2018 Fall Pilot

Pilot

Volume 25 Issue 1 October 2018

In this Issue: • • • • • • • •

Cover Drawn by Samantha Xu

Wisco Highlights Meet New Teachers America’s Got Talent Fall Fashion Online Shopping Plastic Straw Debate Concussions Cursive Writing

Wisco Freshmen Football

School

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Photos taken by Nathaniel Frisque

School

International Students

The International students and their mentors painted pumpkins on October 2.

Pictures taken by Cheyenne Jordan

Welcome to Pilot!

Your Pilot Editors: (Left to right) Megan Orozco: Editor Blessed Ikuobolati: Editor Hannah Gorski: Editor-in-Chief Reece Elton: Editor We hope you enjoy this first issue of the Pilot, Wisconsin Lutheran's school newspaper. Editors meet during eighth hour every day. Student writers, photographers, and artists meet periodically throughout the quarter. If you have any interest in joining, listen for announcements for meeting times. You can also email us at Pilot@wlhs.org.

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School

By Megan Orozco

New Teachers--Part 1 Mr. Moldenhaur English

Pastor Butler Religion

What motivates you as a teacher?

I am motivated by the good questions asked in class.

I want to make sure I am ready to provide answers from the Bible.

I am motivated by my desire to help students become energized or excited about a topic or idea that they didn't really care about or consider before.

Mrs. Wenzel Fashion Tech

[A] challenge that students here at Wisco face is the difficulty of expressing and living their faith in a world that is continuing to become more and more worldly.

As teachers, we want to focus on helping shape the next servant leaders in this world. Proverbs says it best in chapter 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

I think the greatest challenge facing students today is [their] attention span. In this world of up-to-theminute information and connectivity, it is difficult for some students to concentrate on an issue or subject for more than a few minutes. I notice this especially when I have to present materials through lecture or discussion.

How do you motivate your students to become active learners in your classroom?

Mr. Wiechmann Art and Compass

Photos by Gerry Milton

Mr. Strutz ELC

What is the greatest challenge facing students?

In my art classroom, active learning is the expectation for students.

I view active learning as the natural state of learning, and my job as an art teacher is to help students get out of their own way, with the creative expectations they may have. The mental barrier that you are, or are not an artist, is something I am trying to break down daily in my classes. In our visual culture, you need to be creative to stand out, and I am trying to arm my students with the skills necessary to make the creative decisions they will be asked to make in whatever they end up doing.

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Environment

The Plastic Straw Debate

By Emma Kammaholz

If anyone has eaten at a restaurant recently, they may have noticed the absence of a straw in their drink. Now this might confuse some; however, they might not know that the straw is currently sparking a nationwide controversy. Straws have become one of the major threats to marine wildlife as they pollute the oceans and clutter natural habitats.

In hopes of improvement, restaurants and food chains across the country have taken action and limited their straw use. Some cities have even made laws banning or restricting plastic straws. But, will banning them make an impact on preserving ocean quality and marine life?

Anna Kolander, a biology and physical science teacher here at Wisconsin Lutheran High School, believes that plastic straws should not be banned entirely. “Banning them entirely will only make a minor impact on the amount of other plastics that are in the ocean

already,” states Kolander, “Some food industries need plastic straws to keep their companies running successfully, and paper prototypes might not be the best solution.”

Now, banning straws might make somewhat of an impact, but it isn’t like other plastics aren’t harming the environment as well. Paul Cook, a conservationist for Burnett County in Wisconsin, believes that banning straws would be a great way to start limiting the overall plastic usage, but it might not be the best solution. “I would say I could be in favor of banning plastic straws, but it’s not enough”, says Cook. “We should be using less plastic products overall. I’m not sure how much impact banning only straws might have.”

However, even though many other plastics harm ocean life, plastic straws still pose a major threat to many species in the ocean. “In 2018 alone, there has been over 500 re-

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ported cases of straw related injuries to marine life in both freshwater and saltwater environments,” reported Robyn Albritton, a Sustainability Director for the Sailors for the Sea, an organization that focuses on eliminating ocean waste and other pollution. Straws cannot be recycled because the grade of plastic that is used to make them is not able to be reused. So, the only way for these incidents to be prevented is if everyone bans or limits straw use.

Therefore, everyone should give our ocean friends a hand.

When going out to eat, skip the straw. People should limit their daily plastic usage by recycling plastic bags, water bottles, and plastic cups.

Whatever steps we take will make an impact on the lives of these marine animals and improve our oceans’ conditions.

Season

Fall Fashion

Seasons are constantly changing. In fact, the seasons have a big impact on fashion. Fashion is a manner or style of dressing. Many teens take the time to plan out their outfits, and fashion is important to Wisco teens.

They take pride in what they are wearing. Fall 2018 has brought some new trends.

Fashion trends this fall, include black leather, glittery accessories, futuristic metallics, and laced up tops.

Leather jackets are also very popular. Another current trend is wearing textured knits and floral attire. Students can be found wearing textured knit sweaters and skirts, as well as floral dresses, pants, and tops. Scarfs as accessories also often include floral designs. Many teens attending Wisco are wearing colored jeans, pants with a stripe down the side, or ripped and distressed denim. Many girls are wearing flowy tunic dresses with leggings and other accessories. Teens are getting prepared for the colder weather by adding layers. The common colors this fall include red, yellow, purple, black, orange, pink, magenta, and brown.

By Taylor Stewart

Furthermore, in W Magazine, “The most prominent trend of the fall 2018 season is 80s-inspired fashion.� It is revealed that the new trends have been inspired by the 80s.

For example, big shoulders, cinched waists, and pleated pants are coming back! Scrunchies were popular in the 80s and can be seen on some WLHS students. There are many fascinating trends and styles to choose from. The most important thing about fashion is to--be you!

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Entertainment Header

"It's a Yes From Me!" America's Got Talent

By Emily Gorski

If you’re flipping through T.V. channels and come across someone singing really off-key, people doing dangerous stunts, crazy magic tricks, or anything in between, then chances are you are probably watching America’s Got Talent. This popular reality show that runs from the end of May to the beginning of September and displays talented people (or maybe not-so-talented people) for the rest of the country to see.

There are auditions all over the country between the months of November and February. The America’s Got Talent staff that run these auditions are normally only in the designated city for one or two days.

Since there are so many people in each city that are auditioning, it is usually a very long day for everyone.

If the staff likes your audition, then in many cases, they will tell you at your audition if they want you to come on the TV round. If you make it into the TV round, you get to perform in front of the judges. These judges are Howie Mandel, Mel B, Heidi Klum, and Simon Cowell. To get through the TV round, you have to get at least three yeses from the judges. If one of the judges thinks that you are particularly unique or a really special act, they may use their golden buzzer on you. Each judge gets one golden buzzer per season, and if they use

it, it sends the act straight through to the live shows, and they do not have to compete in the judge cuts rounds. The host of the show also gets a golden buzzer to use. The host of the show for the past few seasons has been Tyra Banks. However, if you do not get a golden buzzer, but you do get three yeses, you will then advance into Judge Cuts.

This round lasts about three or four weeks, but each week there is a different group of people. This is where you get the opportunity to perform in front of the judges once again.

This time, on each week of Judge Cuts, there is a different celebrity judge joining them. They also get a golden buzzer that they will use for that night. After seeing all the acts of that night, the judges will decide which people will move on to the live shows at the Dolby Theater. The first rounds of live shows are the quarterfinals, which last four weeks, again each week being a new group of people. Once the live shows start,

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America’s Got Talent starts airing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The performances of the contestants are on Tuesday, and the results of who will be moving on to the next round are on Wednesday.

Next come the semifinals, which are about 2 to 3 weeks. Finally, the last week of America’s Got Talent is the finale. The finale consists of 10 finalists who attempt to put on their best performance yet to convince America to vote for them. America can vote through the America’s Got Talent app, through their website, or by calling a specific phone number that is given out during the show.

The winner receives 1 million dollars, and they also get their own show in Las Vegas for a weekend.

This past season of America’s Got Talent just finished, with Shin Lim, a magician, ending up as the winner. Other notable acts from this season were Duo Transcend, an act that included two people and their trapeze skills; Michael Ketterer, a father who is also a talented singer; and Samuel J. Comroe, a hilarious comedian that used his tourette's syndrome, which usually negatively impacts a person’s life, to entertain and make people laugh.

Commerce

Online Shopping

Online shopping is becoming increasingly more popular. In fact, it is starting to replace brick and mortar stores, which are closing due to lack of business and profit.

Some stores have made a successful transition to online shopping, others have not. It appears that soon most purchases will be made online and delivered to the buyer’s home, requiring little more than getting up from the couch. This has its pros and cons, but the real question is: How is online shopping going to affect society?

The rise in online shopping could mean an end to more favorite stores. In April, a store boasting 160 years of service announced bankruptcy. This store was none other than Boston Store. They were put out of business due to lack in sales which can be attributed to the rise in online retail. According to Paul Gores from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Bon-Ton... didn’t adapt rapidly enough to changes in shopper trends, e-commerce and the competition from online retailers like Amazon.com…” “Bon-Ton was slow. They were very slow even to get a robust website up to speed.” said Dick Seesel, owner of Mequon-based Retailing in Focus in a recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article. To many, the closure of Boston Store was a disappointment.

Would it have survived if it had worked harder on its online profile?

Another problem with online retailing is its financial impact.

The first impact is the resulting job loss. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of 2017, there were about 10 million people employed in retail. If online shopping becomes the main form of shopping, then most of those 10 million people will lose their jobs. Online shopping is also taking its toll on the wallet. People spend more time and money online than they realize.

A graph from a CNBC article in title“You Might Be Spending Twice As much as Money As You Think You Are Online Shopping” written

by Ester Bloom shows just how severe the underestimation is.

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ella b a s I By iche w l e D

The positive side to online shopping is that businesses are changing. The Washington Post reports that Target’s sales are at a 13 year high due to a 41% raise in online sales. Some stores focus more on service to try to beat the competition. For instance, when Best Buy faced competition for business, they upgraded their service. They offered great deals on name brand electronics. They also redid their customer service, so that people are allowed to test products before spending a lot of money on them.

They also made the store less overwhelming, so that people can get in and out faster. The competition of online shopping is improving the quality of stores. It is also providing buyers with more competitive prices and a greater variety in goods.

It’s all well and good to know the facts and professional opinions on this topic, but how about the feelings of today’s high schoolers? According to a poll taken at Wisco, 72.6% of students prefer in-store shopping over online shopping.

Students say that pros of online shopping include: it’s quick, easy,

convenient, there is high stock supply, and it also allows you to be lazy.

They say that cons include: waiting for shipping, not knowing if the clothing will fit, and the possibility of getting scammed. All told, it appears students feel that the cons of online shopping outweigh the pros.

This feeling can also be seen in the responses of the students when asked about the impact of online shopping on the world. While some students listed positive impacts such as affordability and shopping ease, the negative impacts listed, including spending more money, never leaving the house, and forcing stores to close down, far outweigh the positive ones. In general, the teenagers of today’s world prefer instore shopping to online shopping.

Online shopping will definitely have an effect on society.

Some of that will be negative. People may lose some of their favorite stores to the competition of online stores. Finally, with the closing of stores, people will see more unemployment. However, there are still benefits to shopping online. One of which would be better customer service. Also, shipping and delivery has benefitted many people who are too busy to get to a store. Today Amazon can supply anything from a movie, to a shirt, to even some Twizzlers. Like the popular Journey song states, “Any way you want it, that’s the way you need it.”

For better or worse, this seems to be becoming increasingly true in the world of shopping.

Commerce What do you like about online shopping?

• More things to choose from, and they usually have your size if you're buying clothes. You can pretty much buy anything you need or want online • It is so much easier than wasting gas and energy to go drive or walk to store, buy the item you want, and then drive or walk back home. With the simple clicks of a mouse, [shopping is] a lot easier and it uses less time/energy consuming.

• Being able to see everything that they may not have in stores.

• Online shopping usually provides a better selection of things not sold in store or in your state.

• I like online shopping because you can use keywords to find things easily.

What don't you like about online shopping?

• I don't like that you can't try on the different items of clothing. I like to see if everything fits okay, and if I like the fabric. And, sometimes the shipping is slow, so it takes a while to get to your house.

• You can't try on the clothes which means there will be a greater chance of getting the wrong size or something that doesn't look good on you.

• I dislike the long shipping time. Obviously with in-store shopping you can just purchase and go; online shopping can take 5-7 days.

• It doesn't have the same feel as walking through a store, looking around at the things you like and debating whether you want them. I enjoy walking through a mall with friends and chatting with a coffee; you don't get that when you're staring at a screen.

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Injuries

Concussions in Sports

By Jamare McMurtry

According to the website, Headcase, 5 million concussions are reported each year in the United States. An estimate of 76% of all concussions are sports-related.

Out of the 76%, 47% of sports-related concussions occur in high school football. For those that are not as knowledgeable about concussions, they are “brain injuries caused by mild blows to the head or violent shaking of the head and body” (Mayo Clinic). Symptoms may include headaches, nausea, disorientation, and ringing in the ears. Parents should be concerned for their children that play sports such as football because concussions can have both short and long term effects.

One of the risks of constant concussions is Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is a degenerative, brain cell-killing disease and is caused by repetitive brain trauma. According to Boston University, the effects of CTE are “Memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment, impulse control problems, aggression, depression, anxiety, suicidality, parkinsonism, and eventually, progressive dementia.” 3.8 million concussions occur in American sports, and 50% go unreported. If a concussion goes unreported and un-

treated consecutively, there is a slight chance of long term effects like CTE or in extreme cases, death.

Dr. Ann McKee conducted a study relating to the causes of the deaths of deceased football players. She examined the brains of these 202 deceased football players and discovered that 111 played in the NFL. From the 111 NFL players, 110 had CTE. Rowan Stringer was a 17 year old girl in Ottawa, Canada who played for her high school rugby team. She died in 2013 after two consecutive untreated concussions within the same week. Her death could have been prevented with the proper protocols and mentality.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shared a few tips on how they believe concussions can be prevented.

For one, researchers said coaches should limit the amount of contact during practices. Secondly, athletes should be taught proper techniques and ways to avoid hits to the head. A close eye should be kept on athletes in positions who are at an increased risk for concussions. Finally, rules about fair play, safety, and sportsmanship must be enforced.

New equipment has been developed and is being used in

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football in an attempt to reduce the rate of concussions. Dave Marver, Co-founder and CEO of VICIS, created a 4-layered helmet for football players to help protect them while they play. This new helmet is called Zero1. Murker stated, “The outermost layer deforms like a car bumper, yielding when it's hit and slowing impact forces. Right below that is a second, reflex layer of columns that ‘bend and eventually buckle upon impact.’ The third layer is a very thin hard shell that protects against skull fractures. The fourth, innermost layer is the form liner, which conforms to the player's head.” He believes Zero1 is “better than any helmet ever made."

While there are still new protocols and equipment being developed such as Zero1, parents should be able to feel confident in letting their children run onto the field and play their best.

Calligraphy

Cursive Handwriting

By Timothy Broekema The world is entering a time where Generation Z and beyond may have a secret communication method. This method is something many people take for granted, yet now it may be lost to future generations. This secret style is none other than cursive.

Cursive writing may be erased from the future. With the advancement of technology, there is a decline of handwritten assignments in school. According to T. Rees Shapiro of the Washington Post, by 12th grade, “about half of all papers are composed on computers.� The decrease is causing a lack of necessity for the quick, efficient cursive style. This along with emails, is replacing cursive handwritten let

ters. Knowing how to read cursive is not considered a mandatory skill anymore, and it has been removed from the Common Core. In fact, many schools have already begun to stop teaching both how to read and how to write cursive. The News & Observer states that only 21 states actually require cursive to be taught anymore.

Even with the use of cursive declining, cursive writing has been shown to benefit people in numerous ways. For example, hand-eye coordination is greatly improved when learning cursive. Due to the fact that all of the letters are connected, cursive causes the hand and mind to cooperate when creating

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words. Also, the speed and efficiency of cursive helps people to stay focused. Thoughts and words cannot be disrupted because the letters always connect to one another. In a study of SAT writing responses, essays written in cursive received higher scores than those who would use print.

It has also been observed that people with dyslexia can read cursive easier than print because of cursive’s unique lettering.

With the need for cursive becoming less, many are considering that these benefits will not be enough to keep the final nail from reaching the cursive coffin.

There is a time coming where the only association that cursive will have is a dead style of writing.

FUN FALL WORD SEARCH Find each of the fall words hidden below.

WORDS TO FIND: pumpkin yellow scarecrow autumn leaves acorns corn

WORDS TO FIND:

harvest apples pumpkin hayride yellow red scarecrow Thanksgiving autumn football leaves orange

acorns corn

harvest apples hayride red Thanksgiving football orange Background drawn by Claire Chen

Find more printables for children at scholastic.com/parents/activities-and-printables

Find more printables for children at scholastic.com/parents/activities