The Muse Volume 17 Issue 1

bridging the education gap

04

dreyfoos and dorian

09

tik tok takeover

13

watching paint dry

25

a league of their own

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issue one volume 17.1 october 2019

in this issue:

contents

04 bridging the education gap 09 dreyfoos and dorian 13 tiktok takeover 25 watching paint dry 33 a league of their own

pictured on cover: Kathryn Dennison, photo illustration by Adam Goldstick

Letter from the

Editors Dear readers, As students filed into hallways, bells ringing in the new school year, Room 1-102 came alive once again. This quarter, we put our finger on the pulse. We updated our website to bring you more pressing and relevant content, worked on the upcoming release of our new app, and—just because it’s cute— added a period to the end of our masthead!

We hope you enjoy our examination of Tik Tok stereotypes, as well as our exploration of the issues plaguing buses. We are so proud of our incredible staff, and we hope you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed watching it come together!

We love you!

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opinion

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staff editorial:

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bridging the education gap

ttending a high-performing public high school, each of us owes a great debt to the public education system of the United States. But until the late 1800s, K-12 education was no guarantee for most U.S. citizens. Even by 1940, only about half of Americans had a high school diploma.

Now, that number is higher than 80 percent. Few would argue against free access to primary education, and there’s no good reason to argue against the same access to secondary education.

If we are to allow all Americans the opportunity to succeed in this country, free public colleges are a good way to start.

The greatest and most obvious benefit of this proposal would be the immediate reduction of student debt and increased accessibility of education. In the past, teenagers fresh out of high school were often able to afford college tuition with little to no aid or debt. According to The Atlantic, 182 hours spent working a minimum wage job would have been enough to pay for a year’s tuition at most public universities in 1979, something easily accomplished by working a summer job. However, as demand for college education has increased, so has its cost. By the same estimates, students would have to work for 991 hours today to reap the same reward, causing the national student loan debt to skyrocket to $1.5 trillion dollars, which The Washington Post reports is higher than both credit card and auto-loan debt.

The student debt crisis prevents many college graduates from starting families, buying homes, and securing the promise of the American dream. By making colleges more affordable, student loan debt will become more manageable, and a greater number of students will be able to afford and pursue higher education.

In today’s economy, a college degree is essential to get ahead in the workforce and benefit from the American economy.

According to the Pew Research Center, millennials age 25

to 32 with bachelor’s degrees earn an almost $18,000 higher salary than their counterparts with only high school diplomas.

By maintaining an education system that grows increasingly unaffordable for low-income and even middle-class students, we deny many of those students the right to pursue the same successful or high-paying careers as others in their communities.

In making college a viable option for everyone, we would not only enhance the well-being and economic mobility of millions of Americans, but also develop a more educated workforce capable of greater innovation and national profit.

That’s the lesson history teaches us, anyway. Researchers from Harvard University and MIT concluded that the GI Bill signed shortly after World War II, which enabled over 2 million veterans to attend college at no cost, was crucial in the development of such a successful post-war economy. That same economic boon could be achieved today by expanding free public education to the students who need it most. If we want to keep the U.S. economy competitive with nations — like Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany — that already offer extremely affordable public colleges, we must offer them ourselves.

Horace Mann, an American educator and early advocate of public schools, famously referred to education as “the great equalizer.” Regardless of socioeconomic background, few things can build opportunities for young people like a good education.

But until the opportunities of higher education are afforded to every American child through free and accessible public college, we fail in our duty to secure their futures and their freedoms.

When only the advantaged in our society can reap all the rewards of “the great equalizer,” we know there’s still quite a bit of equalizing left to be done. Let’s change that. contributor: Jarom Gordon

12 | 7 in favor of this standpoint

Poll results from the editors on The Muse staff

graphic by Ava Kehde and Kate McNamara

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opinion

the zombie apocalypse cafeteria coffee sales encourage student reliance on caffeine

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he world’s most widely used psychoactive drug runs through the veins of nearly every student. Hallways are littered with coffee lids, metal straws, and Starbucks logos—the aftermath of a plague tearing apart the community.

It seems the campus is willing to mingle with the zombies. Bottles of dark brown sludge lie scattered on the cafeteria shelves, and the school is ready to profit off of the sleep-deprived drudges roaming campus. In fact, in the first week the coffee debuted, the whole shipment sold out, and students continue to wait in suspense for the next. But as they do so, the school continues to trap students in a never-ending cycle of exhaustion, failing to understand the root problem and only adding to the issue.

a brewing virus A study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) found that 73 percent of adolescents consume caffeine every day, with this coffee phenomenon on an upward trend in the past decades.

With the use of other caffeinated drinks—namely soda—declining, the favorability of coffee can be attributed to its more adult-like way of packing in an energy boost for the day or night.

But, the greater consumption of coffee comes with malignant footprints. Teenagers easily become hooked on the drink and develop a tolerance to it: Each time they drink coffee, they need more to feel the same effects that they experienced the first time because the brain adapts to the impacts. This cycle of dependency plagues students. And because they are still developing, teenagers can’t handle the same amount of caffeine that adults can. AAP guidelines recommend that teenagers cap daily caffeine intake at 100 milligrams, but one tall cup of brewed coffee from Starbucks contains 260 percent more than that amount, so even an apparently

moderate portion is considered 73% of harmful. adolescents What’s so bad about a little extra coffee? Caffeine has negative consume side effects, not the least of which are heightened anxiety, caffeine insomnia, and dehydration. on a daily Caffeine usually stays in the system for approximately seven basis hours, meaning that it decreases both the quantity and quality of sleep if consumed too late in the day. It works by blocking adenosine, the neurotransmitter most responsible for sleep at night. This turns into a vicious pattern as students resort to drinking even more coffee when they become more tired waking up.

Caffeine addiction also has distinct effects at school. As a study conducted by Dr. Christina Calamaro of Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions found, coffee often impairs cognitive functioning the next day. Most students in the study consumed caffeine equivalent to one or two cups of coffee. After all, the fog-brained zombies can’t really focus or listen; they simply stare duly at the board as lessons whiz by them. It is extremely counterintuitive for the school to continue selling coffee.

According to research published in the journal Pediatrics, the 33 percent of teenagers who fall asleep during school are 76 percent more likely to have consumed caffeine than those who do not fall asleep.

But coffee addicts say, “Coffee helps me focus and improves my memory—and I feel it!” That may be true, but only because people are hooked on caffeine in the first place. Johns Hopkins researchers discovered that the improvements that a coffee addict feels when they drink caffeine only happen because of the negative effects of caffeine withdrawal, or when they don’t have the drug in their system. This includes a worse mood and lower cognitive performance. Any revitalization that drinkers feel is because coffee brings them to their normal.

The study further concludes that caffeine withdrawal

opinion

symptoms start after — 12 to 24 — hours after consuming, reach maximal potency between one and two days, and can last up to nine days. This withdrawal continuously motivates coffee addicts to continue using caffeine.

Cafeteria coffee feeds into a problem rooted in the culture of the school and profits from it. While it may seem like a way to help students remain more alert, in the long term it damages them physically and ruins their ability to learn by scrambling their brains with anxiety and vitiating the ability to get rest.

the antidote Selling coffee is a purely palliative and short-sighted solution to tiredness. Drinking coffee to wake up is okay sometimes, but it fails to address the actual issue: getting more sleep. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 70 percent of teenagers get at least two fewer hours of sleep each night than recommended.

As I write these words about getting enough sleep, I am very much a hypocrite. It is understandable that high school is stressful at times, but it should not be all-nighters every single night. At that point,

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reconsider your workload and schedule, or just let go and accept the fact that you can’t do everything perfectly.

Dreyfoos needs to step up its game. Implicitly endorsing the use of coffee worsens the quality of life. More structural change is needed, both in culture and classes, to address this ever-growing ailment, preferably before the school is overrun by zombies.

by Miles Wang graphics by Kate McNamara

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opinion

flavored fatality recent deaths prove the potential consequences of vaping

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ou walk out into the hall, searching for a bathroom. As your desperation rises, you enter the first door on the left and a thick fog rises from the stall in the corner. What could it be? Is it a fire in its smallest stage? Is it a fog machine someone forgot to turn off?

Is it even real? The truth is, the fog that clouds both your vision and your mind is vaping.

Vaping has become a popular trend among high school students, so much so that a Change.org petition was created for the president of the United States to “remove toilets from the Juul rooms,” and as of October it already had 2,696 signatures.

The trend of vaping has become so rapid and widespread that sales of Juuls increased by over 600 percent in 2017 alone. This raises the question of why Juuling, and vaping overall, is so popular.

Before we explore the prevalence of vaping products, it’s important that we figure out what a vaping product is and the effects that it can have on the human body. The Center on Addiction describes vaping as “the act of inhaling and exhaling an aerosol, often referred to as vapor, which is produced by an e-cigarette or similar device.” This vapor is often confused for water vapor.

To answer the question as to why Juuls in particular have become so popular, we should break down what’s actually in a Juul Pod. There are five main ingredients, the first three being glycol, propylene glycol, and benzoic acid, which are all additives typically used in preserving food. That’s why the FDA has listed them safe for consumption in small quantities.

However, these ingredients are not the true dangers of vaping.

Flavorings, the most controversial of the ingredients, can be comprised of a multitude of chemicals. A 2015 study from the University of Rochester found that many of the flavorings in vapes cause inflammatory tissue damage and pulmonary toxicity, meaning that when they come into contact with tissues in the body, they generate toxins within the lungs, which can be fatal. However, many consumers defend the product, stating that it is meant to help people quit smoking, which was the intended use of most vaping products. Maybe I just miss the point—maybe mango-flavored diseases are more enjoyable.

However, the most common chemical across all vapes is nicotine, a substance about as addictive as cocaine or heroin, according to Surgeon General Regina Benjamin.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information stated

graphics by Rebecca Boss

that when ingested through external means (e.g. smoking), nicotine can increase blood pressure and heart rate, narrow arteries which deny access of blood to the brain, and harden the arterial walls, which can lead to heart attacks and often death.

These addictive and dangerous ingredients all coalesce into an event that shocked the nation: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded the deaths of 18 teenagers in 15 states as of October and linked them all to vaping. This event shocked the nation so much that the U.S. government has proposed a full-on ban on flavored vaping products as a response. This reaction has made some fearful that the ban may be invasive toward businesses that are honest about the products they sell, and they argue that it should be the buyer’s choice if they wish to ingest substances that are harmful to their health. This, however, is a thinly veiled guise to remove the obvious greed that many vaping companies have, especially when it comes to selling vapes to children. The sale has become easy to proliferate, as the popularity of vapes has increased a tremendous amount, causing the national health crisis we see today.

However, other factors also play into the rise in popularity of vaping. Another study from the NCBI on the rise of drug use in American high schools showed that two of the most common reasons that students use narcotics are “obtaining social rewards” and “conformity,” with other auxiliary reasons listed including “to fit in with a social group I like.”

When you combine a teenager’s desire to fit in with nicotine, you get a national health crisis. At the same time, a corporation is becoming extremely wealthy by selling addictive chemicals to minors. This is the harsh reality of vaping. Companies profit by essentially selling poison to children, and, as a result, their sales skyrocket.

The importance of understanding the popularity of vaping among adolescents is crucial in understanding how any drug becomes popular and in preventing another nationwide health catastrophe like this one.

So when you eventually have to go back to the Juul rooms, just know that the fog coming from the stall is a sure sign that the national vaping epidemic is still in full force.

by Mark Shteyman

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news

dreyfoos and dorian students help relief efforts in the bahamas

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s a Category 5 storm, Hurricane Dorian had immediate, devastating effects on the Bahamas, as well as lasting impacts on its people. In response to this catastrophe, millions have come together to help the victims of the deadly storm— including several students.

“We are taking small donations like sanitary wash, washcloths, and bars of soap [...] and we’re putting it in giant donation boxes,” vocal senior Czhen Beneby said. “We’re going to give them to my aunt, who runs HeadKnowles Hurricane Relief, [an organization in Orlando].”

Some students even traveled to the island nation to show their support, like communications freshman Faith Parkinson, who helped deliver water to the tragedy-stricken nation from Sept. 6–8.

“We were working with NEMA [National Emergency Management Agency],” Parkinson said. “We were in charge of getting them water, [which] we had tons and tons of, because their water piping and systems were broken.”

Communications junior Annika Stevens lived in the Bahamas for 10 years before coming to the United States. Her mom, Kirsten Stevens, founded the organization Bahamas Strong with her brother before Hurricane Dorian’s arrival so that they could help more people. The organization acts as a messenger and network for relief efforts, and it allows relief work to be done more efficiently.

“What we do is we operate as the philanthropic intermediary,” Ms. Stevens said. “But the bigger role that we play is to connect supplies, people, resources, medics, trauma counselors, [and] people that want to help in some way or another. We connect them to the need directly in the Bahamas.”

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Dreyfoos students have even begun to use the school’s resources to contribute to the cause. Theatre junior Vivien Haim is planning an art showcase in November, all proceeds from which will go toward relief efforts.

“When people are going through a hard time, we can help,” Haim said. “We can get a showcase that can possibly earn money, and we can all come together as a community to do something good for people who are less fortunate.”

In several cases, personal ties to the nation have driven students and parents to participate in relief efforts. For others who helped out, it was because they felt a moral obligation to help the people in the country.

“It couldn’t stay in my head that the Bahamas literally has nothing right now and people are struggling, and nobody is really doing anything,” Haim said. “It really is something different when you’re the one making a difference for them, and you’re the one involved in caring and pushing to make [change].”

Students engaged in relief efforts are continuing to make strides, and those responsible for them are still looking for others to get in on the action and help out the victims of the hurricane. “[Our goal was to] get high school students and people who work just to get them to notice that you can gather supplies from around the corner or your garage,” Beneby said. “We want to make it very known that small things do matter, and you can help.”

For more information on how to donate go to bahamasstrong.org

by Sheevam Patel

photos courtesy of Faith Parkinson

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news

quantifying adversity and ‘altering’ history

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the college board’s most recent changes

oughly 120 years since its foundation, the College Board continues to make headlines—for better or for worse. From the SAT to AP classes, the myriad of educational tools and programs regulated by the College Board are almost essential to getting into the nation’s major universities, practically allowing the organization to have a “monopoly on education,” as stated by The Washington Post. Now with recent changes and additions to the curriculum, many have begun to wonder whether College Board should be trusted with the ability to make lifealtering decisions regarding students’ educations.

shaping the ‘landscape’ of standardized testing The college admissions scandal earlier this year—involving 50 people in a $25 million entrance exam cheating scheme—exposed the role that wealth and race can sometimes play in education.

Amid the controversy, the College Board had, for several years, been experimenting with an SAT adversity index, which was designed to indicate the socioeconomic advantages or disadvantages that students may have faced during their time in school. In May 2019, the College Board announced that it would be expanding its SAT adversity score to 150 colleges and was planning to make the score available to all colleges in 2020.

However, critics of the score believed the notion of reducing a student’s entire background to a single number was “an attack on meritocracy,” the Washington Post furthered.

“The SAT adversity score just seem[ed] to be College Board’s way of treating a symptom of a bigger problem,” visual senior Cassidy Zeng said. “I’m glad that they are recognizing that students across America don’t all come from the same background, and that can cause a lot of challenges [for some students].”

After many students, teachers, and parents voiced their concerns, the College Board has implemented Landscape, a revised version of the adversity score, on its website.

“Periods like the pre-civil rights era and things like redlining have had lasting impacts on how people live and where kids go to school,” visual sophomore William Dhana said. “I think [Landscape] would benefit many people I know who have been working against double standards since their birth.”

The Landscape tool analyzes data points from many sources.

The information is available to the public and includes whether the student’s school is in a rural, suburban, or urban location; the size of the school’s senior class; the percentage of a school’s eligibility for free and reduced-price lunches; and participation and performance in college-level courses at the school. Some students believe that this tool is analogous to other comparisons made in schools.

“I think Landscape is a better solution than the SAT adversity score because Landscape gives you context,” Zeng said. “It puts you in context with the rest of your school and where you live, in a way equitable to HPA or class rank.”

modern changes to ap world history Another recent change from the College Board is the reconstruction of the AP World History curriculum. Seventeen years after the course was first offered, the AP World History course was transformed into AP World History: Modern. This new course covers content starting in 1200 C.E., cutting back on about 9,000 years of history that were previously taught.

“The College Board’s decision to change the start date of AP World History: Modern to 1200 C.E. allows students to gain global perspectives and knowledge that come with studying the rich and interconnected histories of African, Asian, Central American, and European civilizations so they can engage more deeply in these topics once they get to college,” said Rachel Jean Baptiste, Associate Professor of History at UC Davis and Co-Chair of the AP World History Development, in a statement published by the College Board website.

The common complaint that seemed to emerge over several years of teacher surveys was that the class taught “too little about too much,” according to the College Board website. The change is an attempt to model the course more closely after a regular college class, which splits the 10,000 years of world history over several courses. Nevertheless, some teachers feel they are unable to judge whether the new course

news format would prove beneficial in the long run.

“I have no way of knowing whether students will be more successful—like, one year doesn’t mean anything to me,” social studies dean Wendy Zietz said. “When [students] take the test and I get the scores, we’ll see [the effect]. It really won’t mean anything until after several years so I can compare [the scores].”

Before moving the start date of the course back to 1200 C.E., College Board designed its new course to start from the year 1450 C.E., cutting out developments in African civilizations, the Americas, and Asia. This proposal caused “intense pushback” from AP World History teachers across the country, according to Ms. Zietz.

“Everybody freaked out, and I was one of them,” Ms. Zietz said, “because [then] it would be really easy to teach World History solely

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from a European, western point of view. And in the scope of 10,000 years, the Europeans are late to the game.”

Even after adding back 250 years to the previous proposal, the College Board faced retaliation, as former students didn’t turn a blind eye to the curriculum change.

“Now that you have to eliminate [thousands of years], you are essentially limited to European dominance,” communications senior Marco Muñoz said. “I really loved AP World [History]. Being someone who was very informed on European and American History, learning about China and India was really impactful for me. Seeing them remove those cultures is really upsetting.”

by Nirmit Chandan and Annabella Saccaro graphics by Allison Robbert and Sophia Roberts

college board’s new course College Board plans to introduce a course called AP World History: Ancient. This course would cover the content that takes place before 1200 C.E. and be offered as an additional AP credit for students if approved.

landscape

According to the College Board, admissions officers lack high school information on about 25 percent of applications. Many admissions offices have stated that the information is helpful for their decision-making process.

canceled adversity score The College Board created the SAT Adversity Score due to concerns about income and racial inequality influencing test results for years. According to the College Board, white students scored an average of 177 points higher than black students and 133 points higher than Hispanic students in 2018 SAT results.

tiktok takeover

a new social media obsession constructs labels among the student body

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or digital media junior Lulu Santaniello, TikTok has become a routine. Every night, she scrolls through the platform for hours. With a following of almost 10,000, her TikToks consist of well-known dances, occurrences at school, and simple skits between her and her friends. Santaniello is one of many students who are part of TikTok’s growing phenomenon, one that has spawned an internet culture permeating students’ daily lives.

TikTok, created by internet company ByteDance in 2017, has been downloaded by over 1 billion users worldwide and has become the most downloaded app in the U.S. as of October 2018, according to The Guardian. The app allows users to post creative videos up to a minute long, which they can caption with hashtags, like #foryoupage, that boost their viewer counts.

In a survey of 971 students conducted by The Muse, 61 percent reported having TikTok downloaded on their phone. Students like theatre sophomore Jet McManus use the app “all the time” and admit to scrolling through videos daily.

“I use TikTok every single night,” Santaniello said. “Time flies when I’m on it. It could be 11 p.m., and then I look at the clock and it’s 1 a.m.”

However, the popularity of TikTok has also proliferated certain stereotypes among students, including labels like e-boys, e-girls, VSCO girls, and ‘soft boys.’ Ninety-five percent of students are familiar with these terms, which have categorized people based on standards spread online. “[TikTok stereotypes] make you reflect on a lot of what you feel and make you question what you do,” McManus said.

These personas have accumulated certain stereotypical aspects, like Hydro Flasks for

graphics by Amanda Cohen

culture

77%

of students feel TikTok stereotypes affect the way people express themselves

E-BOY

a boy who dresses in black clothing with silver chain accessories and dark nail polish

VSCO GIRL

a girl who wears Birkenstocks, carries a Hydro Flask, and embodies other things deemed “basic”

35%

of students have been associated with a TikTok stereotype

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VSCO girls and metal accessories for e-boys, and have been the basis for applying labels to users.

One Minnesota State University student, Alyssa Bunde, conducted her own sort of experiment on campus to publish her experience in the MSU Reporter. Throughout the day, Bunde dressed as a VSCO girl and received unwanted attention, with several people calling her “basic” and asking “where [her] pants were” under her oversized shirt. Bunde pointed out that VSCO girls have become a meme and “yet another category for girls to fit into.” “[Stereotypes] affect [students] very negatively and make them feel insecure about themselves. People will be like ‘Ew, VSCO girl or e-girl,’” McManus said. “A lot of teenage girls get made fun of.”

About one-third of surveyed students have been considered a TikTok stereotype, and 77 percent feel that TikTok stereotypes affect the way people express themselves.

In some cases, people may feel less confident in their styles because of the stigmas surrounding stereotypical aesthetics.

“I’m nervous to carry a Hydro Flask now because I don’t want to get bullied,” Santaniello said. “I’ve had [a] shell necklace for three years, and now I never wear it.”

Other times, students don’t mind being labeled because they “haven’t really [been] affected,” according to dance junior Zachary Putt.

“People started calling me ‘soft boy’ more, so that was cool,” communications junior Jasper Weinberg said. “I don’t care. People can say what they want.”

Theatre freshman Giuliano Possobon feels that there is a “joking nature” behind TikTok and the labels thrown around.

As a result, many users take the classifications as jokes.

“Some of my friends sometimes call me an e-boy,” McManus said, “and it doesn’t really affect me very much. I think of it more as a joke.”

Regardless of a student’s stance on the effect of stereotypical labels, some believe TikTok establishes a sense of unity among a young age group through similar humor and fashion. “[TikTok makes people] more confident,” Putt said.

“They see other people doing the same things, so it’s easier to express yourself.”

Others would beg to differ, believing that TikTok instead creates conformity over a group of people who should essentially be diverse.

“Everyone’s trying to be quirky,” Weinberg said. “People change styles and dress differently based on TikTok stereotypes.”

TikTok has evidently left a mark on society and will continue to do so for as long as the app is popular. Some stereotypes come and go, while others stick around, but it’s important to consider that these labels are simple portrayals of complex people and shouldn’t be the only lens through which we see the world.

by Jade Lichtenstein and Sasha Smith

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culture

guide to mobile editing

by Alana Cavanagh

To help with your photo editing journey, digital media junior Brody DeMoya shares some of his editing life hacks.

tip 1: exposure

With great photos comes great lighting, and if you don’t get it just right while taking pictures, edit!

Exposure is a handy tool that you can use to adjust the amount of light in a photo and is incredibly helpful when it comes to framing a subject. “Make sure you’re always brightening the face instead of darkening it,” DeMoya said.

tip 2: find your filters

On apps like VSCO and PicsArt, there are premade filters that you can apply to your photos. Some of them are black and white, some of them are saturated, and some of them give photos a vintage look.

DeMoya says his favorite is VSCO’s FP filter because it “looks like film stock.” Different filters can create different atmospheres depending on what you want the tone of the photo to be.

photo courtesy of Brody DeMoya

tip 4: mess around!

When you first get an editing app, it’s important to learn what it can do. “Just change all the settings and turn them all the way up or all the way down,” DeMoya said. “And then, once it’s really dramatic, you know what it does.” Feel free to have fun with your photos.

tip 3: white balance

White balance is a tool that adjusts the temperature of a photo. “[White balance] makes your pictures seem warmer or colder,” DeMoya said. “Make your photos look more natural by bringing out the blue or orange undertones. It can neutralize light sources, like yellow street lamps, which can bring out the clarity in your photos.”

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burdened buses

examining students’ journeys to school

by Asher Moss and George Wu

photo illustration by Allison Robbert

are buses reliable?

photos illustrations by Adam Goldstick, Allison Robbert, and Sophia Roberts

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very morning, communications senior Kristina Robinette wakes up at 5:45 a.m. to catch her bus—only to be dropped off at school nearly an hour before the first bell.

On many afternoons, she waits for the C109 overflow bus to arrive to school long after her friends have driven off. Her dependence on the bus fills everyday travels with perpetual uncertainty.

“I completely depend on bus transportation to get here. If something happens, where it’s totally late, there’s nothing I personally can do to make a difference for my life,” Robinette said. “There are so many times I’ve had to text my [boss] and say, ‘Hey, I don’t know if I’m going to make it on time.’ I have a corporate job. It’s not a family business, [so] I could get fired because of the bus system.”

None of the issues Robinette faces are new. While The School District of Palm Beach County has taken actions to address them through both policy and budgeting, many of these problems—from the district’s difficulty with recruiting and percent of retaining bus drivers to the lack of functioning students A/C units on buses—are tied to a common thread: lack of funding allocated toward the surveyed said district’s buses.

their buses are often late

With students from all across Palm Beach County, Dreyfoos bus routes are typically longer than most. In a survey of 971 students conducted by The Muse, 26 percent of bus riders said their rides are over an hour long. As a result, parent and lawyer Lisa Lee is pressuring the school district to follow state guidelines regarding long bus rides.

“Under [state law], ‘no secondary student shall be on a bus for more than one hour during the morning or evening,’” Ms. Lee said. “Unreasonably long bus time, as is [my child’s], which is close to the two hour mark in both the morning and evening, has a significant impact on our student’s sleep and homework time.”

Despite Ms. Lee’s efforts, the Florida Department of Education disagrees with her interpretation of this guideline.

“These time limits are not always attainable,” FLDOE Press Secretary Audrey Walden said. “Therefore, the language ‘so far as practicable’ alleviates these time limits when such limits are not able to be put into practice successfully.”

Lengthy bus rides are not the only factor impacting students’ commute to and from school. In fact, 22 percent of students surveyed said their buses are often late.

“Sometimes it’s pouring rain, and you’re just standing there waiting,” Robinette said. “It’s really frustrating when all your friends are going home … I have places to be and homework to do.”

The unreliability of buses poses extreme issues for students: 20 percent of bus riders claim that their bus drivers have forgotten to pick them up and 14 percent say that their bus drivers have forgotten to drop them off. Missing stops becomes a more frequent issue when students have substitute drivers who are unfamiliar with the many stops on each route.

“They have to ask us for directions because they don’t know where they’re going,” communications freshman Julia Smerling said. “We have about 20 stops, and they missed about 10.”

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percent of bus riders claim that students sit three to a seat Some of these reliability issues also stem from the lack of bus drivers. At the beginning of the 2016 school year, a shortage of 50 drivers caused major delays and forced some drivers to take multiple routes, according to The Palm Beach Post. Still, many drivers love what they do despite the obstacles they face.

“Being a bus driver is a big responsibility because when the kids step in, right here, their safety is in my hands,” R57 bus driver Pierre Abraham said, pointing to the steps leading in to the bus. “I love what I’m doing … I feel like I’m doing something good for my community. I’m helping the kids to get an education. This is what I can do, and I’m doing it with a good heart.”

how are the conditions?

The dependability of buses is not all that students have called into question. Many also feel that their safety is compromised—no matter the length of their ride.

“The bus is just so compact,” theatre junior Vivien Haim said. “There’s always that problem where there are too many people [on the bus], so everyone’s sitting in the aisle. The bus driver [says], ‘You can’t sit in the aisle,’ but there’s nothing to do.

Do you want people to stack on top of each other?”

Despite the 37 percent of students who claimed that passengers of their respective buses have to sit on the floor, SDPBC’s Student Transportation Conduct policy says, “Students shall not be permitted to sit in the aisles or in the bus stepwell, or in any way which shall block aisles or emergency exits.”

“If students aren’t all seated in the bus, it becomes a safety issue if the bus has an accident,” Assistant Principal Leo Barrett said. “Or if the driver has to

hit the brakes to prevent an accident, kids could be thrown around.”

While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration outlines that a typical 39-inch school bus seat can safely accommodate two high school students, 54 percent of bus riders claim that students sit three to a seat on buses, with 25 percent saying that this occurs often or all the time.

“It’s very uncomfortable for kids to sit three to a seat,” theatre sophomore Raunak Manchanda said. “You literally are almost falling off the seat.”

In addition to dealing with tight seating conditions, 52 percent of students surveyed reported feeling uncomfortable due to high temperatures caused by faulty A/C units.

“The bus is supposed to have air conditioning, so they have to do a work order [if it doesn’t],” Mr. Barrett said.

“Usually, it requires them to take the bus out of service. And then, they get an older, beat up bus that doesn’t have air conditioning ... There are only so many mechanics for all the buses in the district, so it becomes a wait-and-see type of process.”

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During the 2014–15 school year, hundreds of buses transported students to and from school without functioning A/C units, according to The Palm Beach Post.

The following year, SDPBC purchased 60 new buses in an effort to combat the lack of A/C. More recently, an increased property tax in Palm Beach County has increased the district’s budget for the fiscal year of 2020 increased to over $3.5 billion, a more than 11 percent increase from the previous year. SDPBC plans to spend nearly $14 million on hundreds of new school buses equipped with WiFi in 2020.

Despite this renewed focus on students, SDPBC has not yet released a specific plan to deal with the issues bus drivers continue to face.

An investigation by The Palm Beach Post found that many bus drivers spend their 3 ½-hour break between morning and afternoon routes in bus compounds’ aging break areas, which, as recently as 2016, lacked adequate restrooms or air conditioning. For this daily struggle, a bus driver’s wages don’t offer much of a respite—just $14.42 an hour, raised from $12.37 an hour in 2016.

“We’re underpaid for the type of vehicle we’re driving and the responsibility we have,” N43 bus driver James Zuccarelli said.

At a recent meeting with bus drivers, the school district discussed the prospect of further pay increases, but the specifics were withheld from those in attendance.

“At the last meeting they promised all the drivers … [that] they’re gonna give them something that’s going to make them happy,” Mr. Abraham said. “But, they didn’t say how much it’ll be.”

is safety a priority?

5 percent of

surveyed bus riders report using seat belts

Because of strict state manufacturing regulations, school buses are widely regarded as one of the safest ways to get to school. But while 73 percent of survey respondents said their bus drivers have not driven recklessly, 22 percent reported their bus drivers do often make “dangerous sharp turns.”

“One time on the bus, I was riding [to school], and it was like riding a dragon,” theatre junior David Geisweller said. “It was crazy. The bumps were so insanely dangerous

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that I was flying off my seat all the time. One girl sprained her wrist on my bus from one of those bad jumps.”

Though bus crashes nationwide are rare, on Sept. 16, 2019 bus R55 was involved in an accident. Digital media freshman Alexis Webb was on the bus when the accident occurred.

“The car rushed over into the lane while the bus was still going, and the side of the car ended up getting hit by the rear view,” Webb said. “We were thrown forward a little bit. It was such a scary experience.”

An audit of 19 preventable Palm Beach County school bus crashes in the 2017–18 school year found that the district took an average of four months to discipline bus drivers involved.

This delayed reaction leaves potentially unsafe drivers behind the wheel.

While the school district holds an obvious responsibility to keep students safe, many safety problems can also be mitigated with seat belts, which only 5 percent of surveyed students report using. Sixty-one percent said they don’t wear seat belts because the seat belts are “disgusting.”

“I really don’t want to touch three pieces of gum on a seat belt just so I can stay safe,” visual sophomore Margot Tricomi said.

“It’s just that disturbing.”

Enforcement of the Florida law requiring students to wear seat belts is somewhere between relaxed and nonexistent. Seventy-four percent of students surveyed said their bus drivers never tell students to wear seat belts.

Only with student, driver, and district cooperation can buses be made safer.

The Palm Beach County School District did not respond to a request to comment on these issues.

surveying a solution With such a complex issue, students disagree on how to form a solution. Some students believe that they and their parents have little power to solve the issues on their buses on their own, and that higher officials should take responsibility in tackling the challenges students face.

“I don’t think we can really do anything,” Haim said. “I think the school district has to come together and actually decide [by] themselves because we’re students. [We don’t] really have a say and even … our parents, to a certain extent, don’t.”

Regardless, many believe change starts with students voicing their concerns over issues on their school buses.

“I think that surveys and stuff like that would be so helpful,” Robinette said. “[We need to] find out what kids are going through, because there could be kids that don’t even think about it. And then there could be kids were they’re sweating to death, or they’re overcrowded, or they’re overwhelmed, or they’re getting home so late [that] they can’t get to work on time.”

photos illustrations by Adam Goldstick, Allison Robbert, and Sophia Roberts

If you would like to voice a complaint about an issue regarding school buses, call SDPBC Director of Transportation Services Shane Searchwell at (561) 242-8322 or email shane.searchwell@palmbeachschools.org

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buses by the numbers 466 school bus riders were surveyed about their experiences

BUS ALT COPY

95%

don’t wear seatbelts

22%

say seatbelts don’t work

61%

say seatbelts are “disgusting”

37%

59%

say students have to sit on the floor due to overcrowding

say that the air conditioning units on their bus are faulty or nonexistent

54%

33%

say students have to sit three to a row due to overcrowding

26%

have bus rides over an hour long

60%

have felt sick because of the lack of air conditioning

have bus rides over 40 minutes long

graphic by Katherine McNamara

more content more visit themuseatdreyfoos.com

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arts photo by Adam Goldstick

watch i ng pai ntd r y their story

T

he band began with a sunset conversation in June of 2019. It began with lead singer and communications junior Zoë Goldenfarb’s Instagram post calling for female musicians. It began with drummer and communications sophomore Kaja Andric’s School of Rock lessons seven years ago. It began with bassist and strings junior Abbey Magnolia’s grandmother’s blessing. It began with a revelation: “Why waste more time limiting myself?” lead guitarist and communications junior Isabella Weiss said.

Against the odds of their hectic school lives, Watching Paint Dry (WPD) persisted because its members believed in something larger: music.

their sound

WPD has released two original songs. The first is “She Lives in Your Neighborhood,” a mellow, lyric-driven song about emotional and physical distance. “Rock Bottom” is their second, empathizing with those who have struggled with mental health. On Spotify, they have over 10,000 plays combined.

“You can get lost in the music,” Andric said. “You can craft your own version of what [Goldenfarb is] singing about. Whenever the

songs come on my playlist, I have to sit down for a second and just listen to them. I can’t walk around and listen to the songs at the same time.”

Their music is a fusion of classic and contemporary, Pink Floyd and Wallows, rock and indie and pop—though they aren’t quick to label themselves.

“I don’t want to be committed to one thing,” Weiss said. “I want us to be able to grow and change [...] All of us have different personalities, different influences we would like to have, and different tastes. If we’re all so different, we should be able to have different sounds.”

Initially, their differences across majors and grades were a concern for the band, but the worries have since faded.

“We were going into this completely blindsided, didn’t know if the personalities would fit, if the music playing would fit, how it would turn out,” Andric said, “but it was an instant click. They all walked in through my door, and we were friends immediately.”

For Magnolia, who plays the cello, the band gives her the opportunity to work with music in a more creative and individual way.

“I just do whatever I want, which is so liberating,” Magnolia said.

arts “We all jam. I play what I want, and then I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ We play it, and then we record it.”

WPD’s songwriting process is organic and collaborative: Goldenfarb comes into rehearsal with a chord progression and some lyrics. As she plays, her bandmates join in, tweaking their harmonies and rhythms until it sounds complete. They still manage to inject rehearsals with a healthy dose of teenage fun, though.

“There’s a lot of snacking,” Magnolia said with a grin. “There’s a lot of laughing. We also switch instruments, ... and we all play each other’s parts sometimes. We play around a lot, but we also get the job done.”

their stage In the haze of theatrical fog, illuminated by the ultraviolet, fuchsia, and lime light of the American Rock Bar on Aug. 4, WPD performed live for the first time. “[Performing] onstage has that adrenaline,” Weiss said. “Abbey and I had a moment when we performed at a gig, this surreal feeling of, ‘This is actually happening.’”

As a filmmaker at Dreyfoos, Goldenfarb likened recording a song to filming: It’s a “slow process,” but everything changes onstage.

“When we’re performing live, it’s like one take,” Goldenfarb said. “It’s one shot, and it feels really good to nail it in one shot … The energy is a lot more vibrant at gigs because we have people singing along with our songs.”

WPD performed a two-hour set list at SGA’s Fall Dance on Oct. 17, including covers of songs such as “4EVER” by Clairo, “Kids in America”

26

by Kim Wilde, and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles.

their future More recently, WPD has been developing an album of eight or nine songs, set to be released in December. Listeners should expect an “epic drum solo” as well as “more individual attention to the band members” lyrically, thematically, and compositionally, Goldenfarb said.

“We definitely go out of our comfort zones,” Andric said.

Their first two completed songs (“When the Rain Falls” and “Under the Jacaranda Tree”) began as an 8-minute tribute to Magnolia’s grandmother, referencing When we’re the yellow-petaled trees that meant so much performing to her. “[My grandmother] always said, ‘I want this live, it’s like tree,’” Magnolia said. “We were so young at the one take. time that we didn’t really think about it and [buy] the tree. So, this is me giving her the tree It’s one now.”

WPD plans to continue making music with shot, and it the hope of turning it into a career—touring, feels really performing, and seeing the world.

“If you were to ask me my dream job, this is good to nail it,” Weiss said. “I see us performing on stage at it in one concerts. The reality now gives me inspiration and hope for the future.” shot.

by Emma Garrett

photo by Anna Jones

arts

setlist

27

kids in america sweater weather alright i want to hold your hand cigarette daydreams loving is easy marlboro nights best part 4EVER prom queen ghostbusters should i stay or should i go? she lives in your neighborhood rock bottom

photos by Anna Jones graphics by Amanda Cohen

AD PAGE: SCORE AT THE TOP/YOUNG SINGERS

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arts

creating “crazy for you”

pictured: Jade Huber photo by Sophia Roberts

M

usic blares through the mirrored studio as 20 students lie on the floor, legs pointing to the ceiling.

A sit-up punctuates each beat of a pop music track.

The students continue this cycle until theatre dean Michelle Petrucci stops them. All of the girls stand in front of the mirror with their backs turned to the boys as they belt the lyrics, “No doubt!” in unison. The pace quickens, and each girl rushes to her dance partner at the other end of the room, tap shoes barely touching the floor.

For the cast of this year’s fall musical, this conditioning has become a daily routine in preparation for the production’s intricate tap routines.

The romantic comedy “Crazy For You” opened in Meyer Hall on Oct. 25 and continued through Nov. 3.

“The conditioning allows my ankles to be looser, and I’m able to keep up my stamina,” female lead and theatre senior Dylan Lugosi said.

“I’m more able to sing and tap at the same time because of the cardio in conditioning.”

The story follows Bobby Child and his plan to put on a play at his soon-to-be foreclosed theater so that he can pay the mortgage.

Though the musical opened in 1992 on Broadway, brothers George and Ira Gershwin wrote the music and the lyrics in the 1940s. The show is largely made up of numbers from other Gershwin productions such as “Treasure Girl,” “A Damsel in Distress,” and “Girl Crazy.” The band department has joined the production to deliver the complex rhythms and harmonies of the Gershwins’ compositions.

“It sounds like an old classic musical because the music is from the ‘40s, but the show was written and put together in the ‘90s,” theatre

teacher Andrew Gilbert said. “[The songs] that were in the ‘40s were brought by [Ira and George] Gershwin, so it sounds like a really old show.”

Similarly, the tap component requires extra coordination for students who are learning the fundamentals as they rehearse.

“I feel like [tap is] a dying art, [and] I’m really glad I’m getting the experience right now,” theatre junior Jaime Brustein said. “Especially since [tap] is something I want to pursue, being involved in productions requires work.”

While some agree that the art form is indeed dying—The Washington Post called the Signature Theatre Company’s 2017 revival of the musical “prefab”—stage manager and theatre junior Isabella Betz sees tap not as an “old showbiz style,” but as an agent of change in the plot.

“When it comes to musicals, sometimes people think, ‘Oh, there’s so much excess dancing. How could this bring along the story?’” Betz said.

“But you realize that these tap numbers really do move the story along, even if it’s just seven minutes of tap.”

Theatre dean Michelle Petrucci choreographed the tap numbers along with theatre junior Heather Cruise, who demonstrated the movements to the rest of the cast. “[The students] will actually be able to approach style and intricate sounds together a lot better,” Ms. Petrucci said. “[One of the things] I have said is [to] imagine you’re tapping on ice. You don’t break the ice, because we have a tendency to bang our feet on the floor.”

In addition to tap, the first act includes a number with “sounds and rhythms from everyday stuff,” Ms. Petrucci said. Performers used buckets, hammers, and shovels to create rhythms to dance to.

In addition to the actors, the band students in the pit have been practicing after school to piece everything together during tech week.

Lugosi is already anticipating the combination of the diverse art forms.

“I love the collaboration between the departments in order to make this show really come to life,” Lugosi said. “[It] allows the pieces of the puzzle in the show to come together.”

As far as the musical component, Mr. Gilbert has been preparing music students to play the production’s songs live.

“What sets us apart from other schools is that we use a completely student-based system: The set is built by students, our orchestra is students, [and] our cast is students,” Mr. Gilbert said. “There’s no other school that could pull off a Gershwin show without the calendar musicians that we have here at the school.”

“I’m excited for it all to come together, because that’s what’s so cool about theatre,” Ms. Petrucci said. “I want a supportive full house for opening night.”

by Katie Davis and Veronica Longoria

arts

photo by Sophia Roberts pictured: Grace Trainer photo by Hannah Baldwin

graphics by Katie Davis, Veronica Longoria, and Kate McNamara

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arts

young arts

young arts young arts

youngarts: deconstructed young arts

young arts young arts

The YoungArts Foundation’s national award program has provided students with the chance to receive financial aid, attend master classes, and get advice from numerous experienced artists in their field. Here are some of the students who applied.

by Kaja Andric

NICOLAS OUPOROV Dance senior Nicolas Ouporov applied for both the Dance and Photography disciplines last year. To his surprise, he won an honorable mention for his photography work.

“Photography was just something I’ve done as a hobby,” Ouporov said. “I never had considered myself a photographer.”

The experience changed his view on artistry through a variety of assignments that were critiqued afterward, and that is part of the reason he wants to go back this year.

“You know, I didn’t even consider myself an artist until I went to YoungArts and saw what everyone else was doing,” Ouporov said. “I really felt at home among this community of creatives.”

photos courtesy of Nicolas Ouporov

young arts

young arts young arts

CHARLIE DEGRELING Visual senior Charlie DeGreling won a merit award at the regional level of the YoungArts competition last year.

“The work I made for YoungArts was totally different than anything else I’d made before,” DeGreling said.

Her submission pieces, which she made “into something that people can play with,” were interconnected, according to DeGreling. They included mazes of figures’

limbs, stretching and twisting around vibrantly colored scenes.

At a training event for YoungArts winners, DeGreling was challenged to push the boundaries of visual arts.

“For the first master class I took, we destroyed a baby grand piano with sledge hammers,” DeGreling said. “They told us, ‘go hog wild’—deconstruct as much as we could. Together, we had to build it into something new. [YoungArts] definitely helped me widen my definition of art.”

young arts

young arts young arts

MICHELLE SERAFIMOVICH

photos courtesy of Charlie Degreling

Visual senior Michelle Serafimovich began working on her Visual Arts application during her junior year.

Although she believes that the competition pushes students to look for a central plan within their pieces, much of her regular work “doesn’t always look like it’s supposed to be tied together under one theme.”

“One of my major themes I’m working on is [related to] memory, how the amount of time that you spend getting to know a person affects how they’re perceived in your mind, and what aspects of their personality or their physical appearance you tend to remember,” Serafimovich said.

photo illustrations by Sophia Roberts

33

sports

a league of their own reaching czhen

S

tanding at the net with her hand held high, she jumps and spikes the ball. She only started playing volleyball in sixth grade. Now 6 feet, 3 inches tall, vocal senior Czhen Beneby’s love for an after-school activity evolved into a verbal commitment to play Division I volleyball at the University of Virginia.

“After I went to [visit] the campus over the summer, I fell in love [with UVA] and knew that was where I belonged,” Beneby said. She had seen the facilities while attending UVA’s volleyball program.

Beneby would have never felt at home without the comfort and support from the other girls she met at the summer program.

On and off of the court, she built relationships with them while improving her skills socially and athletically.

“My teammates treat me like their sisters,” Beneby said. “My coaches are amazing at what they do. UVA is an amazing place with a little bit of everything.”

Within the past six years of playing volleyball, Beneby has not only learned about the game, but also about time management.

Over time, balancing the stress of attending a school of the arts with her athletic passion became an easier feat.

“Time is a big deal,” Beneby said. “It’s hard to prioritize school work over extra volleyball practices and private training, let alone juggle my major and juries.”

Beneby has also gained confidence, among other traits, through her experiences on the court. The constant uplifting words of encouragement from her teammates, coaches, and her mom have increased Beneby’s self esteem. “[She is] a great team player: very goal-oriented and community-oriented, and truly focused,” Beneby’s mother Tracey Saunders said.

Beneby’s journey as a volleyball player was also influenced by her Dreyfoos teammates, who have supported her along the way.

Her past four years on the volleyball team have increased her playing time, making her a more focused player.

“It’s really important to have easygoing chemistry while we play,” visual junior Julia Gonello said. “She definitely cares about her team and the score of the game she plays.”

Having grown over the years, Beneby will say goodbye to her childhood volleyball experiences and friendships as she looks forward to the upcoming school year and season as part of UVA’s Class of 2024.

“I’m constantly surrounded by intelligence there, and I’m so excited to attend and play Division I volleyball,” Beneby said.

by Sam Cohen

student athletes bring their talents beyond high school

photos by Adam Goldstick

going for gold

A

mother pushing her child to try out for a sport turned into a passion for the pool. Since the birth of his passion, communications junior Reese Branzell’s goal has been to compete in the Olympic Swimming Trials at 16 years old. This December, Branzell will try once again to make the trials.

At 4 years old, Branzell’s mother began teaching him how to swim. Branzell eventually joined a competitive swim club, spending countless hours in the pool to perfect his skills for the sport and succeed in future competitions. His love for swimming soon turned into a desire to compete, motivating him to swim at a higher level as he got older.

“It’s been my number one passion for the longest time, and I really want to see myself succeed,” Branzell said. “[If I keep working hard], it’ll all pay off eventually.”

For any athlete, having a positive mindset is a key component to doing well. Branzell disregards any doubts he has and remembers his commitment to swimming in order to keep an elevated mental state.

“I get a lot of rest and make sure my diet is right,” Branzell said. “[I’m] always thinking positively.”

In order to remain in peak condition, his mindset and strength must be at a high level. This involves balancing eating, sleeping, exercising, and studying, as well as practicing good habits. He works out every Tuesday and Thursday, and he swims two and a half hours per day. “[He] puts in a lot of hours into the sport, as well as striving toward his goals,” communications junior Jasper Weinberg said. “His commitment really amazes me.”

The amount of time Branzell puts into swim helped push him to try out for the Olympic trials. In his first attempt last year, he missed the mark by a mere fourth of a second. This time, he is looking for different results. His teammates support him in trying out for the Olympic Trials while also participating on the swim team.

“I’d imagine he’s [going] to make big waves at [the Olympic Trials],” strings senior Kyle Owens said.

Taking everything into account, Branzell is going to continue working as hard as he currently is in order to become an Olympic swimmer.

“It’s just a little bit of everything,” Branzell said. “You know, get stronger and make yourself better.”

by Dorian VanCoppenolle

35

sports

dreyfoos strikes back

by Isabella Kjaerulff and Jules Popiel

F photos by Jules Popiel

or any other public school, October is homecoming season, with a spirit week centered around the most well known American sport: football. While their hallways are lined with themed posters supporting student athletes, Dreyfoos is a different playing field: Students joke about black and gold collared uniforms and celebrate neon-strobed victories. Despite not being recognized as a mainstream sport, bowling has become something of a legend, and team members intend to keep it that way.

“If I’m being honest, we [communications seniors Tommy McCabe, Hunter Goodman, and Carlos Trivino] originally thought it would be fun to join because it’s a sport that no one really does, and we needed the PE credit. We kind of just said, ‘Why not?’ and showed up for tryouts,” Trivino said. “But now, we couldn’t really care less about that PE credit.

Bowling is so much fun, and we love it.”

With the luxury of air conditioning and lack of physical contact, bowling is not a typical sport.

Although some might call it less demanding, the sport requires hours of nontraditional preparation that focus on technique over physicality. Success primarily depends on a person’s footwork and the angle they’re facing as they release the ball—in fact, internationally recognized bowler Pete Weber was only 5 feet 7 inches tall.

Bowling can be extremely competitive, and it doesn’t rely on strength or resistance training as much as an active sport.

“Bowling can be extremely competitive, and it doesn’t rely on strength or resistance training as much as an active sport,” band senior Juan Azanza said. “You could be the weakest of your friends and still bowl a higher score.”

Dedicated practice may lead to results that go beyond the scope of an afterschool activity. Visual junior Courtney McMillan is a prime example of these results and has made considerable contributions to the team’s high rank in the county.

“The girls team has always been pretty strong,” Coach Stephen Anand said at the last game of the season. “Courtney is our team captain and is currently the highest ranked player in our division, so she is the best girl out there today.”

McMillan has had thirteen years of training at Bowlero, formally known as Jupiter Lanes, which paved the way to her being a star bowler of the Palm Beach School District girls league.

“My average score currently is a 156, and my highest game ever is a 219,” McMillan said. “Practice, dedication, and having fun contributes to my constant success in bowling, as well as having a great team.”

Both Jaguar teams rely on each other’s friendship to facilitate an enjoyable atmosphere throughout practices and competitions. Some members have inside jokes and traditions that they hope will carry through to later years.

“All of the five guys compete in what we call ‘Fry Boy,’ which basically means [during] the second game of every practice—or even a match— we all try to do as best as possible,” Trivino said. “When all of our scores are tallied up, we see who has the lowest pin count. Whoever that may be is then called Fry Boy because they have to go out and buy a round of fries.”

Whatever the outcome of a game may be, the bowling team members find gratification in the bonds they create with each other. Not every shot will be a strike, but that doesn’t seem to bother them.

“At the end of the day, no matter how we score—good or bad—we always have the most fun out of all of the teams,” McCabe said. “Other teams’ coaches have come up to us to commend us on how positive our attitudes were throughout the whole game. To me, that’s the most rewarding part.”

stafflist

Advisor Carly Gates Editors-in-Chief Becca Boss Katherine McNamara Managing Editors Sebastian Fernandez Maddy Rubin Assistant Managing Editors Sasha Monaco Anamaria Navarrete Isabella Ramirez Arts Emma Garrett Kaja Andric Katie Davis Veronica Longoria Business David Yanes Melodie Barrau Jakob Leser Copy Isabella Kjaerulff Sophia Roud Franco Vidal Cover Asher Moss George Wu Culture Sasha Smith Alana Cavanagh Jade Lichtenstein Design Joel Soto Lily Gumbinner Madison LaRocque Elena Snyder Graphics Amanda Cohen Ava Kehde Allison Robbert Multimedia Bruce White Megan Fenton Alissa Gary Shreya Srinivasan Sade Young News Nirmit Chandan Charlie Blackwell Sheevam Patel Annabella Saccaro Online Content Joshua Fleischer Opinion Jarom Gordon Mark Shteyman Miles Wang Photo Adam Goldstick Hannah Baldwin Anna Jones Sophia Roberts Bella Weiss Social Media and Public Relations Michael Pincus Marion Randolph Mariel Silpe Sophia Stern Sports Jules Popiel Sam Cohen Dorian VanCoppenolle editors are shown in italics

aboutus The Muse is a national award-winning newmagazine. The publication won numerous awards from the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) including a Pacemaker in 2004, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2018. The Muse also won a Silver Crown from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) in 2011 and 2013. The Muse won a CSPA Hybrid Gold Crown award in 2015 and 2018, which recognized the best print editions and websites in the nation. The Muse has also won The Palm Beach Post General Excellence Newspaper Award in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. This publication is completely funded and created by its staff, advertisers, and donors. Over 1,400 students and a multitude of subscribers receive copies of the magazine annually. All aspects of the magazine are written and designed by the students. This publication is produced by 54 staffers, grades 10–12, from the communication arts department and the visual department. We would like to thank the School of the Arts Foundation for its continuous support.

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