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Whirlwind WEST ALBANY HIGH SCHOOL • OCT. 2021 • ISSUE 1

New Age Nerdage

HOW BEING A ‘NERD’ WENT FROM NEGATIVE TO NORMAL PAGES 15-19

NEWS

SCHOOL BOARD MAKES WAVES WITH CONTROVERSIAL CHANGES

OPINION

POLITICAL CONVERSATIONS SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED

SPORTS

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL SETS SIGHT ON STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

TABLE OF

CONTENTS

The School Board Rundown 04

Speak up, and Speak Out 10

How to Live in an Opera House 06

Game On/Game Over 12

New Teachers at West 07

Time to Stop 14

No Quarter? No Problem 08 Un-masked 09

SPORTS

SPECIAL Anime X Comeback 15

Bump, Set, State 20

Becoming Someone Else 16

You Are What You Eat 22

Collective Community 18

Back to the Basics 23

The Rise of the Collector 19

Leader of the Pack 24

Renaissance Revival 19

From Physics to Physical 25

ENTERTAINMENT Ready, Steady, Connect! 26 Falling Into Fashion 28 Back to the Theaters 30 The Face of Horror 31

Cover | Illustration by Tori Thorp and Coral CwmCwlamare

T H E W H I R LW I N D

16 OPINION

NEWS

ONLINE

A Letter From the Editors

WHIRLWIND STAFF Editors-In-Chief Tori Thorp Ethan Biersdorff

Managing Editor Melia Rasmussen Eleanor Peterson

Business Manager Colvin Parvin

Art Director

Coral CwmCwlamare

Audience Engagement When I was a toddler I used to sit and stare up at the top shelves of my family’s storage closet. My dad kept his board games up there, and I scoffed at the silly names that sounded like they’d be long, boring, and worst of all—nerdy. Lord of The Rings Monopoly? No, thank you. Fast forward 15 years and I’m a regular player of four-hour sessions of “Settlers of Catan,” and my Nintendo switch statistics boast over 100 hours playing “Breath of the Wild.” Not to mention my obsession with all things “Doctor Who,” which became my comfort show in 2017. The fantasy worlds that these pieces of media create became so appealing to me with their completely enthralling storylines and characters. There are thousands of topics that we could have explored in our first issue of 2021, but exploring the unique interests, collections, and conventions that the West Albany student body participates in seemed the most appropriate after a pandemic kept us all inside to fall even further into our favorite hobbies and interests. “The New Age Nerd” is our term for the positive connotation that the word “nerd” now holds. I’m proud to be a part of the fandoms that were once so stigmatized—I’m proud to call myself a new age nerd. Tori Thorp I got into video games casually at a young age, starting out on the Super Nintendo just playing the old Mario games and stuff like that. As time went on, I found myself enjoying games more and more, with two key examples that brought my casual enjoyment into absolute nerd territory. The first of the two was playing all the Halo games with my cousins and friends from a young age. Back then there were all the Halos before Halo 4, but we mostly played the first two. Those multi-hour game sessions built my competitive spirit and love for gaming, and I have since beaten every single Halo game. The other key event on my gaming adventure happened due to my competitive need growing. One day at the Boys & Girls Club in the computer lab, I played Super Smash Bros 64 with some friends of mine, and not to toot my own horn too much, but I was incredible. This was around the time Smash Bros for the 3DS was out and I decided I would try to get it for my birthday that year, and thankfully I was successful. To this day I still play absurd amounts of the game, now with thousands of hours in the series as a whole, and it still gives me the childlike glee of my first time in that computer lab. I also love myself some comic heroes and anime, having collectibles and a significant amount of time on both of those subjects as well, but nothing brings the nerdage out of me quite like video games (if you couldn’t tell from the Link outfit). To me, “New Age Nerdage’’ refers to how popular formerly niche interests have become, and how “nerd” no longer has the negative weight it used to. It’s not an insult anymore, being a nerd is awesome. A Nerd, Ethan Biersdorff

Tori Thorp

News

Tyler Stacy

Opinion

Gracie Balkema

Special

Gabrielle Emery

Sports Melia Rasmussen

Arts & Entertainment Coral CwmCwlamare

Staff

Brogan O’Hare AJ Fandrem Marshall Hamel Cecilia Greene Marie Guthrie Hailey Miles Legend Engberg Ming Wong Helen Whiteside Vioet Zinck Lea’Azia Swamy Kylie Brown Brynna Gritter Kenneke Cali Stenger Samantha Zimmerman Helayna larsen Aubrey Murphy Jose Lopez Ortega Mollie Brown Gigi Roldan Austin Granados Harvest Buchanan Yazzy Bruno-Robinson Elizabeth Featherstone

Adviser

Michelle Balmeo

WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING SPONSORS: Gold Level Sarah Whiteside Aaron + Mickey Parvin The Shirley Family Frank + Joan Rasmussen

Bulldog Level Homeland Excavating, LLC

THE WHIRLWIND is a dedicated student forum. Content and editorial decisions are made by student staff members excercising their rights as protected by the First Amendment and the Oregon Student Free Expression Law (Ore. Rev. Stat. sec. 336.477 (2007)). Opinions are those of The Whirlwind staff and not West Albany High School or the Greater Albany Public School District. OCTOBER 2021

The School Board Rundown

HOW MOTIONS ARE PASSED

AN UPDATE ON THE MAJOR CHANGES FROM THE SCHOOL BOARD IN THE LAST SIX MONTHS

By Tyler Stacy and Tori Thorp

f you’ve missed the last six months of The crowd became a sea of incomprehensievents surrounding the school board, ble interruptions as Aguinaga continued to recite here’s a check in. After the district the proposed motion. Every community member announced a new common West Al- seated in the crowd of the meeting had an opinbany-South Albany schedule, students ion, a story to tell for why they were there. Some walked out in protest of the change had signs defending their stance, while others sat on June 8. At about the same time, the out- in silence and watched as Auginaga read from going school board approved an extension to the piece of paper resting on his desk. then-Superintendent Melissa Goff’s contract, Long before this heated July meeting, comwhich added a year and raised her salary. The munity members began to form their opinions new contract also included a no-cause termina- around Goff’s decisions as a disconnect between tion clause. On July 1, three new school board her supporters and critics began to grow. members were sworn The 2020-21 school year in after a contentious hosted a myriad of issues election, and then they that the district leadership elected a board direchad to find quick solutions tor as the new board to — distance learning apI THINK THEY DECIDED chair who had previproaches, quarantine rules, EARLY ON THAT THEY JUST ously been censured return to in-person learning WERE NOT GOING TO BE and asked to resign. and mask mandates, police Fourteen days later, the presence at schools, and ABLE TO WORK WITH HER. new board fired Goff high school schedules were without cause or exjust a few. As Goff made deplanation, in line with cisions on what those soluthe terms of her contions would be, the gap betract. On July 26, the board interviewed and tween her supporters and her detractors widened. hired Rob Saxton as interim superintendent. At the July 14 meeting, in front of a room The search for a permanent superintendent is full of protestors and a camera streaming to over underway. 90 viewers, the motion to fire Goff was passed after less than 10 minutes of debate surrounding How we got to this point the subject. The three new board directors Pete A colorful painted mural acted as the back- Morse, Roger Nyquist, and Brad Wilson voted drop to five wooden desks where the school in favor of the contract termination, while board board members sat to discuss the future of Su- chair Aguinaga abstained and returning board diperintendent Melissa Goff’s contract. Goff was rector Michael Thomson voted against. not present at the July 14 meeting. Thomson was the only member to debate School Board Chair Eric Aguinaga project- and subsequently vote no on the motion, and his ed his voice into the politically divided crowd disagreement with the rest of the board was met as he read out the proposed motion from his with a mixed reaction of support and disapproval agenda, a no-cause termination of Goff’s con- from spectators. In the case of Goff’s terminatract in which she would officially be fired tion, the motion was first discussed in a closed from her position as superintendent in 10 days’ executive meeting with attorneys present, and it time and given one year’s worth of salary and was decided that the board members would vote benefits as compensation. in a public meeting.

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T H E W H I R LW I N D

HOW TO BE INVOLVED

Attend regular school board meetings and listen to updates by the Board.

Attend listening sessions and ask questions to Board members.

Write a public comment which will be read out loud to the Board at the beginning of Board meetings and entered into public record.

In the context of a school board, motions are proposed by a board member and must be seconded before moving on to a board vote. After it is seconded, time is allowed for the board member that

Thomson, despite the disapproval of the rest of the board, began his counterargument against the movement to terminate Goff’s contract. His points centered largely on the fact that the termination was invoking the no-cause clause in the contract, which means that no reason had to be given for the termination as long as Goff received one year’s worth of salary and benefits as well as a notification of her termination 10 days in advance. Thomson began his speech with a complaint about the financial irresponsibility of the decision to fire Goff. Even months later, he sees the termination as a waste of money, “without a doubt.” When you add a one year salary of the superintendent to other benefits listed in the contract, firing Goff meant paying her around $200,000 directly from the district’s budget. “I understand that no-clauses exist, but they exist for lawyers and mediators to come to a resolution,” Thomson said during the meeting. “I’m asking you as a parent and a community member, ‘Why?’ What is the community supposed to think?” Thomson then went on to speculate about the reasons for firing Goff, telling the other board members that a no-clause termination is not transparent enough to satisfy the community. His arguments included the references to emails the board had received thanking Goff for her work toward equity among marginalized students. “I think they decided early on that they just were not going to be able to work with her,” Thomson reflected on the meeting, months afterward. “And I think they were not willing to pursue that for a cause and I just think that’s just an easy way out.” Aguinaga thinks that the board’s decision was the right one for the Greater Albany Public Schools district. “There’s no bad people in the situation,” he said, “but sometimes things aren’t just the right fit.” In terms of the money that the district would have to pay out to Goff as compensation, Aguinaga feels that it was worth the sacrifice, and there have been changes made in hiring choices since her termination in order to offset the cost.

proposes the motion to explain their proposal, and other members have the floor to debate the subject before voting. In the case of former Superintendent Melissa Goff’s contract termination, the motion was passed in a closed meeting and it was decided that the board members would vote in a public meeting.

“There’s two positions that are top level administrator positions that we have not replaced because they’re not necessary at this time,” Aguinaga said. “So some of that has absorbed and gone over the cost of what we are contracted to pay Mrs. Goff.” According to Aguinaga, the Secondary Director and Public Information Officer positions are not being filled for this reason. However, the Public Information Officer position is currently posted on the district’s job vacancies list, along with the Director of Business and the Health Services Coordinator positions. Several district leaders publicly resigned following the change in leadership, leading to some of these openings. At the July meeting where Goff’s contract was terminated, the announcement was followed by the crowd erupting into a mix of cheers and yelling. Among Goff’s supporters, a chant broke out, and the rest of the noise was drowned out by dozens of voices screaming, “We support Goff!” in solidarity with the former superintendent. “I feel like this board ran on a platform that was criticizing the transparency of the leadership of our district,” Photos by Tyler Stacy supporter Samantha Shealy said after the meeting, “and (top) At the July 14 school board meeting, the school board terminated the contract of they have shown zero transparency so far in their agenda. then-Superintendent Melissa Goff. (bottom) Protestors both for and against Goff held I feel like it was completely unfair that they did not use signs and shouted out during the short meeting. any feedback from the community that they have gathered while they have been in office, and that in itself is an egregious act.” opportunity for me to help, and here I am.” dates were interviewed. Others supported the actions of the board. Saxton has a long history in education, including “I’m for the students of Albany public The search for a permanent replacement teaching at West and South schools,” April Bennett said, “and I think Thomson is hopeful that the district can move past Albany, coaching at South, our students need to get a good solid edubeing an administrator at national politics and put the culture wars aside, and think cation that’s going to move them forward West, an administrator at more in terms of the students’ best interests. and give them opportunities to make a Aguinaga has similar hopes, especially as he believes several other Oregon high I KNEW THAT IT WOULD brighter tomorrow… I don’t think with schools, superintendent in another local bond measure is likely to be put forward in the way things have been going that Goff Sherwood and Tigard-Tu- the near future. BE A BIG TASK AND THAT is the one to lead us.” “I really want to improve relationships in our commualitin districts, and served

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THERE WAS A LOT OF WORK

Hiring an interim superintendent Not long after the termination of Goff’s contract, the current board interviewed and hired Rob Saxton as interim superintendent in a public board meeting on July 26. The board requested public input beforehand after sharing information about Saxton, then questioned him during the meeting, asked him to step out as they discussed, then offered him the position. No other candi-

as Oregon Chief of Schools and Superintendent of the Northwest Regional Education Service District. Then, he retired and worked as a consultant. “I knew that it would be a big task and that there was a lot of work to do,” Saxton said. “I also really think what happens in education is incredibly important and that it needs to go as well as it can. If you’re like me, there’s an

TO DO.

nity,” he said. “Until the board can work with the community, and the community can work with the board, we can’t do that.” The search for a permanent superintendent is currently underway, and began with the board hiring a search consultant firm, McPherson and Jacobson LLC. A timeline to hire a superintendent was established on Sept. 27, and if all goes according to plan, a new superintendent will be hired by mid-February.

OCTOBER 2021

Rebirth of the Opera House

WHO WAS CHARLES BURGGRAF? Charles Burggraf was an architect of public buildings such as courthouses, hospitals, university buildings, schools and churches. Among his works are courthouses for nine of Oregon’s 36 counties. He also designed churches, commercial buildings, at least one hotel and one bank and one library, and other buildings.

HOW AN OLD OPERA HOUSE IS BEING RENOVATED INTO APARTMENTS

Source: Bill Maddy

By Tyler Stacy

uildings often have more to say than people. They are around longer, they are everstill, and most of all, their use changes. At the 1st Avenue Apartments, this is the case. What may seem like an old apartment now was once part of Albany’s lively entertainment and culture scene. The Spruce Apartments used to be the Albany Grand Opera House. Interestingly enough this was not the first opera house in Albany. After the first one burned in a fire on July 7, 1898, the people of Albany were desperate for a new one. In an June 28, 1901, issue of the Albany Democrat Herald newspapers, this desperation is clear.

After much pleading, Charles Burggraf, a well known Albany Architect and IR Schultz, a insurance provider at the time, built a new opera house in 1902 on 222 East 1st Avenue. Despite its name, the Opera House rarely housed opera. In fact, the opera house saw orchestra music, vaudeville acts, choirs, religious services, dramas, plays, and moving pictures. To the chagrin of some, the Albany Grand Opera House closed in 1916 after changing owners and names a few times. In 1921, the building was torn down and rebuilt as apartments using the materials from the original building. This year, the exactly 100 year old building is receiving a makeover and a new name. Glorietta Bay LLC has been renovating the building and will be giving it the name “Opera House Apartments.” A commemoration plaque will be placed on the building detailing the history of the site. Once the renovations are finished, people will be able to rent out apartments at the historical location.

Used with permission of the Albany Regional Museum

Three performers posing for a photo

Used with permission of the Albany Regional Museum

This was the old Albany Opera House at 2nd and Ferry, which burned July 7, 1898 at 5 a.m.

Photo taken by Tyler Stacy

Construction has started on the Opera House apartments. A newly added second floor balcony is visible. Special thanks to Bill Maddy and Erica Broad of the Albany Regional Museum, Albany Landmark Commission, Lepman Properties, and Hasso Hering. OCTOBER 2021

Used with permission of the Albany Regional Museum

The new Opera House in Albany built in 1902

New Teachers on Campus SOME NEW EDUCATORS OF THE YEAR By Hailey Miles

Samual Hartman, Math Teacher.

“I love it so far, everybody in the math department has been super nice, all the staff at West Albany has been “super nice and welcoming,” math teacher Samuel Hartman said. “I think the transition for me has been good because I am surrounded by really good teachers who know what they’re doing and have made the transition easy for me.”

Drew Halverson, Health Teacher “It’s great, first off I’ll say it’s awesome, I was lucky enough to teach at West with all the other teachers, so they have been super welcoming, super helpful,” Love everything about West. I went to high school here so it’s good to kinda come back home to get back where it all started.” “Student behaviors are something I’m used to, it’s challenging but it’s nothing new I couldn’t handle.”

Meghan Lien, Daycare Teacher. “Yeah. I really like working here, it’s a really awesome opportunity because I went here and my dad works here,” daycare teacher Meghan Lien said, “ I never thought that I would be working here because you know, Working with young kids, you don’t think you’re gonna be working in a high school.”

Being a new teacher is overwhelming but can be very exciting. From juggling the needs of your students to learning how your school runs can be tense, so how can we as make this adjustment smooth for everyone? “I love it so far, everybody in the math department has been super nice, all the staff at West Albany has been super nice and welcoming,” math teacher Samuel Hartman said. “I think the transition for me has been good because I am surrounded by really good teachers who know what they’re doing and have made the transition easy for me.” “It’s great, I was lucky enough to teach at West with all the other teachers, so they have been super welcoming,” health teacher Drew Halverson said. Love everything about West. I went to high school here so it’s good to kinda come back home to get back where it all started.” “Yeah. I really like working here, it’s a really awesome opportunity because I went here and my dad works here,” daycare teacher Meghan Lien said, “ I never thought that I would be working here because you know, Working with young kids, you don’t think you’re gonna be working in a high school.” “It’s super cool, and it’s really cool to be back part of the family here at West,” Lien said. “I really like working with the high schoolers, and helping them build the curriculum material that is going to teach the preschoolers.” This year we have opened a new daycare center for high schoolers to hang out and teach preschoolers for an elective. A teacher in charge of the daycare is the daughter of Don Lein who is the Athletics Director for West Albany High School, and is going to do great teaching high schoolers to take care of the little ones. These new additions here at West Albany make our school that much more enjoyable, we want to make sure they feel welcome and accepted here.

OCTOBER 2021

No Quarter? No Problem!

A DIVE BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE ACCESSIBLE, FREE MENSTRUAL PRODUCTS AT WEST ALBANY HIGH.

By Helen Whiteside

hen health teacher Jennifer Bornheimer saw a having a voice on something like the Statewide, Oregon House Bill 3294 became efbunch of unused period products gathering dust school board,” Thorp said. At the acfective September 25th, requiring public educain the locker room office, she knew that there was tual meeting, her segment was received tion providers to provide both tampons and pads a way to put them to use, and simultaneously help the student very well, and both she and Borheimer at no cost to students. As far as the funding goes, body. were thrilled. the Oregon Department of Education now pro“The big box that I found...was just like some vides products to Bornheimer when the supply free samples that had been sent by Tampax...I is running low, and Thorp’s mission is complete. opened them up, dumped out all the product, and “I was just super ecstatic that girls would have I guess you could say that’s how [the project] was access to these products,” Thorp said. “Society born,” Bornheimer said. wants us to pay for them and feel ashamed about As a health teacher, she was well aware of them.” “PART OF WHY I GOT INVOLVED IS I the need for menstrual products. “People would Along with supervising the menstrual products WANTED ALL THE SCHOOLS IN THE frequently come in and ask me, ‘do you have any in the bathrooms, Bornheimer has a big containsupplies?’” Bornheimer said. After some time, it er in her classroom, C1, full of little zipper bags GAPS DISTRICT TO HAVE ACCESS got to the point where she knew she wanted to with multiple products in each. She encourages TO FREE PADS AND TAMPONS, AND form a better system for the student body. any student in need to pop into her classroom at I DIDN’T WANT IT TO FALL ON THE “I started thinking, what if we took that big box any time and get a discreet bag that they can take in there, and maybe took some time and had conhome. PARENTS,” tainers that we put some products out in,” Bor“I have a few friends that have been in a sticky heimer said. It ended up catching on to the point situation here at school recently, and the products of having some students get involved and spend in the bathrooms and from Bornheimer have restudy hall time putting a few pads and tampons ally been a life saver,” freshman Leia Dorman into little bins, and setting a bin in each bathroom. “I think they [the school board] were said. On behalf of the student body, she’s super At the time, there were free menstrual products available, but a little taken aback and didn’t realize grateful for the thorough period product system students had to go to the office and specifically ask for them. that [free products in the bathroom] the school provides. “From me and my peers, Bornheimer knew all too well the anxiety this would cause for wasn’t available,” Bornheimer said. thank you to the group of people who made this some kids. “I was always very quiet about it and not letting anyhappen, it means a lot.” “So yeah, they were super supportive.” one know-if I was stuck in [between] a rock and a hard place... and didn’t have any products, I probably would have left for the day,” she said. College sophomore and WAHS alumni Hannah Thorp was involved in the process of bringing free period products to the According to the Huffington Post, an bathrooms. Thorp was the student representative on the school average box of 36 tampons is $7, making board as a junior, and at the time the period basket system had the amount spent on tampons in a lifetime nearly $2000. already been implemented to some extent. She noticed the prodWhen including products such as heatucts were going really quickly, and was curious to learn more ing pads and birth control, the total cost about the system and who was behind it. of these products is around $18,000. Thorp talked to Bornheimer, and found out that moms of students were providing the funds for products. “Part of why I got involved is I wanted all the schools in the GAPS district to have access to free pads and tampons, and I didn’t want it to fall on the parents,” Thorp said. Thorp knew immediately she wanted to spend her time at the next school board meeting proposing a system of funding for all the schools in the district. She ended up making an email thread with the moms that were donating funds and asking them to make a public comment at the meeting in support of her proposal. Thorp took it upon herself to take this action because she knew there might not be any other students who would. “I just [knew] that ...women maybe didn’t feel comfortable

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PERIODS ARE EXPENSIVE.

T H E W H I R LW I N D

l ra Co

e ar m la w C m Cw

THE DIVIDE AMONG STUDENTS ON MASKS By Ming Wong

enior Ashley Chido works in the child development program’s on-site preschool, teaching children songs, reading them stories, and preparing them lunch. She and her classmates in the program are the coolest people in their eyes. But with all of them in their masks each day, she wonders: will they remember her? “The kids are really not going to recognize who I am,” Chido said. “As they grow up, they’ll just recognize me as a person with a mask.” Chido and others are frustrated by the current state mask mandate WEARING YOUR MASK for a variety ISN’T SELFISH; IT’S of reasons like this one, THERE TO PROTECT though she and OTHER PEOPLE others follow the rules to stay in school. West Albany High School requires students to wear a mask, covering both the nose and mouth following Governor Kate Brown’s reinstated mask guidance requirement for Oregon’s K-12 schools in August 2021. The goal? To keep students safe and in the classroom. School nurse Katie Roskelley went on to say that the guidance is based on information directly from the CDC and other scientific agencies. For science teacher Shana Hains, masks are a very

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personal matter. “My mom is 80 and I really worry,” Hains said. “I have to make the decision of not seeing her or being extremely careful [...] If they decided to not have kids wear masks, then I would choose to not see my mom.” Furthermore, according to assistant principal Rich Engel, wearing a mask isn’t debatable. “I respect your own opinion and your own belief system, but the state of Oregon says that inside school we have to wear masks at all times,” Engel said, “and as an administrator here, I have to enforce that.” Engel explained that the unwillingness to follow guidelines or regularly wear a mask properly can lead to consequences for frequent offenders. “If it continues and they’re unwilling to follow the guideline, then it might be that they’d have to do RIM, which is online schooling,” Engel said. “They’re saying that their own health and safety and the health and safety of everybody else in school is not important.” Among students, opinions about the effects of a mask vary. Online senior Chrystopher Houser, whose mom has underlying conditions, said that his decision to go online wasn’t based on reasons related to COVID-19, but did emphasize the importance of wearing a mask. “Wearing your mask isn’t selfish; it is there to protect other people from what you could have,” said Houser. “The fact that there are many students in school currently not wearing the mask because of one reason or another, I think that it’s just uncalled for.” For Chido, though, there’s not enough evidence that masks have an impact. “If it was more proven to

be effective, if our numbers were changing by wearing [a mask], I would really be more apt to wearing them,” Chido said. “But I really don’t know if they’re working, because our numbers don’t really change very much.” However, according to Roskelley, masks are very impactful. “COVID-19 is most commonly spread through close contact,’’ Roskelley said. “By wearing a barrier [a mask], you create a significant increase in safety for you and safety for others in the spread of the disease.” But this wasn’t all Roskelley had to say about the efforts students can be doing to stop the spread. WEARING A MASK She says IS ONE IMPORTANT there are “several PIECE OF THAT layers” to PUZZLE preventing the spread of the disease, including proper hand washing, using hand sanitizer when hand washing is not possible, and staying physically distant from others. “There’s lots of things that you can do to help stop the spread,” Roskelley said. “Wearing a mask is one important piece of that puzzle.” As a frequent enforcer of the rules, though, Engel is looking toward the future. “I can’t wait for the day when we don’t have to worry about it.”

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Should students be required to wear a mask in school?

Should vaccinated students be required to wear a mask in school?

According to a survey of 91 WAHS students OCTOBER 2021

Speak Up and Speak Out WHY POLITICAL CONVERSATIONS SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM

ast year, the uptick in political conversation was overwhelming for some, but others were eager to share their voices. With this dramatic increase in politics, concerns were raised about whether students are able to have these exchanges without forming boundaries. Talking about politics in school doesn’t just increase our awareness of other people’s opinions, it has us thinking about where we stand on our own beliefs, and that’s something we should encourage. Speaking up about politics can put stress on relationships, but it can also challenge people’s thinking and broaden their horizons. Expanding your worldview and ability to think past your own opinion is extremely important; and exactly why we need to have discussions about politics. Those tough conversations are why we have to be careful when making our opinions public, because it can seem like targeting, or can just hurt the feelings of other students when opinions don’t match up. Pursuing politics outside of the classroom is a great idea. We are about to have the option to make changes in our world today. We have the opportunity to become

voters, and we need to decide where we stand. That being said, we need to figure out where sensitive areas are and what we can do to make sure people don’t feel ostracized for their beliefs during our political conversations. This doesn’t just go for teens, even adults can get aggressive during an argument about politics, and that’s what we need to avoid. Our generation is capable of incredible things, but we can’t make changes without working together. Around the world there are stories of teens our age making

OPIINON OF THE WHIRLWIND EDITORIAL BOARD

Marty Johnston Social Studies Teacher

Jodi Howell Social Studies Teacher

a lasting impact, like climate change activist Greta Thunberg. She didn’t accomplished world wide support by keeping her thoughts silent. Collaboration can be a powerful tool, but we can’t make a difference without sharing and revising our opinions. As students we spend the majority of our time at school, so it makes sense for us to use it as a place to share and learn from one other. Every student has their share of insecurities and differences, and this kind of productive discourse at school can be the first step to normalizing important issues and creating a more welcoming environment.

Olivia Manske

Senior, Site counsel Rep.

IF WE GOT OUR STUFF TOGETHER AND

I THINK IT’S EMBEDDED INTO THE AMERI-

CONSOLIDATED, WE WOULD BE ABLE

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES AND THE

CAN IDENTITY IN SOME WAYS. THAT IDEA

TO GO OUT AND CHANGE A LOT MORE

CONTREVERSIAL ISSUES ITS IMPORT-

OF SPEAKING UP, OF RIGHT TO OUR OPIN-

THAN WE DO

I THINK ANYTIME WE TALK ABOUT THE

ANT TO OPEN THEM UP AS LONG AS

ION, OF INDIVIDUAL THOUGHTS, ALL OF THOSE PRINCIPLES THAT OUR COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON

T H E W H I R LW I N D

Students Speak A recent survey of the student body showed that the majority of student believe that we as teenagers are both impacted by and can have an impact on politics. 73.6% of students agreed that political decisions affect us, and 71.4% said that they believed peope our age can make a difference in our politics, government, and our world.

WE MAY BE JUST TEENAGERS, BUT ALREADY ACTIVISTS OUR AGE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE AROUND THE WORLD. Greta Thunberg, 17, first proposed the idea of school strikes to raise awareness and put pressure on politicians to take action to save the planet. Now the movement, called Fridays For Future, has spread across the globe. According to their website, this campaign has resulted in thousands of people around the world gathering in support. Now students our age and younger leave school each Friday to speak out in defense of our planet.

Do you think that people our age can make a difference?

No 28.6%

Yes 71.4%

Politics can be a heated topic, but it also allows for unique struggles to come to light and for more widespread acceptance. For example, the BLM movement was a huge controversy, but through world wide broadcasting it has gained support across the globe. Even just increased awareness of these issues can help people feel seen and can help us achieve a school that better reflects us, the students. Increasing discussion topics like sexuality and mental health has already helped to destigmatize both issues. If we continue to have conversations about those and other issues, then more voices will be brought to light as people contribute their own experiences once they feel it’s safe to do so. That being said, curiosity can quickly turn to anger, and constructive conversations to heated arguments. One of the main concerns about discussing politics in school is that it will turn students against one another, and, rather than helping to build a positive environment where people are free to express themselves and live

their truths, it would make school a negative place where people feel attacked for their beliefs. The reality is that, like so many other things, there isn’t a perfect answer. But ultimately, having these conversations helps us band together for change and furthers our understanding of the world more than it tears us apart. As long as we work together by continuing these conversations and respecting each other’s opinions and viewpoints throughout these monumental times, we can grow as people and be the catalysts to a new, brighter future. It’s a sad reality that political divides in this country drive people apart, and the same thing can happen between students at school. However, any political conversation is the first step to opening one’s eyes to others’ opinions, viewpoints, and experiences. Without exposing ourselves to new ideas via these discussions, we’ll never expand our horizons and form a complete view of the world. So speak up, speak out, and keep your voices strong.

After surviving a devastating school shooting in Parkland, Florida, students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School worked together to found the #NeverAgain movement. They use social media to advocate for gun control policies to end school shootings. According to the #NeverAgain website, these high schoolers have organized walkouts, marches, and memorials to spread awareness and fight for change.

Desmond Napoles is only 11 years old, and yet they have already become a strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. On their website they talk about performing in drag, modeling, speaking out, and just generally being their amazing self. Desmond has created multiple support networks for LGBTQ+ kids and their families, and is also the author of several books about LGBTQ+ history.

OCTOBER 2021

THE BENEFITS OF GAMING CULTURE

ideo games have become a massive part of pop culture worldwide, with their adoration growing exponentially over time and surging during quarantine. From video gaming’s humble beginnings in the 40s and 50s as a niche interest of scientists and technicians who wanted to test the limits of the devices they built or worked on, to arcades where friends and families could go to spend some coins and have a good afternoon, all the way up to now where it is a common household passtime. A survey taken by WAHS students shows that 40.7 percent of students would describe themselves as gamers. With gaming being so popular, it’s important to ask, is that healthy? Well as it turns out, gaming and its culture as a whole can have many benefits for casual players and diehard fans alike. Online connections One obvious benefit in the online age is social interaction. With the internet giving greater access to communication, it makes socializing with anyone from home just a few button clicks away. A research paper by Radboud University Nijmegen presents studies that show that playing cooperative games online with friends or even strangers can increase social aptitude among those who play. It is also surprising that even cooperative violent games show a noticeable increase in social skills and desire to be helpful in day to day life among their player bases. These games with group dynamics are especially effective in helping those who feel like outsiders find communities that they can feel accepted in, and gain emotional support from where it may be lacking in other aspects of life. Prior to the revolution of online gaming, you generally had a group of friends provided by life circumstances. You lived in the same area, you liked the same kind of things, so you got along. It was a matter of convenience rather than choice. Now we live in a world where you can befriend people from other cities, states, and even different countries. There is no longer a confinement to a community of nearby peers. You get to pick your community, near or far, based on the things you enjoy, and you can all do those things together.

CALLISTA CWMCWLAMARE FRESHMAN “When my dad let me play as his character for the first time, [...] I died within 10 seconds, but that was amazing”

T H E W H I R LW I N D

By Ethan Biersdorff

This sense of community is a large part of gaming culture. Many people find themselves bonding over TV shows, movies, or sports they like. With video games you are bonding over both an interest and a potential shared experience. Watching something with a friend has nothing on exploring fictional worlds with those you find community with. From inside jokes among gaming communities to shared likes and dislikes that are perfect to talk about and, at times, even debate. It makes for good distraction, entertainment, conversation topic, and so much more. So, games have an incredibly positive impact on social capabilities, but what else do they have to offer? Gaming On The Brain According to the same research paper by Radboud, several studies have shown that video games, especially action games, can increase people’s cognitive abilities, including their attention allocation, spatial reasoning, and neural processing, all incredibly sought after aspects of people in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Put simply, many games are shown to functionally grow the cognitive strengths that we value in our best and brightest. Obviously this doesn’t mean gaming creates geniuses, but for a leisure activity, an increase in brain function is definitely a welcome benefit. The Fun And The Future Outside of the mental aspect, video games are also fun destressors. People from around the world can escape their stress in a world that they can call their own. Fun stories for us to internalize or share. A huge variety of games that we can all experience differently. From casual gamers to those who can make functional careers either streaming or playing professionally, gamer culture brings so much positivity into their lives that they just can’t find anywhere else. Gaming at large is only going to grow more and more, and as the world of gaming continues to evolve, only time will tell how much better it will get. For now, just game on.

ANDREW CRAIG SENIOR “My best gaming memory would probably be Lego Rock Band, or Beatles Rock Band, and just putting on concerts home alone”

AIDEN HOWARD SOPHOMORE “Being able to go online and just play with anyone around the world in nearly any game you can think of, I just think that’s really fun”

THE DOWNSIDES OF GAMING CULTURE

hile gaming is incredibly popular, there are unfortunately numerous downsides to gaming and its culture. A lot of the negativity comes from two core flaws: poor business practices, and social issues A good place to start is with the disappointing business side of things that inadvertently reduces the potential enjoyment of games. There is one huge issue that has taken place ever since female characters first touched video games: The Oversexualization At the beginning of big name video games you commonly had your run of the mill damsels in distress, but soon after you began to see the shift to more heterosexual male targeting. 90s games like Mortal Kombat introduced incredibly sexualized characters alongside many other mature themes that had not really touched video games before. and with that, Mortal Kombat was a commercial success, even becoming a household name. This trend became common in games that turned a profit at the time, leading many to think that selling sex worked through mistaking correlation and causation. Teresa Lynch, a media communications researcher at Indiana University, compared 571 playable female characters from across 31 years, she found that from the 1980s to the 1990s there was a huge trend of sexualizing women, especially in games rated teen and up. This sexualization peaked in 1995, and while it has slowly decreased since then, there is still a long way to go. One great example of this transition is the change over time of Lara Croft, who is one of the most recognizable female video game character of all time. She went from having such a disproportionate body that it was even a joke among her designers, to only being unrealistic in the fictional sense. That transition was huge. Yet most female characters don’t get that treatment, or even a leading role. Companies get used to selling with sex, but that didn’t work. It alienated nearly half the gaming population and just generally didn’t sell as well as games that targeted larger audiences. So Mature Games Don’t Work? If you look at the top selling games of all time, you see

AIDEN HOWARD SOPHOMORE “Sometimes you’ll get someone who’s maybe not the friendliest person, and there’s always the chance for the occasional internet racist”

By Ethan Biersdorff

primarily family friendly games and action games, both of which see a large audience and don’t really contain many sexual themes. One exception that many point to is Grand Theft Auto V, which places second in sales right behind Minecraft. While GTA V does have many mature themes, there is a place for games like it. Outside of the infamous loading screens displaying underdressed women, there is nothing wrong with a mature game targeted to an older audience. However, there is a big difference between maturity and hypersexualization, and that is the line game companies need to learn to tread. Games like Call of Duty, as well as Red Dead Redemption 2 which happens to have the same developers as GTA V, play out with mature and violent themes, without creating female characters for the sole purpose of being looked at. These games also top the charts breaking many records in their own right. Mature games can be successful, but they also have much work to do to be more inclusive. The Conflict For now the current sexualization of female characters in video games makes it difficult for women to get as into gaming as men. This then creates a stigma that women don’t play video games and that it is a man’s thing, while women make up just about half of gamers. The poor business decisions of the past, that were copied repeatedly in an attempt to match earlier success, has created a space that now has become a battlefield. Unfortunately, the push for progress will always have pushback from those who enjoy the status quo. While this group may be the minority, they make the development of a better space hard to complete. When surveyed, WAHS students rated the average online player they experience while gaming on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being very mean and 10 being incredibly kind. The average answer was about 6.25. This shows progress for sure, but it also makes it clear we have a long way to go before everyone can have the space they deserve online. As progress continues, we must all work together to create a better space online, and advocate for the companies that make the games we love to create games for all us as a whole. We only have two options left: progress, or game over.

ANDREW CRAIG SENIOR “Every single argument it just goes to racism, or like insulting someone about sexuality, or using slurs, it’s just slurs it’s all slurs”

CALLISTA CWMCWLAMARE FRESHMAN “People in the community are often unwelcoming and that’s awkward”

OCTOBER 2021

Time to Stop HOW LUNCH TIMES TAKES A TOLL ON STUDENTS AND TEACHERS Photo and Story By Colvin Parvin

unch is a time for students to eat and enjoy their time, not a time for And it causes a problem with students when it comes to being in class when they need to worry about getting their third tardy and having lunch on time, how much learning they are getting done, and how much studeten-tion for an issue out of their control. Thankfully however, 56% of dents really get to enjoy themselves at school. I know for myself I students feel that they have enough time to eat and enjoy themselves, whether they are would use school as an outlet to see friends and maybe even meet new staying at the school or if they are leaving. That leaves 44% of students feeling like people but unfortunately, I couldn’t do that and I was limited to seeing they don’t have the time to enjoy their lunch. This is in favor of the lunches being one or two people because I didn’t have the time to make a couple enough time, however those numbers are still way too close. walks around the whole building and eat a good Unfortunately, with that many students feeling they have lunch. enough time, students are still debating about whether they So, what did it feel like to have multiple have the time to eat and enjoy time with their friends with our different schedules in one year, let alone six in four? Well, for most seniors, we’ve had to adapt. current schedule. The seniors and juniors don’t have a lot of It is our last year and some of us can’t wait to time to go get food from their preferred fast-food restaurant, get out, so we just settle with what we’ve got. and then make it to class on time. However, the freshman and sophomores will This year we have suffered a massive increase in tardies get used to the construction schedule which will after lunch alone because students can’t make it to class on make it even harder for them to change it again time. Or, they are making it to class but they are not getting a OF SENIOR STUDENTS LEAVE in the future. We feel like we haven’t had a set chance to eat properly. And with them not being able to eat in DURING LUNCH, WHILE ONLY 33% schedule except for our freshman year. And class, it makes it even harder for them. STAY. AS FOR JUNIORS, 60% LEAVE some of us don’t even remember it. So what There are, however, multiple ways that we can resolve caused all this chaos? Once construction was the issue. One solution would be to allow access to other enWHEREAS 40% STAY, ACCORDING done, the schedule was moved back to the pritrances such as the old entrance to the school, allowing stuTO A SURVEY OF 91 STUDENTS. or schedule. Causing the overall layout and flat dents to come into the school from that side of the building, plan for the school to be changed entirely and cutting passing times essentially in half. Some seniors and for the students to have to adapt just as much if juniors park on Liberty Street outside of the senior parking lot because they do not want to deal with a lot of traffic, which results in tardiness not more than the teachers. When the seniors were freshmen, they had a schedule that was due because they can only come in through the “Blue” building. The issue with this, though, is that we don’t have the faculty to watch the entrance. If we could get one to the construction of the new school. It was deemed the “Construction faculty member, whether it be a teacher, counselor, or even a custodian for the time Schedule.” This schedule was for the students that had to park at the football field and students that couldn’t park close to the school. Howbeing. It would allow us to get to class on time no matter where we park. The faculty haven’t felt any major changes as far as their lunch is concerned ever with the new building, and where the parking is now it is the same since they have always been given a mandatory 30-minute lunch break every day, distance for some students because they are still having to park at the however, teachers are not supposed to do any form of work during this lunch. This football field and walk all the way to A hall. The construction schedule mandatory lunch is required by law and has been required for years. This means is what the seniors got used to and had for the first two years of their that during their lunch they can not supervise the halls, watch the other entrances high school education. Once construction was done, however, we were for students coming in or out during lunch, or even make sure that people are be- put back onto the original schedule that was in place before the seniors having themselves during lunch. The responsibility falls on counseling staff and started high school. The schedule allotted a 32-minute lunch, and that custodians, which, frankly, isn’t their job to do. This will also make it hard for them just isn’t enough time with the distance of some classes and only one entrance open. to watch other entrances and allow students to come in through the old building. I think that with the schedule we have now we are getting time to eat One reason seniors struggle adjusting is because they have seen around six to seven different schedules, based on online school and in-person school since and maybe see some friends and talk about what is going on for spirit COVID-19 started. The freshman and juniors have seen three to four different week, or what the latest episode of “What If?” is about. 40 minutes is schedules with the same dependents. This alone could cause some concern amongst enough time for students to get to class, but it’s not enough time for the the students because how do they know when a schedule is going to finally stick. students to get to their classes at a reasonable time.

66%

THE WHIRLWIND

New Age Nerds

Anime x Comeback

CURIOSITY AND BOREDOM HAS LED PEOPLE INTO DISCOVERING THEIR LOVE FOR ANIME By Cecilia Greene

ociety as a whole has been amazed at some of the because I got made premieres made by Netflix and Hulu, but shortfun of and decided to ly became bored with controversial characters do the same thing,” jusuch as Joe Exotic from Netflix’s “Tiger King” and the nior Mason Chambers wait for new seasons to start. Pretty soon, old and new said. There’s generally popular series from the anime genre were adapted to a lot more time to do the popular platforms, taking the western hemisphere literally nothing and by storm. And with the release of Koyoharu Gotouge’s most people got tired “Demon Slayer”, and the return of Tsugumi Ohba and of “The Office” and Takeshi Obata’s hit show “Death Note” on Netflix. The needed another form genre that had once been made fun of and looked down of T.V. upon were brought back in the spotlight with the help Junior Mason Chambers As of now nobody of social media knows why society Tik tok became one of many outlets for everyone to practically abandons a trend only to slowly revive it voice their opinions in regards to the quarantining situ- years later. Some argue for aesthetic, others say it’s just ation and recommended activities to do if boredom ever what’s going on now until the word boredom becomes occurred. Many of the app’s audio associated with it. Smoking (cigclips would come from popular arettes specifically) is another exshows including “Cowboy Beample of a bad and outdated trend bop,” “Death Note,” “Naruto,”and that typically came back for the “Attack on Titan.” This would ‘aesthetic’ it gives off. create a larger fanbase not only for With the common characteris“I think some things that the shows, but a safe spot for the tics helping the genre back on its could come back are old feet, the Japanese anime industry anime community to finally come fashion movies or old together. would experience sales dropping The genre has been attractrive to fashion shows, ‘’ fresh- down 1.8% throughout the begina lot of different people, creating ning of the pandemic for the first man Onaya Johnson said. time in a couple years as stated special bonds between communities. With the help of influencers “My favorite shows at the from “Japan Times.” In regards to on Tik tok and many other social moment would have to the US, Koyoharu Gotouge’s “Demedia platforms, there’s likely to mon Slayer: Mugen Train,” had be Psychic and Demon made a total of 503 million USD be more of a cult following to the slayer.” art style, along with making new from it’s premeire that would set connections to express feelings the bar for movies to come in the and different works art. future. Although anime had just got back into style, it was Whether those movies will meet these expectations is often recognized as something for kids and used to label up for debate. While anime is relevant now, who knows people as weird or just plain strange. if its popularity will last or if it’s just another passing “I stopped watching anime when I was in fifth grade trend.

“

We asked 91 students if they started watching anime over quarantine. 24.2% said yes and 75.8% said no.

By Marie Guthrie

OCTOBER 2021

Photos sent to staff by junior Jack Hanager

Junior Jack Hanager explores the Rose City Comic-Con hosted September 10-12 in Portland, Oregon.

Becoming Someone Else FINDING AN ESCAPE IN COSPLAY By Marie Guthrie and Gabrielle Emery

veryone has their own hobby. Some people love to spend all their free time baking. Others are huge sports fans, following their favorite teams religiously. But for a few, the thing that captures their interest is a form of art not often recognized: cosplay. Cosplay is a shorter term for costume-play. Those who participate create and wear costumes to portray certain characters. Depending on the cosplay, special effects makeup might be brought into the mix as well, making the character even more realistic and complex. Cosplay encompasses any sort of character from any fictional universe; whether it be a character the cosplayer invented themselves, or a superhero from the latest Marvel movie. Oftentimes cosplay refers, though is not limited to, characters from the anime genre specifically. Cosplay is like any other hobby; usually, people start doing it just for fun, as it aligns with previous interests. Senior Annah Shollenbarger is new to the activity, and recently started creating costumes for one simple reason. “Honestly, I was bored,” Shollenbarger said. “I’ve had makeup experience, and social media kinda got me into it, too... I’m an ex-dancer, so I had to do some stage makeup, so that was really fun.” Not only is cosplay just fun to do, but it also often goes much deeper than that. Creating a cosplay and putting on an entirely different persona can provide an escape from stressors in day to day life. For junior Jack Hanager, co-

T H E W H I R LW I N D

splay even serves as a form of therapy. “For me, I’m on the spectrum, and it’s just hard in everyday life for me. And cosplaying just kind of helps with that anxiety that I have every day —to just become someone else, for even just a couple hours.” Getting into cosplay can also open a window to an entire community, Comic-Con being one example. Com-

“

I GET NERVOUS. I GET SO NERVOUS WHEN PEOPLE ASK IF I DO COSPLAY.

ic-Con is a comic book convention celebrating a wide array of fan bases. Cosplayers are huge participants of the event, as a large part of convention culture involves dressing up as the characters being celebrated. With few opportunities to wear costumes in day-to-day life, these events allow a safe place for everyone interested in fictional worlds. Junior Alora Thomas attended a Comic-Con in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and she found the experience to be incredibly comforting. “Everybody was very friendly, whether you were wearing a cosplay or not...If you actually really

like someone’s cosplay, a lot of people there are fine with you going up and saying, ‘Hey, I really like your cosplay.’ And nine times out of ten, you will get a photo with them,” Thomas said. But even as people are able to find so many positives in the art form, cosplay is also often misunderstood. Negative stereotypes follow the practice, keeping many of those who participate in cosplay to keep their talents to themselves. “I get nervous. I get so nervous when people ask if I do cosplay,” senior Kaylee Boyce said. “Lots of people see it as a weeb thing. Or ‘oh, that’s kinda cringe…’ Lots of people see it as a kids’ thing. [They] say ‘oh it’s cringey, oh it’s only for middle schoolers, that’s just so weird. That’s so 2016.’” In truth, cosplay is no different than what make-up artists or costume designers do in Hollywood. It’s an art of transforming a person into something unrecognizable, of stepping into the role of a character. The best advice that experienced cosplayers give is to simply “go for it.” Even if they are faced with criticism, they find that the benefits of cosplay far outweigh any pessimism that might come their way. “You never know when you might like something unless you try it. Even if you think it’s weird, forget about how people are gonna think about you. In the long run, who cares,” Hagner said. “This is about you.”

Comic-Con Companions HOW TWO FRIENDS BOND OVER DRESSING UP

The largest Comic Con ever held had

167,000

attendees, according to Guiness World Records.

40,000

Nearly people attended the 2021 Rose City Comic con, according to the organizers of the event, Leftfieldmedia.

The Convention Center reports that over

30 countries hosted Comic Cons in 2019.

By Gabrielle Emery

Photos by Katy Brudgvig and Cami Meyer

ake a second to think of one of your favorite places. Are you free to express yourself there? Is it fun and exciting? Are the people there dressed up as superheroes, princesses, or video game characters? For seniors Cami Meyer and Katie Brudvig, the answer to all three questions is a resounding yes. The pair have been exploring Comic-Cons all over the state together since 2018, though Meyer already had a bit of experience with the affair before joining up with Brudvig. “I had gone to a Eugene [Comic-Con] beforehand, and then I was like, ‘Katie, let’s go together,’Meyer said, “so I was kind of, like, 1 percent more experienced.” Both Meyer and Brudvig first became attracted to the convention for the same reasons: the costumes. Comic-Cons all over the country are notorious for their fashionable attendees, and this unique aspect of the convention immediately grabbed the pair’s attention. “I just thought that it was really cool to see a bunch of people dress up,” Brudvig said. “I really like dressing up in costumes. I think it’s really fun.” While Brudvig was introduced to Comic-Com by Meyer, Meyer herself first discovered the event through her older brother, who also attends the conventions. “My brother went to Comic-Con one time, and then I found out that you could actually dress up and cosplay for it, and I was like, wait, I actually wanna be a princess,” Meyer said. “[I realized that] there’s a place where I can be 15, and dress up like a princess, and no one will judge me.” And it’s this complete lack of judgement that keeps both girls interested in attending the conventions year after year. Both conventioneers have found that the community found there is comforting and inclusive; it’s the sort of atmosphere that can be hard to find anywhere else. “Other places like school and work wouldn’t really get what you’re into. They’d kinda question it,” Meyers said. “But at Comic-Con, you know that no one is going to question you, and they know that you’re here because you love fandoms and stuff. Everyone is very supportive.” And just as all visitors of the convention are brought together as one community, the two girls are personally brought closer as friends. The duo agreed that through attending the event together, they’ve been able to bond over having a “shared interest” that is not so common among other circles of people. Going to Comic-Con is a rather unique experience, allowing for some pretty unforgettable situations. For their most recent Comic-Con together, Meyer was dressed as Sleeping Beauty, and Brudvig as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. They found themselves accidentally flaunting their looks in crowded streets. “We parked in a kind of far away place, and then I had my big ball gown on, and Katie had her leather and cheetah dress on, and so we were trekking the whole way [to the convention center],” Meyer said. “We crossed so many streets and everyone was looking at us, cause like, why didn’t we park in the other [parking lot]? But it was free.” With such positive experiences, both girls say that they see more conventions in their future. A safe place for self expression, a fun time with friends, and the chance to get a picture with Cinderella; how could they miss it?

OCTOBER 2021

Collective Community

unko pops, comics, and cards, are some of the many things that people but is it a thing of the past, is it coming back, or did it ever leave? Collecting things is a phase that everyone has gone through, but some have taken that farther than the childhood rock collection. Few such people are teaching assistant Drew Small, freshman Trent Kroska, freshman Henry Zinck, and senior Nathanial Arnott. These people have decided to do more than expected and go beyond the status quo.

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO COLLECTING

parts, start with one thing then move on.” “I started collecting around five,” Small said. “But then I went into middle school and got into sports, then around high school I went to a friend’s house and saw their comics and got started collecting again.” One thing that is possibly not noticed is that you don’t have to collect them all your life. You can put them away for a while then come back to them and collect more. You can start now, try some other things then come back. It doesn’t have to be a forever thing, but it could be and that is when you know you have found a thing. “It can get expensive fast,” Arnott said. “So There are many things to collect: comics, start small.” cards, funko pops, and more. Small and Arnott A really important thing is to not go too hard are avid collectors of comics, Krzoska is a at first. Don’t dive in head first, always test things collector of funko pops, and Zinck is a collector out, then decide if you like it or not. It’s okay to of Magic the Gathering cards. make a decision and then decide something else “I like to collect Magic Cards because my later on. friends collect them, and I can play with them,” Teaching assistant Drew Small with his comic book “At the end of the day, get the stuff that you Zinck said. collection. want,” Krzoska said. “And I don’t think that colCollecting can bring anyone a community lecting is about getting the most expensive stuff, that most never knew existed. Sometimes all that but what you want.” is needed is a friend that knows what they are doing to get a collection started. With so Collecting is a choice, and it is one that can be made really easily, but somemuch to collect, and so many people that can show the ins and outs of the pursuit, it times, like with life, you can get distracted and try to get all the newest things. can be so fun, and help people feel like they belong. Sometimes all you have to think about is what you want. Indulge if you want, if you “One thing that I love about collecting comics is that no two comics are alike,” like it or think it is cool, go ahead. Arnott said. Collecting is a community. Finding people that have the same interests as you Just like people, things that one can collect are often something that represents someone and their personality. To have something that is very diverse so that someone can be as easy as just going to the store and picking something up and someone else seeing you. It can give you a type of thing to look forward to, and something that is can have something that fits all of them. really awesome to have. “Start out small,” Krzoka said. “If you want to collect something that has lots of

THE WHIRLWIND

By Samantha Zimmerman

Renaissance Revival

REDISCOVERING THE AGE OF RENAISSANCE By Cali Stenger

ver dreamed of partying like it’s 1499? Well, now you can...without the time travel. Inspired by medieval history and fantasy, Renaissance Fairs have taken place since 1962, and they’ve only gained popularity over the years. The first Renaissance Fair was held in Southern California as a fundraising event for one of the area’s local radio stations. That event was an inspiration to the growing Renaissance fair and festival movement that exists in the United States today. Filled with music, food, and games, Renaissance Fairs are a colorful fantasy world that whisks you away to another era. Dressing up is not only traditional, it’s encouraged. Appropriate attire can be simple, like a traditional flowy-sleeved renaissance dress. Or, it can be as elaborate as a full knight costume. Some modern Renaissance Fairs are even influenced by pop culture references such as Game of Thrones. Junior Eden Banta is new to the Renaissance Fair experience, and her decision to go stems from her interest in renaissance and medieval fashion. She attended her first Renaissance fair recently with her mother, and she

agrees that it was overall a very exciting experience. “There was a lot going on when I went,” she said. “Almost everyone was dressed up. People were jousting, and you could even buy your own sword.” Accessories are also very important when it comes to the Renaissance Fair look. Some guests choose to go full fantasy and wear the full package, whether that means carrying a sword or wearing shimmering fairy wings. A renaissance fair is a place where it’s impossible to be overdressed. Everyone has their own idea of Renaissance couture, but the differences are what makes the fairs so impactful. It is an extremely creative environment and the culture of a Renaissance Fair is vastly unique, including a myriad of people. Eden found the people to be friendly and welcoming. “They’re all really accepting and just so fun to talk to,” she said.

The Rise of the Collector

A STAR WARS PROFILE By Ellie Featherstone

hether you’ve only glanced into his classroom or you’ve had a couple classes in his room, you might have noticed that Spanish teacher Ken Beiser does not have a typical classroom. Star Wars collectibles are everywhere, from the posters lined up on the walls to the Funko Pops stacked on the shelf. You may wonder, where did all this stuff come from, and why did he buy it? He started collecting for his classroom when he bought cheap toys he noticed at stores and showed them off, which would result in people asking him about the toys

once they saw he collected them. He has bought these collectibles just about anywhere that sells them, and a large portion has been gifted to him. His collection includes cereal boxes, posters, mugs, potato heads, coffee creamers, popcorn buckets, and drink cups. Beiser began collecting for his classroom 10-12 years ago, but his love for Star Wars began much earlier. “I have enjoyed Star Wars since I was a little kid, probably seven or eight years old,” Beiser said. “My mom used to babysit my cousins in the summer, and they had the three original movies on VHS. We watched them over and over again until we knew the movies so well that we would reenact the movies ourselves.” Currently his favorite movie is Empire Strikes Back, but he usually is the most excited about the newest released movie. His thoughts on the latest released shows were that “The Mandalorian is fantastic! There is a strong argument that The Mandolorian made Star Wars cool again. Baby Yoda is one of the cutest things ever,” he said. “The Rise of Skywalker is a problematic film, but I still like it. Episodes 7-9 are great individually, but as a trilogy they don’t always work.” A favorite character of Beiser is Darth Vader, which he describes as one of the all time great movie villains and the most quoted Star Wars character. Darth Vader is also recognizable by everyone, and is an iconic figure to both the Star Wars world and pop culture in general.

Beiser is fascinated with Star Wars because “I like the characters, the story, the movies, and the TV shows. The themes they [Star Wars] touch on are about anything; they can be heartwarming, happy, devastatingly sad, or really cool. It hits the spectrum of human emotion.” Whenever students first set sight on the classroom, their reaction is a mix of shock and wonder. Even if they themselves don’t like Star Wars, they often have a parent, friend, or sibling who does, so they can still identify with the room. Sometimes students will say when they first see his classroom, “Do you like Star Wars?” And he often jokingly responds, “What are you talking about?”

OCTOBER 2021

Bump, Set, State T

T H E W H I R LW I N D

By Melia Rasmussen

that could take a huge hit to our standings and how we read The Champion’s Mind: How Great Athletes Think, place at the end of the year.” Train, and Thrive, by Jim Afremow, from which the team Some rules have changed since last year’s abbreviated has adopted the motto to ‘think gold,’ a theme in the book seasons. Athletes in the action of play are not required to strive for excellence. to wear masks, only if they’re on the bench. Audience “We were struggling in practice with bringing that capacity has also increased, and with teachers and the talent forward and being on our A game,” Wallace said. school’s social media posts promoting home games, “Amongst my coaches and I, we talked and thought this Harrington said it’s definitely made a difference in fan would be a good way to integrate some of that mental turnout compared to toughness...into our pregame and practice previous years. Minor structures.” Toughness being endurance, inconveniences, like not both physically and mentally when competswitching sides, have not ing, so at the end of the day, Wallace said, WE JUST REALLY FOCUS deterred the athletes in the team can look back and say they did their ON WORKING THROUGH their competition. best. “Between sets, usuHowever, the rule regarding positive CHALLENGES DURING THE ally you play on one side COVID-19 cases in teams is still the same, GAME... WE FIGURE IT OUT IN and then switch so that requiring athletes to stay home and reTHE MOMENT TO GET TO THE it’s equal time spent on stricting them from going to practice the gym, so you all have or school. One of Harrington’s fears NEXT POINT. to work with the disadis people getting complacent, ruining vantages,” senior Hailey the games and the team’s chance at the

he gymnasium is alive with the noise of fans finally able to sit in the plastic pullout bleachers as they watch their team compete. People continually pulling up their masks as they slip down when they cheer. The volleyball team on the court in formation, the blue and white ball battered back and forth, seemingly light as a feather, but hitting arms and flat palms with a resounding smack. The fans are back and so is the spirit of the team: the spirit to win. Although still in the midst of a pandemic, students have brought life and scuffed footprints back into the school buildings. While many try to find a new normal, the return of sports has been a solace, and a new opportunity to achieve what they couldn’t last year. For senior Sydney Harrington and IF WE HAVE TO QUARANTINE championship. the varsity vol“I’ve had these AND FORFEIT SOME OF OUR leyball team, goals since my they’ve got their MATCHES, THAT COULD freshman year. I sights set on TAKE A HUGE HIT TO OUR feel like most athstate. letes have these litSTANDINGS AND HOW WE “I definitely tle goals... I want to think that we are PLACE AT THE END OF THE see a state champimore than caYEAR. onship and...to nevpable of taking er get to see that in league this year. my high school career. We’ve already gotten so much better just from the start Those are things you of this season,” she said. As of Oct. 15, the team is 14-0, can’t really get back,” putting them in first place in the 5A league. If they conHarrington said. If a tinue this success and go on to win the playoff game on player tests positive, Oct. 30, then they will join the top eight teams heading to state in the postseason. The final match of the tournament then those exposed is the State Championship, where the two undefeated need to be quarantined, and the team’s next teams play off in. Like most sports, mental grit in volleyball is as import- game is an automatic forfeit. ant as physical endurance. “That can be a really “We’ve really tried to work on our resilience and devastating thing for a staying mentally strong in tough situations,” said head single team,” Wallace coach Megan Wallace. Her goal for the team is to carry said. “If we have to through and focus on one game at a time so when the quarantine and forfeit opportunity at the championship comes up, the team is more mentally ready. Wallace has required the team to some of our matches,

“

WITH THE SUCCESS THE VARSITY VOLLEYBALL TEAM HAS HAD DURING THE SEASON, THEY’VE GOT THEIR MINDS SET ON THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

“

Photo by Lucy Rouse

The team huddles after a point score to congratulate each other. Senior Maddy Hellem (far left) wears a gold jersey as her position as a libero, which stays in the back row at all times.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM THE TEAM THAT’S HELPED KEEP YOU MOTIVATED OR INSPIRED THIS YEAR? “The amount of drive all of us have as a team to make it to state. We’ve put aside our differences and are focusing on the ultimate goal.” Senior Maddy Hellem

“One thing I learned this season was how much hard work pays off. I’ve been playing with most of these girls since the 5th grade and it’s truly amazing to see how far we have come. After so many hours of hard work, early, mornings, and late nights, I think our goal of taking state is going to happen.” Senior Grace Nealy

“We still have not so great games and then phenomenal games. Keeping our #1 spot is the biggest motivation because it’s just as hard to stay up here as it was to get here. We also have a great chance of winning state this year, so that end goal is always in the back of our heads.” Sophomore Kendyl Arnett

Heider said. “But now because of COVID, you just have to stay on each side and you don’t get to switch, so if you have a bad side, you’re kinda stuck with it.” If the ceiling’s low or if there’s a basketball hoop on one side and not on the other, Heider said it can affect the play, but it’s not a big deal. When playing to win, one more obstacle doesn’t usually make a difference. “Something I tell myself is if I can’t find it in myself to do it for myself, I need to do it for everybody who’s on the court—everybody that’s on the bench too,” Harrington said. If she doesn’t give it her all in games, then Harrington said she can’t expect everyone else to

“I’ve been with these girls for so many years. They’re basically family to me. What has been an inspiration is how my coach has dealt with this and how she’s been an anchor for the team.” Senior Gracie Boeder

as well. Team sports need effort from everyone, not just one person. “We just really focus on working through challenges during the game,” Heider said. “So if someone’s not passing well, we just figure it out in the moment to get to the next point.” Not dwelling on too many issues at one time, staying focused and staying strong to go to state is Heider’s focus. To Wallace, making the most of every game and every practice is prioritized because, as last year showed, the season is unpredictable.

THINK GOLD National Rank Number 1211

State Rank Number 4

Oregon Division Rank Number 1 in 5A

Overall Score 22-2-2 (22 wins, 2 losses, 2 tie)

League Score

Photo by Lucy Rouse

Senior Sydney Harrington (left) and sophomore Kendyl Arnett (right) exchange jabs as the team sets up again after a score.

14-0 Home 6-0 Away 8-0-1 Neutral 8-2-1

Team Scores 721 kills, 1719 attack attempts, 125 serving aces, 54 solo block, 925 digs, 657 as sists, 796 receptions

According to maxpreps.com as of October 18, 2021

OCTOBER 2021

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT HOW NUTRITION AFFECTS ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE By Aubrey Murphy

Many don’t fully consider the harm of not eating healthy, they’ll shrug off not eating foods rich in calcium or vitamins or minerals until they can’t remember the last time they ate an entire carrot. Athletic performers and communities don’t realize the effects until they get injured. Athletes don’t think it’s because of their food intake, so when they get an injury, they’ll have to stay out for the rest of the activity. Varsity football conditioning coach Linden Loren is in charge of planning work out routines, but also informing athletes on how to fuel their bodies. “It’s hard to know what you don’t know,” Loren said. But there’s food and drinks that could be provided to prevent body aches. Any aching. There’s just a few problems.

HEALTH Is the provided food healthy? Everyone has their own situation “Different diets depending on the position played,” football coach Andrew Sturgill said. He doesn’t just mean sports, everyone’s body and options are diffent, all they can do is adapt to their healthiest options. Some places can’t always provide all the supplies needed for health due to lack of money. Food is given a fair amount to keep a stable knowledge of what they are getting.

“DRINK A LOT OF WATER AND ELECTROLYTES.” -JOHN SORIANO SOPHMORE

HOW COACHES SEE IT

“MAKE SURE YOU

A couple common areas is how performance at practice can be drastically changed by mental health. When some don’t supply their brain with the right kind of foods, emotions are not as positive as they could be. Loren said beet juice, vegetable doping, lean meats and fruits is the center line for staying healthy and activated. He also strongly encourages water with salt.

DRINK WATER ALL THE TIME.” -NOAH MEEKINS SOPHMORE “STRETCH BEFORE AND AFTER ALL ACTIVITIES.” -ALEX ORTIZ SOPHMORE

We asked 91 students if their body commonly cramped after working out. 31.9% said yes and 68.1% said no.

We asked 91 students if they had good nutritional habits. 58.2% said yes and 41.8% said no.

T H E W H I R LW I N D

“WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOUR COACHES HAVE GAVE YOU ON NUTRITION”?

Back to Basics

GETTING BACK TO WHAT SPORTS ARE REALLY FOR By AJ Fandrem

Jennifer T. Mull-Brooks, who graduated with a masters and is now a principal at Congin Elementary School in Portland, Maine Metropolitan Area, majoring in Leadership Studies at the University of Southern Maine, wrote a thesis on the idea of how team bonding relates to their success. The thesis described a baseball team that’s players were very diverse. Some players came from different socioeconomic areas and different friend groups. They got into fights constantly and the coach didn’t know how to fix it until one of the teachers suggested that they do some team bonding. The coach not only made the team watch inspiring movies about how real teams overcame their differences to win, but reached out to the families and made

“

CREEPY CAT, SHE’S AN OLD DOLL BUT SHE’S BEEN AROUND FOR ALMOST 10 YEARS. small bonds with them after games. This changed the team chemistry and led to their season improving and them winning more of their games. In the spring of 2020, in the middle of the sports season, everything came to a halt because of COVID-19. Before all the sports were shut down, there were lots of sports where the teams would have traditions for the freshman and other new teammates. A lot of these traditions had been postponed because of state or school guidelines, leaving some people worried about the future of their sport and the team’s traditions dying out. Since then state and school guidelines have started to loosen up for our sports teams to give them the ability to carry on these traditions. With in-person school being back in session the sports teams are able to be together even more making it easy to start new traditions because of the mixing of different classes outside of the sport. “Creepy Cat… she’s an old doll but she’s been around for almost 10 years,” senior Hailey McCree said. “She’s our mascot so we bring her to every game.” To the team, she is like a little good luck charm. When asked if she had a favorite memory with the team, she stood up a little straighter as if to get more breath for an exciting story.

“Honestly the bus rides are really fun, we normally tell a whole bunch of scary stories and stuff on our way to and from games.” This shows that not all of the best memories with your team are made when off the field or out of uniform. When it comes to team bonding, they have an approach that isn’t unusual but still seems to be effective.

“

WE’VE BEEN DOING A LOT MORE AS A TEAM, A LOT OF US ARE IN A GROUP NOW INSTEAD OF SEPARATED. “We’ve been doing a lot more as a team… a lot of us are in a group now instead of separated.” This form of class incorporation will help keep the traditions that the current seniors and juniors have had stay around for a little longer. It also helps with helping the freshman and sophomores feel more comfortable and be able to communicate with upperclassmen if they play with varsity in the future.

DO FANS REALLY HAVE AN AFFECT ON THE GAMES

“Athletes may say they are immune to fans, but we know better.” Daniel L. Wann, the leader of the Association of Applied Sports Psychology Special Interest Group on Fandom. In college football or basketball fan behavior has a somewhat large effect on how the game plays out. In basketball the other team’s fans may start a chant or just make loud sounds to distract the player about to shoot a free throw. In football the opposing team may have to take a timeout because they can’t hear each other due to the large number of fans noise which can reach volumes of 80-90 decibels. 70dB over a prolonged period can cause damage to hearing, this would make it extremely hard to hear play calls or the coaches. Studies have shown that fans who make a connection with local teams usually have better social connections with other people. Identifying with your local teams has also been shown in studies to have lower rates of depression, feelings of loneliness, and feelings of alienation. Being in the stands with like minded sports fans can lead to high energy levels, more trust in people, and a more positive feeling in your societal life.

October 2021

Leader of the

PACK

CROSS COUNTRY COACH KRISTEN GROSSERHODE TAKES OVER TEAM By Helayna Larsen

WW: What was the struggle of going from not coaching to being head coach in the span of two years? Grosserhode: The biggest challenge is time. I went from having lots of time to make lesson plans and spend time with family and friends, to having to go from my class room and running to get to the stadium to change and starting practice and having no time to meet with students or do lesson plans. WW: Why did you choose to be a cross country coach? Grosserhode: I love running. I run every day. It’s my favorite thing to do for exercise. WW: Most successful moment this season? Grosserhode: On Oct 2, we had the Harrier Classic meet. It was hosted by South Albany and it’s at Bryant Park. There are 50 schools there, and it’s very energetic. It’s almost completely flat so its just a fast and race. And on that day this year on almost all of my runners beat their personal record by two minutes, which is incredible. Everyone was just so excited and proud and it really helped them see their full potential.

Senior Lily Heidrick leads freshman Bethany Doggett during the Harrier Classic meet on Oct. 2. Head Coach Kristen Grosserhode felt the meet was their most successful, since many team members ran their personal best times. Picture taken by: Aubrey-aunna Murphy

WW: Most upsetting moment this season? Grosserhode: I don’t know if this has to do with coaching, but a couple weeks ago the most upsetting moment was when I was told we had no bus, so we couldn’t go to the competition. And eventually it worked out and we have two shuttle buses shuttling the runners in groups back and forth. It took forever and then got me thinking constantly about what if we don’t have a bus for a future meet. Or how am I supposed to rely on this now that we have been let down. WW: Did you always want to be a teacher? Grosserhode: I did not know that I wanted to be a teacher, now that I look back its very obvious that I should have known that I should have been a teacher. I went to school at Oregon State to be a veterinarian so I got a bachelor’s degree in animal science and a minor in spanish. But the more that I studied animal science I realized it wasn’t for me. And I knew that would not be something I would want to do for the rest of my life. Once I graduated I got a job at an animal hospital for six years and I taught new employees for a while. I realized how much I en-

THE WHIRLWIND

joyed teaching so I figured out what I needed to do to become a teacher. I took some prerequisites in history, and I took some classes that were required by Western University. Then I studied for the national test that you need to pass to be a subject teacher. I took the test, passed it and got my degree from western university and got a job here at West Albany High School.

Head Coach Kristen Grosserhode The best part of coaching is seeing how the runners react when they realize how amazing they did.

WW: How is covid affecting you? Grosserhode: I love to travel so that’s been a bit difficult to navigate. Maybe not so much here but I like to travel abroad so covid has been limiting my ability to do that. Not knowing what the rules are like… If I’m allowed to go? Do I need a vaccination to go? Do I need a test to go? If so, what kind of tests? And that is just a lot of boxes to check if I want to travel, which is my favorite thing to do. WW: What other subjects do you teach? How long have you been teaching? I teach spanish one and freshman world history. I have been teaching at West Albany High School for four years.

Sam Hartman leads WAHS football team during the civil war game against South Albany High School Thursday night on Oct. 14 Photo by Hailey Miles

From Physics to

PHYSICAL

INSIDE THE MIND OF PRECALCULUS TEACHER AND FOOTBALL COACH SAM HARTMAN By Jose Lopez

he new math teacher at WAHS has been regarded as a great example to all students. Sam Hartman, the 26 year old new teacher. His choices raise one big question, why is this man spending his life as a math teacher? WW: What town did you grow up in? Hartman: “I grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa. A bigger town, it’s the capital of Iowa. I saw a lot more farming areas. So there’s no mountains or anything. We just see a lot of corn and soybean fields everywhere… It’s a lot different from here.¨ WW: How would you describe your high school experience? Hartman: “Valley high school. In Iowa… It was awesome. I loved it. I had great friends. I had great teachers. It was a ton of fun.” WW: Do you prefer Oregon or Iowa? Hartman: ¨The scenery here is much better. But it was nice being back in Iowa with my family as well. So there’s pros and cons to both.¨

WW: Why has your career path gone under constant change? Hartman: ¨My career path changed a couple times…. I did some research stuff in physics and astrophysics. And then I changed. And I was a college football coach for a couple years. But I really liked the teaching aspect of it and I kinda missed talking about math and physics. My favorite part about coaching is helping young people learn and grow and develop. I felt like becoming a math teacher would be a good way to get that and also kinda exercise my math skills¨ WW: Do you think you will have another sharp turn in your career in the future? Hartman: “I don’t think there would be a big turn in my career, but I can definitely see myself teaching physics classes here. And I would really like to teach an astronomy class. I think that would be really fun and exciting for me. So hopefully in the future Ill be able to get that going¨ WW: Do you in any way regret this decision? Hartman:”No, its been awesome, I really enjoy coming

to school everyday. It’s very exciting for. So no, not at all. I love it, I love it here. Its been a great change, Im a lot happier and more excited to come to work now. “ WW: What college did you graduate from and with what degree? Hartman: “St. Cloud State University… I graduated in December of 2018. Astrophysics. Physics in outer space. And a minor in math…. My brain is more wired to physics and math. I think there’s not that big difference between physics and math. Like physics is just applied math so it’s harder. I don’t think I have a preference between physics and math. So I can see myself teaching both physics and math.” WW: What do you feel students can learn from your life choices? Hartman: I think; one, just learning that it’s okay to pivot your life direction. Like its okay if I decide, oh I think I would be happier, more excited to come to work today if I was a teacher. Its okay to drop what you’re doing and go become a teacher.” OCTOBER 2021

Ready, Steady, Connect

THE STORIES OF PEOPLE FINDING WAYS TO CONNECT DURING QUARANTINE

By Coral CwmCwlamare and Harvest Ryan

hough we all lived through it, the past year

can be tough to describe. “t’s really surreal,” junior Charlotte Lawley said “It’s just, it’s hard to find the way of things again because I almost forgot how to be a person.” One of the things that the 2020 pandemic highlighted was the distance between people and how hard maintaining relationships can be. With schools fully reopening, students have had a chance to reconnect

with each other. However, during the lockdown, students had many more opportunities to connect with their families. Socializing during quarantine and when schools reopened are very different, but have similarities and stories of their own. From families finding new things to bond over to overcoming odds to spend time together, quarantine has created new stories.

What was it like trying to stay connected with people?

“Not many people were allowed to, go outside or hang out, and especially me, but around the second half of quarantine, I started talking with a few people... Having so much free time, we wanted to express ourselves musically and use it as kind of a coping mechanism to, you know, the troubled times that we were living in.” - Senior Billy France-Bagwell

T H E W H I R LW I N D

“The first day of us practicing, we made a band, and we would eventually call ourselves Tragic. And we spent a lot of time making our own music, and working towards this project that we’re excited to unveil to the rest of the school. ... We’re all guided by music. Music is all of our coping mechanisms.” - Senior Billy France-Bagwell

“There were just a few friends that I continued seeing, and we would go on walks, or run, and we would do it while we had masks on and stuff. And then others I would say fine with like we’re just really good friends who live like an hour away.” - Art teacher Babette Grunwald “We listen to a lot of Riot Girl and punk. ... Really, all the music is about liberating yourself.”- Junior Charlotte Lawley

“No, I feel like [in] quarantine I don’t know the people closest to me. ... It did connect me better. But then I also felt like it didn’t. There was a friend who hadn’t talked to her, texted, or seen her for a year and a half.” - Art teacher Babette Grunwald

ENTER-TIE-MENT

How the student band Tragic formed during quarantine. Everyone had their own struggles during quarantine and people came up with creative ways to work around them. Some took to art, others to online gaming but senior Billy France-Bagwell and his friends had a different approach. During quarantine, France-Bagwell didn’t go outside due to COVID-19 but after sometime he started to talk to his friends about playing music together. After the first practice, they decided to make a band called Tragic. “And during COVID we kind of felt isolated, we wanted to unleash, you know,” France-Bagwell said. “And all those built up emotions and anxiety and anger, and kind of turn it into a very unique feel of music that we probably wouldn’t have been able to create in different times.” Using music, they used it as an expression of how they felt. Art and music has often been a reflection of what was occurring in society. Bagwell is excited for the band who will be releasing their first single in November. The band includes senior Corbin Cellerini on rhythm guitar, junior Marshall Hamel on bass, junior Ian Roberts on drums, and France-Bagwell on lead guitar and vocals.

“I really got into music with my sister… Music has already been very important and the way that my dad plays cello and so I played cello. And then my sister played an instrument, now she’s in choir. So my sister and I, we really got to know each other through that.” - Junior Charlotte Lawley

OCTOBER 2021

Falling Into Fashion

NOW THAT FALL IS FINALLY UPON US, HOW ARE STUDENTS SHOWING OFF THEIR NEW ATTIRE? By Marshall Hamel

As the temperature cools and the leaves begin to fall, students are given the chance to express themselves in new ways. This time of year is as great of a time as any for fashion, but just how exactly are students taking advantage of this unique seasonal opportunity? For some people, the colorful leaves and that familiar chill in the air is the perfect time to show off all their outfits in creative, albeit warmer, ways. However, for some students such as junior Rebecca Ritchey, the cooler weather provides the perfect opportunity to stay comfortable and casual. “My typical fall outfit is usually just a hoodie and jeans,” said Ritchey. “I usually wear something warmer because it’s always colder in the fall. If I’m not wearing a hoodie I’m probably wearing a long sleeve shirt and a jacket.”

“My typical fall outfit is usually just a hoodie and jeans,” said Ritchey. “I usually wear something warmer because it’s always colder in the fall. If i’m not wearing a hoodie I’m probably wearing a long sleeve shirt and a jacket.” Although her approach is more on the easy going side of things, Ritchey definitely isn’t alone in her affinity for casual attire. “I mainly just wear sweaters,” said senior Grason Crabtree. “I don’t really care about wearing fall colors or anything like that.” This laid back approach is definitely the most popular choice as you might expect from high schoolers, but that doesn’t mean that dressing casually can’t be stylish as well. For many students, casual clothing provides a canvas for new ideas, and some students such as junior Miranda Lawley, that’s taken literally.

“I don’t really like fitting myself into a box, but I’m definitely inspired by DIY culture and riot girl culture,” said Lawley. “If there’s something I want but I don’t wanna pay for, I try to make it myself. I think kids should try to make their own clothes if they want to.” Just like Lawley, many students have taken fashion into their own hands over the past year and a half. Lots of students found themselves in situations where buying new clothes just wasn’t an option, but trials and tribulation often leave room for creativity and innovation. Whether you’re dressing for comfort, sport, or you’re just trying to stay warm and dry, no one can deny that fall provides a great opportunity to be creative, and that yields some truly remarkable results.

76.t9ud% ents

Of s wearing prefer s hoodie

BTREE GRASON CRA GRADE 12

REBECCA RITCHEY GRADE 11

23.1%

MIRAND AL GRADE 1 AWLEY 1 T H E W H I R LW I N D

Of stud prefer wents sweate earing rs

Everything Nice

AS FALL MENUS FINALLY START TO ROLL OUT, WHAT SEASONAL SENSATIONS ARE STUDENTS ENJOYING? By Austin Granados

ICED

ACCHIATO M P IS R C APPLE

“MY FAVORITE FALL DRINK IS AN ICED APPLE CRISP MACCHIATO BECAUSE THE FL AV ORS BLEND REALLY WELL AND IT TASTES REALLY GOOD.”

-Hailey Perfect

ERFECT HAILEY P GRADE 10

SPICED

K IS E FALL DRIN “MY FAVORIT HA S A BECAUSE IT SPICED TEA FEELING” VERY AUTUMN

CHAI T E

-Zoë Cox

ZOË CO X

GRADE

TE CHAI L AT

“MY PERS ONAL FAV ORITE FAL DRINK IS A L CHAI L AT T E B E C A U SE IT ’S CREA MY AND HAS A NIC SPICE TO IT E .” -C

SCHUERG CHAY TON 9 GRADE 0

hay ton Sc h

uerger

OCTOBER 2021

WITH THE FALLING OFF OF THEATERS AND THE RISING UP OF STREAMING SERVICES, THE FUTURE OF CINEMA IS UNCERTAIN

fter nearly 18 months of the pandemic and the shutdowns, social unrest, and political upheaval that came with it, we are only beginning to understand the ramifications of COVID-19. There hasn’t been one part of our world that wasn’t dramatically altered by the effects of COVID-19 and the world it wrought, and yes, that includes movies. Flashback to late 2019, when moviegoers were still going to their local theaters to watch “Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker” and looking forward to seeing movies like “Wonder Woman 1984” the following summer. As 2020 came to an end, many of those same people were forced to watch the heroine’s second movie debut from their own homes. “My wife and I watched the new Wonder Woman movie on HBO Max, and not in theaters,” said Spanish teacher and self-proclaimed nerd, Kenneth Beiser. “Going to the theater is an experience. I mean, getting your popcorn, getting your drink, going to your seat in a dark room, being cut-off from everything, you just can’t recreate that at home,” said Beiser. March 13, 2020. That was when the Greater Albany Public Schools closed down schools, with theaters following soon thereafter. Regal Cinemas, the second-largest movie theater chain in the U.S., was the first to announce it would close all North T H E W H I R LW I N D

By Brogan O’Hare

American locations until further notice. “Any time, at any Regal, it’s our goal to provide a safe and healthy environment for our employees and guests. At this time, we have made the difficult decision to close our theatres. We value our movie-loving customers and have no doubt we will be serving them again as soon as possible with a full slate of Hollywood blockbusters,” said Mooky Greidinger, CEO of Regal’s parent company Cineworld on March 17, 2020, in an official statement on the company’s website. Within 24 hours, AMC Theatres and others regretfully informed the public of their closures as well. But when one door closes, another opens, and that’s exactly what happened. According to a report by Nielsen Holdings, an American information, data, and market measurement firm, American consumers alone spent an estimated 400 billion minutes streaming content to their televisions over the first three weeks of March 2020, an approximate 85 percent increase from the same period in March 2019. Per the report, Netflix had the biggest growth in video streaming on television at 29 percent, followed by YouTube with 20 percent, Hulu at ten percent, and Amazon Prime Video rising nine percent. Though Regal and others opened back up in April 2021, the damage had already been done. According to a study done by

IBISWorld, an Industry Market Research, Reports, & Statistics company, movie theaters saw a 60.5 percent drop in sales in 2020, and have only made back an estimated 33.8 percent in 2021, meaning they’re still down 26.7 percent from what they were in 2019. This drop in revenue has not gone unnoticed. On Oct. 13, 2020, AMC admitted in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that “substantial doubt exists about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time.” AMC has since received a $917 million infusion of cash through investors who purchased AMC shares during the company’s December stock offering (worth an estimated $506 million) and by taking out a line of credit through its European subsidiary, Odeon (worth an estimated $411 million). And on January 25, 2021, CEO Adam Aron put out a statement saying “This means that any talk of an imminent bankruptcy for AMC is completely off the table.” Though receiving an almost billion-dollar deal, AMC and other theaters aren’t out of the woods yet. With recent movies such as “The Suicide Squad,” “Black Widow,” and “Mulan” underpreforming at the Box Office, production agencies seem to be getting worried. Paramount Pictures pushed back “Jackass Forever” from Oct. 22, 2021 to Feb. 4, 2022 due to COVID, with actor Stephen (Steve-O) Glover stat-

ing that “the comfort level for the public to go to movie theatres has dropped down,” in an interview with Thirty Mile Zone (TMZ). Disney also had to push back the release date of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage’’ from Sep. 24 to Oct. 15, 2021. However, shortly after “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” shattered Box Office expectations opening weekend, Sony announced shortly after the push-forward of their second symbiote movie, and it’s speculated that the success of Shang-Chi might’ve been why, though this theory has not been confirmed. However, it does show that success in the Box Office is noticed and rewarded. Though the return of movie theaters has been brief, it doesn’t have to stay that way. Safely watching movies in theaters ensures their survival. Jordyn Lockwood, the assistant manager at Regal Albany Cinemas and former West student, encourages you that if you’re comfortable, come to the theater. “The company [Cineworld] feels confident in staying open,” said Lockwood. “We’ve got a routine down with the masks and everything, and we have minimal contact with the guests.” Some of our West Albany family have already started going back to theaters or have plans to, Beiser being one of them. “A friend of mine and I went to the movie theater on a night where we were like the only ones there [to see “Black Widow”] so we felt good about going to the theater during the pandemic.” Beiser went on to say that “it’s gonna be harder and harder for me to not go to the theater coming up,” expanding on his thought by saying “Let’s be real, if a “Star Wars” movie comes out I am going to the movie theater even if there is a guarantee I’ll get sick. Those movies are meant to be seen in the movie theater.” If theaters can or can’t survive COVID, if streaming services become the “new-norm” or not, that’s all up in the air right now. The success of movies coming out now may change the way we view cinema forever.

The Face of Horror A DEEP DIVE INTO HORROR MOVIES By Eleanor Peterson

s spooky season comes around, many people start looking for a good scare. From haunted houses to horror movies, people use the month of October to satiate their desire for the dark and macabre. While people have been fascinated by all things that go bump in the night since the 18th century, few people have a deep understanding of the genre. The horror genre can be broken up into three main categories: slasher, supernatural, and psychological thrillers. The first genre, and one of the better known ones, are slasher films. Slashers are a staple of the late 1950s to the early 90s. Notable films in this genre include “Scream,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and many, many more. What makes a slasher a slasher is their high body counts, unrealistic quantity of blood, and a dumb group of teenagers running from a psychopathic killer in a mask. The majority of these films end with the “final girl,” the only survivor, emerging from the carnage, and they are often followed up with a series of subpar sequels. Supernatural horror has gone through cycles of popularity since the 1920s, but gained increased attention following the release of “The Conjuring” in 2013. “The Conjuring” was revolutionary on the horror scene as it did away with the cheesy jump scares of the past and used creepy camera angles and slow building suspense to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. Other notable supernatural horror films include “Paranormal Activity” and “Hereditary.” Supernatural horror films tend to start with an unsuspecting family moving into a very old, very obviously haunted house

and begin to experience creaking stairs and ghostly figures.

Coral CwmCwlamare

MUST WATCH HORROR MOVIES Rotten Tomato Rating The Conjuring

86%

The Shining

84%

Paranormal Activity

83%

Scream

79%

A Quiet Place

96%

Get Out

98%

86%

Friday the 13th

63%

The Blair Witch Project

86%

The final genre is psychological thrillers and well known movies in this genre include “Silence of the Lambs” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.” Psychological thrillers explore unstable characters and focus on the emotional and mental aspects of horror, preying on the human mind. They play on themes that people are often uncomfortable with, keeping viewers on their toes. They often focus on aspects of paranoia, suspicion, and distrust and leave audiences unsure of what is really going on. Another sub genre that is rarely seen in today’s media, but deserves recognition is cosmic horror. Recently the popularity of “A Quiet Place” has brought attention to this rare corner of horror, but few people actually know what cosmic horror is. Cosmic horror, also known as Lovecraftian horror, named for famous gothic horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, plays upon people’s fear of the unknown. Zombies are scary, but what scares people more is something that they don’t understand. What makes cosmic horror difficult to depict is the fact that once you show something on screen, it is no longer unknown. This is what “A Quiet Place” does so well. The monsters are never fully shown until the end of the first film and their origins never explained. By not showing the monster, audiences have to use their imaginations, which can be much more frightful. Horror movies have long fed people’s desire for tension and mystery, keeping generation after generation on the edge of their seats and leaving people with an eerie feeling that continues long after the film has come to a close.

“THE CONJURING” EASTER EGGS In “The Conjuring 2” the demon’s name plays a big theme throughout the film, as it is the only thing that can banish the demon. While Loraine only finds out his name in the last couple of scenes, the demon’s name “Valak,” can be seen throughout the entire movie. The name is first seen as some arts and crafts letters in the background of the kitchen and is seen again in the form of block letters on a bookshelf in the background of the Warren’s living room. In the first conjuring film, during the scene where Carolyn Perron attends the Warrens’ lecture, the real Lorraine Warren can be seen sitting in the bottom left corner of the frame. In “Annabelle: Creation,” Sister Charlotte shows a photo of her during her time in Romania. In the photo, the Nun from “The Conjuring 2” and “The Nun” can be seen in the background. At the beginning of “The Conjuring,” during one of the Warrens’ lectures, they discuss the exorcism of a French-Canadian man by the name of Maurice. At the end of “The Nun” this scene is revisited and it is revealed that Maurice is actually Frenchie, who served as a way for Valak to escape into the world.

OCTOBER 2021

By Colvin Parvin

THE RECS

HALLOWEEN GRAB BAG OF GOODIES We looked for the best (okay, the most random) Halloween items at Walgreens. Some were a hit, but others were a bust.

CANDY CRAFT LEGO GUMMYS For just $7.99, this candy like kids toy is hard to play with, but tastes delicious, and has a good gummy like texture.

GHOST BUSTER TOY CANDY For just $5.99 this candy/toy combo was overall amazing. It was fun to play with, and the hard candy inside of it tasted amazing

BRACH’S PUMPKINS CANDY CORN For just $4.99, this candy corn alike candy is getting one thumb down. It tastes like candy corn, but its too thick to be joyful.

GHOST LIGHTS This cool toy is only 3.99, but it’s the most festive of the items. It made the wearer feel festive and “spooky.” MONSTER POOPER

This toy is only $4.99 but as a toy its fun to play with and to make run around, but the candy made anyone who tasted it gag.

5 3

PUMPKIN SPICE PEAR CANDLE 1 For a whopping $9.99, this one gets two big thumbs down, It was very foul, and smelled terrible.

1 4 THE QUESTION

THE BACK STORY

SPOOKY SCARY SKELETON Fake skeletons are a massive part of halloween. but how big can they really get? 4ft? 6ft? What about a 12ft skeleton? With Home Depot advertising just that for $300, that won’t mean they have any in stock as the shipments come in and they quickly go out of stock. This skeleton has caused Home Depot to have a reportedly 23.2% increase in sales last Fall season, bringing greater profits than ever before due to this Skeleton Behemoth. The sales are not the only thing Home Depot can expect a steady increase on, they will also gain the popularity from Tiktok, Instagram, and other popular Social Media platforms. With this skeleton not only comes the sense of accomplishment of having a 12ft tall skeleton, people have also started to dress up the skeleton and really customize it to be their own. This skeleton has caused a massive surge of big skeletons on the market for Halloween, so think to yourself, how big is too big for a fake skeleton? THE LIST

What are you dressing up as?

Howor why are you doing it?

senior RAHIMA MONAHAN

freshman SABRINA ULIBARRI

“I’m Having a family party on the 23rd with family and friends.”

“I’m probably going to go the cornmaze and then go to a friend's house and watch scary movies.”

“I’m probably just going to go trick or treating with a big group of friends.”

I’m gonna be Jack from Nightmare Before Christmas, and my girl[friend] is going to be Sally.”

“I want to be Loki from the Marvel Movies.”

“I’m gonna be a Starbucks barista because i’m obsessed with Starbucks[...] I love it so much.”

“I bought it from Halloweentown.”

“I'm making it, I have an idea but will it work? Probably not. I might buy something close to it if it doesn’t work.”

“I bought a bunch of pieces off of Amazon and put them together, I felt like it was easier than making it.”

TOP CANDIES How well do you know the country’s top Halloween candies, according to Forbes?

Skittles Candy Corn Snickers Reese’s Cups M&M’s Reese’s Cups, Skittles, M&M’s, Snickers, Candy Corn

What are you doing for halloween?

senior IZAIS PARTIDA