By: Grace Blumer-Lamotte

According to Oxford Languages, tragedies are classified as “An event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe”.

During the past couple of years there have been many tragedies. Here are a couple of them: the murder of George Floyd, the Ukraine war, and the pandemic. These are only some of the many tragedies that have happened. 

Each tragedy affects everyone differently. 

When George Floyd died, many people from around the world were outraged. They began to protest for the “Black Lives Matter Movement.”

When the pandemic hit, most people’s mental health had plummeted. They were unable to see their friends or family.

Another couple of tragedies that can greatly impact people, especially students and staff, are school shootings and drunk driving accidents. 

School shootings are unfortunately common in the United States. According to Sandy Hook Promise, “The U.S. has had 1,316 school shootings since 1970 and these numbers are increasing. 18% of school shootings have taken place since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.”

There are students that are interviewed on the news around the topic of school shootings. You can hear the fear and ache inside their voice. If you want to watch some interviews check out this website: https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/survivorstories/

I interviewed one student from each grade here at Highland Park Senior High. 

I asked them these questions:

• Do you know of any world wide events that have affected you or your family?
• If they did affect you, how did it affect you?
• How did it affect your mental health?

The freshman responded, “The pandemic affected me directly. My step mother was pregnant during the pandemic so at one point we had to live with my mom for a whole month. School was really affected during it, it hurt my grades. It affected my mental health by not being able to socialize and not having my 8th grade year. It also affected my grades again.”

The sophomore responded, “There haven’t exactly been any big tragedies in my life. I could say the pandemic. It affected my mental health poorly by being isolated from my friends and family.”

The junior responded, “The pandemic and the murder of George Floyd really affected me and my family. The pandemic affected me by making my mental health just plummet. During the whole ‘prime time’ of the pandemic my mental health was horrible. I wasn’t even getting out of bed. The murder of George Floyd made me realize that the police system is corrupt and needs to be revised. People should not be getting murdered, primarily the black community, because it was a ‘mistake’ from the police officer. Or they were trying to ‘protect themselves because they saw the person as a threat.’”

The senior responded, “The pandemic has affected my mental health a lot because I was stuck in a house for so long. Also, I couldn’t see my friends or hangout with anybody and started feeling very lonely.”

By: Grace Blumer-Lamotte

Throughout a student’s high school years, freshman (9th), sophomore (10th), junior (11th), and senior (12th), they will experience some type of stress, whether it be physical or mental. It can also vary if they are experiencing other things outside of their academic life. 

Some ways that stress affects the brain is by shrinking the prefrontal cortex. According to Touro, “Chronic stress has a shrinking effect on the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for memory and learning. While stress can shrink the prefrontal cortex, it can increase the size of the amygdala, which can make the brain more receptive to stress.” 

A few symptoms of stress to the human body include a headache (referring to the image provided), exhaustion, sleep deprivation, stomach problems, and weight loss. 

The grade that the student is in normally depends on the homework load. Every grade is different. All grades have important tests or other events going on. Especially juniors. Juniors commonly have to take the ACT during the year. 

When students get more homework, they are generally a lot more stressed out. At Highland, we currently have 7 classes a day: 4 core classes and 3 electives. If every class gives you homework, that is a lot of homework in one night for the student. 

I interviewed 4 students. One from each grade. I asked these questions:

• How many hours do you spend on homework a night?
• How does your homework load affect your mental health?

The freshman answered, “I usually spend an hour and a half or until I eat dinner. My homework load can affect my mental health greatly. I hardly ever have time to do anything I actually enjoy anymore. Whenever I procrastinate it gets even worse.” 

The sophomore answered, “I spend only around two hours on homework at night. Since I don’t have much homework, it doesn’t really bother my mental health.”

The junior answered, “I spend around two to three hours on homework if it is an easy night. If it is a hard night, I spend around four to five hours. The homework load destroys my mental health. On weekends, when I don’t have homework, I am extremely happy. But when I do have homework, I relate to the senior. I have no energy to do anything else afterwards.” 

The senior answered, “I spend no hours on homework. I finish most of it at school. But put into account that I also have 2 study hall hours. I’d say when I do have homework at home it’s the most draining thing ever. Once I am done, I have no energy to do anything else.”

By: Ava Bleifuss

Essays are an important part of every high school student’s life. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to begin, so here are some steps, taken from Lexico.com 

1: Understand the criteria

It is very important that when you are trying to write an essay you understand the criteria. Most teachers will provide a rubric, as well as instructions to help you understand what they’re looking for in these essays. If you have any questions about the essay, don’t be afraid to ask the teacher to clear something up.

2: Brainstorm about your topic

What excites you? What do you care about? Even when there is a topic given by the teacher, it’s important to find something about the topic that you care about in order to write a good essay about it. Get a piece of paper, or a new document, and write down everything you want to say in the essay. It does not have to be perfect, and should be messy. Getting down all of your thoughts, and seeing everything as the big picture can really help someone get started on writing an essay. 

3: Decide on a thesis  

Look at the notes you took, and see what the main theme is that connects everything together. Teachers will talk about some good thesis ideas in class discussions about the book which can be helpful, and sometimes they will also ask you a question that they want to be answered in the thesis statement. When you find that, make sure it is in one complete sentence and not too long. Your thesis statement should be short and to the point. 

4: Find evidence 

In the many different kinds of essays a student has to write, all of them require some kind of evidence. For English class if you have to write about a book, find quotes and other evidence from the book that support your main points. In history class it’s important to find specific people, quotes, or important events that will help with the whole of your essay. Finding primary sources will help provide direct insights into the past instead of someone else’s interpretation.

6: Create an essay structure

According to scribbr.com there are several common ways to structure an essay. One structure is the argumentative essay, where you order your points from most important to least important, or build up from least important to most important. Another is the chronological essay, where you list your points in order of time. Yet another is the compare/contrast essay, where you talk about the similarities and differences between your points. Your structure will depend on the type of essay you want to write.

7: Connect your ideas

Without some segues connecting your different paragraphs, an essay can seem very choppy. Making sure that it has a nice flow to it, and isn’t hard to follow, is a very important step to writing an essay. 

8: Choose memorable language

Choosing the right vocabulary is a crucial part in writing a good essay. Using many adjectives to help describe something will allow the reader to have a better picture of what you’re explaining. It’s more interesting to say a “big blue fluffy blanket” rather than just “a blanket”. Something that can be helpful when you’re stuck on what word to use is the thesaurus. A thesaurus can help with finding interesting words, but makes sure that you don’t use the same vocabulary over and over. 

10: Edit and proofread your essay 

Once you are done writing your essay, be sure to proofread it. Go through your whole essay making sure that there are no run-on sentences, grammatical errors, spelling errors, capitalization problems, or sentence fragments. After you think your essay is finished, put it aside and look at it the next day. You might find some points that you want to change or other errors you didn’t notice before. Having someone else read your essay and give you feedback can also be very helpful. It allows you to have some outside perspective on how your essay was written. 

Using this list will help you write an essay from beginning to end. There are lots of other helpful tools like the internet, textbooks, or this page of the Highland website that includes many writing and research resources. 

By: Carla Tizcareno

Scots Square is the great school coffee shop in Highland Park Senior High. It has been developing greatly over the past few months. They have a wonderful and caring staff.

There are new systems being put in place to make everyone’s experience is more efficient and kind. New products are rolling in like: new creamers, chip varieties, fidgets, hot chocolate, and more. With the good prices and helpful staff it’s really coming together nicely.

Now, there’s a google form QR code so any customer can leave a review or form a complaint in a convenient place to see. New regulations and rules are also helping to make it more useful. Tape has been set up so a line can be formed easily and creates more direction.

Don’t forget, you can also buy school merch like sweatshirts, sweatpants, headbands and more.

The coffee shop is open almost every morning from 8 to 8:30 am and every afternoon from 3 to 3:15 pm.

After a rough couple of weeks after winter break, when their profits got stolen, they are stronger now than ever. Ms. Somerville is working hard to see that all staff members are listened to and understood.

The coffee shop staff is always open to new ideas and suggestions to make the shop better. As long as you bring a good attitude and money; we’ve got you. Some of the staff are working to pool tips to buy quality display stands for the products and to buy new items.

With a long list of things to do that is still growing, the coffee shop staff is ready for the punches. Everyone is welcome and appreciated!

By: Grace BLumer-Lamotte

Both forms of learning have their advantages and their disadvantages.

Let’s look into the advantages of in-person schooling. In-person learning can help students gain support by forming stronger connections. According to Kipp Texas Public Schools, “Studies show that socializing and developing friendships helps children learn more about themselves, helps them build empathy, and form lasting relationships with peers.” This article was posted on August 17th, 2021, well into the COVID pandemic and schools using distance learning. It also states, “The Center for Disease Control (CDC) released a statement earlier this summer highlighting the importance of in-person connection for the development of children.”

Another benefit is that in-person learning can create stronger academic experiences for students. With distance learning, it is difficult for students to focus on their monitor or screen. They most-likely have other distractions going on around the home. When you are in-person you can gain the stronger academic skills that you wouldn’t be able to have access to when in distance learning.

The last benefit of in-person learning is that it improves the students’ mental health. Again, according to Kipp Texas Public Schools, “While authentic connection is a huge component of mental health for children, there are a few other aspects that come into play—specifically ones that children can find much easier with in-person learning and interactions.” Personally, when I was experiencing distance learning, it was difficult for me to focus. It was also difficult for my mental health with the excessive workload that the teachers gave me.

A couple of disadvantages of in-person learning is that there is less flexibility and health risks. Less-flexibility plays a big role in determining if you would prefer in-person school to distance learning. The less-flexibility aspect is not being able to get up and use the bathroom or eat food whenever you please. In school you are given a set schedule. The health risks when you go to in-person learning is having the risk of getting COVID-19.

A benefit of distance learning is the flexibility given. The flexibility is being able to use the bathroom when you need to, eating, and having a less “non-set” schedule. Being able to access and use these accommodations, given by distance learning, is a huge benefit to a student’s mental health. 

Another benefit of distance learning is it eliminates the hassle of getting kids to schools. Some student’s families do not have access to a form of transportation. That makes them rely on bussing to and from school. The district this year, 2021-2022, has been overwhelmed with trying to find buses and drivers for students to get to and from school. When students went to distance learning, it was a huge sigh of relief to bus companies and the district regarding transportation needs.

A couple disadvantages of distance learning is the lack of physical and social interaction and difficulty staying motivated. Throughout the whole pandemic, people have struggled with interaction with friends and family.

When the pandemic was first starting, the CDC was reiterating that we should leave our houses only for essential needs. Therefore draining people of physical and social interaction. Most students that I have talked to go to school to see their friends that they can’t see outside of school. Of course, there are other reasons they go, but that was the main reason.

It was also difficult to stay motivated throughout distance learning. You would have pretty much the same set schedule for weeks upon weeks. For students, that can be very repetitive and unmotivating.