All posts by teens30

School Life

Highland Park Showcase

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On Thursday, January 17th, Highland Park put on their annual Showcase from 6-8pm. Middle schoolers from Highland Park Middle, Capital Hill, and other St. Paul middle schools attended the showcase.

During the showcase, tours were held for the middle school students, and their parents, directed by students in the Year Book club. Throughout the night, 3 different tours took place, popcorn and cookies were served in the gym, and all of Highlands Park’s extracurricular activities we’re presented around the gym including: sports, math team, robotics club, Black Student Union, Asian Culture club, and more.

Highland’s Showcase is a great way to get to know about the activities and clubs available at the school. There are a variety of programs to join, and there is something for everyone with 42 different clubs which include:

      • Archery Club
      • Animae Club
      • African Student Association
      • Asian Cultural Club
      • Black Student Union
      • Book Club
      • Chess Club
      • Chinese Club
      • Choir/Vocal Music
      • Debate Team
      • Environmental Club
      • FFA Club
      • Film Club
      • Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA)
      • Genius Squad
      • Girl Unity
      • High School Democrats of American
      • Highland Park Senior High activities
      • Highland Passports Student Travel Opportunities
      • Instrumental Music
      • Junior Class
      • Knitting Club
      • Kpop Club
      • Link Crew
      • Math Team
      • Model United Nation
      • Mountain Biking
      • National Honor Society
      • Plaid Line School Newspaper
      • Prizm Literary Magazine
      • Robotics Team
      • Science Club
      • Senior Class
      • Spanish Speaking Debate
      • Speech Team
      • Student Council
      • The Conspiracy Theory CluB
      • Thespian Society
      • Union Latina
      • Yearbook
      • Youth Alive
      • Youth in Government.

Highland Park does an amazing job of including everyone one; no one is left out or discriminated against. Clubs promoted at our school promote more students to become involved in their school community and to enjoy their high school experience.

Highland Park’s Showcase this year had a turn out of about 70 different families, a little less than what Highland has had in the past.

I talked to Mr. O’Connell, a math teacher, as well as math coach on the Highland Park math team about this year’s Showcase. I asked him how he felt about this years turn out, and he responded, “I expected more students, there was about 60 families that showed up.” I further asked him if he thought the low turn out would mean fewer freshmen next year. Mr. O’Connell’s response was, “Of course I have no doubt that we won’t have a lot of kids, but we are just going to have to see what next year brings.”

World

The death of the mayors

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Image taken from: https://www.nvinoticias.com/nota/54269/respaldan-perredistas-oaxaquenos-morena

Alejandro Aparicio, a newly sworn in mayor, of the Mexican town of Tlaxiaco, was killed on Tuesday, January 8, 2 hours after taking position as Mayor of Tlaxiaco. Two people died, and 3 other people were wounded. The death of Alejandro is being taken seriously, and a thorough investigation, for the man behind the murder of this horrific crime.

On Tuesday afternoon, Alejandro was on his way to City Hall, for a meeting with some of his colleagues after being declared mayor, when a man came and opened fire. Five people, including Alejandro, we’re rushed to the hospital, but by the time they arrived, Alejandro was pronounced dead. He suffered internal bleeding and a punctured right lung.

Tlaxiaco has been dealing with a serious problem of mayors being killed, for many years, and is becoming difficult for people to want to take a political position. At least 175 mayors or mayor elects have been killed between September 2017 and August 2018 . 

Aparicio was the first mayor to be elected from Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador party. Oaxaca governor Alejandro Murat expressed his condolences on Twitter for the unjust murder, “I express my condolences to the family and the people of Tlaxiaco.” This is just a tragic event and the government is not taking it lightly.

Science/Nature, World

Climate change is real?

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Image taken from: https://m.govexec.com/management/2018/11/trump-administration-quietly-releases-intact-13-agency-climate-change-report/153041/

How many times have you walked outside this winter with only a sweatshirt and jeans on? No winter jacket or coat. Or still have those new pair of Sorel boots in your closet that you were so sure you we’re going to have to wear this winter? If this sounds like you, you are not alone. Temperatures this Minnesota winter have been so mild it almost seems unreal. The snowfalls have been mild, the temperatures have been mild, and the snow seems to barely stay on the ground. Believe it or not, Minnesota is facing the disastrous climate change going on in our world, and the direct effects are becoming prevalent.

Since the 1980’s, scientists have warned us about the disasters our earth was up against if we didn’t start taking better care of it. Big companies like Chevron, Exxon Mobil, BP, and Gazprom, as well as chemical manufactures, industrial dumpsites, tanneries, and product manufactures are all environmental hazards that are destroying our earth. These companies continue to produce pollutants into our environment, creating oil spills, and putting Co2 emissions into our air. Due to these pollutants, more cases of illnesses, like cancer, are rising and they are causing our earth to heat up.

Antarctica is a continent covered by a of majority of ice, and it is starting to be affected by the heating of our earth. Major ice glaciers are starting to break and melt.

Animals like penguins and polar bears are having a habitat crisis because it’s harder to catch fish. Polar bears are falling into the water and drowning due to thin ice, and fish are starting to migrate.

On top of the effects of animals, the effects on our lakes and oceans are also a risk. As ice glaciers melt, water levels continue to rise. The mixture of saltwater and freshwater is creating a higher buoyancy which is causing floods, hurricanes, and water levels to rise at extreme rates.

Minnesota has been affected by climate change, our lakes are starting to rise and there have been a lot of rainy days this winter season. Just this past month, we have had one of the warmest Minnesota winter days ever, with a record breaking 42 degrees in the beginning of January.

Basketball

Highland Park girls basketball game

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On Thursday, December 13th, Higland Park High School’s girls basketball team had their first game against Tartan High School. Tartan High School is a public school located in Oakdale, MN. Tatarn this year had a record of 0-4, going into the game, while Higland had a 5-1 record.

On the Highland Park C-team, there are many girls who have never played basketball, and as the season continues there has been a huge improvement in their skill level.

At 4:00 p.m. there was the C-team game. Highland ended with a loss, but the score didn’t stop their motivation.

At 5:30 p.m., our JV game played. As the game started, there was a malfunction with our score board. The score board wouldn’t mark points, so the time scorer had to keep track of our score until we could get it to work. The timer continued to work as normal but not having points made it difficult to determine what the team needed to do to win the game.

After halftime, the score board began to work. The score was 9-32; Highland felt defeated.

Fresham Littia, and sophomore Readeat, came back with 3 point shots but it wasn’t enough to take a win. Sadly, our JV team ended with a loss.

JV coach Mr. Chapman, a behavioral specialist as well as the girls basketball coach, said, “Girls, this was not a loss we played good, we matched their intensity and put up a fight, I am happy with this score.” This gave the the girls motivation.

Nataile, a junior player on the team, made sure we were aware as well, “Guys, we did so good, our defense was great we just need better offense good work.”

The team chanted “Highland on 3,” and we cheered. We realized as a team that our victory will come, it just takes time and patience.

Fashion/Make-Up

Get some lotion, before they start roasting

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Image taken from: https://safashioncart.com/dry-facial-skin/

Winter is now approaching, weather is changing, and skin is getting dry. Walking outside is a constant struggle for people with sensative skin. As the weather temperature drops, the water in your skin starts to evaporat, and this leaves your skin feeling dry and tight, giving your skin a white flaky look.

Although having dry skin can be a hasssle, there are ways around having it and giving you that sensation of smooth skin again. If you are dealing with dry skin, bring moisturizing lotion to school. Some lotions that will keep your skin moisturized during the day include brands such as: Palmers Cocoa Butter, Tree Hut Cocoanut Lime Shea Body Butter, and Cetaphil Moistirizing Cream. These brands are great for hydrating and shining your skin. If you have dry lips try Carmex; it always does the job.

Never be embarrassed for having dry skin or asking someone for lotion – everyone deals with dry skin during the winter. Being in Minnesota, a very cold climate does not make things easy for anyone. To find reasonably priced moisturizers you can go to your local Dollar Tree, Walgreens, Cub Foods, and Bath and Body Works. They have great deals and more for your bank.

Let’s start off to a good winter feeling moisturized and soft.

Clubs and Activities

Link Crew freshman night

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What’s new with Link Crew?

Link Crew is doing something a little different for December’s freshman fun night. Instead of Link Crew teacher advisors creating the Link Crew events, the student Link Leaders are taking on the role.

Freshman nights are events planned by the Link Crew organization for freshman. They consist of activites like: scavenger hunts, movie nights, game nights, and more. Link Crew events are supposed to help freshman meet new students in their grade, build new life long friendships, and learn useful strategies to help them through high school.

Link Crew is a great program which I would recommend to any junior or senior who wants to make a change in their environment.

This program supports the transition of middle schoolers to the high school world. Coming into high school is a big change and for anyone and it can be stressful, scary, and confusing. Link Crew is there to alleviate those scary and stressful feelings and make high school into something exciting and memorable.

As a Link Crew leader you have to be sympathetic and understand not all freshman come from the same background. Some kids come from broken homes, abusive environments, or low economic opportunities. Link Crew is a positive environment that can get kids away from that. Being in Link Crew is a way to make change and help kids that may need it.

As a current Link Crew leader, creating our own freshman night is new and really exciting. My partner Sami, a senior, and I are planning on doing a bowling night. What’s a better way to build friendships than that?

Our goal is to connect our freshman group with another one so freshman are able to hang out with some of their school friends who might not be in our group. I am really excited about December and happy to see where this hard planning takes us.

 

Music/Concerts

Lil Wayne “Tha Carter V”

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Image taken from: https://www.amazon.com/Tha-Carter-Explicit-Lil-Wayne/dp/B07HRBGH9Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1540212355&sr=8-1&keywords=lil+wayne

Recently, the new Carter 5 album by Lil Wayne was realsed on September 28th, 2018. Fans have been patiently waiting 7 years for Tha Carter 5 album to be released, after the Carter 4 was realsed August 29th, 2011. For all who don’t know, Lil Wayne is rapper, writer, and American producer from Holly Grove, Louisiana, who has been nominated and won multiple awards including: artist of the year, favorite rap/hiphop-album, Grammys, American Music Awards, and BET awards. He is a powerful artist in the HipHop community, and is thought of highly all across the globe.

Since the release of the Carter 5 album many people have been inspired all around the country. He shares his story, personal life, goals, faluires, and future goals. The Carter 5 album, I feel, has brought fans closer to him and have helped them became more connected to his life. In Lil Wayne’s new album, he has a theme which is: his mom. After every song, his mom talks on the album and discuss Lil Wane’s life, her love for him, interviews, and phone calls. By having his mom as a relevant part of the album I feel he is expressing his love and appreciation for his mom and how much she has done for him.

Lastly, if you want to listen to his album you can find it on iCloud, Spotify, YouTube, Pandora, and more. Songs I suggest anyone to listen to include: “Mona Lisa,” “Took His Time,” “Famous,” “Used 2,” and “What About Me.” This album causes you to be open minded and creative because he uses many metaphors, smilies, and word play. I recommend anybody over 14 to listen to this album, it is an inspiration that I feel everyone will connect with.

Clubs and Activities

What’s Girl Unity at Highland?

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Image taken from: http://www.csleicht.com/blog/feminist-monday-aug-8th

Recap of last school years Girl Unity

Back for another year at Highland Park is the official group, Girl Unity started by Natalie Mendoza and Selah Jacoway. Last year was the first year of Girl Unity and coming in as a brand new club the support was heart warming and inspirational. Girl Unity created a positive image for themselves which is what we strived for. We were very happy with the sucesss of creating a new club. The impact on the community was not as significant as we hoped for it to be, but we have to realize success comes in time and patience.

How was Girl Unity started?

Girl Unity was started by Natalie Mendoza and Selah Jacoway towards the middle of our 10th and 11th grade year. We were both facing many girl to girl issues in our after school sports and daily school activities; from drama, fights, cyber bullying, bad communication, and no sense of respect for one another as females. This was a negative affect on our mood, achievement of games, practices, and school work; something had to be done immediately. After expressing our thoughts and concerns we set out to start a club that would combat many of these issues.

Highland is not a bad school, and neither are the students but whenever too many girls share a small space conflicts are at times destined to arise. We made a proposal that was presented to Mr. Sager, our vice principal, he was impressed with our ideas. We where sent to Mrs. Hanson, a secretary for the principal, we agreed on a time and place to host Girl Unity, all we needed was to advertise; the movement was in motion.

We had almost 6 sessions of Girl Unity, in our first year, and in those meetings we had good discussions. We addressed the topic of the exploitation of women, color and skin division, women’s roles in society, and how to handle situations and conflicts in a healthy way. Overall, the club was a positive experience and I am excited to do it again.

Girl Unity today

Girl Unity’s first session was on Thursday, September 20, at 2:15-3:15. Natalie could not take on the club with me so I have the opportunity to lead the club this year independently. We had a turn out of 10 girls, of all grades, from 9th-12th grade. The Girls are focused and interested in the club. I am excited for the success and the impact it brings to Highland this year and in the future.