress for seniors.
However, it’s not all bad. The thought of pursuing your dreams and starting a new chapter in your life is really exciting too. Whether that’s leaving for college, trade school, a community college, the work force, the armed forces, or taking a gap year, I think all seniors are feeling emotional during this time of year.
Senior Cedar Cline has some hard decisions to make regarding his next steps after high school.
“I’m in between going to a four year university like Oregon or Oregon State, or going to a two year community college in California to play baseball,” he said.
Cline wants to major in accounting and minor in physics which he can do at either school. However, being able to play baseball or not is a huge factor in his decision.
Senior Adrianna Uonan relates to Cline’s struggles with choosing where she wants to go to college. Right now she is deciding between Arizona State, a school in Chicago, or the University of Michigan.
Choosing a college has been really stressful for her because this decision will alter her life and affect where she ends up next. How-
ever, she is set on her goal to become a lawyer.
“My family didn’t have the opportunity to go to college so it’s important that I go. When I was little I was really into helping people and that just carried through my life,” Uonan said.
Her passion for becoming a lawyer has pushed her to work hard in school and apply to a lot of colleges all around the country.
“Being a lawyer would be pretty bad*ss,” she said.
Pursuing his lifelong dream of playing basketball in college, senior Brandon Bento-Jackon has committed to a college just for that. He hasn’t announced where he’s planning on attending yet, but wants to make his exciting announcementon on the official signing day.
“I’m looking forward to being independent and meeting new people,” Bento-Jackson said.
However, he will miss the community and friends he has here in Arcata.
“I’m most nervous about the change and getting used to a routine and all that,” he said.
Debi Dörfliger is an exchange student from Switzerland. After this school year, she plans on going back to her hometown and continuing school for two more years.
“I want to go to study after that. My dad said I can’t go to the United States to study, so I’m going to stay in Switzerland which is fine,” Döerfliger said.
She’s unsure of what career path she wants to follow but is thinking about architecture, engineering, or something related to the medical field. Leaving here though is going to be hard for her.
“I’m going to miss the people and the ocean and the woods. It’s so pretty here. I’m going to miss everything here. It’s going to be sad when I leave. I don’t even want to think about it,” she said.
Senior Jonah Hohl is planning on attending college at Dominguez Hills in Los Angeles. He wants to major in IT or something related to technology and computers.
“I’m most nervous about adjusting to city life,” Hohl said.
Making such a big move from rural to urban life can be scary, however Hohl is looking forward to a change.
Hohl is excited that he found a college he is passionate about, especially after the daunting college application process.
“The college application process was really overwhelming,” he said.
Senior Ty Ghisetti is not planning on going to a traditional four year university. Instead, he is planning on going to a trade school for HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) to become an electrician.
“I’m most looking forward to making money and retiring early,” Ghisetti said.
He’s planning on going to school in Denver, Colorado and while he’s excited about the move, he’s also nervous.
“I’m going to miss my dog the most,” he said.
Ghisetti is passionate about his career choice and feels confident in his decision to go to trade school.
Each one of these seniors agree that the college application process was stressful and overwhelming.
For those still undecided, it’s really scary planning your entire future at seventeen or eighteen years old. However, no matter what your plan is for after high school, doing what you’re passionate about is the most important thing.
Incoming freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors have chosen their classes for the 2023-24 school year. Many high school students stress out about this question: What classes should I take? The answer depends on what you want to do in your life.
“What I think works best is when students decide on what classes that are most appealing to them and that support their goals. So, classes that they can get excited about and really show up for I think are the right classes for them to take,” Career and College Counselor Darcy Robins said.
Robins recommends that if you have any idea of where you want to go to school, it’s a good idea to research the college’s requirements as early as you can, wheth-
er that be on your own or coming into the Career and College Center at Arcata High to talk about it.
“I recommend CP Bio, definitely. It’s hard, but I think it’ll also be worth it to have that level of knowledge and experience,” freshman Anna Clark said.
Multiple students also recommended taking any of the Agriculture courses.
Last names H-O Academic Counselor Anna Frary said she’d recommend, “Honors and AP classes,” because, “they are more rigorous classes…so if you’re taking those classes that does say something about the kind of student you are.”
Three new courses have been added to Arcata High’s Course Catalog: Dance, Video and Audio Production class, and a Concert Band class.
All class descriptions can be
found in the Arcata High Course Catalog except for the Dance course description because it was just recently approved by the Board.
The Concert Band course description can be found on page 20 and The Video and Audio Production course description can be found on page 43.
Robins explained that students who get involved and contribute a lot can find purpose in life and learn about themselves more than the ones who don’t.
“I think Pepperbox is a great example of being in school and doing two things at one time. You’re doing an opportunity and a class all at one time, so I would encourage students to enroll in Pepperbox,” Robins said.
Students of Arcata High think about joining the Journalism class.
The sophomore slump is real. It’s the feeling of wanting to be out of high school, but in reality you have two years left.
It’s terrible. It’s when you go from happy that you’re not a freshman, to feeling overwhelmed and in prison for two more years.
“I do believe in the sophomore slump with the break and coming back I feel like I have no motivation to do anything or turn anything in,” sophomore Grace Humphreys said.
A lot of sophomores are experiencing the same thing with coming back from break and having no motivation to do their work.
“Yes, I’m in the sophomore slump,” sophomore Lily Cunningham said.
Cunningham describes it as “never wanting to do your homework and it just takes a lot of convincing to do your work.”
“It feels like the beginning of the year was good and then we just hit that slump and now everybody’s grades are sucking,” sophomore Tavis Kjer said.
Many sophomores echoed similar sentiments, but after Bennett Hofeldt feels differently.
“Actually, nah, I’ve been kinda ballin. I had a meeting with the principal and stuff and I’ve been on track and getting in a better mind space and just like kickin it and getting stuff done when I need to and have the time,” Hofeldt said.
Unlike a lot of ophomores, Hofeldt is thriving!!! For those still struggling, hang in there. Try to find a balance between school and your social life. We got this.
Ilana Maclay News Editor
Do you cross your fingers for good luck? Do you hold your breath while going through a tunnel? Do you think breaking a mirror will give you seven years of bad luck? If the answer to any of these is yes, you’re one of the many students at Arcata High that are superstitious.
A superstition by definition is “a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event, or a practice based on such a belief.”
Plenty of people believe in superstitions, but many don’t know the origins of them or why they came to be.
Some superstitions are just random, conditional, or very specific.
“Any time I say something and I speak something into existence that hasn’t happened, [I] always knock on wood,” freshman Medora Rostad said.
Many cultures have a belief in this superstition. Indo-Europeans and Celts believed that trees had different spirits in them, and knocking on the tree would chase away bad spirits, while calling on other spirits for good luck. British people say “touch wood” because of a game played in the 19th century called “Tiggy Touchwood.”
For some, good luck comes in the form of a token or a charm. Such as four leaf clovers, horseshoes, rabbits feet, elephants, and shooting stars. Out of all of those, the most common is a four leaf clover, believed to bring good luck from the leaves, which each increase hope and good omens.
It’s thought that the idea of having a lucky charm originated in Ancient Rome. They believed in the powers of good luck charms such as pendants and amulets, but the most popular was called a tintinnabulum. It sported a carving of a bronze-winged phallus, with bells all around.
“Every day, I carry this little pouch with two crystal skulls. One of them is rose quartz and one of them is smoky quartz. And then, I carry this little metal, like, peace sign because I got it for free in Canada ‘cause this random lady in the store was like ‘you know what, you can just have it’ and I took that as a like good luck sign,” Alex Phelan said.
“I carry the crystals because I believe that if you like, put your manifestations into something that maybe will serve you, eventually,”
he said.
There are some superstitions that are specific or depend on the person.
“I have a window in my room, and I’m also a hypochondriac,” Sasha Dronkers, a sophomore, said.
“So, every time I close the window, I have a deep fear that I’m going to get sick because, once when I closed it, my dad and another family member got sick… a different time, I got sick. So, now it’s just always open.”
Coincidence might be relative. It can all depend on what you believe in and what you think. Does knocking on wood work? Who knows? Your luck is all up to you, my friend.
If you want to be careful, do as Rostad said and “never walk under a ladder or stare a black cat in the eyes at night.”
The North Coast Journal is proud to support local student journalism.
Food. Everyone loves food. And anyone can bust on a good snack, but what about a bad snack? Per se, a bad snack turned good?
AHS students were asked about their weird food combos, and well, they were weird.
So, if you’re a try new things type of person, this list is for you, and if you’re not, maybe this will give you some ideas.
One of the most common base foods for strange pairing is popcorn.
“Popcorn has a nice salty taste and it’s small so it makes it easy to just pour some sauce on it,” sophomore Aria Soberanis said.
Popcorn and…
Ketchup- Keira Tatro
Spaghetti- Felix Yount
Soy Sauce- Ty Ghisetti
Tapatio- Aria Soberanis
On the other hand, AHS students have a wide variety of random food combos.
For example, Sequoia Matteoli really hits that sweet/salty umami flavor with the Snickers(sweet)/ pickles(salty)/and hot sauce combo.
Freshman Gabby Cavinta eats broccoli with mayonnaise.
I’ve never heard of anybody doing that before.
However, Cavinta claims this combo is really good.
Sophomore Jace Wallace eats his steak with ranch
Compared to the others, this combination was not the weirdest. However, it’s still an uncommon pairing.
Sophomore Solana Mendle eats her bagels with hot sauce.
To be honest, this combiniation sounds kind of good.
I think it depends on the kind of bagel and what other toppings are included.
“You wouldn’t think it would be good at all, but it’s lowkey so fire,” Mendle said.
These students’ weird food combiniations were very interesting.
This goes to show that everyone has different ideas about how certain types of foods should be eaten.
Others find carrots an easy base.
Carrots and…
Ketchup- Harper Appy
Mustard-Emily Cseh
“They just have a nice crunch, and it just works with some mustard” said freshmen Emily Cseh.
Same with Tex Larsen’s combo of grilled cheese(salty)/Mustard(sweet).
Now some people even find themselves with more random and bizarre combos like:
Apple’s/Mac ‘n’ Cheese- Andrew Trieu
14.5% of students in California have an IEP or a 504. Chances are, you know someone who has one. So, why aren’t they talked about more?
Under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), all students are entitled to “free appropriate public education (FAPE)” regardless of their disabilities. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act states that, “No otherwise qualified person…solely by reason of his or her disability…be subject to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
There are two main ways to achieve this: an IEP or a 504 (named for Section 504).
There are two types of modifications: services and accommodations. Services pull students out of class, and require an altered schedule. Examples include speech therapy, school psychologist meetings, core support, and life skills.
Accommodations can be provided without changing curriculum. Examples of accommodations include extended due dates for assignments, unlimited test retakes, extended time limits for tests, and taking multiple and frequent breaks.
IEP stands for Individualized Education Plan. A student with a qualifying disability in one or more of 13 categories can be given an IEP to ensure that they have equal access to the same education as their peers.
A qualifying student needs services or an altered curriculum. For example, if a student needs speech therapy, the student qualifies for an IEP through a Speech and Language Impairment. If the student goes through with getting an IEP, the school must provide speech
therapy and other necessary services.
“I get distracted easily and it’s hard to focus” sophomore with an IEP Shayann Wright said. Not every student who struggles in school qualifies for an IEP or even a 504. People with these disabilities need their support to function. The most common qualifier for an IEP is a Specific Learning Disability, like dyslexia or dyscalculia. A medical diagnosis is not required to receive a 504, so long as you can adequately prove that your disability affects your ability to succeed in school. Some of the 13 qualifiers for an IEP require an official diagnosis to be considered eligible, while others don’t. It is important to note that a diagnosis alone does not qualify a student for either an IEP or a 504.
Senior Kayla Handl’s teachers aren’t supposed to use certain colors as one of the accommodations in her IEP. It affects her education. “I wish more people understood how we think” she said.
A 504 is different, in that it doesn’t have the power to provide services, however, a 504 is still able to provide accommodations. A student can qualify for a 504 if they have a disability that inhibits a “major life activity.” That clause is intentionally as vague as possible to be a catch-all for students with disabilities who don’t have one of the 13 qualifiers for an IEP, but still require support. Because of their weaker and more fluid nature, they are easier to change than an IEP. For example, a student with ADHD might not qualify under any of the 13 categories for an IEP, but still needs support to succeed in school. This is where a 504 comes into play. The student might have multiple and frequent breaks, have extended time on assignments and tests, or be able to use a fidget toy or stress ball whenever they need
to.
“People just don’t understand how hard it is for me to get work done” junior with a 504 Ava Jones said. She struggles to complete full-length assignments, because monotonous and repetitive tasks can cause the quality of work to decline.
“If I’m not excited about it, it’s extremely difficult for me to get work started,” Jones said.
One of the most basic and fundamental rights of every student, IEP and 504 students included, is the right to a learning environment free of bullying, discrimination, and harassment. It’s one of our fundamental human rights. In a perfect world, students don’t lose their services or accommodations unless they no longer qualify for special education through either graduation or testing out of their program.
Interdistrict transfer students, students in juvie, and any other extenuating circumstances don’t make the student lose their rights. However, there are some instances of students being denied portions of their plans. Students interviewed say they don’t always receive the accommodations in their IEP or 504.
Teachers or other adults on campus legally cannot bar you from any aspect of your IEP or
504, and you cannot be punished for using any of your services or accommodations. If you feel your rights were violated by a teacher or other person on campus, you should talk to principal Ron Perry. Most disputes stop at this level. If that doesn’t work, the next step up is Roger Macdonald, our superintendent. If that still doesn’t rectify the situation, reach out to SELPA, and they will provide you with legal resources.
Teachers have a lot of students in their schedule, and it can be impossible for them to remember if a certain student has an IEP or 504 and what accommodations are on it. Try to talk to your teachers about what accommodations are on your plan. Only if it becomes a problem that consistently negatively impacts your education should you go to the principal and beyond.
In short, there are some important differences between an IEP and a 504, but they serve the same purpose. Making sure that every student on campus has what they need to succeed, and making sure that every student has their right to an education upheld.
“Everybody’s different” Wright said. “Some people work slower, some work a little faster, and some get frustrated.”
The possibilities of what lies below the water’s surface are endless and the fact that only 5% of the ocean has been explored confirms this.
There have been a lot of tragedies in Humboldt County caused by sneaker waves, big swells, and just the ocean being the ocean.
A lot of people have had close calls with the ocean which isn’t too surprising considering that
in most places you’re a 10 minute drive from it.was around the age was around the age of 13.
Senior Gracie Townsend used to be really afraid of the ocean. She got over her fear when she was around the age of 13.
“When I was 6, my little feet got a little too deep into the water and I got swept,” Townsend said. Getting over your fear is challenging, but Townsend was able to do so.
“My brother calmed me down a
lot when it came to my fear of the ocean and all the little creatures in it,” she said. Townsend added “Just take baby steps everyday”.
Senior Lily Rust-Kelley hasn’t had any close calls herself but she saved her sister from getting swept out when she was 6 and her sister was 4. Rust-Kelley told me she is partially afraid of the ocean.
“It’s very large and vast and unexplored,” Rust-Kelley said.
Senior Rogue Russel, a surfer who spends a lot of time in the ocean had a different opinion.
“I came out on a wave,” Russell said.
Russell hasn’t had any close calls but she chipped her tooth once when she was surfing because of the board hitting her in the face.
powerful but I’d like to think we’re friends.”
To Russell, the ocean is more than just a scary place, “It’s more pretty than scary.”
I have only had one close call with the ocean. It was when I was in Hawaii, I got destroyed by a wave and for a while I wouldn’t go near the water.
I agree with Townsend on taking baby steps to get over your fear. Little by little I got more used to being in the water and now I’m fine.
Though the ocean is quite scary just think of all the good characteristics it has like the beautiful blue color, the shiny rocks, and the fun waves to surf.
Rogue RussellL/PEPPERBOXWhen asked if she was at all afraid of the ocean she said “Yes and no because it’s definitely very
Co-Feature Editor
Many of us wonder, are children as susceptible to ideology as we think, and do teachers have responsibility when it comes to sharing their politics in the classroom?
You learn about politics in many classes on campus but when is it ok for teachers to go beyond the lesson plan? The term politics in this context is associated with the beliefs that people have in accordance with things like who they think should be president and what party they associate with,.
“I think that teachers tend to keep their opinions private. For example Mr. Moore, he doesn’t like to open up about what he thinks. I’m not saying teachers shouldn’t, I just think they don’t,” junior Edwin
Arguelles-Diaz said.
Many believe that even if you share the same political beliefs as your teacher it should be left up to you to decide what you believe.
“I think it’s kind of crossing the line in between like a professional place, for like trying to teach students on like unbiased opinions and all that so I think giving their own opinions about whatever is kind of, I don’t know, it’s kind of weird,” sophomore Aizlin Bluntzer said.
While sharing multiple sides of political views in the classroom is often a healthy part of education, the issue is when marginalized groups feel unsafe in a classroom because of a teacher’s opinions.
“I think that students could feel unsafe around someone they previously felt comfortable around when teachers share personal
opinions about politics and things like that,” sophomore Augustus Reed stated.
Many students stated that they didn’t have teachers that shared their political opinions in the classroom.
“I’ve never actually had a teacher that’s tried to talk about politics even in history class. We’ve always been kind of unbiased and open about all of that,” Bluntzer said.
Teachers words have power over their student.
But, always keep in mind that you should never turn your back on the ocean because it could do something unexpected.
”It could make some students feel unsafe if a certain political person the teacher supports has said things about different minorities that that student could be a part of,” Reed stated.
Overall the students at Arcata High believe that not many teachers share their politics in a harmful manner but they are better kept personal anyways.
“I guess it’s nice that they keep their opinions to themselves,” Arguelles-Diaz stated.
Music, we all listen to it. Whether you like pop, the blues, rap, or country, people love music. It helps us through hard times and calms us down. Because of that, most students listen to music in class to stay focused and get their work done.
However, some teachers don’t let their students listen to music because it’s a distraction. Between student and teacher, the view on the matter is objectively different. So, this leaves me with one question: Is listening to music harmful or beneficial when in class?
When asked what he thinks on
the matter, history teacher Owen Moore said, “Listening to music with lyrics negatively impacts and impairs one’s verbal functions. This means that if students are listening to music with lyrics, they are less able to read, effectively comprehend and process the reading, write effectively and so on.” However, there are benefits. Colorado State University published an article on the benefits of listening to music and studying.
They found that listening to music improved memory and learning, enhanced energy and motivation, and lowered stress levels.
As stated in, “3 Reasons You Should Try Studying While Lis-
tening to Music”: The right music can serve as a fantastic stimulant that will quicken the pulse, accelerate breathing, draw away attention from fatigue and boredom, and pretty much pump you up for some serious intellectual heavy lifting.”
Texas A&M conducted a study in 2021 with cognitive psychologist, Brian Anderson, and found that while listening to music makes studying more enjoyable, it is often more distracting than anything.
Anderson stated, “When you’re doing two things at the same time, like studying and listening to music, and one of the things requires cognitive effort, there will be a
cost to how much information you can retain doing both activities.”
Steve Hoffman is among the teachers at Arcata High that goes both ways with the matter.
Hoffman said, “I allow it on occasion but most of the time I don’t because it can be dangerous to get distracted during chemistry and I need students to pay attention.”
Safety is the most important thing in a classroom and even though music can help people focus in situations like this, student safety is more important.
Biology teacher Mathew Scott adds, “Mainly it’s for safety and to cut out distractions while working. We work with hot liquids/ objects, expensive glassware, and chemicals. If people can’t hear what is going on around them there is a higher likelihood that an accident will occur.”
Some teachers allow it and others do not. So, is listening to music harmful or beneficial when in class?
It’s hard to draw one conclusion when there’s so many factors to consider when dealing with the matter.
I personally enjoy listening to music when doing my work. I mean, I damn near wrote this entire article while doing so.
But, I also wasn’t dealing with chemicals or trying to retain one of Moore’s history lessons. If I had been, it might have been a different story.
Fiona Apple is an artist who became famous in the late ‘90s for her metrical lyrics, unique voice, and ability to convey the complex emotion that is female rage.
She writes about her experiences which are specific to women, and her lyrics often confuse men. I interviewed male students around campus who I believed could provide interesting perspectives on different Fiona Apple songs.
I asked junior Evan Azinger what he thought of the lyrics from one of Fiona Apple’s most famous songs, “Paper Bag.” The lyric goes: “He said it’s all in your head and I said so’s everything but he didn’t get it/I thought he was a man but he was just a little boy.”
Evan’s interpretation: “Sounds like the dude’s pretty immature and didn’t know how to listen to his girlfriend.”
The next part I asked him about was “Hunger hurts, and I want him so bad, oh, It kills/‘cause I know I’m
a mess he don’t wanna clean up.”
Evan’s analysis of the lyrics was “she really misses this guy, but it sounds like he’s not really good for her.”
Junior Zephyr Levy was asked to interpret lyrics from her song “Under the Table.” The lyrics went: “I’d like to buy you a pair of pillow-soled hiking boots/ to help you with your climb/or rather to the bodies that you step over along your route/so they won’t hurt like mine.” Zephyr’s understanding of the lyric was: “She doesn’t want him to hurt other people like he hurt her” when asked if he could understand her feelings, Zephyr said, “Can I sympathize with her? No, but I can empathize with her.”
Junior Anthony Zinselmeir was given the task of analyzing the most confusing of the four Fiona Apple songs, “Every Single Night.”
The lyrics go: “what does she think of me?/that I’m not what I ought to be/that I’m what I try not to be/it’s got to be somebody else’s fault I can’t get caught.”
Zinselmeir interpreted that as
“She is trying to figure out who she is and what she could become” the second set of lyrics goes: “Then brother get back, ‘cause my breast’s gonna burst open/the rib is the shell and the heart is the yolk/I just made a meal for us both to choke on/every single night’s a fight with my brain.”
Anthony’s analysis: “some inner conflict, I think she is having a problem with herself and her brain is not helping, the more she thinks, the more she ponders her thoughts, the worse it gets for her.”
I asked Culninary teacher Neil Kalson to interpret lyrics to the song To Your Love: “Please forgive me for my distance/pain is evident in my existence/please forgive me for my distance/ the shame is manifest in my resistance/to your love”
Kalson’s thoughts on the lyrics were: “she is not in a very communicative relationship, somebody’s need for communication are not being met, and there is obviously resistance to that.”
With the responses I received,
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the men of Arcata High seemed to understand Fiona Apple’s lyrics.
on April 17th, 2020.
PDA. Public Display of Affection. Something that brings up very mixed opinions, and no one can really agree on what is okay and what is not. It happens a lot on our campus, whether it be the couples that are well known for it, or the people you randomly see kissing in the halls.
When I am walking to class at 8:30 AM, I absolutely do not want to see two people eating each other’s faces in the hallway.
Senior Sagen Sarchett said,
“When I show up to school, usually very late and I see people in the backseat of their friend’s car doing God knows what, it makes me want to turn around and leave. It puts a huge dent in my day, and I just don’t want to deal with it.”
Campus Supervisor Luis Cervantes thinks that students should be able to hold hands and hug each other, but he does not want to “see students making out in a corner by the stairs, which [he] has run into quite a few times.”
Teacher Kay Wozniak doesn’t really see it as a big issue, but draws the line at “things that make other people who walk up on it un-
comfortable.”
Senior Lila Wolf thinks that “PDA should be limited. Holding hands and a goodbye kiss is okay, but I don’t wanna see people mackin’.”
Some couples are known around campus for their over the top PDA, and some people think it’s too much for school.
Sophomore Toni Diaz, who is in a relationship, said that “anything more than a quick little peck on the go is too much. If you’re in a relationship, make time for that kinda thing outside of school.”
Now, I’m not saying that you should stay away from your part-
ner and never touch each other, but there’s gotta be a limit.
I personally appreciate some hand holding or a kiss goodbye, but you won’t catch me making out in front of random people in a public place.
If you are participating in an excessive amount of PDA at school, I think you should reconsider your relationship and how you spend your time.
There are so many other places you can show your affection for your partner, and school simply just isn’t one of them.
“Co-Photo
EditorIt’s not what you know, but who you know” is a phrase I have been hearing a lot lately. When I spoke with some well-known students, I discovered that they have made an imprint by being friendly and outgoing to as many people as possible. I took to Instagram to ask our very own Pepperbox Instagram followers who they think are the most loved, celebrated, and “celebrity-like” students.
For the purpose of this article, celebrity is defined as someone who is outgoing, well-known, and who most other people would speak highly of.
I received tons of replies mentioning many different names, but there were five students whose names showed up over and over again.
So, I had the honor of sitting down with these student “celebrities”: John Gerving, Keira Tatro, Alex Duarte, Arman Abbassi, and Olivia Railsback, who shared some very interesting insights.
I don’t think I’m a student celebrity, but I appreciate the nomination,” said senior John Gerving.
Like Gerving, most of the student celebrities were surprised to have been nominated by their peers. “When you told me I was going to be a celebrity, it made me feel really cool,” senior Olivia Railsback said.
Maybe being open to connecting with new people has become such a normalized part of their routine that they forget it doesn’t come easily to some.
“I just say ‘hi’ to people a lot (...) When I’m walking down the hallway I like looking at people and if they look back at me I’ll usually smile or wave or say ‘hi,’”Railsback said.
Her advice to people who struggle to interact with and make more connections with their peers is to “just be super kind to everyone and push yourself out of your comfort zone. Kindness rules.”
Alex Duarte said that whenever he sees people at school he tries to just “greet them”, and that that alone can go a long way.
Duarte’s efforts to greet people do not go unnoticed. English teacher Danielle Witten said, “He brings
energy and joy to every single one of my first period classes.”
It can be intimidating at times to interact with people you aren’t familiar with, let alone try to strike up conversation.
“I think it’s important to not really get so caught up in what people think about you a lot. I actually get a lot of anxiety sometimes in social situations and stuff, but at the end of the day, no ones really thinking about that, (...) so you just gotta go out and be nice,” said senior Arman Abbassi.
Abbassi’s capability to be himself has paid off well in the way that other students view him. Julian Wan described Abbassi as “funny and goofy”, and added that he has “great original content” on his social media pages.
Abbassi said that prior to starting highschool he did not really expect anyone from school to ever find his accounts, but eventually they did, and his rise to stardom began.
“I make these very awful comedy videos. I think my videos are kinda bad, they’re kinda cringy a little bit, but I feel like that’s just
kinda the appeal of it. People think it’s like, wholesome or something,” he said.
Senior Keira Tatro makes new connections by reaching out to as many people as she can. She proved that you don’t have to come up with a crazy or super interesting conversation starter to connect with someone. For her, it can be something simple, like asking someone how they’re doing.
“I’m really sociable, I will constantly just ask everyone how they’re doing, even if I don’t really talk to them,” said Tatro.
If you find it difficult to just go up and talk to people like Tatro, Abbassi and Railsback do, Tatro said the best thing to do is give out a compliment, whether it be about a person’s outfit or something they’re doing or saying, “just complement them, and I think it’s a really good conversation starter,” plus a great way to make someone else smile.
To learn more details about these students, check out the full video interviews which can be found at @ahspepperbox on Instagram!
