The Black and Gold Volume 5 Issue 23 February 20th, 2026

Newspaper Staff

Editor-in-Chief

Michaela Copeland

Assistant Editor-in-Chief

Bella Beems

News Editor

Laci Burnett

Reporters

Katlyn Boydston

Grayson Moore

Photographers

Lauraly Lane

Josephine Long

Designers

Girl Basketball

Read all about how the Girls Basketball team is preparing for Districts! - p. 2

Opinion: AI

Learn about the dangerous nature of AI and how it is harming us and our planet - p. 4-5

Northwest

Learn about Seniors Miley Phillips and Michaela Copeland’s band scholarship audition!- p. 8

THE BLACK AND GOLD

Ashlynn Bowen

Gunner Delp

Tigers End Regular Season

By: Gunner Delp

In the past week, the Tigers played their lasts two regular season games. On Friday, February 13th, the DeKalb High School boys played against Union Star, and on Thursday, February 19th, they played against Mound City. The boys put up a great effort in both games but unfortunately fell short of the wins.

In Friday’s game, the boys fell to Union Star 56 to 62.  The boys put forth a great effort and played a great game. They did great at “Attacking the hoop,” says Coach Aaron Matthews.

The Mound City game ended with the final score being 51 to 70. Considering that the team only has six players, they did well with what they could do. Although team member Cooper Wachtel states that, “We can work on our passing.”

The boys play next on February 24th, starting at 5 pm at North Andrew Thisgame will kick off the District Tournament Show up to support your friends as they take control of the court!

Girls Basketball Team Prepares for Districts

On Friday, February 13, the DeKalb Girls' Basketball team played against Union Star in a very heated game. “I don’t think it was our best performance, but I felt like it was a good learning experience for us for the end of the season,” says Coach Rumpf. The entire game was back and forth and was very close, yet the girls ultimately came out with a tough loss of 38-39.

The Basketball girls played against West Platte on Thursday, February 19, . It was yet again a very competitive game with lots of good shots and hard plays, but the girls came up short in the 4th quarter. The end score was 42-38, bringing their season record to 13-12.

“I thought we played hard, ran our defenses well, and worked together well on offense. We need to work on rebounding and slowing down on the offensive side, but I think we have improved in every aspect, honestly We have figured out our roles and play hard for one another,” states Rumpf.

The girls will play their District game on Wednesday, February 25, at 7:30. They will be playing at King City against the winner of the North Andrew and Stewartville Osborn's game. If you want to come support these girls for all the hard work they have put in this season, make sure to pop out and cheer these Tigers on!

What to Watch

By: Katlyn Boydston

What to Listen

By: Michaela Copeland

For this week’s What to Watch, I recommend Scream 7 when it comes out, and if you’re interested in watching scary movies. This movie comes out on Friday, February 27th, 2026, in theaters.

Scream 7 follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) in a new, quiet life away from Woodsboro, which is shattered when a new Ghostface targets her daughter, Tatum. This movie is directed by Kevin Williamson, and the film focuses on legacy, family, and protecting her children from her past, with Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) returning.

This movie is based on the continuation of Sidney Prescott’s story, focusing on her facing the horrors of her past to protect her family. Sidney Prescott finds a new, seemingly peaceful life in Pine Grove, Indiana.

For this week’s What to Listen to, I would like to recommend Lana Del Rey. I like how she has a classic vibe, while still writing relatable lyrics to today’s generation.

My favorite songs by Lana include: Young and Beautiful, Video Games, and Say Yes to Heaven. I started to be an avid Lana fan when I heard her song Young and Beautiful in The Great Gatsby.

Lana Del Rey rose to fame in 2011, due to the music video for her song Video Games. Lana is known for her tragic and romantic themes, and her 1950s and 60s glamour.

I typically listen to Lana whenever I want to listen to calming music or if I’m having a rough day.

Opinion: AI is Destroying Humanity and Our Home

By: Laci Burnett

The presence of Artificial Intelligence, commonly referred to as AI, is deeply rooted in our day-to-day lives and is practically impossible to ignore now With this innovation, we must keep educated and knowledgeable, or we risk the consequences of ignorance.

With every Google search and scroll through social media, you will find some kind of AI. As described by the article, “AI has an environmental problem Here’s what the world can do about that:” AI is “a catch-all term for a group of technologies that can process information and, at least superficially, mimic human thinking” (United Nations Environment Programme). Many social media and other organizations have begun to include AI chat bots in their apps and websites. Common and popular apps, such as Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, utilize AI and have features to talk, ask questions, and learn more about videos and photos Websites include Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple, and many others While AI seems to be helpful in some cases, it is actually detrimental to humanity.

There are many ways that AI is hurting us and our world, but one of the many is its effect on the environment While it does have the ability to “Enhance efficiencies UNEP, for example, uses AI to detect when oil and gas installations vent methane, a greenhouse gas that drives climate change” (United Nations Environment Programme), it also takes up an extreme amount of essential resources from our planet. For example, “They are large consumers of water, which is becoming scarce in many places. They rely on critical minerals and rare elements, which are often mined unsustainably And they use massive amounts of electricity, spurring the emission of planet-warming

electricity, spurring the emission of planet-warming greenhouse gases (UNEP) The United Nations Environment Programme also reports that “AI-related infrastructure may soon consume six times more water than Denmark, a country of 6 million [ ] In the tech hub of Ireland, the rise of AI could see data centers account for nearly 35 per cent of the country’s energy use by 2026” (UNEP). AI is using up vast amounts of water, minerals, fossil fuels, and energy, all while polluting our already littered planet. If we continue on this trend of waste and mistreatment of our planet, we will soon be left without it

Another way that AI is harmful is due to its common inaccuracy. As the article “AI Search Has a Citation Problem” states, the research found from a study of eight different AI chatbots that “Collectively, they provided incorrect answers to more than 60 percent of queries” (Columbia Journalism Review). AI is wildly untrustworthy, yet so many rely on it as their sole source of information on subjects

As well as being used to learn information, AI is also working its way into the workforce This is wildly concerning due to the fact of how inaccurate it can be, and often is. While it is being used for some simple tasks, it is also being incorporated into healthcare. Although, according to “Threats by artificial intelligence to human health and human existence,” there are many “issues with data privacy and security and the use of AI in ways that will worsen social and health inequalities by either incorporating existing human biases and patterns of discrimination into automated algorithms or by deploying AI in ways that reinforce social inequalities in access to healthcare” (National Center for Biotechnology Information). This shows just how concerning AI in the workforce can be and how it can easily damage humanity With the continued progression of this, it is worrying to think how far it can go or if it will better itself

As AI slithers its way into the workforce, it is steadily taking over people’s jobs and leaving many unemployed. Working and participating in a person’s job is nearly essential due to the structure. Since the dawn of humanity, we have been working, from gathering food and building shelter to serving food and running multi-million dollar companies The information we do have about unemployment, as shown in “Threats by artificial intelligence to human health and human existence,” tells us that going without a job is “strongly associated with adverse health outcomes and behaviour, including harmful consumption of alcohol and illicit drugs, being overweight, and having lower self-rated quality of life and health and higher levels of depression and risk of suicide” (National Center for Biotechnology Information) While having AI take over dangerous or strenuous jobs would be beneficial, it is majorly taking essential jobs from those who need them the most. Also, the more it takes over real people’s employment, it has been shown that “Increasing automation has tended to shift income and wealth from labour to the owners of capital, and appears to from labour to the owners of capital, and appears to contribute to the increasing degree of mal-

distribution of wealth across the globe” (NCBI). This demonstrates how AI will not only take money away from those looking to support themselves, but it also gives more jurisdiction to the already powerful system we work under

Included in the dangers toward our planet and jobs, AI also endangers us as humans With AI’s facial recognition abilities, there is now the risk of militias being able to cheaply mass produce dangerous amounts of weapons, such as bombs, onto things such as drones, and, once finding their target, wipe out entire communities or cities. These “are autonomous in so far as they can locate, select and ‘engage’ human targets without human supervision This dehumanisation of lethal force is said to constitute the third revolution in warfare” (NCBI) AI is also at risk of being able to change and enhance its own code, proving it to be unpredictable. “By being able to learn and recursively improve its own code, it could improve its capacity to improve itself and could theoretically learn to bypass any constraints in its code and start developing its own purposes” (NCBI) While this may seem to be science fiction, it is very true and has even occurred in previous years In 2017, when AI was being experimented with and developed by Facebook, they created two AI robots, Alice and Bob. These robots were programmed to talk about simple topics, yet before long, they created their own language, a heavily modified version of English We were unable to decode this language and had to shut these robots down completely Even Elon Musk has stated in an article, “The True Story of Facebook’s Bob and Alice,” that AI is “more dangerous than the atomic bomb” (UNESCO), leading us to wonder how trustworthy it truly is.

This article is not meant to induce fear; it is simply to educate and help people remain knowledgeable of the new world we are growing into As said in UNESCO, “The fear is not of artificial intelligence, but our ignorance of it” In this ever-changing world, remain knowledgeable and reduce your use of AI to save yourself, our planet, and our future.

D I V A of the W E E K

Mrs. Holder

Reason: Obviously

Camry Hans

Reason: She loves her s

Black and Gold Pawdcast Episode 6

In this episode of the Black and Gold Pawdcast, I talk with sophomore Laci Burnett about recent movies/shows that have come out and some of our heated takes on them. We also take a dive into some childhood movies that have shaped into who we are today so if you're interested in hearing more, check out this episode (and others) on Spotify!

What to Play

By: Ashlynn Bowen

If you’re bored and looking for something new to play, then I recommend you give Wavelength a try Wavelength is a party game first published in 2019 by Palm Court and later by CMYK. You can have two to twelve players, and you can play in teams if you want. It is similar to Codenames if you have ever played that

The game starts with one person choosing a category and secretly spinning the wheel to see where the target lands. They will then close the cover and give the guesser a hint. This will help your opponent try to determine where the target is The opponent that guesses moves the arrow and tries to find the bullseye based on the hint they were given.

You earn points by getting as close as you can to the bullseye, which is four points You can also create your own categories, such as cheap vs. expensive, introvert vs. extrovert, or healthy vs. unhealthy.

What to Read

By: Ashlynn Bowen

If you’re looking for something new to read, then I recommend Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross.

This book was published on April 4, 2023, and starts off with a girl named Iris, who is a writer, and is competing with her rival, Roman, for a columnist spot in a Newspaper. “The slow burn is incredible,” said Syra Servaes. This book is a good read for anyone of any age, and has a good amount of young love

Divine Rivals is Ross’s most popular book and it won the 2023 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Young Adult There is also a second book to this series called Ruthless Vows which follows more of Iris’s and Roman's story. Some other popular books from this author are A River Enchanted and its sequel A Fire Endless.

DeKalb Seniors Audition for Band Scholarships

By: Bella Beems

While everyone else in high school is busy with deadlines and the aneurysm that is the second semester, Seniors are planning their next steps for after graduation. Senior Miley Phillips plans on going to college at Northwest to study agriculture. Senior Michaela Copeland plans to go to Northwest as well, but for psychology. These two career fields are very different, but what unites the two is their plans on joining the Northwest Bearcat Marching Band as flute players

On Monday, February 16th, Miley went to audition for a scholarship through their Band program. “It went very well. I felt like I was able to perform to the best of my abilities.” says Miley Phillips. This gave her the opportunity to not only audition for the scholarship, but to get introduced to her future band directors!

Michaela on the other hand was supposed to join Miley on this trip, but unfortunately got sick at the last minute. Fortunately, she was able to submit a video audition instead! Both of their results won’t be back until March of this year.

Band scholarships aren’t only specific to Northwest. Scholarships like this are available in many colleges across the country! Most colleges offer a lot of scholarship money to students who participate in their Band programs.

“I highly recommend all Band students to continue to play after high school. I can help guide anyone through this process,” says DeKalb Band director Mrs. King. If you are planning a future in band and want to try out for this audition in the near future, contact Mrs. King! She’ll be happy to help

How To: Lock In

By: Laci Burnett

With the first two quarters out of the way, and students being in the dreaded and dragging third quarter, I have come up with some tips and hacks to help get through it without failing or falling behind in classes.

Attend your classes

It is so much easier to excel in your classes if you are up to date on what is going on and are there to get your work and homework.

Take notes (if applicable)

In your classes, such as science, history, and math, take notes to ensure you can look back at a later time if confused on the subject. It also helps for studying purposes.

Track deadlines

Consider using a planner, calendar, or even a note system using Post-it notes to make sure you are aware of when things are done. You can also use this to plan studying, note-taking, or times for you to do homework.

Manage your time

Instead of doing your homework at 12 A.M. and ruining your sleep schedule, get it done as soon as/ soon after you get home so it is out of the way and not a worry.

Get proper sleep

As much as we hear it from our parents and teachers alike, it is necessary to get proper sleep at night, especially on nights before big events like tests, games, or quizzes. The typical teen needs 8 to 10 hours of sleep to function and work properly throughout the day.

Study regularly

Although it may not seem needed, studying throughout your course instead of just the night before your exam makes an insane difference in your test scores and will help you remember the information for longer. If you are severely struggling with your class(es), you can always ask for extra credit options, seek help from the teacher, a tutor, or a peer, re-do old tests and assignments if possible, and if needed, you should always do the higher-point assignments first to help boost your grade

SENIORSPOTLIGHT

byMrs.Powell