By: Canaan Nonnemacher
Whispers of the Game
All posts by HPSH Plaid Line
Animal Trivia
By: Elijah Davis & Dalton Haas
Root beer rankings and a brief history
By: Nils Hileson
Root beer was made in the 18th century by Charles Elmer Hires based of a tea that has similar ingredients. Root beer is commonly made with sassafras root, wintergreen, sarsaparilla and other natural ingredients. It also has a lot of sugar and caramel coloring in it commonly. Its name is derived from the root ingredients used to make it and beer was added to the name just to appeal to miners.
For a time root beer was sold as a syrup or powder to be added to sodas before it became a popular soda itself. I myself like root beer quite a bit so I decided to try six different root beers and rank them from worst to best.
Brownie caramel cream root beer: this one is the worst not because it is particularly terrible but because of how disappointing it was. I was expecting actual caramel flavor but it just tasted like watered down root beer. Very disappointing.
Henry Weinhard’s root beer: not very sweet nor did it have much spice. Didn’t have much flavor for a root beer, so it’s ranked low.
Old Red Eye root beer: had a nice amount of spice for a root beer but was lacking in everything else. Was very watery and kinda disappointing.
Root Naturals Apothecary craft soda: a little less sweet than a normal root beer but had good levels of spice. A fine choice for a root beer.
Drive-in style Dog n Suds root beer: had quite a bit of sweetness, and a little less spice than the others I’ve had. I prefer my root beer to be pretty sweet so this root beer was good.
Boylan Bottling Co: definitely the best root beer out of all of them. The spices they used were different from a normal root beer’s but it was a welcome change of taste. They also used cane sugar, which I’m not sure how much that changed the flavor, but I think it made it better. Didn’t taste watered down at all.
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Bunny and Squirrel Pictures
By: Joe Perez
I drew this picture because it shows the resemblance of a mother’s love and affection towards their child. I picked a bunny because it shows it’s a sign of bonding, companionship and overall care. Another reason I chose it is because sharing food for them is part of their social instinct to ensure their baby’s safety.
I drew this picture because the squirrel is preparing for the winter as squirrels have great preparation skills just like we humans do. They store food for when they actually need it for the winter or feeding their little ones. Squirrels eat during the fall so that they can build fat for the winter which keeps them warm.
History of UFO sightings
By: Karl Salkowski
UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Object. According to the Oxford dictionary, UFOs are described as mysterious objects seen in the sky for which, it is claimed, no orthodox scientific explanation can be found.
UFO sightings have been reported throughout all of recorded history and across the world. There are many accounts of unexplained aerial phenomena throughout 500-1500AD. Many paintings and depictions of these flying objects still exist, including strange symbols and imagery. However, it’s likely that most of these medieval UFO sightings were just natural atmospheric phenomena such as comets, auroras, or rare cloud formations.
The US is home to many UFO sightings, with some of its most famous dating back to the 1950s and 60s. During the beginning of the United States’ rocketry initiative, UFO sightings began to spike. This includes several famous sightings and initiatives such as the Roswell UFO Incident, Project Blue Book, and the Robertson Panel.
The Roswell UFO incident took place in 1947 and was one of the first in a series of new sightings. A ranger from Roswell, New Mexico, found a 200-yard-long wreckage near a US Army airfield. The local newspaper reported it was an alien spacecraft, although the military declared the wreckage was only a weather balloon.
As sightings of UFOs increased in the 1940s and 50s, the United States Air Force began investigating these reports. In 1952, this became Project Blue Book, and it recorded over 12,000 sightings between 1952 and 1969.
In 1952, the United States created a panel of scientists to investigate these sightings. This panel was known as the Robertson panel, named after its head, H.P. Robertson, a physicist at the California Institute of Technology. This panel determined that over 90% of sightings were astronomical and meteorological phenomena and that there was no evidence aliens exist.
Within the last 20 years there has been a massive decline in these sightings. As smartphones with high-quality cameras continue to become more and more present, grainy images and blurry photos just don’t cut it anymore. Overall, most UFO sightings can be explained by either military tests or just various natural phenomena.
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Tier Ranking Movies
By: Liv. Kleiber & Salome Meyer
‘Twilight’ chapter 2 summary and review
By: Ivy Dahl
Summary:
The second chapter of ‘Twilight’ begins with Bella getting used to the routine of her new school on her second day there, becoming more familiar with her friends and having less people stare at her. She is also dealing with being overwhelmed by confusion and anxiety at the absence of Edward Cullen when she realized he hasn’t shown up to school, even though all of his siblings are present.
That same night, while having dinner with her father, Bella realizes that her dad would know about the Cullens since he’s a local. She asks about them and he tells her about Edward’s family moving to Forks two years ago, and also about Edward’s father who she learns is a local brilliant surgeon. Her father speaks highly of them, and says it’s a shame people avoid them even though they cause no trouble. This gives Bella a little more insight on Edward’s mysterious life.
A couple more days pass with Edward being gone and Bella becomes more comfortable coming to school knowing she won’t have to worry about being glared at, until the next Monday, when Bella spots Edward sitting at lunch with his family again staring at her.
Later that day, during biology, Edward is friendly to her and isn’t as hesitant to interact with her as he was last time. He asks her lots of questions, seeming very curious about her past and what led her to Forks. She’s surprised at his sudden mood switch, but tentatively embraces it and answers his questions. She accidentally brushes her arm against his and is shocked by how cold his skin is. She also notices that his eyes are a lighter color then they were when she last saw him. She asks him about the change of his eyes which seems to flare his temper as he clenches his fist. But instead of lashing out, he quickly changes the topic to more small talk.
After biology, in the following gym class, one of Bella’s friends notes that Edward was being uncharacteristically friendly to her today. She agrees, confused. School ends and Bella hurries out to the parking lot, eager to end the day. As she settles into her car she notices Edward leaning against the car door of his Volvo staring at her. This distracts her so much that she almost drives right into the person in front of her. As she drives out of the parking lot she sees Edward chuckling to himself through her side mirror.
Review:
The second chapter of ‘Twilight’ builds upon what the first chapter sets up by intensifying the mystery of Edward Cullen’s mood swings. It makes the reader question where Edward was and why he was acting this way upon his return. I would give it a 9/10. You can buy ‘Twilight’ on Amazon.
Highland Volleyball 2025 season
By: Siri David
Photo: Joe Flynn photography
This season the Highland Park Volleyball varsity team ended with a record of 16 wins and 10 losses. It was a really good season with two big sweeps over Central and being conference champs.
This season we had five seniors including our manager Analiese. There is Scarlett who is a 6 rotation outside, James who is a 6 rotation setter, and then Linnea and Nica who are both defense specialists. The seniors were all captains who helped lead the team to having a successful season, and we would not have been as successful without them. Analiese is the last senior and she is the team manager. She played a key role in the team, and did a lot for the coaches and players.
For our coaching staff we had three coaches. Our head coach was Emily Aune who is a Highland Park alumni and coached B-squad for three years. This was her first year as head coach and she did an amazing job at helping her players on the court but even more off the court. Emily was a really good at helping players grow mentally.
The first assistant coach is Ameilia who is also a Highland Alumni and she has been an assistant coach for around three years. She is a core part of the team and holds a lot of volleyball knowledge. We would not be as successful without her. The last assistant coach is Mark Steinbach. Mark has been coaching volleyball for 30 years and is highly educated and respected in the world of volleyball. He would plan all of our practices and is the core reason for our success this year. Overall, each coach brings something different to the team but they are all very much respected and needed for the teams success.
Every player on the team put their all into this season and showed up everyday giving the best they could. We ended the season in section semi-finals against De La Salle. It was a five set game with the last set having a two point differential. We wanted to win that game so badly and it would have been a big win for us, but either way we are all grateful to have had such a good season.
This season we had such a special team bond and all cared for each other so much, on and off the court. The season didn’t necessarily end how we wanted it to but we are all still so proud of how this season went, and thankful for the many opportunities we got.
Review for ‘Ginny and Georgia’
By: Kendra Shanklin
*Warning this review contains spoilers
‘Ginny and Georgia’ is a show about a mom named Georgia who wanted her 2 children Ginny and Austin to have a fresh start so she moved them to Massachusetts. It was released on February 24th, 2021 and this show is rated TV-14 containing intense language, sexual situations and violence.
*Recap
In the first season Austin and Georgia are at his first day in school and he’s nervous but his mom reassures him that everything will be okay and that he’s strong. She then gives him a hug and sends him off to school. Later on, Ginny starts her first day at school and she’s in class and her teacher sees her and says that students in his class take AP English very seriously and she should move down to regular English. She takes that as a racial comment because she’s the only colored person in the classroom. She then throws a comment about how they’re reading 14 books but there’s not 1 black author that wrote a book amongst them.
She then starts talking back to the teacher saying how she thinks he’s a racist because he doesn’t talk about any black book writers. Her classmate Max then jumps in and starts siding with her and having her back.
Ginny’s class then ends and she’s in her locker when she closes it and a boy named Marcus is standing there looking at her. He then asks if she’s new and moved across the street from him and she says “It’s Monday,” because he’s wearing a shirt that says Wednesday.
They then have a tiny conversation and he mentions how he met her mom the night before. Ginny says, “She can be friendly,” and Marcus says how her mom asked for drugs so she can’t be that friendly.
Ginny’s classmate Max then tells Marcus to leave and Max starts talking to Ginny and they ditch lunch to get tacos off campus, but from afar Ginny sees her mom having lunch with the mayor.
‘My review’
I love this show every time a new season comes out I’m always so excited to see what’s next. Although this show can give you a few second hand embarrassments and get boring at times because of how much they talk, other than that, it’s a pretty good show to binge watch on your free time.
If you like drama movies or anything that has to do with a lot of controversy I recommend you check this out. I give this series an 8.5/10.
Thank you for reading me review I hope your willing to watch the show after reading this🤍. You can watch ‘Ginny and Georgia’ on Netflix.
Do protests really make a difference?
By: Charlotte Aver
People hold protests all the time, over all kinds of things, but do they actually cause change and raise awareness? Protests are held commonly throughout the United States over things like the women’s rights movement, the right-to-life movement, and the environmental movement, to name a few. All of these protests have raised awareness around these topics but has anything actually been done about them?
Boycotts and political rallies are becoming increasingly common due to disagreement between the government and the people. A few weekends ago there was a nationally held “No Kings Rally” in which nearly 7 million people participated in across 2,700 cities. Whether or not anything will come of this rally is yet to be known.
I have some personal experience with protests and rallies because I live close to the governor’s, Tim Walz’s, mansion in St. Paul and there are commonly protests and rallies that I can hear from my house. The topics of these protests are almost always asking the state of Minnesota to divest from Israel. Sometimes the protests are calmer, such as on most Mondays around 4:00 pm a group of people come to sit in front of the governor’s mansion where they have signs that say things like “divest from Israel” and “free Palestine” and play music about peace. Other protests are rowdier, occasionally I will see a protest where they have microphones and chants that are about freeing Palestine and divesting from Israel.
Something I often wonder is whether or not the governor can actually do anything, if it is in his power to divest from Israel or to free Palestine. Since it is possible that he can’t do anything to help even if he wanted to, are these people wasting their time? You could argue yes or you could argue no. Yes, they are wasting their time because the person they are protesting to get the attention of can’t do anything about it. No, they aren’t wasting their time because people, like me, are remembering and thinking about their protest.
You could say that their protest is successful purely because I am here writing in my school paper about it and spreading awareness. So, I do believe that these protests in St. Paul are working to some extent because people are remembering and talking about it, even if these aren’t the exact results the protesters were hoping for. These results are happening and possibly changing how people think about the topics they protest. However change does not come quickly so it is a matter of time to see if anything changes because of the protests and seeing if the work the protesters put in is worth it.
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