Category: Uncategorized

Surviving finals week

em-o'learyLeave a comment

The last school week in December is stressful because finals plague the student body. Like any week, many students have sports and activities to balance with homework, spending time with family, and for older students, a job. But for the end of the semester, finals can give any student a cringe of fear. Final exams can make or break a grade depending on if you have a borderline grade.

AP World teacher Mrs. Hallie Moon describes a final as a test that includes all of the “awesome content you’ve learned throughout the semester.”

“Students have a lot on their minds, so they probably don’t remember all they have learned,” Moon said. “It’s imperative for kids to study for finals so they can review the content and do as well as they possibly can.”

Sophomore Lexi Engel says she gets pretty stressed on finals week.

“On a scale from one to ten, probably a 7.5. Even though my grades are good, the idea of finals makes me feel overwhelmed.”

According to TIME Magazine, some helpful tips to survive finals week is to not pull an all-nighter to study, get plenty of sleep, experiment with different study methods, and to steer clear of social media while studying.

Engel says she uses flashcards for history and German, “which is mainly just words.” To study for math, she copies down problems “and resolve[s] them just to ensure I know what I’m doing.”

Engel studies as early as the week before in subjects she does really well in. “But in Geometry, I’ll most likely be studying for a long time beforehand.”

According to USA Today, it is helpful to form study groups and overlearn information. They also recommend looking over previous tests, studying in a distraction-free environment, and reviewing notes and worksheets daily.

 

Whipping up a new snow day solution

em-o'learyLeave a comment

This year, the Fort Zumwalt School District will start exercising a new solution for snow days; they will have a later start.

Principal Joe Sutton says that the “late start is to help the [district] address those rare days when the weather and road conditions begin improving during the early morning hours.”

Sutton says, for example, “When conditions are still less than desirable at 6:30 a.m. but by 8:30 a.m. the roads are so good that kids are making plans to go sledding.”

For North, the school day would start one hour later- at 8:25 -but end at the same time- 2:25. The decision would be made by 5:30 a.m. on the day of the late start.

By having the late start, there would not be another day to make up at the end of the year.

The late start will affect students who live farther away.

“While North High has students driving the furthest distances to school, this is always a tough call,” Sutton said. “We are hopeful that all students elect to come to school. That said, parents, as always, have the final say on what they deem to be permissible conditions for their children, or for them, to drive in.”

Some may think that the late start could be beneficial in more ways than not. For example, there would be more sleep and less school time for students. Many also would think that since there wouldn’t be an extra day at the end of the year, it could be a better way of avoiding a snow day. And if there were to be a late start, students living farther away would still be able to go to school.

In contrast, many students can find it more of a bother than a benefit. Having a late start means that you would still have to wake up at an early time, just to find out that you are going to have another hour until you go to school. This could sound like a great idea, but some parents drive their teens to school. If the parents work and drive their kids to school and it is a later start, some students cannot get their preferred ride to school and would be forced to take the bus.

Screaming for Scream Queens

em-o'learyLeave a comment

Scream Queens’ first season was one to remember. The basis of the slasher series is set around a group of girls, the Chanels, and the rest of the Kappa Kappa Tau sorority. In addition to the Chanels is Zayday Williams, portrayed by Keke Palmer. Last season’s killer was the Red Devil, the mascot of the fictional Wallace University. This season, the killer takes on the persona of the “Green Meanie”.

IMDb classifies Scream Queens as a comedy, horror, and mystery series and gives the series a 7.2 out of ten stars. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes give the show a 76%, but the audience gives the show a 82%. Scream Queens received a Metascore of 59 from Metacritic.

Junior Madison Crosswhite loved the first season “because it was original.”

The second season takes place in a refurbished hospital owned by Wallace University’s Dean Cathy Munsch, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. The hospital is named Caregivers United in Restorative Etiology Institute Hospital, also known as C.U.R.E. Institute, “where the incurable are cured”. Zayday is a medical resident at the hospital with her entire medical education paid for by Dean Munsch if she comes to fulfill her residency at Munsch’s hospital. Alongside her are doctors Casady Cascade (Taylor Lautner) and Brock Holt (John Stamos), who have their own mysterious background stories.

“I love the show,” said sophomore Grant Jones. “For the new season, I like the theme, it’s alright.” In the first season, his favorite character was Grace, “because I could relate to her so much. She was the main character that everybody thought wasn’t the main character and everybody hated on her.”

The Chanels make their rebound as hospital interns after being disowned by their families. In addition, they were ostracized by society after being proved innocent of murder. They went back to school to get Communication degrees but quickly realized after graduation that they were useless. After starting their jobs at the institute, many patients wound up brutally murdered. They called in help from Denise Hemphill (Niecy Nash) and Hester Ulrich (Lea Michele), who was taken to an insane asylum after being charged with the Red Devil murders last season.

Although Jones loves the show, he isn’t falling for the new season. “The big reason I don’t like this season at all is because you are given the five main characters that you can only really like because the rest of them, they just kill them off every single episode. So if you try and like one, well too bad. They’re going to die.”

Crosswhite’s favorite character is Chad. She doesn’t like the second season as much, because she thinks “it’s too similar to the first one.”

When Jones was asked which season was his favorite, he responded with “the first one, by far.”

Jones might think he knows who the killer is already. “I think it’s either going to be Casady, which is one of the doctors, or it could possibly be Zayday. That would be an out of the park guess, but I’m pretty sure it could be Zayday.”

Jones’ favorite character this season is Chanel #5, “because everybody hates her, and all she does is good. But people still hate on her.”

When Crosswhite was asked if she hoped the show would get renewed, she said “I don’t think it’ll get renewed, but I’d like it to.”

Jones would love the show to get renewed. “But if they were, I hope that they don’t pull the same crap that they’re doing right now.”

Scream Queens airs on FOX 2 every Tuesday at 8 pm, so don’t miss who gets murdered next!

Starting a new year with old traditions

em-o'learyLeave a comment

Every year, people around the globe celebrate New Year’s, which is an event in which people celebrate 2016 and welcome 2017. Many cultures have their own new year celebration. For example, China celebrates their new year on January 28.

Many people watch the New Year’s ball drop in Times Square in New York – or on television, where it is replayed hourly for people in different time zones. The first ball drop was in 1907. According to CNN, there were about 100 million viewers in the transition to 2016, and about one million people fit in Times Square to watch the ball drop live. Worldwide, “viewership of the Times Square celebration stands at more than 1 billion.”

St. Louis celebrates the new year by setting off fireworks by the Gateway Arch during Winterfest. In the past, these fireworks have been televised on the news. There are many family-friendly festivities on New Year’s in St. Louis, such as Forest Park’s Frozen Fun at Steinberg Skating Rink.

People traditionally spend time with family and friends on New Year’s Eve. Many throw parties and have a countdown until midnight, when the new year begins. At midnight, some people go outside and bang pans to celebrate the New Year.

Trick-or-Treating for a good cause

em-o'learyLeave a comment

This Halloween, the FZN Drama Club and Fort Zumwalt North’s Thespian troupe, Troupe 5140, will host TOTS Eat, an annual food drive to help local families.

Senior Zach Brunkhorst, a member of the Drama Club board, says that TOTS Eat is “a nationwide fundraiser where students go out on Halloween to collect canned goods.”

TOTS Eat stands for Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat.

Senior Cameron Wulfert is a board member for Drama Club. Wulfert has participated in TOTS Eat all four years of high school.

“It’s so much fun!” Wulfert said. In addition, Wulfert said that her favorite component of this event is “getting to spend my favorite holiday with my friends and still having an excuse to dress up.”

According to the Educational Theatre Association, 269 thespian troupes across America together collected over 325,000 pounds of food in 2015.

Junior Bailey Robischeau, also a member of the Drama Club board, loves participating in TOTS Eat. Her favorite aspect of TOTS Eat “is knowing that I am helping someone out.”

FZN’s thespian troupe collected approximately 1,700 cans of food in 2015.

Brunkhorst says that “donations stay right here at FZN, straight to the Panther Pantry.”

Mrs. Theresa Nigus, the theatre teacher, said that the troupe has given up to 2,200 pounds in years past.

Sophomore Emily Sigmund did TOTS Eat her freshman year.

“I love it because I get to spend time with my friends.” Sigmund said.

Sigmund also stated that she was “laughing and having fun while still making a difference in an area I really care about.”

TOTS Eat will take place on October 31. The drive will take any non-perishable food items for donation to the Panther Pantry. If you would like to make a donation, please bring it to room A1.

Pledge of Allegiance requirement increases to daily

em-o'learyLeave a comment

A new law was put into place before the school year started which required Missouri schools to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day in class.

Also known as House Bill 1750, the new law states that the Pledge of Allegiance must be recited at least once every day in publicly funded Missouri schools. According to NBC, “schools will be required to have time to recite the pledge every day.” The bill was proposed by Missouri State Representative, Shane Roden.

According to NBC, the revision of the bill took effect August 28. The original law, according to the MO House of Representatives, was passed in 2002 and only required schools to recite the Pledge of Allegiance once a week. Students still keep the right to choose if they want to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or not. The law also states that flags in the classroom are supposed to be in the classroom by voluntary donation.

Some students applaud the effectiveness of the new bill.

Freshman Claire Schwalb likes saying the Pledge of Allegiance every day “because America is a great country.”

Junior Charlie Roberts loves saying the pledge every day.

“Whether or not you like how things are going right now in this country, we are free!” Roberts added “Americans have powers and liberties that most foreigners cannot even picture in their minds.”

However, many students find the result of the new bill unnecessary. Sophomore Danny Behlmann disagrees with the new bill.

“Although I enjoy saying the Pledge of Allegiance and reaffirming my dedication to America, I believe that saying the pledge every morning is wearing away how special it is.”

Senior Rachel Jordan finds the effect of the new bill brusque and annoying.

“I love my country and respect it,” Jordan said, “but saying the Pledge of Allegiance every day is excessive.”