Does Grounding Really Work?
By: Karrington Sheppeard
Have you ever been grounded? If so, you aren’t alone. Majority of kids get grounded by their parents. Some are for a week, others are for only a couple hours. Riley Carpenter said that her mom is the one to do the grounding in the house. Most people say that the worst times to be grounded are in the summertime or on the weekends. For some they can do as little as not clean when they are asked to, others get grounded if their grades aren’t up when they need to be.
There are many different ways that you can be grounded, but there are also some people that aren’t grounded at all. Student, Hannah Lebhart said, “I never get grounded by my parents and I usually gets to do what I want because my parents trust me to do the right things.
Ryan Staats said that when he gets ungrounded that he usually texts people saying that he is back from being grounded. Every grounding is different, some get their phones taken away others still have theirs, but they just can’t leave the house or hangout with anyone for the time that they are grounded.
“I usually sit in my room when I am grounded” says Brooks Mathis. One thing that everyone agreed on was that after they were ungrounded there attitudes didn’t really change. Amy Cavazos said “I never really get grounded, but when I do I’m not allowed to leave the house unless it’s for school or be on my phone.” There are many different types of groundings and not everyone gets grounded because most feel that they shouldn’t ground their children because it’s punishment, but there were some that said they would ground their children because it teaches you what you did wrong in that moment. So whether you get grounded or not, everyone at some point gets in trouble by their parents.
Valentine’s Day Right Around the Corner
By: Kayla Scholz
This year, Valentine’s Day falls on Wednesday, February 14th. There are always a wide range of emotions involved when it comes to Valentine’s Day. Some get extremely excited for the romantic holiday, some hold a strong hatred for the day, and others feel indifferent about it. Trevor Paul, a junior at MHS, thinks Valentine’s Day is very underrated.
Many people argue that you can celebrate the holiday whether you are in a relationship or not. Coincidentally, Single Awareness Day (SAD) is on February 14th, the same day as Valentine’s Day. Some people get gifts for their pets to celebrate. Others send flowers, candy, or other gifts to family members. Couples going out to eat on Valentine’s Day has been a tradition for years. February 14th is the second busiest day of the year for restaurants in the US.
Eleventh grader Emmie Smith said, “The best favor anyone could do for me for Valentine’s Day is do my homework.” That’s much cheaper than what most people do for others on Valentine’s day. Americans are expected to spend $18.2 billion on Valentine's Day this year, according to the National Retail Federation. Surprisingly, jewelry is the most popular Valentine's Day gift, with flowers and candy coming second and third.
Although many Americans celebrate Valentine’s day, most don’t know the history behind it. The whole holiday is centered around Saint Valentine, who was martyred in 269 C.E. He was a Roman physician and priest who was beaten, stoned, and beheaded for the crimes of marrying Christian couples (Independent.co.uk). So, Valentine became the patron saint of love, young people, and marriages.
Whether you know the meaning behind Valentine’s Day or not, the holiday serves as a great opportunity to let the people you are close to know you love them.
Auctioning Off Crazy Cakes
By: Macey Rogers
What could possibly be better than a night jam-packed with basketball games and crazy cakes selling left and right? It’s knowing the money is going to our community. This fun-filled event that is known as the Cake Auction features a boy-girl double header basketball game, cake by the slice, a 50/50 raffle, a silent auction held in the cafeteria, and a regular auction between games and at halftime where jaw dropping enormous cakes are sold to the people of Muscatine. The best part about the whole thing is that the money raised in the auction goes to the Muskie Booster Club, who purchases all of the gear for the Muscatine High School sports teams. “The cake auction is an awesome event and really brings a lot of the community together. I love watching the game, but at the same time love to see how much money is raised for our school through simply auctioning off cakes. The community does a great job of giving back,” said senior Ali Tharp, who has been to eight cake auctions in the past.
This years theme is “Dreaming of Summer Fun,” so there will be lots of summer themed cakes to match the topic. Cakes are donated from local sports teams, companies, clubs, and anyone else who would like to join in on the fun. HyVee is known for some pretty extravagant floor cakes in past years, “The cakes from HyVee are normally pretty wild,” exclaimed Tharp.
The student section theme matches the cake theme as well. High school students will come wearing beach apparel to show some school spirit while cheering on the basketball players. One regular student section attendee is junior Brighton Kraft. “I always go all out for the themes and yell at the kids who don’t dress up,” said Kraft.
The Cake Auction will be held February 2nd at Muscatine High School, starting at 6pm with the girls game; the boys are to follow. Make sure you come and support the community at this fun filled event!
The Battle Of The Streaming Channels
By: Getzabel Soria
Most people have Netflix or Hulu on their phone or device. If you do, you are familiar with what these apps are used for. Netflix and Hulu are almost the same thing, but they have some different features. Netflix offers significantly more TV and movies than Hulu, while Hulu shows television shows the day after they air. For these two streaming channels, you pay a certain amount of money to be able to have them on your device. You also have to have internet available on your device to be able to watch them on your phone, computer or smart television. The majority of people prefer Netflix because they have more television shows with HD and are recent shows or movies. Hulu has older movies and more content, but it also has good recently aired shows. Some shows that Netflix doesn't stream are One Tree Hill, South Park and Keeping Up With The Kardashians and some of the shows that aren't on Hulu is Rick and Morty.
Here in MHS, many students and staff have different preferences about either Netflix or Hulu. Elizabeth Ocampo said, “The only thing I dislike about Netflix is that they don’t update their stuff that often.” Netflix updates their selection once a while, but there is still entertaining content.
Cassandra Soto said, “Hulu has better variety and Netflix has better movies,” Hulu has more options for shows and movies.
Edwin Ramirez said, “They should make Hulu and Netflix a free app,” Hulu and Netflix do have a cost for every device that they are downloaded on. Hulu is cheaper than Netflix by only a few dollars.
Michelle Smith said, “I spend about 3 hours on Netflix, per week”.
Many people aren't as addicted as others, Elizabeth Ocampo said, “ I spend about 4 hours a day watching Netflix”.
These apps are great to watch any type of movie or television show, they have different varieties of genres such as Horror, Comedy, Action, etc. These are great apps when it comes to watching any sort of movie or television show.
Enter-the webs
By: Franklin Amaya
Every update, every Tweet, and every post reflects and opens a door for anybody in the world to see. Social media changed the way we treat one another, see one another and ourself. We’ve changed along with the internet and the way we treated it impacts future generation of users and what they will do with it. By starting to use social media leads to the daily use of worrying about how we are seen.
As teenagers in high school reputation and vanity are things that we keep in check. Junior, Ariel Fuller says that, “Social media has both positive and negative impacts. We are able to express ourselves but that also gives chances to people to bully one another for their likes.” Wanting to be liked and the general idea of validation is something that increases as we begin to attend elementary school.This has led to more kids feeling self-conscious and opened another door for people to get bullied.
Although cyberbullying has decreased it has grown with social media and can manifest into different ways.The ability to like and post on the internet what you believe in is a privilege that is sometimes argued about. Gabby Rodriguez ,junior, states, “I do not really think it is up to someone for else to decide what another can post. As long as they do not post vulgar images and such.” With such things online many believe that there should be a stricter age restriction for using social media platforms. “I think 13 is a good age. This is because there is a lot of information that should not be seen by them.” says sophomore, Ronnie McCoy.
Our lives are on our social media whether it’s keeping streaks on Snapchat or even keeping up with posting on Instagram. We have been lured by society in which we want to be included and be in the moment. We end up posting things or comments that we will regret later on. We have entered this web, that is the internet, that we have posted so much information about us on that it would be impossible get rid of it.
Boys Basketball: Capturing Life Behind the Scenes
By Vada Fridley
Most MHS students know what to expect when the boys basketball team takes the court, but how well do you know these ballers off of the court? Turns out there is more than meets the eye with these busy student athletes.
Just like any other sport, hours and hours of practice, bonding, and scheming goes into every game, and in senior, Tone Melendez’s case, so does hair prep. “Before we head out,” said Melendez, “I always make sure my hair looks good.”
Besides Melendez’s hair, there are lots of other elements that must be put together before the ref initiates the jump ball. Most of this prepping comes from the man himself, three year varsity team manager, Blain Long. Along with senior, Devon Diedrichs, this dedicated junior makes it easy for the team only to worry about their performance on the court. “The team couldn’t do it without Blain Long,” said junior, Cooper Zeck. You can not only catch Blain handing out water bottles, but also hyping up the team and being featured on countless gameday Snapchat stories.
It’s also easy to forget what goes on in these student-athletes lives outside of practice, but balancing a sport, school, family, and fun can be tough. “Balancing school and sports has been very difficult this year”, said freshman, Noah Yahn, “but I am learning to manage my time which makes me a better person.”
While Muskie teams at all levels play basketball to become better at their craft, in the end, many think it is just rewarding to create the memories that will last long after the season’s record is forgotten. Perhaps Melendez put it best when he said, “The memories we make at practice, during games and on the bus is what makes it worth it.”
Dealing with stress
By: Ruby Lopez
Two semesters of classes can lead to the accumulation of stress throughout the year. From dealing with the pressure of getting assignments done to preparing for tests can lead to moments where you are overwhelmed and beyond frustrated. A survey by the American Psychological Association found that 45 percent of teens said they were stressed by school pressures. Not to mention stress can lead to anxiety and other mental health disorders. Coping with stress can be done in many ways from listening to music, hanging with family or friends, exercising etc, just depends on your interests.
Anai Ceniceros, sophomore, said, “Homework is only stressful when you don’t complete it because of work, sports, etc.”
Teenagers nowadays have many other responsibilities besides school work. Jobs, sports, clubs, and personal problems. While trying to manage school work and find time to do the other things, it can become a handful. When stress occurs it is okay to take a step back and plan out a way where you can manage doing your occupancies.
Edwin Ramirez, sophomore, said, “When I am in a stressful situation I take a break from what I am doing and do something.”
It is important and healthy to focus on your well being. School is always told that it is the number one priority, but how can you prioritize school when you don’t put yourself first. Trying to manage all of things all at once will only lead to yourself getting all worked up. Several solutions you can to make things easier is make a list of your plans on your phone, agenda or on a piece of paper to have your things in order or just set aside things for a while and relax.
Sophie Gabriel, freshman, said, “ Ways to relieve stress is listening to music or hanging out with my dogs which makes me happier, relieving stress.”
Many solutions on lessening stress are speaking to someone you trust or hanging out with family or friends. Getting your head cleared by going on a walk or listening to music are good ways that help. Here at our school provides trustworthy counselors that are always available to talk or help you on whatever you need.
Matthew Peterson, sophomore, said, “Mhs can help stress of students by spreading classes out further to give students more in class time to work on assignments and lessen homework. Also to focus more on the mental health of students then of academics.”
A New Season is on the Roll
By: Lexie Weikert
At the beginning of the season, none of the players expected it to go as well as it is now. The girls bowling team is currently undefeated and plan to keep it that way for as long as they can. How exactly do they plan to keep up this streak? “Lots of practice and effort will keep us from being defeated,” senior, Jaelynn Klein said. With that kind of attitude, it will make things so much easier for them the rest of the season.
“Coach Klein pumps us up and helps us throughout the game,” said junior, Gracie Brossart. A great coach is necessary for a successful game and season. All the players seem to respect their coach, which keeps the team strong. For Klein though, it may be more difficult since her coach is also her family. She still manages to get past it to keep up the good effort.
Bowling is a tough sport to be a natural at, but thankfully, most of the team consists of people who have been bowling since they were little. “I used to bowl when I was little and I got back into it in high school,” junior Gracie Brossart said.
The love for the sport is obvious when the players have been playing for even longer than they can remember. Dedication is important for bowling, because just starting in high school, it would be hard to catch on and would call for even more practices.
Freshman, Emma Drawbaugh said, “My least favorite thing about bowling is losing.” Most players would agree with her. Losing is a tough thing to go through, and if they do their best to avoid losing, they will be harder to beat. Keep the winning streak up, ladies!
Miss Muscatine Pageant 2018
By: Jenna Schulz
On January 6th, 2018 the 2018 Miss Muscatine/Pearl City Pageant took place in the auditorium at Central Middle School. The Miss Muscatine/ Pearl City pageant is under the Miss America Organization (MAO). The MAO gives out thousands of scholarships a year to girls that compete at local and national levels. The girl who receives the title of Miss Muscatine receives a $10,000 scholarship, which is the largest scholarship awarded in the local competitions in Iowa.
The titles up for grabs on the 6th were Miss Muscatine, Miss Muscatine’s Outstanding Teen, Miss Pearl City, and Miss Pearl City’s Outstanding Teen. Maggie Gehlsen was crowned Miss Muscatine, while Peyton Crumly was crowned as Maggie’s outstanding teen. Jessica Baker won the title of Miss Pearl City and Elise Seery was crowned as her outstanding teen.
Many girls decide to do pageants for many different reasons. Jessica Baker, a graduate from Western Illinois and the reigning Miss Pearl City, explained that, “I decided to compete for Miss Pearl City because in September Miss America announced they were going to change the age limit to 25 which allowed me to compete for one more year!”
Every person who competes is required to have a platform that they truly believe in. “My platform is youth leadership development. It’s all about encouraging our younger generation to become leaders within their communities. I chose this because I thought it was a large issue we have today where kids are not reaching their full potential because they don’t know how to.” Explained Alli Youngbauer, first runner up in the teen division and a sophomore at Muscatine High School.
Hope Reichert, a sophomore at MHS and second runner up in the teen division, would like to “become more involved with Alzheimer’s departments in nursing homes.” Hope’s platform is Alzheimer’s disease.
Many girls get nervous about competing and don’t know what to do. Carissa Johnson, Miss Metro’s Outstanding Teen 2018 and junior at Muscatine High School, claimed that you should not, “Be afraid to go on stage and be yourself. A lot of people see pageant girls as fake, but this is false especially in the Miss America Organization. You will have better success staying true to yourself rather than trying to be like the stereotypical pageant girl,”
A lot of people think that pageants are about beauty and not intelligence. Youngbauer explained that, “I had the same mindset until I did one. I realized that everyone there isn’t just there because they are the prettiest or the skinniest. They are there because they worked hard and believe in themselves and their cause. The program is a great way to raise money and also get scholarships for yourself.”
Baker believes that, “If you ever get the chance to become involved with the Miss America Organization, take the leap of faith. I can’t begin to explain how many friendships and opportunities it has given me. No matter your talent, platform or the experience you have, by being yourself and going after goals, you will always be enough.”
Baker and Gehlsen will compete for Miss Iowa 2018 and Crumly, Seery and Johnson will compete for Miss Iowa’s Outstanding Teen 2018 in June 2018 at the Adler Theatre in Davenport, IA. For more information on the Miss Iowa Organization go to MissIowa.com
Maintaining a Healthy Relationship in High School
By: Jana Raymond
Did you know that only 14% of people marry their high school sweetheart? That is because relationships in high school are challenging. Schoolwork, extracurriculars, parents, jobs, and simply the different maturity levels are key factors that make high school relationships hard. Only one out of five people say they consider their previous relationships in high school healthy.
A relationship without trust is relationship not worth being in. If you are not able to trust your partner, the relationship can turn unhealthy very quickly. When you spend all your time together because you can not trust them you might find yourself getting annoyed at every little thing they do, or even just start to find them boring. It is possible to have “too much” of a person. Senior Jaelynn Klein says “I would have dumped my girlfriend a long time ago if I was not able to trust her.”
It’s obvious that you need to be there for your partner when they face a major life challenge like the loss of a job or the death of a loved one. But it’s just as important to be supportive when your partner faces life’s little challenges like an argument at work, a rough day in general or losing something. Don’t let yourself be a doormat, and definitely don’t stand for physical or verbal abuse, but thicken your skin a little and be the voice of calm and reason when you face bumps in the road. Listen to what’s bothering them and offer whatever help, even if it’s just sympathy.
Don’t keep your likes and dislikes, dreams and fears, achievements and mistakes, or anything else to yourself. If it’s important to you, share it with your partner. Be sure to share more with your partner than you do with anyone else. Senior Julie Vargas claims “I am so glad that my boyfriend is my best friend.”
While there is certainly a need for some personal space in even the closest relationship, give as much of yourself and your time as you can bear to your partner.
The Boys Are Diving Into a New Season
By: Margaret Manjoine
The boy’s swim team is doing very well this year! With great traditions like banging on a bedpan and chanting to get hyped up before a game, the boys are swimming with passion and psyching out their opponents as well. Although this is great, swimming isn't all fun and games.
Sophomore Daylon Shelangoski said that his least favorite part about swimming is, “long distance during practice,” but that he loves to see it all pay off at important meets like Districts and the State meet at the end of the season. But luckily for him, districts is getting closer and closer. And coming up on those important meets, the swim boys get a week before to relax, this is called tapering week. During this week the boys have shorter, more relaxed practices; to keep them in shape, and keep their bodies working so they’re not too tired before the important meet, but they aren’t out of shape either.
Something else the boys have fun doing in the weeks closer to state and districts, in the traditional hair bleaching. They all go down to a salon and get their hair bleached as a team, and show it off at districts, and then at state, which will be held on February 10th at the University of Iowa Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.
Leave It All On The Mats
By: Reagan Caffery
As the year 2018 starts, winter sports continue. With wrestling being a popular sport at Muscatine High School, many students participate in it to stay in shape and to play a winter sport. Wrestling is an individual sport but also a team sport because to win the meet you have to win your own individual match. A lot of wrestlers also participate in other sports too and wrestling just being more of a ‘side sport’. The season usually lasts around three months. They start before thanksgiving and end at the beginning of February.
There are a lot of memories made throughout this sport and its season. MHS student, Carter Oldfield said his favorite memory so far is his sophomore year when he won his first varsity match. The adrenaline afterwards was a feeling like no other. Winning your first match is an accomplishment that you can never forget.
Junior, Brennan Broders says his favorite memory is when the whole team went to the Iowa Hawkeye wrestling meet. With the team being together for every meet and cheering each other on, they get to bond together.
Senior Gavyn Ashley says his favorite memory is being with the team and all the good friends that come along with it too. Gavyn has made a lot of friendships throughout the years he’s participated in wrestling.
The Iowa High School state wrestling tournament takes place February. Its three days long and the team hopes to make a trip to state this year. They would be competing against other teams around the state.
Nolan Bell excited after he wins his match.
Take Caution While Driving
By: Gabe Mulder
Are you tired of not knowing how to drive in the snow or not being able to get out of the stuck situations in this winter weather? Driving in the winter weather can be a struggle and can be annoying. Older experienced drivers have a better chance of fixing their problems in the snow out on the road, knowing what to do in a bad situation. “I do have experience driving in the snow and while driving I usually take things slowly.” said Landon Yetter.
Students that are fresh drivers are usually told to take it easy while driving and not to be in a hurry with the ice and snow out on the roads. The winter weather can bring a huge cold front to Muscatine, leaving the inside of cars colder than the outside of it.
“I have a remote start in my car so I can usually stay in my room while my car is warming up. I usually let it warm up for about 10 minutes before I leave.” said Vincent Benavente, a Junior. Driving your car right when you start it up from letting it sit all night is not really a good thing because the engine in your car isn’t completely warm, especially driving out in the snow and/or ice. Students would take snow over ice because ice is harder to see while driving and it is more dangerous than the snow. Take your turns slowly, you wouldn’t want the backside of your car to fishtail and harm yourself and other people. Over 800 people die in the United States while driving with snow or ice on the ground. So when you’re out in the winter weather driving make sure you drive cautiously and drive safely!
Representing Girls and Women in Sports
By: Mercedes Smith
According to the Global Sports Media Consumption Report of 2014, around 70% of the adult population within the U.S. follows sports in some way. With a platform that transcends such a wide variety of boundaries, it is the job of both the providers and the consumers to ask whether or not equal representation for men and women in the sports industry is being provided.
Alli Youngbauer, a sophomore at MHS and the manager of the boys swim team, says she is aware of complaints about unequal representation and agrees with them. “I think it is something to complain about. They should all be represented equally.” Youngbauer is actively involved in sporting events and has been a swimmer since the age of nine. She believes she did see a sports industry dominated by men growing up, but “never really realized it” because of encouragement from her parents. “I never felt unequal to them.”
Saul Ocampo, a senior at MHS, agrees that there is a problem on a larger scale, but says that high school is a different story. “I feel at the high school level, we do an excellent job of supporting everyone. On the professional level however, there is still some systemic limitations that can’t be broken.” He says that with time and acknowledgement of the issues we are faced with, “we can drastically change many of these boundaries.”
It is also important that we, as a society, look at representation disparities among other industries and work to correct them. “Any kind of inequality that is pervasive in a society is detrimental,” stated Rachel Hansen, a social studies teacher and girls basketball coach at MHS. “Any kind of under-representation creates a disparity in opportunity. And when you do that, you hamper an entire system.” As for solving the issue, Hansen says we need to look “at the root of the inequality.” Change always feels uncomfortable, but it is necessary. “I don’t know what the solution is,” she said, “but I would guess that it has to start with an institutional change.”
Having the conversations and working to close gaps of inequality is the only way we can fix whatever may be broken in our system. We need to listen to people that are saying there is a problem and work to fix it, rather than shutting down and ignoring their worries. To tackle any issue of inequality or misrepresentation, we must work together; it will best maximize our success as a society.
Winter DIY’s
By: Morgan Hage
This Winter season at MHS students are getting a little creative with DIY’s. During the holiday season people go out and get things to make their DIY’s. Some people love to make gifts to give during the holiday season or they like to make holiday decorations.
Making homemade gifts for friends and family is the best part about the holidays. Junior, Kamryn Avis said, “I gave a homemade DIY bath bomb to one of my friends this past Christmas.”
People who are receiving homemade DIY gifts always seem to love them more than a gift bought from the store. Junior, Stephanie Orellana said, “The best thing about homemade gifts is that they’re more meaningful and they’re cool gifts that you can’t get anywhere else.”
Some people even like to make homemade decorations for their homes. You can make wreaths, no-sew sock snowmen, and pinecone Christmas trees. There is a lot of things you can find online to make. Even some students at MHS like to make decorations for the holidays. Junior, Alina Laslo said, “I like to do my DIY’s around any holiday that is coming up.”
Alina is very well known for making all kinds of things. For almost every holiday she loves to make wreaths for her door. Making all these homemade things is very time consuming, but in the end it’s worth it.
Watching Out for Teen TV Shows
By: Vizzie Ruiz
As many of you know, winter is the ideal binge-watching season for any show around. One of the season favorites was a new British comedy show on Netflix called, The End of the F***ing World, starring Jessica Barden and Alex Lawther. The show is about two individuals who “fall in love” and set out on a quest to find a missing father. As they keep going, they fall upon many consequences and can’t go back.
Another popular show is Stranger Things which is junior, Josie Raya’s favorite show. As many of you know, the famous Netflix show is about a group of boys that stumble upon a girl in the woods while trying to look for their missing friends. One of the boys falls in love and they have a great time, until a monster shows up and does the most to ruin their lives.
Many students at MHS agree that TV drama can be overrated, but also has to be in a show to get their attention. Yesenia Love, a junior said, “I feel like when delivered correctly, the show itself is good. It also depends on the actors and production otherwise it’s just headache after headache of drama being thrown at you.”
Diego Vasquez, a sophomore agrees with this, “drama just needs to be in the show to keep me guessing and freaking out.” One of his favorite shows is Friends, a 1990’s hit TV show based on the lives of a group of friends living in New York. They go through many obstacles such as jobs, heartbreak, and new friends.
Swishing into the Season
By: Lily Vela
Buzz! Sounds the buzzer as the girls take on the victory against Clinton with the close score of 38-36! This season, the girls have had one of the toughest seasons with varsity only having 5 games left! Emily Woepking, sophomore, said the toughest team to play against was Pleasant Valley, “because their defense is so unique and we’re not used to playing against that.”
The Muskie girls have made many memories throughout the season and have really grown a strong bond with one another. They’re together over 5 hours a week practicing together and even longer on weekends!
“I really like the team bondings together,” said freshman, Alexis Moeller. Meanwhile Sophomore, Rylee Blake's favorite memory is when they go out for team dinners and have fun!
Woepking has been playing basketball for about 8 years now because basketball has always been her favorite sport. Her uncle had played for Iowa and both of her parent played as well. She finds defense/getting steals and taking charge is one of her favorite things about it! Meanwhile some of her weakness’ are passing and not being active enough off the ball.
Moeller has been playing basketball for about 5 years because she has always enjoyed watching/playing the game. She first started when she was in 4th grade playing for the YMCA. Both of her parents played in high school which has encouraged her to play! Moeller loves to play basketball because she loves the competition and she loves to play with her friends. One of her strengths about basketball is her height which she takes advantage of!
Short Hair v. Long Hair
By: Chloe Hartman
The age old question of long hair versus short hair, comfort versus appearance is what it comes down to. Senior Kaitlyn Beirman says that she likes her hair long because she is too scared of what she will look like if she cuts her hair. Another senior Becca Hoag cut her hair short last year and she regrets it and can’t wait for it to be long again.
A few ways to help your hair grow are by taking biotin pills and only washing your hair every other day so it doesn’t get too dry, especially in the winter months. Ethan Schrader says that he definitely prefers long hair on girls and they look the best in a messy bun with some hair pulled out in front. Although long hair is hard to take care of you should think about whether or not you’d like to cut your hair short for a long time in order to save yourself some regret. A great option would be to donate your hair to help those who can’t grow it on their own.
MHS Students Excelling in Speech and Debate
By: Dorothy Twitty
MHS is full opportunities in academics, clubs, and all the sports that you can possibly think of. You are free to express who you are and what you’re into. Don’t waste your time worrying about homework and studies, let loose and find a club where you belong. If you ever find yourself searching for a club to get involved in, but you can’t seem to find anything that’s seems to be your style? Maybe try speech and debate! speech and debate you practice. Judges will come around and give feedback, so with your teammates. Judges every now and then will come around and give feedback, so you know just what to say and what not to say when it comes to the competitions.
Like all the other sports you get a chance to win individual placement awards based on individual performance. What’s more exciting than debating and awards? The places that you get to go to of course, such as, Davenport, Des Moines, Bettendorf, Iowa City and plenty of others, when you join speech and debate you get to travel all over. Don’t waste your time and get involved!
Aura Niaves,sophomore, said “One thing I like about Speech and Debate is that you fit in very easily and you develop confidence skills.”
One of the most important things in a club, or any kind of sport, is to have fun, feel comfortable, and express who you are, while pushing yourself and bettering yourself to your greatest ability.
Macey Webber, junior also added.
“The people and the practice itself is fun and they’re very honest, open-minded and open armed.” She also explains that “Speech and Debate made it 10 times easier to talk to people as a writer, in developing thoughts, and as an actor. Not to mention speaking in front of big crowds.”
But with all clubs, sports and any activity, there can always be something that you don’t like, but choose to put up with anyway right?
Celeste Franco exclaimed, “There is nothing that I don’t like about Speech and Debate, as hard as it is to believe. I love it!”
Dalton Belokopitovs also adds, “There is nothing that I don’t like as hard as it is to believe, except for the fact that our coach is moving to Colorado.”
In Conclusion, speech and debate is fun and active, and promises to help you in all areas of your life, not to mention change you for the better! Check out the local speech and debate posters plastered around MHS hallways!