By: Emma Schneider 15 November 2018 Everyone knows the holiday, Thanksgiving. The story told from many school teachers, how the pilgrims of the y founded colony, Plymouth, gathered with the years harvest after a successful growing season and had an “enormous feast”. As this annual celebration on thankfulness and gathering has continued to be an important part of historical and American culture, we take a look at America’s most favored celebrities. The Kardashians and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson both have their own ways of being thankful and showing their love and appreciation for food and family. The Kardashian and Jenner Family are most well known for their unique style and show, Keeping up with the Kardashians. This large, blended family has shared with the world their struggles and accomplishments, while still staying professional and continuously wowing the press. They celebrate the holiday Thanksgiving by gathering with their family with a large meal. Khloe and Kim Kardashian both videoed themselves preparing their dishes for everyone to see. Once the family gathered and ate, Khloe presented the world with a few words of wisdom, “The key to contentment lies solely in being thankful for what one has been blessed with. Stop looking at what you don't have and pay attention to the blessings around you. Manifest beauty in your life. Only then will one be blessed with more”. This shows the meaning of this special holiday to the Kardashians and Jenners, and how they cease to be thankful for the little things in their big life. Dwayne Johnson, previously known for his presence in the WWE fighting competition as “The Rock” is now known for his appearance in many movies today like Moana, San Andreas, and many more. Dwayne shares with his family over dinner. Dwayne, looking back at his hardships and financial struggles he had in his adolescence, shows an enormous amount of emotion for this holiday and be thankful for how fortunate he is now. He brings us back to his past by saying, “As my mom pointed out earlier in the day, there was a time back in '87 when we couldn't even afford Thanksgiving dinner and was praying someone would invite us over to their house to eat”. Dwayne’s hardships earlier in life has made him even thankful for what he has now and proves this by saying, “We were in a tough spot back then, but we got thru it. And here we are today. One big, extended, blended, slightly crazy, loving, grateful ohana”. To Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Thanksgiving isn’t about food or showing everyone what they have, it is about family and being together and present. For America, Thanksgiving is a time of loving, togetherness and being thankful for what you have. This holiday is not only for eating as much as you can, but also for fulfilling the lost time spent with your family and being thankful for the opportunity to gather and spread the love. These two families, The Jenners, and the Johnsons could be viewed as complete opposites, but on this holiday, everyone is connected by the common idea of being thankful.
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11/15/18 Written by Olivia Pinnix Photo Credit: Buzzfeed News It’s no secret that the state of California has seen many forest fires, but none of them have been as deadly as The Camp Fire. As of Thursday, November 11, 2018, The Camp Fire has caused more than 52,000 people to evacuate their homes and businesses. The Camp Fire is located in northern California and has scorched more than 117,000 acres, and destroyed more than 7,000 structures, including 6,453 single-family residences, and hasn’t stopped yet. The Camp Fire has officially been declared the most deadly wildfire in California history, it is now the size of Chicago. Countless people are missing and law enforcement is doing their best to find them. Even President Trump made a visit and though the residents say that they don’t support Trump, any support is welcomed. When President Trump visited he blamed the flames on forest management, not climate change. He also stated that the President of Finland said that, “They spend time raking and cleaning and they don’t have any problems…” as said by President Trump. Finland’s President has said that he doesn’t recall saying such a thing. President Trump is suggesting that we rake the forest ground to clear it of leaves to stop forest fires, even though that could potentially destroy habitats and mess with the natural reproduction process of the forest plants. The Camp Fire has been burning for 11 days now and is around 60% contained, although it has been said that it isn’t even halfway done burning. The Camp Fire is expected to be 100% contained by November 30, 2018. California Residents that have been able to return to their homes have found them in ruins, and in more cases completely destroyed. Dozens of National Guard troops have joined the search for lost family Photo Credit: nytimes.com
continued to help contain the fire. Although the Woolsey and Hill fires are destroying lands. They aren’t nearly as dangerous and deadly as The Camp Fire happening up north. The Wooley fire is 91% contained and it is expected that the fire will be contained by November 22, 2018. By: Laramie Ward October 28, 2018 On October 23rd, 67,000 FFA members traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana for the 91st annual National FFA Convention. This convention creates the sea of blue jackets that fill one of the better-known streets in Indianapolis called FFA Way. FFA Way is the street that all members will use to get to Bankers Life Fieldhouse, where the general sessions are held, along with other events like the National Band and Chorus concert. Everything else, including most competitions, the career expo, workshops, and the FFA shopping mall are held in the convention center. The National FFA Career Expo is filled with agricultural based colleges and different companies like Merck Animal Health. Merck recently invented the Whisper Veterinary Stethoscope, which is noninvasive tool that was specifically designed to not only diagnose and confirm bovine respiratory disease, but also estimate its severity in 8 seconds. I spoke with Sadie LaPointe, a senior at Watauga, who wants to work for a company like Merck. When I asked her what she thought of this invention and the expo as a whole, she replied, “Inventions like this are what allow farmers to have life-saving technology in their hands. This career expo is also a great chance for all members to get a better grasp on possible jobs and future employers.” The National FFA Expo is home to this company and many more like it during the week of convention. The FFA Mega Store is where you can buy any of the merchandise that can be found online as well as some limited edition clothing items, depending on the year. This year marked the 75th year of our partnership with John Deere, so there were a few different designs of sweatshirts available for purchase. Each general session has its own unique purpose, but all of them have one thing in common. They all have speeches in them. The sessions not only hold these inspiring speeches, they are also filled with award ceremonies in which FFA members from all over the nation are recognized for their hard work. In between the awards ceremonies and the speeches are the famous performances of the National FFA Band and Chorus. Lindsey Fletcher, a two-year chorus member, shared what being on the National FFA Chorus meant to her. “Being a National FFA Chorus member is honestly so much fun because you get to be backstage and meet the national officers, and possibly hangout with them for a bit. You also get to perform at the coolest places such as the rodeo or on the stage. Those 69,000 people you’re performing in front of can make it very nerve-wracking for anyone especially if you have a solo, because it’s on tv and live-streamed.” This convention is a place where members go to learn about themselves, the organization, and what they can do as a leader in their community and local FFA chapter. Its purpose is to showcase the accomplishments of the entire organization, and to create long lasting relationships with a very diverse group of like minded individuals. National FFA Convention, on the surface, can seem like just an event to some. To the 67,000 members, though, it’s life-changing. By: Josie Herring On Saturday, October 27th, a gunman opened fire at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. 11 people were mercilessly killed and at least six more were injured, including four law enforcement officials. The gunman, Robert Bowers entered the Synagogue with three handguns and an AR-15 rifle. Bowers was eventually taken into custody but not until after he had injured four police officers. This is the deadliest attack on America’s Jewish community in our history, according to the Anti-Defamation League. After hours of shooting and fighting with the police and SWAT, Bowers finally gave himself up and explained his motive, "all these Jews need to die." By eight PM on Saturday night Bowers had been charged with 29 federal charges, which included multiple hate crime charges. By Sunday morning, all 11 victims of the tragic shooting had been identified. The Victims: Rosie Mallinger, 97 A member of the Tree of Life Synagogue described Mallinger as “full of life,”. Her daughter, Andrea Wedner, 61 was injured in the attack. Jerry Rabinowitz, 66 Rabinowitz lost his life attempting to save the lives of the wounded. He was also the President of the congregation. Brothers Cecil, 59 and David Rosenthal, 54 Cecil and David Rosenthal never missed a service, the Synagogue was the place that they felt the most safety and comfort. A local organization dedicated to helping the disabled said that “Cecil and David had a love for life and those around them,”. Daniel Stein, 71 Stein was highly involved in the synagogue. He was a mentor to many and the president of his congregation. Richard Gottfried, 65 Gottfried had recently reconnected with his Jewish faith after his father’s passing. He was a dentist in his community who worked closely with immigrants and refugees. Joyce Fienberg, 75 Fienberg was described by her son-in-law as, “one of the kindest humans I’ve ever met.” She made an extreme effort to maintain friendships with people she had only met once or twice in life. Melvin Wax, 88 Wax was known to show up to services early. His friend Myron Snider said that “"If somebody didn't come that was supposed to lead services, he could lead the services and do everything. He knew how to do everything," Sylvan Simon, 86 and Bernice Simon, 84 Sylvan and Bernice passed away in the same synagogue where they were married in 1956. A longtime friend of the couple told the press, “They held hands and always smiled,and he would hold the door open for her.” Irving Younger, 65 Younger was an avid volunteer and worshipper at the Tree of Life synagogue. When asked about Younger, Schachter, the former congregation president said, "I wouldn’t be surprised if he saw this gunman walk into the room where the services were and his first thought was, 'Can I help this stranger get settled?' Until he saw what the stranger was doing -- because that’s the kind of thought that he would have," Robert Bowers had a history of Anti-Semitism, including social media posts and remarks he made during the shooting. If Bowers is convicted of a hate crime he could receive the death penalty as his sentence. As of now he h,as been charged with 11 counts of use of a firearm to commit murder and multiple counts of hate crimes. By Grace Jeter November 1, 2018 Picture this: You’re the father of two kids. You wake them up, say goodbye to your wife, and drop them off at school. You then head to your job, where you then come to work to supervise 1400 kids. In your typical day, you may go to your own son’s baseball practice, attend a school play or game for your students, answer roughly 100 emails, sit in on various classes and meetings and then come home to a loving and supporting wife all the while looking after your family and your many students. Not only do you carry the emotional triumphs and lows of your own children, but your students and staff as well. Congratulations, this is the life of Dr. Blanton. It’s National Principals month this October so I wanted to do an article that would capture the mindset of a high school principal. Before going into the interview with Dr. Blanton, I had a couple key points in mind for what I wanted to ask him but I really wasn’t sure what kind of an answer I would receive from him. I asked him what his typical day/routine was like and his response was simple, “So I don’t know if this is gonna be helpful or not but my day is not routined ever. Probably about the only thing routine about my day is that I take my kids to Hardin Park and drop them off. And by the time I hit the door here it’s different pretty much everyday, which is one of the reasons why I like it.” Blanton discussed with me just how chaotic his day can be, whether it’s dealing with an unhappy parent or student or simply just walking around to evaluate a teacher in their classroom. Blanton also expressed his love of the job because of how unexpected it can be. When I went to interview him, he was having a meeting with a fellow administrator about something that had just come up that moment that they needed to discuss right then. He told me in the interview that, "sometimes stuff happens and it doesn’t always work out.” Being a principal motivates you to be more flexible with your time because at any moment, your day could be altered completely. Handling something on your own can be difficult, especially when you’re a high school principal dealing with 1400 students every day. It is essential to have a great staff that will be there to help you face the problems that are just too big to face alone. Blanton said, “Luckily, and I am happy to go on record with this, here our staff members do what they’re supposed to do the majority of the time.” Blanton expressed to me just how important his staff is to him and he implied that he could not do what he does everyday without the endless support that they bring to him. I asked Blanton the biggest problem that he faces everyday and his response was, “HR, and it’s probably not just one problem that I face, but I would say Human Resources type stuff in general is the biggest thing just because it’s the most stressful. It’s people’s livelihoods that you’re dealing with and it’s people that you care about usually and a lot of times it’s a mistake that an adult has made and you have to address that.” Having to deal with an angry parent cannot be fun but Blanton said that he has to deal with that quite often and it’s hard, but he handles it without complaint. Blanton also said, “Dealing with a student that makes a mistake is usually easy to work through most of the time, but dealing with their parents can be stressful. And most of the time they want the same thing that we do which is for their student to be successful, so that’s not usually too hard to handle.” In the end, most parents fight so hard because they’re fighting for their child, and Blanton made that clear to me in the way he communicated his feelings toward the sensitive subject during our interview. Principals go through a lot during their day and they do it all with the purpose of helping their students, faculty, staff, and parents. So the next time you see your principal, whether it be in the halls or in detention, just remember how much they sacrifice for you everyday. What they do is not an easy task and it can precipitate a lot of stress on them but they do it because they love their job and they love you. Article by: Nichole Johnson Picture by: Devan Turlington 1 November 2018 Every year, the Pioneer playmakers compete at the North Carolina Theatre Conference, also known as the NCTC competition. This year on November 2nd they will be taking their play “Epicinium” with them to the competition at Weaver Academy. A NCTC competition is when the Pioneer playmakers are given 45 mins to set up and break down a set as well as perform any piece they choose. When I asked Ms. Miller her thoughts on this competition, she replied, “We want to like the work we do. It’s like baking a cake. It could be that we make the best chocolate cake in the whole wide world, but the judges are allergic to chocolate and they only want to have apple crisp. If we try to work for the judges we’re never going to get to apple crisp because we don’t know who the judges are, we don’t know how to work for them, and we shouldn’t be. We should be working for us and our own growth. We want to love our cake, and we don’t care if anybody else likes the cake. If we get any icing on it great but that’s not what we’re working for.” Not only is this an important tip for competitions, but it’s also a great life tip. In life you shouldn’t worry about what others think of you, but you should always stay true to yourself. With this play solely being written and performed by students it was interesting to see what sparked the idea of the play. When asked about the origin of this play, Spencer Ball said, “This play honestly grew out of nowhere. We knew we wanted to make something that would connect with the audience and we knew we wanted it to correlate with a theme of death. From that Epicinium was born.” The show involves two main families, the Osiris family and the Mors family. The Osiris family is wealthier than the Mors family, and you slowly grow to see why when watching the show. It is important to note that the title of the play, Epicinium, comes from a Latin background, and means aftermath. This title is significant to the theme of the show because throughout the show the audience gets to watch as they see the individual characters deceive one another. From watching all of this unfold the audience can assume that the aftermath of what is happening will have negative effects on everyone involved. As an audience member, you hear the line, "It's a house of cards, mother. I don't want to be around for the aftermath," from Anna Osiris, the eldest of the Osiris family. This is an important line because it helps to tie the title into the main idea of the play. Playmaker Laramie Ward said, “My favorite part about Epicinium is that it isn't just an incredibly written play that people can truly enjoy (I'm a bit biased), it's also something that every single person that watches it can take something from.” I would 10/10 recommend watching the beautifully crafted show that the playmakers produced. While the play stemmed from a simple plot, it left the viewer begging for more. By: Emma Schneider 24 October 2018 Boone Boo, 2018 Trick or treating is a Halloween tradition that has impacted many children’s lives. This annual celebration sparks a night full of candy, costumes, and memories. However, many families seem to die out of this tradition that has been in children’s lives for many years. As people get older, some begin to believe that they are “too old” for this holiday. Brown family, 2018 My personal experience of Halloween festivities consist mainly of preparing for my costume a month in advance, as you can tell, this holiday is taken very seriously. Once this special day comes around, we slip on our creative costumes and walk from house to house to gather our goodies. My family and I generally looked for the largest neighborhoods that would yield the most candy, and typically returned home with pillow cases full of candy. I remember one house in particular gave out whole king size candy bars to the fortunate children that entered. Conway Family, 2018 Ending the tradition of trick or treating is very sad, however the costume making does not have to end so quickly. This idea of continuing the fun and spookiness is what keeps Halloween going. Without costumes this holiday would not exist to the glory it has now. Once you have passed the years of trick or treating, dressing up slides in and is what keeps Halloween making you feel young and bringing generations of children and memories back to you. As you get older and grow out of the tradition of trick or treating, it does not mean you are too old to participate in Halloween. Family and friend gatherings are a very large part of the community on Halloween. Many involve costume parties, haunted houses, and food. Cities even close down streets for people to trick or treat and congregate on. The idea of turning the night from a candy oriented night, to a family and friend oriented night is what makes this holiday so special. This night gives people the chance to spend time with their families and friends while having fun and dressing up. Having time to connect with one another means helps you pass down the amazing memories of Halloween that you experienced and loved, to the people and generations that follow you. Written by Rachel Amburose November 1, 2018 2017 Watauga High School Model UN delegation at ILMUNC. Credit: Watauga High School Model United Nations Club In the small town that is Boone, Watauga High School is much more than a typical school. Ask any former or current student or staff and their answer would praise Watauga High’s abilities to cater to all students’ learning types and passions by providing a diverse range of high-quality academics and a plethora of clubs. One club that has remained hidden and isn’t as popular as DECA or FFA is Model United Nations (MUN). MUN is sponsored by Mr. Stollings, a beloved World History and Holocaust teacher, and is led by officers Galen Miller, Christian Hughes, Sophie Pilkington, Carmen McKee, and Apurba Paudel. MUN is an academically-enriching experience that allows students to take on the roles of international delegates for a conference where they discuss and negotiate resolutions to major world crises. The club “lets students improve their public speaking, writing, and social skills,” explained President Galen Miller during an interview. Students are assigned a country to represent and a committee that discusses certain topics, like the UN Human Rights Council or Arab League who debate serious issues like the Myanmar Genocide, ISIS in the Middle East, or the Paris Accords. This year, the club boasts 22 members, a massive upgrade from the 7 students it accommodated last year. The rise in popularity was unexpected and club officers faced a dilemma: the majority of the club had zero experience in Model UN conferences and would most likely struggle at the upcoming Appalachian Model United Nations Conference. Since Model UN is a type of activity that is best learned through experience, Miller decided to hold a mock conference for all new delegates. “I wanted the members to have exposure to how a committee works and that experience before they get thrown into a real conference,” explained Miller. The mock conference was held on October 21st from 2-6 PM at Appalachian State University. A chair of Miller, McKee, and Pilkington assigned characters like Blackbeard, Lady Gaga, and Fidel Castro to delegates and set aside the first 10 minutes to do some basic research. The committee had an agenda of three topics: the Emu War of 1932, the Ebola Outbreak, and the Constitutional Convention of 1787. After the allotted 10 minutes, the committee begins its first session: the agenda is set and delegates around the room raise their placards to be added to the speakers list. This is the essence of Model UN: representing people and places by negotiating as they would. It is so much more than research and speeches; Model UN expects delegates to defend their country’s views and mentally prepare for heated debates. Miller enthusiastically added, “As a delegate, you're always looking for the person and trying to be the person that is taking initiative and being involved.” What started out as a boring and dull conference soon turned lively. Notes were being passed around and delegates formed alliances as they proposed ideas to add to the resolutions. In the end, the committee had successfully discussed two out of three topics. Sure, these resolutions won’t fix anything, but the fact that we were able to defend a character’s view while discussing solutions and analyzing an issue with a global perspective was mind-blowing. By: Erin Stevens For all the seniors at Watauga it’s that time of the year when you start to consider and apply for colleges. It can be a very stressful time not only for the students but the people helping the students, for instance, their school counselors, and their parents. Let’s take a dive into what goes on through a college applicants mind and examine if it’s really as stressful as they say it is. The following is Wade Garlands experience.
“It’s about 8:30 at night and I’m about to start my search for colleges I could possibly want to go to. I’m starting off by thinking about what I want my major to be. After thinking for an hour I finally settled on Physical Therapy. I then decided to look at my best bets for colleges, which ones are cheaper, which ones allow instate tuition, and what colleges actually offer Physical Therapy programs. Stress is the only thing going through my head throughout this entire process, especially since I want to go to a school I actually like.” It’s definitely not easy choosing what college you want to go to but it does make it a little easier when you know what you want to do. Now let’s go on the other end of the spectrum and see what a day looks like for Mr. Calbreath, a senior school counselor. It’s 9:15 in the morning and a senior has come to him for help. He starts off by getting the basics, do they want to go instate or out of state, public or private, rural or urban, and what size of school. If he doesn’t know any off the top of his head he will refer them to CFNC and then he will assess how much support the student needs, whether it be them being able to make decisions on their own or do the research themselves. Calbreath said “a lot of the process also comes with the student knowing what the really want to do versus what they think they want. A lot of student’s think they must go to Chapel Hill or NC State to be successful but that’s not true, nor is it the best path for everyone. Counseling students through the process of understanding themselves well enough to know if they are making a good decision for themselves is a big part of it to”. It is very evident and easy to see that applying for college isn’t easy for anyone involved and comes with a lot of added stress. Along with the stress of having to go through all of the steps of applying and having to wait to see if you got in, there is also a heavy weight on our shoulders because we want to make our parents proud. The people who help us also want to see us get in to our top choices because that means they’ve done something right and can hope to see their kids or students be successful in whatever they choose to do. Whether it be us trying to figure out what we want to do with our lives and where we want to go, or our school counselors trying to help us as much as they can, everyone has a role to play and nobody ever said it would be easy. |