Monthly Archives: February 2025

Getting To Know/History, Music/Concerts

History of R&B music

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By: Fletcher Pike

Photo by Nascimento Jr. on Pexels.com

Many might know about the popular music genre of R&B, popularized by several artists such as Lauryn Hill, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston. But some might not know of the history of this music genre and how it became so popular today. In this article, I plan to go over the basic history of R&B, and some notable figures who influenced this unique genre of music.

In the 1920s-1930s, a large number of African Americans migrated to urban cities and industrial areas such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, which created a brand new market for music such as jazz or blues music. “Race music” was the term that was used to initially describe music that was made by African Americans, but the term later acquired a racist interpretation.

In 1949, writer Jerry Wexler substituted the label “rhythm and blues” which would later become the title of R&B music, as R&B stands for rhythm and blues.

Ruth Brown (Jan. 12, 1928- Nov. 17, 2006), also known as “Miss Rhythm”, was a popular R&B singer who released music throughout the 1950s. After the release of her first recording, “So Long”, she became one of the most notable female R&B singers of the 1950s. She brought many pop genre elements to the R&B genres, which influenced many artists in the future.

In the 1960s, African American made music shifted from its primary theme of blues music and shifted to more gospel styled music. “Soul” was the title that many African Americans called this style of music in 1964, which captured the emotional value of this genre.

Since then, R&B has evolved to adapt more modern elements, especially in the 90s and 2000s, with artists such as Mary J. Blige, Aaliyah, Lauryn Hill, and Alicia Keys bringing modern-pop elements to the R&B genre.

The genre itself can be usually characterized by its combination of many different genres, such as blues, jazz, pop, and gospel, with slow rhythms and emotional lyrics. 

I hope that this article taught you about some of the history of the R&B genre as well as some of the different artists that popularized this genre. 

If you want to learn more about the history of R&B music, check out this link: https://www.britannica.com/art/rhythm-and-blues

Getting To Know/History

The Northern Cities Vowel Shift

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By: Maggie Hong

Image created using Canva AI

If you think the Midwest isn’t an important part of the English speaking world, think again. The largest change to the English language since the time of Shakespeare is happening right here, in the upper Midwest.

Think of a typical Minnesotan accent. Someone might say ‘bayg’ instead of ‘bag’, or ‘melk’ instead of ‘milk’. These aren’t just regional pronunciations; they are markers of a big change to the way we speak English.

When we pronounce words like ‘bag’, ‘milk’, ‘cat’, and ‘bit’, we form vowel sounds using a certain position of our mouth. All our vowel sounds, though they were in use for centuries before, were firmly established during the Great Vowel Shift throughout the 15th century. They’ve remained mostly the same since. Now, in cities surrounding the Great Lakes region, they are changing.

Vowels are organized in a sort of carousel, corresponding to where in the mouth they are pronounced. Vowels like the one in ‘bat’ are pronounced near the back of the mouth, while ‘bot’ is pronounced at the bottom of the mouth. When one vowel moves out of its spot, say from the back to the bottom of the mouth, the rest follow it. The vowel which was pronounced at the bottom of the mouth moves to the front, the one from the front moves to the top, and so on.

In the northern cities, this began with the vowel in ‘bat’, known as the trap vowel. The trap vowel, which was pronounced in the middle of the mouth, began to get longer, now sounding like the vowel in ‘yeah’ or ‘mia’ and resulting in the Midwestern pronunciation of ‘bayg’. As the trap vowel moves up, it occupies the space once held by the ‘kit’ vowel. ‘Kit’ moves down, now being pronounced with the vowel in ‘dress’, and resulting in the Midwestern pronunciation of ‘melk’. This continues until every vowel sound has shifted.

The resulting set of pronunciations defines the Midwestern accent. And although English speakers around the world have accents, the Midwestern accent is the most significant because it is a chain shift. In the British or Australian accent, vowels move one at a time. The change is small. In the Midwest, they shift in a chain reaction, each move prompting another. No such chain shift has occurred on a large scale since vowels were first established in the 15th century. So, the next time you hear someone say ‘melk’, you are witnessing a historic moment for the English speaking world: the Northern Cities Vowel Shift.

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Basketball

Highland vs. Central student section and the team

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By: Nereida Dominguez Remedios

“The St. Paul Central vs. Highland Park football rivalry known as the ‘musket game’, is one of the oldest and most storied high school football matchups in St. Paul. This rivalry began in 1964 and has been a staple of the local sports scene ever since.” – Greatamericanrivalry.com

On February 11, 2025 Highland Park played Central at Highland Park Senior High School. Since the start of the game, more students from both schools came in and both student sections started to get more packed.

During the second half, Central’s student section started to chant for the Highland student section. One of the chants Highland was doing was “Overrated”, where they were yelling at the Central section 3 times. In response, the Central kids were yelling at the Highland section “We can’t hear you”. After that, it was just a war on who was louder. Even though there weren’t as many students from Central, there were still lots of arguments happening.

During the game, Central’s cheerleaders, who weren’t supposed to cheer, still came without uniforms to cheer against the Highland cheerleaders.

During halftime, the Highland cheerleaders had a show even though not a lot of the students stayed to watch them. I did watch it though and it was amazing. The cheers were high energy and you could tell the cheerleaders were passionate with what they were doing.

Even though Highland lost by 9, the final score was 67-76, the Highland players put up a good fight to try to win the game, but Central still won. Next year, we will play them again and hopefully win.

Within the game, Central’s players were a lot more aggressive and pushed the Highland players; the Central players were throwing the Highland players to the floor. Within the game, Highland had 9 fouls and Central had 7 fouls.

Advice/How To

Learning how to love yourself

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By: Kate Tabor

Image created with ChatGPT

Learning how to love yourself is something that everyone always preaches about, but how do you actually practice self love? Well, it starts with focusing on yourself, and being the best version of you that you can be, which can be tricky.

In order to focus on yourself, you need to let go of other people’s opinions of you. Validation is always nice, but the only person you really need it from is yourself. As long as you’re happy with yourself, nobody else’s opinion matters.

Focusing on yourself doesn’t stop with that though. Start doing things for yourself that you want to do. For example, joining a gym, like the JCC, joining a club, trying a new sport, exploring a new hiking trail, etc. It doesn’t always have to take you out of your comfort zone either, maybe you’re letting yourself take a break, staying in more often, letting yourself relax. It’s important to have a mix of putting yourself out there, and knowing when to let yourself take a break.

In order to move forward and love yourself, you need to let go of the past. Let go of all the things you think you should’ve done, and all the things you wish you hadn’t. You can’t change the past, so there’s no point of holding on to it. Reflect on those moments, accept what happened, and take your newfound wisdom with you into future experiences.

Start accepting the parts of yourself and your life that you can’t change. Life can be hard, but it’s those moments that matter the most, and that make you who you are. Let yourself go through pain in order to overcome it. Then, take a step back, and appreciate what you gained from that situation. Find the good in every situation you find yourself in. You can’t love yourself if you bury the experiences that made you who you are.

Everything happens for a reason, and you won’t be able to fully appreciate your wins if you don’t let yourself feel your losses.

Be the person you can always count on to give you love.

Travel/Food

Crumbl

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By: Sylvia Yannsdottir & Maya Song

Image by Revoleikooc via Wikimedia Commons

Introduction to Crumbl

Crumbl is an extremely popular, and widespread cookie shop across the United States of America. With its vibrant appeal, fun flavors, and trendy advertising, it has become one of the most well known dessert places, with over 1 million desserts sold every single day.

Crumbl was based in Utah, and founded in 2017. Since then, it now has 1071 store locations across the United States of America.

What’s the appeal?

One thing that makes Crumbl truly unique is the flavor variety and creativity. The company is known for its weekly rotation of 6 new, fun flavors that come out every Monday. Crumbl is also widely known for keeping up with current trends.

Crumbl’s flavors are mainly inspired by popular existing treats, or candies, and the company frequently collaborates with exciting brands to come up with new flavors.

While they maintain a surprising variety of flavors, the company keeps one cookie the same every single week, the Classic Milk Chocolate Chip cookie, which was their first invented flavor.

Rise to fame

There are a lot of aspects to what has made Crumbl so remarkably well known, and to sum it up a mix of its innovative design, publicity, and its appeal have led it to its success.

When we analyze Crumbl’s design, one thing that stands out is the iconic pink box. Since the company started, desserts come in a signature bright-pink box, with the company’s well known logo on top. Aside from that, stores are also designed with bright, intriguing colors.

A key factor to the success of Crumbl is its publicity. Specifically directed towards younger generations, a huge wave of influencers across social media platforms post reviews, start trends, and add to the fame of the brand. Crumbl would not be the company it is today if it weren’t for social media platforms.

Lastly, its appeal. The typical Crumbl cookie is neatly and creatively decorated to correspond to its flavor. With all of the flavor options, it’s hard to resist trying one.

Criticisms

Whenever there is something new, and popular, there will always be something that needs improvement.

One huge criticism about Crumbl is the nutritional value. Although of course, it is a dessert company, it has a ridiculous amount of calories per cookie. One of the typical cookies has anywhere from 800-1000 calories, which is kind of insane if you think about it.

Typically, when you go to Crumbl you’d get a box of between 4-6 cookies, and indulging in this sweet treat can easily be up to 6,000 calories, which is almost double the amount of calories a grown person is encouraged to consume in a single day.

While it is known that desserts aren’t going to be the healthiest thing ever, it eventually gets to a point where it’s just too much. Along with that, there are thousands of content creators who’s pages are dedicated to trying, and reviewing Crumbl every single week. Not only does that normalize an extremely unhealthy habit, but it is rather concerning in general.

Aside from that, another thing that Crumbl could improve on is its pricing. A lot of people can agree that it’s rather overpriced for what it is. Oftentimes, a box of 6 cookies is $26. When you compare that to other places, it’s quite a bit pricier.

Competitors

Crumbl is not the first innovative dessert brand like this, and definitely won’t be the last. There are of course a lot of other dessert brands out there, but specifically there are a few that have reached a similar status as Crumbl.

One very popular dessert brand out there is Insomnia Cookies. Insomnia Cookies is a dessert brand that was founded back in 2003 in the United States, with over 150 store locations now.

Insomnia Cookies are known for having freshly baked goods, especially their cookies. Just like with Crumbl, there are a lot of flavor options, and typically their cookies are large, and have fillings in the interior of the cookie.

A few aspects that set Insomnia Cookies apart from Crumbl is the availability of the cookies. A big part of the brand is how it’s known for staying open until 3 in the morning serving its fresh cookies. Besides that, there’s a variety of other dessert options that come with the cookies.

Some people say that they prefer Insomnia Cookies over Crumbl cookies, because of the freshness, the more realistic nutritional value, and availability. Others would choose Crumbl over Insomnia Cookies because of the flavor variety, constant change, and because Crumbl is typically seen as a rare treat.

Personal Opinion

We would highly recommend trying Crumbl cookies. We say this because they are genuinely delicious, and it’s really fun to go try out new flavors with friends or family.

Although they’re not the best for you nutritionally, life is about balance and we believe it’s more than okay to have them occasionally.

Crumbl is an extremely innovative brand, has come really far, and has maintained its platform very well. It’s very exciting to think about what will come from it in the future.

Editorials/Student Voice

Benefits of volunteering

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By: Teagan Mack

Image taken from Eagle Brook Church Instagram

Volunteering is a really good way to give back to the community while also improving yourself. Whether it’s helping at an animal shelter, contributing or volunteering at a food bank, or cleaning up a local park, volunteering has many benefits that go beyond doing good deeds. It’s a rewarding experience that can help shape a person in more than one way.

One of the most significant benefits of volunteering is the good influence it has on mental health. According to research, helping others can increase happiness and reduce stress. Having a sense of purpose from meaningful work can boost one’s self-esteem and general well-being. Volunteering allows you to interact with people, which can help you overcome loneliness and develop a strong sense of belonging.

Another significant benefit is developing new and important skills. Volunteering can teach responsibility, teamwork, and communication skills that can help in school and in the future. It can also help people to gain more real-world experiences and adapt. Some examples could be volunteering at a hospital, which could give insight into medical fields.

Volunteering with children can help with patience and leadership skills, like I volunteer every Saturday and Wednesday at my church with the kids. Saturdays I do worship, where the kids join in following dances and singing to songs, it’s such a fun experience. Wednesdays I volunteer in the cafe during student groups for middle schoolers and high schoolers; this prepares me for future jobs with communication and teamwork skills.

Volunteering can introduce you to new people and expand your social skills. You get to work with people who have similar interests and goals, and you can also learn from them. This could lead to possible friendships and future opportunities. Most organizations can offer letters of recommendation or certificates, which could help you apply for college or future jobs.

Finally, volunteering can make a big impact on the world, and on the people you help. Even just small acts, like helping at community events, or tutoring younger students, can help in major ways. It helps to show that no matter your age, anyone can contribute to make a difference in someone else’s life, or even your own.

In the end, volunteering isn’t just about helping others, but also about personal growth. It helps people gain connections, and experiences, new life skills, and feel good about helping others. It doesn’t matter how or where you volunteer, because the benefits are endless.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ review

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By: Sasha Deans

The show is a coming-of-age story that follows Belly, who is no longer the awkward little girl she once was. Now that she has grown up, she begins to catch the attention of boys around her, including her longtime crush and family friend, Conrad. However, she soon finds herself in a complicated love triangle.

I believe the show features strong performances. Lola Tung brings a lot of depth to the character of Belly, while Christopher Briney and Gavin Casalegno shine as the Fisher brothers, effectively portraying their contrasting personalities.

The cinematography is also stunning. The show’s coastal setting at Cousins Beach, combined with its warm color palette, enhances the nostalgic and summery feeling.

The soundtrack, featuring artists like Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo, perfectly complements the emotional tone of the series. Songs like “Cruel Summer” and “August” from Taylor Swift brought so much to the whole entire vibe of the show’s scenery and they are also just so significant to the entire show. Like, “August” in the last scene as they are leaving in August and the “Cruel Summer” it really was with that intriguing love triangle. It also has so many fun songs like “Summer Nights” from ‘Grease’ at a party giving it a certain vibe of nostalgia. And there are also ones that just really tell the scenes story like “ARE WE STILL FRIENDS” by Tyler the Creator and it really is definitely asking are we still friends! That’s for sure.

However, the show does have some weaknesses. Some side characters, like Belly’s best friend Taylor, feel underdeveloped. Like, you kind of just see her really as a side character but I feel it only really represents her as a mean annoying best friend which wouldn’t exactly make sense since Belly is portrayed as a very kind, sweet, and shy girl. So, if they have been friends since childhood I don’t think that she is actually all that mean as the show shows her as the whole season one. Additionally, the pacing is quite slow at times, with unnecessary filler episodes that drag the storyline.

Final Verdict:

‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season One is a nostalgic, warm, and heartfelt coming-of-age drama that captures the magic of youth and romance realistically. With strong performances, beautiful cinematography, and good storytelling, it is an enjoyable watch.

Rating: 4/5

You can watch ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ on Netflix

Science/Nature

What is this strange effect?

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By: Maeve Brady

Many of us may know about the infamous placebo effect. But have you truly taken the time to analyze it and its components? If you did, do you understand it?  Even after wondering about it for a long time, many still can’t comprehend it. Today, I will be explaining the placebo effect and how it affects our youth in schools and the broad picture of it.

Have you ever heard of a placebo? Well, it’s the reason the placebo effect even exists. A placebo is an inactive treatment, surgery, and more. Also, under certain circumstances, a placebo can also be considered to be an action. A placebo directly correlates to the placebo effect because the placebo effect is the feeling you get after you take the placebo. The placebo effect works by turning on the body’s natural mechanisms that may help us feel better. Our brains make many substances that can lessen pain, anxiety, nausea, and more. This is also known as placebo analgesia.

Like I said, the placebo effect derives from the mind rather than the actual effect the drug has. This can be seen in the fact that you can be aware that you are taking a placebo for the effect to still work. Many believe that you have to be unconscious of the placebo in order for it to work, but in reality, if you have the expectation of the placebo having a positive effect on you, then it may. There is also such a thing as the Nocebo effect; it’s the opposite of the placebo effect where you believe that a placebo has a negative effect on you.

According to Olsen (2021), a Senior Media Relations Officer at Dartmouth, in a recent research conducted by Tor Wager and Diana L. Taylor, who are distinguished professors in Neuroscience, “‘Our findings demonstrate that the participants who showed the most pain reduction with the placebo also showed the largest reductions in brain areas associated with pain construction.’” After further research, according to Olson (2021), “With the large sample, the researchers were able to confidently localize placebo effects to specific zones of the brain, including the thalamus and the basal ganglia.” Scientists believe that because these two areas are involved in the sequence of connecting pain to action, the placebo effect may occur in them and largely impact these regions. Scientists also believe that the prefrontal cortex may have something to do with it.

The placebo effect may affect our youth in many different ways. In recent research conducted by psychologists Ulrich Weger, Ph.D. and Stephen Loughnan, some students were under the impression that the material they studied was enriched and better for the test while some believed that it was worse. According to the two psychologists, “Participant performance was indeed enhanced, compared to a group that did not think the priming process would improve their knowledge.” This demonstrates that the students’ actions could overall affect their academic performance.

The placebo effect is a very complex phenomenon whose properties are still being researched. I hope that from this text you’ve learned a little about the basics and how it affects our youth.

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Adapted Floor Hockey, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Scoreboard/Schedule, Softball, Swimming & Diving, Volleyball

Sports schedule for: Feb 24-Mar 1

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 ATHLETIC EVENTS SCHEDULE: FEBRUARY 24 – MARCH 1
MONDAYFEBRUARY 24 
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
5:00pm Girl Basketball Section Game  vs. HardingTBD
6:30pm – 8:00pm Baseball Captains PracticeFieldhouse
TUESDAYFEBRUARY 25
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
B: 4:00pm JV: 5:30pm V: 7:00pm2:45pm | 9:00pmBoys Basketball vs. KenndyBloomington Kennedy High School
7:30pm5:45pm | 9:15pmBoys Hockey Section Semifinals vs. MahtomediAldrich Ice Arena
WEDNESDAYFEBRUARY 26
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
  Girls Basketball Sections 
4:30pm Adapted Hockey vs. South SuburbanHumboldt High School
6:30pm – 8:00pm Baseball Captains PracticeFieldhouse
THURSDAYFEBRUARY 27
THURSDAYFEBRUARY 27  
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
  Boys Hockey Sections 
 4:00pm | 8:00pmBoys Swimming Section MeetArt Downey Aquatic Center
5:30pm – 7:30pm Softball Captains PracticeFieldhouse
7:30pm – 9:00pm Boys Volleyball Captains PracticeFieldhouse
FRIDAYFEBRUARY 28
FRIDAYFEBRUARY 28  
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
  Boys Diving Section FinalsArt Downey Aquatic Center
B: 4:30pm JV: 4:30pm V: 6:00pm Boys Basketball vs. St. Croix PrepHOME
SATURDAYMARCH 1
TIMEBUS TIMESEVENTLOCATION
TBD Boys Basketball Twin Cities GameTBD
 11:15am | 3:00pmBoys Swimming Section FinalsArt Downey Aquatic Center
Clubs and Activities, Events

Highland’s 2025 Chinese New Year’s most significant performances

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By: Jooney Freddieson and Aalovely Lor

Chinese New Year is one of the most important traditional holidays in Chinese culture.

It is typically between the end of January to mid February and in 2025, Chinese New Year was from January 29th to February 12th.

Every year, Highland Park Senior High School students and teachers celebrate Chinese New Year by performing dances as well as singing and showcasing a play.

( 舞獅 ) Lion’s Dance performed by Julian Falk & Liam Hefferan

The Lion’s Dance is not just a performance but it is a cultural tradition that traces all the way back to ancient China; evolving through each generation.

This dance is significant because when the lunar new year comes around the celebration is intended to ward off evil spirits.

The Lion’s Dance is not only filled with vibrant colors, but it is followed by loud noises, energetic music, and bright lights.

The lion represents a symbol of power, courage, good fortune, and protection in Chinese culture that chases away negative energy or “Nian”.

“Nian” is a mythical monster known to attack villages and leave negative energy in the beginning of the lunar new year, according to Kpbs.org. Which is why the Lion’s Dance is typically known to be performed at the beginning of the Chinese New Year event.

The monster is known to be scared of loud noises, bright lights, and bright colors, which is why the Lion’s Dance is a great tool to chase the monster away.

During the performance the dance was accompanied with loud drums played by two students, symbolizing the terrifying loud noises to scare away “Nian”.

The dancers mimic the lion by swaying, leaping, shaking, often in a playful manner. This adds an element of humor which entertains the audience.

It was cool to see how the music followed the lion’s movement as it got faster and slower.

Our favorite part of the dance was when the lion came close to the audience and interacted with them. The interaction between the lion and the audience created, and added, a more humorous atmosphere.

The Legend Of The White Snake was performed by Highland’s Chinese Immersion 11 class!

Their play gives us insight into the old Chinese folktale about an ancient white snake who transforms into a beautiful woman before quickly falling in love with a young man. 

Despite getting married, he was still unaware of her true form until a monk told him he wasn’t married to a human being; he was married to a snake.

The young man gives his wife wine which transforms her into a big white snake, causing the man to die from shock.

Even though her husband had played that trick on her, she still revived him with her own potion. Once awakened, he realized she was still the person he always loved, someone who’d never do him wrong.

The significance of the Chinese Immersion 11 class reenacting this folktale is that the new year is the year of the snake.

They executed this play perfectly by bringing up beautifully painted sets and a perfect script in between the mix of humor and accuracy.

One highlight from the play was the humorous switch when she turned into the big white snake. The crowd was definitely excited to see the wife go backstage and switch out with the masked snake.

Our favorite part of the play was when the white snake was battling the monk and his two guards for her husband back after he’s been locked up. The music in the background played a comedic role in the fighting; intense but random.

Here is the amazing Chinese Immersion 11 class!