Volume 106, Issue 5

an guard

A limited forum for student expression // Volume 106 // Issue Five // 105 7th St. SW Puyallup, Wash, 98371 // Feb. 2, 2018

L U C A S

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To read more about the Women’s March, go to page six.

G R A C I E

“The Future is Female.”

“Girls Just Wanna Have Fundamental Rights.”

“Love is Love.”

These are just a few examples of signs that were on display at the 2018 Seattle Women’s March, Jan. 20.

Check It Out

Table of Contents

News / Opinion / Features / Focus

Movement Unites Women Again // Page 6 Body, Mind Healing Needed // Page 7 Power of Dance Shared // Page 9 Stereotypes Can Affect Anyone // Page 12 Not Greatest Show, Man // Page 14 Spring Athletes Begin Training // Page 20

A&E / Sports

L E T T E R P O L I C Y:

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A DV E R T I S I N G P O L I C Y:

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However, the staff reserves the right to reject, edit or cancel any advertisement at anytime. Advertisements shall be free of implications that the staff deems offensive in light of normal public standards (WIAA 18.20.0 and 18.20.1) and will not be accepted. The staff will not accept advertising for products or groups which are racist, sexist or illegal for high school students.

Advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views, endorsements and/or positions of The Viking Vanguard, student body, faculty, administration or school board.

Editorial Cartoon Hi! Nice to meet you. My name is-You can stop there.

I already know everything about you.

Alumni Today: *On masthead and byline to story, Haneaul Kim’s name was spelled wrong.

Issue 4: *On pages 4 and 6, photos were taken from Google with modification.

Check out additional news, stories and photos on our website:

vikingvanguard.com Instagram: @thevikingvanguard Twitter: @phsvanguard Facebook: Viking Vanguard

V A N G U A R D

The Viking Vanguard’s duty is to expand student perspectives, maintain community relations and act as a student publication advocating voice. Besides providing an opportunity for the exchange of viewpoints, The Viking Vanguard serves as an academic tool by which students can voice opinions as well as highlight issues facing today’s students.

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The Viking Vanguard operates as a limited forum.

B E R G E Y K

E D I T O R I A L P O L I C Y:

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high school trope. s students walk through the doors of a We encourage you to not stereotype your peers, high school, it seems almost habitual to not to make judgmental comments based off who look around at fellow students and begin you think they are or what they are capable of and categorizing them, making associations. to find the difference in your own mind between But, this is natural. This is normal. what you know and what you believe.

As humans, we instinctively stereotype, Research on implicit stereotyping demonstrates meaning that we group people based off previous that even though you may not outwardly express knowledge about others that may look or act like certain beliefs, you may subconsciously think them them, simply because our brains cannot handle and they may affect your behavior and actions. how much work it would take if we had to build a For example, research done through the Harvard new image of every single person we create.

Implicit Association Test shows that even a strongHowever, the act of stereotyping becomes headed feminist who believes that math and less beneficial when it gets too intertwined with science fields can be equally dominated by women, prejudice and when people cannot differentiate may be quicker to associate women with arts and between knowing a stereotype exists and believing English. Researchers in it. The negative have also noted that connotation is a result of Many African-Americans humans expecting others WE HOPE THAT PUYALLUP are still faster at to conform to stereotypes HIGH SCHOOL IS A POSITIVELY associating white people or generalizing about a INFLUENTIAL SOCIETY THAT with positive traits than person because of their people of their own race. race, gender or aspects of ENCOURAGES EQUALITY. They speculate that one’s their personality.

OU R V I E W childhood upbringing Stereotyping can lead and background leads to students to feel confined this result. in a box; they feel as This demonstrates the extreme power that one’s if they must act a certain way to conform to a society and surroundings has on their beliefs and perceived view. It can also damage their mental opinions. and emotional stability when they cannot live up We hope that Puyallup High School is a to a seemingly positive stereotype or cause one to positively influential society that encourages underperform due to a negative stereotype.

Stereotypes are influenced by one’s surrounding, equality. In order to limit your own negative stereotyping, explicit or implicit, you must first be their education and childhood and the media aware of your actions, then consciously work to fix and television they consume. We see stereotypes, them. through archetypes, in TV shows, movies and on Eventually, our society will change and decrease the news and use those to make connections in our the negative implications of stereotyping and it everyday lives. starts with the current generation. With this issue Especially in high school scenarios, students of the paper, we hope to encourage you to limit like to categorize the “nerd,” “jock,” “dumb your bias and judgemental beliefs and promote an blonde/cheerleader,” “troublemaker,” “emo kid,” “sidekick,” “bully” and “the boy-next-door,” when encouraging environment within our high school. in reality, most teenagers cannot be confined to one

FEMALaEl

emotion weak incapable

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E D I T O R -I N -C H I E F.......................................H A L E Y K E I Z U R M A N AG I N G E D I T O R ....................E M I LY VA N B E RG E Y K N E W S E D I T O R ..................................................M E G A N LY N N F E AT U R E S E D I T O R .......................NATA L I E E YC H A N E R O P -E D /A &E E D I T O R ..................................R AQ U E L A M AT O S P O R T S E D I T O R ................................M C K E N NA Z AC H E R M U LT I M E D I A E D I T O R ......................H A N NA H PA L M E R A S S I S TA N T M U LT I M E D I A ....................A L E X I S H O L M E A D V E R T I S I N G M A N AG E R ........................J O R Y D U VA L L C I R C U L AT I O N M A N AG E R .........M E G A N N K I N S E L L A S TA F F............................................................M I C H A E L C U S T E R ..................................................................................R I L E Y D O M A N ...............................................................................A N D R E W F LU R Y .....................................................................................TAY L O R F R E Y ...........................................................................JA I M E G O L D B E RG ..................................................................................A L E X I S H O L M E ..............................................................................M E G A N JA M O R A ................................................................................N O B I J O H N S O N ..................................................................................G R AC I E LU C A S .....................................................................................K AT E LYC H I K .................................................................................K AY L A M O R R I S .........................................................................................A NA M Y E R S ..........................................................................JA S M I N E N I C H O L S .........................................M AC K E N Z I E N O M A KC H T E I N S K Y ....................................................................A N G E L I NA R I C H A R D .......................................................................M A RC U S W I N D H A M ....................................................................................JAC O B W YAT T A D V I S E R ................................................SA N D R A C OY E R , M J E

OPEN MINDS ENCOURAGED

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O p in io n / / F eb. 2 , 2018

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News Feb. 2, 2018

NEWS YOU CAN USE

The top international, national and local news stories of the month.

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON B Y

T A Y L O R F R E Y S T A F F

The top international, national and local news stories of the month.

We have all heard the saying “once in a blue moon.”

The phrase ultimately means that something is done very rarely as a blue moon is rare itself. A blue moon is when there are two full moons in one month.

The second full moon is referred to as a blue moon. Regular full moons occur roughly every 30 days or so. The next full and blue moon combination will occur March 2 and March 31. After March we will not see another blue moon until 2020.

Blue moons are somewhat rare as they occur about once every two to three years. The 2018 year is a unique one for blue moons as there are two in one year.

This year started off with the first full moon Jan. 2, 2018. The first blue moon occurred on Jan. 31 later that month.Another double blue moon is predicted to appear in 2037.

There is no finalized story on where the term blue moon comes from. The term blue moon has nothing to do with the color of the moon itself, ironically.

WSU QUARTERBACK PASSES AWAY WSU quarterback Tyler Hilinski passed away in early January. His memorial service was held in La Verne, California Jan. 27, attended by family, friends and teammates. Hilinksi played as WSU’s backup quarterback and led a 21-point comeback in a game against Boise State earlier this season. He was projected to be the starting quarterback in Pullman next season.

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MARS WINS BIG AT GRAMMYS

Bruno Mars swept the top awards at the 2018 Grammy Awards, winning Album of the Year, Best Engineered Album, NonClassical and Record of the Year for his album “24k Magic”.

He also won Song of the Year. Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance for “That’s What I Like”. This marks the 11th Grammy for Mars, and his second straight Album of the Year award. Mars took home all six awards he was nominated for, the best tally of the night from any artist.

AMAZON SPHERES OPEN IN SEATTLE The Amazon Spheres, Amazon’s new headquarters, had their grand opening Jan. 29. In construction since April of last year, the spheres are available to explore seven days a week.

However, tours of the structure are booked until June.

The Spheres stretch over 80 feet tall, featuring five floors of open office space, and play host to more than 40,000 different plants species inside.

FEDERER WINS IN AUSTRALIA

World number two Roger Federer of Switzerland won a record 20th Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open, his sixth title down under. He defeated world number six Marin Cilic five set match lasting over three hours. He becomes the first ever man to win 20 Grand Slams, and the fourth tennis player over all. At 36, he becomes the oldest male winner of a Grand Slam in 46 years.

I N F O R M A T I O N C O M P I L E D B Y A N D R E W F L U R Y P H O T O S F R O M G O O G L E F O R V A N G U A R D

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DERAILED TRAIN CAUSES PANIC B Y

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rain enthusiasts, passengers and crew members hopped on an Amtrak the morning of Monday, Dec. 18 to commemorate a new route from Seattle to Portland. The track had been recently constructed in hopes of shortening the time it took to travel southbound.

Around 7:30 a.m., the Amtrak passenger train, which held more than 80 people, derailed over a highway near Tacoma, Wash. The crash left three passengers dead and many other injured.

The crash left one carriage dangling from the overpass and sent another crashing into the highway below; five vehicles and two semi trucks were hit, although no motorists were killed.

Just two weeks before the crash, Lakewood Mayor Don Anderson expressed concern about the route’s possible safety issues.

“Come back when there is that accident and try to justify not putting in those safety enhancements or you can go back now and advocate for the money to do it because this project was never needed and endangers our citizens,” Anderson said, in a video interview by Seattle radio station KOMO. Despite this, the event is being blamed on human error.

While investigations may take up to a year to fully uncover the details, the crash was likely a result of speeding around the curve.

Federal investigators recently claimed that signs leading up to the turn read 30 mph, reminding engineers about the curve but the Amtrak continued to go 80 mph. Cameras on the train revealed the engineer braking just before the curve, though according to investigators, he did not appear to use

emergency brakes.

After visiting the scene, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency.

“There are four things we need to do: express compassion for these families, respect first responders, stay off I-5 and suspend judgment. No one knows what happened in this incident,” Inslee said.

The full extent of the crash is still being investigated but for now, the Amtrak Company is working with passengers and investigators to get details on the attack.

Passenger Emma Schafer was able to leave the train by walking on another car that had fallen onto the highway, she said in an interview with The Guardian.

“Have you ever been on a 3D simulator where it shakes you around a pod?

It was like that,” Schafer said. “It felt like the end of the world, like we had stepped out of a nuclear bunker amid the wreckage.”

Just hours after the crash, President Donald Trump went to Twitter to G O O G L E F O R V A N G U A R D offer his thoughts and condolences about the accident.

“The train accident that just occurred in DuPont, WA shows more than ever why our soon-to-be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly. Seven trillion dollars spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!” Trump tweeted.

This was followed by another brief tweet, 10 minutes later.

“Thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in the train accident,” Trump said.

Government shutdown heightens controversy

The inability of Congress to come to an agreement caused a partial shutdown for a three-day period. A preliminary agreement allows the government to keep functioning until the next deadline. passport processing as well the shutdown the “Schumer as many bureaucratic jobs. shutdown,” blaming Senate ...NEARLY 41,000 OF ITS The U.S. government was shut down Jan. 20 During the past weekend’s Minority Leader Chuck 82,000 STAFF MEMBERS DID through Jan. 22 due to a failure to pass funding shutdown, tens of thousands Schumer and the Democrats legislation by the midnight, Jan. 19 deadline.

NOT GO TO WORK DURING THE of federal employees were on for the stalemate.

Hot-button topics such as extension of DACA SHUTDOWN. temporary leave; according “[The Democrats] put status and funding of a Mexico-United States to the contingency plan of the politics above our national U.S . DE PA RT M E N T OF H E A LT H border wall led to a standstill between opposing A N D H U M A N SE V IC E S U.S. Department of Health security, military families, parties. and Human Services, nearly vulnerable children and Democrats justified the lack of bipartisan 41,000 of its 82,000 staff members did not go to our country’s ability to serve all Americans… cooperation by emphasizing the implications the work during the shutdown. In the meantime, when Democrats start paying our armed forces Republican funding legislation would have had essential activities related to national security and first responders we will reopen negotiations for Dreamers. (such as military activity), medical care and on immigration reform.

During this politically “Once we reach an agreement on the public safety (such as air traffic control and law manufactured Schumer shutdown, the president Dream Act, we can then turn to other priorities enforcement) continued. and his administration will fight for and protect like providing disaster relief for wildfires and A bipartisan group of 20 senators met to broker the American people,” Press Secretary Sarah hurricanes, extending the Children’s Health a deal between Democrats and Republicans, Huckabee Sanders said in Insurance Program, keeping promising to move the government forward the official White House community health centers and find compromise. The Senate voted 81-18 to press release. open and battling the opioid WE NEED TO GET PAST THIS reopen the government, the House passed the bill The term “government crisis… we need to get past IMPASSE AS QUICKLY AS and President Trump signed it Jan. 22. shutdown” did not mean this impasse as quickly as The U.S. government last shut down in 2013 complete stopping of all POSSIBLE. possible,” Senator Dianne when Republicans blocked a spending bill governmental functions Feinstein said in a press in protest of President Barack Obama’s but rather suspension of DI A N N E F E I NST E I N release.

SE NATOR Affordable Care Act. functions deemed nonOn the other side of the essential, including visa and aisle, Republicans labeled B Y

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MOVEMENT UNITES WOMEN AGAIN Globally, the feminist movement has become one of the most powerful movements in history. Thousands of marchers got to experience history being made in the second Women’s March in the United States.

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“The Future is Female.”

“Girls Just Wanna Have Fundamental Rights.”

“Love is Love.”

These are just a few examples of signs that were on display at the 2018 Seattle Women’s March, Jan. 20. Thousands of women, men and children gathered at Cal Anderson Park to march for the equality of not just women but people of all genders, sexuality, economic and social status, race and religions.

Marchers all participate for their own reasons but the overwhelming majority marched to express their outrage and protest inequality expressed to women. Marcher Zach Chambers agreed with the majority and saw the importance of women using their voice. “[The Women’s March] gives a voice to women everywhere,” Chambers said.

Marcher Ellimy Nixon concurred with Chambers’ view and believed that it was necessary to use her voice.

“I thought it was important to use my voice in the most effective way I can right now. I also knew that empowered women empower women and I wanted to be a part of supporting females,” Nixon said.

Many attendees also marched for political protest.

Annual marcher Rich Carrasco shared this common purpose.

friendly event so it gave “Mainly I object to the them a chance to express current administration. their opinions as one.

That was the impetus to me I THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT “My favorite thing marching,” Carrasco said. was seeing parents Carrasco also noticed the TO USE MY VOICE IN THE MOST bring their children awareness being brought EFFECTIVE WAY I CAN... and the kids getting to those who marched this involved. It is raising up year.

ELL I M Y N I XON M A RC H E R a generation of people “The march itself has not that are willing to open really changed much since up, speak out and accept the last one but people seem others,” Nixon said. to more familiar of what was going on and why we All marchers come from different backgrounds were marching. Many of the signs this year were which come with different opinions and ways angry but the people were very friendly,” of expressing those opinions. Carrasco noticed Carrasco said. these difference throughout the march.

The Women’s March “[My favorite part was] the variety of undoubtedly got a view being expressed. The cleverness of the lot of media signs. The outfits. The friendless and the coverage, willingness of getting people to use their from social voice,” Carrasco said. media While the Women’s March is meant to posts to live spread equality and joy, there are always updates on chances of dangers being imposed on television, so anyone attending. many people “[The Women’s March] could have who could not been negative if it got violent but be there were since it never did I think that it was aware of the positive. No one went rogue or march and why it anything so I think that it was a was happening. good thing altogether,” Nixon “[The Women’s said.

March] raises awareness. It raises visibility. It gets people talking, thinking, voting, running for office, trying to figure out what people can do about the mess that we are in but realizing that many others share the same opinion,” Carrasco said.

The march was a family-

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News // Feb. 2, 2018

Another test. Another assignment. More homework. These are all things that contribute to the stress taken in by students. There are plenty of different K . LYC H I K ways to get rid S TA F F of this built up stress but not all of them are healthy.

Thankfully, some colleges have begun to implement “relaxation classes” in which students are taught how to cope with stress. Perhaps high schools should begin doing something similar?

Life can be overwhelming, especially during those confusing teenage years. We try to balance social life, family life and school life as we prepare for what comes after high school. What do we do as we try to sort that all out? What do we turn to? Binge watching shows, stress-eating, non-stop gaming...and many worse things. We are not usually taught how to cope

with all that building stress correctly and we build bad habits, take them with us into college. That is not right.

A college in our own state: Pacific Lutheran University, has a course titled “Healing Arts of the Body and Mind.” The course offers alternative and beneficial ways to relieve stress. Other colleges bring in animals before finals day to let the students unwind and just pet them. Why do high schools not do something similar? It may be too much to ask for llamas or kittens to be brought in every time we have a test but there are things high schools can do.

It may be questioned as to why this issue is being brought up. Why is stress so significant that courses teaching kids how relieve it are being offered? Stress is harmful. The more evident harm being mental— the pressure weighing down and driving students into depression, into doing unfavorable things to relieve that

pressure. What may not be so known is that stress wears the body down and leaves it susceptible to physical illness.

That should certainly be concerning.

That brings me to the prior mentioned issue. What can high schools do? Rather than inserting whole new courses, perhaps they could start small: a few things first. Maybe ten minutes of a class period devoted to helping students out daily, offering homework help. Maybe offer some kind of “class” during lunches in which healthy de-stressing behavior is taught. And then there is the chance that an actual class like this could be introduced. After all, if the universities see this as an issue deserving attention, why should their precursors not do the same?

Wishful thinking, maybe. It is a valid issue and I believe that more attention should be paid to the mental health of students at the lower education levels.

Who would not want to hold a kitten and weep about the final looming over their head? We can do better to prevent destructive stressrelieving behavior, I am sure.

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Opinion

BODY, MIND HEALING NEEDED

Feb. 2, 2018

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Registration causes contemplation I will be signing up for high school classes for the last time in just a few weeks.

I will be a senior in just a few months.

I will be graduating M . Z AC H E R in just a year and a half.

S P O R T S I have increasingly Adding to my mountain of stress has always began to catch myself thinking, “how did I get been signing up for classes. here?” It feels like just yesterday I was starting As both a horrific overplanner and an seventh grade, terrified as incredibly indecisive I was going to get lost on person, this process my first day in my bootcut inevitably ends with jeans and Toms. me second guessing Now my fears are much WHAT AM I GOING TO DO AFTER and changing my more grounded.

HIGH SCHOOL AND WHO AM I schedule several What am I going to do GOING TO BECOME? times before that after high school and who fateful day in am I going to become?

MC K E N NA Z AC H E R September.

SP ORT S These are the questions I secretly suspect that motivate me to do Mr. Sanchez is better, not only in school counting down the days until I graduate. but in life itself.

This time around is different. I feel forced to be I often find myself getting swept up in the decisive. Years of walking down a road feeling little details. too underprepared and too immature to move Five point math assignments, APUSH DBQs, up a grade has come to a screeching halt.

English essays— it can be overwhelming.

Every new semester brings a whole wave of stress and adventure. I tend to adopt a “get-it-done” attitude by the end of January-- get through finals and try to come out sane on the other side.

But as our time at PHS winds down, it is imperative to look at the big picture.

Through the end of first semester, continuing into final semester and senior year, we must try to enjoy our time as high schoolers.

High schoolers who have less crucial responsibilities. Because before we know it, we will be walking down the aisle at graduation, straight into the real world.

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V A N G U A R D

ALLING V. TEXTING

In a society where 91 percent of all smartphone users keep their phone in arms reach at all times, it can make people wonder. Why? Is it texting that keeps people interested or is it calls?

communicate.

The hard thing about texting is that you can rarely tell someone’s emotion through a few words on a screen. Luckily, that issue is usually fixed by the use of an emoji.

From traffic cones and clouds to dogs and a bright yellow R . A M AT O laughing face, emojis are virtually limitless with their uses.

O P I N I O N S Texting someone is the perfect was to be discreet in a quiet place, reminding someone of something or even invitations.

Yes, people can email others and yes, people can use other forms of communication but it is so much easier to send a simple text. ince 1876, when Texts have become so normal Alexander Graham While that if you have a smartphone, Bell invented the on the you can actually tell your telephone, calling has phone, there is phone to send a text been globally loved. no mistaking when to someone in your It is one of the most someone is undoubtedly contacts. There are common forms of excited about something or so many great communication, even J . N I C H O L S extremely upset. features of more so since the You can detect pretty much any S TA F F texting with a invention of cell phones. emotion a person may be feeling. smartphone, A phone call from my While statistics show that the iPhones best friend is an almost-regular part of my daily percentage of people who prefer texting now offer routine along with billions of other people’s. largely outweighs those who prefer a “Do Around the world, across the nation or right down calling, both platforms of communication Not the street, the simple and quick phone call is always have been on a sort of plateau since 2010. a go-to for communication for anyone.

Prior to that, calling was always the main There is source of communicating with something so others. much more Texting is just now catching up. personal about YOU CAN HEAR EMOTION OVER I will always prefer the latter no being able to hear THE PHONE BUT YOU ALSO matter what the norm may be. what someone has GET MUCH MORE HONEST to say rather than RESPONSES... staring at loaded JA SM I N E N IC HOL S words on a screen.

STA F F This is the beauty of a phone call.

Any misunderstanding can be clarified in half the time it would take to do so over text.

Not only can you hear emotion over the phone but you also get much more honest responses out of people because they do not have time to carefully type out a reply.

It also shows that the person you are talking to has carved time out of their day specifically for you.

While you could argue that since the invention of Emojis, tone is much easier to show.

However, most that depict a face often do not match your emotions perfectly.

Tone is hard to convey over text.

With texting being one of the most popular communicational advances, it is rare to find someone who does not have a cell phone or does not text people. In fact, the average amount of texts sent across the globe in one year is approximately 8.6 trillion, according to a Portio study.

Before the invention of the telephone, people wrote letters and had morse code to communicate non-vocally. Technology is on the rise in the world today and texting just happens to be one of the main ways to

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...YOU CAN READ THE TEXT AND GET THE FULL EFFECT OF WHAT THE PERSON IS SAYING. R AQU EL A M ATO OPI N IONS

Disturb” setting so that while you are driving and someone texts you, your phone sends an automatic reply saying “Do Not Disturb” is on. How cool is that?

As a daily user of iMessage, I think texting is absolutely my favorite thing. Living with social anxiety has made my use of texting more than likely above the average person’s.

With phone calls, it can sometimes be difficult to understand what someone is saying because of choppy service. With text messages, you can read the text and get the full effect of what the person is saying.

Along with being able to see everything the person on the other side is trying to say, you have time to process and form a dedicated response to them.

If you are running around doing a bunch of errands, it gets hard being on the phone and driving a shopping cart around.

Overall, I believe texting is the best way to go for communication.

It avoids interruptions, tone can be sensed with adorable, limitless emojis and you have time to fully process and appreciate what someone else has to say.

Only 43 percent of smartphone users use their phone to make voice calls but over 70 percent of smartphone users text.

Junior Chloe Power has devoted her life to competition dancing, a striking mixture of athleticism, academic study and artistic expression. Though dancing has its fair

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Power still sees the value of healthy competition and has started competing in the solo category as well as group.

Though she has spent nine years on the stage, Power confesses that she still gets doses of nerves.

“Last year was my first time doing a solo and I still do get stage fright and I just [try to] walk it off,” Power said. “[But] I hope I always feel a little bit jittery before hand. It is like if someone goes skydiving to get that adrenaline rush. Dance is my adrenaline rush and I always want there to be a little bit of fright to help me get through it.”

Though Power has had her fair share of competition successes (her production took first at Nationals last year), she says her favorite memory comes from her first year of dance.

“The first recital I ever did was when I was seven and going on I was really, really nervous: just a little bad dancer coming up on stage,” Power said. “But I remember looking out and seeing my family and feeling supported. I am very very lucky to have a family that supports me.”

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t started almost a decade ago--junior Chloe Powertook her first steps into the world of competitive dancing.

Since then she has not looked back.

“I started when I was seven; this will be my ninth year. My sister did it before me and I went to all her competitions,” Power said. “At first I did it recreationally and just wanted to dance a couple times a week. Then I saw my sister do it and I wanted to follow in her footsteps.”

Power spends most of her week dancing, practicing about three hours a day for five days a week.

The practice is intense and even injured dancers must attend to take notes on routines and exercises.

Competitive dance routines feature a variety of styles and groups, which are scored by a panel of judges. “[Meets] are like tournaments between a bunch of different studios [competing] for the same trophy,” Power said. “You can do jazz, contemporary, hip-hop or tap dancing.

[I prefer] contemporary, just because it is more emotional and I can really express myself through it.”

In competition dancing, groups with

more than 25 people are considered “productions,” although dancers also perform in smaller groups (such as trios) and solos.

“I personally enjoy small groups because you connect with the people you are dancing with more. It is easier to glance at each other and give each other energy,” Power said. “I have a lot of really close friends on my dance team so just being with them and doing something we have in common is really special to me.”

Competition dancing has helped Power some many of her strongest relationships but to her, the atmosphere can be a double edged sword. “[I dislike] how competitive and how mean people can get about it,” Power said. “I do it mainly to have fun with my friends. It is really nice to win first but some studios run it so you have to win first or you are in tons of trouble. [To them] it is only a competition.”

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Student voice important at school if you give your opinion at school in general,” sophomore Sara Sprague said. “Overall we have a lot of closed-minded kids and a lot of super School is a place filled with tests, homework, projects and stress. Although it is easy to get stuck open-minded ones and that clashes a lot.”

Teachers have a part in these discussions too. in a routine, it is important to remember your Not facilitating respectful conversations can lead rights at school. to students not sharing them at all.

The First Amendment in the Constitution “People are discouraged from saying certain protects students’ rights at school. Having the things that are hurtful. right to share your opinion I would rather have in this school setting is part that disagreement come of your rights. Even though I FEEL LIKE IT IS REALLY out in the open in what students should be able to EASY TO GET LABELED IF YOU should be a safe space share their opinion, do they EXPRESS A POLITICAL OPINION like a classroom then in really take advantage of the a hallway or in public,” TOO LOUDLY. opportunity? social studies teacher “I feel like teachers do SA R A SPR AG U E Mychal Limric said. a good job of encouraging S OPHOMOR E Students want to find respectful discussions in ways to fix the lack of school. However, there are communication others face. Doing so, Edwards some circles of people that I would not feel like I thinks, could help education. could express my opinions with because it would “I think all teachers should have suggestion cause problems,” junior Emery Edwards said. boxes and strive to be more approachable in Being afforded the right to your opinion does their classrooms. I do not think a lot of education not always mean students will share it. It can be entities take feedback but when they do I do not seen as a touchy subject. think they always listen to it,” Edwards said.

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between students and staff needs to change.

“I think early on in the student- teacher relationship [teachers should] make sure to express the view that they are open to student opinion,” Limric said.

Creating a bond between student and teacher can not only help learning, but boost confidence, according to Sprague.

“Kids are not feeling important or cared for.

Recognize the problems and recognize that we need to talk one on one instead of addressing students as a whole,” Sprague said.

Changing the ways communication happens in school has a lot of benefits. Hearing student feedback can lead to a more connected and happy environment.

“If you want to change schools and make students more engaged, you start with that [listening to them]. Students need to have a say in school. If they invest emotionally, mentally and in terms of their opinion in a school setting, they are going to do better because they care about their environment,” Limric said.

PSYCHOLOGY OF STEREOTYPES

Stereotypes are deeply rooted in the human psyche. One Vanguard staffer researched why humans innately stereotype. “[It was a] moment of jarring self-insight. . . . I cannot say if I was more B Y

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With constant political debates filling up the news, social media, even our school hallways, the word “stereotype” gets thrown around a lot. Psychologists separate stereotypes into two types of categories: what you know vs. what you follow and what implicitly affects you vs. what you explicitly display.

In order to begin understanding stereotypes, consider this scenario: “A father and his son are in a car accident. The father dies at the scene and the son, badly injured, is rushed to the hospital. In the operating room, the surgeon looks at the boy and says, “I cannot operate on this boy. He is my son.”

How is this possible?

This example is taken from Blindspot: The Hidden Biases of Good People, a psychoanalysis of the Implicit Association Test (IAT), written by chief developer of the program, Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald, the researcher (and University of Washington professor) who created it in 1994.

The IAT works to uncover hidden biases and prejudice through a computerbased program. The results have been shocking to many test takers; they hear unwanted news about their own implicit beliefs.

For example, are you still stuck on the previous riddle? It is possible because the son’s mother is his surgeon. Because of your upbringing, education or society, you may not have thought to associate a female with a medical occupation such as surgeon.

The act of associating men with science and math fields and women with liberal arts and English fields is stereotyping.

What Are Stereotypes?

University of Washington Ph.D. student Arianne Eason describes what a stereotype is and specifies why they can become problematic.

“Psychologists really think of stereotyping as the traits that we assigned to different groups. When we think about groups, what are the things that we characterize members of that group?” Eason questioned. “Some stereotypes may have a grain of truth to them but what makes them really problematic is when you take this trait that you think may apply to the group in general and apply it to a single individual because that may not be true.”

Despite not being openly vocal about a stereotype or expressing support of one, a person could still demonstrate behavior that proves otherwise. This contrast is known as explicit and implicit stereotyping.

“Explicit stereotyping is something like me being able to say out loud that a group has a certain trait. It is something that you can bring to memory, you can say it and you can recall it,” Eason said. “Implicit stereotyping is a little bit different. It is something that is an association that you have but maybe cannot say that you have but nonetheless affects your behavior, how you perceive those around you. [Explicit versus implicit stereotyping] is this distinction between [being able to] recall it, say it out loud and knowing that you harbor [the] belief versus one that is operating a little bit outside of consciousness but is still having an effect on behavior and recall of information.”

These hidden or implicit beliefs are what the IAT is attempting to uncover.

After taking the test, many people are shocked to learn about their implicit stereotyping.

Even Greenwald was surprised by his automatic white preference when he took the test.

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personally distressed or scientifically elated to discover something inside my head that I had no previous knowledge of,” Greenwald said in an interview with The Washington Post.

The test is not that complicated but it reveals a complicated theory. Within seven steps, test-takers are given two subjects and two types of categories and must separate the two. The computer program picks up on how quickly you associate different categories with different subjects.

Eason explains how the test picks up on a test-taker’s results and relays them as beliefs that are not usually said out loud. “[The test] is saying that even if we do not explicitly endorse a negative attitude towards a group, what we see is evidence that people are faster, for example, at associating black with bad than they are white with bad, even if they say, ‘I like black and white people equally.’ There is something the test is picking up on, something that we are unable to, or that we do not want to consciously record,” Eason said. “It has really helped unlock some of the stereotypes that exist in the world, especially the ones that are more socially sensitive, the ones that are not okay to say out loud but nonetheless are demonstrated that we still hold them and they have really important consequences for the way that people think about others and engage with those around them.”

The phenomenon mentioned by Eason is another curiosity discovered through the IAT. The race test has revealed that 75 percent of its takers, including some African Americans, have an implicit preference for white people over black people.

University of Washington Professor Emeritus of sociology and gender/women/ sexuality studies Judy Howard explains her thoughts on why people of minority groups still have a tendency of associating positive attributes with other racial groups. The prejudice within stereotypes gets associated with social systems of power and inequity and often also reflect differences in power in the world around us, she says.

“That speaks very powerfully to us about how powerful stereotypes can be. We start learning [stereotypes] as infants and that becomes very much a part of our cognitive makeup, Even when we do not mean to, we may still be influenced by those stereotypes and that is what the IAT shows,” Howard said. “ A very important part of this is that if you want to try to overcome them, it

SOME STEREOTYPES MAY HAVE A GRAIN OF TRUTH TO THEM BUT WHAT MAKES THEM REALLY PROBLEMATIC IS WHEN YOU TAKE THIS TRAIT THAT YOU THINK MAY APPLY TO A GROUP IN GENERAL AND APPLY IT TO A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL. requires being very self-conscious about it and being as aware as you can about your own preconceptions and then deliberately trying to work against them.

What that test really shows is how deeply embedded these are in our cognitive processing.”

Understanding how stereotypes develop is essential to understanding how one can improve their reception of conventional images. According to Howard, the stereotypes that children grow up learning reflect their culture’s beliefs and prejudices.

“The prevailing stereotypes about gender, race and social class absolutely

reflect the prevailing prejudices. Obviously, there are different political groups, so not everyone shares the same prejudices but stereotypes reveal what the values are of the cultures that generated those stereotypes,” Howard said.

Aside from one’s surrounding, bias can come from media consumed, education and other factors. They develop in a variety of ways but one thing is known for sure: they are established at a young age.

“One way [stereotypes develop] is that prevalent knowledge exists out there in the world and they develop relatively early. There is research that shows they develop at five years of age. Girls can start recognizing that boys have an advantage with math, being smart and things like that,” Eason said.

“Individuals can pick them up from their environment and there is a slight distinction between knowing that a stereotype exists versus you personally endorsing that stereotype. But either way, even if you do not personally endorse it, it can still have negative impacts on behavior, like a fear of a certain behavior if you think other people believe it.”

Despite this, possessing a stereotype does make it inevitable that you will use them when you are making judgments about individual people or that you will make important decisions based on them, says Greenwald. However, even with skill and knowledge, you can let stereotypes unknowingly affect your behavior.

Effects of Stereotypes

Stereotyping overall can have both positive and negative effects. While they are helpful mental shortcuts that help humans process information, they can have detrimental implications for the targets of the stereotype.

“If we are thinking of positive effects, I would say that in a way we could not really operate in the world without some sort of preconceptions about social phenomena. We would be paralyzed by the amount of information around us,” Howard said. “The problem with stereotyping or the negative side [is that] they are a reduction of a full set of characteristics or information of a much small subset. Oftentimes they leave out the nuances of either groups of people or situations. Another huge part of the problem is that they are treated by many social groups as if they are fully accurate, when oftentimes they are not; [they are] exaggerations or misconceptions.”

Eason also notes the negative effects of stereotyping, highlighting the impact it can have on the people being stereotyped.

“Even if you think a stereotype is positive, something like ‘Asian Americans are good at math,’ that still has negative implications for members of the group because the reality is, not all Asian Americans are good at math. It becomes this kind of limiting situation where people fear they will confirm a stereotype. It can lower people’s sense of belonging,” Eason said.

Greenwald sees this same negative effect in a positive light. However he does acknowledge the other side by claiming it does not take a rocket science to comprehend the potential harm in stereotypes.

“Self-fulfilling prophecies can be beneficial. An owngroup stereotype might guide African Americans toward becoming better track athletes, basketball players or jazz musicians. Asian stereotypes may prompt Asian Americans to work hard in school, win scholarships and launch themselves into high-paying careers in science, medicine and engineering,” Greenwald said.

Once the impact and influence of stereotypes is comprehended, it is important to accept the fact that stereotyping is practically inevitable, at least according to most researchers. While the content of different people’s beliefs may change, the

process of trying to simplify the world around us is natural, Eason says.

Greenwald supports this belief and discusses the topic in his book, “Blindspot.” He and his partner Banaji analyze the idea of Homo categoricus, homo meaning human and categoricus meaning categories.

“Indeed, stereotyping by social category is so widely practiced as to deserve recognition as a universal human trait—as implied by the term Homo categoricus. Scientists understand universal traits in terms of the idea of adaptiveness or usefulness. Universal traits are generally assumed either to be presently adaptive or to be unfortunate by-products of other presently adaptive characteristics or perhaps to be troublesome vestiges of previously (but no longer) adaptive characteristics,” Greenwald wrote.

Greenwald also noted that while anyone is susceptible to being stereotyped, it tends to happen more to particular groups.

“Those who lack their society’s default characteristics are likely to be stereotyped and not just by others but by themselves—which can be to their disadvantage. This conclusion only recently been established in research and it may be the unkindest cut of all. The stereotypes applied to a group are sometimes self-applied by members of the group to themselves and in that case the stereotypes may act as self-undermining and self-fulfilling prophecies,” Greenwald wrote.

High school students are also prone to being categorized.

“A lot of stereotypes take place within education, who belongs as a student

WE START LEARNING [STEREOTYPES] AS INFANTS AND THAT BECOMES VERY MUCH A PART OF OUR COGNITIVE MAKEUP. EVEN WHEN WE DO NOT MEAN TO, WE MAY STILL BE INFLUENCED BY THOSE STEREOTYPES. and things like that. That is one place where they really started coming out.

For example, [the stereotype that] African Americans are less likely to be good in school or Native American students are less likely to be in good in school compared to white or Asian Americans. It turns out that fear of confirming negative stereotype can actually lead people to underperform. In school on tests when you know that the stereotype exists, it really can affect performance and that is really relevant for high school students and teenagers,” Eason said.

The last step to fully evaluating stereotypes is learning how to use them positively and have less bias. By taking the IAT, test-takers can begin to understand what they implicitly believe, keeping in mind that the test is computerized and not 100 percent accurate.

Howard believes that with awareness comes change.

“If you just look at the kinds of political activities that have been going on this past year, there seems to be pretty great awareness of the negative effects of such stereotypes among younger people and to the extent that there is, I think there will be efforts to try to change them,” Howard said. “In some ways, the most powerful way of changing them is for members of minority groups, whether they be racial minorities, gender minorities or class minorities [to prove that they are wrong].

Sometimes the stereotypes themselves will change but it takes a lot of selfconsciousness and work.”

To read more about stereotypes, continue to page 12.

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STEREOTYPES CAN AFFECT ANYONE

Billions of people are walking around the world today. With so many different kinds of people in society, it is nearly impossible to be accepted by everyone. the only ones to make prejudiced comments or treat person individually.”

Being judged based on the way one looks, the people differently. Florida resident and LGBTQ+ way one acts or who one hangs out with can hurt. community member Connor Uliasz talks about how eople assume stereotypes only apply to “It is kind of like, “oh, that is how you think of teachers can also be judgemental. issues of race or politics. Society fails to me” or that is how I am supposed to be in your “I am not there to be gay or straight, I am there acknowledge that anyone and anything eyes,” Uliasz said. “It to learn,” Uliasz said.

“It can be stereotyped and almost everyone and feels like there is an makes you stick out and I everything is affected by stereotypes. expectation that I am not do not enjoy that kind of As Maya Angelo once said, “We all should know meeting.” attention.” that diversity makes for a rich tapestry and we [BEING JUDGED] FEELS LIKE Uliasz explained There are lots of stigmas must understand that all the threads of the tapestry that it is hard for some surrounding the idea of THERE IS AN EXPECTATION I AM are equal in value.” people to feel accepted what is professional versus NOT MEETING. Teen moms, recovering drug addicts, individuals in the world today, no what is unprofessional. with body art, members of the LGBTQ+ matter what someone There is such a wide variety CON NOR U L I A SZ community--just a small list of the kinds of people T EE N does it is difficult that get judged every single day with just a blink of of people roaming around to completely fit in. the world, it is rare to see an eye.

Whatever one does, someone that does not have Teenage years are already hard without getting someone always has an issue with what someone something unique about them. separated into categories based on the way one else does, how they act or even how they look.

Internet personality and model Keerah looks or the prejudice people have. With today’s “I feel like we should just accept people for Mortensen, stage name Kitty Quinn, said that civilization, it is almost impossible to go out and who they are and accept the differences that tattoos should not be seen as be universally everyone has and the choices everyone makes unprofessional. accepted. for themselves,” Quinn said. “I think the most “I think me having tattoos and Sometimes, it accepting people are very small children.” piercings will make my kids more is even harder to ...IT HURTS KNOWING THAT accepting of other people with be accepted if one I AM BEING JUDGED BY tattoos and piercings,” Quinn does not fit into SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT EVEN said. “People need to accept that society’s view KNOW ME. if everyone looked the same, the of “normal.” world would be very very boring.”

Ohio resident BR EE A DK I NS MO T H E R Tattoos and piercings are and recent teen more commonly seen as mom Bree Adkins “unprofessional” and can explains how sometimes be thought of as attentionbeing in her position of having a child while in high seeking. For someone who has spent school contributed to her not feeling like a normal hundreds to possibly thousands kid. of dollars on permanent body “You have to say goodbye to your social life for art, these stereotypes can be a few months, you lose people that considered offensive. themselves to be your friends and you cannot do as “No one is going to have much as you used to be able to do,” Adkins said. enough employees without One’s social life directly relates to mental health tattoos and piercings,” Quinn among other things said.

“I do not feel like “Evidence has been growing that when our need decorating your body should for social relationships is not met, we fall apart be seen as unprofessional.” mentally and even physically,” John Cacioppo said Millions of people are in a Psychology Today article. impacted by stereotypes The things people say can affect one’s emotions every day.

The human as well. race has always naturally “Being stereotyped makes me upset. They do categorized people, it is not know the real me and it hurts knowing that I something no one can am being judged control. It by someone is human who does not instinct even know me,” I DO NOT FEEL LIKE to make Adkins said.

DECORATING YOUR BODY blanket High school is a SHOULD BE SEEN AS statements place where social to organize UNPROFESSIONAL. lives are very others into important and K I T T Y QU I N N a group.

MO DEL people are most “It is commonly judged our way for how they act to assess a large amount of and their appearance. People in the people in a small amount of LGBTQ+ community are judged daily time,” Uliasz said.

“It is easier just because of who they are.

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TO MEAT OR NOT TO MEAT

Boyd said Smith echoed facing the misconception that vegans cannot eat much. “[People think] vegans just eat salad all day and that they are like hamsters. People were like ‘So do you just want a salad’ and I was like ‘No, I want food.’ I want the pizza, I want everything, just in a vegan form,” explained Smith.

In response to these inquiries, Cannon says to approach veganism with an impartial judgement.

“I would tell these people

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to go into it with an open mind and that you can find substitutes for most nonvegan foods. There are also many things that you would think would not be vegan but they are. For example, pasta, bread and Oreos are all vegan,” Cannon said.

Also according to Smith, veganism is a preference the public should view open-mindedly.

“It is a personal choice and I think when people bash other people for [being a vegan] and say ‘Oh my god, you are a vegan?’ It is not that big of a deal. Or you are vegan and you bash other people for eating meat and dairy. People make it a bigger deal than it actually is,” Smith said.

Boyd shares the same beliefs as Cannon and Smith, that people should look at non-traditional diets in an open-minded way.

“As with a lot of things in life, I think it is important to be open minded. I do not judge people who eat meat and it does not bother me when other people eat meat. That is a choice. I choose not to. That does not mean that either one of us is right or wrong, we have just made different choices. It is kind of the same idea as when I talk to students about cultural differences,” Boyd explained.

“You do not have to agree with someone in order to be able to understand their perspective. You can understand someone else’s choice without agreeing with it or choosing that for yourself.”

Despite these beliefs, Boyd says everyone should be educated on the effects their diets have on the planet.

“I do think it is important for everyone to be aware of the environmental consequences of large-scale factory farming and how we as consumers drive the demand and therefore have some accountability for those consequences. I am liking the trend I am seeing the last several years of communities eating local, farmers markets, meatless Mondays, etc. I think those are good things,” Boyd said.

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For Boyd, the transition was a gradual process, taking place over the span of her life.

“Beef was the first meat to be completely n a world that has become increasingly more eliminated from my diet. I would say I probably aware of its impact on the Earth, more and have not eaten beef since I was about 12 years old. more people are turning to less impactful As a young adult, I would prepare and eat some diets. meat a few times a week, chicken breast being my According to a Top go-to as it was the one that Trends in Prepared did not completely gross Foods report from last me out,” Boyd said.

June, six percent of YOU GET THE SAME QUESTION Jasmyne Smith, Americans are now junior at PHS, ALL THE TIME OF ‘SO WHEN vegan, meaning they was a vegan for ARE YOU GOING TO EAT MEAT do not consume any two years.

AGAIN?’ animal products.

She shared JA SM Y N E SM I T H While it may not what the transition J U N IOR seem like it, vegans was like from her and vegetarians are perspective. scattered throughout “At first, not eating the community. meat was super easy because once you see and Among these people is junior Megan watch the videos [behind the scenes of the meat Cannon, who has been a vegan and dairy industries] you are like ‘Ew that is for five months. Cannon shares disgusting, why would I do that to myself?’ her reasons for becoming But dairy was kind of harder because it is in vegan. everything,” Smith said.

“I decided to become Smith shared some of the difficulties of being a a vegan for two vegan in day-to-day life. reasons. One “It is hard to go to a restaurant and [say] ‘Okay, I need to ask for no cheese’ or if you want to hang out with your friends you either need to make sure you have something to eat was or you just bring your own my belief in food,” Smith said. animal rights, Cannon holds some of the especially after seeing same thoughts as Smith does the behind the scenes of the regarding the difficulty. meat and dairy industry. The “The hardest thing I have other reason was I wanted to eat healthier experienced since becoming and dairy and meat just made me feel sick, ” vegan is probably going out to eat Cannon said. with friends and family. While there are places Third-year and AP Spanish teacher Marla Boydthat are accommodating with their menu and Atkinson has been a vegetarian for the majority of slight modifications, those options are limited. her adult life. Boyd echoes Cannon’s disdain for A majority of the time I would end up not eating the meat and dairy industry. anything,” Cannon said.

“As I got older and started reading more In addition to the difficulty of a diet transition, and more about the food supply system and in vegans face many misconceptions from the public. particular factory farming, I became more and Smith shared how people would question her more turned while being vegan. off by meat,” “You get the same question Boyd said. all the time of ‘So when are you YOU DO NOT HAVE TO AGREE “Mostly going to eat meat again?’

WITH SOMEONE IN ORDER because or ‘Why don’t you just of what TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND try it?,’” Smith I learned explained.

THEIR PERSPECTIVE. about the Boyd also shared the M A R L A B O Y D -A D K I N S O N effects largeT E AC H E R misconceptions scale factory she faces as a farming has vegetarian. on the environment, “There are two common the chemicals and drugs that the animals are misconceptions. Number one fed that then are passed on to the consumer and is that you must be protein the horrible conditions that the animals live in at deficient. Some people these facilities.” think that you According to both Cannon and Boyd, cannot possibly have their transitions from a traditional diet were not a healthy diet if you do as difficult as one may think. not eat “I was vegetarian for about three months meat. Number two is that prior and that transition was not difficult at all for you must just eat salads. Trust me,” Cannon said. me, I eat a lot more than salad,” B Y

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rossing more than $115 million in the U.S. and Canada alone, “The Greatest Showman” has dazzled fans and critics with smash-hit musical numbers and single-handedly resuscitated Zac Efron’s acting career.

Trailer after delightfully gaudy trailer brought the movie national attention in late 2017 and fans poured into theaters Dec. 8 to experience the highlyanticipated musical for themselves.

After watching the film, I can attest that “The Greatest Showman” is an entertaining, feel-good musical that attempts to encourage audiences to embrace their uniqueness. At its core it is a rags-to-riches story centered around Phineas Barnum, founder of the famous Barnum and Bailey circus and con man extraordinaire.

“La la Land’s” Pasek and Paul contributed to the movie’s excellent score featuring fast-moving musical numbers like “This Is Me” and “The Greatest Show,” which I firmly believe is its best quality.

The first scene, featuring Hugh

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“The Greatest Showman” was its blatant Jackman in a fantasy musical sequence, revisionism. Barnum is depicted as draws the audience immediately into an open-minded proponent of racial Barnum’s colorful world and there they equality; stay. Jackman as his hiring of Barnum carries the Wheeler most musical THE MOST GLARING PROBLEM siblings is performances, WITH THE WRITING OF “THE lauded as a with the very GREATEST SHOWMAN” WAS ITS testament notable exception to his noble of “This Is Me,” BLATANT REVISIONISM. character and performed instead E M I LY VA N B E RG E Y K M A N A G I N G virtue. Yet the by the incredibly real Barnum talented Keala was far from Suttle. I had the cleaned-up showman the movie never had the privilege of hearing presents.

Suttle’s powerful voice before “The The real Barnum did include AfricanGreatest Showman” but it is beautiful, Americans in his show—but not as strong and nuanced. performers and definitely not in order Suttle’s character, the bearded lady of to celebrate diversity. The AfricanBarnum’s circus, has a great character Americans in Barnum’s show were arc. In the beginning of the movie, she is treated like zoo animals. Most shocking incredibly shy due to bullying because of Barnum’s abuses is the enslavement of her facial hair; by the end, she and physical maltreatment of 80-yeargrows into a confident leader who old Joice Heith, who he displayed in his is not afraid of anyone. Her circus as the 106-year-old “mammy” of development as a strong, George Washington. In order to make her independent woman supposed age more believable, Barnum who does not let her get Heith drunk and had her teeth differences stop her removed. is showcased in the The film does attempt to address racism triumphant musical through the character of Ann Wheeler, a number “This Is young African-American trapeze artist Me,” in which played by the talented Zendaya Coleman she assumes a who falls in love with a wealthy caucasian leading role.

The dynamic between man. Their love story is intended to be the film’s acknowledgement of the racism her and the other circus of the time, yet it fell almost laughably performers is one of heartwarming camaraderie, flat when the movie hastily resolved the which really lends emotion characters’ complex struggle in order to make time for yet more glowing depiction to the movie. Seeing of Barnum as the performers’ savior and Barnum’s ragtag group of performers come together beloved father figure.

This film’s glorification of Barnum is into a family was not only touching but refreshing in a disturbing erasure of the realities of a movie filled with empty, the time. If “The Greatest Showman” had focused on telling the story of those trite attempts at the “be shunned by mainstream society instead of yourself” cliche. Suttle the glitz of show biz, it would have had as the bearded lady is more substance. a maternal figure in While watching the movie, I was this unlikely family, captivated by the emotional appeal of gluing them the score and characters. The tragedy of together with her indomitable Barnum’s early childhood even moved me to tears more than once. However, as the strength and movie progressed, the writers’ insensitive newfound handling of Barnum’s real-life legacy and fearlessness. the way they glossed over the small part I would of a person of color’s experience that they not have did address left me dissatisfied with “The minded if Greatest Showman.” the whole If you are only interested in an hour movie had been about and 45 minutes of entertainment, this is a great movie for killing time; if you are in Suttle’s search of substance or honesty, I would character. advise you to look for it elsewhere.

Unfortunately, it instead focuses on Barnum.

The most glaring problem with the writing of

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s a horror movie fanatic I was quite excited to see the new movie from the Insidious series, “Insidious: The Last Key.” Watching the last three Insidious movies made it a franchise I did not want to miss.

In the movie, Elise Rainier (the lead character) works as a paranormal psychic and battles spirits that terrorize the living. In the movie, they start off when Elise is a child playing with her brother. She grew up in a house next to the local prison where people frequently were executed in the electric chair. It is assumed to be that the spirits haunting the home were the spirits left behind from the electric chair.

Elise has flashbacks of her mentally and physically abusive household she grew up in. Throughout the movie it reveals her dark childhood and her mother being killed by by an evil paranormal entity tormenting Elise at a young age.

Her dad continuously abused her because he did not understand her psychic abilities.

We find out she ran away from her home when she was older to get away from her father. Sadly, she leaves her younger brother behind, leaving him terrified of their home and alone with their father.

Unfortunately, Elise had to go back to her hometown of New Mexico to battle an evil spirit with her team: Specs and Tucker. Later, she received an unwanted call from a man who was living in her childhood home.

When she receives the call, she starts to write down the given address and quickly turns it down. She soon calls back and agrees to make the trip because she understands the fear the man is going through.

When she visits her hometown, she meets two younger girls that end up being her nieces. She starts to bond with them and is reunited with her brother but he does not want anything to do with her. He is upset with her because of the horrific

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stories she told about their house and was forced to live with their father alone.

As she is helping the man in her old house, she starts putting pieces of her life together that she did not realize she was missing. She finds out some very dark family secrets and she is tortured by the reminder of losing her mother.

It is known that Insidious goes back in time from the previous movies and it is really interesting to see certain parts that were placed in the first Insidious movie that come up during “The Last Key”. I would recommend watching the first Insidious if you want to get certain flashbacks such as the iconic ‘red door’ that reappears throughout the previous movies released.

Not only does this movie resolve a cliff hanger present in Insidious: Chapter 2 but it has an amazing plot that I was not expecting, developing Elise’s character very well throughout the whole movie. Be prepared for jump scares, paranoia and wonder all at once, as I was pressed against my seat anxiously waiting to see what was next.

‘Jedi’ cuts down competitors

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I have grown up obsessing over anything Star Wars related.

“The Last Jedi” increased my love for the Star Wars universe.

In this thrilling film, Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill) gets interrupted by the daring Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) as she searches for her greater purpose with the Force.

While on the isolated island, she and Luke discover a darkness that will change their lives forever.

As Rey is connecting with the Force, Kylo Ren (played by Adam Driver) is conflicted on his purpose of being on the dark side.

Kylo is leading the First Order to control the galaxy and destroy what remains of the Rebel Alliance.

“The Last Jedi” had some of the best character development I have ever seen in a film.

I love how they made Kylo so conflicted inside. Throughout the film he struggled with deciding what side to be on, the light or the dark.

Kylo reminded me a lot of Anakin Skywalker (also known as Darth Vader) in the earlier films in the series.

Anakin, not only is Kylo’s grandfather, was also very conflicted.

Kylo always said that he wanted to be like the great Darth Vader and with both having the internal conflict, his wish came true.

The most adorable part of the film had to be the porgs. Porgs are little penguin-like

creatures that live on the island where Luke lived.

Porgs make adorable noises and help relieve the strong, intense tone of the film through humor. I wish I had one of my own that would sit on my shoulder, just like one did with Chewbacca.

The most important part of this film had to be the music. The music in the film sets the tone of the scenes. From intense to sad, the music varies greatly.

For me the most iconic thing of Star Wars, besides the lightsabers, is the music. Even while writing this, the melodies are filling my head. It is an iconic sound that you would recognize in a heartbeat.

However, one certain part of “The Last Jedi” was just so horribly done that it leaves a sour taste in my mouth just mentioning it.

If you have seen the film you probably know what I am talking about, Princess Leia Organa (played by the late Carrie Fisher) flying through the galaxy back to safety.

Not only did Leia magically not die during the explosion, she looked like Mary Poppins while flying back to the ship.

This part of the movie seemed so fake and rushed in editing compared to the rest of the film, making it stand out compared to everything else.

Overall, I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, even the people who do not like Star Wars. This film has all that you would look for, romance, action, humor, adventure and porgs. Although the film is more than two hours, it is well worth the time.

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‘REALMS’ DRAWS IN READERS

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agic and wizards and queens. Romance, betrayal and political intrigue.

Everything I have ever wanted in a story is spread out through “The Seven Realms” by Cinda Williams Chima. I have never been glued to a book series so fast. The four-book series is brilliantly written with likeable characters and an intriguing plot. It is safe to say I adore these books.

The books have two main characters. The first is Hanson Alister, a reformed “gang” leader that is trying to get his life back together for his mother and sister’s sake. The other is Raisa ‘ana Marianna, the princess heir getting ready to take her throne.

The story follows both of these young people as they go about their lives and overcome challenges. And then their paths converge.

I must mention that even though I knew that they would eventually

of my all-time favorite characters. meet, I was still so excited for that He is sarcastic, clever and ambitious moment. They are such different among a number of other qualities. I characters and they come from also liked Raisa, the other lead. She entirely different lifestyles; I was was naive at first but really developed curious as to how the author would handle such a meeting. She handled it throughout the series. I personally enjoyed Han’s storyline a little more perfectly. I will admit I cackled aloud but that is only because Raisa’s was a little bit when they meet. more political. Running a kingdom There are some books that you and all that. pick up and can As interesting immediately as her plotline recognize the THE AUTHOR CREATED A GREAT could be, inexperience of BALANCE BETWEEN TYPICAL it was a bit the writer. “The PERFECT PROTAGONISTS AND difficult to Seven Realms” do ACTUAL PEOPLE. stay totally not fit into that attentive category. There K AT E LYC H I K STA F F when Han was nothing was running that made me around and trying to stay alive. cringe from sheer cheesiness (it has The important part about these happened before). If I did cringe, it characters is that that are believable. was because my favorite character With all their great qualities, they was getting tormented and I felt his still had flaws— were still human. pain. Really though, the book was The author created a great balance well-written and despite being a between typical perfect protagonists “young adult” book, it felt deeper, and actual people. The romance more… serious to me than most YA between Han and Raisa was also books. pretty believable. They were rather The characters. Ah, how much young, so all the normal drama to I loved the characters. The male accompany such an affair was there. protagonist, Hanson, is definitely one

It was not the driving force for the books though— both leads had much more to think about than the other.

Surprisingly, there were some more “mature” themes, those that make you think. “History is written by the victors” plays a pretty big role throughout the series. I cannot say much more than that for fear of spoiling something unintentionally.

I like seeing characters struggle with morality, as strange as that may sound. Life is not perfectly black and white: it is shades of grey and it is good to see that being represented in novels. Sometimes ‘hero wins and bad guy dies’ just gets boring. Both main characters were willing to do less than heroic things and some villains ended up being a little bit heroic.

I could go on and on. I loved this series and now it is difficult to fill the hole it left behind. I do not think I was ready to leave that world yet.

It should not come as a surprise then that I would wholeheartedly tell anyone and everyone to go read it.

Not everyone will enjoy the books of course. Lovers of fantasy and adventure will probably like this series. So go on and give it a try.

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2017 has been a big year for the South Korean boy group BTS (acronym for Korean term “Bangtan Sonyeondan,” meaning “Bulletproof Boy Scouts”). From winning the Top Social Artist Award at the Billboard Music Awards to performing at the AMAs to releasing the album “Love Yourself: Her,” their rise to stardom has just begun in the American music industry.

Their most recent release “Love Yourself: Her” has reached more than 1.2 million sales, breaking a 16-year record on Gaon Chart, as well as on Hanteo Chart. At this year’s Golden Disk Awards, they won a digital Bonsang (main award) and album of the year Daesang (grand prize), being the first group not from SM Entertainment to do so, and were also awarded a Bonsang and Daesang at the latest Seoul Music Awards, breaking EXO’s four-year streak of winning the grand prize.

Millions have watched their music videos on Youtube, with their popular hit “DNA” having over 250 million views.

The members have also taken success from their solo projects. Group leader RM has made his debut on Billboard’s “Bubbling Under Hot 100” chart with his feature on Fall Out Boy’s “Champion” remix. Additional member Suga “Agust D” has been applauded by Billboard for his self-titled mixtape. Fans have been eagerly waiting for member J-Hope’s mixtape, which is expected to come out later

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this year- so far, he has released a song called “1 VERSE”.

Along with accomplishing achievements in music, BTS has been going viral on the internet, with having the most Twitter engagements, acquiring over 12.1 million followers.

The seven-member group consists of rappers Kim Namjoon “RM”, Jung Hoseok “J-Hope”, Min Yoongi “Suga” and vocalists Kim Seokjin “Jin”, Park Jimin “Jimin”, Kim Taehyung “V” and Jeon Jeongguk “Jungkook”. Performances are filled with incredible energy while the members dance, rap and sing with prominent ability.

Their music continues to inspire millions of ARMYs (BTS fans). Through the years, their style has gradually developed. Originally having a hip-hop/ R&B sound in their older releases, their newer albums range from ballads to rock tunes. However, the same passion lies in each of their songs.

Not only is the group talented, they are also socially aware. They recently launched a campaign with UNICEF following the release of their “Love Yourself: Her” album, called “LOVE MYSELF.” Additionally to promoting self-love, they are also supporting the #ENDViolence campaign,

which targets to end violence for children and certify their safety. The band donates three percent of their “Love Yourself: Her” album sales to the campaign, as well as all of the profit earned from their official goods.

Sophomore Mariah Talmadge has been listening to the group for about a year.

“My cousin told me about them and showed me their videos,” Talmadge said. “They are really humble and they always want to improve themselves and they work really hard in their albums.”

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A handful of white powder explodes into a large cloud covering the field of view. The hands go up and the foot goes to a point as the gymnast gets ready to perform.

GYMNASTICS IS UNIQUE BECAUSE WE ARE NOT ONLY ABLE TO COMPETE AS AN INDIVIDUAL BUT ALSO AS A TEAM. [WE] WORK FOR OURSELVES AT EVERY MEET AS WELL AS CONTRIBUTE TO THE TEAM SCORE. Madison Mestas sophomore

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Gymnastics requires the use of balance, control, flexibility and physical strength. For the perfect score, a gymnast must maintain all these elements throughout a routine.

“While gymnastics is very interesting, it also takes a lot of patience and understanding to watch. The scoring system is very specific and varies from routine to routine. I believe [for] some, this sport is just too complicated. Many want to just watch a game, not calculate and have to follow along

intently,” junior and PHS gymnast Maranda Greene said.

Scoring varies depending on the difficulty and the execution of a routine.

The score a gymnast earns goes to their placing in the meet and towards a total team score to figure out which team wins a meet.

“I think gymnastics is unique because we are not only able to compete as an individual but also as a team.

It helps us to work for ourselves at every meet as well as to contribute to the team score,” sophomore and PHS gymnast Madison Mestas said.

Routines performed by gymnasts hold a certain degree of danger.

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GYMNASTS EXPLAIN PASSION

Varsity gymnast Greene explains why she continues the sport despite the risk of injury.

“Everything in life has danger and possibilities but you continue them because you have a passion for them and the risk makes your performance all the more fulfilling,” Greene said.

Sophomore Kalista Barkley sees the sport a way to distinguish herself among colleges and to push herself to the limit. “[Doing] a sport... looks good to colleges because you are [seen as] well-rounded.

Also, it was challenging to get some skills and I liked to push myself to get better and be a well-rounded applicant,” Barkley said.

Although Barkley recognized the risks of competing in gymnastics, she continued and it this ended her sophomore season as a PHS gymnast.

“This year, I was injured.

I was doing a skill on high beam and did not land completely so I jumped down [off the beam] and when I jumped I landed on my ankle really badly. I partially tore a ligament in my ankle, along with a bad sprain,” Barkley said.

There is a possibility of injury when participating in gymnastics but that did not stop the 2016-2017 PHS gymnastics team from qualifying for State. “[My favorite memory is] when the whole district team individually qualified to state last year,” Greene said.

This is not a very well-known sport but to the gymnasts it is still important.

“Gymnastics is a smaller sport with less popularity. Many people do not know the sport because it is so hard to understand. Although it is not as popular as football, it is still as important to us as anyone else’s team is,” Mestas said.

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JOURNEY TO BIG GAME RECAPPED

became famous for, Brady throwing a clutch touchdown to Danny Amendola giving them a It is officially Super Bowl lead. season. The game is sure to be a It was up to the David versus Goliath battle as the defense who deflected underdog Eagles will take on the a desperation pass by powerhouse Patriots. the Jaguars to give “But how did the Patriots get them the win 24-20. here?” you might ask.

Some key Let us take a look at how players for the they got to their second straight Patriots to watch championship.

Coming off a championship season during the big game are Rob Gronkowski, James in 2017, the Patriots started off Harrison, James White rough. They began with two wins and Danny Amendola. and two losses.

Led by arguably the best But despite the early season quarterback in the NFL, struggles they ended it by winning Tom Brady, the Patriots 11 out of their last 12 games and look to do something becoming the number one seed in only eight other teams in the playoffs, securing a first round NFL history have done: bye and home field advantage. winning back-to-back In the second round, New Super Bowls.

England blew out the Tennessee The Patriots have Titans Jan. 13, 35-14, taking built a dynasty around that momentum to the AFC Brady who has led championship. them to eight Super It is Jan. 21 in the fourth quarter Bowls since 2000. with a shot at the Super Bowl at Despite their stake. dominance, the There are 10 minutes to go, Patriots are beatable Jacksonville Jaguars up by 10 when the Patriots did something they have and have some weakness.

Tom Brady is 40 years old in a hard-hitting sport, Rob Gronkowski is injuryTHE PATRIOTS HAVE BUILT prone and Tom Brady does A DYNASTY AROUND BRADY have two Super Bowl losses WHO HAS LED THEM TO EIGHT so he is beatable. On the other hand, Brady has made SUPER BOWLS SINCE 2000. amazing comebacks in big JACO B W YAT T games previously and has STA F F key players with him to do so.

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the Atlanta Falcons, going in as the underdog. This was the first time ever that a first seeded home team was the underdog.

Foles threw for 246 yards with no touchdowns. The Eagles went on to win 15-10, moving on to the NFC Championship game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Once again the Eagles were the underdog, going up against the second seeded Vikings.

The Vikings had the number one defense in the league and were in favor to win the game but the Eagles still had home field advantage on their side which came into play with the Eagles upsetting the Vikings 38-7.

Their next stop now is the Super Bowl against the Patriots.

The last time the Eagles competed in a Super Bowl it was in 2005 and it was against none other than the New England Patriots and they lost 24-21. Will the Eagles come up with the upset against a team that only one team has stopped or will they face the same fate that five other teams have faced?

With the last rounds of the playoffs taking place two weeks ago, the Super Bowl is set for this Sunday with the Philadelphia Eagles facing the New England Patriots.

Take a look back on the Eagles’ miracle of a season.

The Eagles started their season hot going 8-1 before their bye in week 10.

Coming back from their bye, they would go 2-1 but then something tragic happened, having the potential to end their whole season.

The starting quarterback Carson Wentz went down with an ACL injury in week 14.

The Eagles announced Wentz would be out for the season shortly after that game and that backup quarterback Nick Foles would be starting for the remainder of the season.

Foles would win two out of the three games he played ONCE AGAIN THE EAGLES WERE in the regular season, which was enough to THE UNDERDOG, GOING UP secure his team with AGAINST THE SECOND SEEDED a first-round bye and VIKINGS. home field advantage JA I M E G OLDBE RG throughout the playoffs.

STA F F Coming off the bye, the Eagles had to battle

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Super Bowl 52 is set.

It will be between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles, taking place in Minnesota, Feb. 4 at 3:30 p.m.

The Patriots will be the home team and the Eagles are the away team, as it switches off each year between the AFC and NFC team respectively.

Superstition surrounding the game has arisen as the Patriots are the first team to pick their jersey color.

Skeptics say they will be wearing their white jerseys as the last 12 out 13 teams have won wearing white.

However, the Eagles will be wearing their home green jerseys.

The Patriots are coming off

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a Super Bowl win just last year. They have won five rings previously before competing in Super Bowl 52.

The Eagles, on the other hand, have appeared in the Super Bowl twice but never won.

The last time the Eagles have been in the Super Bowl was during the 2004 season, where they similarly met the Patriots and lost.

Both teams have been favored to win by many, showing no clear winner yet in this match up.

The question remains: will the Patriots succeed in obtaining a back-to-back win or will the Eagles rise to the occasion and get their first Super Bowl win?

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BLAIR WALSH DISAPPOINTS FAN

kick. There was excitement in my home when he actually made a field goal, which should not be the case when rooting for your own team. He should Blair Walsh is put to the test having to kick a be able to make any field goal from 45 yards or 52-yard field goal in the Monday night football closer, depending on the weather. game against the Atlanta Falcons. The Walsh’s treachery all started way Seahawks are down 31-34 with seconds back when in 2016 while playing for the remaining and Walsh is the only option Minnesota Vikings. During his career in to tie the game. The ball is snapped and Minnesota, he happened to miss a field Walsh kicks; the ball is on frame but goal while playing the Hawks in the NFL inevitably falls short. This game, no, wild card game.

He missed a 27-yard field this play is the main reason Seahawks goal resulting in a loss.

For some reason, fans blame the terrible kicker for the the Seahawks traded their star kicker, Seahawks’ failure to advance to the NFL Steven Hauschka, to the Buffalo Bills playoffs in 2018. and picked up this terrible, gameB Y R I L E Y D O M A N This season alone Walsh made 21 S T A F F blowing kicker.

I do not agree with this out of 29 field goals, a 72.4 percent decision, because of the terrible season average, the lowest in the NFL. Many he has had. of the missed field goals could have been game The Seahawks should have kept Hauschka on winning, ending up with the Seahawks advancing the team because of the wonders he has done to the playoffs. for this team.

For instance, in the game Also, when against the Redskins, they traded Walsh missed three field WALSH’S TREACHERY ALL Hauschka, the goals before the end of the STARTED WAY BACK IN 2016 Hawks should first half. Because of this, WHILE PLAYING FOR THE have done more they lost 17-14. Or the first research into MINNESOTA VIKINGS. game of the season against the background the Arizona Cardinals R I LE Y D OM A N of Walsh, S T A F F when Walsh missed a especially 48-yard field goal which because he gave would have resulted in a up the wildcard spot for the Vikings win for the Seahawks. only a year later when he missed Personally I never enjoyed when Walsh had to

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arguably the easiest field goal in the game.

After making a whopping 21 field goals this season, many critics would say he is a great kicker.

Their opinion is wrong. Walsh missed eight field goals, some being the easiest field goals. Or they claim the reason the Seahawks lost all those games this season was due to the offense and defense not doing their job. But the whole point of the offense is to march down the field and get into or as close to the endzone as possible, allowing for the field goal kicker to do his job.

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SPRING ATHLETES BEGIN TRAINING P H O T O S

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Senior Owen Ebner has been playing soccer since he was six years old and has been a goalie on the school team for four years.

In order to train, he has been doing drills, specifically shooting drills, schrimaging and kick-arounds.

He believes that success during the season comes down to being prepared. “[It is] all preparation. If you are not prepared, there are only 10 days of actual practice before the first game. If individuals and the team are not prepared for a high school game, you will not succeed.

It also helps you get in the

mindset,” Ebner said.

As for goals, Ebner hopes his team wins leagues again, which would be the team’s fifth year in a row and gets past the first round of state. As an individual Ebner is striving for constant improvement and to get as many shut-outs as he can.

“Hopefully I will be committed to play college ball and get on an allleague or all-state team,” Ebner said.

His favorite memories come from winning big rival games, such as Curtis and Sumner. They are exciting games to win and the atmosphere and team is fun to be around, he says.

Senior Britney Carey has been playing softball since she was nine years old and has been an outfielder for the PHS team for four years. She has been recovering from an injured ACL meniscus so in order to train, she has been doing a lot of physical therapy and working out, such as cardio, fielding, throwing and hitting, she says. “[Training is important because] you want to be prepared and ready to play at 100 percent,” Carey said.

Carey’s goals for the season are to get back at it after her injury and for the team to make it back to state, she says. She has many great memories but a significant one includes a funny pre-game tradition. “[Senior] Sophia Bjerk always has an apple on the bus on the way to games and she always just whips it out of her bag. One day, she whipped it out and it was a tomato and we just all started laughing,” Carey said.

Above: Senior Owen Ebner scrimmages with fellow soccer players at Sparks Stadium. He is training for his fourth and final season with the PHS Boys Soccer team. “If individuals and the team are not prepared for a high school game, you will not succeed. It also helps you get in the mindset,” Ebner said.

Senior Colin Monaghan has been racing track since he was in fifth grade and has been on the PHS track team for four years.

Monaghan competes in the long distance events: the 800m, mile and two mile. In order to train, he has been running a lot of miles and doing intervals. “[I train] so I can get in shape,” Monaghan said.

His goals for the season are to qualify for state. He enjoys running with his teammates, especially senior Andrew Oslin. Next year he plans to attend the University of Puget Sound and race cross country and track.

Senior Bella Faccone has been playing on the Girls Tennis team for four years. To train she has been hitting the courts with her friends, when it is not raining and watching professional tennis on TV to learn what she should be practicing.

“It is important to train pre-season so that you can be in the same place you left off instead of coming back to the sport a little rusty and working your way back to where you were instead of getting better from the getgo,” Faccone said.

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Her goals for the season are to do the best she can to have a fun senior year of playing and to make it back to post-season, she says.

She has had many enjoyable memories throughout the years.

“My best memory was when Hazen took the team to get ice cream after traveling back from Olympia in the PHS van,” she said.

Next year she plans to attend WSU and hopefully find some time to pick up a tennis racket every now and then, she says.

Right: Senior Colin Monaghan runs intervals with brother Liam Monaghan to train for the spring track season. Colin races to get in shape and be ready to start the season, he says.

Sports // Feb 2. 2017