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Marissa Villarrubia
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Ellie Vanderbur
Copy Editor
Brody Brown
Photo Editor
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Grace Adlong
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Lilly Steele
Feature Editor
Emmy Lucas
Perspectives Editor
Srinithya Basireddy
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Sammie Kulwicki
Jonah Hunter
Abby Keck
Ant Farrar
Luke Kouns
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The mission of the Harbinger is to provide timely, relevant, and interesting content, while handling topics with respect and objectively. Harbinger aims to reflect the diverse nature of the student body of ZCHS by including those of all walks of life in the publication. The Harbinger serves as a public forum and invites letters to the editor and communication from others. The Harbinger is student-run and opinions in the magazine do not necessarily represent those of ZCHS or Zionsville Community Schools.
Strict new policies miss out on the flexibilty students need
On the first day of school, we were greeted by a brand new principal and a set of unfamiliar rules and policies. Confusion about these new policies has spread throughout the school. Both students, parents, and teachers are seeking clarification on what these new rules mean for all of us.
By now, the blue phone caddies have become routine. On the surface, the new phone policy seems like a valid and well-intentioned attempt to address phone distractions in classrooms. It promotes more face-to-face interaction among students and greater engagement in class.
Everyone knows that phone addiction in teenagers is a very real issue. But has the phone policy gone too far? The school could stay in compliance with the law without completely removing phones from a student's personal belongings. We remember seeing these phone caddies in middle school, and at this point, we're old enough to simply put our phones in our backpacks.
Frustration and concern regarding the new attendance policies have also been buzzing around the school. The rules state that students can miss five periods of a class per semester, and after eight unexcused absences, action will be taken to create an attendance plan with the student’s parents. While the intention to encourage consistent attendance seems reasonable, questions about fairness and
student well-being are being raised. Limiting students to only eight absences per semester fails to account for the unpredictable nature of life. Not every student will always be physically, mentally, or emotionally well enough to attend school. For a student struggling with mental illness, getting to school every day can be challenging, and the fact that this isn't considered is upsetting. The policy also doesn't adequately address students with chronic illnesses or conditions that require frequent absences. Requiring a doctor's note for every absence leads to unnecessary medical visits and overlooks the fact that not every health-related absence warrants a costly visit. How is attending school with a minor, but potentially contagious, illness like a small cold a better option than missing a few days of school?
We believe the attendance policy needs to be more situational and much more flexible.
Ultimately, while the goal of these new policies is to improve the quality of education, they seem to be raising more concern and frustration. We understand that the school had to implement these policies due to new state laws, but they could have been adapted in a way that better fits the needs of the students. We feel that these new rules have been taken too far and need to be reconsidered to create a better balance between discipline and flexibility.
Cover: The student section cheers from the nest during the first home game on Aug. 30.
Photo by Josie Brackett
Disconnected School
Now that the phone ban is in full swing, life looks different for students at Zionsville
The school must now provide all materials needed for class at no extra cost but departments have mixed success with this new policy
New principal Karen McDaniel and student leaders are pushing for more Eagle spirit
Meet four Zionsville students who use their unique and distinctive style to express their personalities and stand out from the crowd
The process of preparing for game time from the coach's point of view
Meet the three brothers that are bringing family and teamwork to the playing field
Seniors start their final year of high school without much to show for it
How do film adaptations reshape our favorite books? Art made by
, but it comes with plenty of concerns
DISCONNECTED
By Luke Kouns, Staff
Children typically abandon their pacifiers between ages two and four, yet Zionsville has found itself with a building full of 14- to 18-year-olds who still cling to theirs.
“I think students have grown to use the phone as a pacifier,” Matt Mulholland, a Zionsville teacher of 26 years, said. “To alleviate their boredom during any downtime, even if that downtime is sometimes just a few seconds long.”
Senate Bill 185, passed on March 11, introduces new legislation regarding the use of wireless communication devices in Indiana schools. For Zionsville, this now means a school year filled with blue phone caddies in every classroom. Now, two months into the school year, the effects of the new rules are in full view.
“We’re getting to engage in interpersonal relationships more than we ever have been for the last decade.”
-Matt Mulholland, teacher
“I think it’s tough because high schoolers, rightfully so, want more freedom,” said Marissa Flannery, a teacher new to Zionsville Community High School. “They want more independence, and I think they have an attachment to their phones.”
One change stems from the fact that cell phones serve multiple purposes, and much can be gained from using phones as educational tools.
“In class, your phone should be put away, except for when we are specifically using them in class, which was quite often,” Mulholland said. “I expect it will continue to be often, though not as frequently as before.”
This alters how some classes present their curriculum, requiring them to adapt to the reality that, while still an option, phones should not be prevalent.
“If you’re doing a notes day, there’s no need to have your phone,” Flannery said.
Now that the phone ban is in full swing, life looks different for students, teachers
“But for days that allow more flexibility, like review days—whether it’s Kahoot or a review game—it’s a lot easier to do that kind of stuff on phones.”
This isn’t the only change visible from the teacher’s side. One unexpected shift can be observed at the start of every class period when teachers, normally socializing outside their rooms, now begin class sooner.
“In years past, you would see teachers hanging out in the hall talking for one, four, five minutes after the bell rang because they knew students were [on their phones],” Mulholland said. “I’ve already noticed that teachers, myself included, are more inclined to start class shortly after the bell rings.”
Of course, it’s not surprising that students devise ways to keep their phones or even replace them. Students and staff have observed several methods, such as using smartwatches or placing fake phones in the phone caddies.
“I remember that being a situa tion I had a few times in the past,” Flannery said. “Students would put the phone case in there, and I’d be like, well, we have half the equation here.”
While some students have complained about the new rule, others are starting to settle into the routine of placing their phones in the assigned caddies.
“I was kind of mad about [the policy], just because I feel like taking my phone is stupid,” senior Sar ah McDaniel said. “But as I got more used to it, I feel like I stopped caring as much.”
The absence of a phone for distraction is even encouraging students to participate more during lessons.
“I feel like we’re more en gaged in class,” McDaniel said.
“Everyone’s just there, present, instead of disconnected.”
Grades, however, are not the only things expected to benefit from the new restrictions. Teachers are confident that social interactions will flourish as a result of banning phones.
“If nobody has their phone, then you are in the same boat as everybody else, and you’re engaging with people,” Mulholland said.
As students and staff adjust to the new bill, the reason behind its enactment is becoming clearer to some.
“People have an ability to make what they’re experiencing the norm and just accept it,” Mulholland said. “I think we’re already seeing students adapt to the new reality.”
School Supplied
The school must provide all materials needed for class at no extra cost but not all departments have everything they need to succeed
By Ellie Vanderbur, Print Editor
Whether a student is a freshman or starting their fourth and final year at ZCHS, this year feels different from the rest. The new school year has brought many changes that have significantly impacted both students and staff.
One of these important changes is the introduction of a new Indiana state law concerning school supplies. Indiana Code 20-26-12-1 states, “Each governing body of a school corporation… shall provide at no cost the curricular materials to each student enrolled in the school corporation.”
This means that students are no longer required to supply the items necessary for the classes they are enrolled in. Assistant Superintendent Kris Devereaux was involved in deciding how the Zionsville school district would implement the law.
“If you need [a supply] for instruction… then the school is going to pay for it,” Devereaux said.
The law aims to ensure every student has an equal opportunity to succeed by providing access to the supplies they need. It is designed to prevent students from being unable to participate in specific classes because they can’t afford the required materials.
“There are kids who didn’t have the school supplies or the things they needed because their family couldn’t afford them before, so now we know that every kid gets everything they need,” Devereaux said.
Photography is one class affected by this change. In the past, students were required to supply their own cameras, which
could be very expensive. Now, there are around 30 cameras available for checkout for about three days at a time. However, photography teacher Jessica Sterling is concerned about the impact the limited number of supplies may have on schedul ing her lesson plans.
“If I see that we need a longer amount of time to complete a unit, then we’ll adjust for that if needed,” Sterling said.
This change now allows students who were previously unable to purchase a camera to take the class, and it makes some aspects of teaching easier.
“In a positive sense… it’s easier to teach the technical side of [photography] because everybody has the same camera,” Sterling said.
English classes have also had to adjust some of their teaching methods and required supplies.
“In the past, when you owned the novel, English class encouraged you to annotate it,” English department chair Doug Showley said. “Now that [the books are] school-owned, you’re not supposed to mark them in any way, and the alternative is sticky notes.”
While teachers offer students options for annotation, such as using sticky notes that don’t damage the books, this doesn’t work for everyone. Since upperclassmen have been able to write in their books in the past and develop their personal learning styles, some are concerned that this change will cause problems with their learning.
“Having tangible things allows students to combine different types of learning, and that really enhances my understanding of concepts,” junior
Because of this, Yang bought her own book, as suggested by the English teachers. Showley said that since students have the option to use what they are given or purchase their own, they can minimize the waste of books and money.
need a graphing calculator until this year in pre-calculus, initially chose not to purchase one. However, after having a limited number available in class, Davis chose to buy one after having to share.
“[Not having a calculator] hasn’t affected my grades yet, but I’d like to think I would have done better if I had one from the start,” Davis said.
To work around this, teachers have advised students to use online resources when they don’t have access to a physical calculator.
“I have been using some online things… for example, Desmos,” Davis said.
To address the limited supply of materials, teachers can request more.
“If we need more [supplies] as time goes on, then they’ll be glad to step up and purchase those things,” math department chair Scott Kubly said.
Some questions remain unanswered in this first year of the new law.
“I think that every school corporation in the state of Indiana is in a tough position to suddenly have to find that money to provide all of the supplies that, in the past, have been provided by parents,” band director Tom Landrum said.
Next spring, the state legislature will hold a budget session to discuss how much money will be allocated to school districts to comply with the new law. During the session, they will also discuss whether changes need to be made regarding the distribution of funds and how the school supplies will be paid for. Because this law affects every teaching department, teachers are curious to see how it will evolve.
“I would expect to see it change because there’s going to be a lot of feedback in the next couple of years,” Sterling said.
Photos by Josie Brackett
More PEP In Our Step
The Zionsville student section dress in jerseys for the first game at of the season at Pike High School on Aug 23. Photo by Lilly Steele
New principal, student leaders push for more Eagle spirit school-wide
By: Brody Brown, Copy Editor
Head to toe in neon, principal Karen McDaniel welcomed students to school at 8 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 30 to kick off the themed spirit day, Mirroring McDaniel, bright clusters of students began to arrive at school, while even more dressed up in the packed student section of the football game that night.
“For neon night, I got some stuff from Goodwill, and I didn’t need to spend a lot of money,” McDaniel said.
In her first year as principal, McDaniel is promising to boost Eagle pride. And with the help of students and staff, new plans are emerging to revitalize school spirit.
“I think it’s important to remember that when we talk about building school spirit, we’re building a culture,” McDaniel said.
Coming from Carmel High School, McDaniel hopes to implement some of the successful initiatives she witnessed there. After COVID, Carmel administrators encouraged massive participation in everything, which is why she’s now leading the charge at Zionsville.
One of the major events being promoted is the Homecoming pep rally on Sept. 20. This pep rally, the first the school has hosted since before the pandemic, is part of a full week of activities and dress-up days.
“If weather permits, we will have a special Green Day [block] schedule that will allow us to go outside and celebrate near the end of the school day,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel is working to build school spirit by engaging with students from all different groups.
“I want to hear what everyone thinks. I want to have students from Key Club, Steel Eagles, band, all kinds of students to reach out,” McDaniel said.
After a summer of listening to and surveying parents, teachers and students, McDaniel said it was clear that “improving school spirit was a top priority for everyone.”
McDaniel has received support from student section leaders and Student Council sponsor Amanda Harmon.
“School spirit right now is competing against students enjoying what they have at home, and that’s very difficult competition,” Harmon said. “Our sports teams are only a small segment of our population. We need to
have that spirit for everybody.”
At school events, getting students to go all out is just the second half of getting them to attend. Student section leader Parker Fritts, senior, has been working hard to increase student engagement.
“I think students would want to [participate] if everyone else did, but they don’t want to look stupid if no one else does it,” Fritts said.
Meanwhile, Student Council has been working to maintain popular traditions while introducing new ideas.
“The Student Council is amazing because they’ve chosen easy themes that anyone can do,” McDaniel said, referring to the new Spirit Friday themes.
McDaniel’s collaboration with the student section is also leaving an impact on the leaders.
“We’re putting a lot more focus on [school spirit] than we have in past years because it’s something that McDaniel brought to our attention,” Fritts said.
Zionsville’s growth has affected the way school spirit is expressed, both in and outside of school hours, with a student population now exceeding 2,300.
“School spirit used to look
like hallways filled with people who knew each other, who had an idea of one another’s identities,” Harmon said. “Once we start connecting everybody again, we may be able to bring [that kind of spirit] back.”
Despite major changes at the beginning of the school year, from a new principal to the stricter phone policy, McDaniel admires the existing Zionsville spirit.
“I feel like there were some grumbles in the first few days, but I don’t think students give themselves enough credit for how resilient they are,” McDaniel said. “They just go with the flow of things.”
Principal Karen McDaniel watches over the student section in head to toe neon during Zionsville’s first home game on Aug. 30.
Photo by Josie Brackett
Dress t Impress
Meet four Zionsville students who use their unique and distinctive styles to express their personalities, and stand out from the crowd
By Emmy Lucas, Feature Editor and Brody Brown, Copy Editor
Crew Carmichael, Sophomore
Crew Carmichael, sophomore, has always had a laid back style.
“I usually just go with the flow, but sometimes I’ll go through five outfits [before I find one],” Carmichael said.
His style reflects his life, between his love for cars and his brother as inspiration.
“I’ve always looked up to my brother and his style,” Carmichael said. “I’ve definitely gotten a lot better [at dressing], I’ve actually gotten compliments about my clothes.”
Shopping for secondhand clothes through Depop and vintage stores, Carmichael often looks for items that speak to him.
“I think a lot of people use [clothing] as a form of self expression, which is a good way to share that,” Carmichael said.
Alena Newman, Sophomore
Alena Newman’s personal style shines with her hair. Using colored conditioner and a touchup every few months, she maintains a style that makes her stand out from the crowd.
According to Newman, her hairstyle has the abili- ty to set herself apart from people.
“The color definitely makes me more bold, people are impressed,” Newman said. “There was nothing like it when I went in [to get it done].”
Her hair has drawn her gazes though, some thinking it’s peculiar according to Newman.
But despite a look that may make her stand out, she doesn’t shun her love for a good hair coloring.
“Right now I’ve had the same color for a while… but I might do a blue or green [in the future],” Newman said.
Will Grathwohl, Senior
One of Senior Will Grathwohl’s favorite hobbies is skateboarding, and his style reflects it.
“I skate so much, so I definitely like all those skate brands,” Grathwohl said.
“Powell Peralta, Birdhouse, Chico,” are a few of his favorites.
Grathwohl likes to get inspiration for his outfits from styles he sees trending online, and he’s currently into baggy, distressed clothes with cool and unique designs.
Not being a big fan of shopping-in store, Grathwohl finds him self getting most of his clothes second hand from places like Depop and Goodwill.
“I really wear anything that’s vintage,” Grathwohl said.
Since sophomore year, Grathwohl has been growing his closet to have a wide arrangement of clothes that fit his style.
“I feel like I have a good enough closet now where I can just put something together and I don't really have to think of it that much,” Grathwohl said. Before sophomore year, Grathwohl says he used to just wear “regular clothes.” He found himself wanting to evolve his style after his friend gave him some vintage clothes.
For people wanting to find their own unique style, Grathwohl says to just wear what you like without caring what other people think.
“If you buy stuff that you like, then you'll naturally just have your own style and it won't be similar to other people's,” Grathwohl said. “Just stay consistent”
Lauren Winebrenner, Sophomore
Lauren Winebrenner, sophomore, likes to explain her style as a mix of goth and Japanese-influence with a little bit of hippy added in the mix. She is nflu enced by pictures online and people from the streets.
“I used to look at pictures off of Pinterest, but now I mainly find inspiration from seeing people walking around that have almost the same style as me,” Wine brenner said.
Winebrenner plays soccer which causes her to have to work around her outfits.
“When I have soccer in the morning I like to pick out my outfits the night be fore, but if I don’t have a game I pick out my next outfit the morning of,” Winebrenner said.
Winebrenner loves her amount of confidence and has learned to share that through her clothes.
“When I was a kid I was scared to stand out, but I feel like it helps me express myself,” Winebrenner said.
Brains Behind the Brawn
Coaches prepare athletes for competition, life
By: Lilly Steele, Sports and News Editor and Sammie Kulwicki, Staff
Adrenaline is pumping through their veins, it’s down to the last few seconds of the game. Hard work over the course of months and years has led up to this. Hours spent developing practice plans, dealing with issues, and building team bonds. It’s game time.
Coaches put in long hours and hard work into creating practice plans, line-ups, and dealing with tough losses. All of this work pays off not only with wins but also the lessons they learn from players.
A lot goes into preparing for a game day, beginning with practice. Cross country coach, Gabe Porras, carefully crafts a weekly practice schedule in order to build up to their meets. For cross country practices, everyday has a different goal to strengthen the runners in different areas and to talk about their progress.
“We have some benchmarks and then [we] look to see where they are running, and what they’ve been doing the week before to make sure we’re not overdoing it,” Porras said.
Coaches also take into account what
they see their players doing in the games. Coaches look at anything from a small hitch in a baseball swing to working on a better kicking technique that they can help improve in practice.
“They teach us way more than we could ever teach them. Seeing them grow, learn, and change is so impactful.”
-Olivia Goldstein, coach
“I like to base some of the things we did off of the previous night and what I want to see improve,” boys tennis coach Earl Allen said.
Allen also builds in-game play into his practice schedules to give players real game experiences along with adding in drills to help with specific things he wants to tweak.
Volleyball head coach Olivia Goldstein
works hard to balance practice with classroom preparation. The team has 24 game days throughout the season but they make time to watch film before their big games. They look out for the opposing team’s best players, weakest rotations, player tendencies and more.
“It’s on us to give [the players] the knowledge and the theory of volleyball,” Goldstein said.
Acccording to Goldstein, the program works to be player-led, “From there they’re doing a lot of the decision making.”
After game day, coaches must think about how to help players recover.
Porras has built rapport with runners, starting from the first run of the summer. He does this so runners feel comfortable telling him what’s going on in terms of their recovery and even just their lives. He uses a Google form for race evaluations to gain some insight on what the players will need.
During the school season, there isn’t much time for breaks which can harm the recovery process. Coaches like Goldstein
The girls varsity volleyball team huddles around head coach Olivia Goldstein as she motivates the team during the match against Fishers on Aug. 29.
Photo by Lilly Steele
take this into account when planning practices.
Goldstein will occasionally cut practices short to allow players extra recovery time, as well as being careful about the amount of times players are jumping in practice.
“It’s a lot of controlling jump volume and trying to be efficient for matches like, ‘we can’t afford to let this opponent take us to four or five sets because we have bigger, longer matches to play with this week,’” Goldstein said.
Coaches also use strategic planning of practices to account for when game days are. Sports can have incredible highs and lows, during the low days coaches have to navigate how to get back on track.
“You know that you’re going to have tough days, we usually talk about it after,” Porras said. “Then luckily, we’re able to refocus and get to the next event and try to make sure we create some challenging but
realistic goals so that we can measure our growth.”
Communication is another big part of how coaches steer players back on track after losses and tough practices.
“We always try to talk about it and air it out, tough losses are usually when problems emerge,” Goldstein said. “We try to get ahead of it and just talk about that loss.”
But for some coaches, they look at the losses as a way to learn.
“I do think it is important to lose some courts, [but] hopefully not the match,” Allen said. “It helps you get an idea of what you need to work on and improve before your next match.”
Coaches not only teach players about the sport, but also about life skills. Goldstein hopes to teach her players about grit, resilience, teamwork, and problem solving skills that can help them after high school.
“We know that life is hard,” Goldstein
New Girls Soccer Coach Offers Fresh Perspective
Girl’s soccer coach Rob Klatte assumed the head coaching position this year for the 2024 season. Klatte has been coaching for over 25 years and was previously at a college level for Purdue and Butler University. He retired from coaching at the college level in order to make more time to be there for his two sons.
“I wanted more time family wise and a college coach does not provide you with that,” Klatte said.
Klatte started coaching women’s soccer when he was in grad school at Baylor university. Klatte was on a men’s soccer club team and when one of his teammates got injured, he was no longer able to coach the women’s collegiate club team. This allowed Klatte to make the decision to fill in. He really enjoyed coaching and continued
coaching the club team until he got an offer to coach for a college team.
When coaching, Klatte looks for players that will make the extra plays and one’s that fit together. Especially players that support one another and pick up the others weaknesses.
“I look for players that can do something special, what as a coach can I feel certain a player is going to deliver when they go out on the field,” Klatte said.
So far Klatte has not looked to make any changes to the program but sees potential for this year’s team.
“We have a great group of ladies,” Klatte said. “They work very hard and they’re very talented. We spend a lot of time making sure they are as confident in themselves as we are in them.”
said. “We hope that we can just give them tools.”
Playing a sport can teach many important skills, such as team work and work ethic. Porras says it’s his goal to teach players skills that apply to the classroom and beyond.
Throughout the seasons, some players and coaches build a strong connection. This connection makes player success even more impactful to coaches. The connection between players and coaches can lead to long term connections past graduations and into adult life.
“Seeing them grow, learn, and change is so impactful. When you’ve been coaching several years and you have somebody who you saw graduate a long time ago and they keep in touch, you get to hear about their life and their success as an adult. It’s pretty cool.” Goldstein said.
Girls soccer coach Rob Klatte coaches his players during the girls soccer game against Fisher sHigh School on Aug. 28.
Photo by Emma Hummer
Phenicie Football
Meet the three Phenicie brothers who are bringing family and teamwork to the playing field
By Josie Brackett, Photo Editor and Ant Farrar, Staff
For the Phenicie brothers, Max, Hank, and Judd, playing football together at Zionsville has been a rare experience. Football has always played a big role in their lives, and now they finally have the chance to be on the field together.
Max, the oldest, started playing football when he was a kid. Now a senior, he is excited to finally be on the same team as his brothers.
“It’s cool playing alongside Hank since we both play the same position [safety],” M. Phenicie said.
As the oldest brother of the family, Max has taken on the responsibility of guiding his younger brothers.
“I’ve seen myself become a leader with them, just making sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” M. Phenicie said. “Making sure they got their heads in the playbook.”
Hank, a junior, has also experienced some pressure playing alongside his older brother.
“You can’t say all the stuff you usually might say to them,” H. Phenicie said. “You have to be more team-related, more about football. All the stuff that might come to your mind originally, it might turn into a fight.”
For Judd, the youngest, this year is his first on the high school team. Though he plays on the freshman team, the experience of joining his brothers on Friday nights is something he enjoys.
“It’s pretty cool being in high school together,” J. Phenicie said. “Even though I’m on the freshman team, it’s fun for our family to see us all on the field together.”
Defensive Coordinator and Outside Linebackers Coach, Joel Janak, has coached all three brothers and has seen the siblings change over the years.
“Initially, you saw a lot of, I wouldn’t necessarily call it rivalry, but you saw some frustration [with each other], just because
they are brothers,” Janak said. “But it’s been cool to see Hank and Max work together more, not only as brothers but also as teammates, playing at a high level with one another.”
Janak appreciates the qualities that each brother brings to the team.
“Max is a perfectionist,” Janak said. “He holds himself to a high standard and expects that from himself... Max is someone who you want to strive to be like.”
Hank differs from his brother in his play style, favoring a more loose type of play.
“Hank is reckless in a good way,” Janak said. “Hank is a playmaker. Hank’s a very natural football player. He is going to be really good for us the next two years. And he’s someone who I think will only continue to get better and develop.”
The youngest is following in his brothers footsteps.
“Judd wants to work hard,” Janak said. “He wants to understand. He wants to be coached. Judd’s going to be cut from a very similar cloth from the other two.”
Although the brothers only get to play together for one season, before Max goes to the Army for a college football commitment, the year is bound to be full of excitement and anticipation for the family.
“Ironically, [Hank and Judd] both very different from Max,” Janak said. “But they both understand what it takes to be successful, and I think both are on the high trajectory of being really good football players down the road.”
The sibling dynamics that they have differ from the dynamic that each of them have with Janak.
“I have different relationships with all three of them,” Janak said. “Hank is very funny. His relationship is a little more silly with me than it is with the other two. Judd, I’ve known since he’s a fifth grader, he works really hard, and I appreciate that about him. I think that’s something that he has, and I have always appreciated about one another.”
Brothers Hank (3) and Max (5) Phenicie play in the game versus Lawrence Central on Aug. 30.
Photo by Josie Brackett
Senior Privileges M.I.A
Seniors are frustrated by limited senior privileges and are hoping for more in the
By Emmy Lucas, Feature Editor
After three long years of early school mornings and late-night study sessions, you’ve finally made it to senior year. You can’t wait to take advantage of the senior privileges your freshman self eagerly anticipated. But where are they?
Senior privileges may seem small, but they are a significant recognition of the journey seniors have been on for the past four years. They acknowledge the maturity and independence that come with reaching the final chapter of high school. However, seniors at Zionsville feel they’re not receiving the recognition they deserve.
Currently, there are two senior privileges in place: off-campus lunch on Fridays and the ability to leave for doctor’s appointments without being called out. Both require showing your ID and senior privilege pass at the door. Upon returning from an appointment, you must present a doctor’s note. This feels less like a privilege and more like a standard procedure. While students are excited about these privileges, is that really all?
By senior year, many students have completed most of their required credits, leaving them to fill their schedules with electives
future
they might not want or need. But why should we waste time taking classes that won’t benefit us when we could be doing things that help us outside of school?
Personally, if I didn’t have to be at school all day, I’d be far more productive. Senior Charlie Greenlee agrees, saying he could be doing more outside of school instead of sitting in study hall.
“Why am I sitting in study hall for two hours when I could be at home working on the clubs I run and the extracurriculars I do?” Greenlee said.
This year’s attendance policy states that, in order to graduate, a student must attend school 94% of the year. An absence for illness or an appointment will only be excused with proper documentation, such as a doctor’s note or a parent’s note. This means students cannot be excused from study hall or other electives without meeting these requirements.
As seniors, if we have good grades, we should be excused from classes that don’t impact our academic progress. “I only need four more classes to graduate. I should only be coming here for those four classes,” Greenlee said.
Many seniors, myself included, have jobs or extracurriculars that benefit us out-
side of school. Sitting in a class simply to fill a schedule feels extremely unproductive. Throughout high school, our parents and teachers tell us to prepare for college. The transition from being constantly told what to do to having complete freedom in college can be difficult. So why aren’t seniors given more freedom to help us prepare? We can’t practice time management and independence from a study hall, but we could if we had part of the day to ourselves outside of school.
“We’re going to college next year and are expected to act like adults, so we should be treated like adults,” Greenlee said. “I am 18, not a child who needs to be watched.”
According to Assistant Principal Kristen Alderman, the administrative team has begun discussions about adding more senior privileges after students brought suggestions to their attention.
“We’re looking for opportunities to allow more freedom and flexibility for seniors,” Alderman said. She added that Principal McDaniel is interested in creating a schedule for seniors to accommodate this. “Unfortunately, this won’t happen this year, but it’s on our radar for future seniors.”
Seniors want to see fun, new privileges this year. Personally, I know many of us would love to have designated senior parking spots or the ability to leave school during study hall. Why not add some new privileges in the second semester for this year’s seniors?
Seniors Kylie Schein, Baylie Newell, Clara Corcoran, Christina Hardin, and Emma Vargo walk back into the school after their senior lunch at Starbucwwks.
Photos by Emmy Lucas
Seniors Jonah Jerich and Sullivan Frazier order food at McDonalds during their senior lunch.
Seniors Abby Miller and Libby Goben enjoy senior lunch at Starbucks.
How do film adaptations reshape our favorite books?
By Srinithya Basireddy, Perspectives Editor
Seeing your favorite childhood book come to life on a big screen is always a magical experience. Whether it’s a classic Disney fairytale or an action-packed novel, it offers a visual representation of the world you’ve imagined. Though movies make the story seem more real, they often miss the depth that books have.
To The Big Screen
refreshing and controversial. Some people may appreciate the new take while others might feel that crucial elements of the book are lost in translation.
“They should have the freedom to be creative, that’s something I’ve always stood by,” Hawks said. “I totally agree only if it’s to enhance the story and its vibes.”
A main reason that drives books to become film adaptations is the cultural impact they have. People are becoming more dependent on technology, making watching films easier than reading a book. But at what cost?
Successful books attract filmmakers because they have built-in audiences. By having this sense of security, a film adaptation can have more financial potential. Besides seeing box office success, they also allow a wider audience to engage with the novel. Not everyone has time to read a 400-page book, so a two hour long movie seems like an easier way of getting the message across.
However, adapting a book into a movie and condensing a long, detailed story into only a couple hours can be a difficult task. So does it still capture the essence of the book?
Not only writing her own book but also drawing it, senior Kylie Hawks feels that directors should generally try to make the movie similar to the book, but having a few differences can be good.
“I think they take away parts of the book when they make the movie,” Hawks said. “It can probably be for a lot of different reasons like it may be too long, or it could be just because the producers don’t like some parts of the book. “
Filmmakers often change parts of the book, adding their own creative interpretation to the story, which can be both
According to sophomore Chloe Hull who had already read the book, the newly released movie version of, “It Ends With Us” has a lot of controversy. To her, the message of the book is good but “the way it was written was just not great at all.”
“A lot of the book influencers are just heavily misleading their audiences as to what the book is about,” Hull said. “People advertise it as a cute emotional romance and not a book about literal abusive relationships.”
Similarly, the book, “Turtles All the Way Down” read in English 9, deals with sensitive topics like mental health and socioeconomics but is advertised in a more perceptive way.
According to English teacher Adelpha Twyman, part of why [discussions] get out of hand is because, “people don’t feel like they have an outlet to express themselves, an outlet to cope or deal with, or a healthy way to wrestle with the uncomfortable.”
According to Twyman, the English 9 curriculum includes books because it’s important to talk about them in a healthy way rather than students finding things out the wrong way.
“School is the transmitter of culture,” Twyman said. “That’s what the institution of education does. It transmits culture from one generation to the next. It’s an uncomfortable part, but everything’s not happy, that’s called life.”
Despite not having phones as a distraction, many students at ZCHS still find it harder to focus in English classes. According to a study conducted by Dr. Gloria Mark at the University of California, the average attention span in 2024 is 40 seconds, compared to 150 seconds in 2012, this is a significant decrease.
Though showing the movie version of books can help visualize and understand the plot more easily, students may not grasp the content and literacy of the book, relying more on visual aids instead.
Compressing a lot of details in a short amount of time often results in a “SparkNotes” version of the story, which could leave out crucial themes and character development.
Now the inevitable question; which one is better, books or movies?
It often depends on whether you prefer to use your imagination while reading or enjoy having a visual and auditory experience. Both have positives and negatives so the choice is ultimately dependent on how you would like to experience a story.
Personally, I think the books are better because they have more detail and allow you to understand the story in your own way. When you read, you can picture the characters and settings however you’d like, making the experience more personal and unique. But sometimes it’s nice to just follow along with a story and not think as much, letting you relax and actually see the story.
In the end, both have their ups and downs but sometimes a girl simply wants to curl up in a cozy blanket on the couch, next to the warm fireplace with a hot coffee, and just read a book.
Graphic by Jonah Hunter
Make It... Don’t Fake It
By Abby Keck, Staff
Making art or writing papers wasn’t something that artificial intelligence (AI) could do until recently. But now it’s normal to see in our school. Many Zionsville students use AI to help them with schoolwork, and some teachers use it for class activities. Now AI is able to create realistic looking art and pictures. According to a study conducted by Yale in 2023, people could tell whether an image was made by AI about 54% of the timealmost a coin flip. While this technology is amazing, AI’s becoming more of a problem than a solution.
One issue with AI art is how it gets confused with art and photos made by real people. This is especially a problem on image-sharing platforms such as Instagram. Searching a tag such as “landscapes” brings up several AI pictures mixed in with real photos and art.
Although many AI images have mistakes such as illegible text or objects blending into each other, someone just scrolling likely won’t notice these details.
To combat this, Instagram recently added a label for AI content. However, it’s only required for “photorealistic video or realistic-sounding audio,” and the algorithm often mislabels real photos as AI. If someone is only looking for images made by real people, then they have no reliable way to find what they’re looking for.
Plagiarism is another major issue with AI art. Users can train AI art models to replicate a particular art style, using real art without the artist’s permission. When asked about the biggest issues with AI art, Digital Design teacher Cassidy Spencer said plagiarism was her main concern.
“Some people are feeding artwork into AI without the original artist’s consent to replicate someone’s whole style,” Spencer said. “There are some
Art made by AI is getting popular, but it comes with plenty of concerns
ethical issues with that.”
Earlier this year, Adobe, the company behind many programs that Zionsville students use, ran into controversy with its Terms of Service update. The updated policy said they could access user creations “through both automated and manual methods”, which many interpreted as using their art to train their AI app, Adobe Firefly. Adobe then released a response to reassure its users.
“Firefly generative AI models are trained on a dataset of licensed content . . . and public domain content where copyright has expired,” Adobe said in a blog post in June. However, many users aren’t convinced, saying they’ve seen AI images in their style being sold on Adobe Stock.
“I’ve seen a lot of artists transitioning to other programs because of this policy,” Spencer said. “Users are agreeing to this when accepting the terms and conditions, so it’s an important reminder that we should read what we are agreeing to.”
AI art does have some positive as-
pects. Spencer said that it can help artists if they are really having trouble finding ideas.
“AI can help you get your ideas going and figure out how to organize your ideas if you get stuck,” she said.
However, AI art’s problems are too widespread to be ignored, and more action needs to be taken against people who use it problematically. While AI is a great inspirational tool, at the end of the day, images someone generates using AI aren’t their original work. We should take more steps to make sure we’re using AI in an ethical way.
Abby Keck
Unscramble the headline words, follow and DM the @zchsharb Instagram with your answers to win a Starbucks gift card, winner announced on Friday!
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Seniors Parker Fritts and Drew Snively paint their faces to prepare for the varsity game against Lawrence Central on Aug. 31
Zionsville’s varsity team faces off with Lawrence Central on Aug. 31.