The Bruin - November 2022

WADSWORTH HIGH SCHOOL

VOLUME XLVIII, ISSUE 2 NOVEMBER 2022

CELEBRATING

55

YEARS OF WHS JOURNALISM

THE BRUIN INSIDE THE BRUIN

7

FEATURES Bruin’s 55 Anniversary 10,11

Four Cities Compact

8,9

New Bruin Room

12

Thomas Lowe Scooter

12

INSIDE T H E

BRUIN

NEWS

ENTERTAINMENT

18

Hurricane Recovery

7

17

Play Tech Crew

Veteran’s Day

7

17

Scare On The Square

Speech and Debate

5

18

Chicago Play

School Wifi

6

18

Little Women Play

DC Trip Canceled

6

OSU Vs Michigan Recap

OPINION

13

10,11

16

Kalahari

19

The Rings of Power vs House of the Dragon

WHAT’S TRENDING 20

8,9

SPORTS Ohio State vs Michigan History

14

Piehl vs Hire

14

Fall Sports Pictures

15

2 NOVEMBER 2022

Midnights

5

EDITORIAL THE BRUIN

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STAFF EDITORIAL

THANKSGIVING SHOULD NOT BE SKIPPED IN THE MEDIA

A

@WadsworthBruin

s we enter the holiday season stores fill with holiday decorations, foods, and clothes. Businesses and media are so anxious to get their new inventory out that they forget holidays like Thanksgiving. Placed right between Halloween and Christmas, businesses do not cater to the Thanksgiving decorations and holiday festivities as much. The media is strongly focused on getting the decorations in and out of stores, starting at high prices and dropping the prices as soon as the holiday is over. Thanksgiving needs to be recognized just as much as the other holidays. Thanksgiving is a time of gathering and giving reasons as to why you are thankful and this is just as important as the other commercial holidays that get fully considered everywhere else. The way that this can be accomplished is by waiting to push products that are Christmas themed until Thanksgiving is over. There are so many complaints every year about how quickly the Christmas decorations come out at stores. We think that Christmas shopping should start on Black Friday– that way, stores will get even more business on that night, and Thanksgiving can have its own time.

Sincerely, The Bruin

THE BEARS’ BIRTHDAY BASH

COMIC BY CARLEY SORRENT

On The Cover: Cake provided by Ann’s Pastries Cover photo by Lily Chesbro Featured on the cover are Bruin Staf Writers Joseph Davis (left), Grace Barrett (center), and Carson Bernard (right).

BRUIN STAFF 625 Broad Street Wadsworth, OH 44281 CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Lily Chesbro & Carley Sorrent

ADVISOR Eric Heffinger

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER Katie Griffin

SPORTS EDITOR Carson Bernard

FEATURES EDITOR

NEWS EDITOR Katie Allen

OPINION EDITOR Luke Houser

STAFF WRITERS Aiden Brown Alex Banks Angel-Belle Jones Drew Bowerman Lizzy Edwards

IN-DEPTH EDITOR

Grace Barrett Joseph Davis Lauren Ball

Haley Reedy

Lezlie Tinney Lily Love Mallory Gershutz

Katie Basinger

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Brenden Barlett

Noelle Allen Olivia Benner Jade Wilcox Sydney Blake Bri Perkins

Editorial Policy The Bruin is a monthly publication produced by the Newspaper II and Newspaper III students at Wadsworth High School. The Newspaper I class produces the May issue. The staff will do its best to inform

the student body and the community of intra-school, community or national events that affect the student body. This paper provides on-the-job training for the staff members. All decisions are made by the staff members with the advice and suggestions of the adviser. The school administration works closely with the staff to ensure accuracy. We, as the students of journalism, hold the same rights and the same responsibilities as professional journalists as we strive for professional standards. These rights include the right to print any material that is not libelous, obscene or excessively disruptive to the school process. The Bruin will not discriminate against anyone on the basis of religion, color, creed or sex. The staff members accept full responsibility for everything appearing in this publication. The staff strongly encourages students to express their opinions through the letters to the editor column, which is printed every month. The staff also encourages the members of the community to express their opinion as well. Space permitting, all letters will be printed. We reserve the right to edit or omit any portion of any letter because the staff accepts the responsibility for the contents of the paper. All letters must be signed, but the name will be withheld upon request.

WADSWORTHBRUIN.COM 3

THE BRUIN NEWS

WHS YEARBOOK STAFF TRAVELS TO ELYRIA HIGH SCHOOL

BY ALEX BANKS

that they might not normally be aware of in their yearbooks. While they were there, they got to do a variety of things to help them learn how to enhance Wadsworth’s future yearbooks, such as marketing and planning. They were also able to exchange ideas with other yearbooks and learn from each other. “[The part that was most beneficial was] the ideas that we were able to get from other people and from the other yearbooks, when they were showing examples of really great pages, a lot of people had new ideas and we’re going to try and incorporate new page ideas so that we can get more inclusive coverage and include more people in the book than we have,” said Mrs. Laura Harig, advisor of the yearbook. “That’s our goal this year, to get more people in the book.”

To begin their time there, they listened to a presenter who taught them about different yearbook layouts. The staff learned that sometimes less can be more in a layout and that having a big picture or a burst The yearbook staff gathers outside the gates of Elyria High School. of color can be more Photo courtesy of Sienna Lucci.

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n September 28, the Wadsworth High School yearbook staff went to Elyria High School for their first field trip since Autumn of 2019.

Every member of the staff had the opportunity to go on the trip if they had their field trip form signed and turned in. There are 13 members that are part of the staff this year and all of them were able to go on the trip.

They left school at the end of second period and returned to school in the middle of eighth period.

They order their yearbooks through Jostens and they have a program called Yearbook Avenue and Layout Pro, which is a workshop to show them things

ADVERTISMENTS

4 NOVEMBER 2022

beneficial in drawing attention to a page instead of just having a lot of pictures.

“It is important to not have every page look alike, but still have a connecting theme throughout them, in order to help draw attention,” said Sienna Lucci, sophomore and member of the yearbook staff.

Then, they learned how to diversify their yearbooks. During this, they learned about how they should incorporate a more diverse group of people and how they should strive to represent everyone at Wadsworth High School.

“We want to make sure that every single person in the school is represented, and not just the typical people who you would see in the yearbook each year,” Lucci said.

Finally, they got to do a project where they learned how to pose people for photos in a way that would make them comfortable. To practice doing this, they got to take pictures of each other and while trying different poses.

“I think that my favorite part had to be when we tried out different poses on each because it was really funny to do with each other but overall still a really fun learning experience,” Lucci said.

Typically, the yearbook staff takes this trip every year but this was disrupted due to COVID-19. They normally go on the Jostens trip during the Fall and

then throughout the year a Jostens representative will come to them to answer their questions and help them out.

They are hoping to return next year and go back to their routine of going every Autumn for Jostens.

Ashley Weingart and Olivia Beldean pose outside of Elyria High School. Weingart is the Chief of the yearbook staff and Beldean is the Assistant Editor in Chief. Photo courtesy of Sienna Lucci.

NEWS THE BRUIN

GIVES STUDENTS A VOICE program oral interpretation focuses on.

“In POI, usually you have a book, that’s the one time where you get to use a prop, but you can’t read the things in it,” McEwen said.

“You’re supposed to flip the pages every time you change character, and a lot of times you will work with poetry and prose.”

In addition to this event, humorous interpretation combines acting and comical features that allow for a hysterical piece to be presented.

“They try to be funny; a lot of the time they will try to do stand up or take a serious movie and try to make it more comical,” McEwen said. “They do different positions and they use different voices to show different characters.”

Similar to duo interpretation, dramatic interpretation often focuses on a single person presenting a piece in an emotional, theatrical light.

“You can do a script from anything you want, but you tell the story by yourself,” McEwen said.

All of these speeches take place in classroom settings in front of judges, where

competitors are expected to sit and observe the speeches before they are announced to present.

“Some people do really funny things, some people do very dramatic things,” McEwen said. “They can sometimes do really heavy topics like losing a child or talking about school shootings, even sexual assault cases and mental disorders.”

Entertainment is a large factor of interpretation, according to McEwen.

supported and argued on behalf of the participants.

In with “We write essays on each side of the topic developing arguments that properly and when you go into your debate round, you weigh their claims on a particular issue. typically debate two-on-two,” Wilkinson said.

This category is largely evidence-based Round structures always require one and involves four different event types of first speaker and one second speaker for formats, three of which Wadsworth offers. each partnership, and each competitor Public Forum is a style of debate that plays a different role in the duo. For public requires two students to work together forum, the first speaker presents the essay under a partnership. Ben and arguments, while the Wilkinson, a senior at WHS second speaker prepares and the Vice President of “WE WRITE ESSAYS ON rebuttals and refutations. the Speech and Debate EACH SIDE OF THE TOPIC However, both students team, competes in this in cross-fire AND WHEN YOU GO INTO engage event with Colin Moore. debates with the opposition “There is generally a YOUR DEBATE ROUND, at varying points topic that comes out every YOU TYPICALLY DEBATE throughout the round. month that you work on,” Beyond this event, TWO-ON-TWO.” Wilkinson said.

Wadsworth also offers Each topic, which covers Lincoln-Douglas debate, - BEN WILKINSON, VICE PRESIDENT a different political issue which is a philosophical OF THE SPEECH & DEBATE TEAM and ensures two specific and moral debate involving sides, must be properly one person. Policy debate,

which Wadsworth does not provide, involves two students; however, it is structured and spoken much faster than public forum.

Congressional debate is unlike these debate events because it forces a solo competitor to debate in a chamber of “representatives” with regards to a docket.

“How Congress works, basically, is every competitor gets a docket every week that is voted upon, and then the docket is set with potential bills that students themselves write,” Wilkinson said. “They then go into a chamber, having written a three minute speech on each side of the topic, they simulate a congressional chamber debating pieces of legislation and voting upon them.”

Speeches within the debate category range from three minutes to eight minutes, some prewritten and others developed during rounds. Regardless, students are challenged with efficiently and quickly creating responses that both attack their opponent’s cases and support their own cases.

INTERPRETATION Interpretation greatly contrasts with the

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BY DREW BOWERMAN

adsworth High School’s Speech and Debate team recently began this year’s competition season at its first tournament on October 29. Due to the various events that the team makes available for students, those who are involved are able to freely express their creativity and engage in the often overlooked opportunities that the extracurricular offers.

Although many WHS activities require hard work and dedication, Speech and Debate operates as a full-scale commitment for participating students. Not only are students expected to fulfill high standards, but they are also encouraged to express their appreciation for the team.

Speech and Debate tournaments span three sports seasons, beginning in late October and ending in late March. However, those who excel throughout the school year are provided with the opportunity to attend Nationals, which occur in June. During the season, students compete every Saturday across Northeast Ohio at various schools, many of which are separated by speech events and debate events.

Tournaments usually begin early in the morning and last throughout the late afternoon. When at the tournament schools, students are designated specific numbers and receive messages on their phones that direct them to classrooms where they patiently wait for other competitors and judges to arrive. After the tournament has concluded, all participants join together in a large area, often an auditorium or gym, and rewards are given to the six highest-placing competitors in each event.

Students are required to dress formally, typically in suits and dresses that appropriately represent Wadsworth. Certain categories of the activity involve partner combinations where students wear attire that compliments and coincides with their partner’s outfit.

Speech and Debate covers a wide variety of presentation styles and events that focus on specific skill sets of students. Typically, competition events will fall under three distinct umbrellas: interpretation, debate, and public address.

At the National Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, members visited many different local restaurants.

Photo courtesy of Drew Bowerman

factual structure of debate. In this category, students are encouraged to reveal their acting capabilities by performing various scripts that often deal with both funny and serious issues. This umbrella includes mostly 10 minute speech events that both require memorization and uniquely outline the theatrical portrayal of students.

Kianna McEwen, a senior at WHS and the Secretary of the Speech and Debate team, participates in duo interpretation with her partner, Zach Randles.

“The biggest part about interp is that it is about just pure acting; you cannot have props, you cannot have costumes, and, if you’re in duo, which is the only partner event for interp, then you cannot look at each other or touch each other,” McEwen said.

These requirements for interpretation make it a very competitive and entertaining category, according to McEwen. Certain events even require students to quickly change between characters, which is what

DEBATE debate, students are tasked

PUBLIC ADDRESS

Lastly, public address has the remaining options within Speech and Debate. The area of this activity that this form of speaking heavily weighs on is the art and skill of addressing an audience. Rather than acting or debating, public address utilizes more informative styles of presentation that are judged based upon the way competitors speak and display their topics.

Anna Wallace, a junior at WHS and the President of the Speech and Debate team, competes under informative speaking.

Public address, however, also includes the events of declamation and original oratory.

The National qualifying members prepared to leave for their five hour trip to the competition. Along the way, they stopped at the Cincinnati Zoo to observe some of their favorite animals.

Photo courtesy of Grace Barrett

“The most basic one starts out with declamation, which is basically just reciting a speech given by someone else,” Wallace said. “So that includes commencement speeches, Ted Talks, celebrity interviews, whatever it may be where you didn’t write it, but you’re being judged on your performance of it.”

In addition to declamation, original oratory puts the content in the hands of the competitors by tasking them with developing their own ideas.

“Original oratory is basically the same thing as declamation, except the only difference is that you write your own speech,” Wallace said.

The final style of public address is the event known as informative speaking, which combines the written aspect of original oratory with other factors, such as props.

“It is a purely educational, informational speech,” Wallace said. “You do have an opinion on what you’re talking about, but you’re not trying to convince people why you’re right. It uses visual aids to help push the topic that you’re talking about.”

These events promote a more presentational tone in comparison to the

Sam Zulia (coach), Cale Breuers (12), Evie Silliman (12), Isaac Machar (coach), Anna Wallace (11), and Leia Gonzales-Banaag (12) posed for a photo after receiving awards that advanced them to the national tournament this past school year.

Photo courtesy of Anna Wallace

Before the beginning of the 2022 season, the Speech and Debate team hosted a Halloween Party where all members came dressed in costumes and toasted to the upcoming tournament.

Photo courtesy of Anna Wallace

other umbrellas, which creates a different atmosphere for the audience that observes the rounds.

Two other events, United States extemporaneous speaking and international extemporaneous speaking, somewhat fall under this umbrella as well. Competitors do not collect prior research, but rather, develop a seven minute speech in 30 minutes after being presented with a new topic at the beginning of each round. Students are given three politically focused options to analyze, and they present their speeches one-on-one with a judge.

WADSWORTHBRUIN.COM 5

THE BRUIN NEWS

@WadsworthBruin GAS APP

A new app, Gas, is beginning to become popular amongst WHS students. The idea behind this app is that students from surrounding districts, including but not limited to, Norton, Copley, and Barberton School Districts, can vote for other students from these districts for “flames”.

A flame is the category that a student wins.

A randomized survey is sent out every hour asking questions to students and asking students to pick one of four options for that survey topic.

This is an example of what each survey may look like, all four options are students at WHS. Once a student votes, the person they voted for will be notified that they got a new flame.

SECURLY FILTER STOPS ‘WIFI-BLOCKS’

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BY HALEY REEDY

ome student concerns have arisen at Wadsworth High School about the new “wifi-blocks”. These so called “wifi-blocks” make accessing Google and Safari on a cellular device next to impossible while being connected to the school’s wifi network. Although student opinion is that the wifi is blocked, in fact, it is not. All that students need to do is download the Securly filter and both search engines will work.

Accessing the school wifi has been an issue for some students dating back to the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. On Sunday, September 18 2022,

Screenshot by Haley Reedy

NEW UK PRIME MINISTER

Liz Truss, former UK Prime Minister resigned after only 6 weeks in office. Truss has had the shortest term in the history of the UK’s Prime Ministers. Rishi Sunak is now the new Prime Minister, being the first Prime Minister of color in the history of the UK. Sunak is 42 years old and is a member of the conservative party. Sunak was born in Southhampton, U n i t e d Kingdom.

Rishi Sunak is the new prime minister of the UK, sucessing Liz Truss after her resignation after only 6 weeks in office. Photo Courtesy of Fair Use

KANYE WEST CANCELED FOR “ANTI-SEMETIC” TWEETS

On the week of October 10 Kanye West tweeted several ‘anti-semitic’ tweets and is receiving lots of backlash from across the United States. Twitter blocked the post and locked West’s account. This controversy is bringing up the larger issues about online censorship and how much a social media platform should be allowed to censor posts.

6 NOVEMBER 2022

Screenshot of what the settings look like when accessing the Securly Certificate in order to connect to the schools wifi. Students are able to turn this filter on or off. Screenshot by Haley Reedy

WHS principal, Dr. Vincent Suber, sent out instructions on how to access the wifi in his “WHS Weekly Update” email.

“Is the wifi ‘blocked’ or ‘broken’ or any of those things, no of course not,” said Phil Luthman, Director of Technology for the Wadsworth School District.

A document written by Luthman was sent out to all the students by both Luthman and Suber.

This explained all of the steps on how to access the schools wifi.

“There are two steps: first, connecting to [the] student [wifi] and second, installing the Securly certificate,” Luthman said.

Securly is the web filter used by Wadsworth City Schools in order to safely manage student searches while connected to the schools internet service.

“The Securly certificate lets our web filter see everything that you do when you’re here at school.” Luthman said. “Everything that you search in Google, the websites that you go to, it’s all filtered by user so it filters you by the policies that your account is under.”

Some students say that they do not want to connect to the schools wifi or accept the Seculry certificate because they do not want the filter to track them outside of school.

“Our school has three public IP addresses…our Securly certificate is only tied to those three, so when your web traffic

If students have any questions, Suber continues to put out the document written by Luthman along with Luthmans instructional video on how to connect to the wifi. This QR Code can be scanned to be taken directly to the ‘how-to’ video

by Phil Luthman, the Director of Technology at Wadsworth, to be shown how to access the school wifi.

emerges from those 3 [IP] addresses, it is filtered,” Luthman said.

Luthman wishes to make it very clear that, when students are outside of the school building and not connected to any of the 3 IP addresses, that the school does not track what you do.

“I’ve tested this myself. I’ve left work while having the Securly certificate on my phone and done web searches with my work account and none of them show up in my web history,” Luthman said.

In order to connect to the school’s wifi, first students need to go to the settings app on their phone. Next, scroll and open ‘General’, once in ‘General’ students need to scroll until they find the ‘VPN & Device Management’ button. Click that button and follow the steps as followed.

WMS D.C. TRIP IS PERMANENTLY CANCELED

that spring, and presented a number of difficulties for he Wadsworth Middle School the following few years.

Administration has decided to Due to increased permanently cancel the 8th grade trip complications, the to Washington, D.C. The trip provided an administration decided to opportunity for students to experience the discuss adjustments for nation’s capital firsthand and apply their the future. knowledge of history and government.

“The administrators However, the negative aspects of the trip thought very long and hard about this have brought about the decision to put an decision, and considered all of the various end to this tradition. items that go into this trip,” said Amanda The D.C. trip was attended annually from Gorden, President of the Wadsworth Board 2014 until 2019. The COVID-19 outbreak of Education. in 2020 forced the cancellation of the trip The decision for permanent cancellation was finalized over the summer. It was then publicly communicated at the beginning of August by Dr. Andrew Hill, Superintendent of Wadsworth City Schools.

There were a number of contributing factors involved in this discussion. For years, each student has been responsible for paying for the trip in full, as there were no extra funds or fundraisers to provide financial assistance to those who were not able to afford the full payment. Therefore, if a student or family did not have the means to pay, that student would unfortunately not be able to attend.

This 3-day overnight trip also required many staff members, parents, and administrators to take multiple days off of work and/or away from families. This was not always easy to do, especially for employees with a limited number of paid The Lincoln Memorial is one of the main attractions absences or family members who missed for D.C. visitors. It was built in 1922 to honor the out on time at home.

16th president, Abraham Lincoln, and is visited by Although COVID-19 was a main reason nearly 7 million people every year. for the last few cancellations, Dr. Hill does Photo courtesy of Fair Use. not believe that the COVID-19 outbreak

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BY NOELLE ALLEN

This flag symbolizes the city of Washington in the District of Columbia. Charles Dunn, the flag’s designer, based this design on the personal coat of arms of George Washington.

Photo Courtesy of Fair Use.

should be blamed for this decision. The overall negative aspects of the trip had a much bigger impact on the cancellation.

Dr. Hill believes this conclusion would have been made regardless of pandemic complications.

The community has handled this announcement in a positive and understanding way; however,some negative responses from students can be expected.

“There is disappointment with some of the kids and families because it was a trip that some were looking forward to doing,” said Gordon.

However, many are aware that it was a decision that needed to be made for the overall safety and well being of the students.

WMS students and staff are grateful for this opportunity to visit D.C. over the years.

“The middle school staff willingly gave their time for a number of years to be able to provide this opportunity to students,” Dr. Hill said, “I think a ‘thank you’ to them is well deserved.”

NEWS THE BRUIN

REBUILDING AFTER HURRICANE IAN HIT FLORIDA

BY LEZLIE TINNEY AND ALEX BANKS

to essentially, “throw her life away.”

“Cleaning it out was a very hollowing urricane Ian hit Florida on experience,” Baxley said. “Looking at all of September 28 as a category four your stuff in trash bags really, really, sucks. hurricane. Hurricane Ian’s path And throwing away so many things that I’ve traveled through Florida and further down had since I was a kid, that was really, really, south. difficult. I think the most difficult thing the When Hurricane Ian hit, Alyssa Baxley entire time is people taking advantage of had to evacuate. Now, a month later, her the situation by coming through to places and others are attempting to recover from that have to throw everything out and then the disaster. Residents have been told that taking things, and then selling them for being back in their homes might take at profits.” least six months, but it is looking closer to She and other residents have also been a year. struggling with the increased risk of identity Once the water receded, people were theft. In addition, they have been arguing able to go back and see the state of their with insurance companies about how and homes; however, some did not have much if damages will be recovered. to go back to.

“A lot of people are trying to find personal When Baxley was able to return, she had documents to steal your identity in this situation, which is even worse,” Baxley said. “You would think it doesn’t get worse, but unfortunately, there are just not a lot of good people in this world, and they just love taking advantage of the situation.”

People are now faced with the question of when they will be able to move back into their homes, if they will even be able to do that, or if they are going to have to find a new place to live.

Dylan Joseph’s home was destroyed by the hurricane. He is a former WHS student who is now living in Punta Gorda, Hurricane Ian left the streets flooded, and Florida. destroyed people’s vehicles. Because of this, some Joseph had evacuated with his mom were unable to leave their homes once the flooding began. and was unable to come back to his

H

Photo courtesy of Alyssa Baxley

house for a few days. Once he returned they were able to see the full extent of the damages. Then, they got to work with cleaning up. Joseph’s whole house is going to need to be redone because of the damages.

“Right now we aren’t able to get out of our house and into a rental home because almost every home in my area is damaged,” Joseph said. “We just have to live with plywood covering where our roof was ripped off and the damaged doors and windows.”

The school that Joseph now attends Shown above is Joseph’s destroyed living room. He has had to extend school two weeks into and his family had to rip all their flooring out and their summer break, and take a week cover the exposed ceiling with plywood. off from their winter break. Currently Photo courtesy of Dylan Joseph they are working on rescheduling their some rest,” said Mory Fuhrmann, co-chair missed events, and getting back into a of Ohio Telecommunications Emergency normal routine. At their school they have Response Taskforce. emotional support resources available for When they arrived, they saw catastrophic students and staff. damage to the outer island. Damage was “Everyone basically has nothing severe further inland as well, but power anymore, but we have each other and we had been restored to “the buildings who are finding strength in that.” Joseph said. could handle it”.

The state of Ohio sent aid to help those in “Many bridges to the mainland were emergency services who had been working severely damaged or destroyed,” Fuhrmann essentially non stop since the hurricane said. “They were essentially cut off.” hit. Ohio’s team worked 12 hour shifts for The storm surge was around six feet of 11 days straight to provide Florida with as water and many areas were under water for much assistance as they could while they a day or two. were there.

People are now faced with the question “The aim of sending the team down there of when they will be able to move back into was to let those dispatchers in Florida be their homes, if they will even be able to do able to catch their breath, check on their that, or if they are going to have to find a own family, friends, and homes, and to get new place to live.

WHS VETERANS DAY ASSEMBLY COMES BACK

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BY ANGEL JONES

ovember 11, 2022 will be Wadsworth High School’s first in-person Veterans Day Assembly since the pandemic. At the assembly, WHS will be recognizing all Veterans. Mr. Knapp is a WHS history teacher and his Advanced Placement (AP) students will be doing most of the assembly. Mr. Berlin, the assistant principal of Wadsworth High School, did the planning for the assembly for the past years.

“Mr. Knapp’s AP students do most of the hard work, I just make sure that everything goes smoothly,” Berlin said.

“I also contact everyone, so they know when and where to come.”

This year, Mrs. Hampshire, the assistant principal, who looks over all the sophomores and juniors will be running the veterans assembly for the 2022-2023 school year.

“I am very excited to be able to help “I have all of my students do a with this program this year,” Hampshire Veterans Day Project, and then I usually said. pick some that I think would be good for On the morning of Veterans Day, at the assembly,” Knapp said.

8:00, WHS welcomes veterans to a This year, Connor Gaugler, Carson breakfast made by Bernard, Avery Nicholson, the WHS kitchen Eliana Wilson, Elle staff, served by the Baughman, and Emma Bush “How hard is it to thank are involved in the assembly.

Student Council until 8:45 in the morning. a veteran? How hard “It is almost solely studentThen, at 9:50 AM the is it to stand and clap led, so [Mr. Knapp and I] veterans will be lining just facilitate it, we contact when they walk in the up at the gym doors the people who need to be to be welcomed in by gym to show them that contacted, make sure the our WHS students. they are appreciated?” gym is set up properly, make With the assembly sure the microphones work, previously being -Rich Berlin, assistant and simple stuff like that,” virtual, Berlin believes principal at WHS Berlin said. that in-person is a There will be a Prisoners better opportunity of War (POW) and Missing In to showcase Action (MIA) ceremony this W a d s w o r t h ’ s year during the assembly. appreciation. He thinks that the One student will be laying different items “feeling of them walking in and having on a table to display for everyone to see 1600 people clap for them” can not be and another will be reading something replaced. they wrote explaining each item for the During the assembly, there will be AP POWMIA. In addition, the WHS choir and U.S. History students reading speeches band will be performing different songs that they wrote on different topics about and dances at the assembly.

Veterans Day. Knapp has been involved “Veterans need to know that people with the Veterans Day Assembly for over care about them and appreciate what twenty years. they do for us, because none of us can There are usually three or four student imagine what it is like to be fearful of speakers that Knapp will participate in your life every second of every day the assembly. because you’re in battle,” Berlin said.

Mrs. Hampshire looks at her 2022-2023 Veterans Day assembly plans. WHS will be having Mrs. Hampshire take over for the assembly. Photo by Angel Jones.

This issue is particularly important to Berlin because his son-in-law is in the military and has been deployed multiple times.

“Just make sure to say thank you,” Berlin said.

Veterans Day is important to many people in Wadsworth and everyone involved is hoping to show their appreciation for America’s veterans.

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THE BRUIN FEATURES

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CELEBRATING THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUR CITIES COMPACT

BARBERTON

BY HALEY REEDY

O

FIRE/EMT

ne of the many compacts that Barberton High School hosts is the Fire Safety/EMT compact.

The teachers, Tim McCurry and Brandon Reedy, both have had long careers within the fire and EMT services.

This compact is a twoyear program, that gives Instructor Brandon Reedy, stands on a wall with his students. The students can take the knowledge that they learn from this compact to both juniors and seniors many different feilds, besides just fire saftey/ EMT. opportunities to pursue Photo courtesy of Grace Swain. the Fire Safety/EMT career fields as well as what we’ll be doing in the future,” Swain many other fields. Students learn the basic said. “Plus it’s fun.” skills of technology and communication, In fire-fighting, there is a lot of training anatomy and physiology of the human body and physicalness that goes into it. Students and medical terminology. in the Fire Safety/EMT compact have to do “I picked this compact because of the a lot of community service in order to get certifications you can come out of it with,” their certification at the end of the year. said senior at Wadsworth High School, “We have to get 250 [hours], that’s a lot Grace Swain. “If everything goes as of hours to get in just one year,” Swain said. planned I will be a firefighter 2 and EMT by There are also a lot of service projects the end of the year.” that go into this compact. For example, last The Fire Safety/EMT program gives their year students made food for people in their students lots of hands on experiences and family. learning skills, such as burn buildings.

“Food is such a big part of the community Burn-buildings are exactly what they of the fire service. We made a meal and sound like, a building is lit on fire in a safe then presented about it in school,” Swain and controlled environment that allows said. firefighters and the compact students to be Most fire stations work in shifts of three. able to train and learn the proper way to There is typically an A shift, a B shift, and put out a fire. a C shift. All of these shifts are 24 hours Hands on learning is a tool that a lot and firefighters will live at their designated of the compacts do in order to give their station for their shift. So food comes into students the best in-field advice and affect, because when firefighters are at practice. the station that is truly their second family, “My favorite part of the compact are the based on the amount of time that they hands on days, it introduced us to more of spend with each other.

Fire Safety/EMT students stand outside of Barberton High School posing in their uniforms.

After completing this compact, there are certifications that you can receive that make you an EMT, some of these students will graduate with and firefighter 2 and EMT certification. ghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghgPhoto courtesy of Brandon Reedy. ghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghghg

8 NOVEMBER 2022

NORTON

T

ATHLETIC HEALTH SCIENCE AND WELLNESS

BY KATIE ALLEN

aking place at Norton, the Athletic Health Science and Wellness program teaches students a broad base of skills that can be applied to sports medicine, any health care career and everyday life. This year, this program is entering both its 21st year of being a class within the Four Cities Compact, and its 19th year being taught by Susan Ward.

“Athletic Health Science and Wellness is a broad based program in which you can go into all kinds of athletic health and exercise science, athletic training, exercise physiology, physical therapy, and speech therapy careers,” Ward said. “I’ve also had students go into nursing, lobotomy, technician programs, and teaching.”

On a regular week, students will do classwork like notes and book work on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The subjects studied during these days include, anatomy, physiology, rehabilitation techniques and procedures, and social aspects of the healthcare workforce.

On classwork days the class is split into three different courses. For juniors, these courses include Anatomy and Physiology, Exercise Science and Athletic Training and Fitness Assessment and Evaluation. For seniors the courses are Exercise Science/ Medical Terminology, Athletic Injury Prevention and Fitness and Evaluation II. Medical Terminology taken by seniors in the second semester is a college credit plus online course through Stark State college. This means that if students pass the exam, they can receive college credit

Shown above, the current seniors practice boarding. Boarding is just one of the many skills students learn in the program.

Photo courtesy of Susan Ward

from this program.

Then, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, students will participate in labs.

Some of these lab activities include taping and bandaging, taking blood pressure and heart rate, measuring joint motion, designing an exercise program, measuring body composition and learning exercises using fitness equipment.

“Learning how to wrap and tape ankles is my favorite part so far,” said junior Stella Breuers. “I play soccer which means I can get hurt a lot, so it’s super helpful to be learning how to both treat and prevent those injuries.”

Throughout the two years in this program, students are given the opportunity to take part in observation and volunteer hours through schools, hospitals and community events. By the end of their senior year, students are expected to complete 250 hours of volunteer work.

This program is a great option for freshman and sophomores wanting to go into the medical field or just want to try Shown above, current seniors are taping each something new. other’s wrists and ankles. The class regularly does class circuits which every student goes around to practice the skills on other students.

Photo courtesy of Susan Ward

T

FEATURES THE BRUIN

BY KATIE ALLEN, HALEY REEDY, AND LILY LOVE

he 2022-2023 school year brings around the 50th Anniversary of the Four Cities Compact. Offered to Barberton, CopleyFairlawn, Norton, and Wadsworth High School students, the compact offers numerous Career Tech Education programs. The compact helps to guide students toward career opportunities.

Through the compact, students have many additional resources available to help them in their future careers. Some compacts are two year programs that require students to have joined their junior year in able to participate in the compact their senior year.

However, there is a nursing program that is a senior-only compact.

There are several new compacts to join the Four Cities within the past few years, including,the Pharmaceutical Science Program, the Veterinary Program, and Programing, Design, and Robotics Program.

WADSWORTH

T

BY LILY LOVE

ENGINEERING

he engineering class at Wadsworth High School is led by Kip Shipley. This class is almost completely hands-on, allowing students to be involved with what they are learning in class.

Within the class students learn project management, soft skills, and technical aspects of engineering.

Students in the class have the opportunity to participate in co-ops and internships, allowing them to apply their knowledge from the classroom to work in the real world.

Mr. Shipley has been teaching the Engineering Design and Technology class at Wadsworth Four Cities Compact for the past seven years.

“This course is anywhere between 60% to 80% hands on all the time,” Shipley said.

“Even if the lecture or the academics isn’t hands-on, then it is related to the hands-on activity.”

Students in this program are able to receive a total of nine CCP (College Credit Plus) credits for the University of Akron or Kent State, along with a C tag, which is three credits that can be used at any state university in Ohio.

The class and credits help students to advance in their post high school education or their post high school job, allowing them to learn multiple skills in their field of work within the school setting.

Many of the programs at the compact overlap each other, giving students from different programs to work with each other on a number of unique projects.

“Mr. Van Kirk, the Programming Design and Robotics teacher, and I do a joint project called soldering,” Shipley said. “Students use capacitors, resistors, and an integrated circuit board to solder those components onto a board, and it has to do a certain function.”

The class starts with small skills, in order

COPLEY-FAIRLAWN PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE

F Claire McNeil and other students work on a joint project with the Programming Design and Robotics class. They are learning how to solder different things to a circuit board to perform a set function. Photo courtesy of Mr. Shipley

to build into bigger, sometimes joint projects with the other programs within the compact.

Allowing students who are in the class to really grasp the concepts of the class, and work towards bigger goals at the same time.

“We usually do a Sea Perch Contest, which is underwater robotics,” said Shipley. “Usually we go at least once or twice a year for some competitions. After COVID-19 we are slowly getting back to it.”

Participating in competitions gives students the opportunity to showcase the skills that they have gained over their time in the class. Additionally, these competitions allow students to interact with others in similar fields or programs as them.

This class is available to juniors and seniors that attend one of the four schools in the Four Cities Compact; Barberton, Copley-Fairlawn, Norton, or Wadsworth. Juniors taking the class attend a two-period block during first and second period, Seniors taking the class attend a two-period block during seventh and eighth period.

“I think in general, if you’re interested your sophomore year, or even if you’re a freshman, start looking at the opportunities that we provide here.” Shipley said.

WHS junior Claire McNeil first became interested in the Engineering Design and Technology class after attending the sophomore field trip.

“I came in during the specific class [visiting] day,” McNeil said. “The welcoming

environment and people made me want to join.”

Soldering practice board. Engineering students use these boards to practice and model soldering skills. The board allows them to carry out set functions, and is done with the Programing Design and Robotics students in Mr. Van Kirk’s class. Photo courtesy of Mr. Shipley

At Wadsworth High School, a new classroom was added for the Engineering Program to share with the Programing, Design and Robotics Program. Students in this compact use lots of technology such as 3-D printers in their day to day life within the compact. Photo by Haley Reedy

In November, sophomores are able to go on a field trip to Barberton High School to learn a little bit more about all of the programs at the Four Cities Compact.

Students even have the ability to use a number of specific days to travel to the

different high schools and spend a day in the class that interests them.

BY HALEY REEDY

or students wanting to enter a medical field, the Four Cities Compact offers many medical based programs. If students are interested in a Pharmaceutical career path, then the Pharmaceutical Science program may be a good fit.

According to the Four Cities Compact website, “The Pharmaceutical Science program is designed for students who want to be a critical member of the healthcare team, essential to provide patients with safe and effective medication therapy.’’

Run by Katherine Amos and hosted These are the students in the Pharmaceutical Science at Copley-Fairlawn High School, the Compact during their NEOMED field trip. During this pharmaceutical science compact is a field trip the students got to do a ‘capsule creation lab’ relatively new program to join the Four where they were able to experiment with capsules.

Photo courtesy of Katie Amos.

Cities Compact. said Daren Bailey-Bunner, Junior at “I worked in retail pharmacy for 5 years and at the Barberton Summa Barberton High School that attends the Hospital for 12 years,” Amos said. “My pharmaceutical science program.

At the end of the program, the goal is, the bosses were involved in the conversation [of starting up the pharmaceutical get students their Pharmacy Technician science compact], my name was brought Certification, which is a certification that is accepted nationally. up and I accepted.”

“You also gain a lot of inner personal In the pharmaceutical science compact, students learn about drug uses, skills that you can use for any job field,” how drugs affect the body, pharmacy law, Amos said.

Each compact has their own special and how to prepare medication.

“There is a lot of memorization that thing that makes each compact enjoyable goes into all the different aspects of it and personal for the students.

“We went to NEOMED, which is a [the pharmaceutical science program],” pharmacy and medical school.” BaileyBunner said. “It was a really cool experience because I aspire to be a pharmacist when I’m older.”

Amos also enjoyed the NEOMED field trip and the way that it was able to show her students the university and get to talk to those in the field.

The pharmaceutical science compact, is partnered with PioneerRX Pharmacy Software, “which allows students to learn in a real world environment using the most installed software for independent pharmacies. Students will have an opportunity to enhance their clinical and functional skills by training in a pharmacy system that is innovative, robust and feature-rich,” according to the Four Cities Compact Website.

Four junior students (from left to right: Johnny If students are interested in joining Bullock, Rich Ebner, Daren Bailey-Bunner, and David Nichols) in the Pharmaceutical Science next year, pay attention to the upcoming Compact. The students were doing a lab where messages from guidance about next they create a bath bomb. Photo courtesy of years compact scheduling.

Katherine Amos.

WADSWORTHBRUIN.COM 9

THE BRUIN IN-DEPTH

THE BRUIN

CELEBRATES

ANNIVERSARY

55

th

EXPLORING THE HISTORY OF STUDENT JOURNALISM AT WADSWORTH HIGH SCHOOL

BY MALLORY GERSCHUTZ, LIZZY EDWARDS, AND SYDNEY BLAKE

W

adsworth High School’s newspaper officially adopted the name The Bruin on October 19, 1967. 55 years later, it is now recognized as one of the most successful student-run newspapers in Ohio.

The Bruin has had a long journey to become what it is today. Behind all the awards and recognition is a history filled with secret underground papers, racing through snowstorms to meet deadlines, meetings with lawyers, and everything in between.

The earliest accounts of student journalism at WHS are found in the 1950s. According to WHS’s yearbook, The Whisperer, an official school newspaper was predated by a group of students who had formed what was known as the News and Views Club. They wrote updates about the different sports, clubs, and other activities going on in the school, which was published weekly in the local newspaper, Wadsworth News-Banner. The students’ work earned them a regular column in the paper. It was first named “W.H.S. Grizzette,” before being changed to “The Bear Facts.”

By the end of the 1950s, the News and Views Club had organized into a journalism class. The students continued writing columns for the Wadsworth News-Banner-this time in a more official setting. They also learned the skills needed to pursue a career in journalism.

The passion for journalism shared by these students culminated in the creation of the first official student newspaper at WHS. It was named Campus News, referencing the college campus-like layout of the recently built high school.

“The high school was laid out with several buildings in those days, hence a campus,” said Tom Joswick, a staff member who graduated in the class of 1969. “It was very cold and windy between the buildings, but we liked being on a “campus” despite that.”

Campus News quickly became

1967

WADSWORTHBRUIN.COM 10

an established part of WHS. It was a way for student journalists to showcase their talents to the public, as well as for the student body to stay informed about what was going on in their school. Even the name itself was an appeal; according to Joswick, many students felt pride in the design of their newly built school.

But less than a decade later, the name Campus News was all but erased from the vocabulary of WHS students. The content of the newspaper stayed the same. The layout style didn’t change. The stories were written the same as always. The only difference was the name at the top of the cover: The Bruin.

According to John Gramuglia, the advisor for the newspaper from 1985 to 2016, this name was chosen because it was the winner of a school-wide contest. Yet for many students, it took a while to adjust to the new name. Ultimately, it was the aptness of the new name that made it stick.

“A bruin is a bear, which plays off the Grizzly mascot rather well,” Gramuglia said.

The new name became official in 1967 with the October publication. It included an article on the front page wittily titled “Murder at WHS!” which referred to the

The Bruin staff during the 1967-68 school year. Editor Karen Aston and her staff made the decision to change the newspaper name from Campus News to The Bruin. Photo Courtesy of The Whisperer

“murder” of Campus News.

In the same year, an “underground” newspaper began to circulate. Known as the Bear Baiter, this paper was written and published by a Canadian foreign exchange student named Greg Warren, who was unaffiliated with The Bruin. While it lacked the thorough editing of stories in the official paper, the Bear Baiter was still passed enthusiastically from student to student.

However, limited access to the mimeograph on which the Bear Baiter was printed resulted in a limited number of copies. In the end, the paper was only around for one year.

Back in the journalism classroom, The Bruin was only growing. The most popular stories of the time were profiles of certain stand-out students. These stories provided an opportunity for high schoolers to get to know their peers, especially if the student being profiled was one that they wouldn’t normally interact with.

“You didn’t have social media…in those days. So it was a way to learn something about some of the other students that you didn’t know or didn’t have a class with,” Joswick said.

As The Bruin continued to grow and become more popular, the staff started to feel the effects of their limited resources. The classroom they worked in was equipped with only ten typewriters to be shared among the entire staff.

The publishing process provided another challenge. First, each article needed to be typed up on a typewriter. Next, they were sent to the printer, which printed the text out with sticky strips on the back side. From there, the strips

1974

downsides. Students were using the newspaper to raise their voice on a variety of topics, some more controversial than others. Stories criticizing school lunches, the dress code, and school spirit were always sure to incite contention.

In one extreme situation, a student’s criticism of a local business necessitated the

The first paper with the name The Bruin was published on October 19, 1967. The cover of this issue featured a story called “Murder at WHS!” Since many students might not have been aware of the new name, this headline was designed to bring attention to the fact that Campus News had been “murdered” and replaced with The Bruin. Issue Scanned from The Bruin Archives

were stuck to a sheet to give a sense of how much space each article would take up.

“We literally would cut and paste the story on the layout,” Gramuglia said.

The process took so long that the staff was often hard-pressed to get their issue to the printing company in time. Retrieving the printed paper presented a whole new problem. One year, two Bruin students drove through a snowstorm to the Hartco Printing Company in order to pick up the December issue in time to sell before Christmas break.

It was not until the late 1990s that the newspaper finally started to resemble the modern Bruin. Everything changed with the arrival of computers at WHS. Initially, The Bruin class was given one computer to share.

“Every staff member was assigned a disc to save their article on. We had to rotate with a timer for each staffer to be able to use the computer,” Gramuglia said.

Still, the staff was thrilled with this new technology. The purchase of the Adobe Pagemaker program enabled them to lay out the paper on the computer and print it themselves. This saved valuable time, allowing the students to focus more on their stories.

Then, in 2000, principal Mr. Ron Jones announced that a 25 seat computer lab was being built for The Bruin to work in.

Each student had access to a computer and all the features that came with it.

“It felt like we died and went to heaven,” Gramuglia said.

The new, professional look of the paper attracted even more readers.

However, the attention had its

1977

intervention of lawyers.

This inevitable controversy did little to weaken The Bruin’s growing momentum. In what would become the most popular story to date, the staff took on the responsibility of reporting on the story of 9/11.

“We did an amazing job getting through that day and covering the event afterwards in The Bruin,” Gramuglia said.

Other popular stories were about the new school being built, girls and boys basketball and wrestling winning the state championship, school levy passage and failure, and new administration.

In 2016, Gramuglia retired after 32 years of being the advisor for The Bruin. He was replaced by Eric Heffinger, who is currently still the advisor.

While Heffinger followed many of the precedents set by Gramuglia, he did initiate a major change: making the paper free for students.

Up until that point, students could only read The Bruin if they purchased it. The price was one dollar per issue, or five dollars to buy a subscription card for a year’s worth of issues. However, only a small percentage of the student body was buying papers.

Gramuglia worked with Heffinger to find a way for all students to be able to read the paper for free.

“It was my goal to have everybody in the school get a newspaper. We felt like it’s really the kids’ school; it’s their newspaper,” Gramuglia said.

Before long, The Bruin went through another major change, this time in regards to the style of the paper.

Marraya Youngblood, editor-in-chief of The Bruin from 2018 to 2019, decided to switch paper from a newspaper to magazine

1997

style. This new style featured a front cover with a full-page image filling the background.

“Everything felt dated,” Youngblood said. ‘I knew we could do things that were new and cool.”

Youngblood’s idea was inspired after attending the Ohio Scholastic Media Association conference at Kent State University. The conference hosts hundreds of students from surrounding schools and teaches them skills in journalism that they can apply to their own newspapers. After seeing other schools that had designed more modern looking papers, Youngblood was determined to do the same for The Bruin.

“I didn’t think the newspaper was as popular as it could have been, so I was excited to take a chance and see if I could change things and make it better for everyone,” Youngblood said.

Youngblood proposed the idea to Heffinger at the end of her junior year.

She created countless mock covers and revealed them to her staff. Heffinger and the staff loved the idea.

The first magazine-style cover featured an action shot of volleyball player Kacie Evans.

This aligned with Youngblood’s goal for the paper to start taking more quality pictures, especially from sporting events.

Although Youngblood was nervous about how such a significant change might be received, she was pleased with how it turned out in the end. Throughout the rest of her time in The Bruin, she had the opportunity to help design a number of other covers in the magazine format.

“It’s really nice to know that I made an impact on the paper,” Youngblood said.

The experience of being part of The Bruin has had lasting effects on many students.

IN-DEPTH THE BRUIN

Mike Kovack, who is now the Medina County Auditor, has taken many skills that he learned in his time on The Bruin and applies them to his job today.

“I learned some terrific writing skills, which still serve me well today,” Kovack said. “It also taught you how to work with people.

There were always conflicting opinions of what should be in the paper or what should be covered and by whom, and you had to work it out to get to the finished product.”

Evan Dammarell, the Associate Editor in Chief from 2010-2011, is now pursuing a career as a professional journalist.

“I am my own editor now because I’m fully independent,” Dammarell said. “The stuff I learned from being an editor [for The Bruin] is really helpful.”

Dammarell works in sports journalism, specializing in basketball. He now works with the Cleveland Cavaliers to write stories covering their season. Last year, Dammarell brought Julia Swain, the sports editor from 2021-2022, with him to a Cavs game to give her an experience of working in a professional journalism setting.

“The Bruin sparked my interest in journalism…My first story for The Bruin was about the Cavs, so it’s kind of funny how it came full circle,” Dammarell said.

The change Youngblood made--along with the changes made by Gramuglia, Heffinger, and others over the years--have shaped The Bruin into what it is today. But if there is one thing that has remained the same all these years, it’s the unique environment of different students working together to achieve the same goal.

“Every part of the school was represented,” Gramuglia said. “All the different kids were represented, and they got to know each other on a different level; the cliques were broken down. That’s what I like about it.”

The Bruin’s 55th anniversary is an opportunity to celebrate the dedication, commitment, and hard work of generations of Wadsworth High School students--and more to come.

Writers from the 1999-2000 school year work on their new computers. This was the first year The Bruin had a full set of 25 computers. Photo Courtesy of The Whisperer

Present

Scan the QR code with your phone camera to read all past issues of The Bruin dating back to the 1960s.

WADSWORTHBRUIN.COM 11

THE BRUIN FEATURES

THOMAS LOWE TAKES ON SCOOTER CHAMPIONSHIP

T

BY LUKE HOUSER

homas Lowe, sophomore at Wadsworth High School, is competing in the World Skate Games Championships, which began the week of October 24 and continued throughout the rest of the week in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“I’ve just been doing it since I was young; I’d just do it with my friends for fun,” Lowe said.

Lowe began practicing scootering at Valley View Park five years ago. There he spent his time learning from friends about all the nuances and tricks that could be performed with a scooter. Lowe has been practicing his skills for around five years now, originally beginning with a Razor scooter he bought from Walmart. He eventually started going to Chenga World skate park in Cleveland as he improved.

“I just started learning new tricks and just made it more fun… kinda kept progressing from then,” Lowe said.

What had started off as just a fun hobby was quickly transforming into

something Lowe would be passionate about and something he would be able to compete in.

“I got better and started competing,” Lowe said.

Lowe states that he started competing when a friend of his recommended him to a competition through Instagram.

Staying dedicated to learning new tricks such as tail-whips, bar-spins, jumps down stairs, and grinding handrails, he began to compete with the skills he had learned.

“How I got recommended is through Instagram, one of my friends who’s pro recommended me to the World Skate,” Lowe said.

Gaining enough skill and experience to compete did not come out of nowhere, though. Lowe said that his usual practice times include going to the skate park for about three to four hours a day, four to five times a week.

Having done this for around five years now, it is obvious that Lowe has put a lot of effort into his skating.

“I just ride and try to learn new tricks like every time I go to the skate park,”

Lowe said.

After enough competitions, Lowe was recognized by World Skate. World Skate was founded in 1924 and is affiliated with the International Olympic Committee. They are the only governing body in the world that handles all sports that are performed on skating wheels. This means they deal with roller skating, Lowe poses for photos during a skate meet in Cleveland. Consistent skateboarding, and in practice, especially with friends, has been key to Lowe’s success.

Lowe’s case, scooters. They Photo courtesy of Thomas Lowe.

After having competed for a few years host competitions each year in different countries all around and outdoing many of those around the world. Last year’s competition was him, Lowe was invited to the World in Barcelona, where they had scootering Skate Games competition. He and a competitors from across the globe. This few others will represent the U.S. in the is Lowe’s first World Skate Games event Junior Street League, which includes and he will play in their Junior Street anyone under 18. He will compete against several other countries from competitions.

Scootering is a newer addition to around the world who also partake in the realm of the World Skate Games. the games. Junior ‘street’ is the specific The organization plans to continue to style of scootering he will be performing.

“I’m competing in Junior Street,” develop the sport into its organizations, and this year’s world championship will Lowe said. “But there [are] professional be a big part of that. Scootering only [competitions], which is older, like 18 joined the organization a couple of and above.”

Lowe states that he hopes to keep years ago, but it has grown a lot since then. Rewards will be offered to the competing as an adult. He sees it as winners, and Lowe hopes to take one of an enjoyable hobby that can always be those rewards home. To prepare for this improved upon. If he does well at the big event, Lowe has kept up the practice World Skate Games, he plans to attend bigger competitions in the future. in order to continue to improve.

WHS TRANSFORMS THE 1400 ELL INTO PUBLICATIONS ROOM

A

BY KATIE BASINGER

t the end of the 2021-22 school year, the Wadsworth Bruin was given permission to transition the 1400 hallway learning lab into a publications room.

In early 2022 Mr. Heffinger, the Bruin advisor, submitted a plan to Dr. Suber that would allow him to use the 1400 extended learning lab to house the equipment for a grant that he applied for. After finding out that the school had planned to close off the extended

Wadsworth football players pose for the cover of the October Issue. The Bruin chose to use the white background because it had the most contrast with the uniforms, which made future editing easier. Photo by Carson Bernard.

12 NOVEMBER 2022

learning labs, Heffinger submitted a plan to purchase equipment for an in-house photography studio that the Bruin would use in the 1400 hallway.

In the spring, Heffinger was invited to a banquet where he found out that he won the grant money.

The addition has allowed the Bruin and the Yearbook staff to have access to a photography studio. The money from the grant allowed for the publication classes to purchase lighting, backdrops, cameras, and more.

The Bruin writing staff had sometime in the previous weeks to try out the new equipment before their first actual shoot.

With the new technology available to the Bruin, the staff was able to hold a cover shoot for the October Issue.

Two of the Bruins editors, Brenden Barlett and Carson Bernard, worked on preparing the studio the days leading up to the cover shoot. They set up the lighting and the backdrop to contrast with jerseys the football players that were being featured were wearing.

“On Thursday, when the players came in we had all the stuff set up for them, all they had to do was change.

We had them try out different poses individually. We had to try to get all the lighting right and all the camera qualities right. For the most part it went really well,” Bernard said. “We knew the uniforms were going to be black and red so we had to set up numerous backdrops with people in this class

Students in the Bruin took pictures for the November issue of the paper. The students set up the Publications Room so that they could take photos of students holding a birthday cake for the cover story “The Bruin Celebrates 55th Anniversary.” Photo by Eric Heffinger.

wearing different colors to see how it would look on camera. We even tried a green screen to see if we could put a football field in the background.”

The Bruin was also able to use the studio to assist with this months covers story, The Bruin’s 55th anniversary.

Students set up the studio and posed with a cake featuring the Bruin logo.

The photography studio is a huge step for the growth of all the publication classes. The yearbook staff has also been able to take advantage of the new room.

Mrs. Harig, the advisor of the yearbook, says that they have benefited greatly from the extra space and the photography studio.

“We have a lot of times that we have

quotes and we need pictures of people and the gray bricks of the building get really boring,” Harig said. “We are going to look at all the football jerseys that football players are wearing, so we took individual pictures of just the jerseys so we could do cutouts of those.”

In the near future, Mrs. Harig would like to see the room equipped with bookshelves to hold all the yearbooks that are in the school’s possession. The room also will also be gaining curtains to help with the lighting during shoots.

Heffinger said that part of his goal is to make a small makeshift news desk television studio. He also wants to use the space to start a podcast studio and potentially work with the Media and Communications compact.

A

s November and winter sports seasons begin to roll around, with it comes the end of most of Wadsworth’s fall sports seasons. Many experienced success throughout their seasons, as well as in early round of playoffs. Congratulations to all of our athletes. For seniors of these sports, it was their final hurrah in their respective sports, and for their teammates, they will now begin preparing to tackle next season.

GIRLS TENNIS

Varsity girls tennis earned a second place finish at the Medina Doubles Tournament during their season. Their overall record was 11-9 and 2-4 in Suburban League play.

Photo by Lauren Ball.

BOYS GOLF

Varsity boys golf placed second at the OHSAA Sectional Tournament to qualify for the District Tournament. They then placed tenth to conclude a very successful season.

In the Suburban League National Conference Championship, they earned a third place finish.

Photo courtesy of Cortney Skidmore.

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

During their season, Varsity volleyball defeated Twinsburg to earn a share of the Suburban League National Conference Championship and end the regular season 14-8 (9-3 Suburban League). As of October 26, they are still competing in postseason play and will take on Magnificat on October 27 for the district championship.

Photo courtesy of Reese Pluskota.

GIRLS GOLF

Varsity girls golf ended their season finishing eleventh at the OHSAA Sectional Tournament.

At the Suburban League National Conference Championship, they placed fifth.

Photo courtesy of Chloe Cliffel.

Varsity cheer was responsible for not only cheering on WHS’s varsity football team, but also keeping the student section excited throughout all their games.

Photo courtesy of Olivia Benner.

FOOTBALL

BY LAUREN BALL

CHEER

GRIZZLY FALL SPORTS COME TO A CLOSE

SPORTS THE BRUIN

Seniors on the football team are photographed prior to senior night. The Varsity team finished the regular season 6-4 (4-2 in the Suburban League). On October 28, they will take on the Elyria Pioneers at home in the first round of the OHSAA Division 1 playoffs.

Photo courtesy of Olivia Benner.

BOYS SOCCER

Varsity boys soccer huddles up at a game.

Their end of season record was 5-1-1 in the Suburban League & 14-3-1 overall. They lost to Olmstead Falls 4-2 in the OHSAA Sectional Semifinal to end their season.

Photo courtesy of Michael Watson.

GIRLS SOCCER

Varsity girls soccer celebrates after scoring a goal. They made it to the OHSAA Sectional Final before falling to Magnificat 7-2. They finished their season 6-12-1 overall.

Photo courtesy of MilliLee Photography.

BOYS GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY CROSS COUNTRY

Varsity boys cross country circles up before a meet. They placed 15th out of 24 teams at the OHSAA District Meet at GlenOak High School to conclude their season.

Photo courtesy of Carson Bernard.

Varsity Girls Cross Country placed tenth out of 17 teams at the OHSAA District Meet at GlenOak High School. Two Grizzly athletes qualified as individuals for the Regional Meet on October 29.

Photo courtesy of Rowan King.

WADSWORTHBRUIN.COM 13

THE BRUIN SPORTS

OHIO STATE .

S V

MICHIGAN BUCKEYES AND WOLVERINES LOOK FORWARD TO “THE GAME”

T

BY LAUREN BALL AND JOSEPH DAVIS

his is the moment football fans have been waiting for. Whether you are a die-hard fan or a casual spectator of football, chances are you have heard of the intense rivalry between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. “The Game,” as it has been appropriately titled, is drawing near, and with it comes the scrutiny of both teams’ seasons, predictions, and, of course, the opinions of some students

MICHIGAN, 25% VIA ESPN ANALYTICS MATCHUP PREDICTOR

OHIO STATE, 75%

#

here at WHS. Michigan emerged with a 42-26 victory last year over Ohio State after a ten year drought. The Wolverine win made both teams hungry to prove themselves again this year on November 26 in Columbus, where the Buckeyes will host.

Let’s start with this year’s home team: the Ohio State Buckeyes. As suspected, they are the team to root for here in Wadsworth due to the local affinity for Ohio’s biggest university. As of October 26, the Buckeyes are 7-0 (3-0 in conference play) and are placed second in the Big Ten East. They opened the season with a 2110 win over the fifth ranked team, Notre Dame, in week one. Since then, they have scored 45 points or more against their competition, albeit against all unranked teams.

Averaging 543.7 yards per game, the Buckeyes’ offense has been strong right out of the gate. They also lead the nation in points per game so far with 48.8.

These statistics have helped convince Ben Stuchal, sophomore at WHS, that the Buckeyes will win this year.

“I think it’s going to be an offensive game the whole time until the last minute,

2

In the Associated Press

and the defense will have to stop each other,” Stuchal said. “I think OSU will win because they have always had the better team and they will do anything to win.”

Stuchal believes that Ohio State is the best team in the nation and since the organization has a chip on their shoulder from last year’s loss, it will help propel them to a win.

“Because it’s the last game of the season, it will boost their momentum and they will definitely win, especially at their home stadium,” said Stuchal.

Now for their underdog opponent: the Michigan Wolverines. They, like their rival counterpart, are undefeated in both regular season and conference matchups (7-0, 4-0). The Wolverines are currently first in the Big Ten East. In week seven, their victory over then-ranked number ten Penn State solidified their standing as both a Big Ten and national powerhouse.

The Wolverines have posted a .737 offensive completion percentage under sophomore quarterback JJ McCarthy, second only to number twelve UCLA in the national rankings.

WHS sophomore Tahlie Loftin thinks that for these reasons, Michigan will

SEASON LEADERS

CJ STROUD (Redshirt Soph.), QB MIYAN WILLIAMS (Jr.), RB EMEKA EGBUKA (Soph.), WR

HEAD COACH: RYAN DAY (2019-Pres.)

MICHIGAN Wolverines

7-0

14 NOVEMBER 2022

SEASON LEADERS JJ McCARTHY (Soph.), QB BLAKE CORUM (Jr.), RB RONNIE BELL (Sr.), WR

HEAD COACH:

JIM HARBAUGH (2015-Pres.)

extend their one year win streak into at least two.

“I think Michigan will take the win,” Loftin said. “I think that the win from last year is going to push them to keep going and to keep on winning, like how Ohio State did that with Michigan [in the past].”

Loftin believes that the Wolverines will emerge victorious, but it will be a very close contest.

“There are things players have improved upon, and some players have come and go which is why the outcome will continue to be different,” Loftin said.

ESPN’s matchup predictor says that Ohio State has a 75% chance of winning, and they are also a 8.5 point favorite over Michigan according to Caesars Sportsbook. As of October 26, the moneyline and total over/under for the game has not been released.

Whatever the outcome of “The Game” is, it will no doubt be a hard fought battle and an entertaining contest for fans of both teams. Tune into Fox Sports on Saturday, November 26 at noon to catch both teams in action as they fight for the rivalry victory.

OHIO STATE

Buckeyes

7-0 # 4

in the Associated Press poll

SPORTS THE BRUIN

WHERE IT ALL STARTED: THE HISTORY OF THE RIVALRY

I

BY CARSON BERNARD

t is that time of the year again.

College football is up in full swing and one of the biggest rivalries is just around the corner. The Ohio State Buckeyes are set to play the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, November 26.

This national rivalry between the two teams is not something new. The teams first played each other in 1897 with Michigan coming out with a 36-0 win. Little did the nation know that this win would start a fierce rivalry between the two teams that is still burning to this day.

Michigan, for twenty-two years, came out on top, winning 13 games and only tied twice with Ohio State. Michigan’s nine game winning streak from 19011909 is the longest winning streak held by both teams in rivalry history. Ohio State took home their first win against the Wolverines on October 25, 1919 with a score of 13-3.

The rivalry was just heating up. As of 1969, the Buckeyes had only 24 wins as compared to the Wolverines who had

a whopping 38 wins. The following and fan base for these two schools is so big this rivalry was earning national recognition.

John Yaggi, a high school history teacher at Wadsworth High School and lifelong Ohio State fan, gave his thoughts on the fan base of both teams.

“OSU fans are more ruthless, but Michigan fans can be pretty ruthless too. I think this hatred is pretty equal,” Yaggi said.

On November 22, 1969, Ohio State traveled to Ann Arbor for the honorary rivalry game. This game is one of the most notorious in rivalry history.

Coach Woody Hays, longtime Ohio State coach, lost his former player and short term staff member Bo Schembechler.

Ohio native, Schembechler being from Barberton, was hired by Michigan and offered the head coaching job for their football program. This era of the rivalry is known in the college football world as the Ten Year War. “Woody Hays came there in 51. He made that game a huge rivalry. Then you have the ten year war with Woody and Bo. That ten year span for most of the 70s. Woody coached with Bo and

Bo was from Barberton so it made the already intense rivalry a lot more,” Yaggi commented.

Going into the game Ohio State had the number one spot in the rankings and was looking really strong. Schembechler ended up taking home the win for the Wolverines. Michigan’s huge upset set a precedent for the next ten years. For the next ten years the rivalry game would end up determining who would represent the Big 10 in the Rose Bowl. From 1969 to 1977 the two teams either shared or won every single Big 10 championship.

Today the rivalry is still as big as it was in the 70’s. Yaggi, having gone to Ohio State in the 90’s, gave his opinion on the

atmosphere of the school during rivalry week.

“The lead up was crazy.

Fall of ‘96 we were,I believe u n d e fe a t e d , and we lost 13-9 to Michigan. That took us out of the championship that year,” Yaggi said. “The next week, everyone was pretty bummed out, not really

wanting to talk about football, but then we won the next week and everyone was energetic again.”

This year the Wolverines will play the Buckeyes on November 26 in Columbus.

The hype is already here all over the media and both teams are looking really solid this year. Ohio State looks to avenge their loss to the Wolverines in their 2021 matchup, when last year the Buckeyes lost 27-42 which ended their ten year win streak.

Last Twenty Years 2002-Ohio State, 14-9 2003-Michigan, 35-21 2004-Ohio State, 37-21 2005-Ohio State, 25-21 2006-Ohio State, 42-39 2007-Ohio State, 14-3 2008-Ohio State, 42-7 2009-Ohio State, 21-10 2010-Ohio State, 37-7 2011-Michigan, 40-34 2012-Ohio State, 26-21 2013-Ohio State, 42-41 2014-Ohio State, 42-28 2015-Ohio State, 42-13 2016-Ohio State, 30-27 2017-Ohio State, 31-20 2018-Ohio State, 62-39 2019-Ohio State, 56-27 2020-canceled season 2021-Michigan, 45-27

THE WADSWORTH HIGH SCHOOL BAND DIRECTORS CONTINUE TO RIVAL OVER WHO WILL WIN OHIO VS MICHIGAN FOOTBALL GAME

BY JADE WILCOX

MR. PIEHL AND THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

M

r. Piehl applied to Bowling Green, Akron, Kent, and Ohio

State. “[I] wanted to major in music education and those were the four schools I felt had good music ed programs.” Mr. Piehl said.

He had full rides to every college except for Ohio State, but he insisted he wanted to go there.

“I wanted to grow more,” Piehl said. “I didn’t want to be ‘the king’ [first chair] right away, [therefore] I went to Ohio State because it seemed like the most elite place, it seemed like the place that I was going to struggle a little bit, and I was going to have to grow more.”

From there he joined the OSU Marching Band.

It was imperative that the members of the band payed attention to the game. Each play on the football field cued the band to play songs

that affectionately became known as “stand tunes.”

“If you didn’t come in [as] an Ohio State fan... they [would] kind of teach you, and over time I just got pretty obsessed [with the sport].” Mr. Piehl noted.

After he graduated from Ohio State, he continued to watch the Ohio State games with his friends. Even though they never had any specific foods or celebrations before or after the game, they were always quite content to watch the event.

The rivalry between Mr. Piehl and Mrs. Hire is relatively friendly. Throughout the week they will jokingly show off their team pride.

“It’s only for that week, and it’s usually a short week.

I bring out my spirit wear and she brings out hers...

Michigan pumps and jewelry and, well everything,” Piehl said. “Let’s hang a 100 on ‘em and Go Bucks!”

MRS. HIRE AND THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

W

Mrs. Hire and Mr. Piehl are dressed in their football spirit wear. Hire directs the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble and Piehl directs the Jazz and Symphonic Bands. Photo by Mr. Piehl.

hen Mrs. Hire decided to tell her parents that she was going to the University of Michigan, it did not go as planned. “‘I got into grad school, I’m going back to college,’” Mrs. Hire told her mother and father, who happened to both be on the line at the same time. “I said, ‘I’m going to Michigan’ and they hung up on me!”

It turned out to all be a joke, her parents were quite proud of her.

“Oh, we’re just kidding, that’s awesome,” Hire’s parents told her. She got a full ride, so it was not going to cost them anything. The rivalry did not just stop with her mother and father.

“My sister was at Ohio State at the time…we’ll rib each other, [and] send texts back and forth,” Hire said.

Even her husband had been

a massive Ohio State fan at that time.

“My husband is a huge Ohio State fan, and we always watched ‘The Game’ together…They [still] cheer for Ohio State,” Hire said.

She lived in Toledo, OH while she was attending the university, so each football game was a trek to get to.

It was a 45 minute drive to the events, yet she always watched the big game with her husband and friends.

Even though she is the only one in her family that roots for Michigan, she still has fun watching the game and lightly “ribbing” everyone around her.

“We save it, and then that week we’ll only joke about it…when we’re professionally ribbing each other.” Hire says. “I’ll wear maize and blue throughout the week… he’ll wear scarlet and gray, and it’s just all for fun.”

WADSWORTHBRUIN.COM 15

THE BRUIN OPINION

WHS AFTER PROM MOVES TO KALAHARI OPINION BY OLIVIA BENNER

W

adsworth High School has moved After Prom to Kalahari for the 2023 Senior dance.

This decision was made by the PTO board that is in charge of after prom with the intent of doing something more memorable for the students.

While the WHS after prom is usually held at the middle school, it has been more comparable to an activity night.

Traditionally consisting of inflatables, carnival style games, and large raffle prizes. This year students will have the opportunity to visit America’s largest indoor water park, Kalahari, located in Sandusky, Ohio. While a number of students think that this will be a great opportunity to do something memorable and fun for after prom, there are reasons to believe this is going to cause more negative than positive.

The class of 2023 has been guinea pigs all throughout their time at WHS. From the

effects of online learning during freshman year, to new principals and all the different policies that have been implemented, it is not too much to ask to have a ‘normal’ After Prom. Many of the students in the Senior class have watched the grades above attend prom and then move back to the middle school for inflatables, food, and prizes. These activities have essentially become a Wadsworth tradition in students’ eyes.

Why is the class of 2023 continuously robbed of the same experiences that were available to people who were once their peers?

Senior, Sammi Voitko thinks that this new Kalahari trip is unfair to those who do not want to spend their entire night and early morning driving to and from the park.

“I think it’s unfair because some people don’t want to ride on a bus to Kalahari and their after prom gets taken away,” Voitko said.

Along with this, she believes that the money spent on Kalahari could be used elsewhere in making the actual prom a better experience.

“I think it’s ridiculous because the money could be spent somewhere else like prizes and better food at the actual prom: use the money from Kalahari, and move us somewhere nicer than the Galaxy,” Voitko said.

Along with the funding there are

many other smaller details that are being overlooked. It is a time push to allow the individuals at prom who wore dresses and paid hundreds of dollars for hair and makeup only 45 minutes to get out of the prom parking lot, go home to change, and get back to the high school all before the buses leave. People spend Kalahari is the largest water park in the state of Ohio with 80,000 hundreds of dollars square feet of safari themes attractions. Students who choose to go to on dresses and suits Kalahari for their after prom will not have access to the outdoor water just for them to be park but instead the indoor water park and the other activities. Photo by thrown off in a rush to Joseph Davis. stated Bejerano. get back to the school Overall many of the seniors are and hop on a charter bus. While the buses are better quality than initially angry about the fact of not being able anticipated, an hour long drive there to choose the location of their after and back will ensure students will not prom. If this plan turns out nothing get there until very late in the night and like expected, why is the class of 2023 will not get home until the early morning. always made to be the testers? Why do The class of 2023’s ‘prom night’ is being we have to risk our prom experience to dragged out into the early hours of the figure out if something this large will morning. While some students such as even work? If the senior class is going Senior Francisco Bejerano think it will to have such a drastically changed After Prom there should at least be a separate be fun, others have the opposite idea.

“Some of the minor details like the option for the majority of students that bus ride don’t sound too good but do not want to attend so that they are everything else sounds great…It’s a not missing out on a once in a lifetime really fun place to be in for after prom” experience. This is a bare minimum.

Thank you to all our patrons.

Your generosity makes it possible to deliver this paper to every student at the high school and to members of the community.

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16 NOVEMBER 2022

FEATURES THE BRUIN

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE WADSWORTH HIGH SCHOOL PRODUCTIONS

BY JADE WILCOX

fun things, so I was like ‘I’ll do it too!’” said Abigail Kissinger, a junior that has ost people will think of a been managing the spotlight for the production as actors performing Wadsworth High School production of a story onstage. They usually Little Women.

The spotlights are on separate sides of solely notice the singing and the dancing or the accents and the speakers. They the catwalk, which is a thin, metal hallway do not, however, notice the behind the suspended above and around the stage scenes of the performance such as the and “In some spots, I am [afraid to fall off]. Behind where the spotlights are, lights or the sound.

Any performance at Wadsworth High there are these thin boards that you must School has a strong production crew in walk across in order to change bulbs,” order to add sound and lighting to the said Leyton Kuse, a senior spotlight tech.

“I’ve only done one show, [besides show. These crew members are known as “techs” or “techies” due to their job Little Women],” Casey Kirven, a dealing with technological devices and sophomore light board tech, said. “It was issues. These technicians help the show a fun experience.” She has been getting run smoothly by dividing the behind-the- assistance from Kissinger who has been a light board technician in the past. Kirven scenes work amongst themselves.

“I did it, because my sister did it, and is fully excited to participate in Little she was like ‘Oh, it’s fun,’ and I like to do Women as one of the lighting technicians.

The light board is located in a soundproof box near the top of the audience’s seating. There are a few problems with this setup.

It is hard to hear through the soundproof box, and the stage is far away from the setup as well.

Oftentimes during rehearsals there is someone directly outside the door of the box, however during the production nobody is there to relay commands to the Light board used by WHS Drama Department Techies box. They must know precisely during shows that take place in the PAC. This is used when to turn on the lights that are to control the lighting in multiple different areas of the suspended above the stage. auditorium, including the stage.

The light crew also has the task

M

Photo by Carley Sorrent

of managing the star drop. This black, velvety backdrop is filled with over hundreds of tiny “stars” and located near the back of the stage. Each individual “star” is a programmable LED light that can project any color the directors desire. This backdrop is used for band and choir concerts, as well as plays like the WHS production of Anne of Green Gables in 2021.

Before the show begins, a “mic check” is completed. The actors are asked to walk across the stage repeatedly whilst talking continuously. The microphone sound crew double checks that the microphones are feeding their sound through the speakers with the right levels. This is to prevent [From left to right] Leyton Kuse (12), Casey Kirven (10), any phasing, static, and other Anna Wallace (11), and Abigail Kissinger (11) are techies for the Wadsworth High School production of Little issues before the show. However, Women. They run everything from spotlight to soundboard some problems still do occur and keep the production running as smoothly as they can. during the show.

Photo by Jade Wilcox.

“With sound, you can’t do anything about it when they’re onstage. to life. These elements help with scene You can only fix it [a problem] either changes throughout the dramas and when they are off the stage or the next musicals, as well as assisting the actors day. Those problems are really hard to fix, with being seen, heard, and what to do on so you just kind of gotta deal with it and the stage. Behind every effect and every move on,” said Anna Wallace, a junior at device, there is a person performing their WHS and a sound techie. “I play it cool…I duty. Even with a few hiccups, they help wait for them to speak, finish their line, the shows run smoothly. and then turn them on if I forget so it “You definitely have a responsibility and doesn’t sound like a mistake.” a role in the cast just like everybody else,” The effects added to a theater Anna Wallace said “The show can’t go on production allow the scenes to come without us.”

“THRILLER” HAUNTS DOWNTOWN WADSWORTH

BY GRACE BARRETT

The perfect opportunity for the McIlvaines area. to create their own version of the performance Unfortunately, “Thriller” hit a bump in the ecently, downtown Wadsworth was arose as the city of Wadsworth had announced road in 2020, as COVID-19 prohibited many haunted by the community’s annual that they were looking for events past members from rejoining the performance of “Thriller” by Michael to celebrate the upcoming “WE LOVE OUR event.

Jackson. The event was held during Scare bicentennial in 2014.

“In 2020 the event was on the Square, which began at 5 p.m. on “We did a mini flash mob DOWNTOWN. canceled,” Lori explained. ”Last Thursday, October 20. Zombies, played by version,” Lori said. “We had WE WANT TO year all of our practices were virtual participants from all over Northeast Ohio, lay some zombies just come out as SHOW PEOPLE so we didn’t have a lot of zombies. “dead” around the Downtown area. At 7 p.m., a surprise, did a flash mob, and The crowd was a little smaller too.” Zombies posing in Downtown Wadsworth before HOW AWESOME these zombies came to life and gathered lurked away.”

However, the McIlvaines quickly dancing. These participants can be spotted all around the Strand Theater, preparing to This flash mob quickly grew in IT REALLY IS,” bounced back. Thousands of around the square for visitors to see. dance to the iconic song. popularity, and the McIlvaines - DR. ALEX MCILVAINE, people crowded Downtown for “We have grandparents dance with their Dr. Alex and Lori McIlvaine, who are very found themselves leading LEADER OF “THRILLER” a chance to witness the nearly teenage grandkids,” Lori said. “What other active members of the community, have and organizing a yearly event.

200 zombies dance in the 2022 event can they enjoy together?” organized and choreographed this event for According to Lori, the group of performance. The McIlvaines had Beyond this, “Thriller” has immensely many years. people who participated in the dance grew even more to celebrate this year, as they got helped Wadsworth’s small Downtown Lori explained how she was inspired to from just friends and family to around 200 to dance with their newly adopted daughters. businesses. create this performance after participating strangers eager to be a part of the fun.

Lori even played Ola in order to showcase “It has created such an economic impact,” in a similar show while living in Adrianne Patrick, the executive director themselves as a family.

Patrick said. “We have over 100 small Lexington, Kentucky. of the non-profit organization Main Street According to Alex, the family’s primary businesses Downtown, and every time we Wadsworth, has worked closely with the goal in putting on this show is to get people do [it], those merchants and restaurants McIlvaines in producing “Thriller.”

Downtown. see hundreds of people come through their “Alex was the first friend that I made when “We love our Downtown. We want to show doors.”

I moved to Wadsworth because we both people how awesome it really is,” Alex said.

To become a zombie, you are required to attended Young Professionals meetings According to Patrick, Wadsworth’s Scare on attend two practices that will teach you the together,” Patrick said. “That’s when I learned the Square is different from most other events dance step by step, as well as one mandatory that he did the Wadsworth “Thriller” dance, hosted by the city, as it focuses purely on fun. practice. and he asked me if I wanted to be involved.”

“People from all walks of life in Wadsworth “We hold practices for a total of about six or Alex plays Michael Jackson during the participate in it,” Patrick said. “I think it is a seven hours,” Alex said. “You only have to go performances and Patrick typically plays Ola, really cool celebration of just coming together to three practices, so it’s about a three hour his character’s girlfriend. The couple leads the as a community to create something special.” commitment.” rest of the zombies through the Downtown According to the McIlvaines, witnessing If you are interested in becoming a part multi-generational families being able to of this performance, whether it be as a Alex McIlvaine as Michael Jackson participate together is one of the most zombie or in the zombie patrol, please email and Adrianne Patrick as Ola during a rewarding aspects of organizing “Thriller.” performance. The pair have impersonated wadsworththriller@gmail.com.

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the infamous couple almost every year.

Photos courtesy of Adrianne Patrick

WADSWORTHBRUIN.COM 17

THE BRUIN ENTERTAINMENT

OFF BROAD STREET PLAYERS TAKE THE STAGE; PRESENTING “CHICAGO” THE MUSICAL

A

BY LILY CHESBRO

s the students at Wadsworth High near another show, there is a lot of preparation and behind the scenes action that takes place that helps this show to be able to happen. “Chicago” will be taking place on November 10, 11, and 12 at 7 PM in the PAC. With being in a musical and taking part comes the responsibility of knowing your lines as well as the songs and choreography that goes with those songs.

Two of the leads consist of Billy Flynn and Velma Kelly played by Erik Schnell and Chloe Leavitt. They shared their insight on rehearsals, behind the scenes memorizing the music and lines, as well as working in an ensemble to take the show from broken up blocked rehearsals to an onstage production.

“I play Billy Flynn, a famous lawyer in the show. He’s a slick, greasy man, who corrupts the judicial system for his own benefit. Billy is a theatrical character; he’s all about putting on a performance for his audience in court”, Schnell said.

This being the lead character of the show Schnell has come up with a couple different ways that he will go about performing this character to be the most accurate it can be.

“I get inspiration on how to play my characters by watching other performers.

I watched Richard Gere, who played Billy Flynn in the “Chicago” film, to get a sense

on-one sessions with the students in of my character. I also watched people major roles with solos too,” Schnell said. like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin for In addition to the music side of things their showmanship, gestures, and singing choreography is put to each of the pieces techniques. All this helped me feel more to make the show come to life. comfortable with my character,” Schnell “She often oversees our choreography said. and will make sure that it looks its best As Chloe Leavitt prepares for her part as and makes slight changes if needed.

Velma Kelly, who is one of the two famous She also handles the positions for people in the town, she prepares a little choreography,” Schnell said. differently.

Mrs. Csaky has a little bit of a different “Practice, practice, practice. For me role in copersonally I break my directing the lines up into sections show. based off of the “Mrs. Csaky different conversations handles a lot of I have throughout the the acting side to show,” Leavitt said. the performance.

Both of these cast She makes sure members discuss that that lines are working with other cast said perfectly members to figure out with the correct their lines and working emphasis on cohesively with other certain words. characters is helpful to She assists memorizing their lines. people in their Mrs. Csaky and Mrs. Davis are the directors The cast of “Chicago” rehearses on the stage. delivery of lines Leavitt front and center performing as and how they of the show. Each of Chloe Velma Kelly. act in scenes,” them takes part a little Photo courtesy of Pamela Csaky.

Schnell said. differently in the putting The cast together of the show. of “Chicago” is required to attend “[Mrs. Davis] takes the role of teaching rehearsals between five and six days us all our music and our singing parts. She a week. If necessary, the cast has doesn’t exclusively teach the numbers for rehearsals on the weekend when it gets the ensemble but takes time to have one-

Erik Schnell and Kara Moore are rehearsing a scene together. Schnell interacts with most of the cast throughout the show being the lead character. Photo courtesy of Pamela Csaky.

closer to the time of the show.

“After attendance is taken we start from a scene. It could be where we left off yesterday or from the beginning of the show or from a place that we need to improve upon,” Schnell said. “When individual performers aren’t in a scene, they can often be found practicing their choreography, singing their parts, or taking time to memorize lines; although, this is entirely up to each individual.”

Each individual is responsible for working on their lines, choreography, and songs both inside and outside of rehearsals.

As the show nears the cast is working to make sure everyone knows everything they need to in order to make the show run as smoothly as possible.

LITTLE WOMEN GETS READY TO DEBUT

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BY BRI PERKINS

tudents of WHS join together with teachers to put on the play “Little Women” in the PAC on December 1, 2, and 3.

The school puts a play together every year to help support the drama department.

The play is an 1 extracurricular activity that students can participate in by trying out and being selected for a role. This year, for auditions, everyone trying out had to read a page they selected from “Little Women”. The directors then evaluate all of the tryouts and select the best person fit for each role.

Other than actors, there are many other people who are important to the production such as the stage hands and the lighting

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crew. These people run the behind the is really rewarding for her scenes, of the production to make sure it after spending runs smoothly. One of the directors of the so much time play, Brianne Pernod, has put a lot of time p u t t i n g into making this play reach its full potential. In together the the process of choosing the play the directors show. Her wanted something that would relate to main goal the time period that the show would be as a director premiering in, and is appropriate for is not only all families. They wanted something to put on a that the entire Wadsworth community good show, could come together and watch. but to build self 3 “Little Women has a lot of draw confidence and because of the movie that came out a life skills in her actors few years ago, ‘’ Pernod said. ‘’So we are in any way possible hoping to pull from that popularity to help The actors in this play began rehearsals support the program.” in September in preparation for The directors decided on Little their play in December. Camryn Women partly because of the Henderson, a junior at WHS, is interest that a popular name playing Josephine who is one play brings to the audience, of the four sisters in Little shown by the success of Women. Henderson has “Anne of Green Gables been doing theater since “last year. Pernod finds she was 8 years old and has that working with students participated in five theater outside of the classroom helps productions at the high school.

2 build different connections with “I love being on stage and her students. Watching them succeed performing”, Henderson said. “It’s

rewarding to get to perform something we worked so hard on.”

The hard work of all of the participants in the play is what drives the theater program. Tickets for “Little Women” are $8.00 a piece and available at the door or online. All of the ticket money raised on show nights goes back into the theater fund, to help put on the next show. The support of the community is what drives the productions of these plays for the students. For this reason Pernod says, “Come see the show!”

1. Part of the cast of “Little Women” gather around a sofa as Josephine(Camryn Henderson) reads a letter she received in the mail. The cast just visited Hale Farm and Village to better understand the time period and people of the 1800s to better improve their performance.

Photo by Bri Perkins.

2. Eleanor Kopfstein recites her lines in rehearsal to start off the scene. Kopfstein is playing the narrator in the play, which is Josephine’s voice.

Photo by Bri Perkins.

3. Chessa Homan and Camryn Henderson reunite in the play with a celebratory spin. In the play Henderson and Homan play sisters. Homan is a Senior at WHS and this will be her last production with the program.

Photo by Bri Perkins.

OPINION THE BRUIN

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON WORKS AND THE RINGS OF POWER FALLS SHORT

The Audience’s Final Words-

entire show. Even the majority of its main characters- Galadriel, Halbrand, Arondir, Nori, fter watching both Amazon Prime’s and more, invoke so little emotion that it is The Rings of Power (Rings) and difficult to recall a single moment where the HBO Max’s the House of the Dragon show fleshed them out, let alone made it worth (Dragons) and even re-watching their opening caring about them or their goals. There is no episodes for good measure, it is safe to say development beyond their one-dimensional Dragons is more worthy of viewers’ attention. stereotypes, such as being a rogue, a warrior, or If one compared both shows, episode by a soldier. In fact, despite the nearly ten hours the episode, Dragons would overshadow Rings audience spends with these characters, many may be hard-pressed to remember in every case. Its writing is crisp, its their names aside from household dialogue feels natural, there are THE RINGS OF characters such as Galadriel and consequences and true risk, and the POWER TO ME, Elrond, who have the benefit of show knows what it wants to be–which FEELS LIKE IT HAS having been in Peter Jackson’s The is a dark fantasy series with political NO SOUL. THERE’S Lord of the Rings trilogy, which by intrigue and war sprinkled throughout. NO IDENTITY. BUT the way has no connection to Rings It is a story that follows the family of IN HOUSE OF THE House Targaryen, and the writers DRAGON, YOU KNOW although it is evident that Jackson’s make that clear at the beginning of THAT IT’S “GAME OF films set a standard Rings tried and failed to reach. episode one when Princess Rhaenyra THRONES.” -Ian Clark-Kelley, “There’s no character Targaryen, the protagonist, voices over Senior. development in The Rings of the prologue.

Power,” said Jacob Forester, a “Jaehaerys called the great council to prevent a war being fought over his junior who has not watched Lord of the Rings succession,” Rhaenyra said. “For he knew the trilogy or Game of Thrones. “Galadriel kind cold truth-the only thing that could tear down the of just stays the same throughout the show even though she’s the main character.”

House of the Dragon was itself.”

If Rings managed to strongly develop just Just two minutes into Dragons, viewers can already determine if it is a show that interests several of the characters in its lengthy cast, it them, as the writers have made a promise that would have been easier to look past the show’s it is a story about a family that’s only weakness weakest points (plot, pacing, costume design, is quarrels from within. Rings, however, begins and over reliance on a suspension of disbelief) with a promise of a looming dark lord (Sauron) and enjoy it for what it is. Not to mention, the show and the expectation that its protagonist, a young likely would have been a lot less boring. Sadly, it elf-warrior, Galadriel, will continue to hunt for him does not, and in comparison of its characters to because he killed her unnamed brother. The Dragons, the difference is astounding.

In Dragons, the main cast and a bulk of problem is that her brother’s death is treated merely as a plot device and has little impact on the supporting cast have identifiable human the show since the audience spent around a character flaws and motivations that help the audience appreciate their presence and, minute getting to know him.

“My current biggest issue is how they expected depending, either like or hate them.

“In Rings of Power, they have too many us to care about this character we met in the first four minutes, and he died, and then like we have characters and don’t really explain very well who to be like ‘yeah do it for her brother!’” Said Ian they are, so you don’t really get attached to them,” Clark-Kelley, a senior who initially began watching Forester said. “But in House of the Dragon, it’s a Rings with a lot of optimism. “Like we have no smaller cast of characters, explained well, so you actually understand the characters, how they emotional connection towards him at all.”

Achieving an emotional connection is a act, and who they are.”

A perfect example of a well-developed problem Rings struggles with throughout the

OPINION BY BRENDEN BARLETT

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character in Dragons is Prince Daemon Targaryen, who, at the start of episode one, is the younger brother of the King and the heir to the Iron Throne. The audience quickly learns that while Daemon loves his brother and has a soft spot for his niece, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, he is ambitious and wants to be King. However, while he wants to rule, he does not care for the politics, scheming, or the responsibilities that it requires, and instead, he prefers to drink, fight in tournaments, and perform other “unbecoming” acts that make him a very undesirable future king in the eyes of other characters which creates tension and a series of conflicts that help further the plot and deepen character relationships and rivalries.

“This dude, Prince Daemon needs to be stopped, bro!” said Bryden Barlett, a junior and the only one of the three viewers who read some of Tolkien’s works. “He is actually a menace to society, and he controls the scene whenever he’s in it.”

Moving away from how both shows treat characters and set up conflicts, it is worth mentioning that the biggest weakness of both shows is pacing. Rings has too many point-ofviews throughout the show, all spread out in different locations in the world. While it could have worked if they focused on world-building, they did not, so it made for a clunky juxtaposition of various boring stories (aside from Elrond and the Dwarves, their story was interesting).

Meanwhile, while Dragon’s pacing is also weak, it serves the purpose of passing time to reach important events within the Targaryen family’s history, and it drives the story forward as tensions rise and a civil war nears.

At the end of the day, neither show is perfect, but there is definitely a stark difference in the passion and quality of writing put in by each show’s writers and show runners. Dragons is great, and so far, it has redeemed the weak ending of HBO’s Game of Thrones; Rings, on the other hand, may satisfy some, but overall it feels shallow and as if the writers did not know what direction they wanted to take it or what their target audience would be as it mixes serious and gory moments with very childish scenes such as the majority of the Harfoot’s.

”Rings of Power, painful watch. The second episode was about the only good one because it has the dwarves in it, and they have actually good designs but most of the designs in The Rings of Power are pretty bad.

The clothing and armor designs in House of the Dragon, on the other hand, are about fifty times better, and they actually make sense to the social classes of the world.”

Jacob Forester’s (11) Rating: Dragons 9.1/10 ; Rings 3.1/10

“House of the Dragons was incredible.

The politics and gore is what’s expected in a Game of Thrones-type show. The show lived up to the hype despite its weird time jumps throughout. Rings of Power, however, was a complete letdown and honestly a waste of a billion dollars.“

Ian Clark-Kelley’s (12) Rating: Dragons 9.3/10 ; Rings 4.3/10

Closing Words:

“The House of the Dragon is a banger. I want to watch it again. It’s very good; It’s very brutal--10/10 But with Rings of Power, bro, honestly I zoned out and stared at the ceiling for like eight minutes.”

Photo courtesy of fair use.

Dragons excelled in essentially every aspect-from visuals to the fundamentals of storytelling to its memorable and likable characters (Daemon, Rhaenyra, Viserys I, and many others). While its time skips can sacrifice character moments worth watching and weaken the pacing, Dragons still feels incredible. It is a treat to watch House Targaryen’s story unfold in this dark, beautiful atmosphere the House of the Dragon team created, and it is no surprise many viewers are already excited for season two.

Season one of House of the Dragon is rated MA and can be watched on HBO Max.

Photo courtesy of fair use.

Rings is disappointing. It has the largest budget in TV history, Amazon at its backing, and it calls itself The Lord of the Rings. Honestly, it is concerning how poorly written and boring it is.

It should not have aired in the state it is in, and that is not meant as an insult. Even Game of Thrones went back to the drawing board after its initial (unaired) pilot episode. Nevertheless, if Rings takes feedback, improves its pacing (it is not a video game, characters should not teleport across the world), and learns to actually develop its characters and raise the stakes (feeling worried for characters during conflicts would be a welcome change) then maybe season two will be worth watching. Until then, season one of rings is TV-14 and can be found on Amazon Prime.

Bryden Barlett’s (11) Rating: Dragons 8.63/10 ; Rings 2.95/10

The Definitive Rating:

Dragons 9.19/10 ; Rings 3.45/10

WADSWORTHBRUIN.COM 19

THE BRUIN ENTERTAINMENT

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BY LILY LOVE & CARLEY SORRENT

ctober 21, 2022, marks the release of Taylor Swift’s new album. Announced during her VMA (Video Music Awards) Video of the Year Acceptance speech, on August 28, 2022, at the MTV Music Awards, the new album takes the title of Midnights.

Midnights is Swift’s tenth studio released album, and the first studio album since the release of Evermore in December of 2021, and two rerecorded albums in April and November of 2021.

Despite having released twelve albums in total, only 10 of them count towards Swift’s studio album count. This is because 21 of the 27 tracks on Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and 22 of the 30 tracks on Red (Taylor’s Version) are songs that have already been

released once before. This means that regardless of the Vault tracks that have been added, the majority of the album is not new material, so it does not count as a new studio album.

Midnights has not been previously released, so the new album will go towards Swift’s studio album count.

It consists of 13 tracks total, and features Lana Del Rey, known for

The Midnights album cover. Leading up to the release of the album, Swift released seven different editions of the album with multiple bonus tracks and remixes. Each cover is a different photo, and includes a different colored disc and lyric booklet inside. Photo courtesy of fair use.

the popular song “Summertime Sadness”, on track four, titled “Snow on the Beach.”

WHS Student Maggie Katafiasz has been a fan of Swift’s music since the release of Reputation in 2017.

“She always creates very personal, cool music that relates to her life, her experiences, and her reflection on who she is now as an artist and as a person,” Katafiasz said. “I’m excited to hear what she has in store in her next album.”

Not only is Midnights meant to be a relatable A clip from Swift’s recent Instagram videos. The video showcased multiple clips of upcoming Midnights music videos. So far, Swift has released videos for AntiHero and Bejeweled. Photo courtesy of fair use.

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9 album for the fans, it also delves into what goes on behind the scenes in people’s life. In the initial Instagram announcement post, Swift shared that, “this is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams.”

WHS sophomore Izaro Negueruela is excited for the album’s release.

“I think we’ll see an album with the same style as August, with more “sad” songs,” Negueruela said. “I’m really excited for her collaboration with Lana Del Rey.” Leading up to the release on October 21, Swift began sharing Instagram videos, giving background to some of the tracks on the album.

Three songs that she initially gave background on are Tracks one, three, and four.

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Track one

is titled “Lavender Haze”, and Swift shared that it is inspired by her six-year relationship with Joe Alwyn. Lavender Haze is a term used in the 50’s to describe being in love. This track is about being in love with someone, and not letting other people weigh in on the relationship.

Track three takes the title of “AntiHero,” and Swift has shared that this track is “one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written.” This song delves into her own insecurities, and what she likes, and dislikes about herself.

“I like this song a lot because I think it is really honest,” Swift said in a recent Instagram post.

Track four is titled “Snow on the

Beach”, and features singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. Swift shares that this track is about “falling in love with someone at the same time that they are falling in love with you.”

Midnights dropped on Friday October 21 and has broken Spotify’s record for most streamed album in a single day.

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LAVENDER HAZE

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MAROON

02

ANTI-HERO

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SNOW ON THE BEACH (feat. Lana Del Ray)

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YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN, KID

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MIDNIGHT RAIN

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QUESTION...?

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VIGILANTE S***

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BEJEWELED

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LABYRINTH

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KARMA

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SWEET NOTHING

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MASTERMIND

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