Monthly Archives: March 2019

Entertainment, National

Jussie Smollett

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Jussie Smollett was born on June 21, 1982, and is an American actor and singer. Jussie Smollett grew a big following after appearing on the famous show Empire. He plays Jamal Lyon.

On the night of January 29, 2019, Jussie Smollett tells the police that at around 2 a.m. what he believed were two white males, wearing masks and a MAGA (make America great again) hat, had attacked him. According to Smollett, the two men hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him. They then tied a rope around his neck and poured a chemical substance on him.

Smollett says he went home and one of his close associates had to call and tell the police 40 minutes after the incident had occurred. Sources say that Smollett was hesitant to call the police because of his status.

After the attack was shared to different media outlets, there were a lot of A-list celebrities that offered their support to Jussie Smollett.

After the investigation, police noticed that some things that Jussie was doing after the incident were odd. For example, the night of the attack, Smollett said that he had broken ribs, two days later he was seen at a concert dancing and jumping. It didn’t make sense as to why someone who had broken ribs would hold a concert.

On February 1, Jussie released his first public appearance on Good Morning America, he said, “Let me starts off by saying that I’m O.K. My body is strong but my soul is stronger.”

During the interview, people noticed how Smollett was getting defensive when Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts asked why didn’t he give the police his phone. Smollett said he had personal pictures and information that he didn’t want the police to see. People thought that if you are innocent, and have nothing to hide, you’ll just give the police your phone.

A few weeks after the incident, it came out that police think that Smollett hired two brothers to stage the attack, and the reason why he did this was because he wasn’t getting paid enough. For his role on the show Empire, he only gets paid $20,000 an episode and he thought that wasn’t enough, so he thought that by staging this attack, he would get a raise and get donations for the hate crime that happened to him.

A lot of people were hurt that he could have lied about a situation like this, feeling that he’s making it harder for people of color to come out in the future and tell their hate crime stories.

Editorials/Student Voice

Should The National Animal change?

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When you think America, one of the first images that pops into your head is a majestic bald eagle, as it is heavily advertised as the “all American bird,” and is seen on countless articles of patriotic merchandise. But, what if it changed? It would probably never happen, but here’s why it should.

First off, how many countries already have an eagle as their national animal? Well, a lot more than you’d think. According to animalsake.com, here’s a list of every single other country that uses some kind of eagle as one of their national animals:

I dunno, me personally, I think America could use something more unique, more unlike the rest, something that really encompasses what America is, and what it’s all about.

Well, Benjamin Franklin had a pretty good idea, according to history.com, Benjamin Franklin proposed that: as the turkey is a greater “bird of courage” and more “truly American” it should replace the current national animal. And frankly, I agree.

The bald eagle, also isn’t exactly native to America, as it can be seen soaring over many parts of Canada, and bits of Mexico, while the turkey almost exclusively resides within the U.S. of A.

Map of bald eagle distribution across North America, courtesy of Birdsnsa.com

And we don’t even celebrate the bald eagle! Now, if only there was a holiday where we celebrated the greatness of our national animal, or even had a tradition where the president pardons that said animal. Maybe we could call it “Thanksgiving!”

I mean, the pins are all already in a row here. It’s almost meant to be at this point. And I know what you might be thinking, what kind of country eats their national animal? Well, Australia eats kangaroo steaks, so it’s not that out of the ordinary.

So, anyway, that’s why I think we should ditch the eagle, and get with the turkey for our great national animal of the United States.

Baseball, Golf, Lacrosse, Softball, Sports, Tennis, Track & Field

Spring sports

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Looking to try out for a spring sport? Here are a few ideas:

  • Track and Field: Track and field starts Monday, March 11, 2019. You can sign up in the athletic office. See coach David Zeitchick for more information
  • Baseball: The season begins Monday, March 18, 2018. If you want to try out make sure you are up to date with all academics, physicals, forms, and fees prior to opening day.
  • Boys Golf: The season starts  Monday, March 18, 2019
  • Boys Tennis: The season starts March 25, 2019. To tryout, you will need a to be academically eligible, have a current sports physical (that has to be good for 3 years), have a signed Minnesota State High School Legaue eligibility form, and pay the activity fee before the first day of pratice. The head coach is David Stingket and the Assistant Coach is Tim Lang.
  • Girls golf: The season starts Monday, March 18, 2019
  • Softball: The season starts – Monday, March 11, 2019
  • Girls Lacrosse: This is offered through Central High school, for Highland Park Senior High Athletics. The fee is $150. If you have any questions, see coach Mary Fisher.

To register to play any of these sports you will need:

  1. A sports clearance physical with the athletic office. Sports physicals are valid for 3 years
  2. A signed Highland Park Athletic Policy and a Minnesota State High School League eligibility form
  3. Follow all rules, rights and responsibilities.
  4. Pay appropriate activity fee
  5. Remain academically eligible/have appropriate credits toward graduation requirements, and earn at least 4 credits each quarter.

More information visit:

Images taken from: https://www.spps.org/Page/2860, https://www.spps.org/Page/8504, https://www.spps.org/Page/2859, https://www.spps.org/Page/8506

School Life

ACT rescheduled

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On February 20, the Juniors expected to come to school to take their dredded ACT. Some students had been preparing all year, and were more than ready to take their test; others will never be ready. The day before the ACT, the SPPS school district declared a snow day, cancelling school and rescheduling the ACT.

Most students were overjoyed by the news of not having to sit through the four hour test just yet. While others felt that it just prolonged their anxiety about the whole testing situation.

The ACT was rescheduled for March 12, almost a month after the original date.

I asked three different Juniors how they were feeling about the ACT, and they all had different responses:

Liliana said she was “Ready for the test to be over with,” and “She just wanted to take it already.”

Cristina said she felt like “The rescheduling just extended peoples anxiety about the test.”

Brandon was the only one I asked who was “Relieved that we (Juniors) got the extra time to prepare.”

Even though they all had different opinions, they all shared one same comment, that they were nervous.

Before the ACT try to:

  • Eat a good breakfast
  • Get 8 hours of sleep
  • Look over practice problems
  • And relax

Hopefully, they will be able to calm their nerves before march 12, and do amazing on their ACT’s. Good luck juniors!

National

Snow storms on the West Coast!

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The U.S. has been going through a rough winter so far this year. With the polar vortex hitting the Midwest in late January, and the heavy snow storms on the Northern Eastern coast, the newest area to be affected with this snow storm is the West Coast. Squaw Valley, in California, had its snowiest month on record, according to The Guardian. Snow was also seen falling near Pasadena and West Hollywood.

More snowfalls have also took their tolls in areas in Oregon.

Advice/How To

Snow day activites

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Snow days can get pretty bleak, so to keep you entertained, here are some thing you can do on a snow day:

  • Cook a special meal: The perfect way to show your family appreciation and enjoy a delicious meal you can spend all the time in the world to perfect.
  • Eat in the dining room and/or with fancy dishes: After you’re done, you still might have some extra time on your hands, so why not make the table look extra fancy to surprise your family, or simply enjoy the extravagance yourself.
  • Watch a favorite movie(s)/show(s): I mean let’s face it, do you really want to get up during snow day? It’s your one day to relax and sleep in and eat all the junk food in the world. So just put your favorite show(s) or movie(s) on! The extra s’s are because you’re most likely not going to stop when you start… but hey! It’s our day to relax!
  • Order in dinner: Maybe you don’t want to do all that and you’re on to the more relaxed vibe the snow day is sending you, then kick up your feet, get out you’re device, and order away while you binge watch your favorite show for the entire day #noregrets.
  • Make hot chocolate: If you’re relaxing, the perfect drink to keep you warm and feeling that oh so good fuzzy feeling inside, is some hot chocolate. The recipe we recommend is quite simple, just click on this lick for the perfect hot chocolate.
  • Build a pillow fort: Now, you’re relaxation has reached the max, movies, food, hot chocolate, what could you be missing! A fort! Make a cuddle place for you to eat, drink hot coco, and watch your favorite movie to reach ultimate comfort
  • Play in the snow: Now the white stuff outside looks so soft and you think it would be perfect to roll around in, so head on out! Explore the wonders of your front and back yard. And though it very cold and we recommend ultimate caution at all time, you could probably see many bodies of water sculpted beautifully because of the weather, but stay safe!
  • Make snow angels: If you’re going outside, a fun activity to try would be creating snow angles. You could make snow forts and make other creative creations. We know you’re in high school, but you’re never too old to play in the snow.
  • Make snowballs to freeze: Once you’re done with your daily dose of Minnesota winter, you can head on back home but don’t forget to bring some snowballs. Store them in your freezer for a surprise attack that is sure to startle people in summer!
  • Cut snowflakes from paper: Now you’re done with snow, but the snow’s not done with you! Create some paper snowflakes and though we’re sure people know how to do it, here a tutorial just in case: Paper Snowflake Tutorial. Have fun, be creative, and be careful if you’re using an exacto knife.
  • Bake cookies: Now if hot chocolate didn’t do the trick, then fresh baked cookies definitely will! The oozing chocolate (or other topping, but let’s be honest, chocolate’s the best!) and warm dough with a melt in your mouth, slip down your throat, kind of flavor. I know my mouth watered when writing this!
  • Check on/visit neighbors: Make sure your neighbors are O.K. and if they’re struggling or stuck, well that’s one way to make their day. Bring over your baked cookies, or other food that everyone enjoys, I’m sure they’ll be super grateful.
  • Shovel together: Now this may seem hard, but when doing it with family or seeing your neighbors while doing it, it might make shoveling a bit easier. Sometimes, people are out of town, old, or hurt so they can’t shovel. Help them out and shovel their driveways; everyone will be grateful.
  • Light the fireplace: Make a warm fire to sit by as you watch the cold snow from the inside. The bitter cold washes away as you stay inside your warm home* with no regrets.
  • Play a family game: Gather your family around and play fun games, I’m sure everyone wants to relax after their long day of shoveling and cleaning with a fun game by the fireplace.

Another note to make is that some school districts, like SPPS, have debated using iPads on unexpected breaks like the snow days to have “online school” or using Schoology to do school for a day. This however hasn’t been enacted because the mandatory snow day work could be overly stressful since all teachers would possibly be assigning work at once (though some districts have decided to do this anyway).

*Many people who are homeless cannot find suitable places to stay during the extreme weather. if you are out and see someone, please make sure to lend a hand.

Clubs and Activities, Music/Concerts

Benstock

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Image taken from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwXG-KyL_O1oNUtEWnRHN3Nsejg/view

Every year, Highland Park Senior High has an event called Benstock. The NHS organization oversees this event, and had auditions on February 11th, 13th, and 14th. Those who auditioned for this event, and passed to perform, must attend rehearsals on March 6th and 7th at 2:00 to 5:00.

March 8th is the day of performance, starting at 6:30, at Highland Park Senior High, in the auditorium.

Benstock is an event for people to come and watch people perform their talents. It is very similar to a talent show. If you have attended a Benstock during the past years, you know how fun and exciting it can be.

Invite your friends and come with $5-$10 to attend this event. Come to have a fun time, cheer on your friends and watch amazing performances from your upperclassmen, peers and friends.

If you didn’t know about auditions, or missed the dates, don’t worry, Benstock is held every year and will hold auditions around the same time each year. Pay attention to the posters on the walls in the hallways. These posters will inform you of where and when auditions are held.

Even if you or friends aren’t performing, you can still go and enjoy your time. In previous years they had people sing, dance, tell jokes, play their instruments, and even teachers performed as a band. Some of these performances you just can’t miss.

Setting up and creating this event is not very easy. If this type of work interests you, you can join the NHS. NHS stands for National Honors Society which is a national organization that recognizes academic excellence in students. The purpose for NHS is to promote leadership, help in volunteering, and create an amazing character out of everyone. Those who want to join NHS should strive to show reliability, honesty, sincerity, and are expected to be leaders.

Image taken from: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwXG-KyL_O1oUGpMNElWejFXeVU/view

The the first requirement to join NHS is to have a GPA of 3.75 after the first semester of your sophomore or junior year. You also must include an essay on how you have previously served for a project, or how there is a service project you want to do in the future. Other than these requirements you will also need three letters of recommendation.

Any other questions you have can be sent to either of the NHS faculty advisors: Stacy Hanson or Jody Rohweller-Kocur. To get their information, go onto the Highland website and go the the NHS page.

If you have no interest in joining the NHS but would like to be caught up with what they do, you can follow their Twitter or Facebook page.  

National

Some of the United States presidential candidates running in 2020

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The United States is currently in the third year of Donald Trump’s presidency. This means that next year 2020) is the next election for United State’s president. So far, there are a handful of candidates running for office.

Today, I will be listing a couple candidates and their backgrounds from both of the political parties.

Elizabeth Warren is one of the democratic candidates for the next presidency. She was formerly a Harvard law professor in Massachusetts. She is specifically known for advocating for more regulations on Wall Street and other big corporations.

Another candidate for office is democratic, New Jersey, U.S. Senator, Cory Booker. He was a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School. He was elected as mayor of Newark, New Jersey, in 2006, serving until he was elected to the Senate, and assumed office, in 2013.

One of the republican candidates running for office in 2020 is the former governor of Massachusetts, Bill Weld. His beliefs are very libertarian based (he was a libertarian nominee for Vice president in 2016). Even though he is running on the republican side of the political spectrum, he believes in LGBTQ rights along with being pro-choice.

Another one of the republican candidates running is the President, Donald Trump, himself. He will try to be re-elected for office in 2020.  According to the Washington Post, he was spending money on 2020 efforts as early as Nov. 24, 2016. Trump is also confident he will be re-elected, depsite his constant low approval ratings.

School Life

Govie Leadership Summit

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The Govie Leadership Summit was Friday, March 1, at Johnson Senior High. With 20 sessions and over 37 presenters, this year’s summit focused on three categories: social justice and racial equity, developing your leadership style, and building healthy communities.

The summit began with an amazing and hilarious improv show by a group called Blackout Improv. After the breakout sessions, we discussed in small groups the strengths, challenges, and opportunities of our schools and student voice. At the end of the day, Mayor Carter spoke and challenged us to make Saint Paul a better place.

Highland’s own Dare 2 Be Real group presented on “Stereotype Promises vs. Stereotype Threat.” They covered different types of stereotypes and how to combat the problems they raise. D2BR believes this is important, because stereotypes are everywhere, even at schools, where everyone should be treated equal and fairly. For example, teachers may look at an Asian kid, see the smart Asian stereotype, and offer them more help, whereas they perceive another kid as less smart. Teachers may do this without even knowing. This affects the students in the support they receive and their self-esteem. When a minority is faced with a stereotype threat, it is harder for them to succeed and puts more pressure on them.

My first session was “Boss Up,” led by Talea Plata. We began by describing ourselves in the future, beyond just jobs, but also hobbies, how we look, and so on. Then we had a conversation on self-love, the little ways in which we can do it, and why it is important.

My second session, “No One Can Say It Like You Can” empowered us to speak our personal truths. Presenter Annie Humphrey performed songs about their own personal truths. Annie told us not to let others stifle our voice, to not judge others, and to not let our lives be ruled by fear.

My third session, “Screen Scholar — Rethinking How We Watch and Read Stories” led by Tri Vo, was about why diversity in media matters. We started with looking at the basics of storytelling: background, characters, plot, and production value. Then we talked about how we need to have diversity because representation is power. We see people in media and expect others to be like them. We need to be able to see ourselves in media. We can’t not think about representation, because so much of our lives revolves around media.

The summit was enjoyable, and I can only see it getting better and better over time.

Movies/TV/Theaters

Here’s what happened at the 2019 Oscars

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By: Daniela Fernandez and Maddie Baggenstoss

This year’s Oscars was held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. The Oscars have been going on since 1929. What happened this year? Keep reading to get all the tea!

This year’s Oscars had no host. They originally were going to have Kevin Hart host this year’s Oscars, but after old homophobic jokes he made resurfaced, he stepped down claiming that he didn’t want any drama during the Oscars, according to Vox. This was the first time since 1989 that the Oscars haven’t had a host.

The awards ceremony opened with Adam Lambert and Queen playing some of their hits.

Here are the winners of big awards from the Oscars.

This year’s winner of the Best Actress Award was Olivia Colman. She won for her role as Queen Anne in The Favourite.

The winner of Best Supporting Actor was Mahershala Ali in Green Book for his role as Don Shirley.

Regina King won Best Supporting Actress in If Beale Street Could Talk as Sharon Rivers.

This year’s Best Picture award went to Green Book. Best Animated Feature went to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Best Director went to Alfonso Cuarón for Roma. He also won Foreign Language Film for Roma, and Best Cinematography for Roma.

Best Original Music Score went to Black Panther with Ludwig Göransson. Black Panther also won Best Costume Design with Ruth E. Carter, and Best Production Design with Jay R. Hart and Hannah Beachler.

Best Original song went to “Shallow” written by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt.

Best Adapted Screenplay (which is a screenplay based on a book) went to Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee, Charlie Wachtel, and David Rabinowitz for BlacKKlansman.

Speaking of winners, the winner of the Best Actor Award, Rami Malek, accidentally ended the awards ceremony with a bang. Or rather, a thud. According to People, Malek fell off of the stage shortly after finishing his acceptance speech. By that time, the televised production had finished, so the incident did not appear on TV. However, there are pictures circulating the internet. They show a startled Malek on the ground, having just stumbled into the crowd.

Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper also gave an impressive performance of the song “Shallow” from the movie A Star Is Born. “Shallow” won the Oscar for Best Original Song. Before Gaga and Cooper even got on stage, the crowd applauded them. Many news sources are calling the performance iconic and amazing, and they’re not wrong. It was packed with emotion and the song is beautifully written.

Overall, we are sure this year’s Oscars are going to be remembered for quite some time.