Vol. 95, Issue 6

pepperbox Volume 95, Issue 6

What’s Inside: Jim Hogan Custodian of the Year Super Bloom Flowers Seasonal Depression On-Campus Drug Use Springtime Activities Male Manipulators Bathrooms on Campus Footloose Review

The Pepperbox

April

BOX BRIEFS

Tennis HDN Singles: @ Del Norte (10 am-12pm) 4/8 Spring Break: 4/10-4/14 NHUHSD Board Meeting: @ AHS (6pm-8pm) 4/18 Term 5 ends: 4/28

EDITORIAL STAFF Madelyn Conley: Editor-in-Chief Dylan Berman: Editor-in-Chief Zoe Macknicki: Managing Editor Seneca Turecheck: 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 Briar-Bonpane: Photo Editor Ella Newman: Guest Writer Alex Phelan: Art Director Toni Diaz: Copy Editor

REPORTERS

Sadie Cronin Urijah Horne Laura Laux Jaimeanne O’Donnell Raymi Sharp Alauna Thompson Dominic Previde Mariah Weekly

IN THE BOX

ACORN program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 New German exchange student.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Congratulations to Jim Hogan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Super bloom flowers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Seasonal depression. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Drugs on campus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13-14 What to do during spring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Are track meets too long?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 How to be a male manipulator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 To pee or not to pee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Should they have gone solo?. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .24 What to keep and what to leave behind. . . . . . . . 25 Footloose review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Saltbox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

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.

Advisor Danielle Witten

Editors’ Box Dylan Berman and Madelyn Conley

H

Co-Editors-in-Chief

appy spring! Through all the wet, cold, and windy days, we are very excited for some sunny days ahead. This spring, California is experiencing a super bloom. This means due to high levels of rain, flower seeds that have laid dormant for years are finally going to bloom.

Madelyn: Personally, the month of March has been a little rough for me mentally, and I am very ready for some change. I’m trying to find the balance between being patient with myself and keeping up with my responsibilities. Anxiety is something I’ve struggled with for some time now and have seen that this past month it’s been getting harder to deal with. Seeing the flowers bloom and the sun come out from behind the clouds is very uplifting to me.

Dylan: For me, March has been a surreal month. I finally committed to a college, and having my future cemented in that way is a massive relief. I have escaped the dark, dark winter of the college application process into the spring of…senioritis. It’s a bit difficult to feel committed to school and to my life here in general when I know how impermanent it is. To me, a ‘super bloom’ spring is a time to enjoy the end of my high school experience to the fullest.

This issue is important to us as it resembles a transition in our lives. In this issue, we feature new art on campus, super bloom flowers, spring sports, what to keep and get rid of, and a review of Footloose. In more serious topics, we also highlight parking lot issues, seasonal depression, and drug abuse on campus. A lot of work was put into this issue, and we hope everyone enjoys it.

Go to thepepperbox.com for breaking news and more exciting content!

Interested in writing for The Pepperbox? Contact pepperbox@nohum.k12. ca.us

Follow us on Instagram! @ahspepperbox

Behind the Scenes

Quotable.

“I lurk on Instagram.”

“We have to “You look like a man kill who needs to use the Hitler by Spring bathroom.”

Break.”

-Deborah Jacobsen talking about her social media use

-Owen Moore to Adam Pinkerton, in passing

-Jennifer Coriell, on the AP Euro curriculum timing

“Good girlboss! Get it! Make that money!”

-Bethany Schmidt

“Come on Eileen, we need quotables, say something funny!”

-Gill Caroline, in a chat with a Pepperbox staff member

The Pepperbox | Page 5

News

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Hitting the break on parking plans Ilana Maclay

A

News Editor

dministration has started enforcing the “no-parking-in-staffparking-zone” rule. Designated staff parking is over by the tennis courts, and now occasionally has a barrier preventing cars from going in.

“We had some students who were traveling [at] high rates of speed for a parking lot and our Life Skills students use that pathway to go back and forth between their two classrooms,” Assistant Principal Tahnia Campbell said.

Life Skills students are students on campus who have disabilities that require support in order to participate in school.

Additionally, sophomores getting their licenses makes for “more cars and less parking. It’s just nice to have a staff-designated parking area that, if I leave and come back, I know I will be able to find park-

ing,” Campbell said.

What is considered staff parking consists of 121 total spots: by and in front of the gym, near the tennis courts, and by Six Rivers.

Principal Ron Perry said that anywhere behind the red line before the back lot is supposed to be staff parking.

“The big concern is safety. We’re fortunate right now because we do have a parking lot that we think can accommodate all the cars.

We’re going to take measures that we think are necessary in order to keep people safe. That’s the bottom line,” Perry said.

“This summer I’m going to ask the custodians to repaint [the] red line just as a reminder that from this point forward, that’s where it is for staff,” he said.

Some students were parking near the tennis courts to avoid the chaos of the main parking lot.

“I never parked in what I thought was staff parking, but I did park in

the back area of the parking lot,” senior Cedar Cline said.

“It was a really good place for me and all of my friends to park because it was a lot less hectic. There was a lot less… let’s call it improper driving, and it was pretty chill,” he said.

Cline has been parking there since the beginning of this year.

He said he thinks staff should have designated parking by the tennis courts, but they could maximize the spots.

“I hope we make a change because the way they’re doing it right now I just don’t think is great,” Cline said.

Math and Health teacher Laurie Griffith parks in the staff parking every day.

“It’s nice to know there’s a parking spot there when I may or may not come in at the last minute.

[When students park there] it gets really full and there’s not enough space for the teachers. Not all

teachers have a first-period prep or they’re working at McKinleyville so they have to go back and forth,” she said.

“I’m glad that they’re having students park in the front. It makes it easier. I don’t really want to be parking in the student parking lot next to students, either,” Griffith said.

The parking lot is crowded, so students and student drivers have to be cautious.

“My biggest message, if I could say anything, would be to please, please, please, slow down in the parking lot. Drive safe,” Campbell said.

“We just want to make sure that everyone is safe and driving at a speed that is safe for a parking lot,” she said.

While the program shares the same name, it’s completely different from either of the preceding programs.

gram to help students be successful in their freshmen and sophomore years.

Failing classes your freshman year puts students behind for the rest of their high school career and life.

According to the Department of Education, an average of 5.3% of 16-24 year olds are considered dropouts.

These are students who neither finished high school nor have a diploma or GED. The district is currently advertising for two full-time Special Education credentialed Acorn Teacher positions on each campus.

The expansion of the program is intended to build upon the old Acorn Program.

“We’ll have two teachers per classroom and a class size of 15,” Principal Ron Perry said.

Our acorns grow into trees Emma Kaber

T

A&E Editor

he Acorn Program is having a renaissance next year.

The new Acorn Program will have a variety of supports for freshman and sophomores needing more flexibility in their school day and more support with academics.

“The Acorn Program offers a supportive and more individualized path to success for 9th & 10th grade students within the comprehensive high school setting,” Director of Student Services Gayle Conway said.

The program will serve both Arcata and McKinleyville High schools in the district.

“This iteration is quite different from the program known as Acorn from the Covid distance learning days.”

-Gayle Conway The district received a grant for the new-and-improved Acorn Pro-

“We took all the ‘wish-we-hads’ from last year, put it into a grant proposal, and now we’re creating something amazing on our campus.”

-Ron Perry

The Pepperbox | Page 6

News

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

New German exchange student Laura Laux

O

Reporter ne of AHS’s new faces, even if it’s only for five weeks, is Bennet Pingel from Hannover, Germany.

While most exchange students are here with organizations such as Rotary or AFS, Pingel is here on private exchange.

“My school has a partnership with this school. Our English teacher and the German teacher [Carolyn Bareilles] have connections, and they told us we can do that and they gave us the contact from the German teacher and the rest we had to do by ourselves,” Pingel said.

He wants “to see the real life and how the school works around here,” he said. “Not only how it is to be here for a week on vacation.”

Since it’s his first time in the US, Pingel is excited to experience new things involving American traditions, culture, and characteristics.

“I wasn’t that surprised because I knew that or I expected that but everything is bigger.

Like the cars and everyone drives trucks around here. A big difference to Germany.”

He couldn’t take wood shop in Germany, and here it is his favorite class.

“It’s nice to do something different,” he said.

Similar to his town in Germany is the rural area we live in. However, he likes the landscapes and the driving age. In Germany most students start getting their license when

they’re 16 and a half years old but can only drive without their parents when they are 18.

“It’s kinda like my hometown. Humboldt is a little bit more spreaded down the coast.

I like the sea and the mountains and the forest, “ he said.

“It’s really nice that kids can drive their cars at 16. That’s cool because when you’re bored you can just hop in your car and drive somewhere.”

-Bennett Pingle

Pingel lives with the family of an AHS student that is in Germany right now.

His travel experience was free of jet lag due to a lot of sleep on the 11 hour flight from Munich to San Francisco. He doesn’t have any homesickness so far.

“It’s not the first time that I’ve been separated from my family. It’s not a new thing to be away from them for a few

weeks,” Pingel said.

Pingel started learning English in 3rd grade which, for him, was seven years ago.

“For [the average level of English at his] school, my English is pretty bad,” he explained.

“The only problem most of the time is my accent. I say some words differently because we learned the UK English in school so [American English speakers] don’t understand me sometimes.”

In his free time, Pingel likes to do outdoor sport activities and he also played American football in Germany before.

“I do a lot of mountain biking, and I like motorcross. I play soccer and I play golf,” Pingle said.

Although he was unsure about being away for a whole year and eventually having

to redo a year at his German school he might change his mind during his stay here.

“I’m thinking about coming back next school year. I would see how it goes here and how it would work with my school in Germany and I really want to be here for a whole year. Then I would join the American football team or the baseball team.”

Even though he is just staying here for a short amount of time he is looking forward to make new experiences in the future, for example visiting San Francisco,seeing an NBA game, or a baseball game.

His idea is to “do everything [he] can do” and to “just have fun.”

Who knows, maybe we’ll see him this fall as part of our football team.

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

News

The Pepperbox | Page 7

Congratulations to Jim Hogan Dominic Previde

A

Reporter

pples.

Tampons.

Pumpkins.

These are some of the items Head Custodian Jim Hogan finds lodged in toilets and urinals on campus.

Taking care of our campus is not an easy job.

This year Hogan won the 2023 Custodial and Maintenance Services County Classified Employee of the Year Award.

Hogan has been working at Arcata High School since 2011. Before coming to Arcata High, he worked many other jobs including roofing and working at a saw mill.

Hogan is an alumni of AHS and

went on to graduate from College of the Redwoods.

What do custodians even do you might ask?

Hogan arrives at the school every day at 6:30 am to prepare for the day ahead.

“I’ve been dealing with a lot of heaters and roofs, those are the two big things right now,” said Hogan when asked what an average day is like working as a custodian.

Summers are when the work gets tough.

Every summer the custodial crew has multiple strenuous tasks to do in order to keep the school in tip top shape.

“Well I’d really like to get the school painted, it needs a paint

Danielle Witten/PEPPERBOX

Custodian Jim Hogan and Chef Neil Kalson on the AHS campus.

job,” Hogan said.

As you can imagine painting all of Arcata High School would be quite the task.

When asked what the most time consuming task of the summer is, Hogan said “Rooms, classrooms, that takes a huge chunk, because we got to move everything out and everything back, so in 59 rooms you have to move everything out and everything back.”

When asked what the worst part of working as a custodian was he said, “Unclogging toilets for no apparent reason.”

We later talked about the horrors of the boys bathrooms where he said, “I’m beside myself, I mean clogged urinals, I don’t get it. I had to pull a toilet to get an apple out and had to pull a urinal to get tampons out of it.”

So why did he win this award?

We interviewed his boss and life long friend Ron Perry.

“There’s something to be said for showing up every single day and putting your best foot forward and making a difference for a place you care about and he’s shown that for a long time,” said Perry when asked why he thought Hogan deserved this award.

Hogan is known for his kindness.

“The first thing I think about when I think of Jim Hogan is his laugh. You know he has that deep baritone laugh, and he has a great sense of humor. He’s had that sense of humor since I met him when I was 8 and I was 9,” Perry said when asked what his favorite qualities of Hogan are.

The Pepperbox | Page 8

Feature

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

What’s your morning routine?

Julian Wan Online Editor

W

hat do students do before the bell at 8:30? Eat? Work out? We’ve all wondered what our classmates are up to before the sun rises and how their schedules differ from our own.

Senior Paolo Bosques-Paulet wakes up at 4:30 a.m. daily to get ready to go to the gym.

“I leave the house around 5:20, so about 30 minutes of getting ready and 20 minutes of convincing myself to get out of bed,” Bosques-Paulet said.

He explained that he wakes up early to get gains because he has orchestra in the morning and extracurricular activities after school.

“I try to go gym from around 5:45 to 7:10 each morning before I leave for orchestra,” Bosques-Paulet said.

Senior Rogue Russell gets up early for morning swim practice.

“On Tuesdays and Thursdays I wake up at 5:15, but I really get up at 5:30. I drive to the pool and we practice at 6:00 and that’s an hour and a half, ” Russell said.

After swim practice, she sits in the hot tub with fellow swimmers then grabs some breakfast from Wildberries.

“They have good vegan breakfast burritos,” Russell said.

While some students wake up early because they want to, some AHS students are forced to wake up early because of distance from school.

Freshmen class president John Adams is one such student.

“I wake up at 6:00 every morning because I have to catch the bus.

I live in Trinidad so I take the transit bus, which leaves at 6:45,” Adams said.

He likes to wake up to a cup of black coffee with a little bit of milk.

Junior Kyndle Eisner also likes to have a drink with a kick in the morning.

“I usually have like something with caffeine like a Yerba or a RedBull, Revel Berry is the best flavor,” Eisner said.

The distance is overwhelming for some students. Junior Aiden McLaughlin lives in Willow Creek which makes transportation to school very challenging.

“I get up at 6:50 and the bus leaves at 7:15 and I take the public bus. I live five minutes away from the bus stop, and it takes about one hour to get to school every day, ” McLaughlin said.

Teacher and student morning routines are often very different.

Principal Ron Perry’s morning varies by the needs of his puppy Cosmo.

“My morning is kinda defined by our new puppy because, you know, you get up, you get ready as quickly as you can and take the puppy outside, give it some love and feed it, and by then my wife is up and I pass the baton,” Perry said.

After breakfast, Perry grabs coffee on the way to school.

“It’s always Jitter Bean and it’s a triple mocha with oat milk and foam, no whip,” Perry said.

Routines are an important aspect of mornings for many and Principal Perry’s routine adheres to some guidelines as he heads off into the work day.

“I answer some emails, check in with Ms. Campbell and make sure the music is started and then greet kids. That’s the most important thing, you wanna make people feel welcome here on campus,” Perry said.

photo courtesy of Aiden McLaughlin

Junior Aiden McLaughlin’s bus ride from Willow Creek every morning.

Feature

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

The Pepperbox | Page 9

What’s with the pink wall?

Ilana Maclay News Editor

Y

ou may have seen the halfway-painted, bright pink wall outside of the cafeteria on the FAB and thought: what’s going on with that?

“We’re going to be completing two mural projects [this year],” Tim Clewell, AAI mural masterclass teacher, said.

“We’ve got one that’s right outside the music wing in the FAB–the bright pink one–and I’m waiting on approval from PG&E to paint a box outside of the FAB,” Clewell said.

AAI students were very inspired to create somethig visually pleasing. They worked together to

create something they would be proud of.

“My students wanted to express the jubilance, the celebration of life, as though this person was at kind of like a concert. They wanted to capture that jubilance that you feel when you’re amongst a crowd of people, like a community of people, enjoying the same music as you are through this image,” Clewell said.

The artwork for the mural was designed by Frida King and a group of students in Clewell’s masterclass.

“My group’s idea was a connection to music and a connection to community through music. So, I came up with a design representing that, which involves a

Ilana Maclay/PEPPERBOX

Mr. Clewell and AAI students working on the mural.

lady coming out of a flower and a bunch of music and bright colors and stuff,” junior Frida King said.

The class is in the beginning stage of their work.

“We’re just starting to paint that. Right now, we’re calling it the Pepto Bismol commercial because it’s bright pink, but we’re slowly working in the process,” King said.

Clewell described that his role overseeing the student-run project includes showing students what it takes to paint a mural.

Designing, the approval process, the application of paint, and the gridding process.

Gridding is taking a grid and placing it out so the students can paint proportionally.

“Murals take a hell of a long

time,” King said.

The AAI class is working hard at the mural, even through they face cold and wet weather conditions.

“The mural that this masterclass painted last year took both semesters, and we’re trying to do it in one there’s a lot of us and I think we can get it done. The rain is a potential dampener, but we’re on an overhang so it should be okay.

We’re going to start gridding soon and hopefully, we’ll finish it by spring. We’ll see,” King said.

So, keep an eye out for the new murals! To find it now, just look for the Pepto Bismol pink and the students painting it.

“It’s fun to paint a mural,” King said.

The Pepperbox | Page 10

Feature

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Narcan training at Arcata High Jasmine McKnight Business Manager

D

rug use and overdoses rose astronomically in Humboldt County.

Overdose rates in Humboldt County are significantly higher than the rest of the state and nation across most age ranges according to the “Humboldt County substance abuse mortality data report: Drug poisoning and substance use disorder (SUD) Deaths, 2005-2021.”

UCLA Health released that the overdose death rate among US teenagers surged in 2020, and has since continued to climb.

This is the first time in history that the teen drug related death rate has experienced an exponential rise.

Arcata High School Medical Careers Club President, senior Kyla Berman, organized a training for club members to learn how to use the Naloxone nasal spray, Narcan.

Narcan is an opioid antagonist used to rapidly reverse opioid overdose by attaching to opioid receptors and obstructing the effects of opioids such as fentanyl, oxycodone OxyContin®, hydrocodone Vicodin®, codeine, morphine, and many others.

“Specifically in Humboldt, there are a lot of drug overdose issues.

Opioid overdose is preventable, so if everyone had Narcan, ideally there wouldn’t be as big of a problem,” Berman said.

While the medication is extremely effective at combating overdose, it has no effect when used on someone who does not have opioids in their system, making Narcan extremely safe and accessible.

Narcan can be easily administered by repetitively releasing a dose into alternating nostrils every two to three minutes until the

person regains consciousness or emergency medical personnel arrives.

Is Narcan needed at Arcata High School?

“Some of my friends are considering doing opioids. I’m nervous for them and I think it’s good that so many people have Narcan on them, just in case anyone ever needs it,” an anonymous Arcata High School student said.

Teachers have also been presented with a new opportunity to have Narcan easily accessible in their classrooms.

Dean of Students, Jesse Burns, facilitated an optional virtual training for those who were interested.

“We have not, to my knowledge, had a student identified as under the influence of opiates on campus; however, opioid use has become increasingly more prevalent in the community. I think it is important that staff and students have access to Narcan in case of emergency because it is easy to administer and can be a quick life saving measure in the event of an opioid overdose,” Burns said.

Narcan is available to anyone for purchase at local pharmacies and for free from the California Department of Public Health or other organizations with Naloxone distribution programs.

Naloxone access laws have been enacted in a significant number of states, which protect the administrator from civil or criminal liability after administering Naloxone.

You can also find training videos on YouTube to learn more about the administration process.

With the increasing risk of opioid overdose, especially in Humboldt County, Narcan training and access is becoming more and more vital.

Jasmine McKnight/PEPPERBOX

Narcan nasal spray can be purchased over the counter in packages like these.

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Feature

The Pepperbox | Page 11

After rain comes a super bloom Raymi Sharp

C

Reporter

alifornia has seen an unusual amount of rain this season, especially the Northern and Central Coast. After having been through a historically long drought, the amount of snow and rain this year has reached unprecedented levels compared to the last several years.

Although all this rain and stormy weather has cost us, we now have something to look forward to. As soon as the weather starts to heat up, we can expect to see massive super blooms.

A super bloom is a rare occurrence that takes place every 5-10 years. It comes about when a large amount of dormant wildflower seeds sprout at the same time. The

reason these dormant seeds are able to bloom is because of an unusually wet rainy season like the one we are experiencing now.

As far as the Central Coast is concerned, you can expect to see an abundance of vibrantly colored evening primrose, poppies, and lupins.

These three flowers cover the rolling hills of Central California down into Southern California with yellows, oranges, and purples.

Here in Northern California,

our hills won’t be flooded like how down south will be.

However, we are expected to have a substantial lupin bloom up in Bald Hills, along with more sidewalk and trail flowers.

After talking to a state ranger at Redwood National and State Parks, I have learned that unlike the super bloom down south, the lupins will not be blooming because of the extremely wet season we are having, but because they are not doing controlled burnings this

year where the blooms will be.

The only concern that the rangers have is that the snow is staying longer than expected, so it might call for a later than usual bloom.

Nevertheless, you can expect a flood of colors starting late spring into July.

Other spring flowers you will be able to find when walking on the coast include milkmaids, purple trillium, buttercups, and forgetme-nots.

The Pepperbox | Page 12

Feature

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Students suffer from S.A.D.

S

Ell Franklin Opinion Editor

tudents wake up with their will to live decreasing with every passing dark, icy day. They have to armor themselves against the cold in layer after layer of shirts and jackets.

Mouth breathers see their breath in the morning like smoke in the air. Limbs become heavy as students walk to their classrooms, dreading the next class, and the next, and the next. Even lunch is a depressing affair. For those without a car the only options are to go to the library or brave the elements.

The dreadful feeling seems to carry on and on. Then flowers start to grow, the time changes again, and, whether or not the groundhog sees his shadow, spring comes.

Seasonal Affective Disorder or S.A.D. is a type of depression that relates to the change in the seasons. Most often, symptoms start manifesting at the beginning of fall and continue through the winter months.

The condition affects mood, energy, and sleep. It also causes an increase in anxiety, loneliness, mood swings, social isolation, and general discontent.

At the end of daylight saving time each year, we lose an hour of sunlight, which decreases the amount of daylight we get. This reduces the amount of Vitamin D people receive, which can lead to depression-like symptoms.

The decline in daylight changes people’s sleep cycle, throwing off the brain’s circadian rhythm (physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24 hour cycle), as well as their eating habits.

This can cause mental health to plummet.

Additionally, the limited daylight affects the amount of mela-

tonin our brains release, causing our bodies to become tired regardless of when a person’s general bedtime is.

Now that spring is upon us, students can reflect on their own experiences with seasonal depression to understand how S.A.D. affects their grades, emotions, and lives.

Junior Joey Murphy struggles with depression year round and admitted in the winter and the fall he especially notices his mental health decrease.

When Murphy was asked if he thought Seasonal Affective Disorder affected his grades, he said, “Very much so, like a lot.”

Junior Ally Morris feels the same.

“When it’s raining out, I don’t want to do my homework. I don’t do my homework when it’s sunny either, but I don’t know, I just feel so slow,” Morris said.

Students are stressed during the school year, and it doesn’t help that the majority of school happens during the winter and the fall when students are susceptible to the effects of seasonal depression.

When questioned if he believed the weather affected his mood, Murphy said, “I don’t think about it that much, but yeah I’m probably sadder when it’s dark out, there is no sun.”

“I think that I do feel better during the spring because there is more Vitamin D in the air,” Murphy said.

Morris feels the effects of S.A.D. in her life.

“My mood definitely changes based on the weather when it’s sunny. I definitely feel, happy,” she said.

Morris said that she can listen to music and vibe in the spring versus the winter when “it’s miserable.”

When spring finally comes, Morris said, “I feel happy. I just want to lay out in the sun all the

time when it’s warm and go out with my friends.”

Junior Lenin Jacobson agreed with Morris and Murphy’s statement of school work and school, in general, becoming harder during the fall and winter months.

“It’s colder outside, it’s not as light, trees look like they’ve been murdered, nothing seems happy, everything seems gray. It affects my mood. It makes me want to crawl up into a hole and die,” Jacobson said.

He has observed the changes in his peers and can agree many people seem more alive and happy in the spring.

“Everybody seems bitter and cold during the winter months,” he said.

To cope with negative emotions during the cold months, Jacobson said he likes to exercise, especially at the gym.

Baz McLaughlin’s advice to others for coping with S.A.D. is to “remember that it will be over soon.

You will be free. Nothing is permanent.’’

McLaughlin added that he copes by talking to his friends and “eating toast with butter and cinna-

mon sugar.”

During the winter months at school his mood and school work is affected by the low temperatures.

“I get really cold, and when I get cold, I cease the ability to think about anything other than how cold I am,” McLaughlin said.

Seasonal depression affects 3% to 5% of people in the general population, 10% to 20% of individuals with any major depressive disorder, and 25% of people with Bipolar Disorder.

Seasonal depression affects most people to some extent and is looked over by many individuals, despite how serious it can be.

Students who suffer from any mental health condition, at any time of the year, can go to Mrs. Klima, talk to a trusted teacher, or call the Suicide and Crisis Hotline by dialing 988.

Spring is a time to look back and consider the ways in which seasonal depression affects you, how to survive it, and it’s time to celebrate the splendid warm seasons of spring and summer.

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Feature

The Pepperbox | Page 13

Getting outside this Spring Astreya McKnight Business Manager

1) Skunk Cabbage Creek Trail This is a great trail to take when you are looking for an all-day activity. Although the hike is only 7.4 miles long round trip, you can expect over a half-hour of driving time in both directions. This trail ends at the ocean and includes several beautiful lookout points along the way. Its only downfall is the smell of the skunk cabbage blooms in spring.

2) Bald Hills Road When you catch it at the right time, the hillsides along Bald Hills Road are covered in a spread of riverbank lupine. Even if you do not see a super bloom, this scenic drive is beautiful nonetheless. You will likely still see a variety of wildflowers and countless elk and other wildlife.

3) Scenic Drive, Trinidad You can never go wrong with a beach in Trinidad. If you are looking for a fun activity to do in spring, a great option is simply driving along Scenic and stopping at as many beach entrances and lookouts as possible. During this time of year, the sides of the road are filled with gorgeous flowers that make the already amazing views a thousand times better.

4) The Mad River The Mad River is always a great and closer option. As the weather starts to warm up, it is so fun to spend the day on the river bank!

A sunny spring day in Blue Lake is the perfect way to get ready for summer.

5) On Top of the World Lookout This Fickle Hill lookout is absolutely amazing. It is gorgeous to watch over Blue Lake as the sun sets, but if you are able to wake up early enough, the view is even more stunning for sunrise.

6) Maple Creek Not only is the drive out to Maple Creek gorgeous, but the destination is equally wonderful. This is a super fun area to look around and explore. During springtime, you will likely see many different kinds of wildlife on your drive.

7) Kneeland Airport At the highest point in Kneeland, up near the airport, there are always amazing views. This location is great at almost any time. It is gorgeous for sunset, and even if it looks cloudy from sea level, once you get all the way up there, you will likely be above the couldline.

8) Elk River Trail The Elk River Trail in Headwaters Forest is another great local hike.

Its round trip length is 12.5 miles, but it could easily be taken as a much shorter hike. The first mile of the trail is paved and the first three miles are relatively open. After the third mile, the trail narrows and enters more dense forest.

9) Fleener Creek Trail This trail in the Lost Coast Headlands is only a half-mile in either direction. Despite how short it is, there is an elevation gain of over 350 feet. The trailhead has a gorgeous view of the ocean and the green valley below. During the right time of year, the hillside of the tail will be sprinkled with wildflowers of countless varieties.

10) Mattole River Delta If you are interested in an activity that will take even longer, driving out to the Mattole River Delta in Petrolia would be a great choice.

Although this location is beautiful, it is more for the drive than the destination. There are gorgeous views all along the way to Petrolia and there are countless other places to stop along the way.

P

lenty of people under the age of 18 participate in drug* use of varying degrees. That is an undeniable cultural certainty, which will likely not change any time soon, no matter the number of anti-vaping posters pasted onto our walls.

But when students use substances on campus while school is in session, serious conflict stirs between students and administrators.

It becomes difficult to differentiate between teenage experimentation and a potentially dangerous on-set addiction–especially for the substance user (or abuser) themself.

So, how does drug use even begin? How does it become so frequent? Why do students do drugs on campus? And what, if anything at all, can be done to stop it?

The Pepperbox conducted numerous interviews with the student body to try to understand the origins of this on-campus drug use.

Many students we spoke with initially gained access through their older family members–parents and older siblings.

Sometimes, it was due to an absence of supervision and lack of secure storage techniques. “I started stealing buds [of marijuana] from my mom’s workroom at

Anthony Vasek // PEPPERBOX

on campus. on drugs. an epidemic?

the end of eighth grade,” a junior named Kyle** said. “It was just a messy set-up in our attic with tiedye tapestries and stuff over the windows. There was so much weed in there that she couldn’t have possibly noticed.”

This was the beginning of a long-term struggle, which Kyle is still dealing with. “I’ve been smoking daily since then. That’s over three years of getting high everyday,” he said. He was placed in rehab for a two month duration last summer over marijuana and alcohol-related offenses. Upon returning, he fell immediately back into the habit. “I’m not very happy with myself, but I don’t see another choice right now.”

In other circumstances, choosing not to limit teenagers’ access to drugs is more like a deliberate parenting method. It’s an attempt to try and teach responsibility, moderation, and to try and dissuade future abuse.

According to a study funded

by Phoenix House, a non-profit substance abuse education program, “19 percent of respondents

were introduced to drugs by relatives.” It’s also important to note that, “Of those who used drugs with their parents, 76 percent used marijuana, 19 percent used crack, 16 percent used cocaine and 6 percent used heroin.” (Alcohol use was not included in the survey.)

A sophomore named Greg* just began smoking last November. “[My mom] works in a dispensary so she gets me and my friends a sh*t ton of stuff for free,” he said. “Like, if she’s there, I just ask for it. If she’s not, I’ll just take it and let her know later.”

“If she was strict about me smoking weed, I definitely would just find ways to be sneaky about [doing it] anyways,” Greg said, appreciating the open communication between him and his family.

“And that’s so much worse than being straight up.”

I’m forced

to Be here

.

anyways

- nina

This sentiment of honesty and communication is shared

by Matilda, another student in a similar situation. Her father has worked in the cannabis industry since the 2010s, prior to the California legalization. “I think [my dad] just wants to make sure I’m smoking safe stuff. It’s Humboldt, and I’m gonna smoke. So, he prefers to be my source, not the random kids in the bathrooms or at the park,” she said.

It is no small secret that Hum boldt County

By Anthony Vasek

(along with Mendocino and Trinity, forming what is sometimes referred to as the “Emerald Triangle”) was the epicenter of small farmer cannabis cultivation in the U.S. for many years.

“My parents moved to Humboldt to smoke a bunch. I’m, like, almost the exact age [they were] right now. I think they just don’t want me getting into the same situations they were in, talking to the Plaza people and stuff.”

Of course, drug use on campus isn’t limited only to marijuana.

According to the results of the Annual National Youth Tobacco Survey, 1 in 10 high school students had used some form of vape in the past month. In addition to that, approximately 1 out of every 10 alcoholic drinks consumed in the U.S. are from underage drinkers according to American Addiction Centers.

One senior named Corey* has had alcohol culturally-ingrained in his household since childhood.

“My dad was a bartender,” he said.

He recalled spending days after school preparing and taste-testing fancy drinks with his dad. “I knew a lot about mixology from a young age. I got really into learning about the different types and combinations and stuff.”

According to the 2022 california healthy kids survey, 38% of students self report having been drunk or high on-campus at least once.

This figure does not include nicotine use.

For students living in sober households, access through peers is another available route. As explained by a freshman, “There’s really only one place where you get to see your friends everyday: school. So, where else are we gonna buy stuff?”

And that seems to be one of the main reasons drugs end up making their way into school.

Over one thousand kids enter the boundaries of our campus every single morning. At least some of them are bound to bring substances along with them.

“It’s super easy to make friends with the stoners. They’re so nice,” another freshman named Nina said. She struggled with making friends and finding a “group” where she belonged for most of her middle school experience. “In a scary new environment like high school, you’re gonna wanna talk to the nicest kids. At Arcata, it’s the party people who are always complimenting me and waving me down in the halls.”

Students described feeling “comfortable,” “relaxed,” and “accepted,” in environments where they and their peers are intoxicated.

“All of those people are so nice and sweet. I felt like my social anxiety just disappeared when I started smoking with them. And it was just so much better,” Greg said.

“They just shared their weed and we would chill.”

According to the University of Washington, this is nothing new: “Many people report using marijuana to cope with anxiety, especially those with social anxiety disorders. THC appears to decrease anxiety at lower doses, but increase anxiety at higher doses.”

Meanwhile, “CBD, [the other most active compound in marijuana] appears to decrease anxiety at all doses that have been tested.”

Although many interviewees did not agree with the concept of “peer pressure,” they were quick to attest to the “niceness” of the party crowd as being a large part of why they began using more regularly.

This student perspective makes the

solution to teenage drug use seem a lot less centered around physical blockages–such as vape detectors and security measures–and more towards anti-bullying and community-building exercises. In the end, people want friends.

I contacted Principal Perry for comment, although he did not respond prior to the deadline of this article.

It really feels like

i’m the

big who man got the

big prize.

- Victor

“It’s really important to know you can still have fun when you’re sober,” said Roger*, a sophomore who has never used any kind of recreational drug.

It seems that through “teenage invincibility,” a lot of students can forget that what they are doing is, in fact, a crime.

One increasingly popular route to obtaining alcohol is a “bottle run” in which a student will walk casually into a store and slip an alcoholic beverage into their pocket without paying.

Victor has done over five bottle runs in the past few months. “[We do it] out of necessity. When we need a bottle, we all come together and think. We usually go through the other things we can do first, too. I mean, we don’t really want to steal things or anything…

But I guess it can be pretty rewarding at the same time. Because it’s like, the very worst thing you can steal from a store.”

On the other hand, Bailey is a “retired bottle runner.” She said, “It’s just because people want alcohol and can’t wait until they can legally buy it,” she shared the same motivation. “That’s pretty much it.

It was h*lla dumb and not worth [possibly getting charged] just to do that sh*t.”

It’s also important to remember that long term drug use can

have less than pleasant affects on the body. Apart from the really scary stuff (such as those popcorn lungs and cancers on the aforementioned anti-vape posters), the body is simply not made to be constantly under the influence.

Frequent marijuana abuse can lead to fatigue and forgetfulness. As per Harvard University, “Marijuana’s main psychoactive chemical, THC, causes its effect by attaching to receptors in brain regions that are vital for memory formation, including the hippocampus, amygdala, and cerebral cortex.”

“I definitely think it’s had a poor effect on my memory,” said Nina. “I lost my wallet one week and then proceeded to immediately lose my phone the next week. I was high both times. My parents wanted to kill me.”

At the same time, alcohol abuse is closely connected to increased irritability and anger as well as sadness. According to the Health and Safety Executive, which is the UK’s government health agency, “People who drink heavily are more likely to suffer from depression, and alcohol dependence is roughly three times more likely among people with depression.”

Although Roger has never used any form of recreational drug, he has many friends who have as far back as middle school.

“I don’t think anyone is trying to deny that, necessarily. I think teenagers just don’t care. We have that sense of invincibility. I actually do think the best thing you can do is try to catch them and punish them.”

On the other hand, some believe that it is impossible to prevent it. “When [our school] implements rules, people are always just going to find a way around those rules,”

it’s pretty bad. all of it is - Roger

bad.

said Greg. Ever since the installment of the vape detectors, it might be apparent that the hallways smell strangely fruity and minty at random points in the day. “With the detectors, I’ve seen that people are just vaping in class and the halls now, which is so much worse than just vaping in the bathroom.”

Nina attested to drug use increasing within the physical classroom: “I saw a kid pull out a joint in the middle of [class] last week.”

“At least it used to be contained in the bathrooms,” Roger said. “Like, I see dab pens way more in the halls now.”

All of the required drug education available at Arcata High is offered through health, a mandatory semester-long course taken freshmen year. After that, drugs are no longer mentioned.

When students are caught using drugs, the punishment depends on the severity of the offence. Students can have their belongings searched and their substances revoked. After their parents (and sometimes law enforcement) are called, the student is likely to be put on in-school suspension.

Depending on previous offences, students can be offered a referal to a ‘“diversion program” to recieve extra support outside of school ”My friends used to tell me when they’d get caught, and I’d just laugh at them,” said Roger. “Like, of course you’ll get caught if you’re at school, dumb*ss.”

Footnotes * For the sake of this article, the word “drug” refers to substances that are illegal for underage consumption, such as marijuana and nicotine, as well as alcohol. ** All student names in this article have been replaced with aliases for privacy.

The Pepperbox | Page 16

Sports

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Serve em up, slam em down Jaimeanne O’Donnell

H

Reporter

ey, wanna go to a volleyball game? Which one, boys or girls?

This year Michelle Conley and Ella Day are the coaches of the boys volleyball club team at Arcata High, along with Laurie Renteria as the advisor.

The boys volleyball club team this year consists of freshmen Arthur Yang, Gianni Orlandi, Tyler Bishop, Austin Cooley, Griffin Roden, junior Aiden McLaughlin, and sophomore Camden Narwold.

“I would love to see other schools try to compete with what we have and I’d love to see people just slamming the ball down. I think that’s really fun to see and I get really hyped about it,” Yang said.

Last year some seniors got a volleyball club team started and even got a coach from HSU. There had been a lot of interest over the years from other boys before, but last year was the first time that some-

one decided to step up and actually do it.

“Eureka has a volleyball club too, so if there is one more school that makes a volleyball club then boys volleyball could be considered for becoming a HDN sport,” Renteria said.

However, doing so may create an imbalance between equality between boys and girls participation opportunities. One way schools can demonstrate equal participation opportunities is to think about participation in the context of population.

If half of a school’s students are girls, then girls would also make up about half of the sports participants. Conley explained that if boys volleyball becomes an actual high school HDN sport, that it would be great and that the more sports opportunities they can give to students, regardless of gender, would be a win in her book.

“I like the sport. I didn’t really think too much of it before, but

then I kinda did it and now I wanna do it again and again,” Orlandi said.

Many of the players on the team are starting from scratch since this is their first time playing. Yang said that his brother first introduced volleyball to him when he was in elementary school and has loved the sport since.

“The boys are doing really well.

They have improved a lot in a short

of them. Almost every meet has a rolling start, meaning once the first race starts they will follow it up with the second one and the third until the end. This seems like it would help with the issue of the meets going on for as long as they do but in reality this can cause a lot of issues.

Most of the time the issues happen at the starting line, such as the starting gun not going off, or someone falling in the first 100 meters.

Things like these make events go on for longer than they’re planned to. Shea Lyons, a sophomore long distance runner, thinks that we could change the lengths of the meets.

“They could definitely be short-

er if they separated distance and sprint events and we only come for our events or if they had fewer 100s,” Lyons said.

Ai-lan McGoldrick, a senior, a sprinter, and one of the team captains, thinks that they are long but unchangeable.

“I feel like the meets are long but there’s really no other way to prevent that other than starting earlier,” McGoldrick said.

The events that take up this time are usually the 100 meter dash, the two mile, or the hurdle events. The space between each event depends on where the meet is. Sometimes you will be running races that are back to back but most of the time you will be able to

amount of time,” Conley said.

If you have any free time then feel free to join. The practices are three times a week, 5:30-7 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays and 7-8:30 on Wednesdays. ”We could use a few more players. Anybody that is relatively athletic and interested in learning volleyball we would love to have,” Renteria said.

Madelyn Conley/PEPPERBOX

The boys volleyball club playing their first game this year against Eureka High.

Are track meets too long?

Alauna Thompson

L

Reporter

asting six painful hours, the most recent AHS track meet at McKinleyville High School brings into question, are these meets becoming too long? Though the duration of these meets can vary, most of the time meets last at least three or four hours. Other sports games like basketball and volleyball last around two hours.

So why do track meets last as long as they do, and are there any possible ways of changing the amount of time they last?

Besides the fact of how many events there are there’s really no other reasoning behind the length

get a little rest inbetween.

“I do like that we get a long break in the middle but there is barely any break between the 2 mile and the mile,” Lyons said.

McGoldrick feels like her events are pretty well spaced.

“The 800 and the 400 are a little close but manageable. I usually have just enough time to catch my breath and cooldown or warmup,” McGoldrick said.

Sometimes it’s not too bad to have late meets. “ I didn’t think the last meet was too bad, it got a little cold towards the end but the sunset was really pretty and it was really cool to run under such a clear night sky,” McGoldrick said.

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Sports

The Pepperbox | Page 17

Springing into spring sports Morgan Ford and Sagen Sarchett Co-Sports Editors

Spring sports are underway at AHS, and people are ecstatic about the season to come. There are seven sports that are played in the spring; softball, varsity baseball, junior varsity baseball, boys tennis, boys golf, track and field, and boys volleyball. Spring sports are exciting and competitive despite the difficulties due to the Humboldt County weather. Many teams have had games and events canceled, but we are looking forward to an exciting season for all athletes.

VARSITY SOFTBALL Steve Sarchett, head coach

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “I am looking forward to one more season with my daughter on the field. It’s going to be a very bittersweet season.”

Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

A: “Getting all of these young talented players in the game and finding the right combination of players.”

Q: Will experience or lack of experience affect your team?

A: “We have a very smart group of upperclassmen that can really help bring the young kids along.”

Riley Houston, Freshman Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “Improving and learning from upperclassmen” Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

A: “Trying and learning new things in a sport I have been playing for a long time.”

Q: What are your goals for the year?

A: “We want to get better as a whole.”

Freshman Josie Cunningham making a play at shortstop.

Ray Hamill/Humboldtsports.com

Senior Sagen Sarchett after tagging a runner out at third.

Ray Hamill/humboldtsports.com

Senior Morgan Ford tags a runner out at second base.

Ray Hamill/Humboldtsports.com

Freshman pitcher Riley Houston.

Ray Hamill/Humboldtsports.com

The Pepperbox | Page 18

Sports

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Springing into spring sports Morgan Ford and Sagen Sarchett

Co-Sports Editors

Will Mager, Senior

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “Getting to compete with a new team.”

Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

Troy Ghisetti, head coach A: “Our games against EureQ: What will your biggest chalka.” lenge be?

Q: What are your goals for A: “The league is going to be the year? very competitive, and we are A: “Win league, then NCS going to rely on younger kids playoffs after that.” stepping up.”

VARSITY BASEBALL

Q: Will experience or lack of experience affect your team?

A: “They need to understand that we’re all on the same side and we need to play together.”

Q: What are your goals for the year?

A: “Go out and win an HDN title, and compete at a high level for an NCS bid.”

Chase Coleman, Senior

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “The Charlie Laken tournament.”

Q: Will experience or lack of experience affect your team?

A: “Everyone on the team has grown up playing baseball and even though we’re young, we’re very talented.”

Q: What are your goals for the year?

A: “Win league outright and bring another section title back to A-Town”

Senior Catcher Chase Coleman and Sophomore Pitcher Ben Lukens during a time out Morgan Ford/PEPPERBOX

Senior Will Mager in his first at bat of the game Morgan Ford/PEPPERBOX

BOY’S TENNIS Miles Schmidt, Junior

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “I’m looking forward to section because we made it further than any other HDN team last year and I think we can make it even further this year” Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

A: “Playing through the rain Junior Miles Schmidt during a and not getting enough prac- match tice time.”

Miles Schmidt Q: What are your goals for the year?

A: “Making it as far as we can, playing well and professionally against teams from out of the area.”

Lootah Hall, Sophomore

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “Playing with the team and winning matches” Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

A: “Working on my own game will be challenging and playing against the other schools.” Sophomore Nick Bosch, ArcaQ: What are your goals for ta’s #1 boy’s tennis player. the year?

Miles Schmidt A: “Definitely to win HDN and hopefully do a little better in sections than we did last year.”

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Sports

The Pepperbox | Page 19

Springing into spring sports Morgan Ford and Sagen Sarchett Co-Sports Editors

TRACK AND FIELD Ai-Lan McGoldrick, senior

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “I’m trying to get under a minute in my 400 meter dash, I’m at 1:02 as of last year.”

Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

A: “Not getting in my head, and just going for it.”

Q: What are your goals for the year?

A: “I think it’s always to win.

I’m not sure if it’s going to happen.”

Zoe Macknicki/PEPPERBOX

Sophomore Reece Thompson

Zoe Macknicki/PEPPERBOX

Sophomore Mason Blair

Luke Lemke, freshman

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “Having fun at the meets.”

Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

A: “I just wanna get faster.”

Q: What are your goals for the year?

A: “Win a league championship.”

Zoe Macknicki/PEPPERBOX

Zoe Macknicki/PEPPERBOX

Junior Nathan Whitney Alauna Thompson and Ai-lan McGoldrick after running a race at a Mckinleyville meet.

Junior Andrew Trieu finishing his race

The Pepperbox | Page 20

Sports

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Springing into spring sports Morgan Ford and Sagen Sarchett

Parker Moran, Freshman

Co-Sports Editors

BOY’S GOLF

JV BASEBALL Jace Wallace, Sophomore

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “All of the experiences and having fun.”

Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

A: “Not having enough pitchers, and having kids who don’t really know the game.”

Q: What are your goals for the year?

A: “I want us to be able to compete with every team we play.”

Jeff Mielke, Head Coach Morgan Ford/PEPPERBOX

Sophomore Finn Warner during an at bat against Eureka

Morgan Ford/PEPPERBOX

Charlie Mager, Freshman

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “I’m looking forward to being the best.”

Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

A: “Being Will’s brother. I don’t like him.”

Q: What are your goals for the year?

A: “Continue being the best baseball player at AHS.”

Freshman Tanner Kees

Morgan Ford/PEPPERBOX

Sophomore Anthony Ebert charging on a bunt against Eureka

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “Golf. I really like playing in the mud, so spring golf is a great opportunity to play golf in the mud.”

Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

A: “Scoring low.”

Q: What are your goals for the year?

A: “Win it all. We’re gonna win league, we’re gonna win sections, and we’re gonna win the state tournament.”

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A:”Playing and progressing to hopefully be in the top 6 next year.”

Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

A: “Practicing a lot is going to be my biggest challenge.”

Q: What are your goals for the year?

A: “To win, of course. Win a lot of tournaments. Be consistent.”

Beck Pedersen, Senior

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: “Moving forward with my game and being a part of us winning the league.”

Q: What will your biggest challenge be?

A: “The mental half and being in the right mind state.”

Q: Will experience or lack of experience affect your team?

A: “I think our tournament crew this year has the experience to take the win especially with our guy Mason Alway.”

Beck Pedersen

Junior Mason Alway warming up before a tournament at Redwood Empire Golf Course

Morgan Ford/PEPPERBOX

Sophomore Zayne Morris-Slattery putting before a tournament at Redwood Empire Golf Course

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Opinion

The Pepperbox | Page 21

How to be a male manipulator Seneca Turechek Co-Feature Editor

H

ave you ever met an insufferable man? Or as defined on Urban Dictionary “a white guy that listens to The Smiths?”

You probably have interacted with a male manipulator at some point in your life, and hopefully are lucky enough to have lived to tell the tale.

These men are worse than most men, which is already hard enough to do, and their sole goal in life is to be the worst people alive but be cool doing it (they usually fail at that part).

Fashion You can often see male manipulators strutting the halls in baggy pants, baggy tee shirts, converse, vans, or other sneakers that look like they are 20 years old and have been to hell and back.

Anything that makes t h e m look like 90s skaters without having any real talent.

B o n u s points if the shirt has a band on it that is totally mainstream but music elitists think it’s not like Nirvana.

These silhouettes are presented in two different vibes.

They either take the form of a want to be emo and wear mall goth inspired clothing like 501s that are three sizes too big and shirts with gothic crosses and skulls and they layer shirts.

On the opposite end of this spectrum but still a male manipulator, they wear pastel corduroys and light wash jeans, and indie band shirts with a windbreaker and some

white Air Forces.

M a nipulators love to accessorize. The best way to spot a male manipulator is to see who walks around wearing obnoxiously large headphones.

They’ll often carry around a canvas tote bag that they probably purchased for $50 at an overpriced flea market when they could have bought it for 50 cents at a thrift store.

What they’re carrying, we may never know, but expect they’ll have a Tarintino movie dvd, a book they never read, or a Deftones cd. They’ll have at least one on them at all times.

Music Male manipulators love The Smiths. My theory is that this stems from the quirky, manic pixie dream g i r l energ y that they seek out in their potential partners.

All a male manipulator wants in life is a Summer to their Tom 500 Days of Summer).

Radiohead is a must. They relate to the song Creep on an uncomfortable level, but will never admit the sad truth that the Glee version is infinitely better than the original.

They think listening to Deftones makes them cool, mysterious, and alternative but they’re really listening to music that actually cool and alternative people made fun of. Little do they know people hated on numetal 20 years ago.

Alex G is one of their absolute favorite artists because it’s the closest they can come to being deep and philosophical without actually showing care for anyone of the female gender, especially not their potential partners.

And lastly, Weezer and Neutral Milk Hotel speaks to their souls because they have no game.

Activity Aside from attempting to manipulate all of the women in their lives, male manipulators often spend their time chain smoking Marlboro Reds alone

in their rooms, or stalking the halls to find a poor soul wearing a band tshirt and asking them to name five songs.

Of course they will shame you for being too mainstream regaurdless if you can name them.

They usually target women too because if there is one thing male manipulators do best it’s being incredibly misogynistic but disguising it as feminism.

Male manipulators can also be spotted carrying around a guitar and hoping a single individual will ask them to play a song. Don’t do this. Once they start they’ll never stop.

They also enjoy the movie Fight Club or any film directed by Alfred Hitchcock or Quentin Tarintino, but they’re all time favorite film is likely American Psycho.

They often seem to miss the part about this film is that it is satire since the book was written by a gay man, Bret Easton Ellis, and directed by a woman, Mary Harron, and instead choose to adopt Patrick Bateman’s view of women.

Just wait until they find out Christian Bale is a feminist.

If you’re still confused on how to be a male manipulator just go on social media, it’s not hard, I promise.

The Pepperbox | Page 22

Opinion

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

How to not starve as you become an adult Ossian Briar-Bonpane Co-Photo Editor

B

etween turning eighteen and starting to really consider what my life is going to look like after I graduate in less than three months, I realized that I am going to have to feed myself as a young adult.

I don’t want to end up at a place in my college and post-college life where I don’t eat well just because I never taught myself to cook or because I want to avoid spending money.

I also think that being able to feed other people you love is a very special thing that I would love to be able to do.

I’ve decided to document and share a few of the very simple foods I made in hopes to give someone else some new food ideas or motivation!\

Dish #1:

I decided to make chicken fettuccine alfredo for my family. I started my journey off by going to the Arcata Co-op. We already had some ingredients at home, but I still ended up spending twenty-four dollars on the extra things I needed, which sounds like a lot, but remember that I made about four or five servings out of this for my family.

I had never had fettuccine alfredo before, so I was following my recipe very closely since I had nothing to compare the taste to.

Prepping the chicken and chopping veggies was easy, until it came time to saute the garlic and shallots. Unfortunately, I burnt both of them. Even more unfortunately, it was the only shallot we had.

But I did some problem solving and cut up more garlic and subbed the shallot for onion.

After I finished the sauce, I waited for the noodles to finish cook-

ing -and let me warn you- add oil to your pasta immediately after you strain it, especially if it’s gluten free like mine was.

I accidentally waited too long and had to spend some time separating noodle chunks. But I did my best to make it presentable and flavorful, hiding all my little mistakes.

In general, cooking went pretty smoothly with this dish. I received good feedback from my family, who all wanted seconds. By my own standards, I’d say it tasted pretty good too, and I’d give the experience an eight out of ten.

I cooked up some sausage and an egg, toasted my bagel and melted cheese, added avocado, hot sauce, and bagel seasoning. I think adding onion or spinach would have taken it to the next level if I had had any, though.

Considering I only used ingredients I already had, and comparing it to the thirteen dollars it would have cost me at Los Bagels, I loved it. I also made myself a huge mat-

cha, which I would also recommend instead of spending seven dollars every morning just to get mostly ice from Starbucks.

This reminded me how much I love bagels and I would rate this experience a 10/10.

Even making simple snacks that don’t require much cook time feels fun and rewarding. I recommend starting simple and making your own favorite foods from scratch.

Dish #2:

I wanted to be sure to explore some super easy, non-packaged or processed snack options. So when I went home for lunch one day, I did exactly that.

This one may be less popular, but I personally love it. I don’t have a name for this “dish”, but it consists of a date cut in half, topped with peanut butter and dipped in granola.

If that description doesn’t entice you, try also dipping it in chocolate and putting it in the freezer for a few hours. I swear it almost tastes like a peanut butter cup.

Peanut butter is not for everyone, but as someone who loves it, I’d give this snack experience a 9.5 out of ten, considering it takes about 45 seconds to make and has some good protein.

Dish # 3:

Next, I took on breakfast. I am usually in a rush in the morning and end up eating a piece of toast or a granola bar on my way to school.

But I chose to make some extra time to put together a little breakfast bagel. It actually took longer than I expected, but it was so worth it.

Ossian Briar-Bonpane/PEPPERBOX

The third dish, a breakfast bagel with melted cheese, avocado, sausage, egg, and hotsauce. This is accompanied by a large matcha drink, making for the perfect breakfast.

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

The Pepperbox | Page 23

Opinion

To pee or not to pee Finn Clark

Co-Feature Editor

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ow we’ve all been wondering the same thing this time of year. Where is the best place to dump your fluids on campus?

First up are the Six Rivers bathrooms. These bathrooms are decent mostly because of the fact phone addicted students can’t use it. Having to give your phone up while in the bathroom is a deal breaker for many. If you can’t pee without snapping your friends, you’ll have to find a different toilet.

These bathrooms are a little scary, sort of like a little bathroom cage but they could probably survive a nuclear war. It smelled sweet with the underlying smell of fecal matter. 7/10.

Finn Clark/PEPPERBOX

Some Weezer fanart in the upstairs girls bathroom.

Up next, the best bathroom at the whole school as everyone knows, the FAB bathroom. Glorious. That’s all I have to say. 7/10 because you can only use it if you’re in Drama or a Music class. If you can’t act or play an instrument you’re consigned to the normy toilets.

Finn Clark/PEPPERBOX

The boys bathroom under the stairs.

ti, good lighting. Though I will admit it is usually horrendous when I went in it was ok so 9/10.

Finn Clark/PEPPERBOX Next we have the boys bathroom Some adorable doodles in the by the attendance office. Creepy, small, smelled sweet but not in a gym bathrooms. vape way which was concerning. fields here. Smelt fine, they were Not how a bathroom should smell fairly upkept probably because and way too small for multiple parents have to use themduring people to try to use it at once. 5/10. sporting events. They’re too good Then we have the girls’ bathfor the filth we live in. The doodles room by the tennis court . This were really cute. 8/10. bathroom genuinely frightens me.

The boys bathroom at the front Dark, only two stalls, unsettling atof the school may have won today mosphere. No one I know uses this but hey, maybe tomorrow there bathroom. I can only assume it’s will be another pumpkin in there. haunted. Smelled like vape. 4/10.

These reviews are ever changing Last but not least we have the so make sure your favorite bathgym bathrooms. The boys and girls room stays clean and maybe it’ll bathrooms were on fairly level win next time.

Finn Clark/PEPPERBOX

An inspirational message in the bathroom near room 101.

Finn Clark/PEPPERBOX

The Six Rivers bathroom.

Ok next, the upstairs girl’s bathroom. Must have been a good day because when I went in it didn’t smell like vape. It was actually clean except for the graffiti. Love the Weezer fanart and the morbid words about being shot in school.

It may not win best bathroom, but with the vibe it gives off I would give it the best bath-room to get a piercing. I touched the stall door and it was sticky. 6/10.

Back to the regular bathrooms: we have the girls bathroom across from room 101, the one with the butterfly painting. This bathroom is probably the cleanest girls bathroom. There was hair and mud all over the floor though the pads plastered on the window spelling “Love” were very motivational.

6/10.

Ok, then we have the boys bathroom at the front of the school.

This was an actually decent bathroom, smelled fine, minimal graffi-

Finn Clark/PEPPERBOX

One of many examples of student graffiti present in AHS school bathrooms. Graffiti is a serious problem on campus leading to Interact Club’s bathroom murals, designed to disencourage vandalism.

The Pepperbox | Page 24

Opinion

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Does the English curriculum need change?

Dylan Berman Co-Editor in Chief

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oys left on a deserted island by a plane crash, books burned by law, a gang of young outlaws, and ranch hands running from their past.

By the time AHS students head off to college, chances are they’ve had to read more than one classic English core novel.

You know which ones I mean.

I’m talking about books like “Lord of the Flies,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Great Gatsby,” “The Outsiders,” and “Of Mice and Men.” As times change however, English teachers and students must ask themselves whether or not books like these should continue to be at the center of learning in English classrooms.

English 3 CP and English Language Development teacher, Emanuela Giangregorio weighed

in on the discussion around English curriculum novels.

“We haven’t done a lot of canonical texts. That’s different from when I went to school. We would plow through a bunch of books in an English class. Whereas in this class, we’re reading a lot more shorter texts and non-canonical books,” she said.

Giangregorio explained that, at AHS, teachers have some amount of choice over what books their classes read.

“I wring my hands about this a lot. I love some of the classics, and I understand that English class is not supposed to be like a book club where the teacher gets to show all the books that they love, but it does break my heart a little bit sometimes,” she said, explaining that with the learning goals of Junior year English education, focusing on a lot of older classic novels just doesn’t fit.

She understands the desire to change the curriculum to represent inclusive values.

“On the other side I’ll tell you this: they’re all dead white dudes,” she said. “It’s our responsibility I think, to keep our ear to the ground and read new voices and introduce those new voices as it becomes appropriate. That means some of the old white dudes won’t get read anymore,” Giangregorio said.

Some students feel that certain books often used to teach about racial issues fall into harmful tropes.

“To Kill a Mockingbird is kind of just like a white savior story,” said junior Isabella Regan. “It’s basically just like white lawyer man saves black guy and that’s the book. It’s boring.”

Some feel that the book is still a powerful and relevant story of historical racism.

“It gives a good background and look at the time period it was set

in,” freshman John Adams said.

Many of the books we read in school are very much from a long time ago, which leads to critiques like Regans, saying these old novels don’t hold up to modern standards and that we need to bring in more contemporary work.

Senior Elisha Green echoed this critique.

“I would say the books are becoming more representative of the different authors that are out there, but I do think we could still diversify the selection,” Green said.

“It used to be a lot of mainly just old white European authors, and I think that has changed, but it can always be improved. I think it’s important to still read these older novels but just to have in the back of your mind that times were different when they were written.”

January of 2016.

Each of the boys, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomilson, and Harry Styles went on to pursue individual music careers.

Although they each have a networth of millions as soloists, and the quality of their music is far from bad, they were much more enjoyable as a group.

A major example is Harry Styles.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Styles is a great singer and produces listen worthy music, but -let’s be real-he’s overrated and his music is just mediocre.

Good, but mediocre.

Their music as a band was also more fun and relatable, for example their album Midnight Memories, it’s about exactly what it sounds like.

One Direction was, and has proven, to be better as a boy band and they should indeed have not gone solo.

They would still be breaking records today with hits had they not have broken up.

Now for artists that were better off going solo, the famous Queen Bey. Beyonce 100% made the smarter move in going solo. Destiny’s Child was definitely a hit all-girl band who produced off the charts hits, like Say My Name, but as Beyonce has proven she is a one woman show.

Beyonce produces phenomenal and relatable songs in her solo career and has most definitely proven she is better off solo.

Considering her 32 Grammys and 78 Grammy nominations.

In fact, she is ranked at number one living person to win the most grammys in a lifetime.

Beyonce continues to be a majorly loved artist and is still producing relevant music and breaking records today.

She no doubt made the right decision going solo.

As you can see, not all artists are better off solo. While some do become more successful as solo artists, it’s a risk they have to be willing to take.

Should they have gone solo?

Toni Diaz Copy Editor

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any artists over the years have left their bands to pursue their solo careers and strive for individual success.

However, it’s not always for the best, and in some cases the artist, despite becoming successful, should have stayed in their band.

While others did make the better choice to leave and become Queen Bey. For example, One Direction.

A boy band who rose to the top quickly amongst fan girls of 20102016.

One of the group’s loved members, Zayn Malik left in 2015, and soon following a year later the boy band announced their hiatus in

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

Opinion

The Pepperbox | Page 25

What to keep and what to leave behind Madelyn Conley Co-Editor-in-Chief

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s we transition into spring, it’s time to start thinking about things to keep in our lives and things to get rid of.

Spring cleaning can be applied to all aspects of our lives.

It’s important to go through our things and find out what’s still serving us and what has lost its purpose.

Spring represents a transition and a blossoming of new things.

This serves as an opportunity for people to change up what they’ve been doing, stick to the things they like, and try new things.

Students had a lot to say about things we should get rid of.

“I don’t think anything we’ve been doing is that good,” senior Conrad Stemler said.

Sophomore Jenna Renteria also agrees, saying, “We don’t do a lot right.”

A common saying that students agreed we should get rid of is “slay.”

Slay became popular throughout the Queer and Black communities, and recently has become mainstream in society.

However, some argue that it is overused and beginning to be annoying.

“If I hear one more person say ‘slay’ I’m going to kill someone,” Stemler said.

Again, Renteria agreed saying, “As a daily ‘slay’ sayer, I need it to go for my sanity.”

However, senior Dylan Wilkerson doesn’t think we should get rid of saying slay.

“I love slay. I think we should keep our slang. I like how our language is almost incomprehensible,” Wilkerson said.

Trends change all the time.

However, a recent trend that senior Adrianna Uonan thinks we

should stop doing is “getting a new water bottle every single year. Like we went from Hydroflask to Stanley Cups and they’re just expensive. Nobody should go and spend $50 on a water bottle just because everyone else is.”

Some were quick to cancel the things we’ve been doing. Senior Paolo Bosques-Paulet is one with the cancel culture.

“We should abolish people who use Colgate as their toothpaste.

It tastes like an animal pissed in my mouth. Please cancel Colgate,” Bosques-Paulet said.

While there are things students want to get rid of, there are also things that students wanted to keep doing.

Senior Gabby Davidson likes how we aren’t putting a lot of pressure on achieving a ton of tasks throughout the day and instead are allowing ourselves to relax.

“I want to keep going on cute little outings like getting a coffee and not having to do a lot during the day,” Davidson said.

On the topic of taking care of ourselves, substitute teacher Anna Pretlow thinks we should keep communicating within our relationships so we can be aware of other people’s feelings.

“We should check in with somebody before we start venting to them. Like asking what someone is available for right now or if you can vent to them before you start dumping on them. It can be a lot to have all that on you at the end of the day,” Pretlow said.

Students had a lot to say when it came to food. Since food is every high schoolers favorite thing, the types of foods we want to keep eating are important.

“I like oranges. Cuties are pretty fire. We need more of them in society,” Bosques-Paulet said.

Senior Ai-lan McGoldrick shared

Bosques-Paulet’s passion for the foods we should keep eating.

“It should become socially acceptable that eating just bread is okay,” McGoldrick said.

As we are doing our spring cleaning, it’s important to be kind to ourselves and be genuine to who we are.

“We should keep doing what

you want to do. There are clothes that are supposed to be popular but you should wear what you want to wear. Do what fits you because if you do something that doesn’t fit you then it looks like you’re out of place or trying to be like everyone else. It doesn’t work like that,” senior Daryl Lyon said.

Madelyn Conley/PEPPERBOX

Paolo Bosques-Paulet and Adrianna Uonan expressing their opinions.

The Pepperbox | Page 26

Opinion

Slayin’ on stage Zoe Macknicki

Managing Editor fter months of practice, Footloose premiered on Thursday, March 23 at the Arcata High School’s Fine Arts Building (FAB).

The play was very energetic and gave a great take on a classic 80s movie. The costumes really matched the era and were very cute.

The singing and dancing was very charismatic and really took up the stage.

Carolyn Van-Mantgem playing Ariel, (the leading lady) strutted the stage in her iconic bright red cowgirl boots.

She played the role of the rebellious pastor’s daughter well

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and put on a great show.

Bodie Jennings playing the lead Ren, looked hecka 80s with his sleek red leather jacket and his great hair. His performance, effort, and charisma can’t be put into words.

Owen Peterson was a fantastic choice for Willard in the production of Footloose. You couldn’t have picked someone better. He ate up that cowboy hat and was a great comedic relief character.

Other actors like Kyra Alway playing Wendy Jo, Bean John playing Urleen, and Raven Alvarez playing Rusty all put on fantastic shows. Alway, John and Alvarez played as the leads group of best friends.

Ariel’s parents, Vi and Shaw,

Zoe Macknicki/PEPPERBOX

The Footloose cast in their closing scene all dancing at a school dance

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

photo courtesy of Kyra Alway

Some of the Footloose cast posing for a photo after their final show.

played by Taylor Nada and Riley Ellyson acted with intent, emotion, and passion.

Since in Footloose, the music aspect plays a huge role, the band did a great job sticking to the theme and making the play that much better.

The band members included Julian Wan on keyboard and percussion, Jack Dixon on drums, Rowan Magnuson on guitar, Emma Kaber on reeds, Ava Jones on bass, and Johnathan Webster on piano.

The band portion of Footloose came upon some problems

where their pianist John Webster came down with COVID-19.

This was a bit of a setback but together everyone problem solved and worked together to put on a great show.

Everyone in the play put on quite a show. It is something that everyone should be proud of. The show has me at a loss for words.

Everyones acting, emotion, and musical abilities made for a great production of Footloose.

Congratulations and awesome job to everyone involved in the production.

Zoe Macknicki/PEPPERBOX

The cast of Footloose taking their final bow before they exit the stage.

Thursday, April 6th, 2023

The Pepperbox | Page 27

Opinion

The Saltbox Why blue is the best color Things we’re salty about

Urijah Horne Reporter

W

ith how dark and cloudy the sky is this spring, it is important to remember the usual color of the sky and the best color of the rainbow, blue.

It has great symbolism. It has tons of impeccable shades, and there are lots of great blue things out there.

Blue means many things. It means wisdom, serenity, and stability. It is a calming color that can symbolize reality and even the different shades have their own sep-

arate meanings.

Light blue can be friendly or refreshing, and dark blue can be strong or reliable. Speaking of shades, blue has some of the best.

There are lighter shades like sky blue, turquoise, and arctic blue.

There are also darker shades like royal blue, admiral blue, and navy blue.

If you don’t want light or dark there is also plenty of in between shades like lapis, cobalt, and cornflower blue.

Blue is also the color of a bunch of great objects and things in nature. Blueberries, birds, the ocean, the sky, fish, eyes, dart frogs, insects, reptiles, sharks, sapphire,

lapis, butterflies, whales, flowers, planets, and plenty of other things.

Countless other students also believe blue is superior.

“It’s aesthetically pleasing and has great shades,” freshman Austin Cooley said.

“Basically, blue is the best color because it is the color of the infinite sky and the vast ocean, both places that humanity has yet to fully explore, therefore blue represents the closest we can get to true infinity in just a color. Also, it looks better than the other ones,” junior Asa Heidebrecht said. ”It’s cool that blue is so rare in biology - like there are hardly any blue plants or animals - but it’s also

everywhere in nature in terms of the sky and the ocean. And sky blue or cyan is definitely my favorite shade,” junior Sierra Paliaga said. “Turquoise is cool too but I don’t know if it counts as blue. I think Navy blue is gross,” she said.

And finally, why I think blue is the best color.

Blue is a deep color that, sure, can mean sadness, but it also can mean happiness, serenity, and family. It makes me think of simpler times from my childhood and good times now.

But all in all, blue means a lot, has a ton of shades, and is all over the place so what reason is there to like a different color more?

of pocket, but knowing what goes on behind the scenes turns me off to these kinds of productions. The exploitation of people in the reality T.V. industry aggravates me. Companies like TLC profit from the humiliation and exploitation of their contestants.

However, these people sign up for the experience, but it is taken way out of hand.

Producers on these shows have very questionable moral compasses, and the industry’s ethical aspects are all over the place.

Producers will befriend the cast and manipulate them in obscene ways to try and get as much exciting drama out of them all to profit their company.

They feed racial and gender stereotypes and applaud arrogant behavior, painting people as heroes or villains.

Don’t even get me started on sex-

ual assault in the industry. Shows like The Bachelor, Big Brother, and many more have been proven to be unsafe not spaces for women.

Producers will encourage heavy drinking; if unwanted vulgar behavior starts, it is usually enabled and applauded.

When contestants do try and do something about the abuse and assault that takes place, it is swept under the rug and forgotten about.

Though reality T.V. is harmful and unethical, it will not stop anytime soon, but how it is produced needs to be changed.

The industry of reality T.V. Sadie Cronin

R

Reporter

eality T.V. has been around for ages. The first reality T.V. show, Candid Camera, came out in 1948. Since then, there have been hundreds of new reality T.V. shows in years after.

But, is it real? It’s been known that most reality TV shows are not 100% authentic like Jersey Shore, Ghost Hunters, The Hills, and many more. 61% of these reality TV shows have been proven to be scripted.

So why do people still watch them? Of course, reality T.V. can be exciting, but if it’s scripted, it’s not reality; it’s just like any other T.V. show. What makes these shows so appealing? Is it the drama?

I will admit Laguna Beach and The Hills have piqued my interest before because the drama is so out