Amplifier 2022-2023 Winter Edition (Volume 103 - Issue 2)

BuildingBlocks

West Linn High School

West Linn, Ore. / Volume 103 / Issue 2 / Winter 2023

AmplifierBuildingBlocks

West Linn High School 5464 West A. Street West Linn, OR 97068 503-678-7800 wlhs-amplifilifier@wlhs.wlwv.k12.or.us wlhsNOW.com

AUDREY LIPPERT print editor-in-chief

HELENA ERDAHL coverage editor-in-chief

KARINA ROWER web editor-in-chief

LILY GOTTSCHLING copy editor-in-chief

SYDNEY MCCRONE social media editor

JOSEPH MURPHY photography editor

KAELYN JONES student life editor

EDEN PEPOS business editor

Staff Reporters: CHIARA ARENDT

ELI BALLESTEROS KENNY CORBETT

VIOLET DACHTLER RACHEL HAN

EDIE HIMMER

FINN HOWELL MOLLY LUNDSTROM

JUSTINE PAHSLEY NOA RICHARDSON

LILY SEWELL

PRESTON WELLER

BENJAMIN WILLIAMS CYNTHIA YODER

TWITTER: @wlhsNOW

FACEBOOK: @westlinn.amplifier INSTAGRAM: @wlhsNOW

YOUTUBE: wlhsNOW

The Amplifier is published quarterly by the West Linn High School journalism class. Opinions expressed in the commentaries and editorials represent those of the writer, and are not necessaarily the opinions of West Linn High School, its administration, faculty, staff or student body.

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

New year, new beginnings is a tried and true theme that winter editions of the Amplifier have not shied away from in the past. However, instead of tearing down past work and starting anew, this edition of the Amplifier focuses on improving upon an already constructed foundation. After the success of our last issue, we sought to challenge ourselves to look for areas within our community that our past coverage has overlooked.

To continue progression, the editorial board strived to improve the cohesion of the stories within this issue by streamlining our formatting and updating our style guide. A notable update to our style guide for this issue was the introduction of official guidance on how to refer to women’s and men’s sports teams. Where reporters previously had discretion to choose between using boy’s and girl’s and women’s and men’s, throughout this issue all reporters use women’s and men’s, a change that brings the Amplifier in line with major publications, including the New York Times and ESPN.

This change was necessary partly because of this issue’s focus on the teams that compose our student body.

Organizations such as mock trial and ski team, along with e-sports, swim, and dance, have been long overlooked by our publication despite their importance as an outlet for students. These are some of the building blocks that shape our school community and by highlighting them we hope to expose a larger student audience to new opportunities.

Our cover story is both a feature on Mosley’s basketball career and a glance into the inner workings of the men’s basketball team, which is enjoying a successful season and has 6A state championship aspirations. Mosley transferred to West Linn High School from Grant High School at the start of this school year and is playing his senior season as a Lion.

Following a successful Fall Media Day and JEA/NSPA National Journalism convention in which this publication placed fifth in the nation. We, like the men’s basketball team, are looking to take the next step up and continue to improve as both a publication and people.

Sincerely and truly, Your editors, Audrey Lippert, Karina Rower, Helena Erdahl, and Lily Gottschling

Audrey Lippert

Karina Rower

Helena Erdahl

Lily Gottschling

Photo by Eden Pepos

Safe sidewalks soon

BY EDEN PEPOS business editor

Over the last two decades, the city has set into action a plan to increase accessibility and public transportation for the community. In 2000 the city implemented their first transportation goal. The 2000 goal was to begin to execute better public transportation and accessibility for residents. Then in 2016, they took the original report and added a more detailed plan, aimed to target three activities across West Linn— public transport, cyclists, and pedestrians. The plan helps expand roads to include better ways for non motorized personal vehicles. The goal is to make transportation less automobile focused and better to and from nearby cities.

Goal one is walkability. The city surveyed roads to find where they need sidewalks and plans on implementing them. The second goal is to include more bike routes making it safer to bike and more accessible. Third goal is to build more public bus stops because right now there is a limited number of public buses. Another idea is to implement a park and ride system or a MAX light rail train.

One of the current city’s goals is to continue implementing the 2021 plans by expanding upon the accessibility of West Linn. Rory Bialostosky, is the current interim mayor of West Linn and prior West Linn City Council President.

“Public Transportation is important so that everybody has the means to get around,” Bialostosky said. “Some people don’t have cars. Some people can’t drive. They need to be able to get around safely for equitable access.”

Luke Borland is the community relations specialist for public works.

“It is vital to create a community where everyone can get around and everyone has access to be able to use the resources available to the public,” Borland said.

Safety is another reason for the implementation of accessibility

for residents and visitors. Borland is working with the community to get input on the Safe Routes to School Program. This program ensures students who live within walking distance have safe access to get to school.

“In the short term, a major priority is the Safe Routes to School Program and improving intersections around schools to make walking a safe option for our students and their families,” Borland said.

The Safe Routes to School Program is a federal program overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The program’s goal is to get more students walking, biking and rolling to school. The idea is to promote a

Graphic by Eden Pepos

healthy active lifestyle and get students and their families outdoors. For this goal to be safely accomplished there is a need for sidewalks and crosswalks.

“A lot of infrastructure planning is around multimodal transit,” Borland said. “It’s giving people multiple different ways of getting where they’re going. By designing roads that make people feel safe and comfortable to ride a bike or walk and that’s the main goal since people aren’t gonna use it if they don’t feel safe.”

Along with goals to increase students’ safety, the city plans to find ways to increase safety for commuters who use public transportation and biking on major roads. Especially along Highway 43, which has been deemed a top priority to work on when the city assessed roads.

The city plan to focus on cyclists’ safety and to make it more accessible for the public. The community received “The Platinum Level” of bikeability by the American Cycling Association. Because of that, biking safety is a priority.

“We’re working on biking,” Bialostosky said. “When you talk about biking, I know there are some safety issues with biking on [Highway] 43. There’s definitely room to improve there.”

Safety and accessibility is a priority for the city. In the coming years they plan on continuing to implement less motor vehicle focused transportation to promote a healthy and accessible society.

How city leaders plan to accomplish the goal of becoming a more inclusive and accessible city

“

It is vital to create a community where everyone can get around and everyone has access to be able to use the resources available to the public.

-Luke Borland

BeReal is a social media app, that alerts its users everyday at a random time, and encoarages users to post a picture of their day.

Photo by Helena Erdahl

⚠It’s time to BeReal⚠

It’s time to BeReal

about social media safety

BY HELENA ERDAHL coverage editor-in-chief

previous creation, TBH to Meta in 2017, and was shut down the following year due to low usage.

The Gas mission statement preaches positivity as the app encourages its users to spread messages anonymously, but does not allow cyberbullying or negative messages. They pledge to take negative comments down to curb online bullying.

This new app also connects the user with the school attended by its users. For example, if a West Linn student were to join this app, their account would communicate that this individual attends West Linn High School, and connect the user to others

As this rumor sparked and hurt this young app’s reputation, it led to a conversation about whether users can trust the apps that hold so much information about them. According to an article by Insider Intelligence, trust in social media apps overall is dropping quickly.

Over the past year, trust in these platforms has dropped from 44 to 35%, a 9% decrease. This poll questioned if users felt safe posting on nine platforms, including apps like Facebook or Instagram.

“

As social media becomes a more prominent figure in daily life, user concerns about privacy they sacrifice by giving these apps their information and attention are becoming more common. Stories of corporations such as Meta, previously known as Facebook, selling personal information and privacy protections being breached, were exposed by the class action lawsuit against Meta in 2022, where they agreed to pay $725 million for sharing data with a third party, Cambridge Analytica. This organization is a data analytics firm used by the Trump Campaign, according to an article by NPR. So what can the average person do to protect themselves in a new world of virtual dominance, and what are the new apps for consumers to be aware of?

As of late, a new app, Gas has quickly gained popularity. It is similar to the-now defunct app TBH, where anonymous messages are sent to the person who sends out a prompt, such as “rate me” or “send me a message.” Both of these apps were developed by the same person, Nikita Bier. At the age of 33, Bier was excited that his newest creation [Gas] was gaining so much traction. Bier had sold his

– William Antonelli

attending. This app gained popularity and quickly plummeted as rumors of human trafficking occurred, because of these location settings.

“Gas has never been linked to any form of human trafficking, and the app’s structure makes it impossible, experts say. The app has limited features, doesn’t track users’ locations, and can’t be used to message someone,” Taylor Lorenz wrote in a Washington Post article.

Another app that quickly gained young users’ attention was BeReal, an app that preached doing away with filters and editing and showing what people are doing in real life. Every day, the app’s “‘alarm” goes off randomly encouraging users to show their lives without planning and perfecting the snapshot that is presented to others. While this app is seemingly harmless, there are a couple of things users should be aware of in order to protect themselves while using the app.

“Whenever you post a photo on BeReal, it’ll ask for your current location. This location gets shared with BeReal (who saves it for three years) and anyone who sees your photo. It’s never a good idea to share your exact location online, so you’re better off disabling this setting,” William Antonelli wrote for Insider.

When online, it is always smart to investigate the information that is given to them, and the rights they have with that information.

It’s never a good idea to share your exact location online, so you’re better off disabling this setting.”

BY RACHEL HAN staff reporter

Currently, students’ school days consist of six class periods.

Mondays and Fridays are 1-6 days, Tuesdays are ‘A’ days, Wednesdays are ‘B’ days, and Thursdays are ‘C’ days. This repeats every week, but starting in the 2023-24 school year, students will have a change in their school schedules.

1—6 days and C days will be removed, leaving only A days and B days. In return, an additional two classes will be added to the six classes students take. One will be a mandatory house class, or homeroom class, and the other can be an elective of the students’ choice.

Jocelyn McIntire is the assistant principal for sophomores and juniors.

Along with her and other staff, this change was discussed and set in place for the next school year.

As of right now, students must get 24 credits to graduate. Any nonpassing grades (a 60% or lower) in

amount of credits will stay the same for the upcoming year. However, the new system will allow students to take more classes and have the chance to earn more credits. This opens up chances for students to take the classes they want and also gain more credits.

the schedule OLD SCHEDULE: 8 THE AMPLIFIER • WINTER 2023

“Students are really wanting access to more opportunities. -Jocelyn McIntire MON. TUES. WED. THURS. FRI.

classes do not give students credits. The current schedule makes it difficult to regain credits. Students may have to retake courses over the summer, attend early periods, etc.

“Students are really wanting access to more opportunities,” McIntire said. “If you don’t do well in a class, you just don’t have very many options. So when you tack on the required courses, that leaves very few elective options, especially for taking a foreign language or band.”

This change allows students to take year-long classes, such as band, any AP classes, or a language class, and

also experience change next year. The current A, B, C days don’t allow teachers to have a ‘prep period’ one day a week. This can be inconvenient for those who have to grade or plan for classes, but lack the time to do so.

“In our new schedule, they will get a prep,” McIntire said. “They'll get an opportunity to have a break, grade papers, and prepare for their next class every day.”

Jack Trombley, freshman, entered his first year of high school with the current schedule. His next years at school will be with the new schedule.

“Well, those additional classes means more homework which

Fishout of water

How West Linn’s lack of a swimming pool impacts both the swim team and community

AUDREY LIPPERT print editor-in-chief

The swim team has not had a true home meet in almost 50 years. Following the removal of West Linn High School’s basement swimming pool in 1974, which stood below the gym, the swim team has been without a pool. This has forced the team to practice outside of West Linn at community pools in neighboring cities, including Oregon City and currently Tualatin.

Without a local pool to practice at and host meets from the swim team has found pool space wherever it

could, but limited space has led to crowded lanes and late practices. Right now, the swim team practices from 8 to 9:30 p.m., and are a 15 to 20 minute drive from the high school depending on traffic.

Maeve DeYoung, junior, is a member of the swim team who primarily focuses on backstroke. She grew up in West Linn, but participates in club swimming at the Lake Oswego Swim Club (LOSC) and is committed to swim collegiately at the University of Missouri.

“I’ve never been to a high school practice,” DeYoung said. “[Our coaches] actually tell us not to go to them because we don’t have a pool. We don’t have a lot of space so they just say to practice with our club team.”

The majority of club swimmers do not practice with the high school team, instead practicing with their club team, while swimmers who do not have a club team must drive to Tualatin to practice. Home meets are held at the Lake Oswego pool, which also serves as a home pool for both the Lake Oswego and Lakeridge High School swim teams.

“It feels like less of a cohesive team when the club swimmers don’t practice with the high school,” DeYoung said. “I also just think swimming is such a big life skill and so having [a pool] for not just the high school to use, but the community to use would be really important.”

In a city surrounded by water with rivers and lakes, swimming

A West Linn swimmer races in a breaststroke event during the team’s dual meet against Oregon City. Both the mens and womens teams would fall to the Pioneers with scores of 70-94 and 79-87, respectively. Photo by Audrey Lippert.

is a necessary skill for safety, and according to the CDC, “formal swimming lessons can reduce the risk of drowning.” Currently, if parents wish to enroll their children in swimming lessons they must drive to a pool in a nearby city, adding a hurdle to the ability of parents to teach their children how to swim.

“I think there has been a lot of adolescent drownings and that type of stuff does happen frequently in Oregon,” DeYoung said. “We do have a lot of rivers and lakes around, and so I think just providing some lessons for our community in general would be really significant and having more space for clubs and high schools to practice is important.”

A 2013 bond measure to build a $24 million indoor aquatic center using a plot of land on Parker Rd. in West Linn failed. It was one of two proposals being considered by the city at the time, the other being a cheaper $9 million outdoor pool. Both failed and no further legislation has been considered since, leaving the swim team in a continual search for places to practice and forcing community members to drive if to participate in swimming of any kind.

Sabrina Noce, sophomore, is primarily a backstroker who also swims for the Oregon City Swim Team (OCST). OCST is based at the community swimming pool in Oregon City, where the high school swim team practiced before moving to Tualatin. She occasionally attends high school practices, but spends most of her practice time with OCST.

“It’s hard to find a lot of pools that have open space and the pool that we’re sharing, there’s not a lot of room at all,” Noce said. “It really does affect your practice because you just can’t get as much out of your practice when it’s super crowded.”

Despite winning more than 20 state championships across multiple sports since 2000, the swim team has not been a part of West Linn’s athletic success recently, as they have not won a state championship in swimming, men’s or women’s, since the pool was taken out.

Gabriel Schreiber, junior, swims for the high school and LOSC. He also does not practice with the high school team, instead training at Lewis and Clark College with his club. His first

helpful,” Schreiber said. “I think it would, in a way, bring more awareness to [swimming], especially if we have a home pool that people can just come and watch, and obviously it’d be better for practice because you wouldn’t have to commute as far and we could have longer practices.”

— Maeve DeYoung

stroke is freestyle, and he usually races the 100 and 200 freestyle and the 100 and 200 breaststroke.

“Just to have practice, straight after school and to be able to use the school facilities more easily would be

A pool is an expensive community investment, which is why the 2013 bond’s failure is understandable, especially as it was voted on just two years after voters approved a $8.5 million bond to build a new police station. Despite this, the difficulty the swim team has in finding a place to practice shows how limited pool space is in the Portland Metro Area, and means that a theoretical West Linn community pool should have no trouble filling its lanes. Building a pool would not only give the exiled swim team a true home to return to at last, but also provide a place for community members to learn important life skills, exercise, and gather.

“

I’ve never been to a high school practice.

[Our coaches] actually tell us not to go to them because we don’t have a pool. We don’t have a lot of space so they just say to practice with our club team.

Pieces of the old swimming pool are still visible by the greenhouses in the Tripp lot. After almost 50 years, vegetation is starting to overwhelm some of the abandoned tiles. Photo by Audrey Lippert.

A turning point

The dance team embarks on the second half of their season following a pre-season rebrand

BY LILY GOTTSCHLING copy editor-in-chief

In the span of four months, the varsity dance team has undergone a plethora of changes, with a new captain, alumni returning to coach, and a total re-brand. As the first half of the season comes to a close, the team is ready to bring it on.

Formerly known as the Debutantes (or Debs by the students), the team changed its name in September after concerns regarding the origins of the word were brought to the team by the family of a freshman member. Stella Gorsuch, junior, has been a member of the team since her freshman year and stood as the team captain when the change was announced.

“We wanted people to know that we aren’t a team [for] a specific gender,” Gorsuch said. “Anyone can be on this team, so we didn’t want to be associated with the Debs anymore.”

A debutante is defined as “a young woman making her entrance into society,” in reference to debutante balls, in which women come out to society, generally at the age of 16. Arguments against the use of this to describe a women’s sports team point out the outdated nature of the debutante. Additionally, men’s teams are not given gender-specific names while women’s sports have been dubbed “the lady lions” along with the aforementioned “Debs.” As a returning member, Grace Boyer, sophomore, hopes this change will increase interest in the team.

“I think that the old name was not very inclusive and the meaning behind the word ‘debutante’ is not very positive,” Boyer said.“I want our

team to be something different than it insinuates. And I think it [also] makes us seem more professional.”

In addition to changing the name, the team wants to change how they are seen by members of the community. While the team’s halftime performances at homecoming games set a stage for them to demonstrate their talents to the community, the team wants people to see beyond that.

“We’re not only [our] football performances,” Boyer said. “That’s maybe 15-20% of what we do.”

The team works year-round, competing against other high schools working towards the same goal— making it to the state competition in March.

The name and reputation are not

junior on the team and the rest being underclassmen. Boyer is a returning member of the team who has had to step up as a leader in the absence of other upperclassmen. One way Boyer has stepped up to the challenge is by leading a “family” on the team.

“We have family leaders and then there’s like five people in a group,” Boyer said. “[The family is] your goto people if you ever need help with choreography or something like that.”

As she progresses as a member of the team, Boyer hopes to step up to greater leadership roles and eventually take the lead as captain.

“I’m hoping that as I get older [I get] to be a captain,” Boyer said. “Since I am an underclassman [and] we don’t have any seniors, [Gorsuch] is the leader and I’m just there if she needs support or help with anything.”

the only major changes the team has undergone this season, with new coaches and a new captain taking position at the beginning of the school year. Coaches Ally Cannon and Bethany Greeff are alumni from the 2019 and 2018 teams who joined the coaching staff in August, alongside longtime head coach Karalee Kyllo.

“[Greeff and Cannon] are very young,” Boyer said. “I think it is really nice to see a fresh new point because they’re new to coaching and they went here so it’s just another way of advocacy that [the dancers] didn’t really have before.”

The team faces another challenge this season, with Gorsuch being the only

Throughout the year, the team can be seen performing at a number of games, fundraisers, and competitions around the state. The dance season begins in the summer with two weeks of bonding and practices to prepare for the beginning of the year football games and assemblies. The team starts by learning a handful of routines that they will practice, perfect, and perform from September to June, and learn additional routines throughout the season.

A large proponent of season preparation is team bonding, which begins at the summer intensive and continues throughout the season. Along with the families on the team, the dancers also work together to plan holiday parties and fundraising events.

“We just spend a lot of time with each other,” Boyer said. “[We] just like doing fun things together.”

The 1963 Debutantes. Photo courtesy of the 1963 yearbook

Stella Gorsuch, junior, has filled a number of roles on the varsity dance team, but this year, she takes center stage as team captain. While she assumed the position of team captain at the beginning of the school year, it was not her first time taking on a leadership role. As the only sophomore on the 2021-2022 team, Gorsuch was forced to take on a more responsibility in her second year on the team, allowing her to adapt to leadership with ease this year.

“Last year I was kind of a co-leader and I was also the only sophomore so I had to take on the role of acting [as] a junior and having to be a figure for the freshman,” Gorsuch said. “[Being captain] wasn’t too much of a change and I thought it was gonna be harder than it actually was.”

Gorsuch’s dance career began six years ago when her sister, McKenzie Gorsuch, class of 2020, joined the team. As a freshman, Gorsuch joined the team with limited dance experience.

“My sister was on the team with [Cannon], [Hurd], and [Kelly],” Gorsuch said. “I used to come to their

practices and watch and seeing them made me want to join the team when they came around.”

Outside of a bonding experience with her sister, the team became a safe space for Gorsuch to be herself and make friends. Similarly to other varsity-level sports, the dance team spends hours of time outside of school practicing and bonding— something that Gorsuch sees as a pivotal element of her time on the team.

“I’ve always had problems with friends outside of dance,” Gorsuch said. “Being part of a group that is so close [where] we do a lot outside of dance practices has just helped me to have some people that I can connect with.”

As for the future of the team, Gorsuch encourages prospective members to join with the promise of a tight-knit community.

“It’s a family,” Gorsuch said. “We always have each other’s backs no matter what. We’re just a close family.”

At the 2022 May Day ceremony, Stella Gorsuch takes the floor alongside fellow dancers to perform Photo by Audrey Lippert

Ski team hits the slopes

Ski team kicked off their season in the Mt. Hood Meadows beginning of January

BY CHIARA ARENDT staff reporter

At the high school level, winter sports are available to students in the Portland Metro area. Snow and mountain sports, including skiing and snowboarding, are considered clubs by their prospective schools.

Ski team members share an interest in competitive skiing, and train together for district races as well as individually qualifying for state championships. Some of the races that the team participates in are Giant Slalom and Slalom, and the events are based on speed by qualified judges.

The ski program this year has combined with Clackamas, Rex Putnam, and Canby High Schools to extend the resources out to them and give students the opportunity to competitively ski. Chloe Oswald, freshman, is a newcomer to the womens’ team this year.

“I’ve been skiing since I was two and a half [years old],” Oswald said. “So I’ve ski raced before on a different team, for Mount Hood, and my dad was on the ski team here. So [joining] was just a no-brainer for me.”

The club has been at the school since the late eighties, with the mens varsity team winning state five times in a row from 2011-2015. It has given generations of students who may have not had access to skiing a chance to learn the sport, as well

as be introduced to a competitive environment.

“[Ski team has] allowed me to take a sport that I love, and create a competitive aspect out of it,” Oswald said. “It’s also great because you’re around racers that are better or more experienced than you, which forces you to push yourself to be better.”

The women’s and the men’s teams are divided during races, competing in the same events but with separate races, however both teams practice and prepare together.

Brecken Susany, junior, is one of the team captains for the mens team.

“There’s a lot of commitment,” Susany said. “There’s the net training, it’s a lot going up and then coming back down around [11 p.m.] It’s a lot of work, but the reward is definitely worth it. You will see yourself improve and it’s a lot of fun to look back on.”

Skiing is generally considered an individual sport, with race times as well as events being specific to the person who is competing.

Constant Herbreteau, junior, is a newcomer to the team as well as the school, moving here from his hometown in France.

“I’ve been skiing basically my whole life,” Susany said. “I joined as a freshman during COVID[-19], and for a long time the team was really small and to now be a team captain, I’d say we have a pretty big team.”

The commitment for the team includes dry land practices two times a week at Active Edge Physical Therapy and Gym, which is also one of the team’s key sponsors. When the mountain opens up for public skiing, the team’s Thursday night dry land practices move to the mountain.

Mt. Hood Meadows, where the team does their course practices, opened up in late November, opening up practice opportunities before races began, which occurred in the beginning of January.

“As an individual sport, the team is really important,” Herbreteau said. “You can’t just go up there just to go off by yourself. It’s important to stay as a team, because it’s not just a way to get up to the mountain, it’s also a way to spend time with friends and improve if you want to keep with [the sport].” From last season, Susany was the only one who qualified for the state championship on the team.

“It’s really hard to go up as an individual with no one,” Susany said. “I mean, my dad was there and I had some friends cheering me on but to be the only one on the mountain, it’s really wild.”

This year his goal is to lead the team back to state and help more individuals qualify for the state competition.

“I’m feeling pretty good with how the team is looking,” Susany said. “We have a lot of repeats from last year and based on last year we might qualify for state.”

“

I’m feeling pretty good with how the team is looking. We have a lot of repeats from last year and based on last year we might qualify for state. — Breckan Susany

Skiing off to his first race, Breckan Susany, junior, get’s ready to compete.

Competing in his first run, Breckon Susany, junior, ski’s down the hill. The Kelsey race is a Giant Slalom race with two rounds of runs, with scoring being combined of both times.

Excited to start, Sam McCarty, sophomore, smiles at the camera. McCarty placed fourth overall out of the two hundred in the men’s competition. Photos by Chiara Arendt

“

[Ski team has] allowed me to take a competitive sport that I love, and create a competitive enviornment out of it. — Chloe Oswald

BUILDING

BLOCKS

BY JOSEPH MURPHY photography editor

After three seasons playing for the Grant High School’s boys basketball program, Mosley, senior, moved to West Linn. The addition of Mosley made headlines, moving to a team that finished third in last year’s 6A OSAA state tournament, after being recognized as a member of the OSAA all-state first team. “I often like passing up a shot sometimes,” Mosley said. “[I do this to] get others involved.”

After the mens’ basketball team parted ways with Head Coach Eric Viuhkola following last season, they welcomed Head Coach Robert Key, former Grant head coach, for the 2022-2023 season. With a resume that includes the 2017-2018 6A OSAA State Championship and a 144-65 coaching record with Grant, Coach Key’s accolades speaks for itself. Key was with Mosley then and now.

“I feel it will stay the same because [Coach Key’s] always been consistent,” Mosley said. “I feel the love is still going to be carried over here.”

Last year, Mosley became the Portland Interscholastic League (PIL) player of the year. Jackson Shelstad, senior, one of Mosley’s closest friends, and the starting point guard, has had some matchups against Mosley.

“He’s the type of guy you hate to play against,” Shelstad said. “We played against him last year and he was guarding me all game because he’s a really good defensive player. He’s strong. He’s got long arms. He’s just a really good athlete. So I mean, defensively, he’s special. On the offensive side, he’s always [a] mismatch usually just because he’s a stronger guard.”

—Jackson Shelstad

Moving to a new team can be difficult. New coaches that offer a new scheme and way of leadership and new players to work with could lead to difficult transitions. However, Mosley has been close friends with Shelstad since the sixth grade.

“[We] have always been boys and I just felt it was time for a change,” Mosley said. “I thought this would be the best fit. What people don’t know is I grew up with a lot of kids in the area out here so it made it feel like home still being around them.”

Throughout high school, Coach Key has seen Mosley’s progression but also his low moments

“He’s just that kid that just

always stayed the course and never let anything bother him,” Coach Key said to Fox 12. “He’s always got [a] genuine smile and he loves the game of basketball.”

After advancing to the second round in the 6A OSAA playoffs the previous year, Mosley joins a contending team with high hopes to win the 6A OSAA State Championship.

“I think [Adrian is] an allleague guy,” Shelstad said. “We got a lot of talent just throughout our whole roster, but I mean, when you got talent like that, it makes everything easier because teams can’t just focus on one or two guys. They have to worry about everybody.”

BACKCOURT SISTERS

Women’s basketball features guards Avery Jordan (left), senior, and her sister Reese (right), freshman. The Jordan sisters also have a dad who played basketball in college. What goes into their relationship on and off the court?

JM: Before a game, what does he say to you guys?

AJ: He just tells us to play with confidence and play with our heads up because the best things happen when you’re confident that you’re gonna make the shot.

JM: How do you think Avery helps you?

RJ: She’s helped me be a really good leader and just like, shows me things obviously because she’s older.

JM: You’re more of a leader on the team, how do you use those skills to help Reese?

AJ: I just try to lead by example, always. I know that there’s people out there who are better at basketball than me, whatever. But everyday when I go into the gym, I want to be the hardest worker and I want to always be the best teammate. So just showing them that it’s more than just about the scoreboard. It’s more than just about stats. It’s about the culture that you are trying to create. So I guess I just try to lead by example.

He’s the type of guy you hate to play against.

Photos by Joseph Murphy

Valorant esports team places third in their bracket RISE THROUGH RISE THROUGH

BY MOLLY LUNDSTROM staff reporter

On Friday Dec. 9, the Valorant esports team placed at 47 overall in the West region and third in their bracket.

As video games become more popular, more clubs and teams center around them. One video game that recently had a team dedicated to it is Valorant.

Valorant is a 5v5 first-person shooter game. It’s set in the near future and is only available on PC (personal computer). Because Valorant is a PC game you cannot play it on a mobile device or on other gaming consoles. There are a variety of maps to play on, and agents to play based on different cultures. During the game, you work with your team to defend or attack a bomb site as an agent with given abilities.

The esports team created a

Valorant section around two years ago. This year the team had more signups than years past, so they now have two teams for Valorant, the gold team and the green team. KC Brown, sophomore, is a member of the gold team. He has been playing Valorant for two years.

“I did learn some skills with team coordination and call outs that you can use to help your team,” Brown said.

Both Valorant teams recently finished their fall tournament. The adviser in charge of all esports teams is Sean Shevlin, math teacher.

“We play once a week against other high schools. [The players] get in the system at home, and they’ll play together virtually,” Shevlin said. “It will randomly put you with a team, another high school team, and then they’ll compete. So they’ll play best of three, and then as

play

record changes.

LUNDSTROM

you

your

“ The place we’d like to go to is fundraising. So then we can build a lab eventually, where we can practice and have really nice gaming computers.

— Sean Shevlin

THROUGH THE RANKS THROUGH THE RANKS

You get ranked basically. And so then the next week when you go in the system and you queue up to pick your opponent, it will try to pair you with someone that has a similar record.”

Valorant teams across the U.S. compete to play in a national championship. The country is split up into four regions; the west region, the east region, the south region, and the middle region.

The green and gold teams play against other teams from the west region, which includes Oregon, Washington, California, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana.

The teams play once a week, for eight weeks, and then they get a final ranking. The gold team placed 47 overall and the green team was 104. Because the gold team placed higher, they were placed in bracket number two, which is the redemption bracket. Bracket number one is the championship bracket. In the redemption bracket, the gold team placed third.

Christopher Buttson, sophomore, is another member of the gold team. He has been playing Valorant for a year and has been on the team for a few months.

“I improved as a player, when we get on task we work well together,” Buttson said.

The esports team can be a great place to meet new people with common interests and hone your video game skills. There is another Valorant tournament coming up in the spring.

“I hope to recruit more people for spring,” Shevlin said. “Sign ups will be in January. There’s two weeks of practice before the February start date, and then it starts up again for eight weeks.”

If you’re interested in joining the valorant esports team or playing any other video games, go see Shevlin in room B106.

“

I improved as a player, when we get on task we work well together.

— Christopher Buttson

LAYING DOWN THE LAW

BY KARINA ROWER web editor-in-chief

On paper, the mock trial program has proven their success time and time again. With six state championships and numerous appearances on the international stage over the course of the last two decades, the program’s reputation speaks for itself. Consistently placing in the top five on both the state and national level, the Black team has cracked the case of achieving mock trial success. They first showcased their potential placing in their first competitive season as a team in the 2021-2022 school year next to the former Green team, once composed of class of 2022 alumni, as well as the Gold team, the class of 2023 senior team. The Black team is entirely made up of juniors, who took the Honors Law elective prior to trying out for the team.

Mock trial team continues championship legacy

Holly Pearce, junior, first joined the team in her sophomore year, following in the steps of her sister Ellie Pearce, a class of 2019 alum. When Ellie was a senior, her team took home the 2019 state trophy, and mock trial once again succeeded in 2020. After three years without a state win, the Black team is aiming to reclaim the title from the current state title holders, Village Home Education Resource Center. However, mock trial is a year round extracurricular. Before they can begin preparing for this year’s state qualifier, they stepped onto the international stage at Empire Chicago in the fall of 2022.

Photo by Empire Mock Trial, used with permission.

Though mock trial is a primarily team based competition, members (known in the trial as attorneys, witnesses, or timekeepers) take on certain parts of the trial to prepare for and perform. Holly specializes in giving the closing statement, a speech that reviews everything that happened in the trial and makes the final impression on the jury before they deliberate.

“I feel like talking for a long time comes a lot more natural to me than having the back and forth of a direct or a cross [examination],” Holly said. “I also partly like it because I don’t get objected to when I have a speech and so I don’t really get interrupted. I can keep my flow and keep my composure a little bit more.”

Linrou Liu, junior, joined mock trial

with providing in-depth knowledge on the legal system.

“I took Honors Law and I had no intention of joining mock trial when I first took the class,” Martinez said. “Then I really liked what we were doing. I got too invested in the final trial, so then I told [Matt] Kellogg I wanted to join, and it ended up being probably the best thing I’ve done in high school because I got to do something that was more unique to just me, and I got to share that with my team.”

Before competing, cases are assigned to teams and teams assign trial assignments in order to prepare accordingly. Liu’s role pertains to the middle portion of the trial, in performing direct and cross examinations.

statement written for use in court.

“I somehow ended up winning both [awards], which was really shocking honestly, I didn’t think I was gonna end up doing it,” Holly said. “It was honestly not just me because none of my stuff really exists in a vacuum. I had to work with other people and I had to work with my team to get the stuff that I did to that level where I could win that award. So I’m very thankful for my team.”

While the Black team has had their success, the Gold team, composed of mostly seniors, has continued to also succeed alongside them, placing ninth at Empire Chicago.

“Technically we didn’t ever go against [the Gold team],” Martinez said. “We just placed higher but it still creates a tension that is so impossibly

during her sophomore year alongside Holly and fellow Black team member Amaya Martinez, junior. They are three of the eight members of the Black team.

“[Joining mock trial] I was super nervous and to be a little honest, I am not a person with a lot of extracurriculars, so I thought it’d be fun to join a school program,” Liu said. “I avoided sports and I’m like, ‘Wait, mock trial. Yeah, that’s great for me as a person who’s not athletic at all.’”

When a student adds Honors Law to their schedule, it takes up space that could be filled by other electives. However, the class also fulfills the graduation requirement for a civics or government semester credit, along

“I specifically deal with experts, people who are specialized in a certain field because Kellogg thought I was good at it at Empire [last year],” Liu said. “So he didn’t hide me with experts, but the expert for this case [was] really bad. So I’m like, ‘I hate them, but I love my content.’”

While Liu continued to focus on her niche at Empire Chicago, Holly was tasked with direct and cross examinations. Holly was awarded both Outstanding Attorney and Outstanding Witness. Though an attorney’s role in a trial is based on the questions asked during the direct and cross examination, being a witness requires performing the information provided in the case’s affidavit, the

overlooked and it’s very difficult because you want to feel happy for yourself, but then you feel bad for your friends and it’s hard for them to be happy for you.”

With the conclusion of Empire, the only event left on the horizon for mock trial is the regional competition. From each region, only two teams can qualify for state.

Last year, the Gold team didn’t go to state, while the Black and Green teams continued on. Mock trial has won state six times, with the most recent win in 2020. Regionals for the state competition begin Feb. 11.

The Black team with their fifth place trophy: Linrou Liu, Haley Ray Newbore, Olivia Cavoto, Nicole Beltman, Holly Pearce, Amaya Martinez, Luke Hessel, and Jack Johnston pictured from left to right. Photo by Empire Mock Trial, used with permission.

WHAT CAN A

CAN DO?

The results of the 2022 food drive and its importance

BY EDIE HIMMER staff reporter

One in eight children in Oregon face hunger, according to Feeding America, but making an impact on an issue that’s so prevalent in our state usually starts somewhere smaller. The annual canned food drive is just one of the ways that students can help the cause and give back to their community.

The 2022 canned food drive went from Nov. 9—18. Students brought cans to their fourth period classrooms, and by the end of the fundraiser all donations went to the West Linn Food Pantry.

The top three classes collected 1,580 cans together, but other classrooms collected little to none.

Jonathan Garcia, junior ASB officer, was involved in the organization of the food drive as an ASB officer.

“I think it could have been executed better,” Garcia said. “I think we as a school lack on donations, like just recently.”

Blake Williams, ASB adviser, also helped ASB organize the event.

“I was actually surprised that we ended up having about 50 boxes [of cans],” Williams said. “Because so

many teachers collected none.”

One issue that might have caused the low numbers was how the message was spread. The ASB Instagram account made posts encouraging donations, and on Wednesday Nov. 9, the event was announced on the LiveROAR.

“The [LiveROAR] is only on Wednesdays,” Williams said. “So by the time you hear on Wednesday that the drive ends on Friday, you don’t have a lot of time.”

food drive because of their teacher.

“I think it’s really hard for some teachers who are like, teaching an AP class or have a lot of curriculum,” Williams said. “They don’t always want to stop and do canned food… and that’s the hardest thing; how do you communicate on this campus and get everyone to know?”

Blake Williams

Communication is also hard when fourth period isn’t on the schedule every day, and when teachers have different lesson plans that don’t allow for time to advertise for fundraisers. The strategies and tactics that ASB uses can make all the difference when it comes to getting the community involved in fundraising.

Data obtained from a survey on wlhsNOW’s instagram showed that just over half of the participants learned about the food drive because of the LiveROAR.

“I think the [Live]ROAR— not only should it be a video on Wednesday— but if we have [an event] on a certain day, I think we should also have another video that day,” Garcia said.

Communicating also involves teachers reminding their fourth period students to bring in cans. Because this is not something that ASB does, about 30% of participants knew about the

“I felt [donations were] low, because people came up to me and said, you know, ‘seven years ago, we got 10,000 [cans],’” Williams said. “But compared to exactly where we were last year, we were about the same.”

One strategy used in the past for raising the number of cans collected was a donation van.

“So I know a few years ago, we had this van at Safeway that would like, collect cans that people would buy in the store,” Garcia said. “They just parked it right outside of Safeway and like, you know, it’s advertised, ‘Oh, go buy food cans and then like, donate to

West Linn high school so we can donate back.’”

Shoppers could donate cans to this van on behalf of the high school, but all donations went to the food pantry. However, the school hasn’t used this strategy since COVID-19, so this year donations to the high school were purely from students bringing them into their fourth period classes.

“Well, I’d have the van again,” Garcia said. “I think the van actually helped a lot with how many cans we had.”

The top earners collected 821 cans, 658 cans, and 101 cans. Most other classes didn’t get anywhere close to these numbers.

“If it wasn’t for two massive classes collecting 1200 pieces by themselves, we wouldn’t have had those numbers,” Williams said.

Moving forward, spreading the word is key to having successful fundraisers.

“I think we did spread the word right,” Garcia said. “I just think we could have done more of it.”

Creating excitement around the canned food drive, and other fundraisers like it, is not just for the sake of school spirit.

“[Fundraisers are] not just because we, you know, feel like it. We have students at West Linn who rely on the pantry,” Williams said. “If we don’t [help], who will?”

To suggest that any charity is a failure is to ignore the effort of those who actually pushed for a successful fundraiser. Despite the majority of people not donating cans, it’s important to not undermine the individuals who did. So don’t wait to take action. If you didn’t donate at all, don’t let yourself feel guilty and go get involved in another charity or fundraiser. There is always something to be done, and a little is better than none at all.

PHOTO AND GRAPHICS BY EDIE HIMMER

‘ISEF is what you make of it’

BY PRESTON WELLER wstaff reporter

Every year the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) brings diverse questions and answers from students all across the country. This gives science loving students a chance to explore a topic they are interested in. Along with letting them gain the experience of presenting and sharing all the research and experiments they have done.

Uma Grover and Melinda Lin, seniors, have worked together for two years to address the silo toxicity levels existing in local waters.

“The Willamette River this last year created toxicity levels [that] made it so the water was unsafe,” Grover said. ¨It was harmful enough that it could actually kill a dog and make a person sick.”

Both students have experience when it comes to ISEF, but many of the participants with less experience in STEM have also found success with their projects.

“Being an underclassmen is the best time to explore all opportunities here at West Linn and ISEF also gives you a huge range of opportunities,” Lin said.

ISEF is the largest pre-college STEM competition in the world. Students in grades 9—12 are given the opportunity to compete for scholarships and share their passion for scientific inquiry. Along with being an introduction to

to be ready to present it. The entire process of ISEF can be intimidating.

“I was gonna do it last year, but then I got very nervous and scared and then I decided not to because I just didn’t think I was ready,” Farnand said.

Having experience can give returning participants an advantage when it comes to ISEF projects. It also means that they have advice to give to first year ISEF participants.

the world of science for people like Morgan Farnand, sophomore.

“This is my first time doing like an official science project,” Farnand said. “I’ve done science projects for fun like at home, especially during COVID[-19], but never like an official science project for school or anything.”

It can be difficult to do something you’ve never done before, and ISEF is no exception. It often takes a long time between having the idea for a project to having all the research and testing

“Going through the whole process of coming up with an idea, doing testing, doing analysis and presenting, and like learning what I did wrong, has helped a lot for me,” Grover said. “The best thing that you could do in an ISEF project is talk about your project to other people. Go to dinner parties with your family and just tell them about your project and they probably will know someone who knows someone that can help you with your project and give you more info.”

The large variety of possible projects means that many factors regarding the project can be changed to fit the person’s desires. Whether this means time, amount of testing or any other adjustable part of the process. “ISEF is what you make of it,” Lin said.

“ Being an underclassmen is the best time to explore all opportunities here at West Linn and ISEF also gives you a huge range of opportunities.

— Melinda Lin

ISEF students, new and experienced undergo the testing process

Uma Grover and Melinda Lin collecting data for their project on silo toxicity levels in local waters.

Photo by Qiuyi Wu

‘FRESHMAN’ OR ‘FIRST YEAR’?

NOA RICHARDSON staff reporter

In our current age we have dealt with a plethora of new terms and social rules, many pertaining to gender, racial and sexual orientation that have been disbanded as most are outdated and often come from places of malice or are deeply rooted in old biases. Typically, words like these are taken out of use due to the fact that most of the time they are used to be demeaning or degrading towards people.

However, many terms have become a center for controversy as some of them have been thought to be offensive. That brings us to the term “freshman,” a word used to describe a new student to typically an educational institution, most prominently used in the context of a high school or college. First used in the 1500s, meaning a newcomer or novice, the term is often thought of as being archaic and outdated. Though it could be seen as demeaning, it has only ever been used as a way of describing people, as are words like “junior.”

The fact is, the term Freshman is typically not used in a malicious way and is usually not associated with negative connotations. While it certainly has the potential to, so could other terms. For example, we still call children aged 5—6 years old who are enrolled in their first year of school “Kindergarteners.” This is almost never used in a negative way, though it very well could be used in a way to demean others. Though that comes with the territory of being a newcomer to anything or of any age range and it should come as common sense to not demean someone based on their age, race, sexuality or factors that they cannot control. So it poses the

question as to what would be a better alternative, as you must have a name for reference.

Recently, at Penn State University the term freshman has been changed to “first year” due to it being perceived as gendered. Other words such as Upperclassmen have been replaced for names like “Upper-Division.” and individual classes will be referred to by their years.

This is not a bad idea in theory, as the names do work. Though, it does take up many resources to change these terms on paperwork and other things and most things may not fit their standardization of these terms.

However, it does not make sense to change these terms because they are not inherently gendered. We still refer to homosapiens as “humans” and refer to our collective species as “mankind” and “humankind.” It would be foolish of someone to think of just men when referring to one of these terms due to the fact that the English language is influenced by many languages, whether they be Romantic or Germanic. Particularly, the word man is influenced by the

What seems like the real problem?

German word for person which is “Mann.” Though it could be seen as just referring to men at first glance, in reality, it is only a leftover remnant from the Germanic influences in our language. Furthermore, adding a stigma to these terms could turn it into a derogatory term that could be used to antagonize people. These words don’t have a negative connotation, but branding the term as bad would give some people more ammunition for when they want to antagonize people.

So when you truly think about it,, these terms don’t carry an inherent negative meaning and are typically not used as a slur and the resources allocated to the change don’t create a better environment and rather create more of an uncomfortable environment. In the context of West Linn high school, we most likely should think logically about the terms we use, rather than making an uninformed decision.

‘first year’ NOT ‘freshmen’

Heartbeat on Main Street

BY FINN HOWELL staff reporter

Keeping a downtown business district active and livable is vital for local businesses. The Main Street program is a nationwide organization that has existed for over 40 years. It was established to help communities revitalize their downtown communities and spaces, support local businesses, and increase traffic to downtown communities.

This program has three levels that signify where you stand on what is often referred to as the “Main Street Track.” This indicates where you are within the program, and how far along you have come with your downtown.

The first level, or ‘Exploring Downtown,’ is for communities that are new to and just starting

to use the Main Street approach in their downtown. The second level, ‘Transforming Downtown’ is for communities that have fully transitioned to using the Main Street approach but still need some help with some of the more minute details. The third and final level, ‘Performing

based in West Linn. The program has been around since 2009 and has improved several things within the community, placing it in the ’Transforming Downtown’ level as of July 2022. Led by Rebecca Hollenbeck, they help to advocate for more pleasant suburban spaces.

“Our organization helps all the businesses that are located within the Historic Willamette business district,” Hollenbeck said. “It’s basically Willamette Falls Drive from 16th street down to 10th Street, and then over towards the freeway.”

One of the more recent projects Historic Willamette has participated in was the Streetscape Project.

Downtown,’ is for communities that have fully switched to and are successfully using the Main Street approach.

Historic Willamette Main Street, a branch of Oregon’s Main Street program, is a non-profit organization

Originally it was just going to be road work, but it ended up expanding into a whole main street project. Before the project, various aspects of the area were less livable, as the sidewalks were old and unlit, and there wasn’t space outside of the restaurants for seating. Now, as you walk through

“ [The wine walk] was really great, we saw a lot of new customers. — Robin May

How the Main Street Program helps local businesses

the streets of West Linn’s business district, there is seating outside of all of the shops and restaurants, alongside this there are now better sidewalks which are now well lit.

In order to be able to continue its civil improvement work, the organization collects funds through fundraisers and grants.

“Our outreach group actually helps us connect with all the businesses,” Hollenback said. “They make sure that we have all the tools that we need. They help us work on grants, they help us put together our budget, they help us do pretty much anything we need to keep our organization running.”

One of the various ways Historic Willamette helps local businesses is by organizing events that bring attention to them. One of these events was the Willamette Wine Walk on Sept. 21, 2022. At this event, people could come out and participate and learn about the various shops in town.

Entry to the event included a wine glass that you could bring around to the various wineries in the area. These wineries were stationed inside the local shops, so when people came in to try their wine, they also saw what the stores were selling. This brought attention to local businesses with the goal of increasing sales and bringing customers back in the future.

One of these local shops, World HeARTs Fair Trade, managed and owned by Robin May, participated in the wine walk. World HeARTs Fair Trade is a local business that sells

sustainably sourced and ethically made decor and accessories.

“[The wine walk] was really great,” May said. “We saw a lot of new customers.”

Historic Willamette puts on events like the wine walk every month alongside the “Wednesdays in Willamette” summer markets. These events are a chance for the community to come together and support local businesses.

“If there are issues going on, [like] one of the businesses needs help with marketing or maybe they’re really struggling to make ends meet or having a hard time finding employees, they can let me know and then I work with all of my resources so we help them try to get to the right resources,” Hollenbeck said.

On March 17, Historic Willamette is going to put on their annual St. Patrick’s Day event. This will be a chance to promote local businesses and allow local vendors to set up stands and sell their products. To accompany all of this, there will be Irish step dancing and music including bagpipes and Celtic songs.

“I think that the program has gone through a lot of growing pains, as most organizations do. Many nonprofits started out very small, and that’s how ours was, [and] it’s grown over time,” Hollenbeck said. “We’ve got a great group of volunteers that works with us that helps us do what we do. But it also has been a big help to have the city on board working with us on things and the community. You know, involvement has been really great.”

World HeARTs Fair Trade sells handcrafted artisan gifts from fair trade artisan co-op groups from around the world. They have been attending “Wednesdays in Willamette” every summer for the past few year and just recently opened a shop summer 2022. Photos by Finn Howell

During the Wine Walk September 2022, people danced on the corner of Willamette falls and 14th.

READ IN THE NEW YEAR

BY LILY SEWELL staff reporter

Reading allows people to explore new worlds only accessible through diving into a good book.

According to Healthline, reading helps reduce stress and benefits mental health, and reading also improves memory as well as empathy and communication skills. Conor Greaney, librarian, made sure the school library was fully stocked with books to meet the needs of students.

“The top one looks like it would be ‘It Ends With Us,’” said Greaney.

2022 introduced us to Colleen Hoover. Hoover started her writing career in 2011 but started to pick up some popularity with her #1 seller, according to the New York Times, “It Ends With Us” (2016), which became well known and loved via TikTok this year. More of her books became known by influencers doing book reviews. Hoover writes young adult fiction and romance and this specific genre is targeted towards well, young adults. Greaney dove deep into everything that is Hoover.

“I feel like she gets people into reading,” Greaney said. “What I’ve heard from a lot of students about Hoover is that they really like her books because they’re catchy and interesting.”

Her appealing writing is what makes readers excited to pick up one of her many options of books.

Christy Bray, librarian, had read “It Ends With Us” along with Greaney to make sure it was appropriate for a school setting, though she enjoyed “It Starts With Us” more.

“It Starts With Us” is the sequel to “It Ends With Us.” It dives deeper into the relationship of two characters, Lily and Atlas, a couple that thrived in their youth years and then parted ways to experience life on their own. One falls

memoir about McCurdy’s late mom. McCurdy is most famously known for her roles in “iCarly” and “Sam & Cat” on Nickelodeon. Now students get to read about what they weren’t able to see behind the camera. The book walks readers through McCurdy’s life as a child actor and the struggles that she faced while in that industry (eating disorders, addiction, and her rugged relationship with her mother.)

The second most popular book was “One of Us Is Lying,” by Karen M. McManus.

“A lot of the most checked out books were book club books,” Greaney Said. “‘One of Us Is Lying’ being a top one.”

“One of Us Is Lying” is a murder mystery story about a student who was in detention and supposedly died while their teacher was out of the room. Only four other students were in that room so all four were made suspects. While reading the book you are shown four perspectives of the case, and one of them is lying. This book had 23 checkouts this school year.

into an abusive relationship and one makes a stable life for themselves. “It Ends With Us” concludes with the two stumbling upon each other right when they need each other.

Another popular title among our library is “I’m Glad My Mom Died” By Jennette McCurdy.

“We didn’t have a bunch of copies here but a lot of people were wanting to read it,” said Greaney.

“I’m Glad My Mom Died,” is a

“‘Gone Girl’ [by Gillian Flynn] and ‘The Inheritance Games’ [by Jennifer Lynn Barnes] had right around 20 checkouts,” Greaney said. “And then manga is very popular as well.”

Greaney’s favorite book of 2022 was “The Winners” by Fredrik Backman.

“It’s the third book of a trilogy of books called ‘The Barrett Towns,’” Greaney said. “It’s this book about these rivalry hockey teams.”

On the opposite side of the

spectrum, Paetyn Rector, sophomore, explored a new genre this year, fantasy. She read “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” by Mitch Albom

“It’s about this guy who passes away in a really tragic accident,” Rector said. “It walks you through the afterlife and he meets five people that impacted his life or he impacted theirs.”

Rector doesn’t read all the time but she no doubt loves a good book.

“This one had me hooked. I finished it in three days,” Rector said.

It’s not surprising that “One of Us Is Lying” was so popular because the thriller section was the most demanded genre that Mr. Greaney saw this year.

“Horror has also become more popular,” Greaney said. “So that and mystery and thriller.”

This hasn’t always been the case.

“Traditionally fantasy has been the most popular genre,” Greaney said. “It has kind of been on the decline.

Though thriller and mystery are among the most popular genres there’s clearly a standout in the Colleen Hoover check-outs in our library.

“She’s really been great,” Greaney said. “She helps a lot of students kind of find their love for reading again,” Greaney said.

BABYLON A love letter to early Hollywood

BY SYDNEY MCCRONE social media editor

Ever since its early days, glamor and glitz is what the film industry has been known for. The romanticization of early Hollywood has been a common theme in media throughout the years, with cinematic odes to its beauty in films like “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood,” “Sunset Boulevard,” and most recently, “The Fabelmans.” However, writer and director, Damien Chazelle, removes the picture perfect filter after transitioning from his Oscar winning “La La Land,” to the much darker and enlightening “Babylon.”

“Babylon” takes us through the journey of three main characters: Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), and Manny Torres (Diego Calva). While they all embark on personal journeys, the film intertwines their lives with one another as they begin at different stages of their careers.

Nellie is an ambitious up-and-coming actress, throwing herself into the party scene in hopes of networking with and catching the eyes of stars, directors, and anyone who can help her succeed. Her unmatchable confidence and reckless behavior sets the tone for her character from the very beginning, giving the audience a little glimpse into her future.

Manny is a hardworking realist, doing any and every odd job he can behind the scenes in hopes of finding further

opportunity to start filmmaking. When he has to escort a drunken Jack back home, he receives insight on the life of an actor and what it means to be a part of the world of innovation. Jack takes a liking to Manny, asking him to come to a movie set with him the following morning. His character is charming in a nonchalant way, easily likable because of his work ethic and passion for film.

When Nellie first meets Manny at the start of the film, he is working as a “whatever is needed” kind of guy

at a lavish, star studded house party. After he helps sneak her into the party, he asks her who she is and what she does. When he figures out she’s a wannabe actress with no credits to her name he says, “I think you want to become a star.” She says, “Honey you don’t become a star. You either are one or you ain’t. I am.” This exchange plants the seed for their soon to be friendship, but it also shows the two types of people who are trying to make it in the industry.

Because the audience has so much to process with Nellie, Manny’s story

didn’t feel complete, and his character lacked true complexity. He would have benefitted from more dialogue or confrontation with Nellie, and at times his “go with the flow” attitude felt overused. While Calva has some of the most impressive reactions and facial expressions, it still doesn’t make up for the fact his character could have used more screen time. His story isn’t hard to follow, however, the audience has to constantly assume what he is feeling by analyzing his mannerisms. It should be noted that while this movie presents itself as a fun, chaotic, three hour long party, it earns its R-rating for a reason. It’s definitely for a mature audience, with its content being quite thematic and a lot of the time feeling unnecessary. In what seems like every other line, the audience receives over the top provocative language, and the movie is full of drugs, alcohol, sex, violence and self-harm. Even with its 189 minute run time, the ending was a bit unsatisfying, and felt incomplete. Although a lot of the character arcs ended with closure, including some heartbreaking moments, there was still a lot that was left unsaid. The entire film is quite frantic, with fast transitions and the back and forth between all the characters, by the end it’s hard to process what has happened. Several of the supporting characters featured throughout the film didn’t get enough screen time to truly grasp their importance, including talented musician Sidney Palmer

(Jovan Adepo), and entertainer Lady Fay Zhu (Li Jun Li).

Despite the movie’s overwhelming nature, one of the stand out pieces of this film is the soundtrack. The Roaring 20s is brought to life by the big band jazz featured throughout the film, with Oscar winner Justin Hurwitz composing the score.

Hurwitz previously worked with Chazelle on both “La La Land”, winning the Academy Award for Best Music (Original Score) and Best Music (Original Song) in 2017. One of the most notable songs is “Voodoo Mama,” a wild, jazzy tune filled with echoing trumpets, and booming drums. This song is played early on in the film, when Robbie’s character takes over the dance floor in her red dress spotlighted on the

movie’s poster.

Describing this movie as excessive and extravagant is putting it lightly. “Babylon’’ is full of passion and excitement, creating an intense and exhausting experience for the

refreshing, with their relationship being both frustrating and bittersweet due to their different personalities, yet their desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves made their friendship feel real.

audience. While some of the dialogue felt a bit ridiculous and sometimes cringey, Robbie and Calva put on extraordinary performances, bringing life and emotion to the chaos, making their characters more personable to the audience. Their chemistry was

“Babylon” has earned multiple Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Actress, and Best Score. Despite its cliches and prominent flaws, Chazelle has created a movie that was built for the big screen, and will influence film makers in the future.

Margot Robbie and Diego Calva in Damien Chazelle’s wild and passionate “Babylon.” Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

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