Category Archives: School Life

Entertainment, School Life

Spring Musical: Lucky Stiff

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The Highland Park Spring Musical: Luck Stiff is taking place this month. There are over 50 students involved in this year’s production. Lucky Stiff is a musical comedy that’s appropriate for all ages. I did some interviews with some of this year’s participants in order to gain more knowledge of it. Here are the questions and responses:

What is the Spring Musical?
Soren: Lucky Stiff.
Max: It’s called Lucky Stiff.

Who’s the director/ teacher?
Soren: Steven Houtz.
Max: Steven Houtz. Kate Mendenhall.

How is the spring musical different from being in a regular school play?
Soren: It’s full of dancing and singing, as well as acting.
Max: More commitment. It’s a lot harder since you get to collaborate with musicians and a lot of other people.

How do handle mistakes during performances?
Soren: I cry myself to sleep and binge watch Gossip Girl.
Max: If you forget you part you can call out for line. Stop and correct yourself. You just Improvise.

How often and for how long do you practice?
Soren: Every day after school until 4:30.
Max: Everyday 2:15-4:30 and this week we did 2:15-8:00.

Do you perform in public/ outside of school?
Soren: Yeah, in community theater but it doesn’t really count.
Max: I do solo singing. It’s been long since I did community theater.

What advice would you give to beginners that might be nervous?
Soren: Don’t worry about it. You have a lot of fun.
Max: Being nervous is good. It shows that you care.

Anything else you would like for us to know?
Soren: Come to the musical and support Highland theater! We need your money!
Max: Come see the show.

Lucky Stiff is being performed April 21st-April 23rd at 7:00pm in the Highland Park Senior High auditorium. Tickets are $6 for students and seniors and $8 for adults.

School Life

Senior Fail List

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With the final quarter of the year now in session, many seniors are preparing to take their final exams and move on to graduation. However, in the past, there have been incidents where some seniors begin to slack during their final weeks of high school which has caused them to not graduate on time. A common saying that applies in this situation is the “Senior Slide”, and counselors want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to you. It’s a depressing time for the counselors, as they have to compile a list of students who are at risk of failing a class during the fourth quarter, and the last thing they want to do is make a call home to your family telling them that you won’t be graduating with the rest of your class.

There are certain criteria that is used for the Senior Fail List, and just because you have been placed on the list doesn’t mean that you won’t graduate on time, it just means that you are at risk.

The criteria used for the list :

  • Failing English, or have failed an English course in the past. You need to have passed 4 years of English to graduate high school.
  • Failing Social Studies or have failed Social Studies in the past. You need to have passed 4 years of Social Studies to graduate high school.
  • If you have had poor or spotty attendance throughout the year, you may be placed on the Senior Fail List.
  • If you have had a poor track record with turning in assignments on time or wait until the last second to turn assignments in.

The Senior Fail List will be released during the first week of May. Good luck to the class of 2016 during their final months of high school!

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Mystery positive notes in the girls school bathroom?

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Today I’m looking into a mystery that’s been going on this past week at Highland Park Senior High.

April 12th, 2016 some mysterious student(s) decide to put sticky notes, with positive messages written on them, up in the girls bathroom. But, they decide, the next day, to take them off. This left people with questions about who this person, or people, is/are and why are they doing this.

Being one of the individuals that was left with questions, I decide to take it into my own hands and try to find out more about this mystery.

It turns out, random students (girls) are the ones putting up the sticky notes. During the school year, they decide to wrote positive Post-it notes to make other girls feel better when they were feeling down. They put them around the school bathrooms to remind them they were not alone. Usually, the people who do this sort of thing don’t take credit for it. It’s like they want it to be a mystery, and students have been doing this for a while now, according to some older students at Highland Park.

I decide to ask a student about what they tought about this. Her name is Olivia Verdeja, a freshman at HPSH.

I asked was, “How did you personally feel when you saw this notes around the bathroom what we’re you’re toughts and reaction?”

She responded with, “I liked it and thought it as cool because in high school a lot of people don’t have self confidence and I think if girls see this it means that other girls feel the same way and aren’t alone.”

My opinion is that people at Highland should start to do this more often, as just one little thing can make a difference in others’ lives; both those who are struggling, and those who aren’t. Also, kids need to know that everyone cares and they’re not the only ones who feel like they do. Working together as a whole school coming together is a great thing.

Clubs and Activities, School Life, Travel/Food

European trip: Spring Break 2016

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This Spring Break, 22 students at 3 teachers from Highland Park Senior High went to a trip with EF (Educational Tours) tours to Amsterdam, Paris, and London.

EF is a company that organizes international trips for students to learn about different cultures. EF provides a large array of countries for possible trips, including trips to Costa Rica, that Highland Park also participated in this spring break, Rome and Athens, and South Africa. The trip cost approximately $3,700. It was a good deal because it included tour guides, hotel and airfare, and breakfast and dinner. However, you do have to bring spending money for lunch and souvenirs. EF has different plans to pay for the trip, including monthly payments and paying for the trip in thirds.

We saw many tourist attractions, including Notre Dame, the Anne Frank Museum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Eiffel Tour, the Eye of London, Keukenof Garden, Palace of Versailles, Buckingham Palace, and many more. One of my favorites was being able to see the view of from the Eye of London. Also, the Camdon markets in London have a lot of cool stuff that you can only get there such as hand crafted art. We also visited Delft, a city outside of Amsterdam that had many shops and canals.

Brussels, Belgium was originally supposed to be included in the trip, but because of the terrorist attacks in March, the stop was cancelled. However, we still had a lot of fun in the other locations, and we got to spend more time in Amsterdam and less time on the bus getting to Paris.

In the end, the Europe trip was worth the money, and is a life changing experience that I would recommend to anyone at Highland Park.

Editorials/Student Voice, School Life

Recess in high school

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Remember your recess days back in elementary school? Recess was a time for fun, and hanging out with your friends without having to worry. Well, in high school, you don’t get recess. Everyday is just going from class to class learning without a break, with kids rushing in the hallways trying to get to their next class before the bell rings.

Depending on the classes you take, you get a certain amount of work and assignments. With many assignments, you don’t have time for doing other stuff, which can lead to stress. Everyday is just going home and then starting homework.

Since high schools are giving students a ton of work, don’t you think recess is a good thing to add to high schools? Students could have the time to hang out with their friends and play games. Hanging out with friends can be a distraction from stress or worries.

Students could just have fun for 15 minutes and then it’s back to learning. They could get a break from learning and they might just enjoy school a bit more. Back in elementary school, during recess, everyone would run and play with their friends. Either playing tag or staying inside and playing card games or board games.

Recess would be nice to have in high school to help students get the stress off their shoulders. Students could work on their assignments with no distractions, a bit like study hall but with more freedom.

Sometimes students can feel restless and they want to go for a little run in the field. Recess would be giving them the freedom to do what they need to do for themselves that they can’t do in a classroom. Recess would be a good idea to add into high schools.

School Life

MCA opt out

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Standardized testing can help some but hinder others. In Minnesota, we take the MCAs and every year students go through the stress of getting prepared for taking these standardized tests. The word has gotten out that there is an option to opt out of these tests, and in some ways this can be helpful, but as a whole it could end up hurting our schools.

The results from these standardized tests determines if some schools need more staff and teachers, or if some schools might not need any support. This means that if the results are low across the board that means the school is struggling and it may need more staff to help the students. If the results are high this means that the school probably does not need any support, and they may even be awarded for the high scores.

I asked Ms. Esso, a counselor here at Highland, some general questions about opting out of MCA tests. She said that if a student wanted to opt out of testing, their parent or guardian could write a formal letter to the principal explaining that the student is going to opt out and why they made that decision. The letter should be delivered before the testing process begins so that the testing coordinator knows not to keep sending passes to that student to take the test.

Some people may think that standardized tests, like the MCAs, don’t serve a purpose, but they do. If a school is generally struggling, their test scores could help with the opportunity to revamp the school’s approach to testing. But if enough students decided to opt out, the overall test scores wouldn’t show how the whole school was doing from an academic standpoint. On the other hand, schools that are excelling could get awards and that not only makes the school look good, but the whole district.

Clubs and Activities, School Life

Bringing Black History to Highland Park Elementary

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On Thursday, March 25th, Highland Park Senior High Black Student Union (BSU) members took a field trip to Highland Elementary School. While at Highland Elementary, BSU members visited a fourth grade class. There, BSU had an interactive presentation on Black History and black culture. The presentation covered a wide array of things.

The presentation started off with an with an overview of Black History taught in school. BSU asked the fourth graders about what they knew about Black History, and also what they’ve learned in school so far. Most of the responses were connected to the Civil Rights Movement.

There were answers such as “Martin Luther King Jr.”, “Whites had different water fountains”, and “Black people were mistreated”. However, there were also answers like “Fetty Wap”, “Michael Jackson”, and even “The Italo-Ethiopian War”.

BSU wanted to know what the fourth graders knew about Black History because the members of BSU don’t recall learning much about Black History in Elementary School, besides some key events in the Civil Rights Movement.

The presentation touched on how history is usually taught from a Eurocentric perspective, and that African or African American History is usually taught in elective classes. BSU explained that there should be more Black History taught in schools, especially Elementary Schools, because that is a prime learning time for students.

The presentation then talked about what BSU meant, and what its purpose was. “We want to help people understand their privilege, and provide voices for students of color,” BSU stated. ” We also want to help educate people about Black History and common misconceptions, and also help end the disenfranchisement of Black people”. The fourth graders looked severely confused at the use of these big words, so BSU explained their purpose again on a fourth grade level.

The presentation lastly talked about people in Black History that aren’t as commonly recognized and honored as “Martin Luther King Jr.”, or even “Fetty Wap”. These people were Daisy Bates, Kimberle Crenshaw Williams, and Grace Jones. BSU talked about how each of these people helped shaped Black History in their own way.

After the presentation, BSU asked the students to do one more thing.

The students were put into groups and asked to go to a specific table with a sheet of poster paper and markers on it. There, the fourth graders were asked to write “Black is…”. Then the students had total freedom to finish the statement however they wanted to. The answers were both meaningful and funny.

Some of the keywords that often showed up in the posters were “beautiful”, “a skin color”, “peaceful”, “nice”, and “awesome”. However, the fourth graders also wrote “the best culture”, “Daisy Bates”, “whatever the black people want to be”, and also “the most amazing people I know”. 

BSU encouraged the young students to reach their full potential, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, or color of their skin. They also taught the fourth graders to value their cultures, and value others as well, especially ones that are suppressed and commonly misconceived.

Hopefully, one day, these students will be the faces of BSU at Highland Park Senior High.

Entertainment, School Life

Celebrating the arts at the Art Showcase

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On March 23rd, at 6 pm, the celebration for our second annual Art Showcase was held in the lobby and auditorium of our school, with free admissions for all. The event was organized by Highland, in partnership with the Friends of Highland Arts (FHA), and a combined effort of arts, band, choir, and theater students. Highland’s Choir and Theater instructor, Kate Mendenhall, was the point person who organized the event this year, and is hoping to for this to become a tradition at HPSH.

Friends of Highland Arts (FHA) is a local non-profit group that works closely with the schools, and Highland community, to promote and further the arts in our community. They were also a tremendous help in organizing and promoting the show.

The afternoon was splendidly filled with the art of music. Stage performances in the auditorium began around 7 pm, featuring our Jazz Band, Honors Orchestra, Tremble Choir, Honors Choir, and Symphonic Band. Each of the groups performed works from their past and upcoming concerts. Some of the titles played by the Honors Band included “Adagio” by David R Holsinger and “Symphonic Dance No.3” by Clifton Williams.

Not only that, the cast of the musical, Lucky Stiff, also made an appearance at the showcase with a snippet of their upcoming spring musical which will be held on April 21-23. The Highland Theater Friends and Family were also fundraising in support for HPSH Theater. Other featured art included, Ramona White from our school’s Speech Team, who performed on stage with her creative piece.

“I feel like this event was a huge success,” said Ms. Mendenhall. “All of the groups performed really well and seemed like they were having a great time participating. Most of the times, performing groups do not get to listen to other performing groups, so it was nice that they could listen to their peers at an event like this.”

The showcase was the perfect opportunity for both our fellow peers and community to expose themselves to the talents and arts offered at Highland. During the night, students were able to present their works to the community and be appreciated for their efforts in the arts and freedom of expression. Not only was this event a wonderful source of entertainment for the open audience, but it was also a rewarding experience for our students and teachers who contributed to the show. “The most rewarding thing for me is to be able to let my students experience all different types of art,” said Ms. Mendenhall. “In choir, a lot of our focus goes into choral and vocal music. I really like that my students are able to see what other talent is here at HPSH.”

The overall Art Showcase was met with great praise from our community as well. This was evident in Ms. Mendenhall’s comment, “I noticed that community members and families really like that we provided a ‘one stop shop’ – meaning they could hear and see all of what Highland Park has to offer in our fine arts department in one night.”

Featured outside of the auditorium were the large white panels, collapsible doors, and tables filled with the collection of works from about 20 IB Visual art students. The majority of these student will use these collective pieces from both their junior and senior year to submit to IB later this month. Each of their works were linked with a cohesive theme, with their own unique sense of style. This part of the showcase itself is considered to be a huge new step for the art department, as this was Highland’s first year reserving an organized space for an art gallery of students’ masterpieces.

“The event was a huge success, despite the snowy afternoon,” said art teacher, Keri Schultz. “The gallery and audience was very full. People were excited about the wide variety of art styles that students shared.” The Saint Paul District arts coordinator, Jan Spencer Gutierrez, also showed up for the celebration.

The art gallery was a new component for IB Visual Art students, and provided students with an opportunity to first-hand experience a live art show. Mrs. Schultz also noted that the most rewarding aspect was allowing students to plan out their methods of visual presentation by finding desirable locations, lighting, and completing pre-hangings to create purpose for the organization of art collection.

“I also liked how students personalized the way they presented the titles for their work. Mazzy put her labels on rocks, which really made her environmental theme come through in a visual way.  I also think that Highland complex and the Friends of Highland Arts were able to further develop our relationship, and that was very positive.”

A total of 15 under the sea watercolor paintings, from students of Highland Park Elementary, also contributed to the visual art gallery. As a group project, elementary student also created a sculpture made up of lights, plastic bottle caps, and paint, resembling a Dale Chihuly type sculpture. Along with that, there were 10 figure drawings from the middle school students. As for our high school students, they contributed 30 self-portrait paintings, 40 sculptures, and tiles from the ceramics students.

Some of Mrs. Schultz’s hopes and goals for the future of Highland’s Art Showcase is to incorporate more activity tables to engage the youth of our community, and have them share their art as a part of our community. “I think it might be fun to have high school students there to teach techniques or little projects to other people (young and old) from our communities.” The art department is also hoping to seek more grant money for permanent lighting solutions in the space of display.

Similarly, Ms. Mendenhall also has hopes for the future of the Arts Showcase to be an event that HPSH students look forward to attending, not just families and community members. “I think this is a great way to support your peers in their artistic endeavors, and maybe even become involved with a group yourself!”

“In terms of the art, I was just really proud of how nicely students were able to share their creative efforts,” Mrs. Schultz said. “I also wanted to thank Kate Mendenhall for being the liaison between Highland and FHA Friends of Highland. It went great!”

Clubs and Activities, School Life

Highland Park math team

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The Highland Park Math Team made it to state for the 21st year in a row, and finished in seventh position. Mr. Anderson and Mr. O’Connell are the coaches of the Highland Park High Math Team. David and Geeta are the captains of the math team. I interviewed them and a couple of people from the math team.

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photo taken by Anne Kelly Berg via Facebook

1. What is your name/grade?
Michael: Freshman.
David: I’m a senior.
Geeta: I’m a junior.

2. How do you feel about making it to state?
Michael: Proud.
David: Pretty great. Always good to beat Central.
Geeta: It’s our 21st yr to make it to state.

3. What made you want to be part of the math team?
Michael: I enjoy competition and math.
Geeta: Like math, I was in the math team in middle school. I wanted to work with people who love math as much as I do.
David: I was in the math team in middle school too and I love math.

4. What are some challenges you faced along the way?
David: Takes a lot of practice. Meet two, three times a week.
Geeta: Memorize all the formulas.
Michael: A lot of information to know and memorize.

5. Any information you would like for us to know about the math team?
David: Join math team you don’t have to be great at math. Still get to learn.
Geeta: Good for test anxiety and for times tests.
Michael: It’s fun if you like doing doing math.

6. What advice do you have for students who want to join the math team?
David: Come to practice we don’t bite. Works pretty well with sports, you can be in a sport and math team at the same time.
Geeta: You don’t have to know math really well because we teach you what you want.
Michael: Don’t worry about the actual competition but having fun doing math.

7. Anything else you want to say?
David: Nothing.
Geeta: No.
Michael: No.

School Life

HP Blood Drive

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The HP Blood Drive started on March 18, 2016 in the field house. The Blood Drive is where students ages 16 and older can donate blood to The Red Cross. The Red Cross needs a large amount of blood and high schools help to supply it. To be able to donate blood for them, you have to sign up and get a permission slip from your parents. Then you check in at the field house and do a couple of blood tests.

Before giving blood, you need to drink tons of water and get enough food. After donating blood, you may feel lightheaded, you may throw up, or even pass out. The blood testing can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. After this, the people who are in charge will give you snacks to replenish the blood lost.

I went down to the field house and asked a few students why they decided to donate their blood.

Axel (Junior) : Thought it’ll be cool, I’m always down with new experiences.

Nungkeo (Junior) : I wanted to save somebody’s life.

Kelly (Senior) : Wanted to help people, it’s my third time.

Alec (Senior) : Cause giving blood is good.

Fox (Junior) : Cause I felt like giving.

There were approximately 60 students who helped donated blood to The Red Cross. Helping out is always nice, by just doing this, you can save a person’s life or help those in need of blood. If you feel like giving blood then go for it, like those students we interviewed. You don’t need a reason to give blood for those who need it. Hopefully, The Red Cross collected enough blood from high schools.

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