The Viking Vanguard, Vol. 112, Issue 1, Oct. 13, 2023

Library Despite

Yearbook Sales

Yearbooks are currently on sale for $65. To buy yours, head to the bookeepers office before school, after school or during lunch.

Since 1962, the library has provided a space to find books, study and sit during lunch, before school and after school.

Now, the new location of the library fulfils many of the purposes held previously but has lost a student presence.

Librarian Nancy Glen shares her thoughts on the new library location in the commons, formerly the attendance office.

“It was very shocking. I didn’t know how possibly they could squeeze a library into the commons here, but we made it work. It’s been frustrating,” Glen said. “We had to pack up the whole library, thousands of books. So it was a lot of hard work but now we’ve gotten through the first few weeks of school and it feels good.”

In January, a maintenance issue concerning sewage leaks within the building was made apparent when students returned from winter break.

A staff meeting took place with information about the future of the building during March.

“There was a whole staff meeting, we kind of all found out about the closing of the Library-Science Building at once last March,” Glen said. “Once the change was put into process, they did ask for feedback.”

“Picture Retakes

Picture Retakes will be Oct. 24 in the auditorium foyer from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Please bring your current photos with you.

Parking Passes

Revear is present at the library five days a week while Glen is present three of the days. Revear oversaw much of the moving, as well as the old librarian, Alison Larson. The custodial team, maintenance workers and a team from the Puyallup School District Facilities Planning Department all worked together to move the books and carts from the old library.

“We want to be welcoming, I want kids to know that they can come and check out a book,” Glen said. “Please be open to getting a public library card, it’s just down the street and it’s a gorgeous library.”

Glen said that Principal Dave Sunich as well as the vice-principals have been very supportive throughout the move. Glen, Revear and Larson received extra pay for the time spent moving to the new library location.

“It’s a little disappointing that our building has gotten so rundown that we had to abandon it and eventually we’re going to condemn that building,” Sunich said. “Hopefully we’ll soon be able to pass a bond so we can [construct] a new building.”

The move was stressful and challenging, according to Sunich, and he said that he is grateful for the teachers inconvenienced by the change for staying flexible and positive about the situation. The choice came after consideration of information about the building.

I feel bad for the kids, a lot of kids spent their lunch time in the library. It was a safe place to go, a quiet place to study, so I think it’s harder on them than it is on us.”

Library Technician Lolita Revear was able to give feedback about options for the new library system.

Reconstruction in the new location was done over the summer, including the removal of a wall that was previously in the way.

Shelving was also added into the new room. Students are still able to visit the new location during lunch and ask for specific books that they may check out if available.

“Just like before you can go onto the library system Destiny and search for books by title, subject, series, author. And if we don’t have the book here, we can get it for them,” Glen said. “We can get it from Rogers or we can suggest the public library.”

Glen shares what she described as an eerie moment from the beginning of the school year.

“It is more challenging because there’s not a lot of space. For instance, when we did the textbook checkout,” Glen said. “One of us had to be in the old library checking them out, and Mrs. Revear had to be [at the new library] if kids had issues with their device, to get help.”

While the new system allows students to check out books they are interested in, the library environment still has no replacement.

Parking Passes are currently avaliable to all students. Buy yours at the bookeeper. @phsvanguard

“You spend years telling kids, ‘don’t bring food in here, you’ll get it dirty,’ and ‘keep the noise level down,’ and there’s sawdust,” Glen said. “I feel bad for the kids, a lot of kids spent their lunch time in the library. It was a safe place to go, a quiet place to study, so I think it’s harder on them than it is on us.”

“Ultimately, I would guess it’s the superintendent that makes the decision, but it came down from the folks that are most knowledgeable about facilities and repairs, those sorts of things, from our District Facilities Office,” Sunich said. “Based on the amount of money it would cost to get it up to standard so that it would be a reliable and usable building, it’s just not the kind of money we have, nor would want to put into a building that’s potentially going to be a short-term fix.”

The decision to be proactive and move teachers as well as the library over the course of the summer was seen as a better alternative than waiting for something to go wrong within the building while people are still located inside. If a problem occurred during the school year, that would require those inside to move in one day, according to Sunich.

“Last spring when we got word that we were going to be moving out of that building, we went through a multi-stage process with a whole team of teachers, administrators, district administrators, and talked about all the spaces we have and how things could be modified, and so it was a multi-layered decision,” Sunich said.

Sunich said that there is talk of moving towards a levy preceding a bond, but there is no official approval by the school board yet. The levy would not pay for a new building, instead paying for expenses that the school district has such as repairs, modifications and operational costs. It would then be several years before voting for a bond could take place, and if it were to pass the process of building could take two to three years.

“We are going to be having six new portables put on campus ready to be used by the start of next school year,” Sunich said.

Story edited for space. To read the full story, visit www.vikingvanguard.com

Bell Schedule Impacts Buses

As students across the district settle into the school year, Puyallup High School students are working to adapt to the norm. Along with the closure of a building, the Puyallup School District updated bell schedules across the district at the beginning of the school year to alleviate issues with bus runs.

“Last school year, especially in the winter months and in the spring, we had many bus cancellations. And a lot of that had to do with the way in which our routes were designed,” Dr. Vincent Pecchia, Assistant Superintendent of Operations and School Support, said.

Last year, the district struggled to cover runs when drivers were absent.

A task force and consulting firm was enlisted to figure out a plan for the 2023-2024 school schedule.

“We had students, community members, staff from very different groups. And so, we really took a deep dive first and talking about what the district’s current bell schedule was, and what was working well with it and what was in addition to that, we looked at each region in the district,” said Pecchia.

The three regions in the district direct which elementary and junior high schools feed into the three high schools.

“We looked at all of that data, and then eventually presented the school board with several different bell time models… that would positively impact things like on time performance, or ridership experiences for our students,” Pecchia said.

Many factors played into the issues with the buses.

“If your high school was experiencing an issue with traffic patterns and there was a decision made that ‘Oh, well, we’ll just start Puyallup High School maybe 30 minutes before Rogers and Emerald Ridge or whatever, so we can alleviate some of those traffic problems,’”Pecchia said.

A proposed solution like that would have a ripple effect throughout the district, affecting traffic, sports, and extracurricular activities.

Another major issue is the national bus driver shortage. Ninety-two percent of districts have reported a lack of drivers per HopSkipDrive, a company that provides private transportation for kids.

“That is a challenge we have, because we feel it at the local level. The recruitment and retention of bus drivers, that is a real thing. We need to hire and retain more bus drivers,” Pecchia said.

VIKING VANGUARD THE

EDITORIAL POLICY

The Viking Vanguard operates as an open forum for student expression. Student editors are responsible for determining the news, opinion, feature and advertising content of the media.

The Viking Vanguard’s duty is to expand student perspectives, maintain community relations and act as a student publication advocating voice. Besides providing an opportunity for the exchange of viewpoints, The Viking Vanguard serves as an academic tool by which students can voice opinions as well as highlight issues facing today’s students.

LETTER POLICY

The Viking Vanguard accepts unsolicited copy from the staff, students and community. Only signed and dated letters with addresses and phone numbers from community members or grade level from students will be accepted. Letters must be limited to 350 words and will be published as space is available. The staff reserves the right to edit any letter without changing its content. All letters are the sole opinion of the writer and do not necessarily represent the opinion of The Viking Vanguard staff. Letters to the Editor may be submitted by emailing them to thevikingvanguard@gmail.com or mailing them to The Viking Vanguard c/o Puyallup High School, 105 7th St. SW, Puyallup, WA 98371.

ADVERTISING POLICY

The Viking Vanguard publication staff accepts advertisements for most products available to the public. However, the staff reserves the right to reject, edit or cancel any advertisement at any time. Advertisements shall be free of implications that the staff deems offensive in light of normal public standards (WIAA 18.20.0 and 18.20.1). The staff will not accept advertising for products or groups which are racist, sexist or illegal for high school students. Advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views, endorsements and/ or positions of The Viking Vanguard, student body, faculty, administration or school board.

CORRECTIONS POLICY

The Viking Vanguard staff values accuracy and wishes to correct mistakes made in previous issues. If you believe we have made an error, please contact us at thevikingvanguard@gmail.com.

Editors in Chief

Grant Huson

Maddy Weaver

Multimedia Editor

JoAnn Laning

News Editor

Katelyn Ervin

Opinion Editor

Anthony Geiter

Features Editor

Katelyn Ervin

Sports Editor

Sienna Hanson

Photo Editor

Reagan Jones

Graphics Editor

Ezruh Hacker

Staff

Evan Gibbs

Hunter Ihlen

Levi Miller

Dylan Sandstrom

Leia Waggoner

MiahRese Terlaje

Aiden Arthur

Paul Busching

Julian Guiterrez Iniguez

Enodia Harder

Brandon Harris

Madeline McDaniel

Eliana Powell

Madyx Reed

Katelyn Soto

Logan Tomer

Daniel Aponte

Jackson Hargis

JoAnn Laning

Jason Ordonez Rangel

Judah Barrera

Brian Bates

Samantha Canion

Iris Diaz Venegas

Ella Drengson

Jack Murdock

Daniel Oh

Adelle Patton

Lola Woodburn

Anna Yam

STAFF SETS GOALS

This year marks the Viking Vanguard’s 112th year as a publication with a rich history and legacy that this media organization wants to continue.

The Viking Vanguard is an open forum for student expression, which means that we represent and tell the stories of the voices of the students. We, the photographers, writers and editors, strive to create a nuanced brand of professional journalism.

To that end, being accurate in our reporting of the news you need to know, want to know and should know is of the utmost importance. When we report stories, we want to make sure we obtain information from credible sources, like authority figures and experts in the field as well as those impacted by what is happening and decisions that are being made.

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Through this, we will do these things through the highest level of professionalism. We are not ‘just’ a high school publication; we are a publication that values its 112 year legacy.”

We will also always aim to reflect the culture of our community to a high standard. We live in an ever increasing diverse society and community. The stories we report on should reflect the culture of the student body, the issues that pertain to them and provide them with means to make better and more informed decisions.

Through this, we will do all things through the high-

est level of professionalism. We are not “just” a high school publication; we are a publication that values its 112 year legacy, its national-recognition and wants to maintain the standards of the journalists who have come through this program before us.

We are Viking Student Media, we are the Viking Vanguard staff, we are the storytellers and history keepers of this future. All content published by Viking Student Media will be carefully reviewed by student editors to ensure the highest quality of work for you to indulge in. You can reach out to the staff via Instagram @vikingstudentmedia or through email at TheVikingVanguard@gmail.com.

You can also use the Letter to the Editor form at the bottom of this page. Just drop the completed form in adviser Sandra Coyer’s mailbox in the main office.

The Viking Student Media encourages your views, your beliefs and your story to be heard through the platform we’ve been given.

District Policy on Student Publications Continues to Provide

Student publications produced as part of the school’s curriculum or with the support of the associated student body fund are intended to serve both as a vehicle for instruction and student communication.

Although substantively financed and operated by the district, student editors of school-sponsored media are responsible for determining the news, opinion, feature and advertising content of the media, consistent with chapter 28A.600 RCW.

Material appearing in such publications may reflect various areas of student interest, including topics about which there may be contro-

Dear Editor,

versy and dissent. When engaging with a controversial issue, student publications should strive to provide in-depth treatment and represent a variety of viewpoints. Such materials may not do any of the following: be libelous or slanderous; be unwarranted invasion of privacy; violate federal or state laws, rules, or regulations; incite students to violate federal or state laws, rules or regulations; violate school district policy or procedure related to harassment, intimidation or bullying; incite students as to create a clear and present danger of unlawful acts on school premises, violation of lawful school

district policy or procedure or the material and substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school.

A school official must base a forecast of material and substantial disruption on specific facts, including past experience in the school and current events influencing student behavior and not on undifferentiated fear or apprehension. Materials also may not be in violation of the federal communications act or applicable federal communication commission rules or regulations nor advertise tobacco products, liquor, illicit drugs or drug paraphernalia.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I am writing to highlight an issue that has come out of the VNN Homecoming commercial. I imagine that the commercial was trying to be inclusive, but it fell vastly short of it. There were several issues that were brought up by my LGBTQ+ students. The first is the negative image of transgender women that is portrayed by dressing our student body president as a woman. By putting on a gown, using a falsetto voice, and twirling his hair, it perpetuates a stereotype. This image is also hurtful to our gay students. These stereotypes have harmed the self-images and relationships of gay men for decades. I hope that going forward, we can learn and grow from this.

Sincerely,

Gayle Franks M.Ed.

English 11 and 12

GSA Advisor

Misplacement Results in Positive Experience

Newspaper is more than a class. When I saw that I had been placed into Newspaper Production at the beginning of sophomore year, I planned to leave it.

I had no intention of writing boring stories that no one was going to read.

The class seemed like it would not be any fun or teach me anything; I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

When I walked into class on the first day of school, I noticed my friend Margo had an empty seat next to her, so I sat beside her.

The first few days I felt overwhelmed because I had no clue how to write stories or take pictures or do any sort of journalism.

I started writing my first story, but I had no clue if what I was writing was good or not.

After some time, I had turned into somewhat of a journalist. Instead of dreading going to newspaper, it became the one thing I looked forward to during school. Every day I worked to help my “co-workers” and finish my stories, although occasionally I did not make my due date. I wasn’t prioritizing Newspaper as much as my editors were, so making my deadline for my story was difficult.

I began going to layout days where we make the newspaper pages on InDesign and stay almost six hours after school. I was committed to this class like it was a job, I no longer viewed it as a class, but as building experience for my future.

I learned so much throughout the year that I never imagined I would be doing in this class. From writing a story and doing an interview with strangers, to taking photos of athletes in midair. I built my skills each day, hoping to be the best journalist I could be.

By the end of the year, I created friends with many who I was scared to talk to at the beginning of the year. The memories I made last school year will stay with me for many years to come, and hopefully the friends I made will stay with me too.

Right before the year ended, my co-editors in chief talked to me and said they want me to be next year’s co-editor in chief. At first, I thought they were kidding because I was in no way a leader.

The next year comes around and now I am one of the co-editors-in-chief; the amount of time and effort that got me to this moment most people will never understand. It may seem like not that big of a deal, but to me it’s an honor to continue the legacy of all the editors in chief before me.

I try my hardest every day to make sure The Viking Vanguard is full of beautiful quality work.

I may have started out dreading this class, but now it’s a huge part of who I am.

Finishing Senior Season Strong

How do you put into words three years of hard work, sweat and tears?

How do you sum up all the hours, the floor burns and extra reps?

How do you express the connection one has to their coaches and teammates that ends up feeling more like family and how do you connect outside spectators to an experience like this one?

The only place I know where to start is with the picture of a girl, fingers trembling, fumbling with her shoelaces as tears drip from her bloodshot eyes. It is this girl—pulling off her shoes after her last game representing the club she loves—who looks back at her AAU career thinking about how many people didn’t anticipate her being where she is at this moment.

It is two months after my freshman year of high school basketball. I am walking into my first ever Finest Basketball Club Northwest Alliance, better known as FBC NWA, practice. I’m not here on reputation, known ability or any type of street cred.

I’m here because at 15-years-old I’m pushing 6 feet 2 inches, am stronger than most girls I play against and I’ve promised to work hard. I’m by no means the blue-chip prospect that FBC is known for finding on a nationwide scale.

I’m just a kid, who fell in love with the game a little later and wants an opportunity to get better.

The sight in front of me is intimidating. I’ve been in the gym for under

Yadda Yadda Yadda

a minute and I already feel like I’m sticking out like a sore thumb. The girls, who are just getting some shots in before practice starts, are light years ahead of me. These girls carry a confidence in their game that emits a type of swagger that I do not possess. Leaning on the bleachers a few yards in front of me is a lanky man with a buzz cut and a short beard. He’s wearing an all-red Adidas sweat suit with a whistle hanging around his neck.

‘He looks like he’s a coach,’ I think to myself.

I nervously walk up to him and introduce myself. He reaches out his hand and shakes mine.

“Hi Maddy, I’m Nars. Ready to get to work today?” He asks me. I nod my head.

He seemed confident as well. If he was nervous or scared at all for this first practice at the helm of the newest team under the vaunted FBC banner, he certainly didn’t show it. Today, Nars Martinez is the head director of FBC NWA.

The whistle that hung around my new coach’s neck echoes throughout the gym. Warmups start.

‘Good, this is something I can do and not look like a fool,’ I think to myself.

I manage to get through warmups, and we all line up for drills. I’ve done most of these drills hundreds of times, but this is different. The speed is different.

The pace is going 10 folds faster than I’ve ever even seen it in my brain. I’m on the floor with girls who have offers to play Division 1 basketball already. These girls are some of the top ranked in the state—in the country. Some of these girls are playing at Team USA camps. I’m not what these girls are and I’m reminded over and over again as I am humbled by them time and time again. By the end of it I was a lump of soreness,

exhaustion and frustration. I had a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. I’m sure many didn’t think that I belonged. I didn’t care.

I knew then that this is what I wanted. If nothing else, I came out of that practice with a burning motivation.

I made a plan and I knew what I needed to do. I had to do whatever it took to catch up with the rest of the program and allow me to carry myself with that same beautiful swagger my teammates did.

One year later I return to the same familiar scene. There are some new faces. Some girls I notice are absent but there are faces that I recognize.

Teammates who I look up to are still there—girls who I know not just for their game, but for their character— which is a relief. You never want to see the good ones go.

I had stuck to my plan. The same burning motivation had remained inside me that entire year and remained with me in that moment.

This year I was actually looking forward to the drills that would commence post warmups. I knew I would be able to hold my own this year and that I could be the one humbling people. In the past year, I figured out how to use my 6 foot 2 inch frame and the strength it possessed. My body realized that most girls couldn’t match my physicality and started throwing would be defenders around. I had transformed myself from just a body to somebody. I surprised a lot of people. I surprised myself. With each game I played, I began to see myself playing beyond high school. When asked the year prior if I would play college ball, I never had a good answer. “If it happens, it happens,” I would mumble. Now I had a definitive answer, and it was an answer that my coaches at FBC never doubted. They believed in me long before I believed in myself.

It felt different now. Now I believed in myself. Through the tireless work over the last year, I had gained an extreme amount of confidence that wasn’t there before. And this wasn’t confidence in the cocky way, but it was the type of confidence that took away my nerves before games. Now I walked into games looking forward to making opponents deal with me. This club season, this newfound confidence spring boarded me into my junior year of high school basketball.

My junior season was exceptional. It was everything I could’ve hoped for on a personal level. I lead my team in scoring and field goal percentage. I lead my team and league in total rebounding and offensive rebounding. Along the way, I was named team captain, team MVP and 1st Team, All-League. I was named to the all-tournament team at the Christmas tournament we played in. The accolades piled up over the season and culminated with something I never thought possible. By the time the season wrapped up, I was ranked the No. 1 Center in the state for the Class of 2024 by Prep Girls Hoops. The intimidated young girl who had walked into that first FBC practice had managed to transform herself into a player. I hadn’t done it alone. Sure, I was willing to put in the work and that had to come from me, but it was a bunch of guys who believed in the girls’ game and believed in me that lifted me up to levels I didn’t know I had in me. Had it not been for FBC, I would still be that intimidated 15-year-old fumbling through drills and feeling out of place. I had accomplished some great things, but it was time for one last ride with the team and coaches who showed me what I could be.

Story edited for space. To read the full story, visit www.vikingvanguard.com

What are your plans for Halloween this year?

CLOSURE BRINGS CHANGES

The closure of the Library-Science Building at the end of the 2022-2023 school year has brought about a ripple of effects at Puyallup High School.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Near the end of last school year, it was announced that the Library-Science Building would close before the start of the 2023-2024 school year due to the deteriorating condition of the facility. This year, with the Teacher’s Lounge converted into an art classroom and some teachers working from rolling carts, the makeup of the school looks very different.

But what is the long-term plan?

Principal David Sunich offers some insight into the future of PHS without the building.

PHS

“The old Library-Science Building is completely shut down; [we have] no staff or students in there. We still have some materials in there that are waiting on the space they’re going to go to. We can access them, but it’s not a spot we’re supposed to be going into,” Sunich said. The school is currently going through the process of gaining approval for the building to be torn down.

“We do have plans in place to have six new portables added to our campus that go out behind

One substantial change since the closing of the Library-Science Building has been the end of the Ceramics class. The new art room lacks running water, a necessity when working with ceramics and several other pieces of equipment were lost with the building closure.

Art teacher Joseph Loring who taught ceramics classes last year says his classes and what he teaches is different this year.

“I taught five full sections of Ceramics. I had running water and pottery wheels, I had kilns, a pug mill, which recycles clay, slab rollers, extruders, all sorts of glaze. Pretty much everything, every person that had worked here before me for the last 60 years had been storing things in the building,” Loring said. Loring says he was disappointed when he learned that the ceramics program would not be able to run during the 2023-2024 year. The

portables 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, kind of right in that grassy area behind there. And the plan is, if all goes well, we’ll have those ready to go to start next school year. So that should provide us with enough classroom spaces so all teachers will have their own classroom,” Sunich said.

Currently, two teachers teach by moving between classrooms on rolling carts, which was the only option as the school doesn’t have enough classrooms for every teacher to have their own room.

“Arthur Welch is our new social studies teacher, and he teaches most of his classes just on the second-floor hallway now in different people’s classrooms for each of his periods. And

then [Melanie] Muller, one of our art teachers, teaches within the other two art teachers’ classrooms and then she has one in another classroom,” Sunich said.

While the building is officially closed and power has been shut off, the building is still used to store materials and textbooks that have no place to go.

“Once we’re able to remove all those books and get them to where they’re going to be housed, once we’re finished preparing the science lab that was created here in the main building, so all those science materials can be taken out of there… then it will be condemned to be permanently locked up so nobody will go in and out and then it will be officially shut,” Sunich said.

Class Closes with Building

class was popular with students and offered a unique experience.

“Kids like taking Ceramics; you are going to make something. It could potentially look nice, you take it home and give it to your mom or dad, or you keep it forever. It’s a permanent memory. I think that there is value to that because everything is so disposable these days,” Loring said.

Additionally, the change in buildings has meant that art classroom sizes have noticeably shrunk.

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“I work in a significantly smaller classroom with three less kids per class. [Class sizes] used to be in the 40s and now it is 36,” Loring said. “We no longer have spots for kilns; they were going to plug them in somewhere and I told them not to worry about it because I don’t have a classroom with running water. I can’t teach a program that doesn’t have the correct space to teach it.”

While the loss of Ceramics has been difficult, Loring says he continues to find ways to keep students engaged with art, including a new class that is being added to the art program: Sculpture.

“After I got over being angry and sad, I accepted my fate. I started

to become more excited about what I was going to do. I was projecting to the future and how I was going to serve kids and try to figure out a curriculum that was engaging and worthy,” Loring said, Loring says he hopes the community of Puyallup will understand what the Library-Science Building closure means for the school.

“I wonder if our community knows that we no longer have a real library.

Joseph Loring teacher

I wonder if our community understands that we no longer have enough chemistry labs for all of the kids that have a lab once a week,” Loring said. “It’s not like it just went bad one day. It’s been a problem for a really, really long time. I hope that we, as a community, can start supporting education.”

Science Teachers Open Up About Closure

Struggles

Dust collects along the counter tops where pencils and pens were once tossed and papers laid gently. Where desks once stood for students to receive information on, molecules and chemical mixtures are now absent. All that remains are cold linoleum floors that are never to be touched by the soles of a student’s shoes again.

AP Environmental Science teacher Katie Coats and AP Chemistry teacher Christyna Paris share the struggles they’ve been forced to overcome over the last several months and what they hope for in the near future. Coats, whose class formally resided in the upstairs portion of the now closed building, says she feels fortunate to have been placed in her new classroom, which is now located by the upper gym.

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Bunsen burners the second week of class, but you can’t have smoke in a room that doesn’t have ventilation. We’re trying to find ways to make it engaging and fun and interesting, but it’s not the same class.”

While Coats says she feels blessed to have been moved into the class she is currently in, there are aspects of her old classroom she says she wishes her new one offered.

“I miss the windows. I can’t see any sky from here, like last year I almost never had my lights on because the window light was bright enough. And I love weather, I can’t even tell if it’s raining,” Coats said. For Paris’s class, she says her lessons are much more broken up and not as fluid as they once were.

We’re trying to find ways to make it engaging and fun and interesting, but it’s not the same class.”

Katie Coats teacher

“I have everything I need here. I’m one of the lucky ones, probably the only person in the whole school who moved into a better space. And I only got it because a teacher retired,” Coats said. Paris, unfortunately, was moved into a regular classroom, which is not remotely close to being designed like a science classroom. The room lacks items and tools she says she needs to properly run a rigorous course such as AP Chemistry.

“It’s really affected the rhythm of the class,” Paris said, “Normally, we have

“I used to have the lecture connected to the lab. I could send students over and I could demonstrate lab stuff while my students were in class. I would bring over the access so I could safely demonstrate [labs],” Paris said. An unseen struggle of being moved to different classrooms is the tight-knit community of science teachers that have been scattered about campus. With there no longer being a teachers lounge; socialization among the science teachers has been lost.

“I spent eight years in the Library-Science Building and we had a tight community up there. I love the people that I work with, but it’s very different not seeing my science people every day, we used to talk every day. Now it’s just when we can,” Paris said.

Coats agrees there is a serious lack of socialization between her and her science colleagues.

“We’re missing that shared space. We’re together during staff meetings and there’s usually a short period of socialization but then it’s down to business,”

Coats said, “We don’t have a shared space to socialize, some teachers get lunch together. There is an inclination to support each other, but there are still barriers to that.”

Having a closed building was something no student or staff was prepared for. Figuring out how to navigate this type of hurdle is no simple task. Paris believes that the high school administration have been and are continuing to help to the best of their ability considering the situation at hand.

“I think it’s mostly things that are under the control of people that are local, I know that everybody is trying their hardest, it’s just a terrible situation that I don’t think that anybody foresaw,” Paris said. Coats, like Paris, believes that this is a difficult situation for everyone to navigate and find areas to help in.

“I feel like they could be more help ful, but I don’t know what they should do. I do feel like their [administrators] hands are tied,” Coats said, “But [Assistant Principal] Mark Barnes worked really hard to get us all the boxes we need and all the labels, the pack ing materials. If we needed help moving anything, he just put it on his list and made sure it was done.”

What is something not many people know about you?

“I’m deathly afraid of birds. I’ve been attacked three times.”

What is one of your hobbies?

“I like to draw.”

Lightbody

What is it like being a new staff member at PHS?

“Everyone is super nice but I’m anxious all the time.”

What is something not many people know about you?

“That I like spiders. I didn’t grow up here; I grew up in New York.”

What is one of your hobbies?

Norman

“I’ve been playing a lot of board games. Some crazy kind of stuff, Beyond the Sun, D&D. I’ve been hiking a lot more too.”

What is it like being a new staff member at PHS?

“It’s been a good start so far. However, this school is so big that getting to know everybody is really tricky for me. People here seem kind, and I’m really blown away by all the clubs that are here.”

What is something not many people know about you?

“I was in the Army, I was a truck driver.”

What is one of your hobbies?

“There are so many; I’m an ADHD kid with way too many hobbies. Let’s just go with fishing because that’s the most prevalent one.”

What is it like being a new staff member at PHS?

“It’s nice and refreshing to be in a building where everybody is working together for the same goal.”

Meyers

What is something not many people know about you?

“I used to play piano and I used to be a dentist in a federal prison.”

What is one of your hobbies?

“I really like to go up and snow ski. I also love boating, too.”

What is it like being a new staff member at PHS?

“Really fast-paced, fun and exciting. I’m getting used to knowing all of my students and enjoying what their extracurriculuars are, what their schedules look like and how we can help support them.”

Thomas Henry Campus Security Officer

What is something not many people know about you?

“I did 20 years in the Coast Guard as a helicopter rescue swimmer.”

What is one of your hobbies?

“I like to go to the gym, play sports and hang out with my kids.”

What is it like being a new staff member at PHS?

“I enjoy it; it’s been great. Everyone here has been really nice and welcoming; staff and students alike. It’s nice to have a stable place to come to every day and a great team to work with.”

Andrew Welch Social Studies teacher

What is something not many people know about you?

“I’ve grown up in Edgewood my entire life, so I’ve been in this community.”

What is one of your hobbies?

“I love playing the guitar, it’s something that I’ve done for a long time.”

What is it like being a new staff member at PHS? “It’s kind of overwhelming at times; that’s not a bad overwhelming, it’s just being in a new setting, trying to figure out new schedules and new routines.”

Schumacher

Allie Schumacher Support Center Paraeducator

What is something not many people know about you?

I played volleyball for 25 years; I’ve been the high school volleyball coach; this is my eighth season coaching here.”

What is one of your hobbies?

“I enjoy going to music concerts and travel. I like indie music and rock.”

What is it like being a new staff member at PHS? “I went to school at PHS, so I’m happy to be back; I love working here.”

Kason Koski Business & Marketing teacher

What is something not many people know about you?

“I spend my summers as a commerical fisherman; it’s a lot of work and very little sleep.”

What is one of your hobbies?

“I like hanging out with friends and family; and I really enjoy sports of all kinds. I’m a big Mariners fan and I also really enjoyed fantasy football.”

What is it like being a new staff member at PHS? “The students have been awesome, just very welcoming; it’s been a lot of fun so far.”

Check out our website (www. vikingvanguard.com) to see responses from other new staffers like Maegan Rathbun, Photography teacher; David VanMatre, Resource teacher; Erica Austin, Nursing teacher; Ethan Moon, Choir teacher.

Reporting by Dylan Sandstrom, Maddy Weaver, Hunter Ihlen, Leia Waggoner, Ezruh Hacker and Reagan Jones

Photos by Reagan Jones.

Backstage Pass: Behind the Scenes of the Fair Concerts

The lights dim, your favorite artist steps on stage and suddenly the first notes of a hit song ring across the stage.

While the musicians are a key piece of the puzzle, concertgoers may not realize the amount of behind-the-scenes effort that goes into creating these moments.

From booking the artists to the teams that make sure you can see and hear the bands in all their glory, the show couldn’t happen without a dedicated group of people that work to create the shows each year. At the Washington State Fair, the process starts as early as 18 months before the first concert kicks off.

A company called Triangle Talent is contracted by the Fair to book the acts, but more goes into this process than you may realize. Clay Campbell, the president of Triangle Talent, is a key player in this process.

“We’ll sit down [with the Fair’s entertainment committee] and they’ll set parameters, we’ll identify some acts that we think might work for them. And they’ll say ‘Well, what about…’ They’ll have a wish list, if you will, of acts that they are interested in,” Campbell said.

“So, we’ll contact agencies and say ‘Hey, we’re interested in such and such. Are they available on this date?’” Campbell said.

For a successful concert series to be pulled off, one has to follow the constantly shifting trends of the music industry. With the rise of streaming platforms and algorithms, an artist might be trending for a week, and then disappear in only a few days, pulled under by the next act to get 15 minutes of fame.

“Some of it is just experience; there is Billboard and Pollstar that are industry trade magazines, where you can look at how ticket sales have gone for certain acts and get a little bit of a feel for that… Everybody within the fair business are all friends and they all talk and tell ‘Oh, so and so did great,’ or ‘Oh, stay away from such and such, because they did terrible,’” said Campbell.

His years of experience and connections in the industry are major contributors to the success, year after year, of the concerts at the Fair.

However, the changing trends regularly throw major curve balls regardless of experience.

Most acts, particularly at the level we’re working with at the Washington State Fair, those acts have agents, so they have a company that represents them and helps sell the act to buyers like the Washington State Fair.”

A look at the usual lineup of the Fair reveals this is no easy task. The concert series has a range of acts that appeal to all demographics, from artists concertgoers might hear on classic rock radio like Styx and Chicago, country acts like Zac Brown Band and Lindsey Ell, to even Kidz Bop and comedy like Jeff Foxworthy.

“That’s as much art as it is science there. We’ve had a couple of shows this year that, on paper, you would think that it would be people that could sell tickets really well and there’ll be some others that are ‘Eh, this will be a decent show, but not great,’ and they’ve proven to be really strong… So it’s one of those, you have to really pay attention and know what’s going on,” Campbell said.

affect the job of the sound crew, as they might go from a high-energy rock band one night to an artist that plays mainly acoustic music the next.

“I do a bluegrass festival every year; it’s all acoustic instruments to a room of about 2000. The system is smaller. Everything is done at a much lower volume level, because it starts out at a much lower volume level so it just really depends and you have to kind of get a common sense feel for the audience,” Bagley said. Of course, there’s no way to be sure that a show can be pulled off flawlessly. From power failures to issues with the instruments, there are many ways there could be sound issues during the show.

“

eo rigs and supervising the installation and setup of that side of the show.

A major portion of lighting is to enhance the mood of a specific song. If it’s a song that is loud, angry, and exciting, you’re not going to see the same lighting for an acoustic love song.

I think the best thing about it is that every show is a little bit different. The install is a little different and what we do is a little different.”

“[Our lighting director] is quite good… at reading the music and understanding the mood. Cause you’re painting a picture with light, you’re trying to create contrast… and actually a really interesting thing about this venue, because of the IMAX screens, it’s all on camera,” Duggan said.

Since the show is broadcast to the cameras, the lighting team needs to consider how it will show up on the screens.

“Most acts, particularly at the level that we’re working with here at the Washington State Fair, those acts have agents, so they have a company that represents them and helps sell the act to buyers like the Washington State Fair.

After artists are booked, the work falls to the people who work in lighting and sound. The sound crew makes sure you can hear each element of the band, and the lighting crew works to enhance the music with a great show. Allan Bagley, who runs sound for the shows, offered a glimpse into the complex process required to make the show sound great.

The sound or genre of each artist will

“If it’s onstage, then it’s going to be the artists guitar tech, he’s going to have some contingencies for some failures and others they’re just going to have to work around it, in some ways depending upon what it is. Typically, the sound system equipment itself is very reliable… it’s relatively rare but it does happen. We can, depending on what the failure is, we can work around it or just go without that particular subset,” Bagley said.

However, the work of the sound team wouldn’t amount to much if you couldn’t see the artists perform.

Terra Duggan, the Head Production Electrician for the Fair, took some time to explain the process behind the lighting and how it affects the show that the artists put on.

“It actually starts pretty far back before the show happens. Someone like my LD (lighting director) comes up with a design look. There has to be budget and show look approvals, and then a lot of what I do is actually involved with the infrastructure needed to install that system. So every single light out there needs power, and every single light out there needs, we call it data, but basically computer control,” said Duggan.

Duggan’s job involves planning for the power needs of the lighting and vid-

“So while you’re trying to create these beautiful visuals and images, it’s also really important to make sure that you’re lit well enough that a camera can pick them up so it can show up on IMAX. We did a show not that long ago, and it was the feel of the show and the style, but the front light was so dim you couldn’t see them on the IMAX, but it was a really interesting design for the show,” Duggan said.

Another part of her job is adapting to the unique needs of artists.

Whether they need more spotlights or a set piece that requires complex lighting, the team must adapt to the needs of the artist.

“For Pentatonix, we had to bring in a fifth spotlight and it’s only powered for four up there and the only way we would get the right power was through audio… Because we’re all different vendors, like lighting is a vendor, audio is a vendor, there’s two video vendors… but I think overall we work really well together as a team. Like we try to help each other out,” Duggan said.

Next time you’re at a concert, remember to take a moment to acknowledge the people who work tirelessly behind the scenes.

Without them, the event wouldn’t be happening.

Fall Athlete Finds Success

Senior Lemalu shares struggles that helped form future, establish goals

Senior Leilah Lemalu has been playing volleyball for the last six years; she is currently playing for the Puyallup High School girls volleyball team as an outside hitter.

Over the span of her career, Lemalu says she has learned countless lessons about hard work, perseverance and companionship.

Of those lessons, the toughest, she says, came during the team’s loss last season at the 4A state semifinals.

Up until that moment, the group had been undefeated.

“Last year at State, when we lost the semifinals, that really took a toll on me.” Lemalu said. “I had so many expectations for our team, and really thought we would finish on a good note, which we still did, but I was disappointed in myself. It really taught me to be easier on myself and confident that things will go well.”

During games when it seems like nothing is going right, Lemalu says her biggest struggle is keeping a positive mindset.

“

overwhelm me,” Lemalu said. Despite her struggles, Lemalu says she always returns to her passion and love for the sport and her team. These connections, forged on and off the court, are unforgettable.

“It’s like your second family, and you have people you can talk to even outside of the sport. It’s a great opportunity to build relationships and bonds.” Lemalu said.

Now, as a player who starts on the court and can play almost every position, Lemalu shares how far she has come since her freshman year and the goals she has for her future.

“If I could, I would tell my past self to just calm down,” Lemalu said. “It is not the end of the world; volleyball is not your life. That’s a big one. I would tell myself to have more confidence in me and to just keep working at it and dwelling on it.”

I would tell myself to have more confidence in me and to just keep working at it and dwelling on it.”

“I have not always had the best self-confidence in terms of skill, because I have not always started on the court. I would say my biggest challenge is self-confidence, having a good mindset on the court and just staying focused. Not letting certain things

Since she was eight years old, junior Avery Reisenger has been swimming competitively.

This year, she competes in both the 500-meter freestyle and 100-meter breaststroke for Girls Swim and Dive.

Moving forward, Reisenger sets goals for the future and reflects on the struggles of her sport.

Reisenger says she moved around frequently as a kid, trying several different sports along the way. However, swimming was always the grail she returned to, putting in countless hours of effort to improve.

“I was swimming for my team back in Illinois, a competitive swim team. I know for the longest time I couldn’t break 30 seconds on my 50 freestyle, and I don’t know, it was just so hard,” Reisen-

ger said. “And then I did it. My dad made me a goal, if I broke 30 seconds, I could get an Xbox. I did it and I got an Xbox two hours after that meet.”

Reisenger says that one of her biggest struggles was during her sophomore year, when she was battling ear infections and unable to swim for her team.

“It’s just something in my body was just like nope, you get infected… so I couldn’t swim. But now I learned that I need to clean my ears, so I don’t get any infections and then can’t swim at state or districts,” Reisenger said.

After graduation, Lemalu says she plans to bring her skills to a college team outside of Washington, there she can continue to use the lessons she learned about dedication and staying confident on the court and bring them to life to her new teammates- her new family.

No matter the challenging times, Reisenger wants to share her advice from the lessons she learned, the hurdles she jumped over and the hard truths she had to accept with those who may struggle with mental toughness and difficult losses.

You’re going to have difficulties in swimming. You’re not going to PR every swim meet, just do your best and clean your ears.”

Not only did Reisenger learn that clean ears were a necessity in swimming, but now her coach advises the entire team to keep their ears squeaky clean and water free.

Sometimes, it may involve a sarcastic glance at Reisenger.

“I really just think of my own personal time,” Reisenger said. “Just try to beat your time, and the people around you are helping you. I’ve swam the 500[meter freestyle] against girls who’ve lapped me three times. Every time they lap you, just kick a little harder. And then they’re going to zoom away, but that’s okay.”

Reisenger says that if she could tell her past self one thing, it would be that swimming has its challenges, but those challenges can ultimately be beat and you can grow from them.

“You’re going to have difficulties in swimming. You’re not going to get a PR every swim meet, just do your best and clean your ears,” Reisenger said.