GO JACKETS!!

By: C. Davis

“I am going to miss spending all this time with these people,” sophomore Carson Davis said. “I have really enjoyed playing with this group of people this year. Last year as I was injured I really didn't get to witness the atmosphere on the court with the girls. As time goes on we get closer and closer, because we basically spend every second with each other. And since we have a coach that knows us and how we play, that makes the connections even better.” [cont.]

As last year didn’t go as planned for our boys, this year is something special to them.

“As the season goes on, we improve more and more each game and practice,” basketball manager Lawson Swank said. [cont.]

“To take this win against Tatum, it all starts with being physical and playing at our own pace,” junior Kip Lewis. “Obviously they’re number one in district, but they’ve killed every team besides us. If there’s anyone who can beat them, it’s us, even if they have home court advantage.”

By: Y. Brown

The high school and the middle school are now adopting a new health curriculum, ESTEEM, and currently, it is only for grades 6-9.

“I’m very excited to deliver this curriculum to the freshmen,” English I and ESTEEM instructor Ariella Wolfe said. “It's about time we start putting emphasis on social/ emotional awareness and preparing students for real life issues they will face every day.”

The ESTEEM curriculum is designed to promote student success in many areas of their lives including: making goals, social media, effective communication, laws and setting boundaries.

“I’m glad we are able to bring a program that will promote healthy mental health and that will benefit the students,” biology teacher and ESTEEM instructor Allison Commander said.

Parents will need to “opt in” for their child to participate in the program. All papers were received with report cards. All permission forms are due before Feb.1.

“It seems like a very good program,” freshman Hannah Segers said. “It is designed to help us communicate about our emotions. It will also provide good financial advice and will help us mature while teaching us the importance of good mental health.”

By: J Rich

Walking through the store, all that can be heard is, “Gas prices are too high,” “These people are taking too long,” “I’m tired,” “There are too many people here,” “The line is too long,” “I cannot stand our president,” and “I wish she wouldn’t talk so loud.” [Cont…]

Hearing all of these complaints can make one want to leave and not come back, making them feel not as good as they did when they entered the store. Human beings complain about everything that even slightly messes up their plans. Why complain if there is so much to be happy about? This presents the question: Do human beings complain too much?

Human beings complain too much.

Complaining affects one’s mental health. When people complain too much, it is feeding negative thoughts into their brains, making them not as happy and, oftentimes, depressed or anxious. If people think happy thoughts, they will tend to be happy, and complaining is quite the opposite.

When people complain, it affects the way they view the world. When people complain about things, it makes those things turn negative and stick out more. Viewing things negatively can link to poor mental health. When complaining too much, one will create a habit, and it will lead to a cycle of complaining, in turn, making them view things negatively

When one complains, the people around them are affected too. It will make those negative things stick out to them, causing them to develop a poor mindset and a bad view of the world. Complaining not only affects the person doing it, but it also makes a giant impact on others around them. This could cause others to develop this “complaining” mindset and experience many more negative outcomes.

If one decides to complain, one should also look at the positives in the situation too, in an effort to prevent all of these negative effects.

By: A. Walton

An ARkStorm is a storm that rains for 40 days and blows strong winds that can reach 125 mph. ARkStorms occur once typically every 100 to 200 years in the California area. The last one that occurred was in 1861, causing 4,000 deaths and $3.117 billion dollars in damages using today's money. The population at the time was 380,000, so it's a pretty substantial event. If one were to happen today, it would cost an estimated $725 billion dollars in repairs due to landslides, flooding, and winds. [Cont…]

With a population of 40 million, the loss of life would be heavy to say the least. Experts predict that 1.5 million would need to evacuate the area. This storm is predicted to have a 50-50 chance to come back by the year 2060.

“The SAFRR project’s second scenario, called ARkStorm, addresses massive U.S. West Coast storms analogous to those that devastated California in 1861–62,” the USGS said. “Storms of this magnitude are projected to become more frequent and intense as a result of climate change. The wind, precipitation and flooding, and coastal hazards were translated into physical, environmental, social, and economic damages to provide emergency responders, resource managers, and the public a realistic assessment of what is historically possible.”

Researchers are trying their hardest to prepare for such a disaster and trying to develop a plan for first responders.

“Such storms have happened in California's historic record (1861-62), but 186162 is not a freak event, not the last time the state will experience such a severe storm, and not the worst case,” the USGS said. “The geologic record shows 6 megastorms more severe than 1861-1862 in California in the last 1800 years, and there is no reason to believe similar events won't occur again.”

The geologists are certain that another ARkStorm will come soon, and they are making new models that would better predict the phenomenon.

“We developed two brand new megastorm scenarios as part of “ARkStorm 2.0,” a historical (ARkHist) & warmer future scenario (ARkFuture) aimed at more systematically characterizing the plausible range of megastorm and extreme flood events that might befall California both in the present era and in the future” the USGS said. “We wanted to revamp ARkStorm for two primary reasons. First, the original ARkStorm did not consider climate change, and recent evidence suggested that warming may be substantially altering the characteristics of and risks associated with such an event.”

By: A. Henigan

After 13 years, director James Cameron has finally produced the long awaited sequel to his film “Avatar.” “Avatar: The Way of Water” hit theaters on Dec. 16 and has surpassed “Spiderman: No Way Home,” becoming the sixth highest grossing movie of all time.

The CGI and animation in “Avatar: The Way of Water" is much more detailed than the first.

“In my opinion ‘Avatar: The Way of Water' is better than the first because of how much more detail the writers put into the animation,” sophomore Carson Davis said. “Everything in the movie was beautiful.”

Fans are eager to see what Cameron has in store for “Avatar 3.”

“I am very excited and curious to see what’s in store for ‘Avatar 3,’” junior Sailor Paine said. “I waited so long to watch the second one, and I loved every minute of it.”

The emotion portrayed in the film has left fans speechless.

“I think it's dope,” junior Logan Smith said. “I think it could be like the next star wars because of how passionate the director and cast is in the film. I was blown away by the end.”

TV shows:

You: season 4: part 1 (February 9)

Love is blind: after the alter: season 3 (February 10)

Red rose (February 15)

Outer banks season 3 (February 23)

Movies:

True spirit (February 3)

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile (February 4)

Dear David (February 9)

Squared Love all over again (February 13)

By: C. Creech

The February students of the month are Hailey Carr and Jayden Anderson.

What is the perfect Valentine’s gift?

“A necklAce” -Freshman, Nunu Kennedy

“A teddy bear” -Freshman, Alani Robinson

“Flowers” Freshman, Julie Lowery

Hailey Carr is the daughter of Millie and Jimmy McCracken. Hailey participates in UIL interpretation (poetry and prose). Hailey’s favorite class is “all of Coach Commander’s classes.” In her free time, she likes to read, play video games, and hang out with her friends. After high school, she plans to go to Panola College to become a nurse.

“Movies” -Freshman, Jamarion Johnson

“Quality time together” -Sophomore, Mackinsay Chauncy

Jayden Anderson is the son of Billy and Tisha Anderson. Jayden is active in basketball, football and OAP. Jayden’s favorite class is art. In his free time, he likes to workout. After high school, he plans to be an entrepreneur.

The February teacher of the month at the high school is Ariella Wolfe.

Mrs. Wolfe is a 2013 graduate of Elysian Fields. She received her B.A. in English literature and well as her M.A. in teaching from Louisiana Tech. She currently teaches English I, OAP and coaches the UIL Spelling team. She is married to baseball coach Blake Wolfe. This is her first year teaching at Elysian Fields, after several years teaching in Louisiana.

“Red Lobster” -Sophomore, Kaylie Davis

“Chocolate” - Biology teacher Mrs. Commander

“Crawfish”Mrs. Griffin

By: C. Creech

Warm weather fills the air and clear skies cover the field as the first practice begins for this season.

The Lady Jackets’ first softball scrimmage will be tomorrow at home against Carthage/Tyler Legacy. Practices began on Jan. 13.

“I think this season is going to be great,” senior Carmen Lawless said. “I think we will definitely make it to the playoffs since we have almost an entire returning team.”

Senior Bryanne Beavers has played since she was five years old, so this last season is going to be a little bit harder.

“This season is going to be great!” Beavers said. “We are all working so hard to better ourselves. It is sad to think about this being my last softball season. Time flew by so fast. We have some talented freshmen this year! I'm excited to see what they can do!”

With almost the whole varsity team being seniors, emotions are high.

“It's hard to believe this is the last year for this group of seniors,” head coach Lexi Commander said. “This group of seniors is a large group who have played together growing up through the years. It is fun listening to them talk about the different teams they played on together and hearing them go through memories. I hope they all have a great season, but also, I am sad that it is their last season with us! They have all grown so much since they stepped into athletics in 7th grade, and I am so proud of each and every one of them.”