WG ECHO December 2022 Issue

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V olum e 1 0 8 I s s ue 6 De c e m ber 2 0 2 2 1 0 0 S e l m a Av e . w g e c h o . o r g

Staff EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Lydia Urice PRINT EDITOR: Izzy Poole JUNIOR EDITOR: Hadley Hoskins SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER/ GRAPHICS EDITOR: Maren DeMargel VIDEO EDITOR: Luca Giordano NEWS/OPINION EDITOR: Ali Schulz SPORTS EDITOR: Owen Crews PODCAST EDITOR: Sam Klein FEATURE ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR: Joe Harned BUSINESS MANAGERS: Soledad Lee Dakota Motley TIKTOK/ PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER: Eleanor Kanerva ADVISOR: Donald Johnson

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Marketing prepares for trip to New York 3 ‘Spotify Wrapped’ challenges students perceptions of one another 4-5 Contestants discuss Mx. Webster pageant 6 Advertisements 7 Christmas gets too much focus in school compared to other holidays 8

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SOME MATERIAL FROM TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE The Echo is a monthly publication of the newspaper staff of Webster Groves High School, 100 Selma Ave., Webster Groves, MO. To contact staff members, call 314-963-6400 ex. 11157 or write to wgecho@wgmail.org.

Unsigned editorials are the opinion of a majority of staff members; signed articles are the opinion of the writer.

Letters to the editor of 300 words or less are welcome; submit letters by the 10th of the month to wgecho@wgmail.org, or room 155.

All letters must be signed, although the name may be withheld from publication if requested.

The Echo has the right to edit letters for publication as long as intent remains unchanged.

The Echo is a member of Quill and Scroll, JEA, MIJA, NSPA and CSPA.

Cover Cutline: Seniors Phoebe McFarland and Zayne Smith perform in Mx. Webster on Nov. 30.

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Photo by Sam Klein

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Table of Contents | December 2022

Marketing raises money for trip to New York Luca Giordano Video Editor Powderpuff, Night in the Courtyard, Putt Putt, Mx. Webster: events organized by the Marketing team have raised over $10,100 cumulatively.

Marketing II class has worked since the beginning of the semester on different community events to raise money for its trip to New York City from Jan. 10-15.

The New York trip was a yearly occurrence before the COVID pandemic. Marketing did not go on its trip in the last two years and used money earned from events to donate to charities of students’ choice.

One way that events raise money is through sponsorships. Students are required to secure at least one sponsorship for their projects. The Putt Putt event on Nov. 12, raised $3,537, the most of any single event.

For the Putt Putt event, senior Ellie Nakatani made sponsorship calls and had Hudson Elementary students create the putt putt obstacles.

“I knew I wanted to go into marketing or something in the business world as a job, and so it just made sense to take marketing,” Nakatani said.

Marketing teacher Kathryn Laurentius allows students to pick their own projects and groups to work.

“They have a lot of freedom on who they want to work with and what they want to do, and I just try to guide them so they can be successful,” Laurentius said.

Senior Makenna Sauter emphasized the freedom allowed in planning their events.

“We have pretty much all the freedom. Once Jerry (Collins) approves your event, you’re set.” Sauter said.

Sauter organized the 10k Prize Shot event, which took place on Dec. 9, during half-time of a Webster Men’s Basketball tournament semi-final. Through a prize insurance company, Sauter’s group secured $10,000 for someone who could make a series of basketball shots, ending with a half-court shot.

For the event, Sauter had to get sponsorship for the event, secure the prize insurance, sell temporary tattoos for extra money, and purchase 150 Chick-fil-A sandwiches to sell at the event. www.storysevenstl.com

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Marketing is also an experiential learning opportunity for students. By making sponsorship calls, planning events, and promoting their events, students emphasize the real-life experience they are gaining through the class.

“It definitely prepares you for the real world and things, especially if I go into marketing, that I’m gonna need and I’m gonna be doing as a job,” Nakatani said.

“The events are like real-life experience, so it’s not like any other class where you’re just learning about the thing. You’re actually doing it and you’re actually reaching out to businesses to ask for sponsors and you’re talking to, for us it was insurance companies and the Chick-fil-A owners,” Sauter said.

“The topics that she (Laurentius) teaches us are actually interesting and they can help you in the real world,” senior Byron Hoffman said.

Hoffman worked on Night at the Courtyard, a live music event incorporating young musicians from Webster and other local high schools. Hoffman created a ballot box used for a raffle at the event and helped sell concessions.

The money raised from the events is split among all marketing students and deducted from the final total of their trip to New York. In New York, marketing students will visit businesses and advertising agencies including the National Hockey League headquarters, the HBO headquarters and Madison Square garden.

“The goal of it (the trip) is for students that are interested in business and marketing to see careers in the industry in New York and see all the opportunities that there are and to make connections with people that are in powerful positions,” Laurentius said.

After the New York trip, marketing students will spend the second semester on organizing the Jim Schoemehl 5k run for ALS. Marketing I is available for students to take in their junior year, and if students decide to take Marketing II in their senior year, they will have the opportunity to work on these events themselves.

Collage of photos from Mx. Webster, Night in the Court Photos by Sam Klein, yard and Powderpuff Game.

Izzy Poole and Luca Giordano; collage by Lydia Urice

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‘Spotify Wrapped’ challenges stud Hadley Hoskins Junior Editor

December is always busy for students, between finals, the holidays and the beginnings of winter sport seasons, but one beacon of hope shines in the middle of it all: Spotify Wrapped.

Spotify Wrapped is a marketing campaign from the streaming platform Spotify. It was first released in 2015 with the intention of highlighting users’ most listened to songs, artists, genres and podcasts from the past year.

This year, Spotify Wrapped was released on Nov. 31, but the day changes every year. In 2021, Wrapped was released on Dec. 1. The timing of Wrapped’s release coincides with the beginning of other end-of-year activities, like the end of the semester.

Data for Wrapped is recorded from Jan. 1, to some point in the middle of November. The exact date that Spotify stops recording is unknown. Despite rumors that it stops after Oct. 31, Spotify denied the claims in a Tweet, saying, “The only thing that we end on Halloween is eating candy corn. Stream (and snack) all through the year, and we will see you in Wrapped season.”

Other streaming platforms have also released similar end-of-year recaps, such as Apple Music’s “Apple Music Replay” and YouTube Music’s “Recapped,” but students said they preferred Wrapped.

However reviewing the top tracks of the year is only part of what students find exciting about Wrapped. It’s also unique in that it takes the data and adds graphics and pop culture references to keep it exciting and unpredictable. This year’s Wrapped included “Listener Types,” and “Into the Genre-Verse,” which seemed like references to MBTI Personality Types and Marvel, respectively.

All of this accumulates into a list that is shared all over social media.

Students said their favorite part of Wrapped

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wgecho.org Feature | December 2022

Art by Norah Rohlfing

was seeing their friends’ Wrapped and sharing their own.

“It’s one of my favorite parts of the year. It tells me a lot about what I need to change, mostly,” junior Lily Naert said.

“I think it’s really fun to see what everybody is listening to,” junior Rose Mossinghoff said.

This year, songs such as “She” by Tyler the Creator, “this is me trying” by Taylor Swift and “Garden Song” by Phoebe Bridgers were top songs for students, according to a survey done on the Echo’s Instagram page.

For all Spotify users, Drake, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Kanye West and BTS were the top artists.

Sharing music taste isn’t always a consequenceless activity, though. Some students said seeing what others are listening to could completely reshape their opinion on someone.

“Sometimes there are people that listen to rea l l y different

music

Art by Tania P

dents perceptions of one another than their vibe. It can be really surprising,” Mossinghoff said.

“I think that people’s Spotify Wrappeds can change my perspective. Like, if I see someone’s Wrapped, and it’s not what I expected, then I’m like, ‘Hm, do I really like this person, based on the stuff that they’re listening to?’” Naert said.

“I think someone’s music taste can say a lot about how willing they are to try new things,” sophomore Norris Baker said about what music taste means to them.

“I think sometimes music taste can say something. If you listen to a bunch of Taylor Swift or a bunch of Playboi Carti, that can be kind of telling,” senior Quinn McCartie added.

Mossinghoff added she thinks this has changed a lot in the past 20 years, and this might be due to the introduction o f

streaming platforms

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like Spotify. Rather than having to go out to buy CDs or vinyls or even go on the iTunes store to buy music, all it takes to listen to music is access to the internet.

“Music is so readily available, and there’s so many options, so it definitely says a lot about you as a person,” Mossinghoff said.

“I also think that it’s so much easier now to dissect the music and understand what it means and why people are listening to it,” Naert said.

In fact, some students said fear of being judged for their music taste or not being considered to have “good music taste” can result in them trying to change the results of their Wrappeds.

Sometimes, this looks like listening to specific songs or artists.

Other times, this can take the form of not listening to certain songs or artists. In fact, three out of four students said they had tried to change the results of their Wrapped in some way.

“Once the Spotify Wrapped deadline is getting close, I’ll start listening to artists that I want people to see me listening to, so that they’ll think I have good music taste,” Mossinghoff said.

“I do kind of try to change it. If I’m like, ‘I’m listening to this person way too much, and it’s gonna be embarrassing if that’s on there.’ Like Kanye,” Naert said.

Despite this, Wrapped remains a relatively unbiased perspective of what users are listening to most, which can result in some students being hesitant to share the true results of their Wrapped.

“I like sharing [my Spotify Wrapped], but I’m scared people are going to judge me for it, but I’m not ashamed of the music I listen to, so I think it’s fun, especially because I like seeing other people’s,” Naert said.

Not all students feel that there should be such an emphasis on what kind of music someone listens to, though.

“I don’t really see the point in trying to change your Spotify Wrapped.

Your Spotify Wrapped is what you listened to, and I think you should be able to listen to what you like, and I don’t think you should be judged for it,” McCartie said.

Art by Lily Musgraves

wgecho.org 5 December 2022 | Feature

Contestants discuss

Sam Klein Podcast Editor

Marketing II students organize and then facilitate different fundraisers to raise money for their annual trip to New York. One of the events is Mx. Webster, previously known as Mr. Webster.

Mx. Webster is a talent show where contestants were able to sign up and were then selected to compete. The contestants had to create a video based on an assigned children’s TV show, come up with a talent, and then answer a question asked by one of the four judges.

The show took place on Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m. in the high school’s auditorium.

The winner of the popular vote and the 2022-23 Mx. Webster is senior Jude Bronner. Bronner’s talent consisted of creating a song live on stage using software and a recorder. He then rapped to the beat. About being the current Mx. Webster Bronner responded, “I don’t really think about it until someone says it.”

Senior Luca Giordano took the title of Mx. Congeniality after earning the title by drinking hot sauce and reciting French poetry.

“I would’ve rather won Mx. Congeniality, than Mx. Webster,” Giordano said.

“I kind of always wished that I could be a part of something,

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pageant

Soledad Lee Business Manager but I, like, wasn’t going to do it, but then Alexis (Romano), one

of the hosts, came to me and she asked me to do it, so I was like, “Okay, I’ll just try it!” senior contestant Tori Gray said.

“My favorite part was doing it with my friends. I feel like that made it really fun and talking to all of the contestants who I don’t, like outside of it, talk to as much,” contestant senior Sydney Thornton said.

Contestants had similar opinions on how Mx. Webster brought them together with other students they don’t talk to as much.

“I don’t always feel included in a lot of things, so it was really nice to be able to hang out with a bunch of people I don’t typically hang out with and get close with people I’m not good friends with and stuff. I liked the opportunity to just be with people who I’m not usually around,” contestant senior Kaz Bergmann reflected.

One contestant, senior Max O’Brien, shared feelings about performing in front of an audience.

“I’d never done a solo thing on stage before, so I think my favorite part was performing my act, but having the audience react and do it, it was just a really cool experience. Something new, a highlight for senior year,” O’Brien said.

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Christmas gets too much focus in school compared to other holidays

Editorial

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December is the season where all the holiday festivities officially start, both in schools and around communities. Here at WGHS, a clear focus on a certain holiday, Christmas, can be seen.

The “separation of church and state,” comes from the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment, ratified in 1791. According to the United States Courts, “ The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from establishing a religion.”

While there is nothing expressly stating a separation of church and state, it can be implied for schools that are state-funded, like Webster Groves High School.

According to The Free Speech Center, “Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island, was the first public official to use the ‘Separation of Church and State’ ‘metaphor.”

In addition, the website states the most famous use of this metaphor was in Thomas Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptist Association. He declared that when the Establishment Clause was adopted, a “wall of separation between the church and state” was also created.

Although this wall exists, the separation that the Establishment Clause is meant to create seems to have some faults. It is hard to keep religion from being fully left out of state-funded institutions. Because of this, certain religious holidays, specifically around December tend to get recognition, some of them more than others.

While there are holidays throughout December, such as Hanukkah running from Dec.18 to Dec. 26, or Kwanzaa running from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, Christmas is the dominating holiday of December.

The winter break that the students receive is almost always referred to as “Christmas Break.” In the days leading up to the break, Christmas celebrations can be seen all around Webster Groves High School. From Christmas coloring sheets once assignments are done, to Christmas music being played by students, to Christmas themed worksheets, December at Webster Groves High School is filled with Christmas festivities. What December seems to be lacking, though, is representation of other holidays.

Rarely do the other December holidays, such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, get representation. They might get a mention in passing, or a teacher might bring them up here and there, but other than that they get almost nothing.

A clear divide between the celebration of December

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holidays can be seen. This problem could simply be fixed by teachers making sure all December holidays are taught, instead of a focus on just Christmas. High school students can also go out and learn about these other holidays and educate their friends on them. By trying to learn about these other December holidays, one can create great change.

Art by Gracie Giles

December 2022 | Editorial